Chapter 390 Ninety-Four Years Old
In the matter of Yanzhuang, "Uncle Zheng's" performance showed that he was quite wary of, and even fearful of, Lian Ziling.
On the other hand, if he is not careful, he may show his weakness in front of Lian Ziling, causing extremely serious consequences.
This shows that Lian Ziling at that time was no longer easily manipulated by "Uncle Zheng" who was hiding in the dark.
Thinking of this, Meng Zhou suddenly had a flash of inspiration in his heart, and a new idea came to his mind.
"Perhaps, things were not that complicated at the beginning."
"'Uncle Zheng's original intention is very simple. He wants to complete the 'Infant Surrogate Plan', but he does not want to personally bear the serious consequences of using the 'Blood Successor Spirit Cleansing Secret Technique'.
So, he naturally thought of finding someone to be the 'scapegoat'. "
"And the 'scapegoat' he first found was probably Lian Ziling."
"The reason why things have turned into the current situation is probably because a drama similar to 'layers of subcontracting' occurred during the implementation of the plan."
"Lian Ziling may also know the serious consequences of using the 'Blood Successor Spirit Cleansing Secret Technique'. Maybe he doesn't know, but out of caution, he did not try this secret technique himself."
"So, this set of techniques was skillfully passed on to Yan Zhuang by Lian Ziling, just like beating a drum to spread flowers."
"In the end, Yan Zhuang became the original practitioner of the plan, and he was also the unlucky egg who was bound to be sacrificed in the end. It was not due to 'Uncle Zheng's' ingenious layout, but entirely Lian Ziling's own decision."
"When Lian Ziling did not step into the trap himself, but instead went to find another 'scapegoat', the plan had already begun to deviate from the script drawn up by 'Uncle Zheng'."
“But it’s already happened, and he can’t stop it.
While trying to reduce his presence in Lian Ziling's heart, he also had to do his best to help Lian Ziling pit Yanzhuang.
In any case, it is necessary for Yan Zhuang, the unlucky man, to complete all the preliminary preparations for the "infant surrogate plan".
This is the premise of everything. "
Although there was no evidence, Meng Zhou felt that compared to the original conjecture, this was closer to the true nature of the matter.
From the perspective of "Uncle Zheng", of course, the simpler the plan, the better.
The more sophisticated a plan seems to be, the more difficult it is to implement it.
Hiding behind the scenes seems very awesome, but unless the advantage in a certain aspect is extremely strong, it is inevitable that it will slowly transform and lose control.
If nothing else, even the simplest information may become unknown even to the mother if it is passed on orally between two people.
Therefore, for "Uncle Zheng", the simpler and more unpretentious the plan, the better.
But even such a "simple and plain" plan gradually became deformed and out of control during the actual implementation process.
Thinking of this, Meng Zhou suddenly felt that "Uncle Zheng", the "big man behind the scenes", was very pitiful.
He finally managed to reach the peak of pill formation, but he was already too old and could no longer climb to a higher level on his own.
But "Uncle Zheng" did not give up and found new hope in a desperate situation.
"Baby Surrogacy Plan".
But the first step of the plan didn't go well.
Lian Ziling did not have the "consciousness" of being a chess piece, so he jumped out of the chessboard, started another game, and became the "chess player" himself.
"Uncle Zheng" still didn't give up.
While trying his best to downplay himself and avoid attracting Lian Ziling's attention, he also wanted to provide help and convenience for Lian Ziling's new round.
It’s frustrating.
My husband’s current crime is nothing more than this!
But in the end, this plan was completely scrapped because of Meng Zhou's unexpected factor.
Completely useless.
But the determined "Uncle Zheng" still didn't give up.
Now, in the twilight of his life, he should have waited quietly for death, but he has regained his strength and is planning to start a new game.
He thought everything was going well, but he didn't know that a pair of eyes beyond common sense had been staring at him.
The hemp rope only picks and breaks at the thinnest point, and bad luck only picks out the misfortune.
It's so sad, it's just a tragedy.
With this in mind, Meng Zhou decided that he didn't need to do anything for the time being, he could just be a silent spectator and let "Uncle Zheng" do what he did.
