"So, you're looking into the truth behind the Jia Shen Rebellion and your grandfather's death? I'm afraid it's more than just that, isn't it?"
In the back seat of the car, parked at the entrance of the foot massage parlor.
Qingshui watched Xu Si get out of the driver's seat and go inside to negotiate, then said to Zhang Chulan.
"This is..."
Zhang Chulan stammered.
He didn't dare tell Qingshui about Feng Baobao.
He would only tell this matter to people he trusted completely and was sure would stand by them.
Since this little fox hadn't fully figured Qingshui out yet, he naturally wouldn't reveal too much.
"Well... it's nothing really. I was just thinking, if I could return to Longhu Mountain and become the heir to the Celestial Master, then those people coveting the Qi Body Origin wouldn't be able to touch me anymore..."
Zhang Chulan put on a shy, embarrassed facade, shamelessly saying.
No, he never had any shame to begin with.
"Alright, whatever your goal is, but I really want this Tongtian Lu."
"Then, Professor Zhuo, how about we make a deal? If I win the championship, I won't take the Tongtian Lu; I'll give it to you instead?"
"That works, but I also really want the championship. How about this: I'll just take the Tongtian Lu, and give you the Celestial Master heir position? Then you'll at least have to get second place."
Zhang Chulan's eyes lit up.
That's right!
Instead of winning the championship myself, why not find someone more powerful to win it, and then have them pass the position to me?
I'm a genius!
No, Professor Zhuo is a genius, truly worthy of being a great scientist!
Although he had been taught a cultivation method by Feng Baobao, ostensibly called "Old Farmer's Art" but actually the Qi Body Origin, and had cultivated it for a month, developing new ways to use Thunder Arts and greatly increasing his strength, Zhang Chulan didn't believe he could consistently defeat his junior martial uncle, Zhang Lingyu.
If he couldn't defeat the opponent in an explosive state, then he would be the one to lose.
"Alright! Sister Zhao, you make the arrangements; I'm bringing my buddy in!"
Xu Si ran back from outside, grinning. He pulled open the car door and subtly gave Zhang Chulan a look.
You got it settled?
Little Zhang extended three fingers, making an OK gesture.
"Come on! Professor Zhuo, I scouted out this Langyue Pavilion Bathhouse yesterday, and the quality is top-notch! I'll lead the way!"
Qingshui followed Xu Si out of the car.
Zhang Chulan looked at the lavishly decorated bathhouse, then down at himself. It felt as if he could see the Cinnabar Mark's restriction through his pants, and he was on the verge of tears.
The group didn't return to the hotel until the early hours of the morning.
The next morning, everyone, like a tourist group, arrived at the entrance of Longhu Mountain.
"This... it's a bit different from what I imagined. We have to pay for tickets to attend the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony? Full price 260, that's too expensive, almost a week's worth of my living expenses."
Zhang Chulan looked at the ticket in his hand, complaining bitterly.
Although he had joined Nadou Tong, he had only received one paycheck so far.
For the past twelve years, his life had been quite tight. After Zhang Huaiyi's death, his father Zhang Yude also mysteriously disappeared. To protect himself, Zhang Chulan had never revealed his Anomalous Human identity for twelve years. Being able to eat, study, and get into Nankai University was all thanks to government policy and the support of his fellow villagers, so his life was still very tight.
A 260 ticket fee was practically taking his life.
"No choice. Most of the front part of Longhu Mountain is managed by the tourism bureau. Even the Daoists of the Celestial Master's Mansion can only manage the back mountain, and only a small section of the front mountain."
Xu Si, uncharacteristically not smoking, answered with his hands in his pockets.
"Heh, is there any place in this world not managed by the tourism bureau? Speaking of which, do Daoists have to pay an entrance fee to go up Longhu Mountain too?"
"Daoists from Longhu Mountain don't need to pay to return to their own mountain gate, but I, being from Wudang, have to pay, and there's no discount either. Sigh."
A languid voice sounded, and a young Daoist in a black robe leisurely walked up to Zhang Chulan.
"Wudang Sect, Wang Ye. How should I address this benefactor? And this benefactor, why do you look familiar? Have I seen you somewhere before?"
Wang Ye smiled as he approached Zhang Chulan and Qingshui, his tone casual.
"I don't know, maybe on TV. I think I've been on a TV show recently."
"Uh... Today's saying?"
"It was News Broadcast..."
Not far away, Feng Baobao was squatting in front of a small stall, extending her hand for a white-browed old monk to read her palm.
"Very well, since this young benefactor has fate, it means it's destined! This is a crimson glazed bead string. My grand-master battled an 80,000-year-old fiery qilin on Longhu Mountain for 80,000 rounds before defeating it, extracting its spirit crystal, and crafting this bead. Not 98,000, not 9,800, just 998!"
