Passing the Trial

"I am but a novice, merely at the Golden Core stage. How could I possibly comprehend the Heavenly Immortal Immortality? You flatter me too much."

Despite saying that, Zheng Zetian didn't stand on ceremony and directly put the jade slip into his pocket.

Jade Toad Granny saw that he seemed quite honest, so she smiled and petted the cat.

"Fellow Daoist Zheng, there's no need to belittle yourself. There are no more than five people in Ink Bamboo Mountain who can read the Great Learning, and there aren't many in the world who can refine that Black Lotus."

"Your Excellency possesses the aptitude to cultivate the Tai Su Dao. Moreover, that Grand Master of Ink Bamboo Mountain likely already possesses all five classics and six books of the Luo Sect. With your foundation in the Great Learning, as long as you render meritorious service to your sect in the future, you will sooner or later be able to fully comprehend the Empty Star and receive the true teachings of the Ancestor Luo. At that time, you will naturally reach a realm unseen by predecessors and understand this secret manual."

Zheng Zetian frowned.

"You seem quite familiar with the Tai Su Dao. How do you know that this Black Lotus requires a thorough reading of the Great Learning to cultivate? Do you know anyone else who has successfully cultivated this lotus?"

Furthermore, whether I join the Ink Bamboo Mountain to cultivate the Way of Tai Su or the methods of the Luo Sect, I have no idea what this has to do with you, sir? Why did you give me this book to aid my cultivation?

Do you expect me to achieve some level of cultivation and then preach the Dao to you? Do you even understand the Dao of Tai Su?"

Jade Toad Granny sneered.

"What, you look down on us demons who have attained enlightenment? You don't need to test me. I was just doing someone a favor and volunteered to help them, relaying messages. Someone wanted the Luo Sect's lineage to continue, so I was just helping them find a successor."

Zheng Zetian looked at her suspiciously, "You want to find a successor for the Luo Sect? Then why don't you pass it on to the Grand Master? Since he has already collected all six books, wouldn't it be more suitable for him to study this?"

Upon hearing the name "Grand Master, "Jade Toad Granny also looked displeased.

"That guy draws his sword and attacks me whenever he sees me. He's got some kind of brain problem and can't communicate at all. I can't beat him right now, so I'm not going to bother with him."

In short, whether you succeed in your cultivation or not is none of my business, and I don't expect anything in return. On the contrary, I not only benefit you from this, but I can also offer you some pointers and help you through this life-threatening ordeal.

"A killing spree?"

Jade Toad Granny clapped her hands, and the toad next to Zheng Zetian opened its mouth and spat out a corpse.

The corpse appeared to have been swallowed and crushed alive by the red toad. All the bones in the body were misaligned and deformed, the flesh was melted away, and the skin was corroded by the acid, becoming damp, wrinkled, smelly, and rotten, like rotten rubber, which was extremely disgusting.

But when Zheng Zetian saw the equipment on the corpse, he immediately recognized it: the black rubber bodysuit belonged to someone from the company.

"Someone is secretly watching you and your master. Their equipment is designed to counter lightning magic, so they're probably not after the Tianfu Mountain who were on the same ship as you."

By the way, speaking of those few members of the Xuanmen sect, don't be fooled by their youth and beauty; they're not good people. Young men shouldn't be easily swayed by beauty, or they'll suffer the consequences.

Zheng Zetian frowned. "You've been following us secretly all this time? And who exactly are you?"

Jade Toad Granny ring made of mutton fat jade.

"These are not human beings, but incarnations of Outer Heaven Demon. The demonic children of the Nangong Family are also their creations."

These celestial demons are proficient in various secret techniques, capable of creating all sorts of demons, ghosts, Outer Heaven Demon, and can also use various divine weapons to assist them, making them extremely difficult to deal with.

However, they also have weaknesses, namely that their true souls are extremely weak. Once their true forms are found, they will surely die if their primordial spirit is broken. Therefore, they often hide in the shadows and send out various puppet beasts to carry out their tasks.

There are lurking demons and many puppets gathering near Crane Head Peak, probably plotting something.

If you trust me, wear this jade ring with you at all times. When the Heavenly Demon approaches, this jade ring will shine brightly as a warning, and you will be able to take precautions."

Zheng Zetian frowned deeply upon hearing this.

"How do you know so much about the Heavenly Demon? And how do I know if you're in cahoots? Are you trying to deceive me with sweet words, with ulterior motives? Did you lure me out so the Heavenly Demon could be attacking the Huang Residence?"

