Chapter 46: Really Not Considering Becoming an Assassin?

"What is going on? Why did Senior Brother Li concede?"
"No idea. Just a moment ago, wasn't Senior Brother holding the upper hand?"
"I think I saw Zhao Zhen make a move just now."
"How is that possible? Could his attack possibly pierce through Senior Brother's Fire Pot?"
......
Listening to the perplexed discussions among the fellow disciples, Zhang Zhiwei stepped in to explain, "Indeed, Senior Brother Li lost, because Lao Zhao's attack has already pierced through the defense of Senior Brother's Fire Pot."
"When? Why didn't I notice it at all?" Tian Jinzhong exclaimed in surprise.
"It was a needle," Li Fu said with a helpless sigh.
"Just now, when I was inside the Fire Pot, I suddenly sensed that it had been pierced straight through by a needle. If Benefactor Zhao hadn't held back, I'm afraid I would have died without even knowing how..."
"A needle?"
At these words, everyone turned their gazes toward Zhao Zhen in shock.
Among all the fellow disciples, Li Fu's sect-taught Golden Light Spell and other protective techniques might not be particularly outstanding.
However, when it came to the Dao of Talismans, not a single person among the younger generation of Mount Longhu could compare with Li Fu!
Even Zhang Zhiwei frequently marveled at Li Fu's attainments in talismans.
Among the Five Mighty Spirits Talismans deployed by Li Fu, the Central Yellow Pestle Ghost Shi Wenyue was the most formidable, and the defensive capability of the Fire Pot he wielded was completely on par with Zhang Zhiwei's Golden Light Spell!
Yet, even so, Zhao Zhen had forcefully broken through it without using the Golden Escape Streamer to teleport it away!
"Daoist Li, you flatter me. Your attainments in the Dao of Talismans are truly astonishing. I suppose you must have mastered more than just one kind of talisman?"
"Useless. No matter how many types of talismans you master, if you can't hit your opponent with them, bringing them out is just a waste.
These talismans are all carefully drawn by me one by one; I can't bear to waste them in a sparring match."
Li Fu shook his head. Although he had lost the duel, he appeared completely calm and at ease.
"My thoughts exactly," Zhao Zhen nodded in deep agreement.
For practitioners like them who relied on talismans, the preciousness of the talismans was always the greatest drawback.
Unless it was a life-or-death battle, most of the time they simply couldn't bear to waste a single precious talisman.
Therefore, whether the Traversing Heaven Talisman could truly traverse the heavens, Zhao Zhen did not know, but for the mere fact that it allowed one to draw talismans barehanded, it was fully qualified to be listed among the Eight Wonders!

