Just as Zhang Chen was about to make a move, Zou Wenlong turned toward him and said, "Junior Brother, your Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror should be entrusted to me. Such a treasure is beyond your grasp; you're just a mere mortal, how could you wield such a divine artifact? Only in my hands can it be used to its fullest potential, restoring the glory of our Five Villages Temple."

He wants the Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror!

Any disciple of the Five Villages Temple covets the Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen sneered internally, quietly retracting his hands into his sleeves and replied calmly, "You are my Senior Brother, and rightfully, since our elders are gone, the Five Villages Temple should be under your leadership, and this Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror should be given to you. However, this treasure was personally entrusted to me by the Ancestral Master, along with many directives on how to use it, so I cannot obey your command, Senior Brother."

Zou Wenlong furrowed his brows and scrutinized Zhang Chen from head to toe, his eyes revealing a trace of peculiarity: "Do you know what my relationship with the Ancestral Master is?"

"What?" Zhang Chen was momentarily stunned by the words; wasn't the Ancestral Master your mentor? What other relationship could there be?

"The Ancestral Master is my father, my biological father, or how else would I know the location of the Ancestral Master's secret chamber and evade deadly disasters by hiding within? As the sole descendant of the Ancestral Master, you tell me whether I should inherit the Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror." Zou Wenlong looked at Zhang Chen, his gaze filled with pride.

Zhang Chen's expression changed upon hearing this; he hadn't anticipated such a hidden key point. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

This Little Fatty was actually the Ancestral Master's bloodline descendant, no wonder he was so arrogant in the Daoist Temple and had the ability to easily bring himself into the back courtyard.

"So, Junior Brother, please return the Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror to me." Zou Wenlong said with a smile.

In his sleeve, Zhang Chen's left hand made a subtle grasping motion, and the Buzhou Seal, shining with divine light, appeared in his palm, though hidden by his sleeve. Zhang Chen's eyes then shifted to the space behind Zou Wenlong, his expression filled with terror: "Ancestral Master, how are you still alive?"

Startled, Zou Wenlong instinctively turned to look back, but there was no figure there.

At this moment, the Buzhou Seal flew out from Zhang Chen's hand, radiating divine power. It expanded in the wind to a size of three meters, and before Zou Wenlong could react, it came crashing down. A tremor shook the secret chamber. Zhang Chen retrieved the Buzhou Seal to find Zou Wenlong lying on the ground, maintaining his intact form, eyes darting furiously at Zhang Chen: "You little brat, how dare you trick me! I knew you were in cahoots with Xu Erniu!"

As he spoke, Zou Wenlong rose to his feet, his hand holding a jade sword flashing with divine light: "But you didn't expect that I've fused with the Ancestral Master's jade bones, and with the True Immortal Body of the Ancestral Master, your methods are remarkable but cannot destroy my True Body. Now I'm going to take your head as retribution for the catastrophe that befell the hundreds of disciples of our Five Villages Temple."

Zou Wenlong's sword shimmered with divine light as he thrust it towards Zhang Chen's brow, but in the nick of time, black and white light flickered from Zhang Chen's sleeve, and two streams of black and white intertwined, flying out to strangle Zou Wenlong.

Zou Wenlong used some unknown technique, the bones of his body gleaming with a jade-like luster, and when the Golden Scissors passed him, it failed to sever, leaving only two thumb-sized marks on him.

Zhang Chen wasn't surprised by the Golden Scissors' ineffectiveness, as Zou Wenlong possessed the body of the Ancestral Master and their cultivation levels differed too much. It was normal for him not to be able to cut Zou Wenlong.

It should be known that the Ancestral Master was a Fruit Realm entity, and Zou Wenlong had already stepped into the Yang God realm, practicing the Earth Immortal Dao.

"What is this thing that can injure my True Body?" Zou Wenlong was aghast, intensifying his attack: "No matter what techniques you possess, as long as I kill you, all treasures will be mine."

Facing the sword thrust from Zou Wenlong, Zhang Chen grabbed Xie Lingyun's wrist, and a crack opened in the ground. The two fell through, and the ground closed instantaneously, leaving only a green branch on the surface.

"Brat, die!" Zou Wenlong saw Zhang Chen disappear underground, leaving behind the strange branch, and became enraged. His eyes filled with killing intent, he unleashed a burst of Sword Qi towards the ground. Earth's Primordial Magnetism was pierced by the Sword Qi, astonishing Zhang Chen, who quickly fled with Xie Lingyun.

Zou Wenlong wasn't sure if his Sword Qi had slain Zhang Chen. Looking at the green branch, he dared not linger and hurriedly fled.

Zhang Chen manipulated the water vapor between Heaven and Earth, sensing Zou Wenlong's departure, then returning with Xie Lingyun to the secret chamber to retrieve the Jianmu branch from the ground, secretly pondering: "My Buzhou Seal truly is formidable, and if not for Zou Wenlong today, another cultivator's body would have been destroyed. But those who reach such a level have their trump cards; if I had used the Blood Transformation Divine Saber, the effect might have been better than the Buzhou Seal."

