I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 379 Testing
Zhang Chen's heart beat fast upon hearing this. The book in his hand tapped his palm unconsciously. After a while, he said, "The most important thing for me is to first comprehend the connection between the Yin and Yang Qi and the five innate Qi, and then restore my magic power. Only by restoring my magic power can I refine the Blood-Transforming Divine Sword and destroy the conspiracy of the Longevity Patriarch. So I have to think of a way to go to the back hall to look at the mirror and find a chance to make a deal with the innate peacock."

"I can't help you with this kind of thing. You have to rely on your own plans." said the Great Freedom Demon.

He is not omnipotent. All he can do is provide planning and reference for Zhang Chen. As for how Zhang Chen achieves it, it is not something he can control.

Zhang Chen put the book down and said, "Let me test it out first."

On the second day, after Master Changsheng finished his sermon, Xu Erniu winked at Zhang Chen and then left with Master Changshou. Seeing this, Zhang Chen also dispersed with the crowd and pretended to wander around the Taoist temple aimlessly.

Along the way, he passed through layers of halls and palaces, and finally arrived at the backyard of the Taoist temple. When he arrived at the gate of the backyard, he saw eight disciples in Taoist robes standing guard at the gate of the backyard. Seeing Zhang Chen coming, one of them blocked Zhang Chen's way and said, "This is a forbidden area in the backyard. Disciples are not allowed to enter. Please go back, junior brother."

Zhang Chen was about to turn around and walk back when he suddenly heard a laugh from behind him: "Zhang Chen, what are you doing here?"

Zhang Chen turned his head and saw that it was the little fat boy Zou Wenlong, who was looking at him proudly.

"I was just wandering around the Taoist temple with nothing to do." Zhang Chen was not annoyed.

Hearing Zhang Chen's words, Zou Wenlong laughed and said, "This is a forbidden area in the backyard. Only the core disciples who have received the secret teachings of the founder can enter. How can a mere outer sect disciple like you enter it?"

After saying that, Zou Wenlong walked into the backyard with an air of superiority, leaving Zhang Chen standing at the gate, deep in thought.

"I seem to have an idea." Zhang Chen looked at the back of the fat boy Zou Wenlong as he walked away, and an idea came to his mind. However, he needed to find an opportunity to implement it.

Three months passed in the blink of an eye. Zhang Chen had not been to the library recently because he had read all the classics in the library. Going there again would just be a waste of time.

Zhang Chen was too lazy to sleep on the large dormitory bed with other disciples, so he simply built a thatched hut in front of the medicine field and lived there.

One day, Xu Erniu came to the door again and asked curiously, "Zhang Chen, why did you move here? Did someone bully you? Tell me who dares to bully you, and I will go and vent your anger for you."

"No one bullies me, I just like to be alone and quiet." Zhang Chen replied. Now Xu Erniu has delicate skin, well-proportioned body, and plump eyes like a porcelain doll. She is no longer the dry-looking girl she was at the foot of the mountain.

However, when Zhang Chen looked at the changes in Xu Erniu and thought about the matter of Cao Huandan, he felt as if a dark cloud was covering his heart.

"Zhang Chen, I have recently mastered a new magical power." Xu Erniu looked at Zhang Chen, her eyes full of joy and pride.

"Hmm? What kind of magical power?" Zhang Chen asked curiously.

The next moment, Xu Erniu picked up a stone and shouted, "Change." Then the stone flashed with golden light and turned into a piece of gold.

"Zhang Chen, we will never be short of money again. I will support you in the future." Xu Erniu was very proud holding the gold in her hand.

Zhang Chen was shocked when he saw this: "Matter transformation!"

Alchemy is all about the transformation of matter, and what one needs to comprehend is the mutual generation and restraint of matter. This magical power is not simple, it can be regarded as a great magical power. No wonder Zhang Chen was shocked.

"Hey, you're quite knowledgeable." Xu Erniu looked at Zhang Chen in surprise.

"I have read all the books in the library. In terms of progress in cultivation, I am not as good as you, but in terms of knowledge, you are not as good as me." Zhang Chen said.

"Have you cultivated the Qi?" Xu Erniu asked.

Zhang Chen shook his head upon hearing this. Xu Erniu's smile suddenly turned bitter, and she could no longer smile. She encouraged Zhang Chen, "It's okay. I will protect you in the future. I will definitely refine an elixir of immortality for you, so that even if you can't practice, you can still be immortal."

Zhang Chen looked at Xu Erniu after hearing this, and only after seeing that she was truly sincere did he speak: "There is something I want to discuss with you."

"What's the matter?" Xu Erniu asked.

