ATPnovel #292 - And me!
#292 - And me!
Chapter 291: And Me!
"I am Wu Ming'er, and I have come to ask for guidance from my fellow disciple." Wu Ming'er cupped his fist in salute to Zhang Chen, appearing very solemn.
"What?" Zhang Chen was stunned upon hearing this.
However, before he could react, Wu Ming'er had already pounced over. At the same time, a surge of frosty aura spread, and extreme cold power diffused around Wu Ming'er, trying to envelop Zhang Chen.
"Are you sick? You just come up and start a group fight without saying a word. You're seriously ill." Zhang Chen looked at the approaching cold air. The Sea-Stabilizing Pearl in his foundation of magic power trembled slightly. The next moment, a strange wave spread, and all the frost disappeared into thin air under that wave.
Wu Ming'er, who was running, was shocked at this moment. He suddenly stopped his steps. The power of ice in his body was trembling, and his eyes stared fixedly at the calm and collected young man. A great terror surged into his heart.
"Run!"
Wu Ming'er turned around and ran without saying a word. He never expected that the most hidden person in this competition was actually the young man in front of him.
You must know that even when he faced the Patriarch in the Yang God realm, he had never experienced such a situation where his bloodline was trembling in fear.
Wu Ming'er came in a hurry, and he retreated in a panic. Zhang Chen was stunned by the sight, but then he reacted: "This Wu Ming'er is also full of rebellious bones, unwilling to be harvested by the Daoist temple and become Zhang Xiaohua's resource. I just didn't expect this kid to actually try to harvest me. This kid is unlucky. That power of ice also belongs to the evolution of the law of water, which happens to be restrained by my Sea-Stabilizing Divine Pearl."
Zhang Chen quickly understood everything, so he lowered his head and continued to forge iron. He was not surprised by this situation. People are not animals, so how could they be willing to be manipulated by the Daoist temple?
Wu Ming'er, as a proud talent who had cultivated his Qi and blood, and also awakened the power of his bloodline, how could he be willing to be harvested and become someone else's resource?
Zhang Chen was hammering away in the courtyard. Seeing that three hours had passed and the sky had darkened, the bell of the Daoist temple suddenly rang. Zhang Chen paused his action of hammering the iron sword: "Strange, why did the Daoist temple suddenly summon all the disciples?"
Zhang Chen felt a little strange in his heart, but he still put down the hammer and sword, and beckoned to Xiaodou Ding, quickly heading towards the direction of the martial arts field to gather.
A major event had occurred in Huangli Temple, a huge event!
When Zhang Chen and Xiaodou Ding arrived at the martial arts field, they had already heard the news that Li Donglai and Wu Ming'er had both taken action, defeated the other participating disciples, and then ran down the mountain.
By the time someone discovered the severely injured and tied-up participating disciples, it was already too late. Where were the traces of Wu Ming'er and Li Donglai?
Liu Feng's face was gloomy as he swept over the elders and disciples. Without superfluous words, he just said coldly: "Wu Ming'er and Li Donglai have betrayed the Huangtian Dao. You immediately go down the mountain, seal off all passages, and search the mountain for the traces of Wu Ming'er and Li Donglai. Once discovered, do not startle the two of them, and immediately send a signal to report."
With an order, all the disciples were dispatched, carrying lanterns and heading into the mountains. However, at this time, the sky was dark, and it was not easy to find two gods who had cultivated martial arts Qi and blood and also awakened their natal divine powers.
Zhang Chen and Xiaodou Ding were also mixed in the crowd. Xiaodou Ding was asking the surrounding disciples about what had happened. A disciple who knew the inside story said:
"I heard that Li Donglai and Wu Ming'er went berserk and actually attacked the disciples who participated in the competition together. After injuring people, they disappeared without a trace, and the Daoist temple could not find their tracks."
Zhang Chen secretly clicked his tongue in his heart when he heard this. He didn't expect Li Donglai and Wu Ming'er to be so tough. For their own future, they actually betrayed as soon as they said they would betray. They were really ruthless people.
Zhang Chen muttered to himself, thinking of that madman Wu Ming'er, who actually took the initiative to find him and was defeated by him. Then, was his luck equivalent to being plundered by him?
"That's not right. Luck shouldn't be calculated like this, right? Defeating others means taking away their luck? How can there be such a good thing in the world? But why can the disciples of Huangtian Dao take away each other's luck?" Zhang Chen thought about the mystery of luck in his heart.
