Put away your magical powers now!.

Chapter 330 [The Crisis of Being Exposed]

Chapter 324 [The Crisis of Being Exposed]

Of course, it was impossible for him to serve the emperor in bed.

Chen Yan felt that Zhan Li was either mentally ill or had ulterior motives towards him.

She wasn't a stunning beauty, just an ordinary girl of average looks. Why would Chen Yan be even slightly attracted to her? She didn't even look like Liu Yifei.

Thinking back to the journey, this woman had given him money, various local specialties, and materials for magical artifacts...

Did I meet a rich woman?

Chen Yan found it increasingly strange, but looking at Zhan Li's expression, which seemed to suggest he was about to heroically sacrifice himself...

Something's not right about that expression.

Ok?
Chen Yan's heart skipped a beat. Looking at Zhan Li, he suddenly remembered something and tentatively asked, "Cave Maiden, could it be that someone ordered you to serve me?"

This Zhanli is a Cave Maiden of the Blackwood Tribe, one of the eighteen tribes of the Ghost Clan. The Cave Maiden is already one of the highest-ranking individuals in the Blackwood Tribe. Furthermore, her status as a servant under the tutelage of the Ghost Clan's Venerable Ancestor adds to her air of nobility.

This identity is "delicate".

As a cave maiden, one must obey the orders of the Yama King of this realm.

But as someone who serves the Venerable Ancestor, one should simply obey the Ancestor's orders!

For someone of Zhanli's status to grovel before him and serve him with utmost respect throughout the journey, even uttering words like "serving him in bed" through gritted teeth... even the King of Hell of the Blackwood Clan wouldn't have such qualifications.

Although Yama is the master of a department, he cannot directly command the servants under a venerable patriarch to serve others!
and so……

Having thought this through, Chen Yan felt he had figured out the answer!
Among the entire Ghost Clan, there is only one person who is qualified to make Zhanli treat him with such humility!

Chen Yan took a deep breath, his voice slightly agitated: "So, it was your ancestor..."

Upon hearing this, Zhan Li trembled, but dared not answer. He lowered his head, bowed repeatedly to Chen Yan, and shook his head, pointing to his mouth.

Chen Yan was taken aback, then nodded in understanding: "I understand. It concerns the Venerable Ancestor, so you dare not say it, right?"

Having guessed the answer, Chen Yan felt a little more relaxed.

So, the old lady knew she had come to southern Xinjiang!

Thinking of this, Chen Yan smiled with relief, feeling much more relaxed. He looked at Zhan Li and smiled, "Alright, I don't need you to serve me. Please go back."

Zhan Li breathed a sigh of relief and didn't dare to ask any more questions. He simply bowed respectfully to Chen Yan and left.

After walking out and closing the door, Zhan Li let out a long sigh. His expression and gaze were very complicated. He looked at the closed door, pondered for a while, and then left with his head down.

·
Now that the old lady knew he had arrived in the Southern Frontier, and even the Blackwood Tribe, Chen Yan was no longer in a hurry.

There might be some problems in other parts of the realm, but now that we've entered the territory of the Blackwood Tribe of the Ghost Clan, it's like entering the old lady's headquarters!

What else is there to worry about?
Now, he just had to wait for the old lady to come and see him.

With this in mind, Chen Yan simply stayed in his room instead of going out, and didn't even bother to visit Gu Tongbing.

Even when Gu Tongbing came to knock on the door at night, wanting to invite him to visit the village of the Blackwood tribe, Chen Yan politely declined.

He guessed that the old lady wanted to see him most likely when he was alone.

After all, he had illegally entered the realm, which was a huge secret. The old lady probably didn't meet him openly because of this, to protect him from suspicion and to prevent others from discovering his secret identity as an undocumented immigrant.

And so, Chen Yan sat in his room all night waiting, not even eating anything that night, and he even skipped meditation and circulating his vital energy—he was so excited about seeing the old lady that he couldn't calm down at all.
He waited all night, until dawn, when a ghost servant from the earthen building knocked on the door, bringing food and hot water for washing. Hearing the growing commotion outside, Chen Yan felt a pang of loss.

Why hasn't the old lady appeared yet?
After waiting for half a day, Gu Tongbing knocked on the door again in the afternoon.

This time, Chen Yan couldn't refuse, because Gu Tongbing hadn't come alone; Zhan Li had come with him as well.

Zhanli explained, "In the afternoon, in the hall downstairs, an elder of the tribe gave a speech, to announce some things about participating in the Heaven-Striking Ceremony tomorrow, and to make it clear that everyone holding the Heaven-Striking Ceremony token must be present."

Chen Yan nodded upon hearing this, then looked at Gu Tongbing, who smiled and said, "I'm not participating in the Heaven-Striking Ceremony; I'm just observing. However, I would like to invite you to meet some fellow practitioners."

Chen Yan hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Tomorrow is the Heaven-Striking Ceremony. I plan to spend more time meditating in my room to concentrate my Yuan Qi cultivation to its best state."

Gu Tongbing laughed and said, "Actually, there's no need to be so nervous. Although I have never participated in the Heaven-Striking Ceremony, I have heard from people who have practiced the Ghost Clan's techniques that the Heaven-Striking Ceremony focuses on enlightenment and does not consume much vital energy."

Chen Yan had no interest in going with Gu Tongbing to meet people. He guessed that the so-called "like-minded people" that Gu Tongbing wanted to take him to meet were probably his colleagues from his secret organization.

He had no intention of participating in Gu Tongbing's great cause, nor did he want to get involved in these consequences.

Gu Tongbing sighed: "Fine, let's wait until the Heaven-Piercing Ceremony is over before we talk about it."

He sensed Chen Yan's firm stance, so he stopped pressuring and left quietly.

·
Chen Yan had just seen Gu Tongbing and Zhan Li off when he closed the door and turned to go back inside. Suddenly, his eyes caught sight of the tables and chairs in the room, and his gaze immediately sharpened!
Chen Yan originally remembered that there was nothing on that wooden table, but now when he looked at it again, there was an object placed in the very center of the table!
Chen Yan frowned, walked over, picked up the thing, and held it in his hand. A thought suddenly struck him!
A mahjong tile!

It's carved from wood, but the polishing isn't very good; it's a bit rough, as if it was made in a hurry, and there are some burrs on it.

The mahjong tile has a red dragon engraved on it.

Chen Yan's gaze suddenly changed, and he looked up abruptly around, tentatively asking, "Grandma? Is that you, Grandma?"

There was no response from inside the room. Chen Yan took a deep breath, held the mahjong tile in his hand, and unconsciously rubbed his fingers on it.

There was no energy fluctuation on this mahjong tile, or rather, it might contain some kind of special magic, but Chen Yan's level of understanding was not enough to comprehend it.

However, what made Chen Yan's eyes change was that a line of words suddenly appeared on the wooden table!

The writing was carved on a wooden table, each character slowly emerging one by one, eventually forming a sentence:

"Carry it with you at all times."

Chen Yan's eyes lit up!
But soon, when he looked at those four words again, the line of text slowly disappeared.

The wooden tabletop is now smooth and flat again, without any trace of the previous carvings!
Chen Yan looked serious. After thinking for a moment, he carefully placed the "red center" coin in the inner pocket of his shirt.

·
In the afternoon, Chen Yan left his room at the time Zhan Li had told him and went to the first floor of the Tulou.

In the central courtyard of the Tulou, rows of straw mats were laid out. Two futons were placed on the north side.

Just after noon, Chen Yan arrived at the courtyard and found that quite a few people were already seated around it. The courtyard was very large, and the straw mats laid out could easily seat two or three hundred people without feeling crowded. Chen Yan thought for a moment and casually walked to a seat on the left side of the back row. This seat was on the side, and there were only a few people around him when he sat down.