The Buzhou Seal covers with divine power. Once enveloped by its divine power, even a Yang God expert like Zou Wenlong finds his Divine Techniques suppressed and can't react swiftly. Just those one or two breaths under the Buzhou Seal's divine power, and it would already come crashing down, leaving them as wandering souls beneath it.

"Zhang Chen... are you... are you perhaps some old guy reincarnated?" Beside him, Xie Lingyun looked at Zhang Chen with a horrified expression, her gaze containing an indescribable nuance.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen laughed heartily: "Sister, how could you believe the nonsense I just spouted? I was merely deceiving that young guy. I previously retrieved that branch, obtained a bit of memory, and just bluffed my way through. As for that mirror, called the Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror, I accidentally acquired it years ago and found some fragmented memories within, which allowed me to fool him."

Hearing Zhang Chen's words, Xie Lingyun relaxed: "You gave me quite a fright. I thought you were some old geezer possessing someone and reincarnating." Then Xie Lingyun continued: "Who was that person climbing out of the pool earlier? Their cultivation has reached an unimaginable level, even my father is no match."

She had a keen eye; the sword qi within the opponent was truly terrifying, possessing a sort of annihilation that could destroy all things, definitely not something her father could handle.

The sword qi was so strong that even if a Yang God True Man were struck by it, they would suffer a great catastrophe.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen sighed lightly: "He fused with the body of the Ancestral Master of Longevity, thereby also integrating the power of the sword qi left behind by the Immortal Slaying Sword within the master's body; that sword qi is something even a Twelfth Tier being would dread."

The Immortal Slaying Sword is capable of slaying beings at the Fruit Realm and beyond, but that was merely the master's limit, not the limit of the Immortal Slaying Sword.

"Who is the Ancestral Master of Longevity? And what is the Immortal Slaying Sword?" Xie Lingyun asked curiously.

Zhang Chen patiently explained: "The Ancestral Master of Longevity is the creator of this Underground Palace and that person's teacher; the Immortal Slaying Sword is the weapon of the Ancestral Master of Longevity."

Upon hearing this, Xie Lingyun's gaze turned solemn: "If that's the case, that person harbors vast secrets, having experienced an incredibly ancient era. Capturing them could yield immense rewards, possibly unveiling astonishing truths from ancient times."

"The court has three Twelfth Tier mysteries; if the court is willing to intervene, they should be able to capture this person." Zhang Chen said.

For now, he had no intention of provoking that person; if the other had not fused with the body of the Ancestral Master of Longevity, he might have had hope of victory. However, now that they have fused with the master's body, which had been refined by Earth Qi to an unbelievable degree, it wasn't something he could easily break through.

Though the Golden Scissors were good, his Qi Cultivation Technique was merely at the second tier, the cultivation gap between them was too immense.

Xie Lingyun's eyes scanned the countless books on the shelves: "These books are treasures passed down from incredibly ancient times, the most valuable items within this secret chamber, surely containing ancient cultivation techniques. If they could be deciphered, there would undoubtedly be great gains."

Xie Lingyun's eyes shimmered as she looked at the books on the shelves, then turned to Zhang Chen: "How shall we divide these books between us?"

The books collected into the secret chamber by the Ancestral Master of Longevity were rare gems, and even Zhang Chen felt quite envious upon seeing them; these were incomparable to those cultivation secret techniques in the Library Pavilion.

Zhang Chen scanned the books on the shelves and said to Xie Lingyun: "How about half each?"

Hearing this, Xie Lingyun nodded but then shook her head: "Forget it, you can have them all."

Zhang Chen was surprised as he looked at Xie Lingyun, who stood by the shelves with a disinterested expression, her eyes filled with a sense of desolation, lacking the previous eager anticipation.

"What's wrong, sister?" Zhang Chen was unaware of the changes in Xie Lingyun's heart, not understanding why her emotions fluctuated so drastically.

Upon hearing Zhang Chen's question, Xie Lingyun said helplessly: "Do you think I can understand these books passed down from ancient times? Even if you give them to me, I must be able to comprehend them. Unless submitted to those ancient races and noble families, even then, the translated content might not be fully disclosed to me, and the true secrets might not be revealed. So, I'd rather leave the books to you; once you've translated useful versions, just make a copy for me."

Then Xie Lingyun looked at Zhang Chen: "You should be able to translate those ancient texts, right?"

Zhang Chen nodded in response: "Of course, I can translate them. Since Sister said so, I'll accept these books, then later translate them and pass useful cultivation techniques to Sister."

Zhang Chen hadn't expected Xie Lingyun to be so sensible, indeed possessing a keen intellect and being extraordinarily clever.