I picked up skill fragments in the demon world

#145 - Golden Light Shooter

Firstly, if Fox Fairy Nannan was being followed by a great cultivator from the Daoist temple and they tracked her to this place, I... can find an excuse to brush it off. What does the golden light from the talisman have to do with a minor Daoist like Zhang Chen? At worst, I'll just claim I found the talisman.

Secondly, if it was a passing monster that was attacked by my Righteous God's Light, then... no big deal.

Zhang Chen quickly opened his Dharma eyes, his gaze piercing into the darkness, but he saw nothing unusual.

"What's going on?" Fox Fairy Nannan asked Zhang Chen. As the Righteous God's Light was automatically triggered, she too had sensed a hint of unease.

Zhang Chen told the fox spirit his two guesses, and the fox spirit frowned, pondering the likelihood of each scenario.

"Which scenario do you think is more likely?" Zhang Chen asked, his eyes filled with a probing look.

Fox Fairy Nannan thought for a moment and shook her head. "Although my powers are sealed, my essence is still that of a seventh-order soul夺舍. I'm only one step away from entering the Yin God realm. If someone were following me, I couldn't possibly be completely unaware."

"What if it's someone comparable to a Yang God?" Zhang Chen asked again.

"If someone in the Yang God realm noticed my presence, they would surely be tempted by the legendary power. They would have already come to my door by now," Fox Fairy Nannan didn't directly answer whether a Yang God could follow her, but phrased it differently.

Zhang Chen stood by the window, his eyes fixed on the darkness. The darkness beneath the trees seemed like the gaping maw of a beast, ready to swallow him whole at any moment.

"Don't worry, it must have been a monster passing by that was accidentally injured by you. You know, the Yellow Sky Dao is gaining more and more momentum, and there are countless people secretly investigating news about it. It's normal for someone to sneak in at night," Fox Fairy Nannan comforted him.

While Zhang Chen was being paranoid, a shrill scream echoed from the pavilion where Xie Lingyun resided.

It turned out that Xie Lingyun had used her unique mystery to conceal her soul's aura, but she didn't know that Zhang Chen's Righteous God's Light was beyond the norm. She had just followed the fox spirit to the entrance of Zhang Chen's courtyard when she suddenly saw a golden light erupting from the courtyard like a sharp sword. The light was vast and mighty, flowing with infinite power, and it startled her Heavenly Demon, causing fear to arise in its heart.

Then, the mystery took the initiative to flee with her soul, but its escape light was clearly not as fast as the Righteous God's Light. As the Righteous God's Light struck the black mystery, a scream rang out. The Heavenly Demon was split apart, and it fled back to her body in a panic, where it lay dormant, daring not to appear again.

"What?" Xie Lingyun stood in her small dwelling, a look of surprise on her face. There was no anger on her face, but rather endless joy.

Her Heavenly Demon was formless, without image, immortal, and indestructible. Even her father couldn't do anything about it. This thing was attached to her essence, energy, and spirit, and there was simply no counter to it. She had exhausted all means and methods, but couldn't find a way to subdue the Heavenly Demon. Even the Yellow Sky Dao couldn't do anything about it. She had already given up hope, but who knew that after twists and turns, she would find a glimmer of hope. She had actually encountered a power that frightened the Heavenly Demon.

"I'm saved! I'm saved!" Tears slowly streamed down Xie Lingyun's face. Who could have imagined the bitterness of her life? From the age of one, she had been entangled by the Heavenly Demon, facing the danger of her soul being scattered. Only today had she finally found the power that could save her from the sea of suffering.

Heaven knows how she had survived the past ten years since she was entangled by the Heavenly Demon at the age of three?

She was just a child! But she had to be threatened and oppressed by the Heavenly Demon every day, living in its shadow day and night. Who could know the helplessness and sorrow in her heart?

"Saved? You reptile, you're thinking too much! Do you really think that power can do anything to me?" At this moment, a black gas appeared behind Xie Lingyun, turning into a shadow that emitted words that were neither male nor female, neither old nor young. The voice of the black figure was filled with anger:

"Although that power can restrain me, it's too weak. This old ancestor was just caught off guard and accidentally startled by it! Although that power can restrain me, it will take a long time to grow to the point where it can eliminate me, and I will never give it time to grow. When I seize your body, I will devour that power, and then this old ancestor might have unexpected gains."

