Chapter 207

Flowing clouds dissolved like ink, setting off a large moon as white as jade.

Inside Hongfu Huayuan, it was silent, and the dim streetlights buzzed.

Zhang Fan's expression was complex as he answered the long-awaited call.

"Hello..."

A familiar and long-lost voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Dad..." Zhang Fan took a deep breath.

He had waited a long time, hoped for a long time, and had a belly full of questions he wanted to ask Zhang Lingzong in person, but suddenly receiving Zhang Lingzong's call, he didn't know where to start.

"Hmm!"

Zhang Lingzong gave a light grunt, still as silent as usual, without a single extra word.

Zzz... zzz...

Just then, a burst of electromagnetic interference noise came from the phone, intermittent, like a kite string swaying in the wind.

"Dad, where are you?"

"Mount Ailao," Zhang Lingzong said in a deep voice.

"Mount Ailao!?" Zhang Fan's eyebrows arched, revealing a solemn expression.

That place was one of the world's mountain and river dead ends, hiding true great monsters, and even old monsters who had lived for over three hundred years.

"Dad..."

"I know you have many questions, but don't ask yet. There is no signal here; I can't call you, so keep it short..." Zhang Lingzong interrupted Zhang Fan's words.

"If there's no signal, how are you calling?" Zhang Fan looked at his phone; that's right, it was indeed in a call.

"Satellite phone."

"..."

"You've been targeted by the Wu Wei Sect, haven't you?" Zhang Lingzong's voice came through.

"Almost didn't make it," Zhang Fan said in a deep voice.

"He is trapped in Luoshan Mountain and won't really take action against you; it's nothing more than a test."

The "he" in Zhang Lingzong's mouth naturally referred to the Marvelous View Master, the Wu Wei Sect's Vice Sect Master, Mr. Nian.

"Dad, is this kind of person's test something an ordinary person can withstand?" Zhang Fan curled his lips.

"If it weren't for my luck, I would have really been done for."

"You haven't gone home yet, have you?" Zhang Lingzong suddenly changed the subject.

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"It wasn't your luck; it's because I left you a life-saving talisman," Zhang Lingzong said indifferently.

"Last night, it was you..." Zhang Fan's eyes lit up, and the red light jade talisman that descended from the sky last night flashed in his mind.

"Your life isn't that big," Zhang Lingzong whispered.

"..."

"Have you found your evil god?" Zhang Lingzong suddenly asked.

"I found it, but unfortunately I couldn't harmonize my spirit; it's too difficult... Dad, do you have any way?" Zhang Fan asked.

Zzz... zzz...

Bursts of noise came from the phone.

"Dad..."

After a brief silence, Zhang Lingzong's voice came through again.

"If you can't succeed in harmonizing your spirit, don't force it, but the key is that evil god—it must never fall into the hands of others..."

Zhang Lingzong's tone was extremely solemn.

"If possible, imprison that evil god."

"This..."

Zhang Fan curled his lips, the image of Zhao Jiexuan appearing in his mind.

"Dad, you already said he's an evil god. Now he has already possessed a human body, has an identity, and is a formidable character," Zhang Fan gave Zhao Jiexuan a very high evaluation. Of course, praising him was equivalent to praising himself.

That day, in the Prisoner Immortal Temple, thanks to Zhao Jiexuan's step-by-step calculations, using the 【Golden Glow Treasure Box】 and the 【Group Demon Birthday Celebration Painting】 to repeatedly weaken Li Changgeng, and finally using the Qi brothers' 【Soul-Aspect Harmonization Great Art】 to temporarily merge with him, were they able to repel the other party.

With such calculations and such cultivation, he was already top-tier among his peers.

"Have you clashed with that kid from the Bai He View?" Zhang Lingzong changed the subject and suddenly mentioned Li Changgeng.

"We clashed. His Heaven and Earth Life-Seizing is indeed powerful, and he has also awakened two great divine abilities," Zhang Fan said in a deep voice.

"It's a pity I didn't kill him that day."

Zhang Fan gritted his teeth, his face cold. He knew that an existence like Li Changgeng, if not killed, would definitely be a major threat.

"He didn't awaken two divine abilities, but three..."

"What?"

Zhang Lingzong's words made Zhang Fan's expression change slightly.

"You must be careful of this kid. When I saw him back then, I knew that the Bai He View having such a successor meant he must have seized great fortune. Furthermore, he is surnamed Li..."

"Hmm!?" Zhang Fan froze.

What's wrong with being surnamed Li? Zzz... zzz...

Bursts of electromagnetic interference noise came from the phone again, and Zhang Lingzong's voice became increasingly blurred.

"Let's talk about the important stuff..."

"That wasn't important stuff?" Zhang Fan muttered.

"Two things..."

"First thing, if one day you can't stay in Yujing City, crossing the river to the north is a dangerous place... Our family has a great enemy in the north..."

