I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 120 Crystal Core Evolution
"Didn't you see that?"

After hearing what Zhang Chen said, the girl didn't even care about Zhang Chen stroking her head. She hugged Zhang Chen's thigh tightly, with a hint of horror in her eyes and a hint of crying in her voice.

Zhang Chen could see that she was terribly frightened.

"Are you confused after sleeping and haven't woken up yet? You must be seeing things! This is a Taoist temple. How could any evil spirit dare to go wild here?" Zhang Chen stroked the little kid's head, looked at the tearful little kid, and simply picked him up and gave him a beating.

"Really? Am I really seeing things?" The little kid was bewitched by Zhang Chen's words and began to lose confidence. He also thought that he had seen things wrong. "That's right. If there really was an evil spirit, something would have happened long ago. It doesn't make sense that I'm still safe and sound."

As if he was encouraging himself, the little kid instantly found confidence, and then confirmed that he had seen it wrong. The spirit that was scared away came up again, and then he glared at Zhang Chen, feeling Zhang Chen coaxing him like a child, and said unhappily: "Zhang Chen! Are you coaxing a child? I am your senior sister! Do you know that I am your senior sister?"

There was a hint of anger in Xiao Douding's eyes. She broke free from Zhang Chen's embrace, feeling ashamed in her heart: "How could I do this? Even if it was an evil spirit, it shouldn't have gotten into Junior Brother's arms! How embarrassing! This time, my dignity as a Senior Sister has been completely destroyed."

Zhang Chen glanced at the little kid, smiled and didn't respond. Instead, he went to the stove, turned up the flame, and continued to stew the large bones inside.

The aroma of bones slowly spread in the room. The little kid came forward and looked at the big bones that Zhang Chen had stewed. There was a hint of desire in his eyes. He licked his lips and said, "Where did you get the big bones?"

Zhang Chen smiled and said, "It fell from the sky."

"I don't believe you, did you steal it from the kitchen? I advise you to be honest. If you are caught by the people in the kitchen, they will beat you to pieces. Don't blame me for not warning you then."

Xiao Douding said carefully.

Zhang Chen did not say much, but secretly mobilized the water vapor in the air, forming a thin film attached to the walls of the house, locking the aroma of meat in the whole house to prevent it from leaking out and being caught.

Soon the big bones were stewed until they were soft. The little kid rubbed his hands together, took out a piece with chopsticks, and ate it with his mouth full of oil. He squinted his eyes happily and said, "Since the drought, all the animals in the mountains have migrated away. I haven't had stewed meat for a long time."

The little kid's cheeks were bulging with food. Zhang Chen also picked up a big bone and started to chew it. The little kid hadn't tasted meat for a long time, so how could he have seen meat?

The two of them ate a pot of big bones cleanly, even adding noodles to the bone soup. Then they picked up their bowls and started eating.

"We never see any greasy smell on weekdays, so why are there big bones in the kitchen today? Are they going to entertain some important guests?" The little boy was full of confusion.

Zhang Chen did not respond upon hearing this, but his mind was turning. He now only wanted to understand the matter of practicing Qi and cultivating immortals. As for the Taoist temple, he had no plan to stay there for long. After Elder Wu left, he would find a chance to leave secretly and then go to excavate the tomb of the emperor's daughter.

"If I want to learn to read and write, what should I do? Is there a place to read and write in the Taoist temple?" Zhang Chen asked.

Xiao Douding shook his head when he heard this: "The Taoist temple only teaches martial arts, but not literary knowledge."

Zhang Chen was stunned when he heard this. The Taoist temple does not teach textual knowledge, so what should he do if he wants to recite scriptures?

So he asked the doubts in his heart.

"Of course it's recitation. You've been reciting with everyone else during morning classes for ten years. Even if the Huangting Sutra has more than 10,000 words, you should have memorized it." Cheng Yu said as a matter of course.

Zhang Chen was speechless when he heard this. Why was it so difficult to learn to read?
too difficult!
Too few people can read.

After the two of them finished their noodles, there was still an hour left until the fifth watch, so they could still rest for a while.

Cheng Yu wiped his mouth, brushed his teeth with green salt and aconite powder, then crawled into Zhang Chen's bed and fell asleep.

She is still a child! When she is growing, she needs to develop and sleep.

Brushing teeth with green salt and aconite powder is very clean and also helps to strengthen the tooth roots, which is no worse than toothpaste.

