dmims Page 129
Page 129
Xu Shu's familiar and gentle voice came from outside the door.
Zhang Chulan hesitated for a moment, then got out of bed and opened the door.
Xu Xiang stood outside the door, holding an insulated bag in his hand, his face showing the same concern as always.
"Are you still awake? I brought you some late-night snacks."
He walked in, placed the things on the table, glanced at Zhang Chulan's pale face and bloodshot eyes, and sighed softly.
"Are you scared?"
Zhang Chulan lowered his head, his hands tightly gripping the hem of his clothes, and did not answer.
Xu Xiang pulled up a chair and sat down, his tone calm but hitting the nail on the head: "Chu Lan, there are some things Uncle Xu has to make clear to you."
“The Quanxing people have their eyes on you.”
You should now understand why they contacted you.
Running away solves nothing.
Moreover, besides Quanxing, there are many other superhumans in the world who covet the thing your grandfather left behind.
Even your grandfather, who was so powerful back then, couldn't escape in the end.
Do you think you can be stronger or luckier than him?
Zhang Chulan's body stiffened, and his lips turned white.
Xu Xiang continued, "Joining the company is your best, and possibly only, option right now."
The company is a legitimate organization with the capability and responsibility to protect you.
We can mobilize resources to help you find out the truth about your grandfather's past.
More importantly, only by becoming strong ourselves can we truly succeed.
The company can provide you with an environment and guidance to improve.
He paused, then lowered his voice even further:
"Moreover, many of the answers you seek may only be found in one place."
Zhang Chulan suddenly raised his head:
"Where?"
"Longhu Mountain".
Xu Xiang looked at him and said, word by word, "But you must first be qualified and capable of climbing the mountain and gaining a foothold."
Longhu Mountain! My grandfather's true lineage!
Zhang Chulan's heart pounded wildly, and his blood seemed to accelerate instantly.
The death of my grandfather, the two indistinct figures in that blurry memory—it all seemed to point to that place as the root of everything.
Fear remained, but a long-suppressed anger and resentment surged up from the depths of his heart like magma.
For ten years, I lived on the run, like a rat in a sewer!
I don't even know my grandfather's real name!
Now, there are even people who want to dig up Grandpa's grave!
Zhang Chulan suddenly raised his head, his eyes reddening, but his gaze revealed an unprecedented ruthlessness and determination.
But I have conditions!
I want to know everything I can know!
I'm so strong that no one dares to bully me anymore!
So powerful that they can uncover the whole truth!
Xu Xiang looked at the young man in front of him, who seemed to have shed all his immaturity and timidity overnight, nodded with satisfaction, and a barely perceptible tear flashed in his eyes.
Uncle Xu promises you.
The next day, Zhang Chulan completed the procedures for taking a leave of absence from school and was taken by Xu Xiang to an extremely secluded training base of the Na Du Tong Company.
The base is located in the heart of a mountain on the outskirts of the city, and its facilities are more advanced than one can imagine.
Xu Xiang patted him on the shoulder: "Chu Lan, you need special training before you go up the mountain."
The baby will help you.
Before Zhang Chulan could even process the specific meanings of "going up the mountain" and "special training," he felt a chill run down the back of his neck.
Feng Baobao appeared silently behind him, holding a gleaming shovel in her hand, staring at him with empty eyes.
"Ready?"
Zhang Chulan: "???"
The next second, Zhang Chulan's shrill screams and frantic running echoed across the training ground.
Feng Baobao's training methods are so simple and brutal that they are outrageous.
She can launch attacks from any unexpected angle—putting laxatives in the soup while eating, placing lit detonators by the bedside while sleeping, and suddenly poking out a shovel from under the toilet partition.
It's euphemistically called: training alertness, reaction speed, and stress resistance.
Zhang Chulan was forced into a state of high tension 24 hours a day, and the Golden Light Mantra almost became an instinctive reaction of his body, constantly covering his body surface.
He was beaten down time and time again, but each time Feng Baobao used her domineering and pure Qi to forcefully regulate his breathing and force him to stand up.
Under this inhumane "care," Zhang Chulan's strength increased at an almost cruel rate.
His control over Qi, his application of the Golden Light Mantra, and his intuition for danger all underwent a qualitative leap.
A few days later, Zhang Chulan collapsed on the ground, his face bruised and swollen, too exhausted to even move a finger.
