MF-novel #183 - Classic of Mountains and Seas: Zhaoyao Mountain
#183 - Classic of Mountains and Seas: Zhaoyao Mountain
Zhang Chen looked at the Great自在Heavenly Demon; this guy's tone was a bit too much.
"Speak properly," Zhang Chen glared at the Great自在Heavenly Demon.
The Great自在Heavenly Demon chuckled sheepishly upon hearing this, "How could ordinary living beings, once they have their own wisdom, still be influenced by the power of faith? Moreover, without the transformation of mystical power, the power of faith is nothing more than a fleeting thought for ordinary people."
Zhang Chen pondered upon hearing this, seemingly lost in thought.
"Oh right, there's one more thing I need to remind you: you must never casually enter other people's tribes, or more precisely, you must never enter the territories of other gods. Gods have their own territories and guard their power of faith very jealously. A god entering another god's territory will be seen as an attempt to seize faith, and a great battle will inevitably ensue. Your magic power is useless for nourishing the mystical in this era, so you must never be arrogant," the Great自在Heavenly Demon seemed to remember something and quickly cautioned him.
"I understand," Zhang Chen replied.
At this moment, a touch of fanaticism appeared in the Great自在Heavenly Demon's eyes: "Kid, don't worry, from now on, I, your ancestor, will protect you."
"You can't even protect yourself, and you want to protect me?" Zhang Chen looked at the smug Great自在Heavenly Demon, finding it hard to believe.
"What do you know? This is my era. Those mystical forces accept all forms of faith. I'll disguise myself as their believer, kowtow and worship them. My emotions, essence, energy, and spirit will be disguised as the power of faith, mixed in with the countless powers of faith to secretly infiltrate them. Then, the whole world will be mine," the Great自在Heavenly Demon's voice was filled with fanaticism.
"Damn! You're trying to poke a hole in the sky!" Zhang Chen was shocked upon hearing this. He knew he shouldn't have let the Great自在Heavenly Demon out; once this grandson was released, who knew what kind of trouble he would cause.
Then, Zhang Chen quickly rummaged through his robes for the porcelain bottle, wanting to reseal the Great自在Heavenly Demon to prevent this grandson from causing trouble for him.
"You're too short-sighted! Think about it, if I control those gods, wouldn't that be the same as you controlling them? Then all those mystical objects would be at your disposal. Wouldn't you have as much mystical power as you want?" Seeing that Zhang Chen was frightened by him, the Great自在Heavenly Demon quickly tried to persuade him, while also wishing he could slap himself. Why did he have to be so talkative? He could have waited until he had accomplished everything before informing him.
"This is our great opportunity. If we can take this chance to dominate the first level of the spiritual world, and then plunder all the benefits of the first heaven, imagine how much your cultivation would increase!" The Great自在Heavenly Demon pleaded earnestly.
Zhang Chen paused his search for the porcelain bottle, his eyes fixed on the Great自在Heavenly Demon, countless thoughts flashing through his mind. He thought of the legendary elixir of immortality and other objects.
"Don't cause any big trouble. If it involves me, don't blame me for sacrificing you for the greater good," Zhang Chen said.
The Great自在Heavenly Demon was relieved to see Zhang Chen relent: "How could I involve you? We're good buddies. Don't worry, even if those gods discover my methods, I've already established myself in their spiritual world. Those old guys can't do anything to me."
Having said that, the Great自在Heavenly Demon prepared to slip away, afraid that Zhang Chen might change his mind and ruin his grand plan.
"I have to go. If you encounter any questions, never summon me back directly. Just summon the petals of the lotus flower I left you, and I can talk to you," the Great自在Heavenly Demon instructed Zhang Chen, and in an instant, his figure transformed into countless forms, flying in all directions like locusts.
"I wonder if letting him invade the gods of the first level of the spiritual world is the right decision," Zhang Chen sighed softly, looking at the disappearing back of the Great自在Heavenly Demon.
But without a doubt, he was tempted. If the Great自在Heavenly Demon could accomplish this, wouldn't it be the same as him being able to control all the gods in the world? Wouldn't all the gods become his puppets? Available for his use?
He had the Nine Bends Yellow River Talisman Formation, coupled with the Soul Hooking skill, so he wasn't afraid of the Great自在Heavenly Demon turning against him.
