Zhang Chen fixed his eyes on the Stone Tablet and saw countless red threads flickering across its surface, yet no Experience Points fell to the ground.
"Damn it! The Stone Tablet wants to run!" After watching for a while, Zhang Chen's heart stirred. "Could it be that I injured it, and it can't hold on anymore, so it wants to escape?"
Zhang Chen stepped forward and tried to drag the Stone Tablet back, but it weighed a thousand jin. It was simply beyond his strength to budge it.
"It tried to sink underground before, but I dug it out. It probably realized burrowing won't work, so now it's thinking of running outside?" Zhang Chen stared at the Stone Tablet in surprise. The next moment, golden light burst from within him, and he pressed both palms against it.
The Light of the Righteous God continued to flare, yet still no Experience Points dropped. At this point, Zhang Chen no longer cared much about Experience Points. A greater temptation awaited him—he wanted to see whether killing this strange entity would make it drop some ultimate reward.
Golden light erupted again and again. Countless red threads flashed continuously before being wiped away by the golden light. After a long while, Zhang Chen stopped. He opened his Dharma Eyes and looked at the Stone Tablet before him, a thoughtful look appearing in his gaze. "It doesn't seem to have changed at all!"
After all his efforts for half a day, the Stone Tablet before him remained the same, as though nothing had changed.
"Could there be a limit to the damage strange entities can take? Once they reach a certain limit, can they no longer be harmed? Or are strange entities simply impossible to kill or erase?" Zhang Chen examined the Stone Tablet, sweeping his gaze over it from every angle, only to find that it truly had not changed in the slightest.
Doubt filled his heart. Could strange entities really not be killed?
Or was the level of his golden light simply too low to erase the Stone Tablet before him?
Could he not kill this Stone Tablet strange entity?
"If I can't kill this Stone Tablet strange entity, then I'm afraid I'm in deep trouble. I've tormented it like this—I've probably forged a mortal enmity with it. If it can't be erased, won't I be trapped in this little village forever, watching it day and night to keep it from recovering its vitality?" Zhang Chen felt his scalp go numb.
Of course, what frightened him most was the possibility that he might let down his guard someday and allow the Stone Tablet strange entity to recover. When that happened, he could just wait for its revenge.
And most importantly, the Stone Tablet strange entity could move. It could run away! Though it moved rather slowly, if it kept going with unwavering determination, one day it would eventually fall into a river or ravine and completely escape Zhang Chen's restraints.
Then the Stone Tablet would be like a dragon returning to the sea. Once it recovered its vitality, Zhang Chen would be the one out of luck.
"Why don't I just smash the Stone Tablet apart with a chisel?" Zhang Chen suddenly slapped his thigh as a flash of inspiration crossed his mind. He felt he had been too stupid. He did not just have skills—he also had physical attacks!
Since golden light could do nothing to the Stone Tablet, he still had a chisel! As long as he chiseled the Stone Tablet to pieces, wouldn't that solve everything?
No sooner thought than done. Zhang Chen pulled a chisel and hammer from his basket, his eyes eagerly fixed on the Stone Tablet before him. The next moment, he raised the chisel and struck.
Clang!
With one blow, Zhang Chen felt his muscles and bones go numb, the shock leaving his palms limp. Yet not even a speck of stone dust fell from the Stone Tablet.
"What a hard Stone Tablet. It might be even harder than steel." Zhang Chen stared at it, a grave expression appearing in his eyes.
That strike should have knocked off at least some stone fragments, yet the Stone Tablet had not reacted at all. Not a single chip had fallen.
"The material of this Stone Tablet is very unusual." Zhang Chen studied it, then picked up the chisel and struck it several more times. But the Stone Tablet remained as unmoving as a mountain, completely unharmed.
"The idea of chiseling it apart has fallen through. As expected of a strange entity—ordinary objects can't hurt it in the slightest." Zhang Chen fell into thought. He thought of the gunpowder at his waist, but quickly dismissed the idea. Gunpowder alone could not harm the Stone Tablet at all. Unless he drilled a hole into it and packed it with gunpowder, using the extreme air pressure at the instant of ignition to blast it apart. But if he could chisel a hole into the Stone Tablet to fill with explosives, why would he need gunpowder? He could simply chisel it open himself.
"I don't have much time left. I have to blow it apart before it escapes. Otherwise, if it gets away, I'll be the one in trouble." Zhang Chen looked the Stone Tablet up and down as countless thoughts flashed through his mind. "If cutting it with a blade won't work, then I'll try burning it!"
Burning mountain stone was a common method used by the people to quarry rock, using thermal expansion and contraction to split it apart.
At this point, Zhang Chen could no longer worry about Experience Points. If the Stone Tablet ran away, he would be in serious trouble.
Zhang Chen walked out of the tomb and gathered firewood in the forest. Before long, he had collected a huge pile. He piled the Stone Tablet in the middle of the wood, completely covering it with firewood, then set it ablaze.
The space inside the Underground Tomb was too small, and Zhang Chen could not endure the high temperature. As soon as the firewood caught, he retreated outside.
"That firewood should burn for roughly four or five hours." After making a rough estimate, Zhang Chen turned and left to feed his hornets and check on his falcon.
Zhang Chen made his way to the karst cave. The falcon stood in its cage, full of vigor, its eyes filled with untamed pride. It had not touched even a bite of the meat placed beside it.
Zhang Chen did not mind. He knew that birds of prey had proud bones. Without knowing the method of taming hawks, most captured raptors would rather starve themselves to death.
But Zhang Chen was not worried about that. He activated the Beast Control Technique, opened his basket, and ordered the falcon to jump out. He then smeared honey over the falcon's wings. The falcon beat its wings and rose, brushing against the ceiling of the karst cave and slapping the honey onto it.
Then Zhang Chen took out a duck. After preparing it, he ordered the falcon to eat half of it before shutting it back inside the basket.
He would only feed the falcon fresh meat, lest it fall ill. The weather was so hot that meat would rot after a single night.
As for yesterday's rotten meat, Zhang Chen did not waste it either. He gathered it to feed his hornets. The hornets were not picky eaters; even if the meat had spoiled a little, they were still willing to eat it.
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