Who let him join the Sword Sect?!

Senior Lu was quite unkind this time; he didn't take Zhang Ze to the destination.

Instead, just upon entering the territory of Lantian County in Diannan, the deer cart, as if unloading goods, threw Zhang Ze into a forest and then went off in a cloud of dust.

Watching the deer cart blend into the sunset on the horizon, Zhang Ze suspected that the Sect Leader had orchestrated this, but he had no proof.

And the local customs of Diannan, Zhang Ze got a deep sense of it within just five minutes in this forest.

While passing under a banyan tree, he encountered thin green snakes and boas dropping onto people like rain.

As he crossed a meadow, he saw forest rats the size of cats crawling around the ground, along with cockroaches just as big as the forest rats.

Li had never seen these creatures before, was quite curious, and wanted to catch one to play with, but was sternly forbidden by Zhang Ze.

"Tch, stingy." Li glanced at those big rodents again.

These insects, snakes, and small beasts posed no threat to cultivators, but were indeed unsettling.

Luckily, the forest wasn't large, and after walking for a while, Zhang Ze came out of the forest to the main road.

According to the map and information on the Jade Scroll, this place was not far from a small town called Yazi Town. At the speed of a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator, he could arrive at the town by tonight.

Leaving the forest, the scenery along the roadside was almost the same. Li lay on Zhang Ze's shoulder for a while, feeling bored, she transformed back into an iron sword, hung on Zhang Ze's waist, and entered sleep mode.

Speeding along the road alone, Zhang Ze found the map was somewhat outdated; the road that was supposed to be there had disappeared, replaced by a piece of marsh.

The marsh wasn't wide, and with the sun about to set, standing at the shore, Zhang Ze saw the water mistifying and the setting sun glowing like molten gold, which was quite a beautiful sight.

Just as Zhang Ze planned to use an escape technique to cross the marsh, he suddenly noticed something moving on the muddy shore.

Not a spirit monster, just an ordinary big fish.

The big fish was stranded on the shore, flipping its tail, struggling to twist its body to return to the water.

"Who says I'm kind-hearted?" Zhang Ze thought, since he saw it, he couldn't ignore it.

Following the principle of doing a good deed a day, Zhang Ze went to the water's edge, used his instep to bounce the fish like a ball, and then gently kicked it back into the water.

"Off you go."

With the fat fish back in the water, today's good deed was done, and Zhang Ze felt cheerful while Lin Feng coincidentally contacted him at this moment.

"Hey, what's up?" Zhang Ze asked from the shore.

"Senior Brother, two things..."

Lin Feng's first matter was business.

While Zhang Ze was at the Main Pavilion catching up on studies, Lin Feng had already integrated the stronghold left by Song Qingpao.

And with the demise of the Cyan Thorn Blood Lion and Spiritual Snake demon helms, Lin Feng was now the greatest power of the Demon Path in Cyan Thorn.

He wanted to ask Zhang Ze what to do next.

After some thought, Zhang Ze gave Lin Feng a suggestion, "Keep going, we'll grow and strengthen."

"If I keep going, I'll end up unifying the Cyan Thorn Demon Path." Lin Feng had some reservations.

"Then become the underground emperor of Cyan Thorn; it's a good thing. Listen, I'll analyze it for you." Zhang Ze seriously began to explain the situation to Lin Feng.

"If you succeed, Song Qingpao will feel his power has greatly increased, and he'll be happy."

"The Hundred Demons Sect will consider it easier and less laborious to return to Cyan Thorn later, making them happy too."

"Our Sword Sect would get a stable Cyan Thorn, even happier."

"A triple-win situation, everyone is happy, how nice."

After hearing Zhang Ze's explanation, Lin Feng was silent for a long time before speaking, "Understood, thanks for your guidance, Senior Brother."

Lin Feng was a smart guy, grasped the point quickly, and Lin Feng's master the Sixth Elder happened to oversee the Cyan Thorn Sword Hall.

With these two working together, Zhang Ze didn't need to worry about this matter.

And the second matter was related to Zhang Ze.

Previously, Zhang Ze had asked Lin Feng to look for information related to secret realms or ancient tombs in Dongqi, and now there was a lead.

This clue was found by Lin Feng in one of Blood Lion's direct secret bases in Cyan Thorn.

It was a copy of a human skin map.

According to the records left in the base, this human skin map belonged to the Blood Lion Ancestor, but its origin was unknown, though it was said to be related to Dongqi.

A few years ago, the Blood Lion Ancestor sent a trusted Vice Helm Leader and several loyal followers to treasure hunt, but none returned.

Apparently they all met with mishaps, and later, Blood Lion sent another wave of people to investigate, but likewise, no one survived.

Due to losing too many trusted followers, this matter was eventually left unresolved.

Zhang Ze considered himself not the type to seek trouble, but hearing it gave him a strong sense of déjà vu.

