Chapter 190: 176 Helplessness, Part 2

Zhang Rongfang naturally also felt that someone was following him.

But he didn’t care.

Since these people knew the secret here, neither the Spirit Court nor he would allow them to leave easily.

The Golden Wing Pavilion already had regulations prohibiting ordinary people from discovering secrets such as divine statues, hidden sects, and spiritual veins casually.

If there is a spread, it must be curtailed. If there is a leak, all those who leaked must be dealt with.

The upper levels of the government offices probably have similar regulations.

It’s likely the same over at the Sea Dragon’s side.

There was even a case where, due to a leak, the Spirit Court sent troops to massacre an entire city.

Thus, these survivors thought they had a choice.

In fact, from the beginning, when they encountered the Iron Daoist and saw him come back to life after dying,

everything had already been predetermined.

They must either join the Golden Wing Pavilion and adhere to confidentiality,

or be silenced directly.

There is no third choice.

Bam!

The wooden door of the Great Chong Temple was forcibly knocked down.

Zhang Rongfang, holding the wheel of desire, slowly stepped in.

The temple was already in a state of disarray, with signs of being searched everywhere.

The chaotic footprints on the ground clearly showed that, earlier, when he battled the Iron Daoist, that Zhengming Association team came here to search.

Zhang Rongfang quickly went to the room where the Great Zhong Records were placed before.

Sure enough, that booklet was gone.

He shook his head slightly, guessing that he would only be able to search those corpses for it later.

He wandered around the temple for a while.

He also saw the big hole behind the divine statue.

However, Zhang Rongfang didn’t care. No matter who obtained something from here, they couldn’t escape this Yinhuai Forest.

Consider it free labor for him.

With nothing fruitful, Zhang Rongfang slowly walked out of the temple.

Just in time to see Chen Miaotong, Chen Ya, and a man with a red mole on his face, all eagerly waiting for him at the door.

“You’re still here?” Zhang Rongfang smiled.

“Benefactor!… Thank you for your lifesaving grace!!” The commoner was the first to react, immediately kneeling with gratitude and loudly thanking Zhang Rongfang.

“The great grace of saving my life, etched in my heart! From now on, should the benefactor have any orders, I, Zhou Yanniu, will comply without hesitation!!”

Chen Miaotong and Chen Ya also quickly reacted, hurriedly kneeling, repeatedly thanking him, and vowing to repay him in the future.

“Alas, is that really necessary?” Zhang Rongfang sighed.

But before the others could respond, he immediately shifted the conversation.

“Since you’re so sincere, then I won’t stand on ceremony. You all, search the area around this temple together.

And you just searched the place, right? Report any findings to me.”

They breathed a sigh of relief and quickly recounted how their group had searched the temple earlier.

Listening to them, Zhang Rongfang circled the temple.

Suddenly he stopped in his tracks.

He halted in front of a temple wall.

To his surprise, there were lines of lock script carved openly on the wall!

Zhang Rongfang’s spirits were lifted.

He had been studying lock script for so long, just so he wouldn’t fail at a moment like this.

Immediately, he stepped forward and removed the concealing vines to take a closer look.

’Year Nine of the Red Calendar, the world divides into reality and illusion.

Those who cross boundaries shall face execution.’

’Various teachings converge to address the red disaster. A series of wars leaves all spirits exhausted. Only our Mingxu Dazhong lineage remains, struggling to survive, hidden deep in the mountains.’

’Year 25 of the Red Calendar, we founded Rong and Jianye, the two brothers built the Great Chong Temple here. Hoping to continue the great path of the Dao, and one day restore the true teachings.’

Zhang Rongfang read this message with a frown.

There was quite a bit of information in this passage.

He meticulously memorized all the contents, especially the great path of the Dao mentioned… and the divine statue worshiped within this temple, giving birth to a hypothesis in his mind.

But this hypothesis needed other facts to confirm it.

Rustle.

A sound of leaves shaking came.

Zhang Rongfang looked towards the sound.

In the forest, two tall figures holding iron swords turned and fled as soon as he looked over.

In no time, they disappeared without a trace.

“It’s the Iron Daoist!”

Chen Ya was the first to recognize him, exclaiming.

Chen Miaotong and Zhou Yanniu’s hearts shook, finally confirming.

The reason the Iron Daoist avoided them earlier was because Zhang Rongfang was there!

Twice in succession, the Iron Daoist swiftly backed away, likely due to this reason.

Ironically, Wen Shaodong genuinely thought his weapon had scared off the Iron Daoist.

This misplaced confidence ultimately led to the tragedy.

As many as twenty lives!

All buried in this forest due to Wen Shaodong’s misjudgment.

They felt sorrow and indescribable feelings in their hearts.

Zhang Rongfang said nothing, raising his hand to destroy the lock script wall several times.

Then, he and the three others checked the entire temple again.

After ensuring there was nothing missing, they left and headed towards the outskirts of the forest.

*

*

*

Ten Thousand Miles Manor.

By the artificial lake.

Zhang Rongfang, wearing a mask, played with the newly acquired black porcelain bottle, while looking thoughtfully at Wen Shaodong kneeling on the ground.

Around them, teams of Golden Wing Pavilion experts guarded the area in layers.

The survivors from the forest had all been escorted here.

No matter if it’s Chen Ya, Chen Miaotong, or Lin Huan and the others. There are no exceptions.

“Actually… according to the rules of the Great Spirit, all of you should be executed…” Zhang Rongfang said calmly.

“However, I’m a kind-hearted person who can’t bear to see people die without understanding why. Therefore, I’ll give you a chance.

As long as you agree to join my Golden Wing Pavilion, work honestly, not only will you escape the calamity of death in the future, but you might also achieve great things.”

He smiled.

