Chapter 723 I am not an evil god

Zhang Cheng had no choice but to agree to Monk Qing’s request.

He often went out to collect herbs, and knew that there were dangers lurking outside the villages and towns of Jindan Country, and it would be difficult for him and Zhang Ye to survive in the wilderness. There was no paradise in this world, and if there was, it would have been occupied by Feng Danzi long ago.

Monk Qing gave each of the two brothers a mask.

"We worship the deity Muyifang and are followers of Muyifang. Wear this cloth and follow me."

He led the two brothers all the way into the depths of a cave.

There stands a stone statue in the cave. The statue looks like a monk with a blurred face. He sits cross-legged on the ground and seems to be beating a wooden fish.

There were many men and women standing around, all with their faces covered with cloth.

Monk Qing put his hands together, nodded to the statue and said, "Recite as I say."

“I often tell people that if the heart is not moved, there will be no suffering or pain.”

“Nothing is real, everything is like a dream, everything is false… I get what I get, and I have no desire or need.”

Zhang Cheng repeated to himself while looking around with his peripheral vision.

The ground here is slippery and covered with moss, and the stalactites above are still dripping, but the statue is not soaked by water, as if it was moved in from outside not long ago. It seems to be a temporary altar.

"The ceremony is over."

Monk Qing then turned to the two brothers and said, "From now on, you are the followers of Master Mu Yi Fang and my disciples."

"master."

Zhang Cheng and Zhang Ye both knelt down to pay homage to their master.

Monk Qing gave each of the two brothers a talisman drawn on green cloth.

"This is the 'One-Eye Talisman'. You only need to stick it on your forehead, and you will be able to see the traces of my master and find me along the way."

"I have lived for more than 800 years, thanks to the longevity granted by Master Muyifang. You can become like me as long as you sincerely believe in and worship him."

The one-eyed monk warned: "The mark on your chest is called the 'Erosion Heart Mark', which is a mark that the mountain god puts on everyone. This mark will make your internal organs grow stronger and stronger, while your skin, flesh, bones and blood will continue to weaken. When all your vitality is sucked away by your heart, lungs and spleen, you will die."

"The mountain god likes to eat human organs, so he uses the Heart-Erosion Seal to nourish the heart and lungs."

Zhang Cheng was shocked, and then filled with grief and anger.

My mother was actually eaten by the mountain god.

"Master Mu Yi Fang has granted me the power to remove the Heart-Erosion Seal. But now is not the right time. Removing the seal will only make you suspicious and in danger."

Monk Qing told them: "First, you should stay dormant in the Alchemy House and the Metalworking Institute, collect information about the alchemists and alchemists, and carefully observe whether they are resentful or frightened..."

Zhang Cheng understood after listening to it.

It turned out that Monk Qing asked himself and his brother to be the insiders not to try to deal with Feng Danzi or the mountain god, but to seduce others to convert to the god "Muyifang".

After the worship, Zhang Cheng asked privately: "Master, will Lord Muyifang show up to kill the mountain god? After all, the mountain god is the real evil god..."

"certainly."

Monk Qing's face was solemn. "But before that, we need to win over more people to join us. We want to save as many people as possible, not just kill the mountain god. Before that, we need to be patient for the sake of the people."

…

On the way back, Zhang Ye was very excited.

"Brother, we are not afraid this time. We have a master and Master Mu Yi Fang to back us up."

Zhang Cheng shook his head: "No, we have to rely on ourselves."

No matter the mountain god in the past, or the current Qing Monk, "Muyifang" or the mountain god, none of them can be trusted.

No one can be trusted.

Zhang Cheng told his relatively simple-minded brother: "The mountain god needs us because he needs us to provide hearts and lungs for generations. Muyifang and Master need us because we can offer our faith and win more believers for them."

"In the final analysis, both gods see us as cattle and sheep, but one is for meat, and the other for shearing and more cattle and sheep."

Zhang Ye was stunned: "Then, don't we have no way to move forward or backward?"

“So you have to rely on yourself.”

Zhang Cheng patted his brother on the shoulder: "We have something more reliable."

"What?"

"My alchemy, your alchemy."

"Brother, I understand."

Did my brother really understand?

Zhang Cheng didn't know.

He himself had no confidence at all.

Even if you practice alchemy to perfection, what can you get? Can you be on par with the gods? But as a brother, you must be able to hold your ground and make decisions at all times.

…

Zhang Cheng had no choice.

Sandwiched between two huge monsters, the only things you can trust are yourself and your craftsmanship.

