Knowing that Zhang Yang was there to see the purple bamboo tree, Zhu Dongling immediately led him around the mud-brick house where they lived.
They arrived at the backyard.
As soon as he entered, Zhang Yang's senses picked up something.
The air in the backyard was exceptionally pure, as if it had been purified.
What met Zhang Yang's eyes was a vibrant purple bamboo tree.
This bamboo tree was not as tall and straight as ordinary bamboo.
Instead, it resembled a large tree, spreading its branches and leaves in an umbrella shape, reaching a height of about two adult men.
The entire bamboo tree had purple branches and leaves. At the very top of the bamboo trunk, a few purple bamboo fruits were faintly visible.
"Brother Zhang Yang, this is the purple bamboo tree. The purple bamboo fruits I sold you were picked from here," Zhu Dongling explained.
Zhang Yang nodded silently and walked towards the base of the purple bamboo tree.
After a careful examination, he was greatly shocked.
As a cultivator, Zhang Yang could perceive things that ordinary people like Zhu Dongling could not.
Spiritual energy!
He could actually sense the spiritual energy described in the "Carefree Immortal Scripture" near the purple bamboo tree!
It seemed his guess back then was correct.
Heavenly treasures like the purple bamboo tree must be nurtured by the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, otherwise, they could not survive.
Yet, the spiritual energy in this world had long been depleted.
Why could he sense the presence of spiritual energy around this purple bamboo tree?
Zhang Yang was very curious and decided to investigate.
He conjured true qi on his index and middle fingers of his right hand and flicked them in front of his eyes.
He opened his Heavenly Eye.
With the Heavenly Eye open, the spiritual energy of the purple bamboo tree became visible to the naked eye.
Within a two-meter radius of the purple bamboo tree, there were strands of spiritual energy.
Zhang Yang followed the strands and found the source of the spiritual energy.
It was underground!
"Dongling, can I dig here?" Zhang Yang asked.
Zhu Dongling tilted her head, looking at Zhang Yang's strange behavior.
However, after a moment's thought, she did not refuse.
"Yes, you can."
With Zhu Dongling's permission, Zhang Yang picked up a nearby shovel and began to dig beneath the roots of the purple bamboo tree.
Ten minutes later.
A pit, half a meter wide and one meter deep, appeared in front of Zhang Yang.
Suddenly.
A sky-blue light flashed, exceptionally dazzling.
Zhang Yang and Zhu Dongling quickly covered their eyes. After the light subsided.
Zhu Dongling also knew that something was unusual here and quickly leaned her head over to look.
She discovered a waterdrop-shaped blue crystal shining beneath the purple bamboo tree.
"Brother Zhang Yang, what is this?"
"This... there's actually something like this!"
Zhang Yang trembled all over, extremely excited.
"This is a Heavenly Scar."
The Heavenly Scar, shaped like a teardrop, according to the "Carefree Immortal Scripture."
It is a rare heavenly jade stone that can absorb and store the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
Upon seeing this, Zhang Yang finally understood.
Why the purple bamboo tree could grow normally and even bear fruit.
It seemed that all of this was due to this Heavenly Scar.
Zhang Yang was very tempted. Today was indeed a worthwhile trip.
With this Heavenly Scar, his strength could be further improved.
However.
Zhang Yang did not rashly take the Heavenly Scar. Instead, he turned to ask.
"Dongling, can you sell this jade stone to me? No matter the price." Zhang Yang said.
Zhu Dongling shook her head, her eyes curiously examining the glowing Heavenly Scar.
"Brother Zhang Yang, you've helped our family so much, I wouldn't sell it to you."
"Since this blue stone is useful to you, I'll give it to you."
Zhu Dongling was exceptionally generous and agreed without a second thought.
From Zhang Yang's expression, she could guess that this item was very precious.
However, Zhu Dongling was not a greedy person.
Zhang Yang had already helped their family a lot, so she wouldn't take his money.
Besides, this blue jade stone, although beautiful.
It also required someone who recognized its value; otherwise, it would be nothing more than a decorative item.
Just like the purple bamboo fruits, no one other than Zhang Yang had offered such a high price.
"Give... give it to me?" Zhang Yang was stunned and confirmed again.
"Are you sure? This thing is..."
Zhu Dongling shook her head and interrupted.
"Brother Zhang Yang, you don't need to say anything more. This blue stone is yours. I can make this decision."
