290: A distant call

Watching the backs of the two people gradually fade away, Wei Cheng also turned around and bowed deeply to Zhou Yan once more.

“This is not the first time this Old Daoist Priest has offered thanks, but I am truly grateful, Senior, for saving us multiple times.”

“This place is too dangerous. If Senior hadn't been here, the two of us would probably have died countless times already.”

Zhou Yan waved his hand.

“Daoist Priest, there is no need to be so polite.”

“I also know a Daoist, so I have some history with the Dao Sect.”

“Besides, we came here for this purpose in the first place. Saving you was merely a convenience, so don't take it to heart.”

Wei Cheng shook his head.

“We cannot just let this go. What must be repaid should still be repaid.”

“It's just that this Old Daoist Priest truly has nothing that Senior would find valuable.”

“I originally thought that since I am at the Foundation Establishment Stage, this old life might still be able to do something for Senior.”

Wei Cheng gave two bitter laughs.

Then, he pulled out a Heart-Protecting Mirror from his embrace, pried out a fragmented piece of strange Materials from it, and offered it to Zhou Yan with both hands.

“This item is one of the rare treasures Ancestral Master brought back from his travels long ago.”

“It looks ordinary, but it is incredibly tough; even a mighty Nascent Soul Cultivator would find it hard to damage it in the slightest.”

“However, after years of research by the Sect, we still haven't figured out its Divine properties.”

“Therefore, Master made it into a Heart-Protecting Mirror for me to use in self-defense.”

“This item might be useful to a more advanced Cultivator, and this Old Daoist Priest truly has nothing else to offer. Today, I present it to Senior.”

Zhou Yan accepted it naturally without saying much.

“If you give it to me, what about your Master?”

“This should be quite an important item, shouldn't it?”

Zhou Yan examined the object in his hand.

After the panel's initial scan, it only showed “Unidentified,” without even a name, which indicated the item was extraordinary.

Even if their Sect couldn't use it, they shouldn't give it away so easily.

Wei Cheng simply took the hand of the Disciple beside him.

“At most, this item only holds sentimental value now.”

“Master has better talent than me and will live longer than me.”

“Perhaps in a few decades, I will be the one to pass away first.”

“So, it is no longer that important to me.”

Although he said this, his heart could not lie.

Zhou Yan could tell, but he didn't say anything more.

He had long understood from Xiao Sheng that both the Dao and Buddhist Sects valued Karma.

If Wei Cheng did not give him this item, Karma would likely be entangled between the two of them.

Zhou Yan himself didn't care, as they might not see each other again in this lifetime.

But for Wei Cheng, the cost would be too great.

Since the other party insisted on giving it, Zhou Yan casually accepted it, treating it as a matter of Karma.

After saying goodbye, Wei Cheng carried the Little Daoist Child on his back and walked away.

The Little Daoist Child lay on Master's back and asked tiredly.

“Master, didn't Grandmaster already ascend?”

“And you usually treasure that Heart-Protecting Mirror the most, so why did you give it away today?”

Wei Cheng looked at the high-hanging sun and revealed a slight smile.

“A loss may turn out to be a gain.”

“My old life is still here, and your little life is still here. This old man is already very content.”

“It's just an item. If it's given away, then it's given away.”

“Besides, even if your venerable Grandmaster knew, he couldn't jump out of his grave and hit me, haha.”

The Daoist child was speechless at his Master's lack of seriousness but still voiced the confusion in his heart.

“But didn't he say he didn't want anything?”

“Why did you still give it away?”

Wei Cheng stopped smiling and sighed softly.

“Him not wanting it shows his great breadth of mind, but this Karma, we cannot bear.”

“As for me, I might be gone in another decade or two, but you are different.”

“You are still young; perhaps you can reach the Nascent Soul stage in the future. By then, you will understand the importance of Karma.”

“But by that time, if you want to repay that Senior's Karma, it will be a difficult ordeal.”

“After all...”

Wei Cheng looked up at the sun in the sky again, finding the light increasingly dazzling, but his face carried a trace of respect and longing.

“After all, that person is True Person Yunshu!”

At this moment, Zhou Yan, aboard the flying boat, smiled slightly.

The conversation just now had not escaped the range of his Divine Sense.

Wei Cheng probably couldn't imagine that a Prodigy like Zhou Yan would be so petty as to use his Divine Sense to eavesdrop on private conversations.

But Zhou Yan felt quite satisfied.

He had thought his deeds hadn't spread yet, but unexpectedly, that Old Daoist Priest recognized him.

That scene just now truly gave him the pleasure of dreaming back to a Wuxia story, listening to passersby discuss a legendary great hero.

It was only a pity he couldn't hear it face-to-face; otherwise, it would have been even more satisfying.

“No wonder those protagonists always love to pretend to be a pig to eat the tiger. It turns out it's this enjoyable.”

“It seems I'll have to try it out if I get the chance later.”

Having finished speaking, Zhou Yan checked the settlement rewards.

“Alas, what a shame. Is it really only a B-rank evaluation?”

Zhou Yan felt a little regretful about this evaluation, but having learned the full truth, he wasn't surprised.

His low score wasn't caused by operational errors or other factors.

It was purely because the Final Boss created a Hidden Boss, and then was casually killed by the Hidden Boss it created, resulting in Zhou Yan getting an assist while the Hidden Boss took the MVP.

One of the main objectives of this side quest was to defeat the boss. Since there were no extra clues to collect or special bonus points, it was considered a minor side quest.

