135: It is Zhou Yan, but not Zhou Yan.

Just as that invisible force was about to strike Zhou Yan, it suddenly stopped right in front of him.

The anticipated impact did not come; Zhou Yan curled the corner of his mouth into a rather arrogant smile.

Of course, if he could see at this moment that the force was only inches away from his brow, he probably would not have been able to act so calm and composed.

At the very least, he would have had to find an excuse to step back a few paces before striking a pose.

" W-what? "

From Xiao Sheng's perspective, although he had just been easily blown away along with his altar, he had still participated in the magical battle, and since he had participated, he could roughly perceive the outline and scale of that magical power fluctuation.

He clearly "saw" a basin-sized mass of strange power hovering in front of Zhou Yan, and the curse-killing might contained within it was likely something even a Nascent Soul Cultivator would struggle to resist.

Yet, not only did Zhou Yan not dodge, he instead smiled with a crooked mouth; by the looks of it, he had actually blocked it using his own ability?

Could it be that the things he said to me earlier were merely jokes, just to keep me from feeling so much pressure, and that he is actually a hidden Grandmaster of unorthodox paths?

Xiao Sheng suddenly recalled the various deeds of Zhou Yan that Wang Yao had mentioned to him during their casual chats.

" Is this the demeanor of the Four Regions' number one Prodigy... "

He could not help but marvel inwardly.

The gazes of the people around them as they looked at Zhou Yan were also filled with admiration.

Zhou Yan felt he had successfully pulled off a small flex and was satisfied. Fortunately, he did not hear what Xiao Sheng was thinking, otherwise, he might have fainted on the spot.

" Ahem. "

Zhou Yan coughed twice, stood up, walked over to Xiao Sheng, and helped him up.

However, Xiao Sheng's attention remained firmly locked on the spot where the power had stalled. His pupils suddenly constricted as if he had discovered something, and his gaze snapped toward the distance, so focused that he did not even hear Zhou Yan speaking to him.

Seeing Xiao Sheng's reaction, Zhou Yan casually opened his panel to take a look, confirming that he was not under some sort of intelligence-reducing buff, but was truly observing something.

It was at this moment that Zhou Yan saw his name, which was noticeably different after he had just used the 【 Name Change Card 】.

【 Zhou Yan 】

The name itself had not changed, but the color had shifted from white to gold.

In reality, his full name was now " § e Zhou Yan " .

This was a special name-change method left over from an early version.

By adding a specific color code before the name, one could change the display color, and the code itself did not count toward the name's character limit.

Clearly, this new 2.0 version still retained this mechanism. Zhou Yan had just used this to change his name.

Sure enough, once the name changed, the curse became ineffective immediately.

Thinking back to how Xiao Sheng had gone to such great lengths to prepare the altar, only for it to be useless, and in the end, it was Zhou Yan who resolved the crisis by casually changing his name.

If Xiao Sheng could know what Zhou Yan was thinking at this moment, he would likely be so angry he would vomit blood. It was simply like a fire breaking out in one's home; he had fought desperately to put it out to no avail, and yet Zhou Yan had just lightly said, "I changed the fire to water," which not only extinguished the fire instantly but also helped him wash the house in the process.

If he learned the truth, his worldview would likely collapse.

Xiao Sheng finally managed to snap out of it. Just as Zhou Yan was about to ask him what he had seen, a System notification sounded in his ear.

" Player Zhou Yan participated in the kill of Elite 【 Yin Huaizi 】, gained EXP + 2000, Nascent Soul Crystal * 1. "

" Crystal? What is this thing? "

Zhou Yan immediately became alert.

" You brat, you did not secretly skim off my EXP, did you! "

The more he thought about it, the more wrong it felt.

Although he was not sure what he had actually done to cause a Nascent Soul Cultivator to die, this EXP was far too low.

Previously, fighting a Core Formation Stage boss yielded tens of thousands of EXP; right now, even if the opponent was weak, they were still a Nascent Soul after all!

How could it be only a mere two thousand? And why was it stuck on such a subtle number?

Realizing something was wrong, Zhou Yan immediately sank into his consciousness and contacted the customer service channel directly.

" Little Dao! Little Dao! "

" I am here. "

" I am asking you, where is my EXP? Did you embezzle it! "

Following his roar, a text prompt popped up on the customer service interface.

【 I am asking you, where is my EXP? Did you give it to my sister? 】

【 I am sorry, I did not understand what you meant. I am still learning... 】

Zhou Yan almost spat out a mouthful of blood. Suppressing his anger, he spoke clearly, enunciating every word.

