Chapter 135

Qian Chen took out various materials cut from those great demons, such as the silk sacs of the Spider Demon, the rhinoceros horns of the Rhinoceros Demon, the tiger bones of the Tiger Demon, and the dried meat of the Earth Dragon Demon—this is also a type of spirit medicine, and for a great demon like the Eyeless Earth Dragon of this level, whether it is the mucus or the dried meat, both are extremely precious spirit medicines that can be used to refine Meridian-Penetrating Pills.

When Qian Chen laid out their harvest, he realized just how many demons they had killed. Those biological products were all full of blood.

It makes one sigh that without spirit materials, there would be no killing!

By comparison, the majority of those demons did not have as much karmic debt from killing as they did.

Of course, not to mention fierce people like Qian Chen and Seeing Yan Shu, even Ning Qingchen did not have any objections; that big yellow chicken, Master Feng, looked at the tail feathers of a wild pheasant of its own kind, and merely swept a glance of disdain, shaking off its own golden feathers even more, despising the gaudy display.

The distinction between righteous and evil even transcends race.

Qian Chen and the others felt no regret in their hearts for killing demonic cultivators.

Firstly, cultivators are inherently decisive in killing; secondly, it is the tradition of the Central Lands to distinguish between righteous and evil.

During several demonic calamities, the low bottom line of demonic cultivators truly taught the righteous cultivators of the Central Lands not to show mercy.

"This rhinoceros horn can be used to make zither pegs, these Kunshan white jades can be used for zither frets... The zither body will be made from the tree heart of that Tree Demon; this piece survived thunder and fire without withering, and is the foundation of the Tree Demon, which can be considered ten-thousand-year divine wood. The silk strings are a bit lacking; after all, to produce thunder sounds, I originally wanted to use Heavenly Silkworm silk that had undergone transformation by heavenly thunder, but alas, I only have spider silk in my hands," Qian Chen planned in his heart.

"Lord of Samsara, refine the material of the spider silk with the essence of thunder!"

The white light in the void slowly descended, refining the spider silk; thirty strands formed one thread, and three threads were entwined to make a string.

Qian Chen tested it and found that the material of the spider silk was already close to that of a Thunder-Essence Spider, and he was very satisfied. He then offered up various materials, selected the seals for the Thunder-Sound Dharma Zither, and ordered the Lord of Samsara to refine it into a magic tool with twelve layers of seals.

"Fifteen merits!" Qian Chen's heart twinged with pain.

This included the five-merit copyright fee to be paid to the Lord of Samsara; after all, he did not understand the seals of the Thunder-Sound Dharma Zither. The Supreme Dharma Zither and Fuxi Dharma Zither seals that Qian Chen knew were either for the zither to produce Dao sounds or to manipulate the Yin-Yang Qi. None were as suitable for the Soundless Divine Thunder as the Thunder-Sound Dharma Zither's seals.

It is said that the Thunder-Sound Dharma Zither was created by a Daoist Lord who practiced both Buddhism and Daoism after he went to the Pure Land Heavenly Realm to hear the Buddha's lecture on thunder sounds.

When the ancient Fuxi-style zither with scorch marks slowly descended from the Lord of Samsara's white light, the seven strings suddenly moved in unison, emitting a deep and vigorous thunder sound. The thunder-sound zither bore scorch marks, its color was pure black and ancient, the wood grain was fine and dense, and it felt very smooth to the touch without a hint of roughness; furthermore, the zither sound was ancient, and the tone was much better than when Qian Chen had crafted it himself.

Qian Chen heard the Lord of Samsara's subtle adjustments.

The zither sound and the power of the seals are not very related; clearly, this was the Lord of Samsara unable to watch any longer and providing a free zither-crafting service.

"The attitude is not bad, but this is actually the tone I adjusted specifically while considering the situation of hiding a blade in the zither. It is definitely not that my craftsmanship is inferior to yours!" Qian Chen thought secretly to himself.

He drew the "Self-Attachment" blade, hid it in the zither's belly, and then tried playing the zither again.