"You locked yourself up every day to practice, and turned into a practice maniac. You told everyone you met that you were busy with practice, couldn't eat well, didn't sleep well, and couldn't take care of yourself." Zhang Chen said.

This matter concerns whether he can enter the backyard, so Zhang Chen's face is extremely serious.

Xu Erniu was stunned and asked stupidly: "Why?"

"Just do as I say." Zhang Chen said mysteriously.

Xu Erniu nodded when she heard this. Although she didn't know why Zhang Chen asked her to do this, since Zhang Chen had given the order, she just did it.

Then after the two chatted for a while, Xu Erniu turned and left, leaving Zhang Chen standing in front of the thatched cottage, staring at Xu Erniu's back in a daze.

Of course he could ask Xu Erniu for help and see if he could get a chance to go to the backyard through Xu Erniu's manipulation, but Zhang Chen did not do so because what he was going to do next was earth-shattering. If the matter was exposed, he could still return to the material world, but Xu Erniu might be implicated and die.

In Zhang Chen's mind, the best candidate for the plan is Zou Wenlong. Not only is he young and easy to fool, but he can also enter the backyard, making him the core of the core. If he can manipulate him, he may be able to achieve his goal.

After staying in the Taoist temple for several years, he knew that Zou Wenlong held a different position in the master's heart.

Sure enough, in the following month, Zhang Chen occasionally heard Xu Erniu complaining to others that she was busy practicing all day and could not take care of many things in life, which wasted too much of his time.

Zhang Chen saw that the rumor had spread, so he got up and strolled around the Taoist temple. In the afternoon, he met the fat boy Zou Wenlong.

After seeing Zou Wenlong, Zhang Chen began to greet him from a distance: "Senior Brother Zou! Senior Brother Zou!"

Zou Wenlong turned his head and saw Zhang Chen rushing over. He couldn't help but raise his eyebrows: "What do you want me to do?" "I heard that Xu Fu is busy practicing in the backyard all day long. He doesn't eat or sleep well. So can you think of a way to transfer me to Sister Xu Fu's side so that I can take care of her sleeping quarters?" At this point, Zhang Chen shed two tears emotionally: "Xu Fu and I have been dependent on each other at the foot of the mountain since we were young. Now I am a useless person and can't practice anymore. Now all my hopes are placed on Sister, and I only hope that Sister can achieve something. Now Sister is young, how can she be left without anyone to take care of her?"

"You want to go to the backyard too? Are you worthy?" Zou Wenlong frowned and reprimanded, "Do you know what the backyard is? Only four or five people can enter the backyard. Even those ancestors who have cultivated to the twelfth level cannot enter the backyard at will. Look at yourself, how can you be worthy of entering the backyard?"

Zhang Chen listened to the sarcasm in Zou Wenlong's words and cursed in his heart: "What a wolf cub, I rescued you from the mountain in vain, I will let you take the blame in the future."

Then Zhang Chen smiled and said, "I am also worried about my little sister. I found a rare item at the foot of the mountain. I have been studying it for a long time but still can't find a way to solve it. I am willing to give it to you today. Please think of a way."

As he spoke, Zhang Chen took out an invisibility talisman from his arms and handed it to Zou Wenlong.

The invisibility talisman is his natal talisman that he cultivated. No matter where he is, he can take it back as long as he thinks about it. Giving it to Zou Wenlong is just temporary. When he wants to take it back in the future, he can do so with just a thought.

When Zou Wenlong saw the invisibility talisman, he could not take his eyes away. He took the talisman and studied it for a while before knowing its usefulness. Then, Zou Wenlong put the talisman into his sleeve without making a sound. He looked at Zhang Chen and said, "You are so lucky to have such a good fortune. Since you are so sincere, I can go and plead for you. But whether it will work depends on whether the ancestor agrees."

"Wait for my news." After saying this, Zou Wenlong turned around and left with the talisman, disappearing into the backyard. Zhang Chen was left staring at Zou Wenlong's back in silence.

If I could enter the backyard through Zou Wenlong, that would be great. If I can't do that, I'll have to find another way, and by then I'm afraid it will add a lot of trouble.

Zou Wenlong was also a smart man. He quickly thought of an excuse and came all the way to the place where the ancestor was repairing the house. He bowed to the ancestor respectfully and said, "Greetings, Master."

"Why are you here if you don't want to go practice?" Master Changsheng asked Zou Wenlong who walked in.

Zou Wenlong said, "My disciple and Junior Sister Xu Fu are too young to take care of ourselves. Master, can you send Zhang Chen to the backyard to serve us?"

The ancestor of longevity twitched his eyebrows when he heard this, and after a moment of hesitation, he asked, "But what about Zhang Chen who can't cultivate his magic power?"