"Seize my body? Now that I've found a power that can restrain you, do you think I'll give you a chance to seize me?" Xie Lingyun's voice was cold and filled with a kind of dominance:

"You're doomed!"

"I'm doomed? Hehe! Then we'll see whose methods are better," The Heavenly Demon sneered.

The room returned to silence, and the black shadow dissipated. Only Xie Lingyun stood quietly by the window, her eyes looking in the direction of Zhang Chen's building: "It's not appropriate to visit so late. Moreover, this person is hiding his name in the Yellow Pear Temple, not showing off. If I go directly to his door, it might be a bit inappropriate."

"Go to sleep first! Now that I've found a chance to restrain the Heavenly Demon, do I still have to worry about not having a chance to get close?" Xie Lingyun took off her clothes and slowly lay down on the bed, a smile on her lips. This was the first time in more than ten years that she had slept soundly.

After Zhang Chen finished eating the pastries, he sat at the door of his room for a long time and saw nothing unusual. Then he stood up and sighed: "If it weren't for finding the cultivation formula for the later stages of Qi training, I should have taken the opportunity to escape and leave the Yellow Sky Dao far away. This Yellow Sky Dao is too dangerous, not safe at all."

Zhang Chen muttered, and his uneasy heart finally settled down: "If there really is an old ancestor in the Daoist temple who discovered my Righteous God's Light, they should have come to my door by now."

At the same time, this incident served as a reminder to Zhang Chen not to casually infuse items with the Righteous God's Light in the future.

Zhang Chen lay on the bed and fell into a drowsy sleep until the smell of herbs woke him up in the morning.

"Zhang Chen, get up and drink your medicine," Xiao Douding stood by the bed and shouted at Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen opened his eyes. It was still dark, but Xiao Douding was already standing in front of the bed, his face covered in black, holding a bowl of medicine and looking at Zhang Chen, grinning to reveal his snow-white teeth.

“I say, Senior Sister, does this medicine of yours actually work? Why is it that after I drink it, I don't feel anything, but instead, I feel drowsy?” Zhang Chen looked at Little Bean, his eyes full of suspicion.

“You've only been drinking it for a few days. It'll take at least half a year to see results. Stop nagging and drink it quickly!” Little Bean urged, holding the bowl of medicine.

Helpless, Zhang Chen could only pick up the bowl, pinch his nose, and gulp it down. Then, the two of them began to wash up. They had barely finished washing when the bell for morning class rang.

After morning class, the two of them, carrying wooden buckets, rushed into the dining hall. However, this time they were a little late, and after waiting in line at the end, only half a bucket of porridge remained.

“Next time we line up, we'll stand at the very end of the line, so that after morning class, we can be the first to rush to the dining hall.” Little Bean complained, holding half a bowl of porridge.

“I think that's a good idea!” Zhang Chen nodded in agreement with Little Bean.

After the two finished their porridge, they sauntered into the main hall, ready to start working, but they saw that noble lady in red again, who was now sitting cross-legged on a prayer mat in the hall, chanting scriptures.

The two stood at the threshold, waiting, not daring to disturb her, until a quarter of an hour later, when the noble lady finished chanting and stood up, turning her head to look at them: “Didn't I tell you? From now on, come directly into the hall to clean, you don't need to mind me.”

As she spoke, she came to Little Bean, pinched her delicate cheeks, her eyes filled with affection, pulling her cheeks out of shape.

“We have enough time to clean, we wouldn't dare to disturb the peace of a noble.” Zhang Chen quickly bowed.

“I'm telling you, just do as I say. I'm not afraid of being disturbed by others.” Xie Lingyun said.

Hearing Xie Lingyun's words, Zhang Chen could only nod in agreement: “Since that's the case, next time we will follow the noble lady's instructions.”

Xie Lingyun nodded in satisfaction, then released Little Bean's cheeks, a smile on her face as she turned and left.

“Zhang Chen, I hate this woman.” Little Bean rubbed her cheeks vigorously, saying angrily: “No one has ever dared to pinch my face like that! If it weren't for the fact that she's a woman, I would have taught her a lesson.”

Little Bean muttered, expressing her dissatisfaction.

Meanwhile, Xie Lingyun left the main hall, and the Enforcement Elder accompanied Xie Lingyun on a stroll through the Taoist temple. Whether by coincidence or unintentionally, they happened to pass by Zhang Chen and Little Bean's courtyard. Xie Lingyun stopped and said, “This courtyard is quite unique.”

“If you like it, I'll ask the people inside to give it up to you right away, and you can move in tonight.” The Enforcement Elder said obsequiously.

“Oh? Who lives inside? Is it convenient?” Xie Lingyun asked seemingly casually.

If the Enforcement Elder said it was inconvenient, it would mean that the high-level members of the Taoist temple lived inside. If the Enforcement Elder responded that it was convenient, she could also take the opportunity to learn their information.

“What's inconvenient about it? It's just two ordinary disciples of the Taoist temple. It would be their blessing to give up the house to you.” The Enforcement Elder said with a smile.

Hearing the Enforcement Elder's words, Xie Lingyun said thoughtfully:

“Forget it, there's no need to go to so much trouble, I may not even stay for long.”

She already had a guess in her heart that these two disciples must be strange. They were hiding in the Taoist temple under assumed names. It seemed that the Yellow Heaven Dao had no idea of their abilities.

Since they were just ordinary disciples, it would be much easier to handle. What she needed to figure out now was whether the golden light came from the disciples themselves or from the mysterious objects around them, and then come up with a countermeasure.

The two of them walked away, and no one knew that this seemingly casual question actually changed the fate of countless people.

After Zhang Chen and the fox spirit finished cleaning the main hall, they returned to the courtyard again, and then Little Bean began to urge Zhang Chen to practice martial arts.

Zhang Chen was practicing the True Dragon Grand Stance when suddenly a female voice came from outside the courtyard: “Your True Dragon Grand Stance is well-practiced, but unfortunately, it's still a bit lacking. There are three key mistakes. If you can't correct these mistakes, it will be difficult to step into the Ming Jin stage.”

Hearing this, Zhang Chen subconsciously looked towards the gate and saw Xie Lingyun in red standing outside the gate, her eyes, like cut water, looking at Zhang Chen's movements, pointing out the mistakes.

Zhang Chen quickly stopped practicing the True Dragon Grand Stance, not bothering to wipe the sweat from his body, and respectfully said to the noble lady: “Greetings, noble.”

“I just happened to be passing by and saw that your martial arts practice had some progress, but it was lacking something, so I couldn't help but point it out.” Xie Lingyun walked into the courtyard smoothly, without the slightest bit of abruptness.

“My humble martial arts have tainted your eyes, please don't blame me.” Zhang Chen was very careful at this time. This woman had a great background, and he didn't dare to offend her. Since seeing Chen Sanliang and the down-and-out Chai Chuanxin, Zhang Chen knew more and more about the nobility's contempt for civilians. He now just wanted to lie low in the Taiping Dao, and then find an opportunity to climb up, find clues to the higher-level Qi refining formulas, and didn't want to cause any trouble.

“You don't need to be so restrained. I just saw that you are a promising talent, so I just pointed it out.” Xie Lingyun took the initiative to lower her posture to get closer.

Of course, Zhang Chen knew the mistakes in his martial arts practice. He had only been casually practicing the True Dragon Grand Stance before, just to fool Little Bean. He was already a cultivator, so why practice martial arts? It was completely unnecessary!

If Little Bean hadn't been constantly nagging, and he just happened to be idle, he wouldn't have come to practice martial arts.

Hearing this, Zhang Chen's eyes moved, and he glanced at the noble lady in front of him: “So this noble lady likes to be a teacher. Judging from her imposing manner, her identity and status must be extraordinary. If I can befriend her, it would be beneficial to me. I want to climb to the higher levels of the Yellow Heaven Dao. I am weak and alone. If I can have the support of a noble… … ”

So Zhang Chen simply catered to her preferences, satisfying her quirk of liking to be a teacher, and said respectfully: “Please give me guidance, noble, I am very grateful.”

Hearing this, Xie Lingyun nodded in satisfaction, the corners of her mouth slightly raised: “Your True Dragon Grand Stance has three mistakes. The first is that in the third stance, the left shoulder is three points lower, completely failing to achieve the stretching effect.”

As she spoke, Xie Lingyun simply stood up and demonstrated it for Zhang Chen.

Xie Lingyun's posture was graceful and extremely flexible, but when Zhang Chen saw Xie Lingyun's soft and unrestrained True Dragon Grand Stance, a look of bewilderment appeared in his eyes: When did the nobles become so talkative? This is not the same as the behavior of the nobles I know?

This is very un-noble!

A look of bewilderment appeared in Zhang Chen's eyes: This noble is too approachable!