He discovered that this zither no longer had the metallic sound of killing, but the deep thunder sound had become clear and resonant; within the depth, there was a freshness, bright and clear, yet also warm, vigorous, and resonant. The blade-ringing inside the zither and the zither sound merged perfectly, surpassing the previous forced attempt where one could hear the killing intent by who knows how many levels.

Qian Chen's face darkened slightly, and he stood up, saying reluctantly: "It's passable!"

Seeing Yan Shu and the others were sitting on the white jade platform with their knees held, listening to the zither; hearing Qian Chen's "passable," they thought the magic tool refined by the Lord of Samsara did not suit Qian Chen's preferences and were quite surprised. After all, although things from the Lord of Samsara were a bit expensive, they were still worth the price. They had never used the service of having magic tools refined on their behalf, so they were a bit confused.

At this moment, the Thunder-Sound Zither placed on the ground seemed dissatisfied; the blade ringing in its belly caused the strings to vibrate, emitting a sound like divine wood cracking in the silence of ten thousand sounds.

The tone was perfect, just that one sound seemed to carry a kind of loneliness, like a precious sword ringing in its scabbard, expecting appreciation from its master.

Seeing Yan Shu actually heard the regret in this zither sound, and frowning, he said: "Junior Qian Yan Shixiong, this zither sound..."

Qian Chen could only sigh, pick up the zither, and say: "Alright! This zither can be said to contain the Supreme Dao's essence and the Buddha's thunder sound... Like a giant ravine welcoming autumn, a cold river reflecting the moon. Ten thousand sounds drifting, the lonely paulownia cracking... Shall I call you 'Canghai Dragon Chant'?"

Ning Qingchen was dumbfounded and said: "Qian Yan Shixiong, what does this zither sound have to do with 'Canghai Dragon Chant'?"

Qian Chen could only bow his head in defeat and say the name he felt was most appropriate in his heart: "Then let's call it 'Great Sage Dasheng Dasheng Leiyin'! No more opinions allowed!"

Seeing Yan Shu nodded and said: "'Great Sage Dasheng Dasheng Leiyin', although apt, why do you use a Buddhist allusion, Qian Shidi? The Buddha has the Dasheng Dasheng Leiyin True Dharma, but does our Daoist Ancestor not have the Supreme True Words? It would be better to call it 'Supreme Legacy Sound'... to show that the zither sound is unparalleled!"

Ning Qingchen laughed: "Qian Yan Shixiong is truly too fond of elegance; even his blade weapon is not kept in a scabbard, but hidden in this extraordinary ancient zither... Such elegance is quite in tune with those romantic and elegant scholars of the Great Jin!"

Qian Chen shook his head: "I am not in tune with them; those who can understand this zither sound in the future will definitely be dead!"

Everyone thought he was joking.

Little did they know that this was Qian Chen's true thought.

After all, a blast of Soundless Divine Thunder into the brain makes it hard not to die. As for zither sounds without the Soundless Divine Thunder... can that still be called 'Great Sage Dasheng Dasheng Leiyin'? 'Great Sage'... refers to the violent power, like the Great Sage Sun's staff. 'Dasheng Dasheng Leiyin' does not refer to the Buddhist thunder sound, but to the more violent Soundless Divine Thunder.

Great Sage Dasheng Dasheng Leiyin—it is a zither sound like the Monkey's staff, blowing your brains out with one strike!

Extremely hardcore!

Those who can understand it must have a Golden Hoop Staff shoved into their ear canal and then poked through!

As for elegance... Qian Chen thought about his idea of using thunder sounds for long-range attacks, luring enemies to approach, and then drawing his blade to hack them... it had nothing to do with elegance. He hid the blade in the zither and the sword in the umbrella just to conceal his divine weapons and catch people off guard. It was entirely the thought of an old schemer; if elegant scholars knew, they would only pick up the zither and smash his head.

Ning Qingchen completely misunderstood Qian Chen's principles for conducting his life—cautious, flashy, insidious, and pretentious.

By the time the Heavenly Net Umbrella was finally upgraded to twenty layers of seals, Seeing Yan Shu had redeemed some spirit materials for sword refining, and the big yellow chicken had redeemed a copy of the "Sun-Swallowing Great Dharma" for demon cultivation. The harvest from this mission was basically exhausted. Si Qingguo distributed some remaining spirit talismans to everyone, agreed on the time to use the Shadow-Chasing Boundary-Breaking Talisman for their next meeting, and exited the land of Samsara.

