Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 377 Code is Invincible
While Sun Ping was deep in thought, the entire White Stone Immortal Sect outside the Blue Night Realm was also busy.

After discovering that Sun Ping's character card status remained relatively normal and that his life was not in danger, Zhang Chengdao began to consider whether he should go there in person.

After all, that guy named Tang Mingming, or Mingjing, Wang Lin, or Wu Chengsi, is someone that, apart from himself, probably no one else can deal with.

If that thing isn't removed, it's clearly a ticking time bomb!

It's even more dangerous that he's involved with his cheap apprentice. He might end up becoming some kind of big boss, causing a lot of trouble for both his cheap apprentice and himself. So it's best to kill him off as soon as possible.

Moreover, as the grandfather who serves as the template for all the main characters' disciples, Zhang Chengdao knows that he must be proficient in various methods of eliminating enemies, such as shaking an egg to break the yolk, pouring boiling water into an ant nest, and cutting an earthworm vertically. Otherwise, if he does not eliminate his enemies thoroughly, it will leave hidden dangers for his disciples sooner or later.

Of course, there is an even more important reason.

Zhang Chengdao also wanted to try and see if he could find a way to other worlds through this confirmed safe boundary passage.

Alternatively, one could find a way to break through the barrier of this martial arts and cultivation world, giving oneself a chance to return home.

Thinking of this, Zhang Chengdao sighed slightly.

But before he could even begin to feel sentimental, a familiar voice rang in his ears.

"Master, I should go instead!"

Chang Ping'an hurriedly stepped into the Lingxiao Palace and overheard his master settling affairs within the sect, saying that he was preparing to explore the interdimensional passage to bring back the outer disciple named Sun Ping. He immediately cupped his hands and volunteered, saying, "This disciple has now reached the Core Formation stage and can protect himself. Let this disciple go and bring my junior brother back!"

"No need. You, your second junior sister, and your third junior brother can stay and oversee the White Stone Immortal Sect. I will be right back."

Zhang Chengdao rejected it without even thinking about it.

joke!

That thing should be considered a collection of souls, mixed with several souls, and it just so happens that there is a person named Wang Lin in it, who is one of Chang Ping'an's father's killers - the Smiling Maitreya!
If these are already enemies, and they're put together, and it's also related to my cheap apprentice who has the protagonist's template, then according to the typical tropes of otaku novels, trouble is practically guaranteed!
In short, taking this into consideration, Zhang Chengdao rejected Chang Ping'an's self-recommendation without hesitation. After carefully instructing his disciples, he used the Name-Calling Mirror to greet He Yu and then arrived at the seal beneath the White Stone Ice Sea.

He Yu had already made special preparations to the sealed barrier, leaving it open to Zhang Chengdao, so he stepped inside with ease.

However, taking that first step was only the first step; next, Zhang Chengdao had to fall into deep thought.

It was probably when the seal was broken that day that the cracks themselves were affected, causing many of the small black dots that were originally just tiny fragments to grow larger. There were seven or eight holes that could be passed through, and their positions had also changed, making it difficult for him to tell which black hole Sun Ping had entered through yesterday.

"There's no need to worry too much. Generally speaking, since these gaps appeared at the same time and were torn in the same place, they must lead to the same place. The passages connected to these boundary gates must also be the same passages."

In the mirror of calling names and shadows, He Yu's voice rang out at just the right moment.

Clearly, he also saw a completely different scene within the barrier compared to yesterday.

Zhang Chengdao only just learned that these black holes actually have official names: "Domain Gates".

"Alright, then I'll leave the affairs of this realm to you!"

After speaking, Zhang Chengdao randomly chose a boundary gate (black hole) based on his intuition, closed his eyes, and flew inside.

……

"clang--"

"Boom bang bang-"

After a moment of weightlessness, as if drowning, several strange, loud noises exploded above Zhang Chengdao's head.

As soon as he stepped into this realm, before he could even sense the spiritual energy and rules of this world, his gaze was drawn to the intense battle overhead.

Following the sound, he instantly witnessed the scene that best satisfied his fantasies about the world of cultivation since his transmigration—

"Master Su Yue! Watch out!"

"what--"

Several cultivators, some standing on magical artifacts and others riding spirit birds, were engaged in a fierce battle with a flock of dark red strange birds. He could even smell the blood in the air, which meant that the cultivators were probably in a bad situation.

Those strange birds resembled vultures, but had three crimson eyes, long, thin, sharp beaks, and claws that gleamed with a metallic glint.

