I picked up skill fragments in the demon world

It was just mere hunger, nothing much to him, and he could endure it.

Zhang Chen began to visualize the "Heaven and Earth Square" diagram in his mind. Now was the opportunity to visualize the diagram, striving to quickly 'grind' it out and then add points to it.

Time flew by, and it was the night of the full moon. Although the underground river water was cold, Zhang Chen controlled the flow of his Qi and blood, which could accelerate the flow. Therefore, he only felt that his Qi and blood were being consumed a bit faster, but he didn't feel cold.

As the full moon day arrived, the crystal core in Zhang Chen's body suddenly twisted and transformed, emitting a bright light. The light was bright white, seemingly like the bright moon in the sky, resembling the moonlight.

Then, Zhang Chen thought, and his body twisted, transforming into a swarm of bats.

There were as many as thirty-six!

Then, the bats actually flapped their wings and flew up, passing through the gap in front of them, constantly flying in the darkness.

"It's a pity about that luminous pearl, but it can't pass through the gap." Zhang Chen, transformed into thirty-six bats, flew in the darkness, a hint of regret in his eyes as he looked at the luminous pearl falling into the water. He was now terrified of being poor.

However, escaping was the priority. Once he returned and controlled the fox spirit to make more explosives, there would be a chance to bring out the treasures from the tomb sooner or later.

Although there was no light underground, it didn't affect the bats' flight. Zhang Chen flapped his wings in the darkness, like a spirit of the night, constantly avoiding the protruding cliffs and rocks underground, skillfully and smoothly traversing the void.

He didn't know how many meters he flew, but after about two hours, Zhang Chen's flying stopped because there was no road ahead, all filled with underground river water.

The underground river water was still turbulent, obviously with a passage under the water.

The bats transformed by Zhang Chen were now clinging to the cliff wall, trying to mobilize the water control technique to separate the underground river, but the next moment he realized that he seemed to have lost the ability to control water.

"When I am in the bat state, I cannot mobilize other skills. I seem to have really become a vampire bat, not that mortal Zhang Chen. The only skill I can mobilize now is blood control."

Zhang Chen suddenly realized that he could not only not mobilize the water control technique, but even the Light of the Righteous God and other skills were ineffective.

However, it wasn't that he couldn't transform back, so he wasn't worried.

The underground space here was narrow, and Zhang Chen didn't choose to return to human form. Once he returned to human form, he would only be stuck in the cracks and unable to move. So, he simply controlled the thirty-six vampire bats to hug into a ball, directly jumped into the water, floated on the surface, constantly swimming along the underground river, and then with the bats mobilizing their wings, directly plunged into the deep water and disappeared without a trace.

Outside

Under the night

In the cave where Zhang Chen usually made gunpowder, there was a sudden sound of flapping wings. In the depths of the cave, thirty-six palm-sized vampire bats flew out from the deepest abyss.

The bats were extremely fast and did not stay in the cave. Instead, they rushed out of the cave directly, and then the bright moonlight in the sky shone on the bats.

A series of mysterious silver-white symbols suddenly appeared on the wings of the thirty-six bats. Then, the symbols flickered with mysterious fluctuations. The moonlight in the sky seemed to have substance, actually like substance, pulling and being absorbed by the vampire bats.

With the bats as the center, all the moonlight within a meter was distorted and absorbed by the wings of the bats.

Then, the thirty-six vampire bats dispersed and soared in the high sky, constantly devouring the moonlight in the sky.

At this time, Zhang Chen felt that his state was very strange. It seemed that each of the thirty-six vampire bats was his main body, and each vampire bat was controlled by his ego consciousness.

Zhang Chen thought, and the vampire bats broke through the air and pounced towards the sika deer in the dark night.

The thirty-six vampire bats flew silently in the dark night. A sika deer resting under a big tree did not react at all. It seemed to be asleep and did not notice the danger from the outside world. It allowed the vampire bats to land on it and did not wake up at all. After thirty breaths, all the blood of the sika deer had been completely absorbed.

The sika deer was sucked dry of blood in its sleep and died silently.

Then, the vampire bats gathered in one place and transformed into Zhang Chen's appearance. At this time, the moonlight in the sky was attracted and poured into Zhang Chen's skin pores, being absorbed by the crystal core in his body.