" There is a problem with the acquisition of EXP. Query the whereabouts of the EXP. "

Halfway through his voice input, a small spinning circle suddenly appeared on the customer service interface. After loading for two minutes, a bright red exclamation mark popped up.

【 Poor signal, please re-enter. 】

Zhou Yan was shaking with anger. He took a few deep breaths before barely managing to calm down.

In the end, he gave up on voice input and switched to manually typing text into the customer service interface. This time, it was successfully submitted.

【 Player inquiry detected. Querying relevant information... 】

【 Are you inquiring about: The issue of abnormal EXP acquisition and its conversion into crystals? The following explanation is now provided. 】

【 1. 'Crystal' is a special physical substance formed by the condensation of essence, Qi, and spirit. It can be used to strengthen attributes such as Physical Body, Divine Sense, spirit, and vitality. 】

【 2. Once a player's cultivation reaches the Core Formation Stage, the effectiveness of the original EXP System will be significantly reduced, and the acquisition channels will also decrease. 】

【 To optimize the game experience, a brand-new growth System has been opened: After a player reaches Core Formation, killing creatures will drop 'Crystals'. By absorbing these crystals, one can comprehensively improve their own attributes, and no longer directly gain EXP. 】

【 3. For any overflowing EXP obtained before Core Formation but not yet consumed, we will issue compensation gifts via email. 】

【 4. For more details, please pay attention to subsequent updates or consult relevant announcements. 】

【 Did this answer help you? 】

【 Yes 】 or 【 No 】

【 What is your rating for this customer service? 】

【 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ 】

Zhou Yan got the information he wanted, his anger dissipated by more than half, and finally, he benevolently clicked 【 Yes 】 and gave a one-star rating.

Exiting the System, Zhou Yan's perspective returned to reality.

He did not offer much explanation, instead directly using his magical power to conjure a simple topographic map, marking a light spot on it to inform the group of the opponent's current location.

Subsequently, he moved his body and was the first to rush toward the direction where the Nascent Soul corpse was located.

On the body of a Nascent Soul Cultivator, there must be quite a few good things hidden. The loot from the monster he killed, of course, had to be looted by him first.

As for whether there were other experts by his side?

It just so happened that the Sword Seal that had been suppressed back last time had not been used yet; it would not hurt to use it again this time. If he could get a double blessing and have another reward drop, that would naturally be even better.

However, what interested him most at the moment was that Nascent Soul Crystal.

The introduction touted it to the skies, but Zhou Yan had not tried the actual effect yet.

He planned to collect a few more and test them properly; he could not waste this Nascent Soul-level special item.

The group watched as Zhou Yan, who a second ago needed to be strictly protected, was now taking the initiative to attack, and for a moment, they were all a bit bewildered.

They roughly understood that the curse did not seem to have taken effect, but the resolution process did not seem to have much to do with Daoist Priest Xiao; rather, it was Zhou Yan who solved it himself.

And after this Lord Zhou had stared blankly for a while, for some reason, he suddenly drew a map to point out the enemy's location, and then rushed out alone.

Everyone wanted to stop him, but with the augmentation of wind-element Spells, Zhou Yan's flying speed far exceeded theirs, and they simply could not stop him.

Helpless, they could only hurriedly organize a team, carry weapons and armor, and set off toward the location marked by Zhou Yan. On one hand, it was to capture the culprit, and more importantly, to ensure Zhou Yan's safety.

In the outskirts of Jiangzhou.

Relying on the clear loot drop notification marked on the map, Zhou Yan found the cave where Yin Huaizi was hiding without much effort.

However, the moment he stepped into the cave, apart from the mess on the ground and large patches of shocking bloodstains, he did not see the corpse he had anticipated.

" Could it be that he was not dead yet and escaped using his Nascent Soul? "

" That's not right. The System clearly popped up a kill record. Even if the Nascent Soul still exists, it counts as death; at the very least, a Physical Body should have been left behind. "

Zhou Yan did not believe it and refreshed the map again. Sure enough, the location of the light spot representing the loot had changed.

Fortunately, the movement distance was not far; he caught up in a few steps and quickly locked onto that moving "loot".

" Hehehe, as expected. I was still wondering, how could a dead person move on their own... "

Zhou Yan sneered, his gaze falling downward, "So it was you, this little ant at the Foundation Establishment Initial Stage, who was playing tricks."

Below, a young man with dried tear tracks on his face was carrying the corpse of a thin, withered old man on his back. At this moment, he was looking up and staring fixedly at Zhou Yan, his eyes filled with determination.