"The place recorded on this human skin map wouldn't be right in Diannan, would it?" Zhang Ze had a bad feeling.

"How do you know, Senior Brother?" Lin Feng was a bit surprised.

"I guessed. Send me that map; let me take a look," Zhang Ze sighed, taking out a Transmission Box from the Hundred Treasures Bag.

Soon, the figure of Lin Feng appeared in the Transmission Box held by Zhang Ze. He was in a place resembling a basement, holding the map in his hand.

Zhang Ze compared the Human Skin Map with the Jade Scroll's map of Lantian County and found that the location was probably near Lantian County.

Meanwhile, the system refreshed the field task.

[Diannan Field Task Refreshed, Diannan Mystery Cave]

Ignoring the system, Zhang Ze memorized the map and taught Lin Feng a few sneaky little tricks before ending the contact.

It was already twilight, and Zhang Ze was indeed ready to leave, but as he was about to lift his foot, he felt something grabbing his ankle.

Lowering his head, Zhang Ze met another pair of eyes.

He saw a pair of bright large eyes, a small nose cutely turned upward on a big face, a large mouth stretching to the ears, surrounded by monkey fur that was black with green.

Water Monkey.

Zhang Ze was seeing it for the first time because Water Monkeys were extinct in Cyan Thorn.

The reason for their extinction was filled with the cruelty of nature.

According to research from the Beast Taming Sect, the ecological niche of Water Monkeys in Cyan Thorn was replaced by a water demon beast called Bone-shocking Fish. After a prolonged survival tug-of-war, Water Monkeys completely disappeared in the region of Cyan Thorn.

Moreover, since Water Monkeys weren't good stuff, their disappearance was unnoticed. No one established any organization like a Water Monkey Protection Association.

In short, very cruel.

Therefore, Zhang Ze, who had never seen a Water Monkey before, took a longer look.

He found this Water Monkey seemed quite dull; even having been discovered, it still clung to Zhang Ze's ankle, as if it was determined to drag Zhang Ze into the water tonight.

Pulling while making a whimpering sound.

Since he had never heard a Water Monkey's sound, Zhang Ze listened a little longer.

When the Water Monkey was almost exhausted, Zhang Ze had seen enough; he thought this creature was indeed not interesting, both ugly and malicious.

He affixed a talisman onto the Thousand Mechanism Thunder and handed it to the Water Monkey.

"Want a taste?"

Staring at the Thousand Mechanism Thunder, the Water Monkey's eyes suddenly turned red. It snatched it up, shoved the thunder into its mouth, then dove back into the depths of the swamp, like it was fleeing.

Zhang Ze sighed, "Sad."

The talisman stuck onto the Thousand Mechanism Thunder was called a Paperman Talisman, capable of imitating human breath. It's a common talisman used by Taoists of Dragon Tiger Mountain for fishing ghosts and enforcing law.

In this lush fish-filled marsh, the Water Monkey was persistently trying to drag people into the water like a starving ghost, obviously having tasted human flesh and lost interest in fish and shrimp.

After waiting for a while, a column of water erupted in the center of the marsh, and the aura of that Water Monkey completely vanished.

"This is the second good deed of the day."

Having dealt with the Water Monkey, Zhang Ze realized he could possibly do one more good deed today.

The fat fish he just sent back into the water got blasted onto the shore by the water column and was now staring at Zhang Ze with fish eyes.

Zhang Ze walked over again.

"Fish, fish, no need to thank me, off you go."

Another gentle kick, the fish was saved again.

Watching the water splash as the fish plunged in, Zhang Ze felt satisfied.

"This is the third good deed of the day."

This time, finally undisturbed, Zhang Ze took out his Snake Sword, and his silhouette flickered away from the shore.

However, the roads in Diannan are different from those in Cyan Thorn; they frequently change, and old paths can get covered by jungle and marsh in just a few years.

Zhang Ze flew into a forest according to the map's depiction.

By then, it was already nighttime, and there were more snakes, rats, insects, and mosquitoes. When Zhang Ze emerged, his clothes were all colorful, stained by the fluids from the corpses of snakes and insects killed by Sword Qi.

"I'll get a wilderness survival set from Thousand Mechanism Pavilion upon returning, Diannan special edition. Foreigners can't stay in this broken place."

But before Zhang Ze could use a spell to clean his clothes and purify them of filth, a dog blocked Zhang Ze's path ahead.

Zhang Ze sighed, "Is Diannan's public security just too poor, or am I really a magnet for trouble?"

A half-headed mangy Dog Demon stood in the middle of the road, swollen with fat, holding a Ghost Head Long Blade.

However, if observed closely, one could see its belly appeared to be edema, holding a black aura unwilling to disperse. It should have practiced some evil technique, needing human flesh to replenish its deficit.

"Kid, leave your life here; I'm hungry,"

This starving Dog Demon was so famished it didn't even bother checking Zhang Ze's cultivation.