Zhu Dongling patted her ample chest and said generously.
This...
Zhang Yang pondered for a moment and smiled brilliantly.
"In that case, I won't be polite."
With that, Zhang Yang jumped into the pit and took out the Heavenly Scar.
Instantly.
As Zhang Yang took out the Heavenly Scar, the vibrant purple bamboo tree in front of them withered at a visible speed.
"What... what is this, Brother Zhang?"
Zhu Dongling was startled. "Could there be a monster!"
Zhang Yang chuckled. This scene was indeed quite unreasonable in front of ordinary people.
"Heh, how could there be monsters now? This is because I took the Heavenly Scar."
"This Heavenly Scar is equivalent to the nourishment for the purple bamboo tree. Without it, the purple bamboo tree naturally cannot survive."
"That's why I wanted to buy the purple bamboo tree, because in this way, there will be no more purple bamboo fruits in the future."
"How about it, you can still regret it if you want."
Zhu Dongling heard this and continued to shake her head.
"I don't regret it, I'm just a bit surprised. It turns out that what they show on TV is true."
With the wilting of the purple bamboo tree, Zhu Dongling's family lost their source of income.
However, Zhu Dongling did not show any reluctance or regret.
In her opinion, Zhang Yang had already given them more than enough.
Even if the purple bamboo tree bore fruit next year and Zhang Yang wanted it, she would give it to him directly.
"Brother Zhang Yang, it's almost noon. Stay for lunch," Zhu Dongling changed the subject and said.
"Okay, it's a good opportunity for me to check your mother's health," Zhang Yang replied.
Then he followed Zhu Dongling out of the backyard, and the two walked into the dilapidated mud-brick house.
During this time.
There had been a lot of rainy days, and the entire house exuded a musty smell.
There was only one table and four wooden stools in the hall, and nothing else.
Describing it as having bare walls was not an exaggeration.
Even the tiles covering the roof had sunlight penetrating through.
It looked like it would leak everywhere on a rainy day.
"Mom, I'll go cook. Brother Zhang Yang understands medicine, let him take a look at you," Zhu Dongling said, worried that Zhang Yang would get hungry if he waited too long.
After greeting her, she went to the kitchen to rummage through everything, preparing to cook the best food they had to entertain Zhang Yang.
"This girl, she's so old already, how can she be so flustered in front of a guest,"
Her mother chided, shaking her head. "Young man, please don't mind her."
Zhang Yang shook his head, unconcerned.
"Auntie, let me take your pulse first and see what's going on."
"I didn't expect you to know medicine. You're truly accomplished at such a young age."
"..."
Zhang Yang smiled and said nothing, focusing on taking Zhu Dongling's mother's pulse.
After a diagnosis, Zhang Yang had a clear understanding.
In fact.
Zhu Dongling's mother was not suffering from any serious illness, just accumulated fatigue.
She had various minor ailments, and when combined, they became a major problem.
However.
This was no difficulty for Zhang Yang.
Zhang Yang first used his true qi to help regulate her body.
Then he wrote a prescription and asked her to get the medicine and take it on time.
In about a month, her body would greatly improve.
At the very least, she would be able to work in the fields.
At noon.
Zhang Yang stayed at Zhu Dongling's house for lunch.
The dishes were not fancy, but they were made with the family's heartfelt effort, and they tasted quite good.
There was stir-fried eggs with chives, carrots, and a soup with minced meat and egg.
Zhang Yang was not a picky eater and ate with relish.
After eating, Zhang Yang expressed his gratitude.
Even though Zhu Dongling's family refused, Zhang Yang didn't care whether they accepted it or not; he just did it.
With the purple bamboo tree withered, Zhu Dongling's family had no source of income.
So Zhang Yang asked Zhu Dongling to work in the marketing department of Han Corporation.
This way, she would have a stable income every month.
As for the dilapidated mud-brick house, Zhang Yang had also called Mangzi of the Fengyun Association.
He asked him to help find a reliable construction team to rebuild a small Western-style house.
Zhang Yang also transferred one million yuan to Zhu Dongling's account.
Of course.
This one million yuan was transferred after Zhang Yang left.
When he transferred money to Zhu Dongling last time, he had her account number on his phone.
Zhang Yang did this to prevent them from refusing.
After completing all this.
Zhang Yang drove away from Zhu Family Village.
Having obtained the Heavenly Scar, Zhang Yang chose to improve his strength as soon as possible.
