frightfiction #437 - Walking into a dragon
#437 - Walking into a dragon
Chapter 434: A Carp Leaping to Become a Dragon
Xie Xuan genuinely liked Zhang Chen and had high hopes for his future. If he could bring Zhang Chen under his command, he would undoubtedly be even more powerful.
Although Zhang Chen's cultivation level was not high, his methods were truly strange, making Xie Xuan both wary and eager to recruit him.
Zhang Chen was indeed useful, especially at critical moments, but his strange methods were also undeniable. He could hook the soul of an eleventh-level cultivator at will, while ensuring his own safety.
Xie Xuan's words moved Zhang Chen, but he shook his head and refused, "I prefer to be free and unrestrained, and I don't want to be bound by anything!"
Zhang Chen didn't want to join any organization or force. If he joined the Surveillance and Rectification Department, and the leader changed in the future, would he carry out dangerous missions if ordered?
If asked to kill innocent people, would he do it?
Although joining the Surveillance and Rectification Department had its conveniences, it would bring even greater troubles in the future. If he disobeyed the leader's orders, he would surely suffer the department's disciplinary measures. Given his personality, he would never surrender, but instead choose to rebel. Wouldn't that make him a target for the entire department?
Therefore, after a moment of hesitation, Zhang Chen directly rejected Xie Xuan's offer.
Xie Xuan was a little unwilling to give up, "If you become a centurion in the Surveillance and Rectification Department, you can have the authority to mobilize the department's power, and all kinds of intelligence and subordinate forces will be at your disposal. As the saying goes, a single tree cannot make a forest. Even a towering tree, no matter how lush, cannot become a forest on its own. Joining the Surveillance and Rectification Department, everyone can help you, which is better than fighting alone."
Zhang Chen smiled and declined Xie Xuan's offer, "Commander Xie, there's no need to persuade me further. I have no such ambition."
Hearing Zhang Chen's words, Xie Xuan's eyes were filled with regret, but he couldn't say anything more. At this moment, the campfire was silent, with only the sound of the continuous drizzle outside.
"By the way, there's one more thing. You can dismiss those experts from the Surveillance and Rectification Department outside. The earth's veins will be affected by the upcoming carp leaping to become a dragon, and my treasure should be born soon. There's no need to continue sending people to guard it," Zhang Chen said.
Hearing Zhang Chen's words, Xie Xuan nodded, "I'll go and give the order."
Xie Xuan walked out into the rain, and soon returned. The Surveillance and Rectification Department guards lurking in the mountains disappeared silently.
That night, Zhang Chen and Xie Xuan talked a lot, until the first ray of dawn broke through the clouds and rose, scattering the dark clouds in the sky, revealing a rare clear weather.
"It's rare to have a sunny day," Zhang Chen walked out of the cave, feeling the radiance of the morning sun, and his inner gloom also dissipated a lot.
"This is the last calm before the storm," Xie Xuan's face was not smiling, but filled with solemnity.
Zhang Chen did not deny Xie Xuan's statement, because he knew that what Xie Xuan said was true. This was the last tranquility before the storm, and the current peace was only to accumulate more powerful power for the upcoming carp leaping to become a dragon.
"Seven days to pass the test!" Zhang Chen muttered to himself.
Further away was a huge lake, a man-made lake completely surrounded by mountains, perhaps dozens of times larger than the Three Gorges Dam in later generations, with dozens of times more water storage.
Standing on the top of the mountain at this time, it seemed as if one could see a vast sea among the mountains. The azure blue water reflected the sky, making it look magnificent.
"If one of the mountains were blown up, most of the Northern Territory would be flooded, and countless creatures would be drowned," Zhang Chen looked at the water surrounded by the mountains, a dangerous light in his eyes.
"This act would be against the will of heaven and should not be done," Xie Xuan was so frightened by Zhang Chen's words that the hairs on his back stood on end, and he quickly dissuaded Zhang Chen. If the mountain were blown up and the Northern Territory flooded, it would be as if a big hole had been poked in the sky, and the sky would collapse.
"Let's eat!" From a distance, Xie Lingyun walked over with a food box, accompanied by guards. Before she arrived, the aroma of wine and meat had already traveled from afar.
"Didn't you say you were staying behind to oversee the overall situation? Why are you here?" Xie Xuan glared at Xie Lingyun.
"Don't underestimate me. I am also a being who has cultivated the Yin Spirit, and can be considered a master in the Northern Territory," Xie Lingyun was very unconvinced.
The meal was three dishes and a soup, plus scallion pancakes. Zhang Chen ate very contentedly. Flatbread with mutton was a delicacy for Zhang Chen. Xie Xuan took a bite of mutton and then said to Xie Lingyun, "Girl, what do you think of this kid?"
Hearing Xie Xuan's words, Zhang Chen almost choked on a mouthful of flatbread, and couldn't help but spit it out. He quickly looked at Xie Lingyun, only to see Xie Lingyun roll her eyes and say unhappily, "Dad!!! I only want to cultivate well in this life and see the scenery above the Yang Spirit. I don't consider matters of love and affection, so please don't randomly play matchmaker."
