Chapter 220: 203 Entrustment, Part 1

Rainwater gradually collected into the potholes on the official road, accumulating into puddles of varying sizes.

The originally slightly murky puddles inexplicably began to turn a bit red.

The heavy rain continued to fall.

On the official road, the caravan had long since fallen into chaos, with the carriages overturned.

Bodies lay scattered on the ground, lifeless.

At the front of the caravan.

Zen Master Wuxin stood upright, his staff piercing straight into the ground, supporting his body.

His eyes were wide open, a bloody hole had been forcibly pierced through his chest.

The hole was the size of a bowl, and blood had dyed his robe red.

Beside him, Monk Tanri leaned against the bottom of an overturned carriage, his mouth full of blood, his chest caved in by some unknown heavy weapon, almost attaching his front to his back.

His eyes had been gouged out, leaving only bloody holes, he had long ceased to breathe.

“Have you found it?” Yan Xi’s face was gloomy as he looked at the other four.

Li Fan of the Spring Breeze Sect, Xia Plian of the Great River Gang, Huang Li of the Falling Flower Palm, Zhong Xue of Baimei Manor.

These four were among the four of the only ten Grandmasters of the Sensing Sect today.

This time, it was also Yan Xi who took the initiative to connect them, coming here to coordinate with the Western Sect and pursue Jinhuan.

Of course, they were naturally not here for the Celestial Maiden’s insignificant treasure.

But for what was possibly hidden within the treasure: research and data on Spiritualization.

This was what they, or the forces behind them, truly desired.

The Celestial Maiden had been secretly experimenting with Spiritualization for a long time, which many people knew, but no one knew how far she had progressed.

At this moment, their thoughts were focused in this direction.

Among the Four Seasons Envoy, there were two men and two women.

Outwardly handsome and beautiful, they seemed only in their thirties.

Given their real ages, one could see from their appearance that they had long since worshiped the gods and achieved Spiritual Veins.

If it was only this, then fine.

What made Yan Xi’s eyes sore was that all four were far taller than ordinary people.

Like Zhong Xue of Baimei Manor, when viewed alone, with her figure and face, she was undoubtedly an extraordinary beauty.

Curvaceous and alluring, with a seductive appearance.

But….

This one stood two meters and five tall.

Every part of her body was enlarged in proportion.

Just being near her, Yan Xi felt a strong oppressive feeling from her height, affecting his line of sight.

He was one meter eighty, and two meters five….

Apart from Zhong Xue, the other three were similarly immense in stature.

The shortest was over two meters twenty.

“Is this the Jinhuan?” Xia Plian raised her hand, and in her broad palm lay three intricate golden rings.

The rings were only the size of quail eggs, but their surfaces were engraved with various locking runes, giving them an impressive appearance.

“Let me take a look.” Yan Xi reached out, but the other dodged, evading him.

“Yan Xi, you should have an idea of how things are divided, right?” Xia Plian said coldly.

She was dressed in a goose-yellow cape, with a black, form-fitting leather outfit underneath, her long hair tied into a ponytail, and her fingers adorned with metal rings.

Monk Tanri had just been killed by her with a fist that crushed his chest.

“Divide? I take two, and you each take one, how about that?” Yan Xi said in a deep voice.

“Laughable, the four of us acted together, and we only get one?” Xia Plian replied coldly.

“Rumor has it the Celestial Maiden has already taken medicine, and the effects might have set in, causing her to forget about these objects.

This means that these Jinhuans are the only clues to her years of research. Instead of fighting over them, why not open the treasure together, resolve any issues, and provide an explanation to those behind us, agreed?”

Li Fan, the Spring Breeze Sect Leader, offered warmly, presenting a solution.

They were well aware of who Yan Xi represented.

This King Yan was unlike them, who huddled together for warmth, appearing solitary but actually backed by powerful forces.

Yan Xi glanced around at the four.

Unconsciously, the positions of the Four Seasons Envoy suggested a formation encircling him.

A faint smile emerged on his serious face.

“In that case, I agree!”

He knew that although the Four Seasons Envoy had long been independent, they were like siblings sworn by blood.

If things turned sour, even with his superior body technique, he could only leave empty-handed.

*

*

*

July 27th.

The rain poured endlessly, lasting a full week.

Near the Great Capital, two garrison cities, Yangshuo and Yinghuai, suffered from floods.

The river water level rose, inundating villages and towns near the river banks.

There were landslides, mudslides struck suddenly, the earthen roads collapsed.

Various troubles and disasters emerged.

The heavy rainfall and flooding stalled the surrounding environment, and the Spirit Court swiftly issued a disaster relief operation. Troops, craftsmen, and a large number of farmers were deployed to the disaster sites for relief efforts.

Numerous disaster relief grain carts were transported from various places to the Great Capital.

Meanwhile, the Daoists of the Great Dao Teaching also coordinated with the Spirit Court, deploying many Daoists skilled in alchemical medicine to assist in disaster relief.

The Jixian Institute urgently issued orders, mobilizing more than half the Daoists of the Celestial Treasure Palace to aid in disaster relief.

In an instant, the Celestial Treasure Palace was half-empty.

The dining hall of the Celestial Treasure Palace.

Three o’clock in the afternoon, lunchtime was long past.

Yet, among the rows of large tables and chairs, there was still one person eating heartily.

A bowl of five kilos of rice lay before him, accompanied by braised pork and stir-fried vegetables, consumed like pouring water, half of it disappearing in a few large scoops.

This man’s build was burly, tall and robust, his long hair tied back with a black headband, and even the deep blue Daoist robe he wore could not conceal the outline of muscles beneath.

“You’re still eating?”

Suddenly, an exasperated voice came from beside this person.

Zhang Qingzhi wore a speechless expression, holding a roster in his hand as he sat down opposite him.

“An hour ago, when I came over, I saw you were eating, and now you’re still eating?”

“Not enough, maybe I’m growing recently.” This person looked up, revealing an ordinary face, neither handsome nor unattractive.

Although his features were average, his aura carried an inexplicable heroic quality.

This person was none other than Zhang Rongfang, who had been diligently practicing the Golden Toad Skill for seven days.

During these seven days, he continuously observed and recorded changes in his body.

As a result, he found that his weight increased almost daily, though his height remained unchanged, still a little over 1.9 meters.

His weight was uniformly increasing by ten pounds a day.

Now, his weight had reached 260 pounds.

Clearly, this was a subsequent change brought about by previously enhancing the Golden Toad Skill.

The prerequisite for such rapid weight gain, naturally, was a huge appetite for food.

Thus, in these days, he ate several times his usual amount, akin to a rice bucket.

“Earlier, you said you wanted to buy a batch of blood-nourishing herbs over fifty years old? Is that still the case?” Zhang Qingzhi asked.

“Why? Do you have them? Of course, it still counts, but the quantity I need is quite large.”

Zhang Rongfang looked up and said.

“I intend to use them to concoct Fasting Pills.”

Fasting Pills are a broad class of alchemical pills.

The ordinary Fasting Pills, like the Dust Cleansing Pill, are easy to make; one pill satisfies a meal, mainly made from grains and a small amount of herbs, fruits, and eggs.

Then there are the graded ones, like the Gem Pill, which varies: a low-grade pill lasts a day, a mid-grade covers two to three days based on individual consumption. High-grade ones can last five days!

Those are the pills Zhang Rongfang wanted.

The crafting of graded pills requires a large combination of herbs and grains.

Their characteristics are that they need to stave off hunger, provide balanced nutrition, and not harm the stomach or intestines.

After all, an average person’s digestion isn’t strong, and dense compression might lead to indigestion.

But Zhang Rongfang planned to create a batch of improved Fasting Pills, reducing the digestive optimization and packing them with calories and nutrients.

