There's something wrong with me

Chapter 244: Rumors of Immortal Mountains and Divine Abilities

‘Zhang Feng? Brother Zhang?’

Steward Zhao’s eyebrows twitched, clearly showing joy. He hadn’t expected his ‘old brother’ from the mundane world to still be alive!

‘I searched for a long time in Ling'an County a few years ago, but everyone said Brother Zhang had left the county ten years ago.

Given my brother’s age, it was more likely bad news than good…’

Steward Zhao pondered, then took a step forward. He isolated the surrounding area to prevent disturbing nearby disciples, and then asked the reporting disciple:

“Where did you get this news?”

As he spoke, he asked somewhat eagerly, “Where is my Brother Zhang now? Did you give him a Longevity Pill?”

“This…”

The disciple’s words suddenly stopped. He wanted to say, ‘How could someone like me be worthy of meeting a True Person face-to-face?’

The information he knew about Zhang Feng was indeed about True Person Zhang Feng in the main city.

But now that he thought about it carefully,

he felt that his Martial Uncle seemed to have no connection with that ‘suspected True Person’ Zhang Feng?

Although his Martial Uncle was also a genius, their current realms were too far apart.

And if that True Person Zhang Feng was truly his Martial Uncle’s good friend,

to cultivate to the Nascent Soul realm at the age of ninety, in less than a century?

Wouldn't that be a joke?

But he was also a bit uncertain, because Zhang Feng shared the same name as this True Person, and he heard rumors that the True Person also looked like an old man.

So, after hesitating for a while, he still spoke of this slightly strange matter, “Martial Uncle, the Zhang Feng this Martial Nephew knows is… a True Person!”

“Of course, he’s a True Person!” Steward Zhao frowned upon hearing this, displeased. “Could it be that my brother is a fake person?”

“No…” The disciple saw his Martial Uncle get angry and knew that his Martial Uncle had misunderstood him, so he quickly explained,

“Martial Uncle! This disciple would naturally not dare to joke about Senior Zhang, but…”

As he spoke, his gaze drifted towards the main peak of Xuan Yun Sect in the distance. “Zhang Feng is a True Person! A Nascent Soul True Person!”

“What? A True Person?” Steward Zhao finally understood now, knowing that the disciple wasn’t joking about his brother.

But he quickly sighed and waved his hand, saying, “You’ve traveled for several years, covered in dust. Go back to the peak and rest early.”

“Yes!” The disciple didn’t explain further, knowing that Steward Zhao didn’t believe him.

But after hearing the name Zhang Feng, he did indeed mention this matter.

And as the disciple left,

Steward Zhao sighed deeply in his heart, gazing towards the direction of his hometown.

‘Brother, I wonder where you are now…’

Now, Zhang Feng has truly become Steward Zhao’s Golden Core heart demon.

According to Zhang Feng's seven emotions and six desires, specifically, it’s the ‘brotherly affection’ within them.

Especially Steward Zhao, who is also a very emotional person.

He still clearly remembers that Brother Zhang and he were childhood playmates, growing up together.

As for what they played, for him now, it was just ordinary children's games.

Roughly, it was catching fish in mud pits and rubbing mud in puddles after the rain.

It seemed childish, but at that time, they were truly happy.

And after growing up, he also worked with Zhang Feng in the same rice shop, and they supported each other.

The long-standing affection made them closer than blood brothers, even though they had no blood relation.

Coupled with Zhang Feng being a year older than him, he naturally called him ‘Brother’.

Steward Zhao even had the absurd thought of having Zhang Feng as an elder to bow to when he got married in the future.

Of course, this was also because Steward Zhao’s parents died in a bandit raid when he was twelve.

Zhang Feng was the one who took him in and helped him grow up.

It’s just a pity that when Steward Zhao was twenty-four or twenty-five, a cultivator passed by the county town, saw that Steward Zhao had some potential, and took him away.

Including this letter, Steward Zhao pleaded with the cultivator who took him away for a long time before the cultivator used precious spiritual ink and inscribed it with a spiritual brush and spiritual energy.