So, after the boss was stolen, Zhou Yan only received points for protecting his teammates, meaning the overall score naturally couldn't be high.

However, the slain Final Boss also dropped rewards, which somewhat made up for Zhou Yan's partial loss.

“Ding! Quest rewards have been issued.”

“Congratulations to player Zhou Yan for obtaining: 20% Universal Law Comprehension Increase Card *1, Skill Book 'Nascent Soul Domain' *1, Special Item 'Bud that Died in Rebirth' *1, Tree Zombie Set *4...”

A large number of items, experience, and currency popped up in his inventory, making Zhou Yan feel quite satisfied.

Although the boss was killed by the helper he summoned, and the Tree Zombie Set only dropped the four most basic pieces without extra loot, the Tree Zombie did drop the 'Nascent Soul Domain' Skill Book.

This was a good item!

Normally, a Cultivator needs to reach the Late Nascent Soul Stage before they can release a Domain.

But with this Skill Book, Zhou Yan could permanently maintain the Nascent Soul Domain even in the Early Stage.

Relying on the foundation of his Dual Nascent Souls, he could withstand the consumption level of the Late Nascent Soul Stage. Coupled with the Law of the Heart, he could drive the Law to fight within the Domain.

As long as the Domain didn't dissipate, it wouldn't be an exaggeration for Zhou Yan to call himself a minor Soul Transformation stage Cultivator within the Domain.

In a battle of the level just fought, as soon as he deployed his Domain, he could use the power of the Law to nullify the opponent's Divine Ability techniques, directly retrieve the power that was swapped away, and still not return the power he gained in the exchange.”

This was the difference between mastering the Law and merely borrowing the Law.

Speaking of which, Law Divine Ability is truly abnormal. He didn't expect to still fall for the trick; it was practically impossible to guard against.

If the opponent hadn't used Wang Yao, but instead exchanged power with someone else, Zhou Yan would have had a genuinely difficult fight. Although he would still win, he would certainly be much more embarrassed.

However, when he thought of the items dropped after defeating the opponent, and the name displayed on the panel during the post-battle settlement, Zhou Yan frowned again.

He opened the panel again and looked at the name in the battle settlement.

[Zhayi Reliance · Pseudo]

Zhayi again.

He didn't see that bastard Kun Gou, so how did Zhayi appear?

Was it because of himself, or because of Wang Yao?

Although the name of this thing included the character “Pseudo,” the items dropped were tangible.

That Comprehension Increase Card and that strange item were both its drops.

This meant that it was likely not as simple as a mere projection or Incarnation.

If any accident had just occurred, something truly terrifying might have been drawn out.

Therefore, once this matter was concluded, Zhou Yan contacted the Sect, sending people to clean up this area of accumulated yin energy while informing the Sect Master of Zhayi's appearance.

As for the “Bud,” Zhou Yan was also unsure of its nature.

After thinking about it, he decided to use the captured Bearded Man for some experiments.

That's right. After Zombie City disappeared, the Bearded Man was captured by Zhou Yan.

Regarding Zombie City, Zhou Yan actually concealed many details from everyone.

For example, The Spirit Trees name had traded with the Miechen Sect. A great power from the Miechen Sect inscribed the Law of Qiankun onto him, helping him construct Zombie City and granting him a Secret Technique, telling him that if he gathered enough Life Force, he could resurrect the little girl whose True Spirit remained within him, as well as the dog.

As for why he needed to resurrect an extra dog?

Naturally, it was because of Gou Liaotai.

Gou Liaotai, true to his name, was not human but a Mushroom Spirit.

Because his original body was born on The Spirit Trees name, the two could be connected in body and mind, which is why he became the vessel for The Spirit Trees name to walk the world.

And Gou Liaotai fell in love with the Dog Spirit that watered him every day. He even knew the Dog Spirit earlier than The Spirit Trees name knew the little girl.

This was why Zhou Yan knew everything. After all, Gou Liaotai grew on The Spirit Trees name, and by viewing his memories, Zhou Yan could know the entire sequence of events.

The reason Gou Liaotai agreed to help was that The Spirit Trees name was already near death after turning into a Ghost Tree, sustained only by the Law of Qiankun, maintaining a half-dead, half-alive state.

Only by relying on Gou Liaotai could the plan be carried out. Therefore, The Spirit Trees name signed a Contract with him, returning the True Spirit of the dog named Xiaohua to him, and promising to help him resurrect Xiaohua.

And the mastermind behind all of this was none other than the Bearded Man.

This guy was a spy left behind by the Miechen Sect. Because his strength was insufficient, after the Sect withdrew from Daqian, he was left miserably guarding this stronghold.

Zhou Yan easily captured him. Since he wasn't a good person anyway, he could be used for experiments... Zhou Yan's gaze suddenly froze, and his thoughts seemed to connect to an extremely distant place.

There was only pitch blackness, with only a faint beam of light flickering.

Then, that beam of light seemed to emit a sound.

“Taiyi God, if you truly exist, please reach out and save them!”

“If you can save them, I am willing to dedicate everything to you, including my lowly life!”

“I beg you!”

The sound became clearer as the light flickered, until the last sentence fell, and the shout almost exploded right next to Zhou Yan's ear.

At the same time, a large amount of information and images continuously streamed from the light source.

This caused Zhou Yan, whose body had not fully cooled down after just finishing a battle, to turn cold.

Subsequently, his firm Dao Heart began to hum, but eventually returned to peace.

“Relax your mind. I am coming.”