Jade Toad Granny laughed heartily.

"You're not that capable. Why would they need to send you away if they wanted to make a move? But you're right, I am with those demons. It's just that we each serve our own masters and have our own interests. I only make a little money off them and buy a few things from them. They have no right to teach me how to do things."

It's rare to find a smart person like Ink Bamboo Mountain. You're always ready to fight and kill me the moment you see me. I was waiting for you to master the Luo Sect's teachings, but I didn't expect you to oppose the Heavenly Demon and die such a pointless death.

Anyway, that's how it is now, do as you Gao Xing. If you don't believe me, just throw it away."

After speaking, Jade Toad Granny vanished, and the toad followed suit with a great leap, disappearing into the waterfall.

"... Hey, how do I get back?"

The two monsters chattered on and on for no reason, then turned and left, abandoning him in some desolate, godforsaken wilderness.

Zheng Zetian called out twice but received no response, leaving him speechless for a moment. However, after looking at the jade slip and jade ring in his hand, he thought for a moment, then wrapped the jade ring around his hand and tried it on the corpse next to him.

Sure enough, this jade ring was not a local magical artifact. It must have been some kind of prop made by Outer Heaven Demons. Although the company's clone was dead, when you got close to the corpse, you could still see the jade ring emitting a faint blue light, flickering like the faint light emitted by fireflies.

Guided by the light, Zheng Zetian drew his broken golden sword and dug into the cloned corpse. Sure enough, he dug out a metal object from the back of the corpse's head. It was naturally a prosthetic plug-in from the company's system. It was clear that the principle behind this jade ring was to sense and track these company devices.

Zheng Zetian looked at the wound on the corpse's head and saw that the brain matter had not yet been corroded by the acid. After thinking for a moment, he smashed the corpse's skull again, pried open the top of the head, and used the blade to cut into the inner wall, picking out some brain matter. Then he silently recited an incantation, and countless bright red incantation words danced on his tongue before tasting it.

In that instant, Zheng Zetian's eyes rolled back, his teeth clenched, his whole body convulsed, and he collapsed to the ground as if in a spasm. Countless light and shadow characters flashed and jumped before his eyes, spinning wildly like a carousel.

After a brief pause, Zheng Zetian smacked his lips, spat out his mouthful of bloody meat paste, and got up.

This technique is a secret method learned from the demonic path in the north. By consuming human brains, one can peek into their memories and steal their Cultivation Method. Of course, it's not actually eating, but rather chewing and tasting. The ritual requires only a taste; it doesn't necessarily have to be swallowed, so it doesn't count as breaking the fast. Of course, I haven't used this technique in a long time, and this is the first time my body has used it, so the reaction is quite intense. But it's alright; I'll get used to it after a few more times.

Having obtained some fragments of memory and calculated the direction with his fingers, Zheng Zetian did not hesitate to stick an invisibility talisman on his body, hold a jade ring to guide the way, and gather lightning magic in his feet, and began to run wildly through the mountains.

Although he hadn't seen many scenes, he was able to deduce a lot of information based on what he had seen before.

The company assassins who came to hunt down Song Dayou were actually two groups of people. One group consisted of specially manufactured Nangong Biochemical Demons, whose bodies were modified with various equipment and armor specifically designed to counter Lei Xiu, intended for close combat and to seize Song Dayou's corpse.

Although these people are well-equipped and numerous, they have very low authority within the company and are essentially cannon fodder. They need permission and instructions from their superiors to use their extraterrestrial weapons when carrying out missions; otherwise, they are just Nascent Soul stage demons. The cultivators of Ink Bamboo Mountain have fought many of them and are not afraid of them.

The other group consists of cloned humans. These individuals are of a higher rank, acting as spies and scouts, serving as the company's eyes and ears, and as commanders on the battlefield. They possess a certain level of autonomy and can use civilian equipment, including invisibility suits, long-range firearms, grenades, and bombs.

However, seemingly to make it easier to hide among the common people, these clones are mostly ordinary mortals, not Qi Refining cultivators, but their physical qualities are comparable to those of martial artists in the Golden Core Stage, and they are also susceptible to the influence of the False Moon Fiend Qi and can lose control.

The corpse that Jade Toad Granny brought was an invisible scout, and from the corpse's memories, it was clear that the demon prince who was originally lying in ambush at Qingting Peak had now received orders to move to Crane Head Peak and would arrive at the Huang Residence around midnight. Obviously, they wouldn't give up the operation so easily.