Firstly, it was to leave a message for Zhang Feng, telling him where he had gone.

Secondly, this kind of Xuan Yun Sect writing could also deter some petty individuals.

And ten years ago, after Steward Zhao achieved success in cultivation and entered the perfected Foundation Establishment realm, he also remembered his past kindness and went to look for Zhang Feng.

The reason he didn’t look for him earlier

was that within Xuan Yun Sect’s regulations, the standard for ‘Elder’s True Disciple’ to venture out was perfected Foundation Establishment.

After Steward Zhao was brought in by that cultivator, he became a True Disciple of an Elder within the sect.

His status was very high, and he lived up to expectations, reaching Foundation Establishment at sixty and entering perfected Foundation Establishment at eighty.

Now he is eighty-nine, and his perfected realm is completely stable.

If all goes well, he is expected to try to condense a Golden Core before he is one hundred and forty years old.

If he can achieve enlightenment in between, it will be even faster.

He is considered a genius within Xuan Yun Sect.

But even as a genius, Steward Zhao was not very happy, always feeling a knot in his heart.

That was finding Brother Zhang.

Unfortunately, he had searched for many years in the past, always without success.

Furthermore, as a steward, he had to share the sect’s affairs and could not leave for long, so he returned nine years ago.

However, he did not give up, occasionally using his sect identity to ask some disciples who were traveling outside to inquire.

At the same time,

on the main peak.

Compared to many disciples and stewards, who might not yet know about the True Person who appeared in the world,

on the contrary,

inside the main hall at this moment, several Elders and the Sect Master had heard these rumors many years ago.

And they also knew that this True Person was named Zhang Feng.

But no one had ever thought that this Zhang Feng was Steward Zhao’s good friend.

Including the Sect Master and all the Elders within the sect, they were not intentionally making Steward Zhao have a heart demon, but rather wanted him to let go of it.

Simply put, if Steward Zhao’s friend died, the heart demon would naturally open.

This belonged to the path of decisively severing worldly ties.

This was also the best outcome.

Because they all knew Steward Zhao was emotional, but they didn’t know Zhang Feng’s character.

What if Zhang Feng was someone who feared death? Then, if Steward Zhao had ventured out earlier and found Zhang Feng,

Zhang Feng might use their past kindness as leverage to make Steward Zhao bring him into cultivation.

Then it was very likely to drag Steward Zhao down.

And even if Zhang Feng was very good,

decades had passed, after all. Even if Steward Zhao had once praised his ‘Brother Zhang’ to the skies, no one wanted to gamble with a genius from the sect.

But now, with the appearance of ‘True Person Zhang Feng’, Steward Zhao’s matters were minor.

And they were currently discussing this very issue.

Even a few years ago, they had sent a perfected Golden Core Elder to the main city, hoping to invite Zhang Feng as a guest, but they did not meet this True Person.

This disappointed them, and they wondered who this newly appeared True Person Zhang Feng was.

And from beginning to end, they, like Steward Zhao and the disciple, never thought that Zhang Feng and True Person Zhang Feng were the same person.

Especially even if there was such an absurd guess, if the person couldn’t be found, it couldn’t be proven.

However, they didn’t know that

regarding the hiding,

it was actually intentional on Zhang Feng’s part.

Zhang Feng simply let the news spread as it should, first letting them know that there was a ‘stranger True Person related’ in the main city.

This way, they would inevitably send people.

Then, Zhang Feng leaving could allow him to miss the first wave of intense searching, preventing a group of Nascent Soul True Persons from ‘coming together’.

Because Zhang Feng felt that although he could defeat a Nascent Soul, he might not be able to defeat a group of Nascent Souls.

And then, after that,

if they searched without success, they might leave people behind.

For example, one Golden Core, several Golden Cores, or Foundation Establishment cultivators, and so on.

This leaving people behind was the result Zhang Feng wanted.

Because without Nascent Soul cultivators present,

Zhang Feng could unreservedly expand his Spiritual Sense and secretly learn their knowledge.