Of course, Meng Zhou made this decision not because of "pity" for the fate of "Uncle Zheng".
But he had a hunch that "Uncle Zheng's" plan this time would probably give him a huge surprise.
His plan is related to the "Xingxiu Tianchi".
But what a coincidence, Meng Zhou is also worried about this matter, and he doesn't even know where to start in this "unfamiliar place" in Xingxiu Sea.
The appearance of "Uncle Zheng" was a timely blessing for Meng Zhou, which relieved his urgent need.
In Meng Zhou's original plan, after he was freed from the identity of the Earthly Demon Turtle, he needed to take action immediately.
The first problem that needs to be solved is the "Xingxiu Tianchi".
Once the ancestor of the Nascent Soul in the Xingxiu Palace opens and uses the "Xingxiu Tianchi", the road from forming pills to the Nascent Soul will be blocked, and other monks who form the core will no longer be able to use the fourth-level spiritual vein of the Xingxiu Sea to break through and become the Nascent Soul.
This effect will exist until all the ancestors of Nascent Soul who have used "Xingxiu Tianchi" fall away.
Meng Zhou didn't have the time to find out how such a magical thing could exist in the Xingxiu Palace. He just thought about how to overcome this obstacle.
Originally, he still had a headache from this.
Now, Meng Zhou suddenly felt less headache.
"Maybe, I can help him behind the scenes."
Meng Zhou thought so in his heart.
"Zheng Bo"'s experience touched Meng Zhou's heart and also made him alert.
Such things, if they happen to others, are a joke and will be very interesting.
But if it happens to oneself, it is really not interesting at all.
Moreover, from a certain perspective, "Zheng Bo" actually has some very similar characteristics to himself, and both like to be LYB.
"Is there really retribution in this world?"
However, whether there is or not, it is always right to be careful.
If fate plays a similar joke on oneself one day, I can't find a place to cry.
Through reflection, Meng Zhou also has some of his own experience.
It's right to like hiding in the dark, like to make a fortune quietly, and don't like to be in the limelight.
People have different personalities and cannot be forced.
But it's best not to develop the habit of scheming against others and making plans behind the scenes.
Not to mention that horses can stumble and people can make mistakes, once they make a mistake, the backlash will be very serious.
Moreover, it is up to man to plan and God to make it happen. Luck is really hard to predict. Maybe too much secret planning will really hurt your virtue.
Meng Zhou felt that this should be the biggest difference between him and "Zheng Bo".
"I just want to make myself more secure, but I have never taken the initiative to plan for others.
Many times, I even secretly help others without leaving my name."
For example, this time, Meng Zhou decided to help "Zheng Bo".
How to help?
It's very simple.
Although Kou Chong has found the correct book collection area according to the advice of "Zheng Bo".
But the books here are still too many for Kou Chong, and it takes a lot of time to read them all.
Not to mention that Kou Chong's efficiency in absorbing information from the book is too low. If he relies entirely on himself, I don't know how much time it will take for him to find the information that "Zheng Bo" wants him to find.
——It's not that Kou Chong is stupid. His reading efficiency is already very good among the cultivators of the same level, but of course it can't be compared with Meng Zhou, who has "Tongming Dao Body", "Tongming Dao Heart", "Deductive World" and a complete set of mature and efficient information processing and refining mechanisms.
And what Meng Zhou has to do is also very simple.
That is, after processing and refining the content that Kou Chong has read, he will "feed back" to Kou Chong through the contract connection, and force it into Kou Chong's own thinking in the form of "inspiration" little by little.
In this way, Kou Chong's efficiency can be greatly improved and the progress of the plan can be accelerated.
——In addition, it is necessary to mention that because of the appearance of "Zheng Bo", Meng Zhou, who originally didn't care whether the monkey demon was with Kou Chong or not, has already had the idea of letting the monkey demon follow Kou Chong all the time.
Therefore, he also used the method of hinting and guiding to make Kou Chong completely ignore the idea of releasing the long-sleeping demon beast in the beast bag to move freely after returning to Xingxiu Sea.
