At dawn, Yangyang lifted the shroud and pinched Qingchen's nose: "Time to get up, breakfast is ready."
Qingchen opened his eyes and suddenly opened his arms to pull Yangyang into his embrace: "I almost thought I wouldn't be able to come back."
Yangyang was caught off guard for a moment. She instinctively wanted to struggle, but after hearing his words, she obediently stopped moving: "Let's go, everyone is waiting for you in the restaurant. The helicopter is ready, and we can start new training at any time."
Qingchen got up and went to the restaurant.
Da Yu frowned and asked, "What happened? Why are you so badly injured? And why were you unconscious earlier?"
Qingchen thought for a moment and said, "I ran into Chen Yu. He chased me with eight paintings. Six of them were scrolls, and two were tattoos on his arm... By the way, you should also have similar paintings on you, for your last chance to protect yourself. What did you paint? Let us see."
Da Yu became alert: "What are you doing?! Don't try to take advantage of me. My masterpiece can't be shown to anyone or used unless it's a matter of life and death."
Zard: "He has the fire god Zhurong on his left and the water god Gonggong on his right. I asked him to tattoo me on his chest, but he absolutely refused and even cursed at me..."
Da Yu: "You son of a bitch!"
Yangyang: "A normal person would curse you..."
Qing Chen pondered: "Then it seems that Chen Yu has gone mad, otherwise he wouldn't have used his trump card to kill me. Those two water gods Gonggong are obviously much more ferocious than the other paintings. He must have kept them to save his own life, but he's gone mad with killing me."
Da Yu asked in confusion, "You actually survived Chen Yu's attack? I thought you would advance to demigod level when you returned last time, and then go and kill him. But you're still only A-level. How could you survive Chen Yu's attack?"
Qingchen explained, "It's by taking advantage of the amusement park's rules."
If a hundred Qing Chens were outside, they would probably all be dead if they encountered those eight painted deities.
Demigods are demigods after all; they are called gods precisely because mortals cannot challenge them.
Qingchen ate a proper breakfast. There was no fancy food, just plain white porridge cooked by Xiaoqi. He hadn't eaten in a long time, so he couldn't start with a heavy meal right away.
Qing Chen looked at Da Yu: "Does Chen Yu have any forbidden items?"
Da Yu thought for a moment and said, "That green ox is very powerful. Chen Yu also has a green bamboo extracted from Chen Xuanwu, which can enhance memory and make the Chen family painters' painting efficiency twice as good."
"What about the others?" Qingchen asked.
Da Yu said, "Over the years, the Chen Clan's forces have been exploring forbidden lands. Years ago, I heard that the Chen Clan's forces found a forbidden object that looked like a jade thumb ring, which was taken by Chen Yu, but I don't know what it was used for. But I do know that he always wore that thing on his right thumb... I don't know about the other forbidden objects."
"We have quite a few life-saving items," Qing Chen said, getting up and walking outside. "Let's start training... By the way, Da Yu, how's the Chen family's takeover going?"
“Grandpa has already been purging Chen Yu’s forces. He took many experts with him, and this is a good opportunity to eliminate the remaining followers,” Da Yu said. “Thank you.”
Qing Chen said with a smile, "I'm helping you fight for the opportunity to seize power, not for your sake, but so that one day when the Roosevelt Kingdom's fleet flies to the Federation, the Chen family can stand up and fight for this land."
Da Yu said earnestly, "Yes, I will."
"Let's go! Training!" Qing Chen boarded the helicopter as if nothing had happened, as if he wasn't the one who was almost beaten half to death a few hours ago.
He changed into his flying squirrel suit inside the cabin while watching the helicopter slowly take off. For some reason, he was unusually calm at that moment.
The hallucination disappeared, but he remembered everything in it.
Qingchen felt as if he had just had a ridiculous dream, or as if he had relived the journey of questioning his own heart.
With just over six days left, he had to fight for his life.
Chapter 928, Qing Chen, a demigod!
The first morning after returning.
In the room, Yangyang carefully applied ointment to Qingchen and bandaged him up.
White gauze was wrapped around Qingchen's wound, like a lover's caress.
Qingchen, with his back to Yangyang, asked, "Who did I inject my blood into?"
Yangyang said softly, "Boss Zheng captured a serial killer and injected him with your blood. He went crazy and now sees everyone as a big tree."
“I see,” Qingchen nodded.
When Yangyang finished bandaging, she tied a delicate lucky knot on Qingchen's shoulder. She looked at it with satisfaction for a while and said, "Perfect, let's go!"
Qingchen put on his clothes and walked outside.
A key door opened at the training base, and Chen Zhuoqu, Jinguji Maki, Xiaotongyun, and others filed out.
When Jinguji Maki saw Keishin, she jumped into his arms and cried out, "Master, I heard you're going to beat up bad guys!"
Qingchen smiled and patted her head: "Master brought you a gift."
As he spoke, he released the shikigami imprisoned in his memory palace into his mind.
But then, streaks of light flew out, trailing long tails like comets, and flew into Maki's brow!
The next moment, 48 shikigami were manifested: Shuten-dōji, Ushi-no-Rakshasa, Ibaraki-dōji, Hannya, Hyōnobu...
No wonder Chika Kamishiro is reluctant to part with the sacred bridge of Hakusan Shrine. The shikigami he lost after his death are now in Maki's hands.
But then he saw the 48 shikigami kneel down to Shinguji Maki, which made Kamishiro Unra's eyelids twitch.
He had previously said he would teach Maki how to control shikigami, and he wanted to teach her micro-management, such as how to make shikigami cooperate and how to operate on multiple fronts.
The problem is that he only has six shikigami, so he has to use them sparingly and pay attention to details.
Maki is completely different; she just goes for it...
Maki is only a B-rank right now, but what if she reaches demigod status...?
No, Shindai Yunluo felt she needed to adjust her teaching approach!
At this moment, Xiao Qi looked at Chen Zhuoqu with a cheerful smile: "Why are you here?"
Chen Zhuoqu looked at Xiao Qi's injuries from the battle with the orcs: "Master sent us... Are you alright?"
Xiaoqi smiled and scratched her head: "I'm fine!"
Chen Zhuoqu turned and left, only saying after taking a few steps away, "It's good that you're alright."
She led her team to the Alps, where this "rolling queen" would find the best spot in the mountains... to witness the ceremony!
Guided by the Key Gate, all the knights in reserve arrived at the training base.
It was Qing Chen who called them here. He wanted these reserve soldiers to watch him challenge a life-or-death test. Wingsuit flying is almost the most difficult of all life-or-death tests. Even in the past thousand years of the Knight's Path, about 30% of people have died in this test.
The knights had plenty of time; their long lifespans were enough to allow them to take their time with the challenges. If one year wasn't enough, they could try two.
But Qing Chen and the knight reserves didn't have that time, so he wanted to show these reserves what a life-or-death situation really was like.
This day.
Qingchen attempted wingsuit flying six times.
After crashing into a cliff, Qingchen suffered 17 fractures. Da Yu used a shroud to heal him, and an hour later, Qingchen crawled out of the shroud again, boarded the helicopter, and took off.
Chen Zhuoqu, Hu Xiaoniu, Hu Jingyi, and the others stared blankly through their binoculars, wondering, "Is Master really that ruthless?"
"I just saw that his arm was twisted irregularly!"
"Even if a shroud can heal broken bones, the pain is real."
Most importantly, the abrasions on the body from hitting a cliff are absolutely impossible to heal with a shroud.
The moment Qingchen stepped back onto the helicopter, they realized that they were still too slow and hadn't endured enough hardship in the past.
On the snow-capped mountain, a group of shikigami are busy at work.
Foxfire warmed the little girl's feet; Menreiki, a huge and eerie mask, floated above her head to shield her from the sun; Zashiki-warashi transformed into a futon under her bottom; and Momiji-gari combed her hair.
What Kamishiro Unra first taught Maki was how to properly turn shikigami into servants...
At this moment, the helicopter carried Qingchen, who had failed once again, back to the training base for lunch.
As they were leaving after finishing their meal, Da Yu called out, "Wait, I just saw that you seemed to have fallen and hurt yourself. Don't you need a shroud to wrap you up?"
He looked at Da Yu and said with a smile, "We don't need a shroud yet, it's just a broken rib. Let's wait until tonight, otherwise it will waste time during the day. The conditions are better during the day, but we can't train at night."
These words stunned Da Yu. He stood outside the cabin and watched Qing Chen walk into the cabin: "Are you out of your mind? If you keep playing like this, you'll die sooner or later. This time you're lucky that you hit your ribs. If you hit your head next time, then this shroud will really become a 'shroud'."
Qing Chen turned around, standing amidst the roaring noise of the propellers, and shouted with a laugh: "I have no way out now. If I don't advance to demigod this time, I'll die when I go back."
Da Yu asked, "Isn't there any other way? Didn't you say before that we could use lightning to create shadows? As long as the lightning keeps striking, we can just keep dodging it."
Qing Chen chuckled: "There's a limit to the number of lightning strikes. Based on the amount of lightning essence in my body, I can probably only last for three hours. And after three hours? I'll still be found by his eight demigod paintings and killed. You know how terrifying the Water God Gonggong's abilities are; that Weak Water can cover the ground, making it impossible for me to move freely anymore."
That weak water is extremely corrosive. If Qing Chen were to step into it, his soles would likely ulcerate immediately, followed by flesh and bones.
Qing Chen continued, "Also, no one has seen what other tricks Chen Yu has up his sleeve. What if he has tattoos on his chest and thighs? It's not like he can only get tattoos on his arms."
Da Yu knew that what Qing Chen said was true.
The reason he hasn't covered his entire body with tattoos is because he's not a demigod yet, so there's no need for it, but Chen Yu definitely has them on his body.
The second day after the return.
Qingchen attempted wingsuit flying eight times.
Day three of returning.
Qingchen attempted wingsuit flying eight times.
Day four of returning.
Qingchen attempted wingsuit flying nine times.
Including last week's training sessions, the total number of training sessions has approached 100.
Most people would probably only attempt this many times in their lifetime, and even the knights would only dare to attempt it this many times in about a year, but Qingchen wanted to complete it in two weeks.
While others gradually accumulate experience over time, Qingchen, within what he considered to be a controllable range, continuously experimented and made mistakes using the characteristics of the shroud.
Until we succeed!
Day 5 of returning.
Qingchen attempted wingsuit flying nine times.
Day six of returning.
Qingchen tried 6 times.
Today, he returned to the training base early, ate a meal, took a shower, and asked Yangyang to help him apply the medicine.
No one dared to speak to him, because everyone knew that Qing Chen only had one day left. If he couldn't break through by tomorrow, he would have to return to the inner world to face the demigod.