Of course, it was more about gathering information on these people’s situations and cultivation methods, and then making better corresponding arrangements.

Especially the current reality was exactly as Zhang Feng had thought.

At this moment,

in the city,

Zhang Feng was cultivating while secretly learning the knowledge of these ‘stationed personnel’ in the city.

Things like losing money, or gambling and trying things out?

Zhang Feng would absolutely not do them if he had a better path.

It was this kind of caution.

Another year passed.

When it was the eleventh year since he came to this world,

there was one year left until Xuan Yun Sect’s disciple recruitment.

Zhang Feng had also successfully entered perfected Nascent Soul, and could try to ‘Transform Spirit’ in at most half a year.

What was lacking now was just his physique.

For the Transform Spirit physique, Zhang Feng currently had a rough guess that it should be a minimum of [5K] physique.

Otherwise, one would not be able to withstand the concretization of ‘heart and spirit’, as well as high-dimensional rules and Heavenly Dao talismans.

And in the blink of an eye, half a month passed again.

In the quiet, secluded courtyard in the city,

while Zhang Feng was stabilizing his perfected Nascent Soul realm,

the Great Thief, disguised, returned from outside, bringing back some tea leaves.

When he saw Zhang Feng meditating in the courtyard, he did not disturb him.

But in his heart, even after eleven years, he still found it a bit hard to accept the fact that Zhang Feng was a ‘True Person’.

Because he was a smart person, who liked to overthink and especially liked to find logic.

Furthermore, the Great Thief had some judgment ability and could be exceptionally certain that Zhang Feng was indeed at Foundation Establishment ten years ago!

Even if the King of Hell came, Zhang Feng was still at Foundation Establishment!

Because ever since he knelt in the small courtyard, and during the year he spent with Zhang Feng,

he truly knew that Zhang Feng’s realm was not high, because sometimes when facing dangerous cliffs, perilous places, or potentially dangerous areas, Zhang Feng always made him go first to scout.

Making him, a martial artist, go first for a cultivator was itself a sign of low strength.

No matter how much one concealed this, it was useless, and it had nothing to do with inner caution or personality.

After all, if Zhang Feng was at Nascent Soul, no matter how he probed, as long as there was a ‘Foundation Establishment level’ danger in the perilous place, he would definitely die instantly.

So, in a sense, he couldn’t detect some of the dangers at the Nascent Soul level.

Moreover, Zhang Feng had always indicated himself as Foundation Establishment, and on the way to Xuan Yun Sect, he even talked about what would happen after Golden Core.

He knew that Zhang Feng had basically not lied to him.

Furthermore, if he were truly a Nascent Soul cultivator, Zhang Feng wouldn't need to painstakingly search for the Xuan Yun Sect.

As long as he spread the word, the Xuan Yun Sect might even come looking for him.

But now, Zhang Feng was hiding?

While the Great Thief was pondering, he paused in the courtyard and looked at Zhang Feng again.

To be honest, he really didn't understand what this old immortal was scheming now.

So, considering all possibilities.

Even if Zhang Feng had truly been at Foundation Establishment in the past.

But the Great Thief, who was very suspicious, felt that Zhang Feng might not be at the True Man realm now, but more likely at the peak of Golden Core.

After all, that Wu Shangren wasn't powerful.

To destroy a weak sect, peak Golden Core was enough.

All of this indicated.

This old fellow definitely had a problem!

And he definitely wasn't pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger!

Rather, his cultivation realm was genuinely insufficient, which was why he was hiding.

'Good, so he's hiding…'

The Great Thief thought, looking at Zhang Feng, feeling that he had now thoroughly understood Zhang Feng's thoughts.

However, just thinking that this old fellow was very likely a 'bizarre cultivator' who went from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core in just one year.

This was also quite outrageous.

At the same time.

Zhang Feng saw the Great Thief's aura becoming ethereal again, and he even harbored killing intent towards him, a perfected Nascent Soul cultivator.

This Great Thief was quite peculiar.

Zhang Feng didn't even know how his mind worked.

Could it be that he had driven him insane?