"That's so awesome! I want it, I want it!"
"Baobao! He's a swindler! What kind of monk battles fiery qilins on Daoist territory to sell things?!"
Xu San pulled Feng Baobao, whose eyes were glazed over by the swindler, and tried to persuade her with great effort.
"The Heavenly Master is here."
Wang Ye suddenly looked towards the entrance.
"Oh my, Professor Zhuo, you came without even notifying me in advance! If I hadn't happened to be doing research on Longhu Mountain, I wouldn't have known you were here. Old Heavenly Master, this is Zhuo Qingshui, Professor Zhuo, a great scientist!"
A stout leader stood beside the Old Heavenly Master, introducing Qingshui and the Heavenly Master to each other. Behind them stood a handsome, white-haired Daoist with a cinnabar mark on his forehead.
"Zhuo Qingshui greets the Old Heavenly Master, True Man Lingyu, and this is…"
Qingshui cupped his hands to the three and looked at the stout leader.
"Professor Zhuo, I'm Dai Jun, the deputy director of the YT City Tourism Bureau."
The leader said with a chuckle.
This great scientist held a high position in academia, and his suggestions could directly reach the highest authorities. Even if they weren't strictly on the same path, they absolutely couldn't offend him. Not to mention there was no conflict of interest between them; befriending him might prove useful in the future.
"I see, my apologies, Director Dai. I just took advantage of my students' vacation to come out and travel. There's no need for such a grand welcome."
While Qingshui was interacting with Director Dai, Zhang Zhiwei looked at Zhang Chulan with benevolent eyes.
He had already seen Zhang Chulan's photos.
"Chulan, call him Grandmaster."
The Old Heavenly Master patted Zhang Chulan's shoulder.
"Grandmaster…"
"Lingyu, you first take Professor Zhuo and Director Dai around for me. I have some things I want to discuss with Chulan."
...
...
Accompanied by the accomplished Zhang Lingyu, Qingshui and Director Dai took a brief tour of Longhu Mountain. They politely declined the lunch invitation and crossed the cliff separating the front and back mountains, arriving at the back of Longhu Mountain.
The front mountain was a tourist attraction and the entrance to Daoism, but the back mountain was the true territory of the Celestial Master's Mansion within the Anomalous Human World.
A sufficiently deep and wide cliff was enough to divide Anomalous Humans from ordinary people.
Director Dai wasn't an Anomalous Human, but he did know some information, though he wasn't deeply involved, so there was no need to make a fuss.
The Luo Tian Grand Ceremony's appearance drawing ceremony was scheduled for the afternoon.
"Team A Carp, first to appear?"
Qingshui looked at the drawing results, fiddling with a nearly completed longsword in front of him.
The sword was slender, radiating cold light.
This was the advantage of knowing Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements: as long as he had the materials, he could quickly forge any Magic Tool he desired.
Although time was tight, this sword wasn't a high-end Magic Tool, but it wasn't bad either.
In the hands of an ordinary Artificer, it would take at least three or four years to create.
Qingshui only took three days.
"It amplifies the power and range of sword Qi and can be remotely controlled to some extent, though its flexibility is lacking. However, if Chakra Threads are used as an aid, it should function like the Immortal-Slaying Flying Dagger Object Manipulation Technique of the Jia Family Village in Shaanxi, allowing one to act as a sword immortal."
Qingshui extended Chakra Threads, manipulating the longsword to float around the room in the Longhu Mountain guesthouse.
The flying dagger technique of Jia Family Village was renowned, and in Qingshui's view, it shared similarities with Artificers and Puppet Masters in some aspects.
Artificers spent several years slowly Materializing and forging a Magic Tool, while the Jia Family Village handed weapons to children from a young age once they learned to refine Qi, allowing them to nurture the weapons through secret Materialization techniques.
This method was much faster than forging Magic Tools, but its sole drawback was that the items were limited to flying daggers and couldn't be as versatile as Magic Tools.
However, if a flying dagger was nurtured long enough, its power was no less than that of a high-tier Magic Tool.
And as the flying dagger's grade increased, the difficulty of controlling it would decrease. If one had sufficient mental power, they could nurture and use a second flying dagger.
Jia Zhengyu could use three flying daggers, making him a master among the younger generation, worthy of being recruited by Feng Zhenghao. Jia Zhengliang could control twelve; if he weren't reluctant to fight beautiful women, Feng Shayan certainly wouldn't be his match.
Qingshui's requirements weren't that complex; he only needed a usable sword, and it had to be able to combine with his Platinum Puppet.
He casually took a photo and sent the drawing results to the WeChat group.
"I'm Team B White Tiger, Baobao is Team A Plum Blossom. Teacher Zhuo, we're conveniently in two different major districts. Baobao will be able to take care of my opponents before the top four, and you can take care of Zhang Lingyu for me before the finals. The three of us are definitely going to dominate!"
In the next room, Zhang Chulan held his phone, looking excited.
He felt like he was being directly sent to the finals!
In the newly created small WeChat group from yesterday:
Morgan's Byakugan Fruit Fly: "Brother Chulan, is Qi Body Origin really that powerful? Can it directly help you reach the top four? I see you'll encounter Zhuge Qing later! And to add, Ah Qing is really handsome! I need to go get his autograph tomorrow!"
Outlaw Zhang San: "Sister Yanqiu is right, and there's Iron Horse Monkey. This guy's father is a lay disciple of Southern Shaolin, quite famous. He combined his family's Tongbei Fist with Buddhist techniques, and he's also a master among the younger generation. Brother Chulan, are you confident?"
Zhang Chulan tilted his head slightly, looking at Xu San and Xu Si.
He didn't know the skill level of the other contestants.
"As for Iron Horse Monkey, if you use that move developed from the Lightning Technique, you should win easily. As for Zhuge Qing…"
Xu San propped his chin, deep in thought.
"That guy hasn't lost a single match among the younger generation. His Martial Marquis Qimen is already perfected, making him incredibly difficult to deal with. Even I, nearly ten years older than him, might not be able to take him down."
"Eh, why overthink it? The day before the match, we can just have Baobao bury him, right?"
Xu Si waved his hand, a cigarette dangling from his lips.
"No smoking in the room, Xu Si!"
Xu San reached to snatch the cigarette.
"No problem, just leave it to me!"
Feng Baobao made an OK sign with her hand.
"Baobao, this time it's different. You can't bury him!"
"It's fine. We'll just deny everything afterward."
Feng Baobao looked utterly pleased with her cleverness.
Xu San felt a headache coming on.
Why are they all so utterly shameless?
"Alright, we'll see when the time comes. If Chulan can't beat Zhuge Qing, then we'll just have Baobao and Professor Zhuo win the championship. It's all the same."
Xu Si waved his hand dismissively.
...
The next day.
In the preliminaries and the round of 32 to 16, Qingshui didn't exert much effort. He simply relied on a Magic Tool longsword and his cultivation, which had just reached the late stage of Understanding Ghosts, to sweep through his opponents.
A cultivation at the Understanding Ghosts stage was already considered good in the Anomalous Human World. In the late stage of Understanding Ghosts, he was considered top-tier among the younger generation. Aside from the masters of the middle-aged and older generation, no one could possibly surpass him in life cultivation.
Combined with his swordsmanship, which incorporated the essence of the Mohist Sect's Non-Aggression Sword Art, even without using puppets, he was more than a match for these younger Anomalous Humans.
It's also worth mentioning that Zhang Chulan, relying on his glib tongue and shamelessness, managed to defeat all three of his preliminary opponents without shedding a drop of blood, earning himself the nickname "Shameless Lotus" in the Anomalous Human World.
The real excitement, however, began at the gathering of the young competitors that evening.
"Zhang Chulan."
Wang Ergou, a retainer of the Lu Family, looked at Zhang Chulan with a reserved expression.
"Uh… yes, what can I do for you?"
"Let us see your *privates*!"
Wang Ergou clasped his hands together, making a very effeminate gesture of holding his heart, his eyes behind his glasses full of anticipation.
Zhang Chulan: ???!!!
He immediately flew into a rage.
"What the hell do you mean by that?! Do you think I'm gay? Do I look gay?! Or do I just look easy to bully?! I'm about to explode!!!"
"No, no, no, we're not interested in your *privates*. We're just curious about the Cinnabar Mark on them!"
"Not interested in my *privates? Are you looking down on my privates*?!"
"No, no, no, it's not like that. We're just very curious about this kind of nearly lost forbidden sealing technique."
Lu Linglong rushed over, looking anxious.
"Yes, yes, yes, it's definitely not for any lewd reasons!"
Lu Linglong's good friend Zhijinhua quickly chimed in as well.
"Go play with yourselves!"
Zhang Chulan righteously refused.
...
An hour later.
"Heh heh, eh heh heh."
Zhang Chulan's face was flushed with the red of drunkenness as he stood on a haystack.
"Then today, I'll give you all a real eye-opener! Behold!"
A holy light appeared.
Qingshui sat cross-legged, discarding the empty potato chip bag in his hand, and carefully examined it.
This thing…
It was quite similar to Sealing Jutsu.
It could autonomously sense the emotions of external individuals, whether good or evil. This Cinnabar Mark also contained certain realms that Sealing Jutsu had not yet touched upon.
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