Zhang Chen sat in the shade of a tree, enjoying the cool air, while also preparing to meditate and practice Qi. As he circulated his cultivation technique, Zhang Chen immediately noticed the difference. When he circulated the Heavenly Square Earthly Circle Diagram to restore his spiritual power, he saw a suction force burst forth from the treasure bottle in the visualization, filling a whole bottle of the essence of the sun and moon in just a few breaths, dripping onto Zhang Chen's soul, restoring it to its peak state.
Now that his soul had been restored, and with the endless golden light, Zhang Chen chose to directly practice Qi.
This was definitely the best time to cultivate. Having the essence of the sun and moon constantly replenish his essence, energy, and spirit, and having the endless golden light to provide supplies, this was simply a paradise for cultivation.
Especially that treasure bottle, which could gather a full bottle of the essence of the sun and moon in a few breaths; this place was simply a paradise for Qi practitioners.
"The fact that the sun and moon are as big as tall buildings, and the stars are as big as plates, isn't without its benefits," Zhang Chen continued to visualize the "Heavenly Square Earthly Circle Diagram" to restore his spiritual power after finishing his Qi practice, constantly repeating the process.
In this mystical place, he could continue to cultivate indefinitely.
It wasn't until sunset that Zhang Chen opened his eyes, a smile appearing in his eyes as he felt the increase in progress points: "Not bad! Not bad! Three hundred points increased in half a day; this is truly a good place! But this is the first heaven. Everything here is made of spirit. I wonder if the magic power I cultivate can be brought back."
This was the point of concern for Zhang Chen.
The sound of breaking firewood rang out from the side. Zhang Chen turned his head and saw the boy called 'Earth' carefully breaking firewood, afraid of disturbing Zhang Chen. Before long, a bonfire was lit, and the boy took the unfinished rabbit meat and reheated it.
Seeing Zhang Chen looking over, the boy said with a flattering expression: "Venerable God, please wait a moment, the rabbit will be heated up soon."
Zhang Chen nodded upon hearing this. His stomach was also a little hungry. Rabbit meat couldn't alleviate hunger in the first place; eating rabbit meat would only make people thinner.
Before long, the boy had roasted the rabbit meat. He carefully wiped the dust off his hands, then carefully wrapped the rabbit leg with leaves, tore it off the rabbit's body, and handed it to Zhang Chen: "God, please enjoy."
Zhang Chen took the rabbit leg, looked at the boy's cautious gaze, and then smiled and said: "I am not a god, and I don't like people calling me god. I am a living person. I am a few years older than you. Just call me Big Brother."
He found the boy very pleasing to the eye. This boy revealed a cleverness that reminded him of himself when he was young.
“This…” The young man hesitated slightly, then immediately changed his words, “Little brother greets Big Brother Zhang.”
“That’s right, eat the meat.” Zhang Chen said.
The young man gnawed on the rabbit head, his eyes cautiously watching Zhang Chen, “Big Brother Zhang, where did you come from? Which tribe are you from?”
“My tribe is in an extremely distant land, and its name… is called: Xuanyuan.” Zhang Chen didn't know how to answer for a moment. At this time, he remembered the tribe from his hometown era. As a descendant of Xuanyuan Huangdi, the words Xuanyuan jumped out of his head.
“What is Xuanyuan?” The young man was stunned, somewhat puzzled.
“Xuanyuan is a kind of chariot.” Zhang Chen explained the structure of the chariot to the young man, and the young man's eyes were filled with amazement. “There is such a sophisticated mechanism, truly an incredible invention. Big brother’s tribe must be a large tribe with a ninth-order god sitting in charge.”
“Naturally, it is a large tribe.” Zhang Chen said.
“It must have 100,000 people.” The young man said with longing.
“Wrong, it’s 1.3 billion!”
Zhang Chen recalled his hometown and corrected the young man's words.
“Billion? What kind of unit of measurement is that?” The young man didn't understand. In this primitive tribe, there was no record of ‘billion’ yet.
Zhang Chen patiently explained to the young man. When the other party understood the unit of measurement of a billion, he couldn't help but exclaim, “With so many people, I’m afraid the entire Tiannan region, with its thousands of tribes combined, doesn’t have that many.”
“Tiannan?” Zhang Chen pondered, his eyes looking at the young man, “Can you tell me about Tiannan? I came from afar and know nothing about Tiannan. I need to understand the situation here.”
The young man smiled and said, “If big brother wants to hear, then listen to this little brother tell you all about it, ensuring you thoroughly understand everything about Tiannan.”