Only when he concentrates on refining the elixir can Zhang Cheng forget the cruelty and troubles of the world and immerse himself in the wonderful changes and fusions.

This is also the only place where he can find spiritual sustenance.

As a result, Zhang Cheng's alchemy skills improved by leaps and bounds, and he soon mastered dozens of extremely difficult recipes. He began to formally participate in refining high-level elixirs and obtained a large amount of resources from the alchemy workshop. The [Alchemy Department] that governs the alchemy workshops in the 36 towns also praised the elixirs he refined, making other alchemists envious.

"Zhang Cheng, can you teach me some tips? My dan always cracks easily..."

"How do you maintain such a high success rate? This is too much."

"The pills you made are so smooth, balanced, and have no rejection reaction... How did you do that?"

…

Many alchemists came to him for advice.

Zhang Chengdu told them: "Just practice more."

He is telling the truth.

Zhang Cheng focused all his enthusiasm and hope on alchemy.

Apart from his younger brother, he only has alchemy skills.

He stopped researching new elixirs and put all his energy into adjusting and perfecting the [Delusion-Breaking Pill]. It was already a great achievement for an alchemist to come up with a new elixir formula in his lifetime. Zhang Cheng knew that he did not have the extra energy and time to explore another direction.

The pill to break delusion is the most important.

Just when Zhang Cheng was immersed in the life of the alchemy furnace, one day Zhang Ye came to Lingmiao Garden of the alchemy workshop to find him.

Under normal circumstances, the two brothers meet every five days. As they are busy with their daily lives, Zhang Ye rarely takes the initiative to come to the alchemist's side.

"What's wrong?" Zhang Cheng felt something was wrong.

"Brother, please take a leave and go out with me."

Seeing that Zhang Ye looked worried, Zhang Cheng went to register to go out, and then left with his brother.

"Brother, come sit up."

Zhang Ye rode a wooden ox.

This is one of the common mounts for alchemists. The wooden ox can carry heavy objects and can travel a long distance after each full winch. Another mount, the iron horse, is known for its speed and impact. Its endurance is weak, but it can move quickly and shuttle through dangerous areas.

The clumsy wooden cow walked slowly until night, and came to the edge of a wide swamp.

Zhang Ye jumped off the wooden ox, took the lantern, and laid the prepared wooden planks all the way. Then he lay on the planks, crawling forward slowly like a lizard, and signaled his elder brother to do the same.

Zhang Cheng crawled with him on the wooden planks and came to the depths of the swamp.

"Here." Zhang Ye raised the lantern in his hand, adjusted the glass on it, and directed the light forward.

The dim light revealed a raised mound of earth. The mound had a relatively regular shape and its surface was covered with dried black mud and lichen.

Zhang Cheng saw clearly that the mound was actually a stone statue, with only half of its head sticking out from the swamp.

"Brother, come closer, come here, touch this stone statue." Zhang Ye said.

Zhang Cheng didn't suspect anything and walked over carefully.

As soon as his fingers wrapped in cloth touched the head of the statue, his eyes suddenly widened.

Zhang Cheng saw three balls of light inside the mysterious stone statue, each representing a kind of ability.

They are [Theology], [Astrology] and [Basic Semiotics].

If you want to gain the power within the statue, you must exchange it with a skill you have mastered.

"How about it, brother? This is very exciting, isn't it?" Zhang Ye grinned and said, "I was chased here by a poisonous beast when I was out looking for materials, and I just found it. Should we exchange with it?"

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

Zhang Cheng thought about it carefully and said, "You didn't tell anyone else about this, did you?"

"Of course not, only you and I know."

"Let's hide here first."

"Okay, but don't we need the power in here?"

Zhang Cheng said seriously: "What is the price? Just to exchange our alchemy and alchemy? Look at this stone statue again, don't you think of anything?"

The younger brother observed it for a while, his face changed slightly: "The statues... look like the statues of the mountain god and Lord Muyifang."

The mountain god statue is a small hill with two curved corners on the top, and Muyifang is a monk beating a wooden fish.

The stone statues in the mud are also almost human-like.

Zhang Cheng nodded: "With such a power beyond comprehension and a stone statue, it may be a statue left by a god..."

"Then what should we do?" Zhang Ye looked at his brother.

Zhang Cheng said, "Go find the master."

Although Monk Qing was not a kind person, the road to the mountain god was a dead end, so he and his brother had to escape in the end.

Since the risk of touching the statue is too high, it is better to offer it to Monk Qing and gain some trust.

