Chapter 239: With Me Here, You Are Just as Heaven-Defying

In the courtyard, Qin Hong and Qin Jiang sat opposite each other, and Xiaobai took out a jade knife to slice the ginseng into sashimi.

"Uncle Wang, ever since he broke through to become a Secret Martial Artist, he hasn't been willing to stay idle. He bought a fishing boat and found himself a job catching fish."

"Every day, he's either out on the boat fishing or angling by the Xuanwu Jiang in the city. Oh, right, when Uncle Wang comes back later, you must not ask."

"Hahaha! Xiao Jiang! You've finally come!"

Before Qin Hong could finish, a hearty laugh came from the courtyard gate, and Wang Minglang walked in with quick strides.

At this moment, Wang Minglang was wearing a straw raincoat, his face looked much younger, the veins on his arms were bulging, and his black hair had a healthy sheen.

Qin Jiang stood up to welcome him. Wang Minglang walked over quickly, pressed his hands onto Qin Jiang's shoulders, his expression somewhat agitated, yet restrained out of respect for his status as an elder.

"Good! Good, good, good! I heard from Xiao Xu that you are already an Immortal Monarch. Truly impressive, truly good!"

Qin Jiang smiled slightly, his gaze falling on the fish basket and fishing rod Wang Minglang was carrying. "Hehe, how was the harvest, Uncle Wang? You must have caught quite a lot, right? Why don't we eat fish tonight?"

Wang Minglang's expression stiffened. Behind Qin Jiang, Qin Hong raised her hand in a conflicted manner, wanting to say something but stopping herself; since Qin Jiang had already spoken, she had no choice but to slowly lower her hand.

"Ah~ right! My fishing technique is famous! Eat fish! We must eat fish tonight! I'll cook it myself! Hahahaha!"

Wang Minglang laughed loudly, then suddenly looked toward the kitchen to the side. "Ah! I'll go put the fish in a tank first! You know, wild fish eat a lot of mud! The earthy smell is too strong! They need to be kept for a while!"

As he spoke, he let go of Qin Jiang and walked away as if fleeing.

Qin Jiang looked at Wang Minglang's back with some surprise, then turned to look at Qin Hong.

Qin Hong couldn't help but smile bitterly. "You, ever since Uncle Wang started fishing, he hasn't caught a single thing."

"He comes back empty-handed every time?" Qin Jiang asked with a surprised smile.

In his daily life, he always suppressed his own power, so he was no different from an ordinary person.

As for his perception, if he didn't instinctively sense a threat, it would also remain in a suppressed state.

Qin Hong glanced at him. "It's not exactly empty-handed; Uncle Wang always manages to catch some... strange things."

As she spoke, she glanced at the corner of the courtyard, where various strangely shaped items were neatly arranged; some jars and the like even had soil filled inside them to serve as flowerpots.

Walking closer, there was a pair of pruning shears on a wooden stool nearby.

He picked up the shears to trim some branches, and his hand accidentally brushed against a bronze jar, causing a stream of icy energy to surge into his body.

【Potential Point absorption in progress... 469】

【Potential Points: 19356.6】

He withdrew his hand in surprise. Nearly 1,500 Potential Points—what kind of treasure was this? The artifacts containing Potential Points in the Zhongyuan Continent were different from those in the Shenzhou Continent; perhaps because the power level in Shenzhou was lower, various Source Artifacts and Divine Artifacts were relatively rare.

Therefore, even a single Source Artifact would sometimes become a clan's heirloom treasure, and thus contained more Potential Points.

But the Zhongyuan Continent was different. Due to the existence of the Way of Artifacts and the Way of Arrays, Source Artifacts were almost as common as dirt here, and even True Divine Artifacts and some Immortal Artifacts had become standard-issue weapons.

Moreover, due to the worship of Immortal Monarchs and Holy Lords, the object of most people's inner devotion was usually the practitioners themselves, rather than any specific artifact.

Therefore, the vast majority of Source Artifacts, Divine Artifacts, and even Immortal Artifacts did not contain any Potential Points.

Thus, an artifact containing nearly 1,500 points was a very precious existence.

It was just a pity that Potential Points could not be regenerated; otherwise, he would have washed this jar clean and put it away.

Suddenly, his gaze fell upon the other items. Although he felt it was unlikely, trying wouldn't take much time.

A moment later, he looked at the pile of items with some suspicion.

【Potential Points: 23579.8】

Nearly 5,000 Potential Points? This was almost comparable to an Imperial City in Shenzhou!

"Xiao Jiang, what are you looking at?" Qin Hong walked over and asked.

Qin Jiang came back to his senses. "Oh, nothing, just feeling that... Uncle Wang is truly amazing!"

