Chapter 292
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Over the next several days, Zhang Xiaohua devoted himself wholeheartedly to refining the Fasting Pill. From the initial success of producing a single pill, he eventually managed to refine nine in total. That’s right—not an even number, but an odd total of nine. At first, Zhang Xiaohua thought there must be something wrong with the timing of his refinement. But later, he discovered that—even when he used his divine sense to carefully split each pill apart—some of the pills would inexplicably vanish. Meanwhile, those remaining nine pills became increasingly full and round, increasingly exquisite in appearance. Their yellow-brown luster glowed warmly, and their near-perfect spherical shape was a visual delight in itself.
However, ever since Zhang Xiaohua first tried this pill, he had not taken another. The reason was simple: after taking it the first time, he felt no desire to eat for several days. Even when he grilled meat nearby, he only looked on. Who would eat roasted meat while burping from fullness? By the time his appetite finally returned, Zhang Xiaohua impatiently roasted a seabird to eat, and even gnawed down half a root of Huangjing—something he had never liked before.
To satisfy one’s hunger through the joy of eating was an entirely different experience compared to relying on tasteless pills to trick the body. Looking at the perfectly refined Fasting Pills before him, Zhang Xiaohua was certain that if he were to consume one now, the duration he could go without food or water would far surpass the last time. And precisely because of that—how could he dare to take another?
With a flick of his hand, he drew a small jade bottle from his coin pouch, placed the newly refined Fasting Pills inside, then tossed the bottle back onto the space storage shelf, where it joined several other jade bottles already filled with Fasting Pills.
“It’s been nearly eight months since I came to this desolate island. I’ve almost finished refining all the Huangjing here. Even if I keep refining it, the progress I gain would be limited. If I want to improve my pill-refining skills, I’ll have to work with different types of pills. Fortunately, I studied the herbal manual earlier and learned how to cultivate Huangjing, or I’d never have dared to use up so many of these herbs—some of which I don’t even know how many years old they were.”
“The Big Dipper Divine Fist has improved quickly—it’s already reached the sixth layer, and the time I need to practice it is getting shorter. The Earth Escape Technique has also reached a bottleneck, and I’m not sure how to continue cultivating it. It seems to have something to do with true qi. As for the Carefree Heart Sutra, its progress has been mediocre. Right now, it’s only at the middle stage of the fourth layer and has been stagnant for a while. Although the true qi in my body has reached a level I never imagined, it’s just barely enough to sustain prolonged use of the Earth Escape Technique. And this is only the fourth layer—there’s still a long way to go before reaching perfection at the eighteenth.”
Unconsciously, Zhang Xiaohua once again drew out that pair of jade rings from his bosom. The fluctuations within the rings had grown increasingly faint. Zhang Xiaohua knew well that the innate vitality within the jade rings was gradually dissipating. Once that vitality was fully gone, the jade rings would lose their value entirely. And yet, even though those fluctuations were now but the barest whisper, Zhang Xiaohua still couldn’t immerse his divine sense into them. He could only watch helplessly as this unknown treasure slipped further and further from his grasp.
In truth, this wasn’t even the thing that troubled him most. Even if the jade rings lost their vitality, they were still jade rings—he could always pawn them for a few taels of silver. But there was another matter, one that filled him with deep and bitter loathing.
That was—he was about to have no clothes left to wear!
Zhang Xiaohua had only the single set of clothing he wore, and had been extremely careful with it from the start. But on this desolate island, exposed to wind and sun, and steeped in salt and alkali, even the finest fabric wouldn’t last. Now, after these many months, Zhang Xiaohua was on the verge of becoming stark naked~~~
For one such as Zhang Xiaohua, who had been enlightened by the classics and steeped in the teachings of Shuowen Jiezi, this was simply far too disgraceful!
It was time to find a solution.
The towering, alien plants that grew before the mountains—though impressively tall—bore sword-like leaves. Those narrow blades of greenery, what could they possibly conceal? A fingertip?
The vines of the Huangjing plants also had some leaves, but they withered far too easily. Our Great Hero Zhang couldn’t very well be in the midst of using Earth Escape, only to discover the leaves covering him had turned brittle and crumbled—forcing him to emerge and rush back to the Huangjing patch to “reapply” his outfit, could he?
And so, quite naturally, Zhang Xiaohua thought of that still unexplored area deeper within the island. Perhaps… perhaps there would be something there he could use to preserve his modesty?
Zhang Xiaohua comforted himself with this self-deceiving hope.
Truth be told, Zhang Xiaohua had wanted to explore the island’s interior when he first arrived. But his mood had been dampened by disappointment, and later swept away by the fervor of cultivation. Only now, for the sake of Great Hero Zhang’s dignity, had the thought resurfaced.
Of course, that concern for face was merely the pretext.
This desolate island had long since become Zhang Xiaohua’s home. And what home had corners unfamiliar to its master? Besides, wasn’t he feeling bored now anyway? He might as well take a stroll. If this island was his home, then its interior was his own backyard. And to wander through one’s own garden—did that require any preparation?
The answer, of course, was a resounding no.
With a tumble, Zhang Xiaohua leapt down from the mountaintop. The moment his feet touched the ground, his figure mysteriously vanished, as though he had slipped directly into the earth itself. A long while later, he reappeared far off in the distance. Then, with a stretch of his body, he rose more than half a foot off the ground and sped forward, drifting like a feather. As the sea breeze blew past him, he truly seemed like an immortal riding the wind. Yes—except for the fluttering threads from the holes in his clothes—quite the image indeed.
