[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-ink-saint-of-great-zhou":3,"chapter-the-ink-saint-of-great-zhou-the-ink-saint-of-great-zhou-chapter-38":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Ink Saint of Great Zhou",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2292001,4481,"Chapter 38: Chapter Thirty-Eight: A Trial of Skill","the-ink-saint-of-great-zhou-chapter-38",38,"\u003Cp>A sensation of dizziness and vertigo swept over him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Fang was teleported a hundred meters above ground, plummeting uncontrollably; after stabilizing his posture, he looked around and saw an endless desert.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wind lashed his face, stinging with embedded sand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dozens of small dust devils swirled around him, resembling smoke signals, filling the air with lurking danger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Boom!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From rolling black clouds, a silver dragon burst into the sky, lightning blazing in ten thousand streaks, spreading like countless electric serpents across the heavens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wind grew fiercer; two small dust devils merged, showing signs of further expansion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This environment is too brutal!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Qimen Feijia!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Lu Fang landed on a sand dune over ten zhang high, he summoned his Xuan Armor to cling to his body, drew a breath, and shot upward like a drifting feather or falling leaf, soaring again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whoosh! He became a streak of yellow light, leaping far into the distance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forget seizing destiny—unless Lu Fang left this dust devil zone quickly, his life was in danger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He flew rapidly for half a day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Fang finally escaped the dust devil zone; as he landed on a rock before a patch of low thorns, a thorn vine over ten zhang long erupted from the sand like a venomous snake, coiling toward his feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What the hell is that!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a thought, the Xuan Armor on Lu Fang’s body flashed, yanking him off the ground and dodging the vine’s strike.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clang!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Lu Fang summoned the Book Spirit Yan Chixia, the Yingyue Small Sword shot toward the ten-zhang thorn vine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whoosh whoosh whoosh…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In moments, the thorn vine was sliced into hundreds of pieces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The vine’s branches rapidly withered; tiny glimmers, like fireflies, rose from the dried stems.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Unclaimed destiny!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Fang, delighted, immediately pulled out his Destiny Stone and absorbed the unclaimed destiny.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the Lesser Upper Realm, all things could be infused with destiny, gaining supernatural power—clearly, the thorn vine had been infused with destiny.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not a trace of demonic aura—truly impossible to guard against.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Lu Fang was about to draw the destiny into his body, over a dozen thorn vines, as thick as arms and dozens of zhang long, erupted from the sand around him, wildly lashing out at the human before them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thud! Thud! Thud!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each vine struck empty air, crashing onto sand dunes and rocks, carving trenches over a zhang long—clearly, each strike carried tremendous force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thorn vines were powerful, but not fast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At least, when Lu Fang activated Qimen Feijia, he could easily dodge their encircling strikes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this case, the thorn vines became experience targets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wanjian Jue: Jian Bai!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yan Chixia formed a sword seal; the Yingyue Small Sword split into a hundred blades of light, cutting down the thrashing thorn vines with unstoppable force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Until the entire patch of low thorns was consumed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No wonder the Lesser Upper Realm is called so dangerous—yet so many still rush in. The destiny here is too easy to obtain.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Fang wandered about, absorbing destiny with his Destiny Stone, the unclaimed destiny rising from the withered vines, grinning so wide his mouth wouldn’t close.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The destiny was small in quantity, but there was so much of it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was quite satisfied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Fang’s luck was undeniably good.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Places where vast stretches of thorns were infused with destiny were not common in the Lesser Upper Realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And if someone else had come—even a seventh-rank third-tier Confucian—without Qimen Feijia’s ghostly speed, facing so many thorn vines would have been deadly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if one could eliminate this patch of thorn vines, the consumption of Haoran Zhengqi would be enormous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Remember, those entering the Lesser Upper Realm aren’t just Confucians—it’s easy to be killed and have your destiny stolen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Heh heh, kid, you’re awfully happy, heh heh…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A wild boar spirit emerged from the reverse slope of a sand dune.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The spirit stood eight chi tall, with a long snout tipped with tusks, eyes gleaming with ferocity; it wore a loose black-gray robe, its exposed coarse fur dark brown streaked with faint gold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Don’t be fooled—it was cunning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When it arrived, Lu Fang was already slaying the thorn vines.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had planned to ambush, but Lu Fang’s displayed power gave it pause—it feared expending its demonic energy only for someone else to reap the rewards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So it chose to wait, letting Lu Fang exhaust his Haoran Zhengqi before stepping in to kill him and steal his destiny.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such caution was unique.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Any other demon, seeing Lu Fang was only eighth-rank first-tier, would have attacked immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You finally show yourself?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Fang licked his lips—he’d read in books that demon flesh was more nourishing and delicious than poultry, especially pig, sheep, and beef.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It also strengthened the body, making it an ideal ingredient for martial cultivators.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Due to frequent exposure to scholarly qi, Lu Fang’s momentum far surpassed ordinary people’s, granting him heightened perception.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During his battle, he’d sensed faint demonic aura.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The human’s confident demeanor annoyed the wild boar spirit; it snorted twice and growled:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Weak human, don’t try to scare me. With your eighth-rank first-tier realm, that little sword can’t even pierce my hide.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then… try!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Fang grinned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d often heard that demons of the same rank were far stronger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wanted to test how the seventh-rank first-tier Book Spirit Yan Chixia would fare against this wild boar spirit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wanjian Jue: Jian Bai!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a thought, Lu Fang commanded Yan Chixia to unleash his strongest attack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wild boar spirit roared, its coarse fur and skin visibly thickening, hardening, and lengthening before their eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It hadn’t intended to block directly—but the Yingyue Small Sword moved too fast, forcing it into a defensive posture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bing! Bing! Bing! Bing!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A hundred blades struck the wild boar spirit’s body; only the final Yingyue Small Sword pierced half an inch into its chest, where its powerful muscles clamped shut, halting further progress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So tough!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Fang exclaimed in surprise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even with the Yingyue Small Sword’s bonus damage against demons, the wild boar spirit suffered only minor injury.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No wonder the texts said demons held overwhelming advantages at the same rank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wild boar spirit roared, gripping the Yingyue Small Sword with both hands; demonic aura surged from its body, forming a roaring wild boar within the energy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had actually seized the Yingyue Small Sword, trapping Yan Chixia’s spirit and preventing its withdrawal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Fang dropped his playful attitude—demons sent to the Lesser Upper Realm were clearly stronger than ordinary seventh-rank demons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wu Hun: Qinglong Yan Yue Zhan!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The spectral shadow of Guan Yun Chang appeared behind Lu Fang; after merging his soul with two souls, he gripped the air and slashed downward at the wild boar spirit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wild boar spirit’s grin hadn’t faded when the blade aura split it cleanly in two.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even in death, it couldn’t understand!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wasn’t that little sword the human’s ultimate weapon?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How could an eighth-rank first-tier Confucian cut it down with a single slash?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In demonkind, it was a rising star of the “Golden-Haired Wild Boar King” bloodline; when entering the Lesser Upper Realm, it had boasted it would seize destiny equal to the height of Ten Thousand Demons Mountain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And now it was dead?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hadn’t its clan elders said its strength could rival the top three humans of its rank?\u003C\u002Fp>",1222,"2026-06-20T03:56:21.568Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","872830467619d43c09474d5615c425e0239090447d927134c1af371f9291cfec","the-ink-saint-of-great-zhou-chapter-39","the-ink-saint-of-great-zhou-chapter-37",289,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-ink-saint-of-great-zhou-cover.jpg"]