After all, with his practice of the Golden Toad Skill, his demand for food digestion prowess had also started to decrease.

“Alright, I’ve recently made slight breakthroughs in my Cultivation of Literature and plan to purchase a Purple Fragrance Divine Refining Pill to prepare for a breakthrough.

Brother Zhang, the herb channels are from my hometown connections. I handle maintaining the relationships from both ends, taking a twentieth cut. Can you accept that?”

Zhang Qingzhi candidly laid out the situation.

He also intended to get some hard-earned compensation; he personally checked the herb business, inspected it, and then delivered it to the Celestial Treasure Palace for distribution to other alchemists in the pill division.

If any errors occurred, he would have to compensate.

“No problem.” Zhang Rongfang nodded, this commission was very fair.

“Alright then.”

Zhang Rongfang immediately began naming the herbs and their required ages.

But after only listing a few, he suddenly paused, his eyes dazed for a moment, realizing Zhang Rongfang was no longer responding.

“Brother Zhang?” Zhang Qingzhi waved his hand in front of him in confusion.

“It’s nothing…” Zhang Rongfang snapped back. He smiled and continued his report.

Yet, at this moment, his mind had already drifted away from the herbs.

At this moment, in his attribute panel, the line representing the free attribute point was clearly showing a new point.

’It worked!’

“From ten days per point, it shortened to seven days per point!” Zhang Rongfang truly experienced the formidable nature of the Golden Toad Skill at this moment.

Though eating was troublesome now, the rapid acquisition of attribute points outweighed it.

If he could switch to high-concentration Fasting Pills, he could say goodbye to the way of life that required spending a large amount of time eating daily.

’This is just the First Layer…’

After finishing his meal, he bid farewell to Zhang Qingzhi and quickly returned home to carefully examine the changes in his body.

Back at the small building’s backyard, within a simple practice field.

Zhang Rongfang changed his clothes, prepared a towel and water cup, then walked into the field.

His body maneuvered agilely, his fists and palms moved like the wind, continuously demonstrating the Great Dao Teaching’s seven Talismanic Skills.

After practicing just once, he could feel the changes in his body.

Bam.

The only metal training dummy in the yard was heavily struck on the chest by a palm, bending backward and swaying.

This dummy was extraordinarily heavy, weighing over a thousand pounds, standing two meters tall and one and a half meters wide, and using the principles of a tumbler to rebound.

Zhang Rongfang struck the dummy bare-handed, his hands repeatedly making it fall once it bounced up.

With constant blows, the dummy’s rebounding speed became faster, and its returning force also grew stronger.

The metal plate on the ground used to stabilize the dummy started making creaking sounds as it loosened.

Finally.

Zhang Rongfang’s right arm muscles suddenly tightened, delivering a powerful palm strike.

This move didn’t use any Limit-Breaking Skill, nor did he activate the threshold.

It was merely a normal strike.

However, this time, the power and speed of his strike were much stronger than usual.

Bam!

The dummy bent back heavily, its angle larger than before.

“At least thirty percent faster! What a powerful Golden Toad Skill!”

Zhang Rongfang instantly sidestepped the rebounding dummy, marveling in his heart.

“Need a sparring partner?” A cold voice emerged from a corner of the courtyard.

Zhang Rongfang followed the voice, and standing at the wall’s corner was Daoist Mingyuan, who had previously sparred with him.

Mingyuan still maintained that indifferent expression, wore a pitch-black martial outfit, and a black crescent moon crown.

It was unclear how long he had been watching from the corner.

“Can you?” Zhang Rongfang asked seriously.

“Yes.” Mingyuan stepped forward, his step seeming like a leap, standing several meters from Zhang Rongfang’s side.

“The Golden Toad Skill… is indeed a formidable martial art of the Sensing Sect. I once fought against a master of the Golden Toad Skill.” He said in a calm tone.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep