I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 142 The Spring of the Spiritual World

Let's talk about the little kid. He came to the courtyard of the Taoist temple which was responsible for preparing medicinal materials. From a distance, he saw an old man wearing a robe as thick as five rice ears, standing in the courtyard and fiddling with medicinal materials.

"Grandpa Zhang." When the little kid saw the old man, he called out in a crisp voice.

"Oh, it's Chengyu. You haven't been here for a while!" The old man with white hair and beard had a smile on his face, but the next moment he turned around and shouted to the house, "Quickly collect those Polygonatum, ginseng, and Polygonum multiflorum for me!"

"Grandpa Zhang!" The little kid muttered in dissatisfaction after hearing this: "I feel insulted by your behavior. Who are you defending against?"

"I'm not preventing you from taking the medicine. I'm preventing you from being poisoned by the herbs." Elder Zhang had a slightly awkward smile on his face.

"Isn't it just that I ate a piece of Polygonatum sibiricum from you last time? Is there any need to be so stingy?" The little kid pulled a frown on his face.

Hearing what the little kid said, the elder's mouth twitched: "You only ate one? Every time you were hungry, you came to the yard to beg for food. You ate Polygonatum as a meal. You ate all the edible herbs. You are lucky that you didn't die from the drugs."

The little kid snorted when he heard that, but he didn't feel embarrassed. Instead, he said, "Grandpa Zhang, if a person is mentally ill, how can he be cured if he always has fantasies?"

"Are you mentally ill?" The old man was stunned when he heard this.

"No, he's a friend of mine." said the little kid.

The old man relaxed after hearing this: "So it's just a friend of yours. This is actually quite simple. You just need to calm your soul and the symptoms will naturally disappear. I'll prescribe you a few packets of medicine and I'll cure your illness."

Zhang Chen was practicing calligraphy in the house. Not long after, he suddenly smelled the fragrance of herbs in the yard.

"What are you doing?" Zhang Chen followed the smell of herbs and walked out of the house. He saw the little kid who was boiling medicine. Cheng Yu was covered in dust and was fanning the fire with a cattail leaf fan.

Cheng Yu looked at Zhang Chen, his eyes darting around, and thought to himself, "If I tell him that he is mentally ill, he will definitely not take the medicine. I might as well find a way to coax him into taking it."

Then Cheng Yu cleared his throat and said, "Do you know why I have already cultivated Hua Jin at such a young age?"

"Why?" Zhang Chen asked in surprise, wondering if there really was some secret method.
"It's because of this medicine! I wonder when the competition will start, so I decided to take out my secret recipe and train you to be a great master." Little Douding said solemnly: "I'm telling you, this secret recipe is passed down from my ancestors, and I won't tell even my master. If it weren't for the fact that you stewed meat for me, I would never give you this medicine."

Zhang Chen looked at the little kid with a pink face covered in soot and was moved. His eyes were filled with warmth. "Thank you, little kid! I will definitely not let you down. I will win first place on the day of the competition."

"Haha, I'm glad you're thoughtful. Now is our chance. The lady lives in the Taoist temple, so it's impossible for the temple to hold a competition. By delaying the time, we can buy a lot of time and increase our chances." As he spoke, Cheng Yu picked up the medicine and poured it into a bowl beside him, then waved to Zhang Chen, "Come and drink the medicine."

Zhang Chen looked at the medicine and felt a little puzzled, but he didn't think much about it and chose to drink it.

The taste of the medicine was naturally unpalatable, but Zhang Chen was able to drink it.

After they drank the medicine, they stared at each other. Xiao Douding carefully observed Zhang Chen for a while, and when he saw that Zhang Chen had no reaction, he said nothing more and picked up the residue.

An hour later, Zhang Chen looked at the little kid who was reading:
"How come I didn't have any reaction after drinking this medicine? Apart from feeling dizzy and wanting to sleep, there was nothing else unusual."

"You've only drunk one bowl, what effect can it have? This medicine will subtly change your aptitude and increase your Qi and blood, so don't overthink it." Little Douding said vaguely, "You'll have to drink it for at least half a month before it will be effective."

Zhang Chen didn't think much about it when he heard it. He didn't believe that the little kid would hurt him.

Zhang Chen practiced calligraphy for a while, and suddenly felt sleepy. He fell into a deep sleep again. When he woke up, it was already late at night.

"How strange! Why am I so sleepy today?" Zhang Chen pushed open the window, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

The moonlight in the sky flowed down like running water and was completely absorbed by Zhang Chen, turning into nutrients for him. The crystal core beat in Zhang Chen's body, as if it was subtly changing Zhang Chen.

Time passed quickly, half a month passed in a flash, and the days seemed to have calmed down. In the past half month, Zhang Chen practiced calligraphy and slept, apart from meditation. He put aside most of his martial arts practice. What was rare was that when Xiao Douding saw Zhang Chen slacking off in martial arts, he didn't say anything, but comforted Zhang Chen to sleep more, which made Zhang Chen feel very strange.

In the first spiritual realm, Zhang Chen stood on the ruins, looking at a broken rune in front of him, and shook his head: "The runes engraved on the building don't seem to have any special use. At most, they deepen my understanding of runes. I don't know if there are any treasures buried under this palace."

Fox Fairy Nannan was meditating. After hearing Zhang Chen's words, she immediately became alert: "Need I say more? This palace looks very grand, but it was suddenly destroyed by someone. There must be treasures hidden under the palace."

Zhang Chen was thoughtful after hearing this: "You said that there are thirty-three layers of the spiritual world. Is there life in the thirty-three layers of the spiritual world?"

"Of course not! This is the spiritual world. Everything here is illusory and fake. How can there be life? There are only two things here. One is the legendary medicine, and the other is the legendary mysterious thing." said the fox fairy Nannan.

Zhang Chen seemed to be thinking about something when he heard this. He looked at the ruins of the palace, then at the overwhelming black sand. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "If there is no life, then how did this palace come about?" The fox fairy Nannan fell silent after hearing this. After a long while, she said, "There is another possibility. That is, the ancient gods and demons entered the spiritual world and left traces behind."

This explanation is very reliable!
"You see, the reason why this palace is in ruins must be because it was built by a powerful ancient god or demon, and it distorted the laws of the spiritual world, so it was rejected and corrected by the spiritual world, and thus it was abandoned. After the ancient god or demon died, this palace lost the blessing of the power of gods and demons, and was corrected by the power of the spiritual world, so it was abandoned." Fox Fairy Nannan speculated.

"According to what you said, it is quite interesting. Your fox clan has a very deep foundation. In just sixty years, you were able to dig out such a secret." Zhang Chen looked at the fox fairy Nannan.

At this point, Zhang Chen had a question in his mind: "I am a little confused. Why was the mystery unearthed only sixty years ago? What about the era before sixty years ago?"

Fox Fairy Nannan looked at Zhang Chen with a pair of eyes, as if she was looking at a bumpkin. "Sixty years ago, it was a mysterious era. There was always a mysterious power flowing between heaven and earth. Mortals who obtained the mysterious power could gain incredible power. Sixty years ago, someone unearthed the ancient tomb of gods and demons, and from it unearthed the acquired practice method, which can continue the path of martial arts. It allows people to have the opportunity to rival the mystery without having to obtain the mystery."

"That is to say, sixty years ago, there was no cultivation method circulated in the world. The power that all the strong people could obtain depended on the level of mystery they obtained. If they obtained the twelfth-level mystery, as their tacit understanding with the twelfth-level mystery increased and their mastery increased, they could naturally increase their level. However, mysteries can eat people. They will devour people's vitality and need to be nourished by human lives in order to obtain extraordinary power."

"It was not until sixty years ago that someone discovered the secret method of spiritual cultivation that humans gained the power to fight against the mystery. They could use mental power to control or suppress the mystery, slowing down the speed at which the mystery devours life. Just like my fox clan, there is a ninth-level mystery. Every generation of foxes who master that mystery will not live beyond the age of sixty. It was not until sixty years ago that the secret method of spiritual cultivation was born and my ancestor stepped into the realm of Yin Shen that he broke free from fate, broke free from shackles, and gained the ability to fight against the mystery." said the fox fairy Nannan.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen suddenly understood and felt that the fox fairy Nannan's explanation made sense. Mysteries have always existed in this world, but they are little known.