Thinking this way, it made sense; he constantly ordered him around and tested him repeatedly with the karmic labyrinth.

It was normal for his thinking to be disoriented now.

But just as Zhang Feng felt it was normal and was about to continue his cultivation.

The Great Thief pondered the issues of Foundation Establishment and Golden Core, and given that they had spent over a decade together, even if there was no merit, there was still affection.

So, he asked a question he had always wanted to ask,

"Senior, you... when you met me back then, could it be..."

He spoke, and even though it seemed impossible, given Zhang Feng's strangeness, he still chose to ask tremblingly,

"Could it be that at that time... you were truly an old man on the verge of death? And afflicted with countless illnesses?"

"Mm." Zhang Feng heard him ask this and didn't hide anything. He stood up and took the tea leaves from his hand,

"This old man indeed had little time left that day, and my meridians were in disarray.

But on the verge of death, I also comprehended some methods of reclusive cultivation and enlightenment."

The 'method' Zhang Feng spoke of was a major reorganization and completion of his foundation, as well as the experience contributed by the Great Thief.

The experience unintentionally contributed by the Great Thief was also very crucial.

"So it was true..."

However, when the Great Thief heard that Zhang Feng was truly on the verge of death that day, yet he had 'faced death to gain new life' in his enlightenment, he knew that his guess was correct.

This old man was indeed an unspeakable 'genius' in the cultivation world.

Foundation Establishment in seven days! Golden Core in one year!

Especially the combat power of this Golden Core, which made others think he was a 'True Man Nascent Soul'?

He felt that this was more outrageous than the legends in folk mythology scripts.

At least those scripts were adapted from reality; no matter how absurd, they wouldn't be written so exaggeratedly.

"Is there anything else?"

Seeing that he still hadn't left, Zhang Feng asked again.

Years of dealing with him made Zhang Feng know that he definitely had more than one thing on his mind.

"It's like this..."

The Great Thief quickly replied upon Zhang Feng's inquiry: "In Linglong Street, north of North City, several merchants from an outer dynasty have arrived, saying that an immortal mountain has drifted from the North Sea.

Ordinary people cannot ascend it.

It's also widely rumored to contain elixirs and miraculous medicines, which, if consumed, can extend life by a hundred years..."

The Great Thief spoke of these matters as if telling folk ghost stories, describing them vividly.

"Let's go take a look."

Zhang Feng left as soon as he spoke.

But to be honest, when he first heard the words 'north of North City'.

Zhang Feng thought it was North 'multiplied by' North?

This was also due to the Great Thief's imprecise pronunciation.

Then Zhang Feng became curious, did ancient times have multiplication?

Even if there was multiplication, what would North multiplied by North yield?

Truly, Zhang Feng had gained a lot of experience from the Great Thief.

Such as the inherent chaos of human nature, without distinction of good or evil, and the comprehension of the rules of karma and a portion of the Heavenly Dao's luck.

So Zhang Feng was relatively concerned about some of the Great Thief's verbal expressions, and he deepened his interpretation.

But now, upon hearing it, it was mostly literal.

Zhang Feng no longer thought about it.

And now, Zhang Feng had fallen into a very strange sensory logic, always gaining inspiration from minor details.

It was also 'seeing the subtle to know the obvious'.

Zhang Feng now had some grasp of this 'conceptual' understanding.

Furthermore, with the blessings of 'seeing the subtle to know the obvious' and 'drawing inferences from one instance to others', he could deduce the general situation of another matter from a small one.

This, in fact, had reached the level of a 'fortune teller'.

For example, if the 'person being divined' casually mentioned a small matter, even a single word.

Zhang Feng could deduce and predict it within scientific logic, combined with spiritual perception and karmic luck deduction, finally obtaining the answers to other matters, or the past and future life of the 'person being divined'.

This kind of calculation was not about matching numbers.

However, this kind of deduction and prediction also required significant computational power.

Of course, this relatively bizarre calculation, and the concept of seeing the subtle to know the obvious.

It was also a rule usage that Zhang Feng had comprehended from his past few years of future and past studies.