The Zhang and Cheng brothers pasted "One-Eyed Talisman" on their foreheads, found Monk Qing who was still preaching in the forest at night, and brought him all the way to the swamp.

Seeing the blurry stone statue sunk into the mud, Monk Qing's one eye was full of vigilance.

After he carefully touched the stone statue, his face became particularly solemn: "This is the statue of the Evil God from outer space. You cannot trust it... If you make a deal with it, it will attract the attention of the Evil God, and the consequences will be disastrous."

"Don't attract evil spirits, don't touch it."

“He will absorb the soul and everything he touches, bringing about a true catastrophe of annihilation…”

Monk Qing was very cautious about this. He opened his arms and used his magical power to make the stone statue sink further until nothing could be seen on the surface of the swamp. Only then did he stop.

Only then did Zhang Cheng realize that this stone statue had brought tremendous pressure to Monk Qing, and its origins might be far beyond his imagination.

…

The dormant life never ended once it began, and more than ten years passed quickly.

Over the years, the Zhang Cheng brothers have requested to leave many times.

But Monk Qing always said: "You are talented and well disguised. Relax. I will take you away and remove the marks on you before you are forty."

Although Zhang Cheng was angry, he could do nothing.

The gods don’t care about the life and death of ordinary people.

He could only put all his distress into making elixirs.

Zhang Ye's accident broke the last string in Zhang Cheng's heart.

In order to protect Monk Qing and the followers of Muyifang, Zhang Ye was trapped in a siege by poisonous beasts while riding his iron horse. Although he finally escaped, he was covered with wounds. He was so severely poisoned that he lost his ability to speak and was paralyzed in bed, requiring constant care.

Fortunately, Zhang Cheng was an alchemist and used elixirs to keep his brother alive.

Monk Qing said, "Everyone will remember your dedication. Be patient and wait for my notice. You will be well soon."

Wait for your mother, you bald head! Zhang Cheng was so angry that his teeth were about to break.

He came to the location of the stone statue of the evil god from outer space. This place has become dry now, and the stone statue was dug out from the soil by Zhang Cheng.

Zhang Cheng, with gray hair, was panting and pressing his no longer strong and smooth hands against the stone statue.

He shouted silently in his heart.

"O evil god from another world, please complete the exchange with me."

If you want to come, then come!

The world won't get any worse anyway.

Zhang Cheng didn't get a response for a long time and was about to leave. Suddenly, he felt a huge and unfamiliar power emerge from his body.

This is... [Theology]! The evil god responded.

Before Zhang Cheng had time to digest the theology, he suddenly found that there was a tall man in front of him.

The man in front of me was tall and strong, wearing a short shirt and coarse cloth pants. He had a thick beard on his chin, revealing his muscular arms and neck, and he exuded a strong sense of oppression.

Zhang Cheng stuffed three pills of Pohuan Dan into his mouth.

Then he saw a sudden burst of bright light, and then his eyes felt severe pain, as if they were constantly pierced by needles, and his eyelids kept twitching.

Zhang Cheng lowered his head as much as he could and stopped looking at the other person. His black eyes gradually regained their vision.

This gave him a huge shock.

Theological induction.

It cannot be looked at directly...it cannot be peered into...it cannot be recognized...this is the breath and power of God.

The man said, "I'm sorry, I'm a little lost when I pass by here. Could you please show me the way?"

"...You are the evil god, right?" Zhang Cheng took a deep breath.

The other party's face froze for a moment, then he laughed out loud: "Brother, you are really a joker. I am just a country bumpkin passing by. What does it have to do with the evil god?"

The corner of Zhang Cheng's mouth twitched.

A normal person wearing this outfit would not be able to survive poisonous insects and poisonous rain in the wild. Who wouldn't be covered up tightly? You look so lively, how can you be normal?

I had just exchanged wishes when you appeared out of nowhere... All the poisonous insects and beasts in all directions disappeared without a trace, even the buzzing sounds of insects disappeared.

Even the insects knew that it was the arrival of the gods who should not be disturbed.

"Master Evil God, I have a request..."

"I declare once again that I am not an evil god."

The other party raised his palm, made a gesture of rejection, and had a serious expression.

Zhang Cheng suddenly came to his senses.

How could a god think that he was an evil god? Oh, how stupid I am! The pressure from the gods made my brain not work well.

So he carefully followed the other person's lead and said, "What's your name?"

"I will never change my surname or my name, I am a wild man with yellow armor."

The other party smiled slightly.

(End of this chapter)