I Collect Skill Fragments in the Demon World-Chapter 454 - 242: The Locked Ruins

"The True Dragon Fate of Prince Pingbian’s Mansion is rich and flourishing. According to the current Dragon Qi calculations, the fortune will last at least another eight hundred years," Gu Mingyue glanced at the mountains and praised.

"This is the result of several generations of diligent effort from Prince Pingbian’s Mansion. We at the Prince’s Mansion love the people as if they were our own children, reduce taxes, ease labor duties, reform the bureaucracy, win over officials and gentry, and introduce external talents. After hundreds of years of hard work, we have today’s climate," Mr. Wuliu’s voice was full of pride.

"Prince Pingbian’s Mansion has the aura of an emperor, no wonder the court is so wary of it. The Great Victory Court is already in decline with eunuchs interfering in politics, and severe land annexation. Once I establish the Yellow Heaven with the Yellow Heaven Dao, your Prince Pingbian’s Mansion might indeed take the world. At that time, when you establish the Human Divine Country, there will be the foundation for ten thousand generations and the blessing of immortality," Gu Mingyue’s voice was full of hope.

Mr. Wuliu also revealed a hint of anticipation in his eyes and then, excitedly, he said, "This is the decree of Prince Pingbian’s Mansion. With this decree’s protection, you will avoid the backlash of the Dragon Vein Qi. I request you to act and guide the soul and body of the Old Prince into the Dragon Vein."

Gu Mingyue accepted the decree, stored it in the Divine Soul, and then displayed her Divine Techniques. Whatever means she used, the body of the Flood Dragon from the depths of the Yellow River suddenly disappeared, only to reappear within the mountains.

She began chanting True Words, causing the Flood Dragon’s body to shatter, transforming into streams of earth-yellow Qi, which flooded into the Dragon Vein. Zhang Shicheng’s physical body seamlessly merged with the Dragon Vein.

"Please have the Old Prince’s Divine Soul return to take its place in the Earth Vein," Gu Mingyue pointed at the earth, and a dragon’s roar resounded as Zhang Shicheng’s Dragon Soul soared through the night sky, directly entering the enormous True Dragon Fate above the Northern Land. At that moment, the Earth Vein emanated a powerful suction force, the vast Fate of Heaven and Earth, and the wandering Dragon Qi poured into the Earth Vein like a waterfall.

Three hundred miles away, Zhang Chen, who was about to meditate, was suddenly awakened by a dragon’s roar. He swiftly opened his eyes to find the Eight Trigrams Furnace in his home humming and quivering, with a whistling sound from within.

"What the hell is this?" Zhang Chen was shocked. How did the Eight Trigrams Furnace in his home suddenly act up? Could something have gone wrong?

He hurried to the furnace to check, only to see the flames inside suddenly swell a hundredfold. Under the fierce flames, the Taiyi Geng Metal Flying Sword inside began to melt drop by drop into molten iron that dripped down.

"How could this happen? Why would the flame power inside the Eight Trigrams Furnace suddenly surge?" Zhang Chen’s eyes were filled with disbelief: "What could have caused the flame power inside my Eight Trigrams Furnace to surge?"

Zhang Chen continuously pondered the key point, but could find no clues or gains.

Not only was the Flying Sword melting, but even the earth-yellow light sphere seemed to be affected by some inexplicable force, showing signs of melting.

"What happened? I seemed to have heard a dragon’s roar just now," Zhang Chen stood in front of the furnace, pondering.

After pondering for a while but finding no path to a solution, he decided to exit the cave and take a look. When he opened his Dharma Eye, surveying the night sky over the Northern Land, Zhang Chen was stunned: "What the hell? Where has the enormous Fate gathered over the Northern Land gone? How did the massive Fate gathered by the Transformed Dragon and Walking Flood Dragon just disappear?"

Zhang Chen widened his eyes, desperately scanning, but no matter how big his eyes got, like those of an ox, the Fate of the world had indeed inexplicably vanished.

"Impossible! Could it be that Zhang Shicheng’s Dragon Transformation failed? And that’s why the gathered True Dragon Fate dissipated?" Many hypotheses flickered through Zhang Chen’s mind. Then, he performed the Water Control Technique, silently sensing the flow of water vapor in the world, but quickly, Zhang Chen frowned:

"No, the world’s water vapor is still converging towards the Northern Land, and the flow trend of groundwater hasn’t changed. But why has the True Dragon Fate disappeared?"

Zhang Chen was utterly baffled, unable to figure it out for the moment.

Regardless, the sudden increase in the furnace’s flame was a good thing for him.

"Judging by the ferocity of the current flames, it will take about ten days to refine the nine Flying Swords into molten iron. However, that sphere is a Twelfth Tier mystery, its level too high. Even without the blessing of deities’ power, melting it is extremely difficult. With the power of the Eight Trigrams Furnace, combined with the Heaven and Earth Strange Fire, it’s barely possible. Without the furnace’s power, just relying on the natural power of the Heaven and Earth Strange Fire alone, it’s impossible to smelt a Twelfth Tier mystery. Even a Twelfth Tier flame can’t do it!" Zhang Chen continuously calculated and pondered the key to it.

After some time, Zhang Chen returned to his residence to continue cultivating and meditating, entering the Spiritual World to explore the Buddhist hall.

Zhang Chen summoned the Fox Spirit, and the two roamed through the Spiritual World, passing one grand hall after another, only to find them empty, apart from some junk, without any gains.

"It’s supposed to be a grand temple, yet it’s left nothing behind, damn, what a disappointment," Fox Spirit Nannan cursed after they searched the entire temple.

Fox Spirit Nannan was extremely disappointed. It was a grand temple in the Spiritual World, yet to leave behind nothing of value?

Zhang Chen glanced at Fox Spirit Nannan, not refuting her words, as he too found the grand temple in the Spiritual World somewhat disappointing.

Where were the promised countless creations of the Spiritual World? Where were the promised wonders and the Reishi Immortal Grass?

Zhang Chen returned to the ruins, dug out the strange red flower from the debris, and took it to the abbot’s quarters, intending to hide the flower under a floor tile.

"This floor tile is indeed a treasure," Zhang Chen looked at the tile, a bit heatedly, "I wonder if the underground world is built into this tile or if the tile is merely a linking mechanism?"

He thought of the Grotto World and dimensional space.

"Stop dreaming, if it were a Grotto World, it would have been discovered by its enemies long ago. How could it fall to you? Only intricate mechanisms and arrays might have a chance to evade its enemies’ search." The Great Freedom Celestial Demon seemed to know Zhang Chen’s thoughts and spoke, "If you dig out that tile, the entire mechanism will be ruined. And I also do not recommend hiding treasure here, in case the mechanism breaks down after years of disrepair."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen felt disappointed, thought for a while, then went to the Scripture Pavilion, hiding the small red flower on the third floor, where it would be safer with the guarded stairs.

Hiding the small red flower, it could very well be a lifesaver at a critical moment, a method to turn the tides after flipping Heaven and Earth.

"Stop wandering, just meditate and cultivate. For us, that’s the most important thing," Fox Spirit Nannan sat cross-legged on the ground, refusing to budge, feeling that all the wandering had been a waste of time and energy that could have been invested in cultivation.

Zhang Chen, however, dismissed her notion, considering the myriad mysterious creations in the Spiritual World, finding sitting and cultivating a sheer waste of time. Gaining a single Six-Word Mantra was worth any amount of wasted time.

That was a Six-Word Mantra, the highest profound meaning of Buddhism, the supreme Divine Technique.

"You cultivate; I will continue to explore," Zhang Chen declared, finishing his exploration of the mountaintop before turning to head downhill.

Watching Zhang Chen’s back, Fox Spirit Nannan gritted her teeth in frustration. Zhang Chen controlled the ability to stabilize the wind and sand. If he left, and black sand began to cover her, wouldn’t she be in big trouble?

With no other choice, she had to continue following Zhang Chen on his leisurely wandering.

Zhang Chen descended the stairs down the mountain, walking for about an hour before abruptly halting. Raising his head skywards, he noticed a small breeze rustling around him, flakes of black sand falling onto his face and clothes.

A breeze brushed over, stirring his robes and hair, making Zhang Chen’s pupils contract, "The wind’s power has increased! Logically, there shouldn’t be any wind within my Wind Stabilizing Rune, yet now there is a breeze blowing in, carrying sand. The Wind Stabilizing Rune’s power remains unchanged; the only explanation is that the wind’s force has grown stronger."

"Small winds at the summit, strong winds below? That defies natural law; shouldn’t the wind be stronger atop the mountain, weaker below?" Zhang Chen stood deep in thought.