Battle Through the Heavens: The Rock King Emperor's Leisurely Wanderings in the Mortal World

Chapter 2 The Mysterious Old Man in the Ring

On the path leading to the Xiao family's residence, Zhongli's gaze was like a fine net, constantly capturing every detail of his surroundings.

He is a traveler who has experienced six thousand years of worldly ups and downs, whose footprints have long covered every corner of the Teyvat continent, and every inch of land carries his stories and memories.

However, the scene before him was completely out of place with the familiar Teyvat picture in his mind; it was as if fragments of another time and space were pieced together in a haphazard way.

"Mr. Xiao, may I ask which country and which region this Wutan City belongs to?"

Xiao Zhan was puzzled, but he still carefully explained to Zhong Li, "This is the Jia Ma Empire in the northwest corner of the Dou Qi Continent. We are all Jia Ma people."

The Dou Qi Continent? Is this no longer the Teyvat Continent? Or have I transmigrated here?

Throughout the long river of time, Zhongli's profound experience accumulated over six thousand years undoubtedly gave him a unique and insightful understanding of the wondrous phenomenon of time travel.

It must be that during Wendy and the others' attempt to fuse the "Heart of God" with me, the energy originating from the fusion of divine power was too vast and powerful, like a surging torrent that was difficult to control, thus causing the strange phenomenon of a spacetime wormhole to quietly appear.

However, for Zhongli, this extraordinary experience did not cause him much astonishment or panic. After all, having witnessed countless changes and strange occurrences over the long course of time, the wonders and mysteries of the world were nothing more than small ripples in the long river of time in his eyes. Therefore, he quickly and calmly accepted the established fact of his transmigration, his mind as still and serene as a deep well.

……

"Wow, that man is so handsome!"

"Who is he?"

"Which one?"

"That's the man who was just following the clan leader."

"Could he be some young master from a wealthy family?"

"I wish I had a boyfriend this handsome. I just don't know what kind of fighting spirit he has, or if we'd get along."

Inside the Xiao family, the disciples who were sparring in the training ground kept talking about Zhong Li, who was still wearing the Rock King's Divine Armor beside Clan Chief Xiao Zhan.

……

"Damn it! I'm absorbing battle qi much faster than before, so why can't I condense it into my body?!"

A young man's angry roars echoed from inside the room, a mixture of anger and helplessness, clearly indicating that he was on the verge of collapse.

Xiao Zhan gently pushed open the door, afraid that the large movement would startle Xiao Yan who was cultivating.

Zhong Li saw everything Xiao Zhan did. If a father is so meticulous, he should be just as attentive as the head of a clan.

Xiao Yan was the first to notice Xiao Zhan's arrival. He had already withdrawn from his cultivation state, and the mysterious disappearance of his Dou Qi made it impossible for him to concentrate.

"Father, you've arrived. And who is this?"

"Yan'er, I hope I haven't disturbed you. This is a friend that your father just met today, Young Master Zhongli. Perhaps he can help you solve your health problem."

"Really?!?!" Upon hearing this joyous news, Xiao Yan jumped out of bed. "Hello, Mr. Zhongli, my name is Xiao Yan."

Seeing Xiao Yan's excitement, Xiao Zhan turned to Zhong Li with some uncertainty. After all, Zhong Li had only agreed to help take a look, not to guarantee a cure.

Zhong Li stepped forward and said, "Young friend Xiao Yan, it's an honor to meet you."

However, Xiao Zhan followed Zhong Li's movements with a suspicious look in his eyes.

"So, you've heard so much about me? My youngest son is hailed as a genius, but he's only somewhat famous in the city of Wutan. You, on the other hand, didn't even know where the Gama Empire was. How did you come to know me so much?"

Upon learning that the young man before him was the one to be treated under this contract, Zhongli immediately activated the divine power within his body.

When he slowly opened his eyes again, the flow of Xiao Yan's fighting spirit and the circulation of his blood were presented to Zhong Li's mind without reservation.

The red energy cluster flickering within Xiao Yan's body was mixed with a few green lights. Could this be the so-called Dou Qi in this world?

At this moment, the red of the Fire God and the green of the Grass God, representing the Six Gods on Zhong Li's chest, shone brightly together.

Zhongli thus deduced that the fighting spirit in this world also has different attributes.

"I wonder if the divine... no, battle qi attribute within this young friend Xiao Yan is a mixture of fire and a trace of wood?"

"Exactly." Xiao Yan was not surprised. He had just vented his emotions in the room, causing his Dou Qi to leak out. Anyone of a higher level than him and with some knowledge of Dou Qi could tell.

Zhong Li nodded slightly, temporarily setting aside his curiosity about Dou Qi, and began to focus on observing Xiao Yan's "condition".

Zhong Li's gaze, sharp as a hawk's, instantly caught a very strange phenomenon. The Dou Qi within Xiao Yan's body seemed to be drawn by an invisible force, surging towards the ring worn on his left hand. The momentum was like a raging torrent rushing towards a bottomless, mysterious abyss, and the speed of this surge was like a runaway horse, growing ever more rapid.

Zhong Li frowned slightly, having already roughly understood the reason. He slowly said, "Young friend Xiao Yan, the reason why you are regressing on your cultivation path and why your battle qi is mysteriously disappearing is due to the ring you are wearing."