"Just like the Huangli Temple where you are, I think the mystery unearthed by Huang Tiandao should be a special twelfth-level mystery. It's just that Huang Tiandao's master is extremely mysterious. Since he obtained the mystery sixty years ago, no one in the world has seen his trace, so no one knows his details. But Huang Tiandao actually collects the beliefs of all living beings in the world. It's really weird." There was some emotion in the voice of the fox fairy Nannan.

Zhang Chen showed a hint of curiosity in his eyes, and echoed, "What a wonderful world! I still have a question, why haven't ordinary people heard of the mysterious news? There are not even any myths or legends about it?"

"An innocent man is guilty of possessing a treasure. Even among the mysteries, they will constantly hunt and fight each other. After getting the benefits, who would expose themselves in a high-profile manner?" The fox fairy Nannan said unhappily.

Zhang Chen was thoughtful after hearing this. This is just like some groups in later generations. The truly rich people make their fortunes quietly. Who would shout to the world that they are rich?
"I don't know if I can bring items from the spiritual world back to the real world."

"Impossible! The spiritual world is like a mirage, and it is impossible to enter the material world from the spiritual world. The ancients also had this idea, but they all failed." The fox fairy Nannan refuted Zhang Chen's words.

Zhang Chen was thoughtful after hearing this, and lowered his head to look at the ruins under his feet: "I am going to clean up the ruins. I wonder if I can dig out something good. Come and help me."

Fox Fairy Nannan was reluctant when she heard this: "The ruins are so big, how long will it take us to clean them up? It would be better to spend our time on cultivation, and turn the ruins over when we become stronger!"

Although the fox fairy Nannan said she was reluctant, she could not resist and could only come forward to help with a helpless look on her face, helping Zhang Chen clean up the debris on the ruins.

"It's a pity that I don't have the ability to turn into flowing water, otherwise I could drill into the gaps in these buildings and look for any treasures inside." Zhang Chen was suddenly stunned when he said this, and his eyes looked towards the spiritual world in front of him with a thoughtful look.

"You're dreaming. Even if you have the ability to transform into flowing water, this is the spiritual world. There is no water at all. What can you transform into?" The fox fairy Nannan sneered, mocking Zhang Chen's ignorance.

However, Zhang Chen did not smile. Not only did he not smile, but the expression on his face was more serious than ever before.

Zhang Chen looked at the vixen and asked a serious question: "Do you think there is water in the spiritual world?"

"Are you crazy? This is the spiritual world. Do you know what the spiritual world is? Everything in it is made up of spiritual power. Even the palace buildings and the black wind you see are all illusions and fake. They are only real relative to the soul. How can there be water in the spiritual world?" The fox fairy Nannan suddenly felt that Zhang Chen in front of her was crazy. He actually believed that there was water in the spiritual world. What else could this be but madness?
However, Zhang Chen ignored the ridicule of the fox fairy Nannan and looked into the void in front of him: "What if, I mean what if, there is really water in this spiritual world? And it's a spring?"

"I used two punches from Bang Bang to wake you up. You must have been under an illusion." said the fox fairy Nannan.

Zhang Chen ignored the ridicule of the fox fairy Nannan, but turned his eyes and looked at the ruins under his feet, because he really sensed that there was a spring gushing out thirty meters below the ruins.

"How can there be water in the spiritual world?" Zhang Chen murmured, then looked at the vixen: "If there really is water, what does it mean?"

"It means that we are both hallucinating! There are only elixirs in this world, and no water." The fox fairy Nannan looked at Zhang Chen with certainty.

"Do you think I look like I'm under an illusion now?" Zhang Chen asked the fox fairy Nannan.

"I think you have delusional disorder." Fox Fairy Nannan rolled her eyes: "You might as well practice with that time. You actually wasted precious time cleaning up the ruins. It's really unreasonable."

The fox fairy Nannan cursed and ignored Zhang Chen's words, instead moving sand, gravel and soil.

"Don't move there, come with me and dig here! There is a spring underground." Zhang Chen walked to a ruin and shouted to the vixen.

While speaking, Zhang Chen had already picked up a pillar beside him as a tool and began to clean up the ruins under his feet. He had already sensed the existence of the spring.

"Don't you know how to control water? Why are you digging in the ruins? Can't you just control the spring water to flow out?" The fox fairy Nannan looked at Zhang Chen with a weird tone in her voice, as if she was looking at a mental patient.

(End of this chapter)