"Because everyone is doing one thing, determining the final winner through martial arts competitions. So, the so-called taking away luck is just taking away the luck related to the competition for the position of Water God's subordinate divine officer. The so-called taking away luck is just saying that one is taking away the opportunity and good fortune of a certain thing. If Li Donglai and Wu Ming'er leave the Huangtian Dao, they will only lose the luck related to the Star God, and their own opportunities will not be lost. But if the two continue to stay in the Huangtian Dao and become Zhang Xiaohua's subordinates, suppressed and controlled by Zhang Xiaohua, their luck will naturally become Zhang Xiaohua's resource in the future." Countless thoughts flowed through Zhang Chen's mind, secretly pondering the key points.
He is now a Qi Refiner, and he also possesses the Great Dao of Devouring and the Golden Light of a Righteous God. His vision is already extraordinary, and his understanding of luck naturally has his own understanding.
Zhang Chen and Xiaodou Ding scattered into the mountains, carrying lanterns and walking aimlessly in the mountains. Zhang Chen had no intention of doing serious things at all. Whether Wu Ming'er and Li Donglai escaped or not, what did it have to do with him?
"Senior Brother, what do we do now?" Cheng Yu followed behind Zhang Chen, looking worried and said: "That fat man won't be caught, right?"
"Don't worry, that little fat man has mastered copper skin and iron bones. It's not easy to catch him. Unless a Yang God master takes action, otherwise there is no way to deal with him at all. But Yang God powerhouses are of great importance, how can they take action casually?" Zhang Chen walked and came to a valley to sit down and rest:
"We just need to sleep here and wait for the sect to summon us back. That little fat man is slippery as a ghost, so don't worry."
After Zhang Chen finished speaking, he directly extinguished the lantern, and then lay on the bluestone with Xiaodou Ding to sleep. The sky has already darkened, who would know that the two of them are lying here?
It's just that Zhang Chen wanted to secretly be lazy and keep things quiet, but he couldn't resist the unlucky ones rushing up on their own.
Suddenly, a burst of shouting and noise came from the mountains in the distance. Roars and cries of killing continued to echo in the mountains. Zhang Chen and Xiaodou Ding turned over and sat up from the darkness, their eyes looking in the direction of the shouting and killing, their eyes full of astonishment: "Which unlucky guy didn't run away, and was actually dragged out?"
Zhang Chen was surprised in his heart, but he didn't intend to get involved, but hid in the forest and waited slowly.
After about an hour, suddenly a rush of footsteps sounded in the jungle, accompanied by a burst of rapid breathing. A figure stumbled out of the distant jungle, covered in blood.
Zhang Chen couldn't help but be stunned when he saw the person coming. It was Wu Ming'er.
Wu Ming'er was injured, with arrows stuck in his body. It seems that this kid had experienced a fierce battle before he broke out of the encirclement.
Zhang Chen saw Wu Ming'er, and Wu Ming'er also saw Zhang Chen.
The moon rose, providing enough light to see people, though faces remained indistinct, revealing only general outlines. Despite being struck by an arrow, Wu Ming'er's pace remained unaffected.
Initially, seeing Zhang Chen from afar, Wu Ming'er had rushed over with murderous intent, not taking Zhang Chen seriously. He intended to kill anyone who stood in his way, confident that the Yang God experts were preoccupied with the consecration and wouldn't intervene, according to his information.
However, as Wu Ming'er approached and clearly saw Zhang Chen's face, he inwardly cried out, "This is bad!"
Apart from a select few experts from the Yellow Sky Path, he was confident he could fight his way out no matter which Yellow Sky Path expert he encountered. But fate had him run into Zhang Chen, who was among that 'select few'.
The mere thought of his own trembling divine bloodline filled him with immense dread.
"Junior Brother, I never expected to run into you. It seems my luck, Wu Ming'er, has run out, and I'm destined to die here today," Wu Ming'er said, stopping and looking at Zhang Chen with a wry smile.
"Senior Brother, you wound me. When did I say I was going to stop you?" Zhang Chen said, smiling as he stood on the bluestone.
Wu Ming'er was stunned, a glimmer of hope igniting within him, rekindling the dying embers of his hope: "Junior Brother, do you mean…"
Zhang Chen pointed to the mountain path beside him: "Senior Brother is free to leave. I only hope that if Senior Brother is captured, you won't implicate me."
Overjoyed, Wu Ming'er removed his mask, revealing his true face, and bowed to Zhang Chen: "Junior Brother, I won't thank you with mere words. I will surely repay your kindness in the future."
With that, Wu Ming'er ran past the boulder, showing no caution towards Zhang Chen.
Only after Wu Ming'er had gone far did Little Bean Sprout come forward, puzzled, and asked: "Junior Brother, why did you let him go?"
"We have no personal grudges, only different allegiances," Zhang Chen said, stroking Little Bean Sprout's head. "You must remember, some people may be on different sides, but they are not necessarily our enemies."