Boss Huang a businessman with Daotong. With so many experts gathered in his mansion, he certainly wouldn't be careless about his own defenses. Therefore, tonight, Nangong's Demon Prince might not launch a hasty attack, but the company's scouts will definitely come to scout the area and see if there's any opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

Therefore, if Zheng Zetian were to plan this, although the Huang family's manor is large, the company also has clever ways to hide. Since it is a hasty operation, rather than infiltrating through the lake and forest and accidentally triggering the hidden formation, it would be better to blend in with the servants and sneak in through the main gate. They might even get Huang Wu's support.

Of course, the company employees authorized to carry out the operation wouldn't personally take the risk; they'd likely stay far behind, perhaps even as far away as Changsi City. These scouts, however, also have reconnaissance support duties and are equipped with sniper rifles, so they naturally wouldn't stray too far from the target. They would probably choose a location within firing range with a clear view...

Found it!

Based on the calculations and with Yu Huan's guidance, Zheng Zetian found a tall cedar tree on a hill Huang Residence.

With a sweep of his Divine Sense, Zheng Zetian knew that the ability to achieve complete optical invisibility was very power-consuming and could not be kept running continuously during long-term infiltration. Sure enough, the scout was only wearing a camouflage raincoat and was silently crouching on a pine branch. If one did not know where to look, it would be difficult to spot him with the naked eye.

Without further ado, Zheng Zetian took out the Ultimate True Universe King Kong Bracelet, locked his Divine Sense on the scout, chanted an incantation, and tossed it away.

The King Kong Bracelet transformed into a golden ring and leaped out of the dark jungle.

The company's scouts had no time to prepare before the golden ring was slipped over their heads, spun around, and in the blink of an eye, they were torn to pieces. The severed limbs and broken pine branches tumbled down from the tree with a crash.

Zheng Zetian forward, caught the gold ring with one hand, and then grabbed a piece of scalp that had fallen off and gnawed on it.

There are two more. Let's continue.

At this moment, the company's scouts were also alerted. After all, they were all connected to the same subnet and had the system's assistance. Initially, when one scout lost signal, they suspected that the other side hadn't had time to reach Crane Head Peak and the signal had been jammed. But now that another scout had been suddenly killed, even a fool would know that they had been targeted.

They immediately activated their stealth capabilities and launched drones to try and pinpoint the attackers' location.

Unbeknownst to them, Zheng Zetian had also read the company's tactics manual and was intimately familiar with the procedures for these clones' operations. Furthermore, he had already confirmed the hiding places of the other two scouts from the memories of the deceased, and with the jade ring providing location guidance, he quickly approached and threw the King Kong Bracelet again, beheading the third scout.

Hmm, this dog collar is really useful. No wonder Ling Bao is always itching to throw it out and trap people.

However, this attack exposed their location, and the prepared scouts used drones to track the trajectory of the magical artifacts, pinpointing the approximate area where the assassin was hiding, and then opened fire immediately.

With a series of clangs, the scout emptied a magazine and launched twenty-four smart warheads, simultaneously using radar guidance to track and eliminate all living targets within the area.

But Zheng Zetian also saw the muzzle flashes. He knew how powerful these tracking bullets were, as they could track the heat source of a human body and even shatter the body of the Nascent Soul Realm demon. So he covered his head with the Azure Cloud Smoke Robe and charged forward, throwing out a large number of talismans to ignite the mountain fire. He used the blazing firelight to try to hide his figure as much as possible, making a dodging and weaving motion on the mountain path.

Not only those tracking bullets, but also the surrounding drones—as expected, the demons were drawn by the wildfire and rushed towards Zheng Zetian to attack!

The scout upgraded his weaponry, immediately aiming a laser beam at him and firing it with focused energy!

He was surrounded and attacked by a barrage of drones blasting through the air! This was the moment Zheng Zetian was utterly terrified!

"Shenxiao Yuqing Bikong Dunyin!"

Zheng Zetian transformed into a flash of lightning, instantly extricating himself from the overwhelming explosions and fireworks, and teleported behind the clone scout!

With a flick of his wrist, he unleashed the Demon-Binding Lock, wrapping it around the man's neck and binding him like a dumpling. He then yanked him down from the treetop, delivered a powerful kick to the heart, breaking his ribs and pinning him beneath him. Using the force of the fall, he kicked the man until blood gushed from his mouth and nose!