"A great enemy?" Zhang Fan froze, cold light appearing in his eyes.

"Dad, are you talking about the Wu Wei Sect!?"

"The Wu Wei Sect is just a minor skin disease; the great enemy in the north is our family's true threat. If you can't stay in Yujing City, the further north you go, the more dangerous it is..."

"Dad, am I about to run away?" Zhang Fan couldn't help but say.

This morning, he was still yearning for a peaceful and beautiful life; how did the style suddenly change?

"If I don't say these things now, it will be too late when you really need to run."

Zhang Lingzong was silent for a moment before continuing.

"After you get home, go to my room. There is a box under the bed; fish it out."

"A box?" Zhang Fan's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, "Dad, what treasure is inside?"

"I... left you... a way out..."

Zhang Lingzong's voice came intermittently from the other end of the phone.

"A way out? What way out?" Zhang Fan asked.

"That box... inside... there is a mobile phone... inside... there is a number saved... when you are at your wit's end, dial this number..."

"Remember, you... only have one chance..."

"A mobile phone? Dad, when did you put it in? Can it still be used?" Zhang Fan couldn't help but ask.

"Nokia!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a "beep beep beep" sound came from the phone.

"Hung up?"

Zhang Fan looked at his phone and hurriedly dialed back, but it was already unreachable.

"Mount Ailao..."

Zhang Fan frowned, and with a lift of his hand, he was already standing at his front door.

He opened the door and headed straight for Zhang Lingzong's room.

"What the hell, where's our big wardrobe?"

Inside Zhang Lingzong's room, it was a mess. The big wardrobe that had originally been in the corner was already reduced to a pile of wood chips, mixed with clothes scattered everywhere. That big wardrobe was something his parents had someone build when they got married; when they moved to Hongfu Huayuan, it was the only piece of furniture they brought from the old house.

"The window was also smashed..."

Zhang Fan looked at the broken glass, with cold wind blowing in.

"Last night..."

Zhang Fan was thoughtful, remembering the red light jade talisman that shattered the Black Wind Bead last night.

"It couldn't have flown out of the wardrobe, could it?"

Zhang Fan muttered, but he had guessed it almost correctly.

After a simple cleanup, Zhang Fan found some tape and temporarily patched the broken window, waiting until tomorrow to find someone to replace the glass.

Only then did he pull the curtains and bend down to crawl under the bed.

Before long, he finally touched a box.

"A biscuit tin!?"

Zhang Fan looked at the iron box in his hand, which still had a picture of cookies on it. Opening the box, there was indeed an old Nokia phone inside, along with a charger and a spare battery.

Mobile phones back then had spare batteries.

"Out of power?"

Zhang Fan tried to turn on the phone, but it showed 0% battery.

"Please don't be broken."

This was a way out Zhang Lingzong had left for him; if it were broken, that would really be a huge joke.

Fortunately, after plugging in the charger, the phone began to show a charging status.

However, this battery was probably severely depleted. Zhang Fan waited for five minutes, but the battery level was still 0%, and the phone wouldn't turn on.

He simply ignored it for now and let it charge slowly.

Zhang Fan carried his backpack back to his room and took out the 【Hundred-Year-Old Ginseng King】 and the 【Fire Character Slip】.

These two treasures had cost him three hundred and forty thousand, which could be considered a huge sum.

In Yujing City, three hundred and forty thousand could pay for a down payment.

"This hundred-year-old ginseng king will be gone once used, but the Fire Character Slip can be studied for a long time."

The hundred-year-old ginseng king was a consumable; by gathering medicine and circulating the cycle, one could strengthen true yang and refine true fire, and it would be gone once used.

Studying the Fire Character Slip could improve Zhang Fan's technique in using true fire; the former focused on increasing power, the latter on increasing skill.

The two complemented each other, allowing the 【Fire Dragon Elixir Sword】 to advance one step further, from a minor success technique to a major success technique.

"If one does not obtain the true mystery of fire, how can one refine the Golden Elixir Dao..."

Zhang Fan whispered, sitting in meditation, his soul-aspect returning, studying that mysterious Fire Character Slip.

In one breath, he entered stillness; his heart-monkey returned to the East Sea, and his intent-horse hid in the West Mountain. The winding "Fire" character seemed to come alive in Zhang Fan's eyes.

Every stroke, every tip of the brush, seemed to dance like a flame.

That strand of mysterious intent was deeply hidden, faintly merging into earthly fire; the clear sky burned as heavenly fire; the human body's nine turns became true fire; the three talents merged into the birth of ten thousand phenomena, and obtaining the fire method meant seeing the mysterious gate.

Rumble...

At this moment, that Fire character was like a ball of fire, reflecting into Zhang Fan's eyes and merging into his soul-aspect.