"Let's go, we shouldn't stay here. The senior brothers from the Daoist temple will soon follow the trail. It's not safe for us to remain here," Zhang Chen said, picking up Little Bean Sprout and disappearing into the darkness.
Not long after Zhang Chen and Little Bean Sprout left, disciples from the Daoist temple arrived with crossbows, but Wu Ming'er was nowhere to be found.
Crossbows were the best tool for dealing with martial arts experts. Even if you've achieved the 'imperishable body', you're still flesh and blood, and a volley of arrows could kill you.
The night's efforts proved fruitless, and the disciples returned to the mountain, dejected and empty-handed.
Liu Feng's face was grim, and Zhang Xiaohua's face was dark as a thundercloud, seemingly ready to drip water.
Li Donglai's connection to Wu Ming'er was significant, and now that the latter had escaped with his acquired luck, it had ruined his plans, leaving him at a loss.
"Insolent fool! How dare you disregard the sect's interests! You deserve to be cut into a thousand pieces!" Liu Feng trembled with anger. With this matter gone awry, he feared the higher-ups would not let him off easily.
"Abbot, what should we do now?" someone asked.
"Continue the competition, first collect the remaining luck," Liu Feng replied, then turned to Zhang Xiaohua: "Little Prince, please be patient. I have arranged everything below. You don't need to do anything, just go through the motions, and victory will naturally be yours."
Then, Liu Feng turned to the disciples and said: "The martial arts competition will continue. Li Donglai and Wu Ming'er are disqualified from the top ten. Now, come forward and draw lots. The winner will be decided this morning."
As soon as Liu Feng finished speaking, the disciples began to forfeit their rights, leaving only Zhang Chen, Chu Mingyue, and Zhang Xiaohua to step forward.
Chu Mingyue's face was pale and bloodless, clearly having suffered severe injuries the night before. He forced himself to step onto the stage to defeat Zhang Chen and please Zhang Xiaohua, so that Zhang Xiaohua wouldn't have to compete.
At this moment, Liu Feng glanced at Zhang Chen, hinting meaningfully: "Zhang Chen, now that the disciples in the Daoist temple have forfeited, do you still want to continue the competition?"
Zhang Chen seemed not to understand the true meaning of Liu Feng's words, and continued to step forward with his sword in his arms, saying: "Reporting to the Abbot, this disciple wishes to continue the competition."
Liu Feng didn't take it seriously, not placing Zhang Chen in his eyes at all. One must know that martial arts experts who have cultivated their Qi and blood are fundamentally different beings from ordinary mortals.
Even if Liu Feng was severely injured, he could still easily suppress Zhang Chen.
"Draw lots," Liu Feng waved his hand, signaling for someone to bring the box.
Then, the three of them stepped forward to draw lots. As expected, Zhang Chen was matched against Chu Mingyue, and Zhang Xiaohua received a bye. As long as Chu Mingyue won, and then faced Zhang Xiaohua with exhaustion and severe injuries, Zhang Xiaohua would naturally win the championship.
This arrangement was reasonable and logical, leaving no room for criticism.
"Boy, hurry up and come up. Let's make this quick," Chu Mingyue said, stepping onto the high platform and revealing a ferocious smile to Zhang Chen.
Zhang Chen, with his sword in his arms, slowly stepped onto the stage, then looked at Chu Mingyue: "I never thought that you would endure such serious injuries and still force yourself to step onto the stage to pave the way for your master. You really are a loyal dog."
Chu Mingyue's face changed upon hearing this, glaring at Zhang Chen: "Sharp-tongued brat, I'll let you know what real skill is later. Have you thought about how you want to die? Or, have you decided whether you want your left leg broken or your right leg broken?"
Chu Mingyue didn't use any weapons. As a dignified martial arts expert who had cultivated his Qi and blood, it would be a joke if he had to use weapons to deal with a mortal.
"Don't worry, I won't kill you. I'll just make sure you spend the rest of your life in bed, which can be considered a vent for the prince and revenge for your past bullying of the prince," Chu Mingyue said coldly.
"Enough nonsense, hurry up and attack! If you have real skills, just bring it on! If you don't have real skills, don't blame my sword for being blind," Zhang Chen said with a smile.
Thinking of the two missing front teeth of Little Bean Sprout, Zhang Chen couldn't help but feel anger burning in his heart, his eyes filled with rage.
How could they be so cruel to such a lovely child? Were they even human?
They were simply not human.
"Boy, how arrogant you are now, how miserable you will be later," Chu Mingyue sneered, and the next moment, his Qi and blood erupted, suppressing his injuries, and he rushed straight towards Zhang Chen.