Although this major problem had not been solved, nor had a small gap in the knowledge reservoir been opened.

But even just touching this reservoir, one's palm could get a little wet, gaining some marvelous small applications from within the reservoir.

This acquisition of knowledge, and this bizarre concept.

It was as practical as sensing killing intent.

It could even be considered a major branch of fortune-telling in the field of feng shui and numerology.

The most specific effect was that his rule calculation power increased by 10%, and his thought correction increased by 0.5.

Comparable to a legendary thought entry.

10% rule, which is 10% of the final combat power, can also be regarded as a legendary combat power entry.

Zhang Feng was now certain.

Comprehending the rules of the Heavenly Dao adds to final combat power and one's own thinking ability.

It can also be said that the entries within the text are a concretization of rules that can span endless time and space.

Unfortunately, he couldn't comprehend it; there was no fundamental theory that could serve as technical support for text analysis.

...

Half a day later.

Zhang Feng and the Great Thief arrived in North City.

Then there was no need to ask anyone, nor to find that merchant, because everyone here was talking about the 'Northern Sea Northern Immortal Mountain'.

Based on their conversations, Zhang Feng also knew that this place was about eight hundred thousand li away, basically spanning several surrounding dynasties.

But he also concluded that this world was truly vast.

Eight hundred thousand li was tens of thousands of li further than the distance from Earth to the Moon.

Coupled with the fact that there were dozens of Nascent Soul cultivators in the nearby dynasties, and most people could never cross these distances in their lifetime, referring to these dynasties within a radius of hundreds of thousands of li as 'this mortal realm'.

Then this eight hundred thousand li region was 'beyond the mortal realm'.

Zhang Feng also suddenly had an idea: after the Xuan Yun Sect arrived, and after he reached the Spirit Transformation stage, he would see if this world was round and if there was a universe.

If there was a universe, then such a large planet, its gravity should not be the same as Earth's.

Unless the rules of this universe were strange, or there was a formation capable of altering the planet's formula.

Between the two, Zhang Feng leaned more towards the latter.

Because he, a perfected Nascent Soul cultivator, could also try to change a planet's gravity system through formations.

The simulated gravity system of interstellar warships had already provided some answers.

It was just that he wasn't familiar with it and hadn't tried it.

Pondering.

Zhang Feng no longer continued to watch these people discuss, but chose to return to his peaceful residence and wait for the time.

"Senior!"

Seeing Zhang Feng about to leave, the Great Thief volunteered, asking, "Does junior need to stay here and continue to gather information for senior?"

"No need."

Zhang Feng shook his head slightly, and under the Great Thief's curious gaze, he looked at a bean seller on the street in the distance,

"Why do I need a person? Just buy a handful of beans to do the job."

"Oh?" The Great Thief didn't understand, but he obediently went forward and bought a handful of beans before returning.

Then, Zhang Feng took the beans and used his spiritual energy to form a shield, blocking the surrounding view.

Finally, he activated his Nascent Soul-level high-quality spiritual energy.

Zhang Feng used a Water Spirit Talisman as a recording talisman, and injected the Earth and Wood elements into the beans, giving them action like spirit-gathering.

The next second, under the Great Thief's horrified gaze.

When Zhang Feng threw the handful of beans onto the ground, the beans broke open one by one, turning into ant-sized creatures.

At the same time, the dust below gathered, forming the limbs of the beans.

In an instant, as the Great Thief frantically avoided them, these beans swayed for a few seconds before, like intelligent ants, they all ran towards the crowd.

"This... this..." The Great Thief had never seen such a bizarre spell before, and for a moment, his speech became incoherent again,

"Senior... they... were they turned into monsters by you?"

"They are not becoming monsters," Zhang Feng said, with his hands behind his back, "This is a divine ability, the art of scattering beans into soldiers.

However, if I don't retract the spell and let them be nourished by spiritual energy for three to five years, they will naturally become monstrous great demons and transform into human form.

Ordinary Golden Core cultivators, if they saw them, could only retreat and not contend against them."