Then Zheng Zetian grabbed the scout by the scalp, stared directly into his pupils, and cursed angrily.

"Where did these bastards come from! Daring to spy on me in secret! If you anger me, I'll find you all and kill you all!"

After saying that, Zheng Zetian suddenly pulled out Golden Brick and smashed the scout's brains open, killing him on the spot.

Then he stood up, turned his head, and coldly looked at the demons and drones that had been drawn to the other side of the hill.

The living demons and metallic machines watched from afar as the Daoist boy stood amidst the inhuman flesh and blood, holding a blood-dripping brick, remained silent for a moment, then rustled and retreated into the shadows.

"... As if you could handle this yourself, why did you call me all this way?"

Zheng Zetian wiped the blood and brains splattered on his face, turned around and saw Qin Jiu standing on the treetop behind him with his arms crossed, having arrived at some unknown time.

"To ensure absolute safety, we urge our senior brother to eliminate any demonic foes nearby."

Since he had already summoned them, Zheng Zetian made no attempt to use this trump card.

Qin Jiu scratched his head. "Fine, we're already here. As long as I help you kill all these demon children, that's fine, right?"

Zheng Zetian,

"There might be another Divine Transformation cultivator from Tianfu Mountain lurking nearby. If it's not too much trouble, please find him and kill him while you're at it."

Qin Jiu couldn't help but roll her eyes at him.

"Damn it, those Divine Transformation of the Xuanmen are the most troublesome! How did you manage to offend both Nangong and the Xuanmen at the same time!"

"Oh well, since we're already here, let me look for it. You can keep this for self-defense; call me if you're in danger."

So Qin Jiu handed Zheng Zetian a crimson wooden sword, which then transformed into a rainbow of light, swept into the dense forest, and blasted away all the demons and drones that couldn't escape in time, causing bursts of blood and fire in the mountains.

Qin Jiu arrived in time to clear the area, and Zheng Zetian finally breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at the wooden sword and realized that it was a magic sword enchanted with a spell. Throwing it out would easily kill a Nascent Soul Stage or something. So he swallowed a Nine-Flower Pill, placed the sword flat on his lap, sat down to meditate and adjust his breathing, and began to calculate rapidly in his mind.

So, did I pass this time...?

No, this was just a temporary halt to their actions by catching the company off guard. At least tonight, if Qin Jiu wipes out all the demons targeting the Thunder Magic Enhancement, the company will have to consider whether it's cost-effective to start producing another batch of Thunder Magic Demons just to target Song Dayou.

Moreover, Zheng Zetian himself displayed enough skill tonight, which should have already aroused the company's interest. His warning to his face just now should have been received by the company. If they really intend to recruit and win him over, the company may not necessarily take drastic action against Song Dayou and make enemies for nothing. After all, these demons are businessmen, and there may still be room for negotiation.

However, although this might resolve the karmic debt with the company, Song Dayou's limited aptitude ultimately prevents him from breaking through to the Nascent Soul Stage. He will inevitably die in the tribulation sooner or later. This is merely a temporary solution; when his time comes, there will be no way to save him...

"Hi, sorry about that. I was helping out in the lab when you sent the signal, and I also had to contact the host to download your genetic profile. I came all the way from the Moon, but luckily I made it in time."

Zheng Zetian opened his eyes and saw the Blood God Child clone of the Giant standing in front of him; they had arrived almost at the same time.

"I am the Giant's Shadow! The Organic Dao Body! The Ancestor of the Dao of Evolution! With me here, you are invincible, so don't worry, feel free to roam!"

Here, I brought what you specifically asked for. You seem to be in good spirits, no illness or injury. Shall I install it for you now?

Zheng Zetian glanced at the Flesh Scorpion the giant had pulled out, lost in thought, "System..."

Li Fan laughed smugly.

"That's right, it's the system! Besides being a kind of intelligent auxiliary system brain, this thing is also a bio-prosthetic implant. According to the data provided by the Non-Thing experimental subject, it's inserted into the spine to amplify nerves, increase reaction time and agility, sensitivity three thousand times—cough cough cough, anyway, it's awesome! Come on, bear with it, it hurts a little..."

"Wait a minute," Zheng Zetian suddenly had a flash of inspiration, "Besides systems that increase reaction speed, are there any systems that can help increase comprehension?"