After dealing with these, Meng Zhou felt at ease to "recluse" in the body of the Earth Charm Spirit Turtle.
When the Earth Charm Turtle performed the earth escape technique and merged with the surrounding earth, it seemed as if its roots were deeply rooted in the earth, merging with the earth's veins.
Meng Zhou, who appeared in the body of the Earth Charm Turtle, took out the golden powder double-stemmed lotus and easily connected the lotus with the earth's veins, so that it could continuously draw spiritual essence from the depths of the earth.
The benefits of doing so are self-evident.
This makes the already very low-key and hidden golden powder double-stemmed lotus even more hidden and more difficult to be detected by others.
Even if someone noticed that there was something wrong with the veins in this area, they would only see the Earth Charm Turtle.
And naturally thought that all this was caused by it.
If there was no Earth Charm Turtle at the forefront, perhaps there would be a cultivator who passed by and found the abnormality and came down to check the cause.
——Xingxiu Sea is 50,000 miles in radius, and its area is about the same as the third-level evil vein Heizeyuan.
But the latter is rarely visited, and many areas have never been visited by cultivators.
But the former is the headquarters of the Xingxiu Palace, and there may be cultivators passing by or even directly above their heads at any time, or even directly use this spiritual island as their destination.
Although this possibility is not great, Meng Zhou does not consider success before failure, and likes to make the worst plan for everything.
Now this is the safest way he can think of.
…
Entering the "Lotus Space", seeing the familiar dome wall made of pink lotus petals, Meng Zhou felt a sense of peace from the heart.
After resting in this space that is completely exclusive to him, Meng Zhou once again focused his attention on Kou Chong.
It is worth mentioning that even after entering this "Lotus Space" that is completely exclusive to him, Meng Zhou did not call out Bai Zhi and Ya Ya in his sea of consciousness.
Meng Zhou had long discovered that neither Bai Zhi nor Ya Ya was as simple as "ancient painting spirit".
But what is certain is that they must have a very deep connection with this Xingxiu Palace.
Meng Zhou was worried that if he summoned Bai Zhi and Ya Ya out of the Xingxiu Sea, some unexpected changes would occur.
If this attracted unnecessary attention and brought some uncertain and unknown variables to his infiltration, it was not what Meng Zhou wanted.
Now, he just wanted to survive safely until he reached the peak of the Jindan stage, broke through the barrier, and cultivated into the Yuanying stage.
As long as he could control everything after he cultivated Nascent Soul, Meng Zhou would have nothing to fear even if there was a pressure cooker under his butt that could explode at any time.
Now, he doesn't care about anything, he just wants to focus on cultivating and rising to the next level.
Everything else has to step back a little and make way for this.
…
Time flies, and several months pass.
At the end of December, Kou Chong, who had stayed in the library hall for several months, was in a much worse state than when he came back in the later stages of his cultivation breakthrough.
Under Meng Zhou's "reminder", Kou Chong, who had been immersed in ancient books and had not noticed all this, suddenly woke up. From his body to his mind, a strong sense of fatigue rushed towards him like a mountain and a tsunami.
This time, Kou Chong made a "rational" choice. He finished reading most of the ancient books in his hands, returned them to their original places, and then strode out of the hall.
Passing through the rows of bookshelves, Kou Chong, who was walking toward the entrance of the hall, suddenly heard an unprovoked question.
"gone?"
Kou Chong was startled, stopped in his steps, turned around and looked to the left.
But in the direction where he was looking, there was a recliner placed in the gap between a bookshelf and a huge square pillar, which was not too wide and could easily be ignored. "Uncle Zheng" was lying on it with his eyes closed. on top.
Compared to the previous time when he saw "Uncle Zheng" basking in the sun, this time "Uncle Zheng" gave Kou Chong an eerie and cold feeling.
His cheeks can almost see the outline of his skull, his body is too thin, and his wrists and fingers seem to be covered with a thin layer of skin...
Even his slightly open lips when he was taking a nap made Kou Chong subconsciously think that there was decaying corpse air slowly floating out from inside.