The most peculiar thing is that no matter what kind of spiritual light spells, flying swords, or talismans those cultivators used, they were like mud oxen sinking into the sea when they struck them. They could only stir up dark red ripples before dissipating into nothingness, making it difficult to cause any substantial damage.

On the other hand, the strange bird could easily tear apart the protective spiritual light on the cultivators with each swoop and peck, bringing up sprays of blood and endless screams.

In the very center of the flock of strange birds, a female cultivator dressed in a moon-white Taoist robe, with a cool and aloof demeanor like a fairy from Mount Gushe, stood out.

Three constantly spinning ice crystal shuttles surrounded her, emanating a chilling aura, which barely held off most of the strange birds' attacks.

But she was clearly struggling to keep going; her face was pale, her forehead was covered in sweat, and her moon-white Taoist robe was stained with several glaring crimson marks. Even the shout of "Master Suyue, be careful!" was directed at her.

In any case, this scene, radiating spiritual light and featuring numerous cultivators fighting in the air, certainly resembles the cultivators of the immortal cultivation world more than the group of free-range disciples of White Stone Mountain.

but……

Looking at the strange bird in front of him, which he couldn't recognize at all, Zhang Chengdao frowned slightly.

Since spiritual power cannot harm it, the only option is to trap it instead of killing it...

As he pondered, he just saw an exceptionally large, strange bird break through Su Yue Zhenren's ice shuttle defense, rushing straight towards his back with a foul stench, its sharp beak seemingly about to pierce his vest—

"Gentlemen! Get out of the way!"

Zhang Chengdao shouted, and then started taking things out of his backpack...

【Bamboo Fence】.

This thing was replaced when the White Stone Immortal Sect's grand formation was being set up.

Zhang Chengdao's voice carried spiritual power, reverberating across the wilderness and even carrying a hint of oppressive force. Upon hearing this voice, the cultivators were initially taken aback, then exchanged glances and, without prior arrangement, transformed into streaks of light and fled the battlefield.

Zhang Chengdao quickly set up the bamboo fence, trapping the strange birds within its enclosure.

The bamboo fence has its own barrier. The strange birds seem to be not very intelligent and do not realize that they are trapped. They frantically ram into the barrier formed by the bamboo fence, but the damage to the durability of the bamboo fence is negligible.

Zhang Chengdao suddenly realized—

This is still a beast with low attack and high defense!

As soon as the cultivators landed, they rushed to Zhang Chengdao's side. The leader, True Person Su Yue, was no longer as aloof as before. Her face was full of excitement as she cupped her hands and asked, "May I ask, senior, ordinary magic treasures can't possibly trap these Blood Demon Owls. What kind of magic treasure is this that can trap them all?"

"These strange birds are called 'Blood Demon Owls'? They seem to be immune to spiritual power. Could they be from another world?"

While curiously examining the Blood Demon Owl trapped in the [Bamboo Fence] barrier, Zhang Chengdao explained, "As for this thing, it's just a small gadget made of ordinary bamboo fence that can form its own barrier. It's nothing to mention."

As he spoke, he thought for a moment, then rummaged through his backpack and pulled out an iron sword that added 100 attack power. He held it in his hand and weighed it in his hand.

This sword was obtained from a previous member's red envelope draw. It's exactly the same as the Night Talk Sword that I gave to Chang Ping'an. It's not rare because it's only of the lowest quality.

But the 100-point attack bonus it displays is absolutely real.

Moreover, according to what that so-called True Person Su Yue said, since ordinary magical treasures couldn't trap the Blood Demon Owl, but her [Bamboo Fence] could, doesn't that mean...?

Code is invincible!

In other words, the [Iron Sword] was "coded" to have 100 points of attack power...

It's also "invincible"!

To verify this conjecture, Zhang Chengdao decisively used the Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin technique, stood against the wind, and then used his spiritual power to control the [Iron Sword] into the [Bamboo Fence] barrier, stabbing straight at the largest Blood Demon Owl.

Zhang Chengdao's cultivation has just broken through to the Nascent Soul stage, and he doesn't actually have a deep understanding of the Nascent Soul stage yet.

But this did not prevent a [Iron Sword] with only 100 attack power from being used like a divine weapon in his hands, piercing through the Blood Demon Owl in an instant.

The ferocious Blood Demon Owl remained frozen in mid-air, still pouncing. The gale generated by the [Iron Sword] seemed to solidify the distorted air and the dissipating dark red evil energy around it.