Then Xie Lingyun looked at Zhang Chen, her big black and white eyes filled with apology, "Zhang Chen, don't listen to my dad's nonsense. He's going crazy wanting to marry me off! I treat you like a younger brother, and I don't mean anything else."
Zhang Chen swallowed the flatbread in his mouth and smiled, "Sister, what are you saying? I still know my place. Commander Xie is just joking. How could I take it to heart?"
Listening to the conversation between the two, Xie Xuan couldn't help but sigh quietly, his voice full of helplessness, "What a pity! If you miss such a good young man, you will never meet him again."
Zhang Chen lowered his head and ate the cake silently, as if he didn't hear Xie Xuan's words, while Xie Lingyun glared at Xie Xuan and turned to walk down the mountain.
After Zhang Chen and Xie Xuan finished eating, they sat in the mountains and discussed the situation in the Northern Territory. By ten past nine in the morning, a hurricane suddenly swept across the sky, and dark clouds, like stormy waves, poured down on the field from nowhere, seeming to crush mountains and everything.
The black clouds were very low, already at the top of the mountain, as if one could touch the dark clouds in the sky with a raised hand.
"It's coming!" Xie Xuan looked at the turbulent black clouds, his breathing a little rapid, showing that his heart was not as calm as it seemed on the surface.
Time passed little by little, and after an unknown amount of time, a sound of carriages suddenly came from the foot of the mountain. The Pingbian Prince's team appeared at the foot of the mountain at some point.
The curtain of the carriage was lifted, and the Pingbian Prince carefully held a porcelain basin in his arms and stepped out of the carriage. Under the protection of the guards, he walked towards the distant 'Heavenly Pool'.
Zhang Chen recognized the porcelain basin. It contained a big carp whose bloodline he had polluted.
"It's about to begin!" Zhang Chen said to Xie Xuan.
Xie Xuan didn't say anything, but looked into the distance with a serious expression.
"You keep an eye on things here. I have something else to do, so I'll have to excuse myself," Zhang Chen said to Xie Xuan.
Xie Xuan glanced at Zhang Chen with a surprised expression, but he didn't ask or explore Zhang Chen's hidden meaning. He just waved his hand to signal Zhang Chen to leave.
Since the Pingbian Prince was preparing for the carp to leap to become a dragon, he should also plan for the Ascension Pool.
Zhang Chen didn't use any escape techniques, but walked slowly among the mountains. He didn't want to show too many of his methods in front of Xie Xuan, and he wanted to keep a few trump cards for himself.
It wasn't until he left Xie Xuan's sight and came to a deserted place at the foot of the mountain that Zhang Chen used his escape technique and quietly came to the location of the Ascension Pool. He saw that the killing in the Ascension Pool was still continuing, but only experts and the Pingbian Prince's army were left fighting in the field.
Watching soldiers constantly die at the hands of mysterious experts, Zhang Chen couldn't help but sigh, "Those are all living people. Is the Pingbian Prince's heart made of iron? It's really hard."
Zhang Chen quietly lurked in a big tree, observing the situation in the field, waiting for the opportunity to arrive.
Time passed little by little, and drizzling rain constantly fell from the dark clouds in the sky. Before long, the drizzle turned into a heavy rain, blurring the view in the mountains.
At noon, a strange cry suddenly echoed in the mountains, like the roar of an old cow, causing the grass and trees in the mountains to tremble. Birds and beasts that heard the roar felt their bodies weaken and were directly paralyzed on the ground, unable to move at all.
In the vast Heavenly Pool, a carp was swimming freely. Along with the roar, the entire mountain range began to vibrate gently. The entire Northern Territory seemed to come alive, and the ancestral vein trembled slightly. In the void, a unique magnetic field wave caused the mountains to tremble like an earthquake, and even the rocks were shaken.
Then, a dragon-shaped aura detached from the Northern Territory's ancestral vein, directly locked onto the big carp, and poured into the big carp's body. The carp's body constantly transformed, and the scales on its body twisted and squirmed, turning golden.
Not only were the scales on the carp's body transforming, but its body was also constantly changing. The carp seemed to be molting, with scales constantly falling off and new scales growing under the skin. Its body seemed to be an inflated balloon, constantly extending, expanding, and lengthening. Its head began to mutate, its whiskers constantly lengthening, and wisps of cloud gas gathered on its whiskers.
Its mouth began to twist, its facial features trembled, and its entire head transformed into the appearance of a dragon's head. Two bone spurs emerged from the top of its head, and a pair of immature horns protruded, seemingly gathering the energy of wind and thunder.
Most importantly, its body was like plasticine. Four holes opened in the skin of its abdomen, and four dragon claws emerged from the holes.
Along with its transformation, the wind and clouds surged, hurricanes and storms struck, and the water in the Heavenly Pool surged, turning into an invisible force that resonated with the unknown energy between heaven and earth.
In the dark clouds, lightning bolts broke through the sky and struck the big carp. Under the carving of the lightning, the big carp was constantly blasted into a bloody mess, and then its muscles and bones were reshaped by the power of aura.