If it weren't for "Uncle Zheng's" chest still rising and falling slightly rhythmically, Kou Chong would have doubted whether the "Uncle Zheng" in front of him was already dead.
Could the sound I just heard come from the dead body in front of me?
Or seeing that he didn't reply for a long time, "Uncle Zheng" opened his closed eyes with a pair of bright eyes.
"What? Are you stupid?"
Only then did Kou Chong realize his rudeness and said quickly: "Reading is too exhausting, I have to go back and recuperate for a while."
After saying that, Kou Chong paused and said in a strange way: "Come back in a month."
"Uncle Zheng" didn't seem to care about this. He waved his hand gently and asked, "Is it helpful?"
Kou Chong was stunned for a moment, and then he realized that "Uncle Zheng" was probably asking if the suggestions he gave him were helpful.
He nodded immediately and said: "Yes... it will help."
He actually wanted to say that he didn't see where the specific help was yet, but if he was so disappointed, he took it back before he could say it.
"Uncle Zheng" seemed to be just asking casually, and said softly: "It would be great if it helps, it would be great if it helps."
As he said that, he waved his hand as if to drive away.
"Go, go, don't disturb my old man's sleep."
Kou Chong cursed in his heart, do you think I care? You didn't speak first!
But I don't care about a dying old man.
Thinking like this, Kou Chong had already strode out of the library hall.
…
And just as Kou Chong returned to the cave to rest, Meng Zhou also began a new year of retreat.
Before entering deep concentration, Meng Zhou was still a little uneasy.
"But please don't do anything to me."
Meng Zhou was worried that some accident would happen during his retreat.
But it is even more impossible not to retreat because of this level of worry, so we can only take precautions.
For this reason, throughout the entire process of retreat, Meng Zhou always paid attention to what was going on outside.
This is really equivalent to sleeping with one eye open.
Fortunately, his current state of concentration is very special. When he enters deep concentration, his heart is like a bright moon hanging high in the sky, and everything around him will be clearly reflected in his heart.
There is no need to worry about the impact on your practice.
What comforted Meng Zhou was that no accidents occurred during the entire retreat.
The only thing worth mentioning during his entire retreat was that an uncontracted third-level rat demon approached near the valley where the Earth Charm Turtle was hiding.
But after sensing the aura mark specially left by the Earth Charm Turtle, the rat demon immediately stood up with rat hairs all over its body like steel needles, and with a swish, it dived into the earth and fled away.
Yes, this rat demon is also a third-level demon that is affiliated with earth power and is good at earth escape and earth power manipulation.
Interestingly, its strength is about the same as that of the Earthly Magic Turtle. Although its control over Earth Escape is slightly worse than that of the Earthly Magical Turtle, its ability to mobilize the power of the earth is still above that of the Earthly Magical Turtle.
Such a big demon with both strength and potential has not been contracted by anyone, not because of how well it is hidden - for Xingxiu Palace Jiedan, as long as it is intentional, it will not be able to escape no matter how hard it is hidden.
The real reason is also very simple, just because he is too ugly.
When given a choice, Xingxiu Palace Jiedan will give priority to monsters that are more beautiful, more eye-catching, and more distinctive.
Monsters such as rat monsters, which give off a sneaky and insignificant look at first glance, will basically not be considered unless absolutely necessary.
It can be said to be quite luxurious.
"This world is about looks. If you are ugly, you will feel uncomfortable even being a monster." Seeing the rat monster escaping in embarrassment, Meng Zhou couldn't help but joked in his heart.
Then, Meng Zhou thought of Bai Zhi. Her tendency in this regard was actually very serious.
If the monster is ugly, she will find it hard to swallow even if it is made into delicious food.
Meng Zhou suddenly discovered a new angle, proving that Bai Zhi and Xingxiu Palace have a deep connection.
They are all face-oriented, but the degree of attention is different!
Meng Zhou also kept this discovery in mind.
Apart from this, nothing else happened during the entire retreat.
Everything went smoothly, and Meng Zhou ended this retreat.
[Cultivation progress +720, Jindan ninth level 6765/10,000] (End of this chapter)