Zhang Fan's breathing fluctuated, and a breath sprayed out, turning into a strand of elixir fire, like a flame, emitting a fluorescent luster, hovering in front of Zhang Fan, its terrifying power restrained and not dissipating.

Hum...

At the same time, Zhang Fan operated the 【North-South Nanbei Zong Yuan】 technique to gather the hundred-year-old ginseng king.

With his soul-aspect watching, strands of spiritual energy flowed out like a trickling stream from the hundred-year-old ginseng king, merging into Zhang Fan's body and strengthening his true yang.

This was gathering and refining medicine.

All things have spirits; once their spiritual energy is gathered, the original object loses its vitality.

The surface of this hundred-year-old ginseng king didn't look any different, but its medicinal properties were dissipated, and it would even rot rapidly.

Just like the offerings for ancestors during the Qingming Festival, gods and ghosts smell the fragrance and eat the energy—the so-called energy is spiritual energy.

Therefore, the offerings in front of those graves have no taste when eaten by the living, and they rot particularly quickly.

At this moment, Zhang Fan was gathering the hundred-year-old ginseng king with 【North-South Nanbei Zong Yuan】, refining medicine and circulating the cycle; the true yang in his body was like being blown by a blower, rapidly strengthening...

Immediately after, the flame in front of Zhang Fan vibrated suddenly, and like a sapling, it began to strengthen and grow.

At this moment, the elixir fire Zhang Fan had been refining for a long time finally began to transform.

Ding ding ding... ding ding ding... ding...

Just then, a startup music sound came from Zhang Lingzong's room.

In front of the socket, that old mobile phone with a keyboard slowly turned on, the screen lit up, and it automatically jumped to the phone book...

There was only one number saved in it, and the contact's name had only one character:

Li!!!...

In the northern land, snow had already begun to fall.

A small county town.

In the nearby suburbs, an old Daoist temple was hidden in the vast night, bathed in the heavy snow flying across the sky.

The area around the Daoist temple had long been cordoned off, seemingly a tourist attraction waiting for development.

Whoosh...

Suddenly, deep inside the Daoist temple, a flash of fire appeared, and the snowflakes flying across the sky drifted violently, spinning and messy in the air.

Under the pale moonlight, a figure was actually sitting cross-legged in the empty courtyard. His heartbeat became increasingly powerful, like a beating drum, actually echoing in this empty and secluded Daoist temple.

"Zhang Fan..."

That person muttered the name and slowly opened his eyes. His deep pupils were as profound as the dark night, and the calm ripples showed not a hint of joy or anger.

"Elixir is the supreme treasure of the physical body, refining it leads to infinite changes, and further investigating the true sect in one's nature, resolving the wonderful use of non-birth..."

Just then, a light sound rang out, like chanting, drifting from the secluded night.

The figure sitting cross-legged looked up and saw a shadow stretched long by the moonlight, walking from very far away.

"Without waiting for the next life, obtaining immortal divine abilities before one's eyes..."

The light, leisurely voice got closer and closer. Against the black curtain of the sky and the bright moon, a figure walked into the courtyard and appeared in front of the person sitting cross-legged.

"The elixir path has been mysterious since ancient times. Li Changgeng, you have indeed obtained the essence of it..."

The person whispered, standing ten steps away, his deep gaze like that strand of moonlight, spilling onto Li Changgeng.

"Good skill, to actually be able to find this place," Li Changgeng sat motionless, whispering in a deep voice, his deep pupils emitting a different kind of luster.

"Heaven and Earth Life-Seizing is already an extraordinary elixir method. I only followed you for two days before being shaken off. If it weren't for you closing your retreat here and leaking that strand of energy, it would truly be hard to find," the person whispered.

"Who are you? What are you looking for me for?" Li Changgeng said indifferently.

"I came to find you because I want to play a game with you."

"Play a game? What game?" Li Changgeng's gaze narrowed into a line, asking indifferently.

"Hunting!"

"Winter is coming; in this state of the world, what are you hunting?" Li Changgeng said coldly.

"Being able to cultivate the elixir path and enter the mysterious gate is already extraordinary and refined, not an ordinary person. Since you are not an ordinary person, the prey you hunt naturally cannot be ordinary tigers, leopards, jackals, or wolves..."

The person whispered. His voice was like a spring breeze; wherever his gaze reached, not a single snowflake fell within a hundred paces.

"Then what is it?" Li Changgeng asked.

"Evil seed gives birth to a strange fetus; his name is Zhao Jiexuan!"

As the words fell, echoing in the secluded Daoist temple, that special name caused a different kind of luster to appear in Li Changgeng's pupils.

He looked at the shadow in front of him and asked in a deep voice, "Who exactly are you?"

"My surname is Zhang, and I come from the north," the person whispered, slowly walking out of the shadow.

(End of chapter)