Chapter 332: You’re So Amazing, You’re So Noble, You Actually Used a Big Move on Me?
Seeing the old blind man’s expression, which seemed a bit unconvinced yet helpless, Zhang Yangqing was very satisfied.
Don’t blame me for showing off. You were the one showing off first, okay? If you hadn’t been so secretive and mysterious in front of me, would I have given you a surprise right off the bat?
Now, even though the old blind man, a powerful figure, had been thoroughly embarrassed, he didn’t dare show even a hint of anger.
Zhang Yangqing’s move just now was enough to let him know that there’s always a bigger fish and a higher sky.
Maybe in the eyes of the world, he was that peerless master, an existence people could only look up to.
But he knew clearly that the person in front of him was the heaven beyond heaven.
If he said a few more words and displeased this person, then the next second, the unlucky one would be him.
He had been in this business for years, walking the line between good and evil, and had already become an urban legend-level existence.
He basically always fished here. Some years he wouldn’t get a single customer, but when he did, it could feed him for years.
No matter who came to ask for his help, they all had to pay a certain price. His main rule was that only those willing would take the bait.
But the person he met today truly left the old blind man baffled.
He thought to himself: You’re already this amazing, so why are you coming to me?
But that was only him grumbling inwardly. He didn’t dare actually say it.
After all, having lived so many years, he had seen all kinds of storms and waves. It was just that today’s storm was even bigger.
Although he couldn’t see, just that terrifying power alone was enough to reduce him to ashes.
As for the strength of the one who made the move, it was already a realm he could not match.
So the old blind man didn’t dare keep pretending. He could only stand up, cup his hands in salute, and say, “Today, your words truly taught this student a lesson. A lesson indeed.”
In front of the other Chosen Ones, he was like a transcendent expert, so towering that people didn’t dare aspire to reach him.
But with Zhang Yangqing, he called himself “student,” which was hard to believe.
If anyone on the scene was the most shocked, it was undoubtedly the three tomb raiders not far away.
They were so frightened that they plopped down on the ground. As people at the bottom of this world, when had they ever seen such a terrifying move?
No wonder this big shot had just told them to move farther away. They had thought he was afraid they might overhear his conversation with the old blind man.
Who would have expected the big shot to pull off something like this and leave them all stunned?
Could it be that the big shot had a conflict with the old blind man?
Or maybe someone nearby had been eavesdropping, and the big shot noticed?
Countless guesses swirled in their minds, but they just couldn’t find the answer.
People at the bottom like them knew too little.
But knowing too little wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The tomb raider Zhang Yangqing had saved was only astonished.
The fat one and the bamboo pole exchanged a glance, both thinking inwardly: Thank goodness we didn’t dare entertain any ideas about that bead on the big shot back then. Otherwise, we definitely would have ended up like those birds and beasts blown to pieces, right?
If anyone here was more shocked than the three tomb raiders, it would have to be those birds and beasts that had been blasted apart.
Their corpses fell into the river, dyeing a whole area red.
The bodies were flowing downstream with the river, as if saying: You’re so amazing, you’re so noble, you actually used a big move on me?
You were afraid of killing the wrong person, so when you fought other strange entities, you always used a slap.
But when it came to us, you opened with a big move, huh!
So in the Strange Tales World so far, the biggest move you’ve used was on us battle trash.
Unfortunately, their complaints couldn’t be heard by Zhang Yangqing. Otherwise, he definitely would have ground them to dust.
The audience outside the big screen seemed used to Celestial Master Zhang’s enormous power, and they all sighed at how strong he was.
Only some Transcendents felt something was off.
When Zhang Yangqing unleashed that move, Gregori glanced at the pope, whose eyes were wide open.
Clearly, even the pope couldn’t understand how the Dragon Country Celestial Master could produce such power.
After all, the Dragon Country Celestial Master’s earlier performance hadn’t been that fierce, right?
“Strange. Could the missing heart really not have affected him? But that doesn’t make sense either. I saw that the other Transcendents were heavily affected. Even Robert, with his heaven-defying talent, could only display half his strength. But the Dragon Country Celestial Master, he…”
As he muttered to himself, Gregori suddenly stopped.
