enjoyebooks #133 - Entering the Barrier World
#133 - Entering the Barrier World
"Hmm?" The middle-aged man looked at the fruits and pastries on the table, his pupils shrinking slightly, a hint of caution appearing in his eyes.
"Why are there fewer pastries and fruits? Could someone be secretly eating the offerings?"
The middle-aged man asked, his gaze sweeping the hall with suspicion and doubt: "Who's there! Get out here now!"
His voice was full of coldness, mixed with a trace of fear. His conversation with the young man was a huge secret, and if it were leaked, people would die.
Therefore, the news could never be allowed to spread.
"I've already discovered the dust from your footprints. If you come out on your own and surrender to me, I might spare your life. But if I have to find you myself, I might have people cut you into a thousand pieces."
The middle-aged man's voice was full of cruelty, quite intimidating, making people's hearts tremble.
Zhang Chen and Xiao Douding, hiding under the offering table, were secretly complaining. They wondered why they were so unlucky lately, twice stealing offerings and twice hiding under tables, only to encounter such terrible things.
Hearing the middle-aged man's scolding, Xiao Douding glanced at Zhang Chen, thinking they had been discovered. She then made a gesture to Zhang Chen, indicating 'You stay here and hide, I'll go out and deal with them.' In her mind, it was better for one person to go out and be exposed than for both of them to be caught.
But Zhang Chen grabbed Xiao Douding's shoulder, shaking his head to signal her to be calm. He clearly hadn't left any traces when he came in. The old guy was obviously bluffing when he said there were footprints.
Just then, the young man said, "Master, don't be so suspicious. Perhaps the time hasn't come yet, and the disciple responsible for changing the offerings hasn't arrived."
As he spoke, he picked up a pear from the table, wiped it, and began to eat it.
The middle-aged man nodded upon hearing this, seemingly agreeing with his words: "That must be it. Otherwise, after my bluff, the person would have come out already. Judging by the time, it must not be time to change the offerings yet. Let's leave quickly, lest people see us here."
After speaking, the two left, leaving Zhang Chen and Xiao Douding hiding under the curtain, not daring to breathe loudly.
Hearing the footsteps receding, Xiao Douding was about to speak and crawl out, but Zhang Chen grabbed her, covered her mouth, and shook his head to signal her.
Xiao Douding was stunned. Although she didn't understand why Zhang Chen was doing this, she chose to trust his command.
About forty breaths later, the young man's voice sounded again outside the hall: "Master, it seems there really isn't anyone here. Otherwise, the person would have come out already."
"Indeed, there's no one here. I was just being overly cautious. Let's go."
Another middle-aged man's voice rang out.
At this moment, Zhang Chen cursed under the curtain: "Old fox!"
It wasn't that he was experienced, but he sensed the movement of objects through the moisture in the air. The two of them pushed away the moisture in the air as they walked, but suddenly stopped at the entrance of the hall, which of course couldn't escape Zhang Chen's notice.
At this moment, Zhang Chen crawled out from under the offering table. Xiao Douding hid underneath, refusing to come out, and said to Zhang Chen: "Should we hide for a while longer, in case they make a surprise return?"
"No, the two of them have already gone far away," Zhang Chen picked up the pear and began to eat it. "Do you recognize those two people?"
"One is Xu Wei, who is in charge of the martial arts assessment of the disciples in the Taoist temple, and also the deputy head of the temple, mainly responsible for the martial arts instruction of the disciples. As for the other disciple, it's Second Senior Brother! He clearly apprenticed under Master, but unexpectedly he secretly colluded with Xu Wei, and is also a traitor within the Taoist temple, actually wanting to seize the secrets of our Taoist temple, truly deserving of death!" Xiao Douding cursed angrily, her face full of righteous indignation.
"Second Senior Brother? He's Second Senior Brother? What's his name?" Zhang Chen asked.
"Wei Yingwu! He was the one who got a woman pregnant down the mountain before," Xiao Douding said.
Zhang Chen pondered upon hearing this. He knew Wei Yingwu, not only did he know him, but he also held a grudge against him. He was the one who kicked him a few times when he went to apprentice under Mr. Wu Liu, and also seized his treasure.
"I'm going to find Master and expose them," Xiao Douding said, jumping up and down in anger.
Zhang Chen directly stuffed the half-eaten pear into Xiao Douding's mouth, and then said grumpily: "Our words carry little weight. Even if we report them, no one will believe us."
"Then what should we do? Are we just going to let their schemes succeed and take away the secrets of our Taoist temple?" Xiao Douding became anxious.