“If you don’t speak, I’ll take it as your consent.”

Wen Shaodong felt fear in his heart, his whole body tied tightly, and his mouth sealed with a strip, stuffed with something.

He could only make muffled cries.

“Alright, take him away. Let him face reality.” Zhang Rongfang stopped talking, waving his hand.

Immediately, two members of the Golden Wing Pavilion stepped forward and carried Wen Shaodong away.

Zhang Rongfang stood alone by the lake, taking out a booklet he previously obtained, along with the Great Zhong Records.

The booklet was filled with content written in locked script.

Ordinary people couldn’t even understand a word.

But he could clearly recognize it.

“Illusion Talisman Skill…”

He gently muttered the title of the booklet to himself.

Opening the first page, the first sentence was written clearly.

’Seven Luminaries float in the light, the imperial star hangs in the sky. Thousands of laws, with reality as the main and illusion as the guard.’

At the end, the name was: Golden-faced Daoist.

Zhang Rongfang remembered this Dao title and continued to turn the page.

’Under the red star, the world is in chaos, true Arhats roam freely, and without defense strength, virtual beings like us can only become livestock in such a turbulent world.’

’Today, we select those with heavenly talents, use spiritual laws to animate Spirit Light, through the cycles of fate, through gathering and dispersal, enter the Dao through body and heart…’

Behind were a series of mystical and incomprehensible praises to the Great Dao Teaching.

Zhang Rongfang patiently read them all.

Finally, in the middle and later parts, the most important section emerged.

This booklet recorded a special drug called Mysterious Qilin Jade Marrow.

According to the booklet, if consumed without dying, one could transform the drug’s power through the method of fate, ultimately stepping into the Spirit Guardian level.

The method of fate was detailedly recorded, with extremely meticulous processes and methods.

“Spirit Guardian? Could it be what is now termed as Super Grade?” Zhang Rongfang pondered.

The name is quite displeasing…

He closed the booklet, pondered for a while, and then opened another book, the Great Zhong Records.

The Great Zhong Records were much simpler to explain.

It mainly introduced the Great Chong Temple, from its establishment, development, peak, decline, through a complete series.

It also mentioned the term Spirit Guard.

Spirit Guard, Spiritual Veins, Arhat…

These three terms often appeared within, representing absolute hierarchy of martial force.

In the Great Zhong Records, when disciples made mistakes and fled during the peak of the Great Chong Temple, it was the Spirit Guards who were dispatched to bring them back.

Ordinary martial artists could not withstand a single blow under them.

Spiritual Veins usually protected the temple, rarely going out.

While Arhats seemed to possess a distinct identity.

They appeared to be further advanced strong practitioners among the Spiritual Veins, with a very high status.

“Then, those two Iron Daoists, what level do they belong to?” Zhang Rongfang speculated internally.

He wasn’t wrong; the clues provided by Gong Shuyin were indeed useful.

The Great Chong Temple was indeed derived from the Great Dao Teaching.

But it involved statues, Spiritual Veins, parts which the Celestial Maiden explicitly forbade touching.

Such connections.

It’s difficult to say whether Gong Shuyin did this deliberately or not.

The Celestial Maiden doesn’t want him to touch, yet Gong Shuyin insists he does…

Then what do they each represent in terms of stance?

Zhang Rongfang knitted his brows tightly.

’Fortunately, no matter what, the methods mentioned in this booklet are likely the breakthrough methods of the Great Dao Teaching to achieve Super Grade.’

He took out that small porcelain bottle and gently opened it.

Inside, a black pellet pill rolled out.

But the pill had clearly grown large white mold spots…

Zhang Rongfang was speechless, carefully observed, and confirmed it was indeed mold spots…

“Alas…”

He sighed.

Could it be that slowly accumulating attribute points is the only way, relying on life improvement in Wushan Prefecture to breakthrough more grades?

Yet ordinary martial arts, even superior ones, are no longer useful to him.

Now, he can only complete that last Great Dao Teaching Talismanic Skill, reach the Extreme State, and hit the limit.

But such a grade offers very limited overall improvement to him.

’The path to Super Grade is broken. I now have only two choices.

One: Determine the Super Grade Cultivation Techniques that are useful to me now, which can only be those I fuse and create myself.’

’Two: While accumulating attribute points, seek other Super Grade exchanges, observe what path the other Super Grades in Great Spirit follow. For example, directly contacting the Celestial Maiden, but… there is no news of her now… and the other Spirit Levels in the Golden Wing Pavilion are only Ninth Grade…’

After completing internal calculations, Zhang Rongfang sighed once again.

“It seems, continuing to stay here is already of no use… Great Dao Teaching… Great Dao Teaching…”

The method to breakthrough Super Grade seems can only be obtained by going to the Ancestral Court of the Great Dao Teaching.

He obtained the method, knowing how to transform the drug’s properties, but that Mysterious Qilin Jade Marrow is probably only available in the Celestial Treasure Palace nowadays.

“Well, it’s just right to head for the Great Capital, and check what’s going on up with the Golden Wing Pavilion…”

Recent situations have made Zhang Rongfang feel somewhat uneasy.

His current level of strength surpassed what was predicted for the Celestial Maiden, naturally unwilling to continue wasting time here.

Wushan Prefecture is ultimately just a temporary transit point.

Staying longer would mean wasting time without any other use.

Next, he plans to continue utilizing Zhang Ying’s identity, deepening his development. He believes that the higher he climbs, the more secrets he will learn.

The secrets of Super Grade, the mystery of Iron Daoist’s immortality, and the truth of the hidden idol in deep history.

All these make Zhang Rongfang feel a deep unease.

He has now reached the critical point towards the higher echelons through his own effort.

Perhaps, it’s time to take that step forward and truly step in.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep