My dream connects to three thousand years later.

Chapter 272 Chu Zhu: Bishop Hu Kaikang, do you know that big orange cat? (5.6k)

Dream world.

After Chu Zhu woke up, she read the diary again: "The Mayan ruins, still no luck!"

But it's not surprising!
After sighing, Chu Zhu casually glanced through the messages again, finally finishing reading Lin Xinzhu's comment. It was pretty much the same as always!
"Still too weak!" Chu Zhu patted his cheeks and stood up again. Only the strong can know more information!

Then, as he walked, he called Ning Linglong while simultaneously organizing the almost complete new method for replicating the living supernatural power that he had deduced...

……

A few hours later.

"It wasn't easy." On a mountain peak in the fourth district, Chu Zhu held Ning Linglong's hand, his face filled with emotion: "I did it! I finally did it."

Ning Linglong: "???"

Seeing Chu Zhu muttering to himself, she was startled, and worry appeared on her face. Had he gone crazy from the pressure? She immediately comforted him, "Well, developing supernatural powers is inherently difficult... it's normal to encounter some obstacles. I'll stay with you... huh?!"

Ning Linglong watched in astonishment as Chu Zhu raised his palm, and wisps of breeze enveloped his body, allowing him to slowly take off.

"...A master of wind and water?" Ning Linglong murmured, disbelief and existential doubt surfacing in her eyes. Even though she already knew about Chu Zhu's supernatural abilities and his purpose in approaching her... seeing her own supernatural powers in someone else's hands still stirred a thousand emotions within her.

"Truly powerful," Chu Zhu exclaimed. With a flick of his finger, terrifying waves of water materialized in the void, sweeping outwards and crushing down giant trees with overwhelming force.

Compared to the memory-based supernatural powers of the second realm, the attack power is on a completely different level!

Thinking of this, Chu Zhu's mood became complicated again. He remembered the time he rode the maglev car with Ning Linglong into the sky. He died in the crash, but based on the last thing he saw before he died... it's highly likely that Ning Linglong didn't die!

Even soaking it in water isn't a big problem... after all, it has supernatural powers related to water!

“…Um! What’s next?” After a while, Ning Linglong finally cheered up, looked directly at Chu Zhu, and moved her lips.

then……

Amid Ning Linglong's bewildered, shocked, and existentially questioning gaze, Chu Zhu gently reached out and patted her forehead.

The next moment, the wind transformed into unimaginably sharp arrows of wind, tearing apart the brain.

……

When Chu Zhu opened her eyes again, a smile appeared on her lips, her face radiating confidence and pride.

"All the pieces of the puzzle have been assembled! Now... it's time to break the deadlock."

Chu Zhu got up without hesitation and walked out of the Nuwa base.

He looked up at the gray sky. Compared to the blue sky and white clouds of the fourth district, the third district, even though it had been redeveloped as a shantytown, was still extremely polluted due to the steam industry.

Chu Zhu took out her phone and made a call.

"Old Hu! It's me." Chu Zhu's tone was calm and light.

There was a long silence on the other end before someone finally spoke: "You are..."

"You've already recognized me! There's no need for this, is there?" Chu Zhu scoffed. "You fisherman who's happy for three days just because you caught a fish that's only a centimeter long! I bet you have to go to the market to buy fish every time you go home before you feel confident enough to come back..."

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Hu Kaikang exploded, his voice tinged with exasperation: "You surnamed Chu, how dare you slander someone's innocence out of thin air?!"

"It's all because you pretended not to know me...you dog! Okay, let's not talk about this anymore!" Chu Zhu calmly changed the subject. "You must be very curious about how I know your identity, right? I heard Zhang Hai mention it!"

Chu Zhu directly shifted the blame to Zhang! Of course, during the countless resets in the dream world over the past half month in the real world, Chu Zhu did manage to extract this information from Zhang Hai once.

Hu Kaikang did indeed discuss this matter with Zhang Hai...

"...That guy! Is he so loose-lipped?" Hu Kaikang's voice finally carried a hint of dissatisfaction.

Chu Zhu didn't mention that she had coerced or lured him into giving her this information, and naturally moved on to the next topic: "Let's meet! Didn't you tell him you wanted to take me as your apprentice?"

“…This!” Hu Kaikang hesitated for a moment, “How about tomorrow? I’m quite busy today…”

"..." Chu Zhu's eye twitched. Tomorrow? Tomorrow he and the entire shantytown redevelopment area would be gone! Tomorrow... and you're busy... how can you even say that!

You old geezer, you're up to no good!
"What a pity! I was planning to discuss a very important issue with you. Oh well, never mind! I'll go see Qian Shi in a bit..." Chu Zhu casually cast the bait. Qian Shi was naturally not in Jinghai City right now, but... Chu Zhu hadn't said anything about meeting Qian Shi in Jinghai City at all!

He genuinely wanted to go to Tianjing to see Qian Shi... let alone just a phone call! Even if Hu Kaikang were truly in front of Chu Zhu and had the ability to detect lies, he still wouldn't be able to detect the problem at this moment.

"!!!" Hu Kaikang was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed: "This is really... I understand! Let's meet..."

"Hmm, don't believe that idiot! That idiot might have told you some things... but he's not a real bishop after all!" Hu Kaikang said earnestly. "If you want to become an apprentice, you'd be better off becoming my apprentice. What I can offer, and my status and position... will be far more beneficial to you than becoming his apprentice."

"...Aren't you worried that guy is right next to me right now?" Chu Zhu raised an eyebrow.

"..." Hu Kaikang choked again, then realized that if Qian Shi were really there, he would have already spoken on the phone. He immediately gritted his teeth and said, "Time, place!"

"The location, let's go with the Huabake Cafe in the wealthy area of ​​District 3," Chu Zhu said calmly. "The time is up to you... but! I'm in high demand right now... you'd better be prepared to spend a lot of money."

"...I'll be there in half an hour!" Hu Kaikang hung up the phone immediately.

Chu Zhu remained silent for a moment, silently recalling her conversation with the Fifth Apostle. After confirming that there were no major problems, she took a deep breath and her gaze sharpened: "Now, Hu Kaikang should have been transferred away from the nuclear facility... Hmm, and with such a major event, it's impossible for him to create a clone... After all, he has to consider the possibility of actually encountering Qian Shi!"

Although Chu Zhu wasn't sure of Qian Shi's exact strength, he figured that no matter how you looked at it, she couldn't be too weak, right? At the very least, it was impossible for Old Hu to just casually conjure an avatar and instantly kill her…

"In most cases, if he really sees Qian Shi... he might consider killing him to silence him! Although he'll probably use his identity as the Fifth Apostle... or some other method of framing him to kill him!"

After a moment's thought, Chu Zhu made up her mind and quickly walked towards the coffee shop.

Time passes bit by bit.

Suddenly, Chu Zhu sensed something, looked up at Hu Kaikang across from her, who was dressed in casual clothes, raised an eyebrow, and said with a smile, "Old Hu... I ordered you a standard coffee! You always used to say you wanted to drink it... but now it seems that with your status, there's no way you couldn't get one, right? So you were just pretending to be poor!"

“…Zhang Hai! I’ll teach him a lesson sooner or later.” Hu Kaikang snorted coldly, and after a moment of thought, he stared at Chu Zhu and got straight to the point: “Alright! Kid… like I said, I’m pretty busy today, so I won’t beat around the bush with you.”

"Become my disciple! As for the benefits, I will give you..."

Hu Kaikang rattled off a series of questions, but Chu Zhu let them go in one ear and out the other. If listening wasn't a necessary step, he'd skip it entirely. It was obvious this was just empty promises!
“However,” Hu Kaikang’s tone suddenly changed, and he said through gritted teeth, “Where exactly is Qian Shi? Damn it… Could it be that he is acting on the Pope’s will… preparing… But what’s the point of investigating corruption now!”

"..." Chu Zhu naturally knew that the accusations of corruption were deliberately fabricated, a pretext to mislead him and allow him to fill in the blanks. Hu Kaikang's biggest fear was that the Pope's attention would fall on this land, and he would eventually discover the problem!
As for embezzlement... laughable! Like I said, for someone of a bishop's rank, there are far too many ways to make money...

"Old Hu! Hold out your hand." Chu Zhu opened his palm, his expression serious: "My supernatural power is related to my faith..."

Chu Zhu blurted out, "You must be wondering why I suddenly wanted to join the God Worshipping Cult... That's why! After all, faith is such a thing... Sigh, I can't quite get over the hurdle of turning the guild into a religion."

"One more thing... if I join... it's me personally joining! Don't even think about using me to influence the guild!"

Chu Zhu perfectly portrayed the character who was also unaware of what was happening in the guild.

"...Supernatural powers related to faith? My God!" Hu Kaikang's eyes lit up. After making the sign of the cross, he extended his palm without hesitation, praising, "You're simply a born member of our church... I will definitely train you well. Don't worry!"

"By the way, could you reveal a little more... Also, shaking my hand... is it to extract faith from me?"

"...Actually, I'm not quite sure how to extract faith either! So, I'll just try everything." Chu Zhu smiled innocently, his words sincere.

“That’s true.” Hu Kaikang had no doubt whatsoever. Who doesn’t struggle and learn on the path to supernatural powers?
"Old Hu, please don't resist! It's normal to sense something's amiss." Chu Zhu remained calm and began his analysis. A few minutes later... information flooded into his brain.

Supernatural power name: Destiny

First Supernatural Power: Equivalent Exchange

Second Supernatural Power: Luck

Chu Zhu didn't even pause for a moment, calmly continuing her conversation with Hu Kaikang, even complaining, "Don't ask about Qian Shi's location! I'll just call him later to ask where he is... How could I possibly know where he lives? Wait... If that happens, wouldn't he know I betrayed him! No way... You can't protect him! I haven't even joined yet, and I've already offended a big shot... Don't tell me he's not a big shot, look at how you were before! Like a mouse seeing a cat... Your words have absolutely no credibility!"

As he spoke, Chu Zhu savored the abilities of the two supernatural powers, and a tidal wave of emotions gradually surged within him.

Equivalent exchange! This means that anything of equal value can be exchanged with another person...

For example, the person with supernatural powers is currently a ninth-rank official in the Great Qian Dynasty, but the position is quite obscure. If the person with supernatural powers wants, they can find a ninth-rank official who holds real power and forcibly exchange positions with him!
Of course, this kind of replacement is not perfect!

According to the feedback, ordinary people wouldn't notice the problem—but if extraordinary individuals look at the data, especially those of the same or even higher level... they could easily spot something amiss!
After all, this is only at the cognitive level, making others think that what you do is normal! In reality, all the written materials... have not changed.

"If this continues, wouldn't it lead to..." Chu Zhu's heart stopped, and four words flashed through her mind—identity swap!
I see……

That's why Huo Qiming...

No wonder Hu Kaikang...

Wait, the text information can't be changed? So this is the key to taking away Lao Hu's name as well...

The reason Huo Qiming's name wasn't taken away was because they were already planning to destroy Jinghai City at the time...

So that's how it is. Chu Zhu finally understood. The identity of the Fifth Apostle was definitely not low.

Yes, this status should be roughly equivalent... Chu Zhu wasn't sure if there would be fewer restrictions once cultivation reached a higher level, or if any other outrageous abilities would be developed. But at least that's how it is for now.

Moreover, equivalent exchange is not just about exchanging identities... it can also involve the forced exchange of certain things that are superficially valuable, or rather, perceived as equal by the public...

Just think about it: if even a conceptual thing like identity can be exchanged... you can imagine how easy it would be to exchange for physical goods!

As for the second supernatural power...

There's not much to say about this!
It's about manipulating luck.

It can absorb other people's luck, making its own luck extremely good! And it makes the person whose luck has been absorbed extremely unlucky...

terrible!
It was simply terrifying.

Chu Zhu felt a chill run down his spine. Currently, these two Destiny Abilities... compared to his copying and replicating... hmm? They seem to be a little lacking... So what if you're powerful? Sorry, your abilities... now belong to him!
"What's wrong?" Hu Kaikang noticed Chu Zhu's emotional fluctuations and asked patiently.

"It's nothing..." Chu Zhu shook her head frankly, her voice tinged with a hint of complaint: "I can't sense any so-called power of faith right now! This supernatural ability I've awakened is just too much of a rip-off..."

“Supernatural powers, that’s how it is.” Hu Kaikang nodded in deep agreement, thought for a moment, and gently advised, “How about I help you check the information within the sect after we get back? If nothing unexpected happens, there should be people in our sect who have exhibited supernatural powers related to faith in the past!”

"Even if my abilities are different from yours... I can still draw parallels and give you inspiration!"

"Don't do that!" Seeing Chu Zhu's silence, Hu Kaikang misunderstood something and quickly said, "Actually, many people directly copy the work of predecessors... I know, you may have heard this from someone! 100% copying will cause problems... that really will! But as long as your main focus is learning... then it's fine! Only truly stupid people who can't learn by studying would copy... Once you integrate and understand it, it becomes your own!"

"Oh, I see... You're a really nice person!" Chu Zhu said, her face showing gratitude.

"Absolutely!" Hu Kai waved his hand generously, his words sincere and approachable: "After all, you are my future apprentice."

“But I have a feeling that you want to follow the principle of ‘a teacher for a day is a father for life’…” Chu Zhu looked suspicious.

"You have to be responsible for your words!" Hu Kaikang's face turned green. "I never intended to turn my fellow anglers into bastards!"

"..." Chu Zhu stared at Hu Kaikang expressionlessly.

Hu Kaikang scratched his head and smiled sheepishly. Realizing that Chu Zhu wasn't fooled at all, he paused briefly, his mind racing. Suddenly, he saw something, his face lighting up with surprise. He stood up and took the standard coffee from the waiter. "Thank you!"

He then took a sip and remarked, "This coffee is really sweet."

"...Wake up, you haven't added any sugar yet!" Chu Zhu mocked mercilessly.

"Is this how you treat your future master?" Hu Kaikang glanced at Chu Zhu. "Aren't you afraid I'll make things difficult for you in the future..."

"Ahem! Master, I'm entrusting this to you." Chu Zhu turned directly to Ru Feng, gazing at Hu Kaikang with a hint of filial piety in her eyes.

"...Your acting skills are truly astonishing." Hu Kaikang rubbed his temples. "Alright...I'll help you!"

“However… things might get a bit chaotic outside! Don’t ask why, I can’t be sure right now…” Hu Kaikang’s face showed a worried expression. “Wait a moment, I’ll take you to a safer place…”

Chu Zhu's mind raced. This guy, this time he didn't actually try to fool him or treat him like a waste... he actually did...

That's it!

Chu Zhu's gaze deepened for a moment, but almost instantly, his expression returned to normal.

“Since that’s the case, then I won’t stand on ceremony… I’ll leave it to you! But I still want to try again.” Chu Zhu gritted her teeth, a determined look on her face: “Old Hu… mine is very big, please bear with it.”

"???" Hu Kaikang had heard Chu Zhu mention this joke before, and his face turned green for a moment: "Hey, hey, hey, be reasonable! I'm not one of those priests you used to complain about... who like little boys! Besides, those priests don't like being the bottom either."

Chu Zhu looked on with suspicion, and then used... the replica!
For a moment, Hu Kaikang paused, forcibly suppressing the urge to slap Chu Zhu's hand away. He gazed at Chu Zhu thoughtfully, without any concern that Chu Zhu might harm him…

Putting aside the fact that Hu Kaikang and Chu Zhu are acquaintances, even if Chu Zhu really wanted to hurt him... given Chu Zhu's current cultivation level?
Do not make jokes!
But for some reason, Hu Kaikang felt something was off. Hmm? No…

Hu Kaikang suddenly realized what was happening, slapped Chu Zhu's hand away, and his expression turned sharp.

Is this... a warning from fate? What could this be?!
In that instant, Hu Kaikang's attitude changed: "Kid! Just who are you...?"

Chu Zhu looked at Hu Kaikang speechlessly, "What are you doing? Are you sick?! Fine... if you don't want to help me, then don't! As for the matter of faith, remember to look for it... if you can't find it, I won't take you as my master... old man! Tsk!"

"...Hmm?" Hu Kaikang paused, then his expression shifted between light and shadow. He clenched his fist... Despite the warning from fate, he truly couldn't imagine... what harm a low-level cultivator could possibly cause him...

Wait! Could it be that Chu Zhu will be communicating with Qian Shi next... which could indirectly cause him harm?!
Hmm...that explains it! Damn it, you seemed to be having such a pleasant conversation with him...but actually, you were secretly comparing prices, weren't you? No wonder you're a gang leader who escaped from a shantytown redevelopment area...your heart is just too black! Don't you have even a shred of morality?!

Despite his inner turmoil, Hu Kaikang maintained a calm and composed demeanor on the surface.

"By the way," Chu Zhu suddenly said slowly. He was actually in a pretty good mood because he had finally succeeded in replicating it!

Although, currently after the replica is completed, only the first and second supernatural powers can be used!

Chu Zhu rested her chin on her hand, gazing at Hu Kaikang with great interest: "By the way! Do you know a cat? Hmm... I mean a... big orange cat!"

Chu Zhu was genuinely curious whether Hu Kaikang was the clone created by the big orange cat that the Pope mentioned, or whether he had assimilated another being with the same power of destiny...

"?" Hu Kaikang was a little confused. "Cat? What cat? I don't keep cats?"

"Is that so?" Chu Zhu's eye twitched, as if he had received an unbelievable answer. Then he looked around, but didn't see the big orange cat jumping up and down!

He nodded knowingly and bit down on the poison in his gums!

After a few breaths, time began to reverse!

(End of this chapter)