"Didn't the Taoist temple say they were going to determine the winner through martial arts? We'll find a way to defeat Wei Yingwu then, won't we?" Zhang Chen took Xiao Douding's hand and walked towards the door:
"We are determined to get this secret!"
Accompanying Zhang Chen's exchange with the fox spirit, he also roughly understood the cultivation levels of the gods in this world.
The levels of gods are determined by the secrets they possess.
For example, the secret within the Tomb of the Di Nu. If someone obtains it, and masters that twelfth-order secret, they will continuously merge with the twelfth-order secret, gradually becoming stronger. The degree of fusion with the secret determines whether they are a god of a certain order.
Because the secret of gravity control is twelfth-order, if someone obtains that twelfth-order secret, their upper limit is twelfth-order.
If someone obtains a third-order secret, the limit they can reach as they merge with the secret is third-order.
Of course, this is under the condition of not cultivating divine soul methods. If one embarks on the path of cultivation, they will break this shackle.
But for Zhang Chen, secrets are equivalent to divine abilities. If he can obtain a divine ability for free, he certainly won't give it up.
"I have an old feud with this Wei Yingwu. This time, I must ruin all of his plans," Zhang Chen sneered inwardly. He was worried about not having a chance to take revenge on Wei Yingwu, but he didn't expect this kid to take the initiative to come to his door.
Although the other party is an Inner Strength expert, he is still a god. If he exchanges injuries for injuries, he might be able to defeat him with his ability to heal quickly.
Of course, the most important thing is that he still has time to study the runes. If he can figure out the effects of those two runes, he might have a chance to turn defeat into victory.
Zhang Chen took Xiao Douding's hand and quickly left, while Xiao Douding's voice suddenly filled with worry: "Senior Brother, didn't Wei Yingwu just say he was going to kill someone to silence them? Is he going to kill that woman?"
Zhang Chen turned his head to look at Xiao Douding: "You wouldn't want to meddle in other people's business, would you?"
Xiao Douding didn't speak, only staring at him with her big eyes.
Zhang Chen said speechlessly, "What does it have to do with us that he killed his wife? Blame that woman for being blind and falling in love with a渣男 (zhā nán,渣男 literally translates to 'scum man,' but is used to describe a man who is a jerk, unfaithful, or doesn't treat women well). There are so many honest men in the world, but she didn't choose them. Instead, she had to choose Wei Yingwu. Isn't it because she saw that Wei Yingwu was rich and handsome? Do you believe that if it were someone with ordinary looks like me, that woman would definitely ignore me and yell, 'Get out, you simp!'"
"Besides, if we meddle in other people's business, maybe that woman won't believe us and will think we're secretly slandering them. If she tells Wei Yingwu, and Wei Yingwu takes the opportunity to plot against us, wouldn't we be asking for trouble?"
Zhang Chen didn't want to meddle in other people's business at all. Wei Yingwu had cultivated Dark Force, so he wasn't easy to deal with unless he used his knife to exchange injuries for injuries with Wei Yingwu, preventing Wei Yingwu's Dark Force from being used.
Xiao Douding sighed quietly upon hearing this, "It's a pity about the baby in her womb. How can there be such vicious parents in the world?"
"What does it have to do with us that he killed his offspring and made himself childless?" Zhang Chen said unhappily.
No matter when, meddling in other people's business is never a good habit.
"What are we going to do next?" Xiao Douding looked at Zhang Chen with curiosity and questions in her eyes.
Zhang Chen pondered slightly upon hearing this and looked at the five-year-old Xiao Douding. This little girl was only five years old. If he sent her down the mountain to mix into the Surveillance Division, he was afraid that she would be tricked out of her pants by the veterans of the Surveillance Division. Moreover, children's minds are uncertain. If she got out of control and was brainwashed by the other party, then the Yellow Sky Sect would fall into a passive position. Therefore, Xiao Douding absolutely had no chance to obtain that mysterious item.
"Then we should choose from the younger generation, probably between fifteen and thirty years old." Zhang Chen made a deduction in his heart and then asked Xiao Douding, "Let me ask you, among the people in our Taoist temple between fifteen and thirty years old, who are the experts?"
Xiao Douding pondered slightly upon hearing this, "Except for Senior Brother who died young, the remaining three senior brothers have all reached the realm of Dark Force. As for the remaining three thousand disciples, 99% of them are at the Bright Force stage and have not yet mastered the gentle force. After all, they don't have a famous teacher to guide them one-on-one, so it's difficult for them to break through. However, there are probably seven or eight who have touched Dark Force, but they can't compare to that villain Wei Yingwu."