"Lao Zhao, I never expected you to keep this trick up your sleeve when you fought me the other day," Zhang Zhiwei clicked his tongue, a trace of a strange expression flashing in his eyes as he looked at Zhao Zhen.
"When walking out in the world, having a few more tricks up your sleeve is always safer. Otherwise, just like what happened a moment ago, once your own techniques are targeted by someone, wouldn't you be completely helpless?" Zhao Zhen blinked, casting a meaningful look at Zhang Zhiwei.
At this, Zhang Zhiwei awkwardly looked away.
"That needle technique just now... was it the Ghost Gate Needles?"
A disciple of the Celestial Master's Mansion suddenly stepped out from the crowd.
"I am Jiang Ming. Before coming up the mountain, generations of my ancestors practiced medicine. The needle technique Benefactor Zhao used just now looks quite similar to the long-lost Ghost Gate Needles."
"Daoist Jiang has a sharp eye. What I used just now is indeed the Ghost Gate Needles," Zhao Zhen nodded.
"No wonder. I once heard my elders mention that the Ghost Gate Needles are a medical technique that can both save lives and take them.
When saving lives, they can be used to clear meridians and regulate vital energy and blood. When taking lives, they can seal meridians and block vessels, causing opponents to lose their mobility and defense.
And more importantly, this needle technique has miraculous effects against all kinds of defensive measures."
"So that's how it is. No wonder Senior Brother Li's Fire Pot was silently pierced through."
"It possesses stealth techniques no less inferior to the Phantom Shroud of the Shuchuan Tang Clan, coupled with these Ghost Gate Needles designed specifically to break defenses like our Golden Light Spell, all coordinated with his elusive Golden Escape Streamer.
Benefactor Zhao, have you ever considered joining the Tang Clan and becoming an assassin..."
"Don't mention it. If Benefactor Zhao really were a member of the Tang Clan, and someone went to the Tang Clan to put a bounty on my life, I wouldn't even dare step outside the gates of the Celestial Master's Mansion anymore."
"Would it really be that serious? The Shuchuan Tang Clan are all assassins, but no matter what, they've always been on good terms with our Celestial Master's Mansion. They shouldn't turn on one of our own, right?"
"I'm just speaking hypothetically... I'm harmless up here on the mountain all day long, who would have nothing better to do than spend money at the Tang Clan to buy my life..."
"I would~ Junior Brother, if you keep sneakingly wearing my freshly washed socks, sooner or later Senior Brother here might actually make a trip down the mountain to the Tang Clan."
"Senior Brother, it's just a pair of socks, surely it doesn't have to come to that..."
......
Listening to the disciples of the Celestial Master's Mansion bantering with one another, a hint of a smile flashed in Zhao Zhen's eyes.
He could tell that the bonds among these disciples of the Celestial Master's Mansion were exceptionally strong.
Perhaps accustomed to walking alone, Zhao Zhen genuinely envied such pure, fraternal affection among fellow disciples.
"Ghost Gate Needles, huh? Hey Lao Zhao, do you think your needles can break my Golden Light Spell?"
Zhao Zhen glanced at Zhang Zhiwei, then raised an eyebrow.
"You can stand right where you are and let me poke you with one to find out."

Zhang Zhiwei was momentarily stunned, a sudden chill running down his spine. For some reason, he felt that Zhao Zhen's words carried a somewhat malicious intent.
"Forget it. The defensive power of Senior Brother Li's Fire Pot is basically on par with my Golden Light. Since you could break through Senior Brother Li's Fire Pot, piercing my Golden Light probably wouldn't be too difficult either."
Since his Golden Light Spell had already been broken once by Zhao Zhen's Golden Escape Streamer anyway, Zhang Zhiwei simply abandoned the idea of putting up a front to save face.
"Hehe, consider yourself lucky, kid, otherwise I'd definitely have pricked you enough to give you a stomachache for a whole day!" Zhao Zhen thought to himself silently.
"How about it? Is there anyone else who wants to go up and try?"
"Me, me, me!"
A young Daoist priest, around Zhao Zhen's age, squeezed out from the crowd.
"Jingming, what are you cutting in for? Didn't you see that even Senior Brother Li was defeated?"
"Hehe, of course I know I'm no match for Benefactor Zhao, but it's rare for an outsider to come up the mountain. I've long grown tired of sparring with all the senior brothers every day.
Even if I get beaten, I want to experience what it feels like to be beaten by techniques other than the Golden Light Spell, you know?"
"Isn't that simple? Next time you spar with Zhiwei, ask him not to use the Golden Light Spell, but to blast you with thunder magic instead?"
"Hahaha, makes sense, makes sense~"
"Go on, go on. Senior Brother, do you really want me dead?"
Jingming rolled his eyes, then turned his gaze back to Zhao Zhen in front of him.
"Benefactor Zhao, please enlighten me."
"Please."
"Heaven and Earth..."
Bang!
Before Jingming could finish chanting the incantation for the Golden Light Spell, accompanied by a flash of golden light, the next instant, a palm had already landed squarely on his forehead.
"Ah?"
Jingming blinked, looking somewhat dazed at Zhao Zhen who had suddenly appeared right in front of him.
His head ached. Had he just been taken out in a single second?
"Pfft~"
"Hahaha, look at this silly kid, he's still chanting the incantation over there!"
"Do you think everyone is like your senior brothers, politely waiting for you to finish chanting the Golden Light Spell before fighting you? Hahaha, I'm dying of laughter..."