Even Sidney, the Holy Knight beside him, asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”
Gregori seemed to have thought of something. He immediately replayed the recording of the Dragon Country Celestial Master, first going to the segment from yesterday afternoon when the Dragon Country Celestial Master experienced “animals blocking the road.”
It could be seen that in this segment, the Dragon Country Celestial Master appeared relatively strong, but that was only strong compared to the other Chosen Ones. From the way he used golden light to cross the bridge, it was clear that the Dragon Country Celestial Master’s strength had also been greatly reduced.
After all, based on the Dragon Country Celestial Master’s personality, if he really could mobilize such enormous energy, there would have been no need to make his bridge-crossing method so simple. He could have just paved the road with golden light.
This also showed that before last night, his strength hadn’t recovered much, and he had already begun relying on technique.
You had to know, Zhang Yangqing’s move just now—outsiders only watched for the excitement, but only experts saw the real skill.
Then Gregori continued speeding forward, freezing the time at around one in the morning last night.
“Look, at this point he seems to be cultivating. Could it be that during this period of cultivation, he restored the energy in his body to its peak state?”
As soon as he said this, all the clergy in the great hall of the Papal Palace were stunned.
Just a few hours of cultivation, and he had already repaired his body?
That was way too terrifying. Cultivating in the Strange Tales World was already absurd enough, but cultivating this fiercely—was he even human?
“Impossible. Even if his talent is extremely strong, even if he’s fighting on his home turf, if he were switching to cultivate other techniques, theoretically it shouldn’t be this fast.”
As a Holy Knight who had trained bitterly for decades, Sidney had also seen many children with extremely strong talent.
The higher the talent, the faster the cultivation indeed.
But the Dragon Country Celestial Master’s cultivation speed—forget seeing it, he had never even heard of it.
Gregori felt Sidney had a point, but he always felt something was still wrong somewhere.
At this moment, the pope finally spoke. “No, neither of you is quite accurate. He hasn’t returned to his peak. He merely developed his current physique to a certain degree within a short time. It won’t exceed the upper limit of the Strange Tales World, but it’s already enough to deal with these locals.”
It had to be said, as a powerhouse on the same level as Zhang Yangqing, he really could see some of the tricks.
If you put the pope in there, he might not be able to do the same, but when it came to explaining it, he was very accurate.
Zhang Yangqing had indeed absorbed a large amount of corpse qi and the energy from that bead, improving the abilities of this body.
If not for that, he couldn’t have mobilized so much energy to give the old blind man a show of force.
Hearing the old blind man call himself “student,” Zhang Yangqing was somewhat surprised.
This old fellow did know what it meant to be wise enough to adapt to the times.
Just now he had acted like a transcendent expert, and now he suddenly lowered his status so much.
It made Zhang Yangqing feel he had no choice but to teach him a thing or two. With that thought, Zhang Yangqing said, “You’ve been stuck at this realm for a long time, haven’t you?”
Hearing this, the old blind man nodded and, maintaining his low posture, said, “Yes. This student has been at this realm for over forty years.”
Zhang Yangqing nodded. This guy’s talent wasn’t bad.
And what this guy had learned had some connection to Daoism.
But this world’s dimension was low. Even if resources were plentiful, very few people reached the top.
Since he had some connection to Daoism, Zhang Yangqing would reluctantly give him some guidance.
“There is a saying: no destruction, no construction; destroy first, then build; great destruction, great construction; and then one understands new life…”
Zhang Yangqing was telling him that to break through to the next realm, cultivation alone wouldn’t do.
Because that’s how people are. Once they reach a certain realm, one glance is enough to tell whether they can beat the opponent.
So as long as they meet someone they can’t beat, they basically won’t fight.
Just like how he now faced Zhang Yangqing and didn’t dare fight at all.
If he fought someone close to his own level, he also wouldn’t gain much.
This “no destruction, no construction” didn’t mean crippling one’s own cultivation.
To break through his current realm, he had to be beaten brutally by a stronger person.
From that brutal beating, he had to deeply experience what true disparity meant.
But this wasn’t just taking a beating for nothing. He had to feel how a powerhouse one level above him struck, and experience it with his heart. Then naturally, he could break through.
This was also why many enemies who couldn’t be killed would become even stronger the next time you saw them.
People who repeatedly put themselves in deadly situations and then survived cultivated at astonishing speeds.
Because after taking enough beatings, you learn how to beat others.