Zhang Chen had a bottom line in his heart after hearing this. The so-called competition was probably to compete among these ten or so Dark Force disciples.
"What you need to do next is to practice martial arts well. Maybe you will have a chance then." Xiao Douding looked at Zhang Chen.
Zhang Chen remained noncommittal upon hearing this. He felt that it was better to place his hope on those two runes than on martial arts cultivation.
Then the two returned to the house. Xiao Douding began to practice martial arts even harder, and Zhang Chen also began to study the talismans, hoping to research the talismans before the competition. At that time, he might have a chance to ruin Wei Yingwu's plan.
However, after studying for a day, Zhang Chen still had no gain and couldn't grasp the pattern of the runes.
At this time, Zhang Chen began to meditate and visualize, cultivate the Qi Refining Technique, and then entered the state of forgetfulness. His soul appeared in front of the curtain.
This was the first time Zhang Chen appeared in the endless void after cultivating mana. As soon as his soul appeared, Zhang Chen immediately noticed the difference.
Unlike in the past, the Azure Lotus, which was previously in the ancestral aperture between his eyebrows, now appeared in the endless void along with him, floating above Zhang Chen's head, emitting a chaotic clear aura that enveloped Zhang Chen.
"This is?" Zhang Chen raised his head to look at the Azure Lotus above his head, a look of astonishment on his face.
The Azure Lotus was still in bud, as if rooted in chaos, surrounded by a chaotic mist.
Zhang Chen observed for a while and didn't notice anything special, so he ignored it and stepped forward to the curtain again, looking at the golden barrier with a pensive look: "How should I break the curtain barrier and enter the world behind the tomb?"
Zhang Chen stretched out his hands to touch the world barrier, but the next moment Zhang Chen was stunned. The once indestructible curtain now seemed to be like air, and his palm easily penetrated it.
"What?" Zhang Chen was stunned at this, a look of astonishment on his face. Then, the next moment, he stepped out, his figure disappeared in front of the barrier, and then his eyes blurred, appearing in a gray world.
The world was gray, like a foggy day. Black whirlwinds were blowing in the sky, blowing sand and rocks, and it seemed that the world was shaking. Zhang Chen felt that his soul would be blown away by the black wind in the next moment.
At this time, the Azure Lotus above Zhang Chen's head rotated, emitting a three-foot blue light to envelop Zhang Chen, fixing the void within three feet of him. No matter how the outside world howled, it couldn't do anything to Zhang Chen.
Zhang Chen tried hard to stand firm in the hurricane, and his eyes looked at the world in front of him. Then, his whole person couldn't help but be stunned on the spot: "Ruins? This is a ruin?"
What came into Zhang Chen's eyes was a black land, and on the black land were palace ruins. The palace was shattered into powder and scattered on the ground.
The ground was paved with white jade bricks, but at this time, those white jade bricks were completely broken, with cracks all over them, as if they had been subjected to a mysterious impact.
"Where is this ruin?" Zhang Chen looked at the ruin in front of him, a look of astonishment on his face. This was different from the first heaven described by the fox spirit.
In the spiritual world described by the fox spirit, it was a place full of various natural treasures and great medicines, but Zhang Chen looked at the dark wind blowing the sky and the broken ruins, and it didn't look like there was any creation at all.
The strong wind blew the sky dark, and nothing could be seen thirty meters away. Zhang Chen stood in place and didn't dare to move around, but carefully looked at the ruins in front of him, hoping to see something.
"However, the fox spirit didn't say one thing wrong, that is, after my soul entered this world, it seemed to be nourished by a mysterious force. My soul was actually nourished by a strange power." Zhang Chen said to himself.
"I have repeatedly wanted to enter the first heaven before, but I have always been blocked by the barrier and could not enter this place, but this time I easily entered it... If there is any difference, it is that I have mastered the Qi Refining Technique and cultivated mana. Could it be that mana is the key to entering the spiritual world? Could it be that the ancient sages also possessed mana? This is impossible. If the ancient sages had mastered mana, humans should have recorded this power long ago, instead of now only following the Yang God system, or even completely denying the Qi Refining Avenue and completely abandoning the Qi Refining Avenue." Zhang Chen stood in the ruins and muttered: "It's just, what's going on with the palace ruins here? Could it be that there are creatures living in the spiritual world?"
"I don't know if I can summon the fox fairy Nannan. Maybe this fox spirit knows something." Zhang Chen said to himself.