Cheng Yu occupied Zhang Chen's bed. Zhang Chen could no longer communicate with the vixen, nor did he want to continue practicing. After cleaning up all traces and dealing with the bones, he simply got into bed, holding Cheng Yu in his arms like a daughter and fell asleep.

The two of them slept late, and when they woke up again, they heard a knock on the door. Before they could open their sleepy eyes, they saw an old man in a black robe, leading four disciples, rushing into the room.

There were three ears of wheat embroidered on the old man's robe, and he looked like an elder.

The grade of the Taoist robes in Huangli Temple is determined by the number of wheat ears. One wheat ear represents an ordinary disciple, two wheat ears represent a direct descendant, three wheat ears represent an elder in charge of order and law enforcement, four wheat ears represent the powerful figures in the major halls of the temple, and five wheat ears represent the temple master.

A group of people kicked the door and came in, immediately waking up the two people on the bed. The elder looked at them but did not suspect anything, after all, Cheng Yu was too young.

However, when Zhang Chen and Cheng Yu took a look at the bright sky outside, they couldn't help but say "Oh no" in their hearts. They actually overslept and missed the morning class.

“Cheng Yu, Zhang Chen, the two of you missed morning classes today. According to the law, you will be punished with ten sticks and ten additional days of hard labor. However, considering that Cheng Yu is young and you, as an elder, are so irresponsible, you will bear Cheng Yu’s punishment as well.” As the elder finished speaking, four disciples stepped forward and pulled Zhang Chen off the bed. Before Zhang Chen could react, the sticks were already smashing down.

"Stop! It's my fault, why should I ask my junior brother to bear the responsibility for me? As the senior sister, I didn't take good care of my junior brother. Even if there is a responsibility, it should be borne by me." Cheng Yu stood on the bed and wanted to stop it. However, the disciple from the Law Enforcement Hall moved too quickly. The stick drew shadows in the air and the fight was over after a few crackling sounds.

"You want to take responsibility?" The law enforcement elder looked at Zhang Chen who had just finished beating him, then looked at Cheng Yu who looked righteous, and said while stroking his chin, "Come here, beat her with twenty sticks."

"Wait! The fight is over this time, so let it go. It won't be too late for me to take responsibility next time." Cheng Yu waved his hands quickly.

She was not a fool, so how could she be beaten for nothing? "After you finish cleaning the main hall, don't be lazy. You will be punished to make incense for seven days!" After the law enforcement elder finished speaking, he turned and left.

After watching the law enforcement elder leave, Cheng Yu jumped down from the bed, landed beside Zhang Chen, and helped him up: "Are you okay?"

Of course Zhang Chen was fine. He mastered the art of controlling blood, and the beating was only a superficial injury. With his ability to promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, he could recover in a breath.

"I'm fine, but this elder is so unreasonable. It was clearly us who made the mistakes, so why did he put all the blame on me?" Zhang Chen spoke angrily.

"You said it was all your fault that you slept too soundly and didn't even hear the bell for the morning class." The little kid said unhappily, "It's all your fault that you bothered me last night and made me sleep so late. Otherwise, why wouldn't I be unable to get up in the morning? Besides, I'm just a child. Isn't it normal to oversleep? But you, you're already an adult, and you actually overslept."

The little kid was indignant, and his voice was full of dissatisfaction.

"You are my senior sister. You said you would protect me from now on." Zhang Chen did not argue, but just said it faintly, with a voice full of resentment, which made Cheng Yu's anger collapse immediately, and then he smiled and apologized to Zhang Chen:
"Brother, don't blame me. This time it's my fault. You got beaten for nothing. Don't worry, let's go make incense. Leave all the work to me. You just watch from the side."

Then he patted his chest and promised, "Don't worry, next time there is a punishment, I will definitely take it for you."

Because they were punished, they were not eligible to have breakfast. Fortunately, they had eaten meat last night, so they were not hungry. At this time, the two came to the hall. Xiao Douding took the initiative to come to Zhang Chen's hall with a flattering expression on his face: "Junior brother, you have been beaten, and you must be feeling uncomfortable. Leave the job of cleaning the hall to me."

As she spoke, Cheng Yu happily took the rag and started working in the hall. Although she was short, she was a master of Hua Jin. She held a pole in her hand and wrapped the rag around it. The pole was seen dancing back and forth in the air, and all the dust on the beams was swept clean wherever it passed.