"It's him." said Zou Wenlong.

"Has he cultivated any magical powers?" asked the Master of Longevity.

"I have never seen such a stupid person." Zou Wenlong scratched his head and said, "He has not yet cultivated to the point of being successful."

He secretly sighed in his heart: "Zhang Chen, ah Zhang Chen, you can't blame me for not being strong enough, it's really you who are not motivated enough. If you can cultivate your magic power, wouldn't you be able to enter the backyard directly if I mentioned it today? You can't blame me for not being motivated enough."

Just when Zou Wenlong thought that the Grandmaster Changsheng despised Zhang Chen for his dull talent, he heard the Grandmaster Changsheng say, "Zhang Chen is really a piece of rotten wood. Since he has not cultivated any magic power, it is okay for him to enter the backyard. However, we need to check it carefully tomorrow. You can go down now."

Zou Wenlong was stunned when he heard this: "How come I haven't cultivated enough magic power to enter the backyard? Then what are I and Xu Fu?" However, he didn't dare to ask the question. He felt that something was wrong. After all, he was a smart person, and a very smart person.

"Something's wrong!" Zou Wenlong walked out of the ancestral hall, muttered to himself, and returned to practice.

Second day

After the master finished his sermon, he said to Zhang Chen, "Zhang Chen, stay."

All the disciples left, leaving Zhang Chen standing in the hall. He quickly walked to the front of the Changsheng Patriarch, bowed respectfully and said, "I wonder what instructions the Patriarch has?"

The master waved at Zhang Chen and said, "Come forward."

Zhang Chen quickly stepped forward and knelt down in front of the Patriarch's cushion. He saw the Patriarch stretched out his hand and pressed it on Zhang Chen's head. Then he used his magical power to sense Zhang Chen's body. After a moment, he withdrew his hand and sighed softly: "I have never seen such a stupid person. There is not even a trace of the precursor of the birth of Qi in your body."

He had already checked and found no trace of magic power flowing through Zhang Chen's body.

You must know that magic power is the power of laws. As long as it flows, it will leave traces. Even he himself cannot erase those traces. Therefore, whether Zhang Chen has cultivated magic power or not, he can never be deceived.

However, he did not know the mystery of the innate yin and yang energies, which wiped out all the energy in Zhang Chen's body, making it difficult even for the ancestors to detect it.

"Tomorrow you go to the backyard and do some water and laundry work, and take care of Xu Fu and Zou Wenlong." The master ordered, not giving Zhang Chen a chance to refuse: "The backyard also needs someone to clean up, are you willing?"

"Disciple is willing." Zhang Chen kowtowed quickly.

The ancestor nodded when he heard this and said, "If you can behave well, when you die in the future, I may consider refining you into a follower ghost, which can be regarded as giving you another kind of immortality."

Hearing the words of the master, Zhang Chen secretly despised it in his heart, "What kind of immortality is this? Isn't this just like raising a little ghost to take care of yourself? You can't even enter the reincarnation cycle. If you are not careful, you will die. When I find the opportunity, I will definitely overthrow your Wuzhuang Temple." Zhang Chen sneered in his heart, but his face showed excitement: "Disciple thanks the master!"

"Go!" The master waved his hand, signaling Zhang Chen to leave.

Zhang Chen went back and started packing his bags, then walked all the way to the backyard. As expected, there was no obstruction this time, and the gatekeeper let him walk in.

At this time, Xu Erniu was already standing in front of the door waiting. Seeing Zhang Chen coming to the backyard, she showed a touch of joy in her eyes: "The Grandmaster has already given you the task. I will take you to familiarize yourself with the environment and explain the work you need to do every day. You should do your best. I look forward to the Grandmaster keeping your soul in the future and letting you live forever with me. We can be considered a pair of immortals."

Then Xu Erniu led Zhang Chen to a remote courtyard to live in, and then began to take Zhang Chen to familiarize himself with the backyard. He saw dozens of rooms of different sizes in the backyard, and each room had a tablet or a sculpture of a deity.

"The master said that you should be responsible for cleaning the Taoist temple every day, as well as wiping the statues and tablets. In addition, you should be responsible for washing clothes for me and Zou Wenlong, and other miscellaneous tasks." Xu Erniu said to Zhang Chen, "I know I have wronged you, but being able to enter the backyard and catch the master's eye is an opportunity. You must seize it and never get angry."

She knew Zhang Chen, who was a very proud person.

At the same time, she was also puzzled. How come Zhang Chen, who had used mysterious methods at the foot of the mountain in the past and had trained someone like Xiu Liu, became a useless person in the mountains?
(End of this chapter)