Although the desolate island was vast, under Zhang Xiaohua’s deliberate showing off, it wasn’t long before he reached a place filled with jagged, peculiar rocks. At first glance, his heart sank—this place was even more barren than the last. It resembled a canyon, scattered with stones everywhere. There were hardly even a few blades of grass, let alone any plants with broad leaves.
Still unwilling to give up, Zhang Xiaohua vaulted up like an ape to the highest point of the canyon. Looking around in every direction, he confirmed that this place truly was different from the rest. Within the area, there were only rocks—no vegetation, and not even a puddle of water to be seen.
Gazing over the craggy canyon terrain, Zhang Xiaohua released his divine sense and swept it around. As expected—nothing but rocks, nothing else.
Helpless, Zhang Xiaohua shrugged his shoulders and muttered inwardly, I’ll just have to bear the shame. Surely Li Jinfeng wouldn’t chase me all the way here from Pingyang City just to scold me for it!
Just as he was about to withdraw his divine sense, his brows suddenly furrowed.
“There’s a fluctuation of Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi in a secluded spot below? Could it be another relic of the Immortal Dao? Or perhaps some kind of yuan stone? How could I return empty-handed after entering a treasure trove? Let’s go~”
With that thought, he formed a hand seal and swayed his body. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from the spot, diving straight through the mountain toward the source of that qi fluctuation.
As he neared the location of the fluctuation, a mass of orange-red light suddenly appeared before him, directly blocking his path within the earth. Zhang Xiaohua was caught off guard and unable to halt his Earth Escape in time. The black curtain of true qi surrounding him rammed into the red light. That glow surged brilliantly, forcibly repelling Zhang Xiaohua outside.
“What strange thing is this?”
Startled, Zhang Xiaohua immediately released his divine sense to investigate. But to his shock, the red light actually blocked even that. Rather than alarm, this sparked joy in Zhang Xiaohua’s heart. What did that mean? It had to be something left behind by the Immortal Dao—something powerful at that!
Zhang Xiaohua emerged from the earth, arriving directly in front of a rather well-concealed cave entrance. Nestled at the foot of the mountain behind a massive boulder, the entrance was nearly impossible to detect with the naked eye—without divine sense, one wouldn’t even know it existed.
Gazing at the seemingly ordinary cave entrance, Zhang Xiaohua didn’t rush in. What a joke—if this cave held no secrets and could be entered so easily, he, Zhang Xiaohua, would be the first not to believe it. If one could simply walk in, then why had he been blocked outside?
He cautiously surveyed the area, sweeping it with his divine sense. After confirming he couldn’t detect any flaws or clues, he began approaching the entrance step by careful step.
Even when he was almost at the entrance, nothing out of the ordinary happened. Zhang Xiaohua frowned. Could it be I’m being overly suspicious? Or perhaps the restriction was only placed further inside the cave, not at the entrance itself?
Just as he was wondering, a wave of red brilliance appeared before him. A faint, nearly invisible membrane of light barred his path. Zhang Xiaohua swept it with his divine sense, and indeed, that light screen enveloped the entire cave thoroughly.
“This restriction is truly formidable—it can’t even be seen with divine sense. Only by physically approaching does it reveal itself. Impressive.”
A sense of admiration rose in Zhang Xiaohua’s heart.
He placed his hand on the light screen and pushed with force, but it seemed to have a pliable, elastic quality. It compressed slightly, then bounced back.
Zhang Xiaohua tried striking it with his fist—only to have it lightly rebound once more. Then, drawing a deep breath, he mustered all the strength in his body and unleashed a powerful punch toward the membrane.
By now, Zhang Xiaohua had already cultivated the Big Dipper Divine Fist to the fifth layer. His strength, if not ten thousand catties, was not far from it. With a punch like this, even a block of solid stone would be shattered into dust.
Yet when his fist slammed into the red barrier, the light screen instantly caved inward at the point of impact. The next moment, the glow flared brilliantly—the red light surged—and the sunken spot rebounded sharply. A tremendous, irresistible force exploded from the light screen. Zhang Xiaohua was unable to pull back in time, and his figure shot backward like an arrow. It was as if he hadn’t struck the light screen—it was the screen that had struck him, sending him flying!
This was a canyon to begin with, the space narrow and tight. Zhang Xiaohua’s body flew through the air, heading straight toward a massive boulder on the opposite side. At the very instant of impact, his figure flickered once more and vanished—only after quite some time did he emerge from the ground in the distance.
“This restriction truly is extraordinary. Even with ten thousand catties of force behind my fist, I couldn’t break it. It seems brute strength won’t work—looks like I’ll need to use my wits.”
Once again, Zhang Xiaohua approached the entrance. He examined it up and down, left and right. He even delved back into the mountain itself, inspecting above, below, to every side, scrutinizing the red light-wrapped space. It was like a perfectly sealed egg—utterly seamless. There didn’t seem to be any point of entry.
Zhang Xiaohua couldn’t help but grow irritated. Even a fly needs a crack to squeeze through, doesn’t it? How am I supposed to get in?
How could this restriction be so solid? It’s been here for who knows how many years, and yet it’s still this resilient. Why couldn’t it have deteriorated like those yuan stones, leaking all its energy away?
Just as he was feeling utterly stumped, a sudden thought struck him. His brows lifted with realization, and without hesitation, he reached into his robe and pulled something out, striding directly toward the now-calm barrier of red light!