Zhang Chen looked at Cheng Yu's actions and was about to say something when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his body. That familiar stinging pain was just like the first time his body underwent a transformation under the transformation of the crystal core.

pain!
It’s so painful!

The pain had penetrated into his soul, as if an animal was tearing at every inch of his blood vessels and meridians.

"Has the transformation started again?" Zhang Chen felt the pain in his body, his face turned pale. He felt that the pain this time was a thousand times worse than the last time. It was so painful that he even fell to the ground and his breathing almost stopped.

"Junior brother, what happened to you?" The little kid noticed the sound of a fall, turned his head to look at Zhang Chen, and saw him lying on the ground. He suddenly panicked and hurried forward to check.

Zhang Chen's skin was blood red, and his blood vessels were exposed under his skin, wriggling like little earthworms. The temperature of his palms and forehead was especially hot.

"Zhang Chen, how are you? Don't scare me, please." The little kid cried, "Did you get hurt before? Are you going to be beaten to death?"

Zhang Chen looked at the little kid with tears in his eyes, endured the pain and opened his eyes, showing a smile and said: "Don't panic, I'm fine."

"Look at you now, do you look okay? I'll call the master and get a doctor for you, you must not be in any trouble." The little kid was about to run out to ask for help, but was held back by Zhang Chen:
"Sister, don't worry, I'm really fine! Don't call a doctor, what if he's a quack and thinks I've contracted some 'contagious disease' and kicks me out? I'll be homeless and can't even eat. I'll really starve to death."

"Infectious disease?" The little kid was shocked when he heard that. A trace of fear appeared on his face. He then gritted his teeth and said, "We slept together last night. If you have an infectious disease, I must have been infected too. At worst, we can leave together and leave this place."

Seeing how sincere the little kid was, Zhang Chen's pure eyes were filled with anxiety, so he quickly came up with an excuse: "Sister, this is an inherited disease. It's okay! It will heal in three to five days! You must not tell anyone, or the master will kick me out of the temple, and I'll be a wanderer again."

Zhang Chen couldn't help but give himself a thumbs up. This excuse was simply perfect.

He is now busy cultivating Taoism and practicing Qi, so of course he cannot leave the Taoist temple.

Hearing Zhang Chen's words, the little kid was so anxious that tears came down his face: "But I'm afraid you'll die."

"I won't die, it's okay." Zhang Chen said with a smile.

As he spoke, he tried to mobilize the crystal core to suppress the swollen blood vessels in his body.

Within a breath, Zhang Chen's body surface had returned to normal. Apart from the slightly red skin, there was nothing abnormal. However, Zhang Chen noticed the difference between when he performed the blood control technique now and when he performed it normally.

Although he could still perform blood control techniques, the crystal core was constantly releasing forces to fight against him, as if it was constantly in conflict with him.

Zhang Chen had a sudden realization in his mind, that the changes in his body at this moment were a kind of evolution. And he was suppressing this evolution by using the blood control technique, and he could not hold on for too long.

Fortunately, the little kid was frightened and prevented from running to call the master. If the people in the Taoist temple noticed something unusual, it would cause trouble.

"Hey, your blood vessels have disappeared, but why is your body still so hot?" When the little kid saw that the blood vessels in Zhang Chen's body had disappeared, he stopped crying immediately and a look of joy appeared on his face.

Zhang Chen smiled upon hearing this, and patted the little boy's head, as if coaxing a child: "My symptoms only occur intermittently. I told you I was fine, but you still didn't believe me. Go and clean the hall quickly, so we can go make incense later. I don't want to be beaten again."

The little kid wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and pushed away Zhang Chen's hand that was stroking his head: "You are such an annoying person. You treat me like a child."

Then the little boy picked up the pole and said to Zhang Chen, "I will take care of all the work from now on. Just take a good rest."

Xiao Douding worked very hard. Zhang Chen took a breath and sat on the ground to sense the changes in the qi and blood in his body. As the qi and blood in his body continued to impact his flesh and blood, Zhang Chen realized that there was something unusual about his own qi and blood. As he sensed, there seemed to be more silver-white light in his own qi and blood, and that light turned into silver-white runes that rushed in his blood vessels like fish!

This collision is the source of pain.

(End of this chapter)