Who let him join the Sword Sect!

Chapter 457 Mr. Zhang's Miraculous Healing

Xiangxiang, who was in the Prayer Cave, had no idea what Zhang Ze had done, but even if she did, she wouldn't be too surprised.

I'm used to it after all.

She was currently perusing the records stored in stone tablets and bone ingots.

Although she cannot hear spirit magic, she possesses the Thousand Machine Technique.

A tiny Thousand Machine Puppet sat cross-legged beside her, the puppet resembling a miniature Lily.

The puppet, resembling Lily, was engraved with battle patterns and glowed with a flashing yellow light. It automatically used its spiritual hearing ability to help Xiangxiang read the contents of the stone tablet in front of her.

This little thing is an experimental machine for a certain project of the Thousand Machines Pavilion. Because the project has not yet come up with a name, it only has a code name.

【008】

This project, with its very early code name, is centered around a group of barbarians who have joined the Thousand Machines Pavilion and cultivators from the Medicine King Valley.

They wanted to use the Thousand Machine Technique to crack the secrets of the barbarian's Spirit Listening Method and War Marks.

This was to eliminate the barriers between the barbarians and the human race, allowing humans to learn the art of listening to spirits and barbarians to sense spiritual energy.

They have now successfully replicated the Spirit Listening Technique on the Thousand Machine Puppet.

The result is Lily No. 1, who is always talking beside Xiangxiang, and Zhang Ze No. 2, who is kept in Qianji Pavilion and was almost stolen many times.

It is unknown who has been trying to steal Zhang Ze No. 2.

Currently, Qianji Pavilion has mobilized personnel from Tianzong to strengthen the security level of the project, so Zhang Ze No. 2 should not be lost again.

Xiangxiang brought Lily No. 1 here this time not only as an extra precaution, but also to test the little thing's performance.

but
"Sigh~" Xiangxiang sighed. "I should have brought Zhang Ze No. 2 with me. Lily No. 1 is so noisy."

I wonder which brilliant genius created an artificial spirit for this little puppet; this spirit is practically Lily reincarnated and possessed by her.

Although it sat quietly and read the information in the stone tablet, its mouth kept chattering away.

Just like Lily.

Lily One, with her mouth agape, recited the glorious deeds of the priests, embellishing them on the spot into unofficial history.

[Ancient books state that, to avoid indecent exposure, the act of being naked in books is always referred to as being dressed in white.]

Therefore, Nalan Tianmeng, who was revered as the White-Clad High Priest for repelling ten thousand enemies with his white robes, is actually... Oops, *squeaks* shutting down.

Just then, the information was read and Xiangxiang shut down the energy core of this broken thing.

Unofficial histories can be unofficial, but they can't be sloppy.

After things finally quieted down, data flashed across Xiangxiang's screen, and she quickly found what she was looking for.

"Ah... I knew it."

The refreshed data stopped, freezing on a short story about the first high priest of the sacred tree.

The story explains why the priest received divine grace from the sacred tree.

The story tells of how the priest received divine favor from the sacred tree not only because of his piety, but also because he found a treasure.

A treasure from the Eastern Continent.

A brocade box, stained with blood, washed ashore after being carried downstream.

Inside the brocade box was a golden jade pendant, on which was carved a towering ancient tree.

The first high priest felt something was amiss, but just as he was about to compare it with the sacred tree before him, the jade pendant unexpectedly transformed into a ray of spiritual light that flowed into his mind.

From then on, the blessings of the sacred tree descended upon the barbarian tribes of the Western Continent.

Most people today believe this story to be fictional.

Since the jade pendant mentioned in the story came from the Eastern Continent, if this were true, it would seem beneath them and would be detrimental to the unification of the barbarian tribes.

Therefore, after the death of the first high priest, the story was interpreted in later generations as follows:
This is a wonderful story full of profound meaning, philosophy, wisdom, twists and turns, and metaphors.

By grasping the key points, one can gain a superficial understanding of the great wisdom of the first high priest.

This story was deciphered during the time of the fifth high priest and became a common question that candidates for sainthood would lose points in the trials of each generation.

However, in Xiangxiang's opinion, this story has no hidden meaning.

The priest found the jade pendant and honestly recorded it in his memoirs.

Because she recognized the jade pendant.

Both hand-drawn pictures were projected onto Xiangxiang's face.

The painting on the left was done by the chief priest, and the painting on the right was done by Zhang Ze, who was the magistrate of Baiyu County in his previous life.

The two artists depicted the same object: a jade pendant shaped like a tree.

The first owner of that jade pendant was Zhang Ze.

In a sense, the divine grace of the sacred tree belonged to him from the very beginning.

As for how this jade pendant ended up in Xizhou...

Xiangxiang's expression turned somewhat strange whenever she thought about it.

This jade pendant wasn't stolen; Zhang Ze sold it himself.

[Zhang Ze: Because I was broke. If it weren't for my brilliant and resourceful actions—wearing a black cloak and using a tiger's skin to sell it at the auction house, and then immediately buying an official title and becoming the magistrate of Baiyu County—I probably would have been devoured by this cannibalistic world long ago.]

Xiangxiang clearly remembered what Zhang Ze had said to her during a casual conversation years ago. Later, after he rose to power and learned of the existence of the Sacred Tree, he had considered finding the jade pendant, but the auction house and the cultivators behind it had long been crushed into dust by the chaos of the world, all clues were lost, and there was nowhere to go.

After that, he was very busy with many things, and even led the demon race to the northern border, so the matter was left unresolved.

Even Zhang Ze himself eventually forgot about it.

Xiangxiang smiled, feeling that fate was playing tricks on her.

In those chaotic times of war, it was common for cultivators to attack and kill each other; this is what is meant by "possessing a treasure is a crime."

The bloodstains on the box when the high priest found it also revealed that countless conspiracies and assassinations had taken place around it.

However, if it were Zhang Ze, he might actually be able to evade the attacks time and time again, experience countless adventures, and finally reach the foot of the sacred tree and unlock the secret of the jade pendant...

But that's another story.

Perhaps that story was more thrilling and dramatic, but Xiangxiang was certain she didn't like it.

Because she and the people of Baiyu County are not in this story.

"But then again, what exactly is Zhang Ze's relationship with the Sacred Tree..."

Xiangxiang activated her projection terminal, took in the powered-off Lily No. 1, and then left the Prayer Cave. She decided to find someone to discuss this matter with.

She froze on the spot as soon as she came out of the cave.

Looking at the pink sacred tree and Fucheng, she knew with a snap of her fingers that Zhang Ze was responsible.

"How romantic."

Xiangxiang commented as such.

……

Beneath the sea.

Zhang Ze had no idea that Xiangxiang had found the whereabouts of the jade pendant, nor did he know how much trouble the pink sacred tree had caused to the residents of Fucheng.

He was continuing along the golden thread, deeper into the sacred tree.

He quickly succeeded in probing the lesion, reaching deep into the wound and seeing an arm.

Its arms are huge, nearly ten meters long, and are entirely bluish-black in color with clearly defined muscle lines. Upon closer inspection, you can see even darker patterns covering them.

Whether it was the power of the arm itself or the effect of the patterns, a cavity formed around the arm, and an unseen force was slowly eroding the sacred tree.

He tapped the surface of his arm; the sound was dull and solid, neither triggering a counterattack nor opening a passage to the interior.

Zhang Ze circled his arm but couldn't find Ah Li or Feng Ge.

Besides that, he always felt that something was missing.

"What exactly is it?"

Zhang Ze didn't realize what was happening until he saw his right hand pointing the middle finger.

The hand that was pointing with the middle finger at the front of this arm is gone.

A flat cut appeared at the bottom of the arm.

It didn't disappear into thin air, but rather burrowed deeper.

Zhang Ze couldn't be sure where his hand went or what it was connected to below, because everything in the Earth Sea was unknown.

There are discontinuous gaps between spaces, like the broken roots around the sacred tree.

There may be another space beneath the sacred tree.

Zhang Ze bent down and reached under his arm, trying to pull it out.

But after several attempts, the arm remained completely still.

"Um... what's down there? Can I go down?" Zhang Ze asked, looking up.

A moment later, another mental shock washed over him, leaving him completely refreshed. This shock was even more intense than the previous one.

It feels like I'm about to ascend to the heavens.

In a daze, Zhang Ze understood the meaning of the sacred tree.

[It's inexplicable, it'll drive me crazy]

Zhang Ze scratched his head, feeling that it was a bit troublesome. After thinking for a moment, he decided to go back upstairs and discuss it with his mother and the others.

At that moment, it was unclear whether Zhang Ze's earlier action of trying to pull his arm out had an effect, or whether the arm was simply waiting for him there.

The arm that had been inserted seamlessly into the space below suddenly loosened slightly, and after a barely perceptible tremor, it slid down.

By the time Zhang Ze realized it, it was too late; the hole had widened, and only half of his arm remained.

At the same time, a suction force appeared in the cave, pulling Zhang Ze in like a flushing toilet.

As the arm disappeared, the power that had been eroding the sacred tree became like water without roots, the wound began to heal, and the sacred tree returned to its wholeness.

The spiritual impact of the Sacred Tree reverberated once more throughout the sea, but this time no one received it.

If Zhang Ze were still alive, he would have understood that the sacred tree only said two words.

【Comfortable】

(End of this chapter)