Chapter 457: Chapter 457: Tian Jinzhong’s Memories (Part One)
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Today's competition escalated further. Anyone who made it to this point was far from weak, and most contestants had already unveiled their most powerful, hidden techniques.
Nearly every match was a thrilling spectacle.
Zhang Chulan's match against Tang Wenlong of the Tang Sect marked a complete shift in style. He went all out, unleashing his thunder techniques and decisively defeating Tang Wenlong in just a few moves, shocking the entire audience.
No one had expected that this shameless guy—who had relied on all sorts of underhanded tactics to win in the past—would actually possess such terrifying strength.
It's important to note that Tang Wenlong was a top-tier genius of the Tang Sect. In earlier matches, he had nearly one-shotted his opponents and was one of the favorites to win the championship.
The drastic contrast in performance silenced any further discussion about Zhang Chulan's identity as the heir to the Qi Body Source Flow. All conversations now revolved around whether he could become the next Heavenly Master.
This development caught George by surprise and deepened his interest in Zhang Chulan.
The Qi Body Source Flow is one of the Eight Wonders, so naturally, George intended to get his hands on it. That meant getting closer to Zhang Chulan.
Zhang Chulan's intelligence worked in George's favor. As long as the right benefits were offered, a deal could likely be made.
Dealing with those stubborn types who'd rather die than surrender their techniques was far more troublesome.
Later, Wang Ye defeated Zhuge Qing using even more advanced Qimen techniques to overpower Zhuge Qing's Wuhou Qimen.
Feng Shayan's space manipulation ability clashed with Jia Zhengliang's flying daggers. The match ended in mutual injury, but she narrowly claimed victory.
Feng Baobao completely overwhelmed Xiao Xiao.
Zhang Lingyu battled Lu Linglong and was forced to unleash his thunder techniques to win.
Feng Xingtong fought Deng Youfu. Due to the restraining nature of his "Summoning and Commanding Spirits" technique, he directly captured Deng Youfu's thousand-year-old snake spirit.
Since George had already gathered information on most of the competitors, his attention had shifted from the matches to investigating the Quanzhen Faction's presence.
And sure enough, he discovered several members of the Quanzhen Sect—disguised and hidden among the spectators.
How did he find them?
During last night's bonfire gathering, he had extracted many names of Quanzhen members through casual conversations. Today, he used tracking spells to locate them.
To his surprise, many of the spells pointed directly to the audience stands.
"So many Quanzhen members gathered at Dragon Tiger Mountain… What, are they planning to destroy it?"
Late at night, after everyone had gone to sleep, George left his dormitory once again.
He intended to capture a few high-ranking members of the Quanzhen Sect, search their memories, and figure out what their true objective was—and what benefits he could extract from the situation.
At the ancient street hotel beneath Dragon Tiger Mountain.
"Looks like this is the place."
George, following the golden arrow that pointed directly to the hotel, slipped inside while cloaked in invisibility.
"Wan Tao of Quanzhen—an insidious and ruthless tool refiner. He's a veteran figure, even more well-known than the Four Madmen. He surely knows the purpose of this operation."
With a light stomp of his foot, the entire room froze over. The elderly man in his sixties or seventies on the bed, along with a fat man in his thirties, instantly fell into a mirrored dimension.
"What's going on?!"
Wan Tao jolted awake, his inner Qi bursting forth. But before he could activate his magical tools, he felt a heavy blow to the back of his head and passed out cold.
His disciple, the simple-minded one, suffered the same fate.
"Average strength."
Dragging the unconscious Wan Tao and his disciple, George began extracting their memories.
Compared to the old Heavenly Master, Wan Tao's power was far inferior.
Half an hour later, George wiped their memories of the attack, placed them back in the hotel room, and vanished into thin air.
"So that young Taoist was actually Gong Qing, the acting leader of Quanzhen—and his target is Zhang Zhiwei's junior, Tian Jinzhong. Now this is getting interesting."
Back at Dragon Tiger Mountain, George's lips curled into a smile.
From Wan Tao's memories, he had gained valuable intel—information highly beneficial to him.
It turned out that so many Quanzhen members had infiltrated Dragon Tiger Mountain in response to a call from their acting leader, Gong Qing.
Out of curiosity about the Catastrophe of Jia Shen and the Eight Wonders, Gong Qing had gone undercover at Dragon Tiger Mountain three years ago, posing as a young Taoist. He seemed to have uncovered several secrets.
This time, he had staked his life and rallied many top-tier Quanzhen experts. Their plan was to cause chaos after the Luotian Grand Ritual, luring the old Heavenly Master away and using the opportunity to steal Tian Jinzhong's memories.
George was thrilled because, although the Heavenly Master's memories had been blocked by the Heavenly Master Technique, Tian Jinzhong's mind might hold the secrets he sought.
It was a win on multiple fronts.
"Tian Jinzhong, I apologize in advance."
For most things, George preferred fair trade. But when it came to matters related to the "Immortals," he was willing to make exceptions and inspect Tian Jinzhong's memories directly.
At worst, he could compensate him later. Others may not have the means to help a crippled man, but that didn't apply to George.
With the powerful life force of the Wooden Dragon and healing magic, regrowing limbs was not impossible.
Besides, he had saved Tian Jinzhong's life and captured the acting leader of Quanzhen. That was more than enough. At most, he would show some leniency toward Zhang Chulan afterward.
As for the accidental peek into Dragon Tiger Mountain's techniques and Daoist arts—well, that couldn't be helped.
George wasn't someone stuck on principle. While he preferred not to obtain techniques this way, if it came down to it—so be it.
Using the tracking spell to lock onto Tian Jinzhong's location, George flew over invisibly.
On his way to Dean Tian Jinzhong's courtyard, he encountered something amusing—Feng Baobao wildly chasing Wang Ye across the mountain with a shovel in hand.
Apparently, she intended to repeat her old tactic: burying Wang Ye to help Zhang Chulan win his next match.
Based on what George had seen of Wang Ye's strength—and that time-manipulating technique he used on the old Heavenly Master—Zhang Chulan stood no chance.
Unless, of course, Zhang Chulan decided to unleash the Qi Body Source Flow his grandfather had left behind.
But from what George had overheard last night, Wang Ye's victory over Zhuge Qing today was meant to pave the way for Zhang Chulan—to avoid the old Heavenly Master's collapse from shaking the entire world of the Outliers.
"Fall unconscious."
A simple incantation knocked out the already crippled Tian Jinzhong, and George began exploring his memories.
The first half was filled with joy—Tian Jinzhong studying Dao with his brothers at Dragon Tiger Mountain, including a young Zhang Zhiwei and Zhang Chulan's grandfather, Zhang Huaiyi.
In those memories, George saw all of Dragon Tiger Mountain's techniques and Daoist arts: the Golden Light Mantra, thunder methods, talismans, and more.
Later, Tian Jinzhong learned that his junior, Zhang Huaiyi, had sworn brotherhood with Wugensheng, the leader of Quanzhen, and that the righteous sects had begun hunting down the Thirty-Six Thieves.
Determined to rescue his brother, Tian Jinzhong voluntarily descended the mountain, hoping to bring Zhang Huaiyi back.
At the dock, he met Zhang Huaiyi and learned of everything he had done with Wugensheng—understanding that Zhang Huaiyi could never return.
Tian Jinzhong was then captured by righteous sect members, tortured, and crippled. He barely survived and was sent back to Dragon Tiger Mountain.
To protect the secret and avoid leaking it in his sleep, he replaced sleep with meditation and never closed his eyes again.
(End of Chapter)