"A ring?" Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan and his son exclaimed in surprise at the same time, their voices filled with doubt and shock.

Xiao Yan looked puzzled, his eyes filled with undisguised confusion. He said urgently, "This ring is my mother's keepsake. It's the most precious thing I have in this world. How could my mother bear to harm me?"

Zhong Li nodded slightly, offering no further explanation, but solemnly extended his hands. With a slight wave of his hands, an invisible force seemed to surge silently in the air. Then, skillfully using his divine power, he gently removed the ring from Xiao Yan's finger.

Because the light was too dim, Zhong Li opened his left hand, and in the blink of an eye, a blazing flame illuminated the entire room.

"Ouch! It's so hot! It's so hot!"

A faint voice emanated from the ring, and the next second a cloud of white smoke billowed out, eventually coalescing into an old man with white hair, only his upper body visible.

Xiao Yan and his son were startled and quickly stood together in a fighting stance.

"You...are you human or a ghost? Why are you inside my mother's ring? Why are you clinging to me and absorbing my fighting spirit?"

Initially, Xiao Yan's shock was gradually replaced by a surge of anger. For years, he had been deeply tormented by the label of "waste," to the point that his spirit was on the verge of collapse.

"Fuck your mother!!!"

It was obvious that his reputation as a "genius" was far less widespread than that of a "fallen genius," which was said to have even reached the Yunlan Sect, thousands of miles away.

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Xiao Yan's mentality is far beyond that of his peers, but he is still a fifteen-year-old child after all.

However, the mysterious old man completely ignored Xiao Yan, and his gaze swept over everyone before settling on Zhong Li.

The mysterious old man narrowed his eyes slightly, a hint of something unfathomable in them, and tentatively asked, "I wonder if this fellow Daoist is a powerful figure from the Central Continent?"

Zhong Li gently shook his head, a faint smile playing on his lips. He pondered to himself, "I don't even know where the so-called Central Continent is located, so how could I be a powerful figure from there?"

"Let's get back to the point and talk about your problem," Zhongli's voice was cold and deep, as if it carried an invisible power. "What is constantly absorbing Xiao Yan's fighting spirit is probably not this seemingly ordinary ring itself, but you, who are hidden in the ring."

Upon hearing this, the mysterious old man immediately felt an invisible pressure bearing down on him. He knew that the person before him was unfathomable, and he was completely unable to detect Zhongli's mysterious cultivation level, as if the other party was shrouded in a layer of mist, making him impossible to understand.

This means there are two possibilities: either the person has no cultivation and is just an ordinary person.

The second possibility is that this person's strength is far superior to one's own, at least by a major realm.

However, just two or three seconds of being scorched by the flames in Zhongli's hand was enough to completely overwhelm him, forcing him to retreat.

Clearly, Zhong Li is the latter.

This is also why Xiao Zhan respects Zhong Li so much.

What kind of flame is this? It's even stronger than my Bone Spirit Cold Flame. There's no record of this color of flame in the Strange Flame Ranking.

He couldn't discern Zhongli's level of cultivation, yet Zhongli was nothing like an ordinary person.

"My name is Yao Chen, and I am a peak eighth-grade alchemist. I did absorb the battle qi from this little child. I will not deny what I have done." Yao Chen dared not hesitate. The person in front of him was likely a Dou Zong level expert, someone he could not possibly contend with in his current state of soul power, which had just recovered to the Dou Huang level.

In order to save their lives, they had no choice but to try their best to prove their worth.

However, Yao Chen thought that even if he ruined his reputation as an eighth-grade alchemist, at least it would make a splash.

However, the three people in front of him showed no surprise whatsoever.

Xiao Yan snorted coldly. He hadn't met many alchemists, but he knew that even hiring a second-grade alchemist would take the Xiao family a fortune to manage for one or two years.

The old man before me, floating like a spirit and lacking even a genital organ, actually claims to be an eighth-grade alchemist. What eighth-grade alchemist would hide in a ring and absorb the battle qi of a child who has just advanced to the rank of Dou Zhe?

Xiao Zhan's suspicions were now confirmed: his Yan'er's constitution was indeed fine; it seemed that the decline in her cultivation was due to this monster's interference.

Zhong Li was even more different. He had never heard of any alchemists on this continent, so naturally he wouldn't care about Yao Chen's so-called peak eighth-grade alchemist.

The air fell silent at that moment.

To Yao Chen's surprise, when he revealed that he was an eighth-grade alchemist, he was the first to be shocked.

What's going on? Could it be that some earth-shattering changes have occurred on the continent while I was gone for the past few years? Are eighth-grade alchemists now commonplace? Or is this some kind of super-hidden family? But a hidden family shouldn't only have this much cultivation level.

Just as Yao Chen was having a brainstorming session, Zhong Li broke the silence in the room.

"Yao Chen, taking something without asking is theft. Since you have already admitted it, please give Xiao Yan an answer."

In the vast cosmic order, Zhongli stands as the God of Contracts. He mercilessly marks those souls who disregard moral principles as beings who have broken their oaths. For in his eyes, morality is not only the most subtle bond between people's hearts, but also a sacred contract that has naturally formed over the years.

(End of this chapter)