“This world has nameless mountains connecting the heavens and the earth. Taking the nameless mountains as a dividing mark, there are a total of five regions: east, south, west, north, and central. Outside, there are mysterious lands, the four seas and eight wastelands, whose names are unknown, and no one has ever walked out of them. The place where we are is the Tiannan Region, also known as Nanshan. In the Nanshan region, there are thirty-eight large mountains, and each large mountain is surrounded by countless large and small tribes. The territory where we are located is a small tribe on Zhaoyao Mountain.”
“Zhaoyao Mountain?” Zhang Chen was stunned. The name was so familiar, actually sharing the same name as Zhaoyao Mountain in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
“The tribe I am in is a small tribe on Zhaoyao Mountain, with three thousand men, women, and children, and less than five hundred able-bodied adults.” The young man narrated in detail, constantly explaining to Zhang Chen, even talking about his past.
He was originally the son of the ‘Ape’ tribe leader, but he was framed, leading to the failure of his coming-of-age ceremony, so he left the tribe and wandered outside, a typical waste protagonist template.
“So, you can only wander outside from now on?” Zhang Chen asked.
The young man pointed to his chest, “My ribs are broken, and I can no longer hunt tooth beasts. Without using the blood of tooth beasts for baptism, I cannot activate my Qi and blood. Unless you give me time to recover, wait for me to heal my injuries, and then hunt a fierce beast, using the blood of the fierce beast to bathe, activate Qi and blood, then I can return to the tribe.”
Speaking of this, a trace of sorrow appeared in the young man's eyes, “I am the young patriarch of the tribe, and also the only heir. If I die outside, the inheritance of the tribe will definitely fall into the hands of others, and be taken away by that damned fellow.”
“If I die, then so be it, but I must not hand over the future of the tribe to the hands of a despicable person!” There were tears in the young man's eyes, and his voice was filled with suppressed anger and rage.
Zhang Chen remained noncommittal and continued to eat the grilled meat, “How did you appear in the desert?” Zhang Chen asked.
“I… I can’t embarrass my father. If I die in the desert, my father won’t see my body, and he can still have some hope. If I die in the jungle, my father will be sad after seeing my body.” The young man lowered his voice.
Hearing this, Zhang Chen fell silent, his eating movements slowed down a bit, but he didn't say anything.
The sun set in the west, and the moonlight was like water. Zhang Chen looked at the moon, which was more than ten stories high. Although it was night, it was no different from daytime. After swallowing the last bite of rabbit meat, Zhang Chen glanced at the young man and slowly stood up, “You continue to eat, I’m leaving.”
Everyone has their own destiny. He and the young man were just chance encounters. He was just a passerby who could not help the young man.
After Zhang Chen finished speaking, he walked towards the depths of the jungle. Now that the weather was slightly cool, he could just transform into a vampire bat to absorb the moonlight and explore this world.
However, after Zhang Chen walked a hundred meters, his footsteps stopped and he turned his head to look, only to see the young man carrying the unfinished rabbit meat, grimacing and following thirty meters behind him.
Under the moonlight, he could clearly see the young man grimacing in pain because of his broken ribs, but he didn't make any noise.
Zhang Chen looked at the young man, and the young man also looked at Zhang Chen, giving Zhang Chen a shy smile, and timidly said, “I just want to follow behind you, I will never affect you. I know I am a burden, but I will follow as far as I can. You don’t have to consider me, just treat me as air, as if I don’t exist.”
Speaking of this, the young man's voice was full of pleading, “Please, I don’t want to die!”
During the day, the sun is scorching hot, and all living beings hide to rest. Night is the best time for beasts to forage.
The young man knew that if he walked alone in the dark, he would probably not survive tonight.
Zhang Chen looked at the young man and beckoned to the young man. He felt that the young man's face looked somewhat familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere, but he couldn't remember exactly where he had seen it after careful recollection.
He recalled everyone he had met, but none of them resembled this face.
“Did you call me for any instructions?”
Seeing Zhang Chen beckoning, the young man quickly approached and asked flatteringly.
“Didn’t I say? Let you call me big brother. Since you want to follow me, just tell me directly, why bother like this?” Zhang Chen touched the young man's head, took the rabbit meat from his shoulder and threw it on the ground, “Only the skeleton is left, what's the use of holding it?”
“Follow me, let’s wander around in the jungle together.” Zhang Chen said.
“Big brother, are you willing to take me in? Don’t you嫌棄 me for being a burden?” The young man's eyes were filled with disbelief, and tears streamed down his face.
Pain had never made him cry, nor had being abandoned made him cry, but at this moment he really couldn't hold back, and tears flowed down like a river.