Qin Hong looked at the bottles and jars behind Qin Jiang with some confusion. Amazing? *Tap, tap, tap. *

Footsteps sounded, and Xu Yanran returned from outside, carrying a strange fish nearly a meter long tied with a straw rope; it looked like a carp, but a sharp horn had grown on its head. Walking into the courtyard, she looked around and then at Qin Jiang. "Brother Qin, where is Uncle Wang? This is the Horned Fish he bought—oh no, caught."

Qin Jiang smiled upon hearing this and pointed toward the kitchen. "He's in the kitchen cleaning the Horned Fish you have there."

Xu Yanran smiled as well upon hearing this and walked quickly into the kitchen; before long, Wang Minglang's laughter could be heard.

"Haha! Xiao Xu! Look at this Horned Fish I caught, how is it? Let me tell you, the meat of this Horned Fish is extremely tender! You're eating it for its original, authentic flavor..."

In the evening, the group sat in the pavilion, putting down their chopsticks with satisfaction.

Qin Jiang looked at everyone and smiled. "Ajie, Uncle Wang, do you know about the Dizu Dynasty's journey to the East?"

Qin Hong was stunned upon hearing this, then smiled. "Naturally, that matter can be considered a household name."

Wang Minglang also nodded. "I heard that among the group traveling to the East, there is one called Sun Xingzhe, an Immortal Monkey, born of heaven and earth, who is quite powerful!"

Qin Jiang nodded slightly. "I have a few spots; why don't you come along as well? Plus Xiaobai, that makes exactly three spots."

This was something Dizu Huangzun had proposed on his own initiative, and the purpose was naturally obvious, but he didn't care; it was a free benefit, and it would be a waste not to take it.

Qin Hong was surprised upon hearing this. "The journey to the East, we are coming along?"

That was the journey to the East; it was said that one would have the power of merit bestowed upon them or something of that sort, and in any case, the benefits were huge! However, this was something the Dizu Dynasty and the Linglong Daotu were doing together, and weren't the four people on that journey all backed by heaven-defying connections?

"Heaven-defying connections? Ajie, with me here, you are just as heaven-defying," Qin Jiang smiled.

Qin Hong swallowed hard upon hearing this, only then realizing that her younger brother was already one of the eight Immortal Monarchs of the current age.

"Then let Yanran go; I don't need to. My cultivation speed in the Immortal City is not slow either. I am already a Tenth Stage Secret Martial Artist now."

"No need, Ajie. Yanran is currently pregnant, I will make arrangements later," Qin Jiang said.

Qin Hong nodded slightly. "That works too."

She looked at Xiaobai, who was buried in gnawing on ginseng nearby. "Xiaobai, prepare more of what you like to eat; it probably won't be easy to buy things once we're on the road."

The eighty-one tribulations of the journey to the East were known to almost everyone, and there would likely be no opportunity to enter human cities along the way.

Xiaobai raised its head. "Can I not go? It's perfectly fine as it is now."

Qin Hong remained silent, and the look made Xiaobai feel its scalp tingle; it sheepishly lowered its head. "I'll go, then."

Only then did Qin Hong nod with satisfaction.

"Cough, cough, Little Jiang, I won't go. I'm just a pile of old bones, I don't want to move around anymore."

Wang Minglang spoke up; he had long since let go of such things, and as for cultivation or whatever, it didn't matter to him anymore.

Now, he just wanted to go fishing, head out to sea, and when he had nothing to do, tinker with some old wood or play around with a few large opium pipes.

Qin Jiang pondered for a moment, then smiled, "That works too. In a few days, I will refine Wang Shu's physical body; the effect might not necessarily be worse than that power of merit."

It wasn't just for Wang Shu, but also for Senior Brother, Brother Jiang, and the others.

Over these past few days, although it was very subtle, he could perceive that his "Materialization" was gradually revealing its drawbacks, as his emotional fluctuations were becoming less intense.

This was unavoidable and would continue until he forged the Immortal King Body and returned to a body of flesh and blood.

Or perhaps he would be completely eroded by the Time Law, materializing into a life form without emotions.

However, there were always ways to alleviate it; the Immortal King Secret Technique of the Emperor Ancestor Dynasty and the Exquisite Pagoda of Linglong Xianjun both had their uses.

Besides that, another common method was to set up mental anchors.

Just like what he was doing now; Yanran, Ajie, as well as Wang Shu, Xiaobai, Senior Brother, and the others were all his mental anchors.

Of course, these were only methods he was temporarily using to alleviate the "Materialization."

Once he collected enough Potential Points, forging the Immortal King Body would not be a difficult task.

Except for the potential hidden dangers that might exist within the Potential Panel itself.

(End of this chapter)