In fact, Zhang Yangqing had always been teaching Zhang Xuanjing this principle. The daily beatings he gave him were meant to let him know how high the heavens were.
In this Strange Tales World, very few people could beat him, and even fewer could teach the old blind man. So he regarded himself as a transcendent expert.
When Zhang Yangqing said these words, it truly stirred him deeply.
His heart, sealed for forty years, began to stir. Although he couldn’t see, he felt hope from Zhang Yangqing.
This hope seemed fleeting. If he didn’t grasp it, he might never achieve anything again in his entire life.
He looked toward Zhang Yangqing and expressed his desire to learn from him. There was earnestness in his manner. He longed for a battle. He wanted to know how strong he was.
But Zhang Yangqing couldn’t be bothered to fight him.
Seeing that you have some connection to Daoism and your attitude is pretty good, I’m in a good mood and will teach you a couple of lines.
You and I have no relation. You’re not like Zhang Xuanjing, who can keep working for me forever. Why should I teach you hand by hand?
Teaching you one line is already good enough. If you annoy me, see those birds? That’s what’ll happen to you!
When Zhang Yangqing turned to leave, the old blind man suddenly appeared in front of him, in a way the three tomb raiders couldn’t clearly see.
He bowed deeply and said in a voice like a great bell, “Thank you for your guidance, senior. This student will remember it.”
This sudden scene left the three tomb raiders dumbfounded.
How old was the old blind man, and he actually called Zhang Yangqing senior?
But only the old blind man knew he hadn’t called him wrong.
Just those few lines Zhang Yangqing taught him were enough to benefit him immensely.
Now the audience completely couldn’t understand. With the other Chosen Ones, they were receiving guidance from the old blind man and beginning to cultivate the corpse qi on their bodies.
With Celestial Master Zhang, instead, he was teaching the old blind man how to cultivate. Even in the Strange Tales World, this was a first.
As Zhang Yangqing left with the three tomb raiders, the other Chosen Ones were following the old blind man in cultivation, and he was slowly answering some of their questions.
After following the old blind man’s method and sitting cross-legged in meditation for an hour, Rahman exhaled a breath of turbid air.
He felt as if he had been reborn. Back in the tomb, Rahman’s skin had already changed from purple to white, and he could already confront White-Clothed Strange Entities head-on.
Now, from white to green, his physical strength was enough to fight even Yellow and Blue-Clothed Strange Entities.
Turning green was already the limit for ordinary Chosen Ones. Rahman’s comprehension was considered quite good, and with the body granted by the Strange Tales World, his cultivation had surged in just a short time.
The next realm was growing hair. As long as hair grew, he would have the ability to contend with Red-Clothed Strange Entities.
At the current stage, apart from Zhang Yangqing, the only one who could cultivate to the hair-growing stage was Cardinal Robert, because he had mutated the earliest and had been continuously strengthening his body since the very beginning of the Strange Tales World.
Rahman was already very satisfied with this level of strength. At least in the wilderness, he was no longer that ant who had to dodge every strange entity he saw.
After thanking the old blind man, Rahman took out a slip of paper and asked the old blind man what it meant.
On the paper were birth characters. This was also the person the tomb owner had mentioned that the Chosen Ones needed to kill. But here, none of the Chosen Ones said this was their assassination target. They only asked the old blind man to calculate it.
After hearing the birth characters, the old blind man deduced that this person had an extreme yin constitution and lived in Feng City.
Age thirty-one, height around 190.
People with extreme yin constitutions liked rainy days. Generally speaking, they would come out and move around on rainy days.
Today’s sky was extremely gloomy. Tonight was likely going to bring rain.
After hearing the old blind man’s words, Rahman was somewhat confused.
What did that mean? You’re only telling me this much?
Feng City is so big. Where am I supposed to find a thirty-one-year-old person around 190?
Rahman wanted to ask for details, like more specific information. The old blind man stroked his beard and smiled, saying he would naturally know once he went back.
Before Rahman left, the old blind man gave him two “Lightning Talismans.” He only needed to stick them on the target, and the target would instantly be numb from electric shock.
The premise was that the target’s strength was inferior to the old blind man’s.
If the target was about the same as the old blind man, it could only serve as interference.
If the target was stronger than the old blind man, then it was useless.