Xu Xiang walked over and squatted down beside him.
"Chu Lan, the Celestial Master's Mansion of Longhu Mountain is going to hold a 'Luo Tian Grand Ritual' for you."
Zhang Chulan suddenly opened his eyes.
Xu Xiang said slowly, "This is the Celestial Master's intention."
This conference will allow you to officially return to Longhu Mountain and reconnect with your ancestors.
This is your best chance to find out the truth.
But there are many masters on the mountain, and your current level is far from sufficient.
Zhang Chulan looked at the ceiling, took a deep breath, and struggled to get up despite the aches and pains all over his body.
A resolute flame burned in his eyes.
For his grandfather's sake, for the truth, he must climb that mountain and become stronger!
Chapter 150 Zhang Lingyu pays respects to Junior Uncle!
The front of Longhu Mountain, near the Sanqing Hall.
This tranquil courtyard seemed to be separated by an invisible barrier, keeping out all the noise and restlessness of the preparation period for the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony.
In the courtyard, an unnamed ancient tree spreads its huge canopy, its gnarled roots coiling on the ground like a reclining dragon, each wrinkle telling the story of nearly a hundred years of wind and frost.
Zhang Yunyuan was standing under this tree.
He had just finished lunch with Zhang Zhiwei when his senior brother, who was now the most senior in the Taoist sect, left him on the mountain because "there weren't enough people to prepare for the grand ceremony."
He was dressed in ordinary gray casual clothes, with a clean and handsome appearance, looking like a seventeen or eighteen-year-old Taoist priest who had just arrived at the mountain.
He tilted his head back, gazing quietly at the thick tree trunk that required several people to encircle, his eyes so profound that they didn't seem like those of a young man.
That gaze was like a time machine, instantly piercing through nearly a hundred years of time, landing on a distant, snowy winter day.
After a long while, he reached out and gently ran his fingertips along the rough bark. The grooves and furrows on it were traces of time that he had never experienced firsthand, yet were all too familiar with.
Just then, Zhang Lingyu arrived at the location during his inspection.
As the most prized disciple of the old Celestial Master and the most dazzling rising star among the younger generation of the Celestial Master's Mansion, he was dressed in white, his temperament aloof and otherworldly.
When he saw this unfamiliar young man "wandering around in a daze" in the courtyard, staring at the ancient tree of great significance, his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
"This friend."
Zhang Lingyu stepped forward slowly, her voice calm, carrying an unconscious sense of detachment unique to the chosen ones of heaven, "This is the courtyard where the elders meditate, it is not open to the public, please move to the front of the mountain."
Zhang Yunyuan did not turn around, but continued to look up at the lush canopy of trees, and only sighed softly.
"They've grown so fast!"
This seemingly random exclamation startled Zhang Lingyu slightly.
Seeing that he didn't intend to leave immediately, his expression grew even colder, but his pride as a disciple of the Celestial Master's Mansion still made him subconsciously offer an explanation.
"This tree was planted by our ancestors in the Gengshen year of the Republic of China. It is nearly a hundred years old now and can be considered a scenic spot of Longhu Mountain."
He paused, then added, "Legend has it that when it was planted, my master was still a young man."
"Yes, in the winter of the Gengshen year..."
Zhang Yunyuan finally turned around slowly, his clear eyes calmly looking at Zhang Lingyu, like a bottomless ancient well. "This tree, I planted it."
In an instant, the cold expression on Zhang Lingyu's face cracked like a frozen ice surface.
He felt as if he had heard the funniest joke of the century, or as if he had been struck on the head by an invisible thunderbolt, and he froze on the spot.
"impossible!"
He blurted it out almost without thinking, his voice trembling with absurdity, "This tree is almost a hundred years old! You... how old are you?!"
Zhang Yunyuan didn't notice his loss of composure.
His gaze returned to the ancient tree, his eyes becoming distant, as if he were watching an old movie that only he could see, his tone as calm as if he were telling someone else's story.
"That winter, there was a sorcerer named Weng Peng in Quanxing who was slaughtering villagers at the foot of the mountain to refine magical artifacts. He was captured by my Enforcement Hall and imprisoned in the Demon Subduing Cave."
"In order to save him, Quanxing launched a massive attack on the mountain."
He pointed to the ground beneath his feet, "Back then, I was with your Uncle Tian Jinzhong next to this sapling... well, you could say we were sparring."