He looked around and realized that the people who had arrived were all token holders participating in the Heaven-Piercing Ceremony. However, their seating arrangements were quite elaborate.

Everyone here is an outsider, not a member of the Ghost Clan—presumably, members of the Ghost Clan would have been given instructions by their own clan members and wouldn't need to go through this process.

These outsiders, though dressed differently, were generally recognizable. Some of them wore the same clothes, suggesting they came from the same clan or family. These fellow clansmen often sat together in groups of three or five, clearly distinguishing themselves from those from other families.

The vast majority of those present were "regular troops" from powerful clans and families.

There are also freelance cultivators like Chen Yan, who dress casually and do not belong to any sect or family. They probably obtained the token for the Heaven-Striking Ceremony by some unknown cost or through some unknown means.

There were only about twenty of these independent cultivators present, and they all unconsciously kept their distance from the disciples of the aristocratic families and sects. Coincidentally, they all ended up sitting near Chen Yan.

About three-quarters past noon, the number of people in the venue had exceeded one hundred and fifty, which made Chen Yan's heart stir.

He secretly calculated that the number of disciples from aristocratic families and sects exceeded one hundred—a number that already surpassed the one hundred slots that the Ghost Clan sold to aristocratic families and sects each time. It seemed that those aristocratic families and sects had obtained their slots through other channels.

Therefore, it can be concluded that during this Heaven-Smashing Ceremony, many tribes within the eighteen tribes of the Ghost Clan sold their own quotas for personal gain.

This discovery stirred a strange feeling in Chen Yan's heart, reminding him of what the shepherd Jushan Feng, whom he had met on the road, had once said...

The Ghost Clan's ancestor, also known as my own grandmother, left the Southern Frontier for decades and never returned, causing the Ghost Clan's Heaven-Piercing Ceremony to be interrupted for decades. This led to a temporary halt in the Ghost Clan's cultivation path. Logically, the clan should have accumulated many people waiting to begin their cultivation journey.

At this point, there were even tribes within the demon race willing to sell their own quotas...

It seems that the sects and aristocratic families must have paid a considerable price this time!
And this kind of thing... I'm afraid there will be quite a few people within the demon race who will oppose it, and even harbor resentment.

Although the shepherd Jushan Feng's methods were unethical, what he said was, in a sense, true.

Among the demons, there must be many others like him who harbor resentment, but they may not resort to the same drastic and extreme methods as Jushan Feng.

With these thoughts swirling in his mind, he was inevitably distracted. In a daze, he suddenly felt someone approaching and sitting down on a straw mat next to him.

The man walked lightly, without deliberately slowing his pace, and calmly sat down to Chen Yan's left. After sitting down, he crossed his legs, pointed to a small table in front of the straw mat, and smiled at Chen Yan, "Fellow Daoist, would you like some water on the table?"

Chen Yan was preoccupied with his own thoughts, so he casually replied, "No need, please make yourself at home, fellow Daoist."

But before he could finish speaking, Chen Yan instinctively turned his head to look at the person. Just one glance was enough to make Chen Yan's body tremble violently, his eyes widening in shock as he stared at the other person!
On the straw mat to the left, sat a young man!

To be precise, this person's age is probably somewhere between "child" and "teenager".

He was slender and thin, with a fair complexion and red lips, giving him a handsome appearance. He seemed to have a good quality of life, excellent health, and abundant energy.

That's nothing. All cultivators in the realm, even those who have just entered the lower realms, can already begin to circulate vital energy to nourish their physical bodies, and their physiques are much better than those of ordinary mortals.

The man was wearing a blue robe, but it was clearly an adult-sized garment, with the sleeves and waist obviously tailored to fit the boy's still-growing physique. Even so, the robe still looked too big on him, making him appear rather empty.

