237: wide awake

The rattan whip lashed Lin Zhao's butt, making her jump in pain.

And when it comes to hitting that kind of thing, there's only zero times or countless times.

With one decisive strike, the Old Madman pressed his advantage, making Lin Zhao jump and run.

Just as the next rattan whip was about to land on Lin Zhao's butt, the Old Madman suddenly froze.

Lin Zhao was not someone to be trifled with either; she quickly seized the opportunity and pulled away.

She ran to the side, secretly watching the Old Madman's movements.

The Old Madman stood in place, the hand holding the rattan whip trembling uncontrollably.

A flicker of clarity passed through his dazed eyes, and he mumbled something incoherently.

"Eight... Ancestors... Shaking... Heavens... Demonic... Art..."

Thump, the rattan whip fell to the ground.

His right hand slowly rose, making a grabbing motion towards Lin Zhao, "Slaying of the Heavens... Slaying of the Heavens... 'Secrets of Heavenly Mystery'... Celestial Aberration is approaching... Son of Calamity..."

The aura around the Old Madman began to become chaotic.

It fluctuated between strong and weak; when weak, he was like an ordinary person, but when strong, a trace of his pressure almost crushed Lin Zhao.

Fortunately, the Mature Woman appeared in time, shielding Lin Zhao from the indiscriminate spread of this aura.

Lin Zhao stared at the Old Madman with a solemn gaze; although she knew he was very strong, if this Mature Woman was so powerful, how much more so was the Old Madman?

Due to the vast difference, Lin Zhao still didn't have an intuitive sense of the Old Madman's strength.

She only vaguely felt that he seemed to be much stronger than her own master.

"It seems Old Zhou is about to wake up!"

Hearing the sweet and pleasant voice beside her, it was the Mature Woman speaking to her.

However, the Mature Woman wasn't looking at Lin Zhao, but staring directly at the Old Madman.

With the Mature Woman's words, Lin Zhao immediately understood that this unfathomable senior, Old Madman Zhou, was about to regain consciousness.

So Lin Zhao happily said, "That's wonderful, Sister Qing! I've wanted to properly meet Senior Zhou for a while now."

Previously, out of respect, Lin Zhao had also called this Mature Woman 'senior'.

However, the Mature Woman felt that calling her that made her sound too old; she had just turned eighteen this year.

After a moment of thought, her real name was Wan Qing, and since her name contained the character 'Qing', Lin Zhao could just call her Sister Qing.

Lin Zhao was also a woman and knew how sensitive women were about their age.

Moreover, calling her Sister Qing made their relationship seem closer, didn't it?

To be able to get closer to such a powerful person was something Lin Zhao also wanted to see.

Not to mention, the other party had also saved her life.

So she immediately praised the Mature Woman, saying she didn't look eighteen at all, and sixteen was more accurate.

Coupled with Lin Zhao's serious expression, it looked as if the words came straight from her heart.

This made Wan Qing cover her mouth and laugh non-stop, especially Lin Zhao's serious demeanor, which greatly increased Wan Qing's favorable impression.

A gentle "Sister Qing" immediately made Wan Qing's heart blossom with joy.

Although her attention was currently fully on her husband, she still chatted with Lin Zhao beside her.

During their conversation, Lin Zhao often cheered Wan Qing up.

As they talked, she learned why the Old Madman had chased after her to hit her after she had gotten that handkerchief dirty.

It turned out that the Old Madman's real name was Zhou Chi, and in his youth, he was just one of the minor characters among the profound practitioners on the Xuanzhe Continent.

His talent was not good, and his family background was not good either.

His father was originally a Qi Sea Realm practitioner, but unfortunately, he died when Zhou Chi was eight, and in the same year, his mother followed, dying of grief.

Thus, he could only cultivate according to his family's inherited cultivation method, and without guidance, he took many detours.

He hadn't successfully broken through to the Qi Sea Realm even at Lin Zhao's current age.

Wan Qing's talent, however, was good, and her family background was even more powerful; it was said that her family had a Heaven Profound Realm expert guarding it, and she had broken through to the Yuandan Realm at the age of eighteen.

Logically, the two should not have had any intersection.

But one day, when Wan Qing went out for training, she was ambushed and severely injured, and was coincidentally rescued by Zhou Chi at that time.

During this period, Zhou Chi meticulously cared for Wan Qing and repeatedly risked danger to help her divert crises, and so, everything fell into place...

However, the disparity in their identities was ultimately a chasm; forcing themselves together could not succeed and would only harm both of them.

When Wan Qing went out for training, she was dressed rather simply, so she took out an ordinary handkerchief, while Zhou Chi took out a strangely shaped stone.

They exchanged them as tokens of love.

Before leaving, they also agreed that Wan Qing would wait for him, waiting for the day Zhou Chi could take her away.

Thus, Zhou Chi had a goal to motivate him, and he cultivated diligently, gaining some fortuitous encounters in the process and making rapid progress.

Unfortunately, unforeseen circumstances arose; just as Zhou Chi had cultivated to the Divine Infant Realm, the Wan family was annihilated!

Hearing this terrible news, Zhou Chi went mad, cultivating almost to the point of becoming a demon.

From then on, Zhou Chi treasured that handkerchief as if it were a priceless gem, carrying it with him wherever he went.

If anyone dared to say anything bad about it, or that the Wan family had all died, he would draw his sword.

Finally, he successfully broke through to the Di Gang Realm, and so he eagerly wanted to go seek revenge.

His original plan at the time was to assassinate some minor figures first, and then deal with the major ones.

However, he was unlucky; right at the start, he encountered a major one—a Peak Earth Opening Realm expert.

With one move, just one move, he was knocked off a cliff.

There, he encountered the greatest opportunity of his life—'Secrets of Heavenly Mystery'!

This was a Heavenly-grade divination cultivation method; once mastered, one could predict all of an opponent's moves.

It even allowed for a certain degree of foresight into the future.

Divination did not mean there were no offensive techniques; on the contrary, they were very powerful.

At the same time, its Heavenly-grade status also ensured that it was difficult to master.

But to seek revenge, Zhou Chi cultivated this method at all costs, bringing him countless hidden dangers.

Soon, Zhou Chi successfully broke through to the Heaven Profound Realm.

He was originally planning to seek revenge when he happened to encounter Wan Qing, who was lingering near the enemy's territory.

It turned out that Wan Qing had been sent out on a mission by her family at the time and had not been purged.

And Wan Qing's family had already been destroyed; as long as the enemy's forces were also destroyed, there would be no more obstacles between them, and so...

Later, he always carried this handkerchief with him, washing it once every day.

Even in his deranged state, he never forgot this habit.

This story was quite melodramatic; someone who didn't know might think it was a novel.

Lin Zhao had such a feeling, so she was somewhat silent.

Thinking about her own experiences, Lin Zhao felt a sense of empathy for some reason.

Their experiences, how similar they were!

Her cultivation had been absorbed when she was young, and just recently, her luck had finally turned around.

But then misfortune followed, her family was destroyed, her teacher was captured, and she herself fell into a half-finished spatial teleportation, almost dying inside.

Looking up at the Old Madman again, Lin Zhao's eyes held a trace of shared feeling.

At this moment, the Old Madman had also completely sobered up, looking at Lin Zhao with tired and complex eyes.

Seeing this, Lin Zhao immediately stepped forward, "Greetings, Senior Zhou!"