Immediately afterward, the iron sword that had just pierced through the largest blood demon owl moved with lightning speed within the bamboo fence barrier, as if it were empty. Wherever it went, there were screams of agony. The dense, terrifying swarm of blood demon owls in the sky seemed to have been paused one by one, all frozen in mid-air.

After an unknown amount of time, the flying iron sword finally came to a stop and hovered in the air.

The splattered blood droplets and the stiff, lifeless corpses of the Blood Demon Owls in the sky were finally "released" from their suspended state and fell from the sky, fluttering down in a flurry.

At the same time, the astonished expressions of the cultivators, led by Master Suyue, froze on their faces. Only the wind continued to blow, rustling Zhang Chengdao's sleeves.

"Senior, senior...you..."

Su Yue Zhenren was the first to react, but she murmured and couldn't utter a complete sentence.

She considered herself a Nascent Soul cultivator. Not only in the Blue Night Realm, but even in the Upper Realm, she was someone who would be addressed as a True Person wherever she went. Her cultivation level was the highest among all the cultivators sent to handle the affairs of the Blue Night Realm. Yet, even so, she was unable to contend with a large group of Blood Demon Owls, which were exotic beasts of the Demon Realm. And this seemingly ordinary cultivator in front of her had wiped out all the Blood Demon Owls in an instant!

Even ancestors at the Nascent Soul or Body Integration stages couldn't achieve such strength!
Because any spiritual attack is almost ineffective against the demonic beasts!

That senior in front of me...

Just what level of cultivation does that require?!

Could it be that only by cultivating an immortal body can one achieve this?

But if he has cultivated an immortal body, why would he appear in the Blue Night Realm?

She suppressed the turmoil in her heart, subconsciously straightened her slightly disheveled robes, and solemnly bowed: "Junior Su Yue is a disciple of the Guangyang Sect of the Volcano Island in the Upper Realm... no, the Spirit Cultivation Realm. I am grateful for your life-saving grace, senior. May I ask your honorable title and where your immortal home is?"

In fact, not only was Su Yue Zhenren baffled, but other cultivators were also unable to understand it.

Regardless of the circumstances, it was a fact that this "senior" had saved them, and it was also a fact that he had easily killed the demonic beasts that had left them helpless. Whether out of respect for his strength and status or out of gratitude for saving their lives, everyone was startled awake after Su Yue Zhenren spoke, and they bowed and thanked him with great respect. Their gazes toward Zhang Chengdao were filled with awe and curiosity.

Looking at the group of respectful cultivators before him, Zhang Chengdao felt rather helpless.

He didn't want to be too high-profile, but the effects of the [Iron Sword] and [Bamboo Fence] seemed to far exceed his expectations. The power of the code was indeed extraordinary, and now it was difficult to keep a low profile.

So he casually recalled the iron sword, put it in his backpack, and waved his hand, saying, "No need for formalities, it was just a small favor."

"My name is Zhang Chengdao, from the White Stone Realm. I am not some senior expert, but I have some special methods that happen to be able to restrain these strange beasts."

"White Stone Realm?"

Upon hearing this, Su Yue Zhenren and her companions both showed expressions of surprise and confusion.

They had never heard of any "White Stone World"!
The name "White Stone Realm" was just something Zhang Chengdao made up on the spot. Seeing that everyone looked like they had never heard of it, he didn't mind. Instead, he politely asked, "To be honest, I have only just entered this realm myself. I am here to find my next disciple. He is at the Foundation Establishment stage, about twenty years old, not very tall, and rather thin. Does anyone have any clues about him?"

"So that Senior Zhang may know, we have only been in this Blue Night Realm for half a day... I am ashamed to say that these Blood Demon Owls were brought in by mistake when we teleported in. If it weren't for your help, Senior, I'm afraid many of us would have had to die to subdue them."

One of the cultivators excitedly cupped his hands to Zhang Chengdao and said, "As for the person Senior Zhang mentioned, we have never met him. Please forgive us!"

"It's alright. If you happen to encounter them, please let me know. Thank you!"

As Zhang Chengdao spoke, he took out a stack of pre-prepared communication talismans specifically designed to point to himself and distributed them to everyone.

They've already saved their lives, so asking them for a small favor or to keep an eye on people shouldn't be a problem, right?
"Senior Zhang, rest assured, we will report to you immediately if we find anything," said Master Su Yue, cupping her hands in greeting. "But may I ask, Senior, what is your disciple's name? If we encounter him, we can verify his identity!"

Zhang Chengdao returned the greeting with a cupped hand: "Then thank you all. His name is Sun Ping."

……

(End of this chapter)