Her hair was styled into a bun on top of her head and secured with a hairpin that resembled a deer antler. Her hair was shiny and lustrous, the kind of hair quality and volume that would make a middle-aged person want to cry.

The child's temperament, appearance, and clothing were all quite remarkable. Although he appeared to be a rogue cultivator, he was very composed, especially with a peaceful smile in his eyes, showing none of the tension of the other license holders around him.

What surprised Chen Yan was not the boy's demeanor or appearance.

Rather, he clearly recognized this person!
The words "Shen Shiqi" were almost unconsciously uttered from Chen Yan's mouth, but he realized what he was saying and swallowed them back down.
The young man in front of me was none other than Shen Shiqi!
Shen Shiqi, who grew up in an orphanage! To avenge his parents, he used his lifespan to activate magic and kill the evil cultivator—Shen Shiqi!

No, that's not right!

Chen Yan made up his mind... No!
The young man in front of her looked very much like Shen Shiqi, but he was obviously a few years older than the Shen Shiqi she remembered. He was also not as malnourished and sickly as Shen Shiqi.

The Shen Shiqi I had met looked several years younger than his actual age at the time because of the hardships he had endured since childhood, the difficult living conditions in the orphanage, the need to attend school and work, and the sacrifice of his own blood and lifespan to maintain the magic of the Soul-Suppressing Lamp.

Moreover, he was very thin, with a large head and a small body.

But the "Shen Shiqi" in front of her was a typical young man with white teeth and red lips, exactly the kind of "cute little puppy" that many female hooligans on the internet like.

The boy's appearance suggested he was about fourteen or fifteen years old, which didn't match Shen Shiqi's age.

But his appearance and features were clearly those of Shen Shiqi, who was a few years older, with his face being a proportionally enlarged version of himself!
Chen Yan's heart tightened, and he quickly suppressed his surprised expression, even lowering his head and looking away.

Shen Shiqi!
No, to be precise, Shen Shiqi's real name is "Jiang Baisui"!
After Shen Shiqi "died," Chen Yan recalled the many strange things about Shen Shiqi and the various bizarre spells he knew.

In addition, there was the wondrous technique he taught me, the "Spiritual Transmission Technique," which allowed me to create clones!

Indulge in unrestrained joy!

Jiang Baisui!
If I'm not mistaken, that Shen Shiqi is most likely the incarnation of the "Centenarian Venerable" from that realm!

To secretly enter one's own real world in an avatar and experience a life's journey in that avatar!

Even if it's an avatar, it's still...

A revered saint!

After Chen Yan pondered the matter, he realized that Shen Shiqi's "death" was probably not a real death, but rather that he had transformed into a persona, completed a life experience, and then returned to his original form!

Chen Yan was greatly shocked!

He had cultivated the "Spiritual Transmission Chapter" and had experienced the feeling of creating avatars to experience different fates. Although with his cultivation level, he could not yet transmit his spirit to human form, he could only barely transmit his spirit to some tiny insects.

However, he was very clear about one of the important characteristics of the "Spiritual Pieces"!

After the avatar is recovered, the original body can retain all the experiences and memories of the avatar!
In other words... if Shen Shiqi really is that centenarian Venerable One...

After the incarnation was recovered, the Hundred-Year-Old Venerable obtained all the memories of Shen Shiqi, the incarnation.

Therefore, this venerable saint recognizes himself!
Although he traveled through the realm and used shapeshifting magic to change his appearance, the "Zhao Shanhe" in the realm and Chen Yan in the real world had completely different appearances and body types.

but……

Chen Yan didn't believe his shapeshifting technique could fool a Venerable Saint!
No matter how powerful the White Fox's innate supernatural ability is, it can only deceive those below the Celestial Realm. Of course, now that his cultivation has reached the third realm, his transformation technique has naturally improved as well, and perhaps he can also deceive those in the Celestial Realm.

But no matter what, trying to fool the Sage is really a bit foolish!

Holy crap, my identity's about to be exposed!!

(End of this chapter)