In a remote cave dwelling in the Nine Truths Great Marsh, Qian Chen suddenly opened his eyes and scanned the cave dwelling as if he had been away for half a year.

In fact, time in the Central Lands realm had not passed, and he had only spent about two months on the Blood Demon mission... Just fighting Miaokong, slaying the Demon Wolf, executing the Tree Demon, fighting Xiang You, and finally the battle with the Blood Demon and Miaokong, which led to the descent of the Supreme Heavenly Demon... Counting them up, Qian Chen really felt he had been very busy.

My heart is so tired!

The great enemy was no longer worth mentioning, and Qian Chen, who had been busy for a long time, finally had time to relax. He walked out of the cave dwelling, only to see a crocodile with an iron-black spine lying eagerly on the shore outside the cave dwelling.

Only then did Qian Chen remember that he still had a spirit beast!

It was neither as hardworking as the Gold and Silver Boys, nor could it gather information or gossip like the Ear-Dao God; most importantly, it could not be carried around, and Qian Chen had almost forgotten this rough creature.

Looking at the misty, rainy weather, he had arrived in Nine Truths Commandery in the Jiangnan region around the third or fourth month.

A year had passed in a flash, and when he came out of the cave dwelling again, it was once again such misty, rainy weather.

This place was adjacent to the Great Marsh, rarely visited by people, the mountain scenery was secluded, the lake was as quiet as a mirror, and the scenery was extremely beautiful... Qian Chen rode the Crocodile Dragon, leisurely heading toward Nine Truths Lake, and found a lakeside covered with lush grass. He casually found a stone and sat down.

He took out the Great Sage Dasheng Dasheng Leiyin and began to play the famous piece from his previous life, "High Mountains and Flowing Water."

The zither sound was secluded and vast, telling of Qian Chen's leisurely mood, as if he had unloaded all his burdens and merged with the mountains and water...

Two streaks of escaping light flew past from afar, and in the sky, a pair of man and woman were snuggling together; the female cultivator laughed: "Lu Yan, you still haven't finished the story of that Qian Sanren washing the Jin Chuan Sect in blood last year!"

"Story!" the man laughed: "This is no story."

"This is something seen with his own eyes by my distant cousin, Cui Dan of the Qinghe Cui clan. Do you know that after he met such a high-level expert, he actually established a first-rank Dao foundation and was transferred to the capital to be an official two months ago!"

"In such a hurry?" the woman exclaimed, pressing her lips and saying: "I still wanted to ask Yan Yan Shixiong to introduce me to that Cui clan disciple!"

"With such a promising disciple, if we don't keep an eye on him, what if an accident happens?" Lu Yan said, seemingly indifferent.

In fact, he was secretly rejoicing: it was precisely because he was afraid of this that he only dared to boast after Cui Dan had left. He was just an ordinary disciple in the Lu clan, and those who could associate with Cui Dan were all direct descendants of the Lu clan of Lu Commandery. There is a distinction between direct and branch lineages; he thought to himself that he really had no face in front of Cui Dan.

But at this time, he could boast as much as he wanted.

That Lu Yan spoke as if he were sworn brothers with Cui Dan, while flirting with his Ning Ning Shimei.

The Ning Ning Shimei seemed quite silly, but just hearing her mention it once, and never again saying she wanted to see Cui Dan, one knew that she was actually quite clear about her sweetheart's abilities. Saying this was just specifically to give him some face.

They were driving their slow flying escape magic tool, flying slowly over the Nine Truths Great Lake, when they finally heard that lonely, melancholy zither sound in the world. The female cultivator showed curiosity, turned her head and asked Lu Yan: "It seems like someone is playing the zither ahead...

" Lu Yan was secretly annoyed; he had borrowed this flying escape magic tool from his clansmen, not to listen to the zither.

The female cultivator had already become curious, pulled his hand and said: "Let's go take a look!"

In the misty fog, a figure was sitting by the lake, playing the zither alone.

Lu Yan held his beauty, with a slight air of superiority, and walked slowly toward Qian Chen. The female cultivator pulled him, telling him not to disturb, but he waved his hand, not caring, until he got close to Qian Chen and saw Qian Chen's face when he happened to look up.

His body suddenly stiffened; the female cultivator was still wondering why his hand had suddenly become ice-cold.

Turning her head, she saw her sweetheart, who was always obsessed with face and boasting, turn pale, just standing there stiffly. He didn't even dare to lift his feet...

The female cultivator was also smart and knew there must be a change, so she stood quietly to the side, waiting for Qian Chen to finish playing the piece.

Only then did Qian Chen turn his head and laugh: "You recognize me?"

That Lu Yan said honestly: "I have heard Cousin Cui Dan describe the Yan Shixiong!" This sounded nice, but how could a description allow one to recognize him at a glance? In fact, ever since the great calamity of the Jin Chuan Sect, the immortal sects in the Nine Truths area had made their disciples memorize Qian Chen's appearance, to avoid another "firm Dao heart" person appearing.

The matter of Yan Shixiong Sister Guan of the White Deer Sect provoking Pei Junhu had also been exposed by the Pei family; the Pei family had even gone to the door to cause trouble, and it was only thanks to True Person Sun's protection that they had barely managed to deal with it.

But because of this, she was no longer welcome in Nine Truths and could only go into bitter seclusion.

"Oh?" Qian Chen became interested and asked: "How is he now?"

"Cousin Cui obtained the opportunity bestowed by the Yan Shixiong, established a first-rank Dao foundation, and has already been recalled to Qinghe by the Cui clan; it is said he is going to the capital to be an official. His future is naturally limitless... And Yan Shixiong Wang Yan of 'One Generation Longmen' also commented: 'The Cui clan has two heroes; the elder brother's Qinghe path is wide, and the younger brother is the Nine Truths Hidden Dragon'."

"He actually received the comment of 'Nine Truths Hidden Dragon'!" Lu Yan said with great envy, and even flattered Qian Chen: "The Yan Shixiong's sword terrified Jin Chuan, and even created Cui Dan's Dao foundation; he is also hailed as a young talent with hopes of competing for the twenty-eight characters of the Central Lands."

Qian Chen did not believe this at all; he had killed so many people from the Jin Chuan Sect, and although those true commandery-level noble families would not consider the Pei family as one of their own, when talking about someone like him, they surely wouldn't say anything good.

He tuned a few notes, using a sliver of the power in thunder techniques to terrify evil spirits, which would make people speak the truth involuntarily.

But he said: "Oh? Is that how Wang Yan commented?"

Lu Yan then said embarrassedly: "Yan Shixiong Wang Yan was quite dissatisfied with the Yan Shixiong's words and deeds. Cui Yan asked him to evaluate the Yan Shixiong, but he said that the Yan Shixiong broke into other people's gates to commit murder, killed the son and sent the head, and his actions were like those of a bandit. How can such a vulgar and evil person make me speak?"

Qian Chen smiled slightly, just washing the zither with the lake water.

The female cultivator said in astonishment: "Why does the Yan Shixiong wash the zither with water? The zither isn't dirty?"

"It has been stained by the turbid qi of the red dust, and can no longer play the sound of transcending the world!" Qian Chen sighed slightly: "I was happy to hear news of an old friend, but I didn't expect the zither sound to be stained by vulgar words." Having said that, he looked as if he had lost interest and left, carrying the zither.

The female cultivator looked at Qian Chen's back and said in realization: "One Generation Longmen has entered the temple hall; how can he evaluate such a hermit Yan Shixiong?"

Lu Yan could not help but say: "A true elegant scholar!"

After Qian Chen had walked a distance, he put away the zither and said indifferently: "Noble families are just a group of idiots; are they worthy of evaluating me? Truly, one cannot speak of ice with summer insects..."

He was not washing the zither, but washing the blade!

He was actually very vengeful... he could remember for millions of years.

For example, the disciples of the Louguan Sect offered various delicacies and spirit fruits to tempt the immobile bead, and he had already secretly decided that after rebuilding the Louguan Sect in the future, he would definitely establish a sect rule: any spirit material offered to the Ancestor must be left until it stinks! And it must be placed right in front of that group of unfilial disciples who had ascended.