This made Rahman deeply grateful. Since it was an item given by the quest, it naturally had to be useful.
The old blind man had helped him improve his cultivation, given him items, and provided intelligence.
Rahman felt this trade wasn’t a loss.
In fact, he had lost massively.
The old blind man saw that he had given such a priceless “bead” and only asked for such a small thing. He felt too embarrassed to be so black-hearted, so he gave him two Lightning Talismans.
Smarter Chosen Ones only needed to follow the thread and climb up, and they could actually get some other items too.
Rahman was just too honest. He actually still felt he had made a profit.
If he could go back and see the replay, he would definitely feel how foolish his secretly pleased expression had been at the time.
Trading such a treasure for just two talismans and still feeling he had earned—what was he thinking?
But as an expert in archaeology, his understanding of things outside the cultivation world wasn’t very great.
For example, here, Zhang Yangqing couldn’t be bothered to give the old blind man this thing, and the other Transcendents were also people who knew real value. Only two Lightning Talismans? Who are you fooling?
Two Lightning Talismans were the minimum guarantee. Against the target, they were actually enough.
After saying goodbye to the old blind man, Rahman walked back to Phoenix City.
By the time he returned to Feng City, it was already seven in the evening. There was still one hour before the ghost market opened.
Rahman reached into his clothes and touched the pouch holding his ghost coins. It didn’t feel very full, and he felt uncertain.
At this stage, the Chosen Ones could all tell that resurrecting the tomb owner was only a hidden quest.
Whether they did it or not didn’t have much impact on their main quest. If it was truly too difficult or too dangerous, the Chosen Ones would still choose to give up.
But at this stage, the Chosen Ones entering the Strange Tales World weren’t all here to farm resources? Whether they could complete the quest had to be tested first.
“That old blind man said I’d know once I came in. How am I supposed to know?”
Walking along the streets of Feng City, he scanned for people around 1.9 meters tall who looked about thirty.
Why did it feel like there were quite a few who fit the criteria? How was he supposed to know who his target was?
Surely it couldn’t mean that as long as someone was 1.9 meters and thirty years old, he should just kill them and drag them back to resurrect the tomb owner, right?
Rahman kept thinking about “extreme yin constitution” and “birth characters.”
It was at this moment that a few muffled thunderclaps came from the gloomy sky.
The air also began to grow damp.
Rahman looked up and saw quite a few birds and beasts flying in the sky.
“This seems like a sign it’s going to rain.”
Just as Rahman passed by the entrance of an electronics center, the four or five televisions in the display window beside the door suddenly made noise, drawing Rahman’s attention.
[Attention, citizens. The Feng City Meteorological Observatory has issued a red rainstorm warning today. The rainstorm is expected to hit our city around two in the morning tonight. Citizens are requested to stop outdoor activities to avoid accidents.]
When he saw this, Rahman stood in front of these televisions, thinking about some questions.
This seemed similar to what the old blind man had said, but if it rained, where was he supposed to find the target?
Just as Rahman was completely puzzled, the next piece of news on the television suddenly made him realize something.
[Breaking urgent news: According to patrol team reports, the Rainy Night Killer may have fled to the Fengming District of our city. Citizens in that area are asked to close their doors and windows when resting, and absolutely do not open the door for strangers.]
Seeing this, Rahman’s eyes widened. Could his target be the Rainy Night Killer?
The Strange Tales World was playing this big? He had to deal with such a terrifying existence.
But the information that followed left Rahman deep in thought.
To help everyone guard against the Rainy Night Killer, the television station played some recorded information about the Rainy Night Killer, namely surveillance footage of suspicious figures captured during the crimes.
The face couldn’t be seen, but the blurry body shape could be made out.
According to the information, the Rainy Night Killer’s age was unknown, gender unknown, but height appeared to be around 1.7 meters, and he was left-handed.
Most importantly, he would disguise himself as various identities to mix into victims’ homes.
After that, these messages played on repeat.
This intelligence gave Rahman a headache. Hadn’t the old blind man said his target was 1.9 meters?
The Rainy Night Killer was only 1.7 meters. Maybe he wasn’t the target?
But everything else seemed to match. The Rainy Night Killer and his target both only appeared on rainy nights.
As he repeatedly watched the surveillance footage on the television, Rahman seemed to notice something.