"I can't see what the moonlight is useful for me for the time being. I just feel a kind of unspeakable comfort in my soul after the moonlight enters my body." Zhang Chen looked at the sika deer on the ground and directly summoned the Fox Fairy Nannan.

"Go, skin and de-bone that sika deer for me." Zhang Chen directed the Fox Fairy Nannan with gestures.

He felt that this was in line with his style now. He could directly summon skills to do things for him. If he had to do everything himself, how could he fit his image as a master?

"You...you actually directly absorb the moonlight with your physical body!!!" The fox spirit looked at Zhang Chen, who was bathed in moonlight, with shock on her face, her eyes full of disbelief.

With Zhang Chen as the center, a circle of several meters was pitch black, and all the moonlight was absorbed into Zhang Chen's body like flowing water.

"What's wrong with absorbing the moonlight with my physical body? Don't you demon clans absorb the moonlight for cultivation?" Zhang Chen was a little puzzled when he saw the fox spirit's unbelievable expression and asked.

The fox spirit took a deep breath: "We cultivators can only let our souls out of our bodies to bathe in the moonlight when we reach the realm of Night Travel, using the power of the moonlight to nourish our souls. I have never heard of anyone who can directly absorb the moonlight with their physical body. How could such an ability be born in this world? Doesn't it mean that for you, standing in the moonlight can absorb the moonlight to nourish your soul, without having to endure the various dangers of the world? Without having to be afraid of the collision of strangers, without having to fear the strong wind between heaven and earth, without having to fear the wind and rain?"

A touch of disbelief appeared in the fox spirit's eyes. She suddenly felt sour in her heart!

But after she was only halfway sour, she realized something was wrong: "Isn't this the cave? How did you escape through the tens of meters of bluestone?"

The fox spirit looked at Zhang Chen with disbelief on her face. There were too many doubts about the person in front of her, and the whole person seemed to be shrouded in mist, which she, Fox Fairy Nannan, couldn't see clearly.

Zhang Chen ignored the fox spirit's question and said, "Hurry up and decompose the sika deer for me. I'm about to starve to death now."

Seeing that Zhang Chen had no intention of answering, a touch of disappointment appeared in the fox spirit's eyes. She knew that since Zhang Chen had a way to escape from the tomb, her freedom was naturally a distant prospect.

Facing Zhang Chen's oppressive gestures, the fox spirit gritted her teeth with anger, but she could only do as she was told.

After the fox spirit had dealt with the sika deer, the two of them headed towards the direction of the cave.

Looking into the distance, a figure was slowly walking under the moonlight, with a sika deer floating behind him, following Zhang Chen.

Arriving inside the cave, all the pots and pans were there. The fox spirit started cooking, while Zhang Chen stood on a rock outside the cave, quietly basking in the moonlight. Although he didn't know what benefits the moonlight had, it was definitely a useful thing to have entering his body.

By the time the fox spirit had finished stewing the meat and Zhang Chen had eaten it, the sky had already brightened, and the sun was leaping out from the east. The bumblebees began to come out to activity.

Sensing Zhang Chen's aura, a swarm of bumblebees immediately rushed over, expressing their affection.

“The number of bumblebees has increased. I'm afraid there are more than five thousand. How can there be so many bumblebees?” Zhang Chen gnawed on a bone while observing the bumblebees in the cave, a look of surprise on his face.

“Unless all the bumblebees from the vicinity have come here! Now that there is a severe drought, it is even more difficult for small animals like bumblebees to survive outside. This place has my honey water and a constant supply of meat, which is the best place for bumblebees to live. Moreover, this group of bumblebees actually gets along harmoniously without fighting. That's strange. Could it be the effect of the dragon energy I left in the cave?”

Zhang Chen sized up the bumblebees while his gaze fell on their nest.

“It's not good for the bumblebees to build their nests here. If I leave this place in the future, I won't be able to take the bumblebee nests with me.” Zhang Chen raised his head to look at the beehive hanging on the cave ceiling. After thinking for a moment, he had a plan in mind. He urged the fox spirit to directly reach out and tear down the bumblebee nest and put it into a basket.

“Tell me, kid, what are you raising so many bumblebees for?” Fox Fairy Nannan looked at the overwhelming number of bumblebees, and the buzzing sound of their wings made her scalp tingle.

“This world is so chaotic, I always need some self-defense methods,” Zhang Chen said.

Zhang Chen picked up the beehive from the basket and found that it was already the size of a plate. Zhang Chen took the beehive, took out a honey jar, smeared honey on the beehive, and then stuffed the beehive into a spare basket. Then, he used a knife to make a dozen holes in the basket, enough for the bumblebees to quickly crawl out, and then Zhang Chen stopped.

“Moving the bumblebees into the basket will allow me to take the bumblebees with me even if I move in the future. It's just that I've moved the beehive. Although there is dragon energy to appease them, I don't know if the bumblebees will accept it.” A look of anticipation appeared in Zhang Chen's eyes. Even if the bumblebees didn't accept it, it didn't matter. He could just continue to rebuild the nest. Anyway, with his honey as bait, he wasn't afraid that the bumblebees would escape.

In fact, Zhang Chen was not disappointed. After the bumblebees finished eating the meat, they followed the scent of honey in the air and directly drilled into the box that Zhang Chen had prepared in advance. Then, one by one, the bumblebees crawled in and began to work, going in and out to continue building their beehive.

“It's done!”

Zhang Chen looked at the bumblebees going in and out, a look of joy on his face. This was his capital to protect himself in this chaotic world.

With these bumblebees, even if a team of five hundred people came, he could easily defeat them.

“Moreover, with the bumblebees guarding this place, the passage into the tomb is also much safer. Although that passage is located in a pit more than fifty meters underground and is covered by a pool of water, it's always good to add an extra layer of protection.”

After Zhang Chen packed up his things in the cave, he pondered for a moment and put down his long knife and other items, only taking the sika deer down the mountain.

His home exploding would definitely alarm the government, and the government would definitely come looking for him.

He had also thought about not going down the mountain, but staying in the mountains to avoid the limelight, digging out the large tomb, and then finding an opportunity to go south, but this idea was not reliable. If he, the person involved, didn't show up, his younger siblings and stepmother would definitely be implicated.

This era was a system of collective punishment, where one person committed a crime and the whole family suffered. If he hid and didn't show up, his stepmother and younger siblings would inevitably be skinned alive.

Although Zhang Chen was going down the mountain, he was also prepared. He had two contingency plans: First, he had an alibi. It would be best if he could get away with it. If he couldn't, he would activate the second contingency plan. Second, feigning death!

If the government insisted on pursuing the matter, they would definitely use his younger siblings as a threat. He could plan to feign death and then hide in the deep mountains and forests to excavate the large tomb, while using his feigned death to separate his younger siblings from the matter.

Of course, he still hoped that his first plan would succeed. At that time, he would have even more plans. For example, now that there was a severe drought, he could sell water, which would definitely accumulate a considerable income to use as travel expenses for going south in the future.

“Selling water is unethical, but I have no choice! There may not be any worldly money in that large tomb. Even if there is, I wouldn't dare to take it out and sell it. If something goes wrong and people realize the origin of the large tomb, the trouble I cause will be even greater.” Thoughts flashed through Zhang Chen's mind.

The fox spirit, carrying the sika deer, followed Zhang Chen with a conflicted expression. After a long while, she stammered, “I said… what do you plan to do with that poor scholar?”

“That scholar has already had an ear blown off by you, and his face has also been ruined by you. Please, for my sake, spare his life! Now that he doesn't have my help, he is no match for you at all. Can't you just do whatever you want with him?” The fox spirit looked at Zhang Chen expectantly.

“I suspect that the kid has already gone to the government to accuse me. If you can get that kid to drop the charges, take all the blame, and save me from a trouble, I don't mind letting him off,” Zhang Chen replied unhurriedly.

Letting him go was impossible, but if it could save him from trouble from the government, he would properly punish that bookworm after things calmed down.

Upon hearing this, the fox spirit directly threw the sika deer meat on the ground, and her figure disappeared in place. Only a voice echoed in the air: “You wait, I'll go give him a dream right now!”