Because the enemies lurking in the dark might be very strong.
Although he didn't know why they were targeting him, Zhang Yang still had to be on guard.
Thinking about it.
He decided not to go home, as He Qiyan was currently living with him, and it was better to be cautious.
Zhang Yang went to the Dragon Group base. As the captain of the Dragon Group, it would be relatively safer there.
...
Meanwhile.
As Zhang Yang headed to the Dragon Group, He Qiyan also left Qin Shengnan's residence.
She was somewhat disheveled, with even traces of fighting on her clothes.
There were wounds of varying depths on the torn parts of her clothes.
The reason for this was naturally that He Qiyan had come to demand an explanation.
He Qiyan could guess with her feet that the matter Zhang Yang mentioned last night was related to Qin Shengnan.
When she went to demand an explanation, Qin Shengnan, who already had a bad relationship with He Qiyan,
did not offer any explanation for He Qiyan's accusations.
She merely said that she liked the scent on He Qiyan.
Her expression was infuriating.
Unsurprisingly, the two immediately got into a fight.
The final result was a mutual defeat.
Both of them sustained injuries to varying degrees.
If Liao Zixia had not intervened, they might have fought to the death today.
Due to this incident today, these two senior sisters had completely parted ways.
"Qin Shengnan, I will personally kill you sooner or later!" He Qiyan gritted her teeth and stared at the villa, saying in a low voice.
Originally, He Qiyan thought that after breaking through to the Hidden Yuan realm, she could teach Qin Shengnan a good lesson.
Who would have thought.
Qin Shengnan's strength was not much weaker than hers.
At this moment.
He Qiyan's phone in her pocket rang.
She received a long string of intelligence data, which was from within the Seven Killers.
Finding a quiet place, He Qiyan carefully examined it.
The more she read, the more her expression became grim.
It turned out that this morning, she had used her master's order to carry out a mission in Jiangnan City.
She had asked the intelligence department of the Seven Killers to help retrieve the major events that had occurred in Jiangnan City over the years.
The reason for this.
He Qiyan wanted to find evidence to verify whether what Grandpa He said was true.
"Back then, Master indeed brought people from the Seven Killers to Jiangnan City..." A killing intent emerged from He Qiyan, exceptionally dense.
Years ago, a major event occurred in Jiangnan City.
Many people died here.
Many forces poured into Jiangnan City at the same time.
Besides the Seven Killers, there were many other forces of comparable strength.
However, it seemed that none of them succeeded in the end, and all returned empty-handed.
This was because someone had intervened to stop them. The intelligence did not specify where these people came from.
Or perhaps, they didn't know either.
However, this organization that stopped them left a mark.
This mark was a red dragon.
Unlike the green flood dragon of Zhang Yang's Dragon Group, this was a five-clawed red dragon.
Moreover, He Qiyan had seen this mark on her parents when she was a child.
"It seems that what Grandpa said might be true," He Qiyan said in a low voice.
She felt self-reproach, guilt, and anger brewing within her.
Even though she didn't want to believe it, the facts were right in front of her, and she couldn't help but believe them.
And the most important point...
The purpose of these people coming to Jiangnan City back then was the same as the purpose of her master sending her to Jiangnan City this time.
It was all to find...
He Qiyan desperately shook her head, tears falling uncontrollably.
She never imagined.
That she had been deceived into recognizing a traitor as her father for over ten years.
If she hadn't returned to Jiangnan City this time and Grandpa hadn't reminded her, she might never have known.
Suddenly.
He Qiyan, who was crying, had her shoulder patted.
She quickly got up and turned to look.
"Grandpa, why are you here?"
Seeing him, He Qiyan was stunned.
How did Grandpa know she was here?
"It's nothing, I just came out for a walk with you." Grandpa He glanced at He Qiyan, a hint of heartache flashing in the depths of his eyes.
"Let's go, this is not a place to talk. Let's go back first."
...
Dragon Group Base.
In the captain's lounge, Zhang Yang sat cross-legged on the floor.
An inexplicable energy fluctuation emanated from his body.
Suddenly.
With a bang.
A surge of energy spread out from around him, sweeping outwards.
The blue stone suspended in front of Zhang Yang also turned to ashes in an instant.
"Is this the power of the Carefree Heavenly Realm?"
Zhang Yang felt the surging, rolling true qi within his body.
Zhang Yang was pleasantly surprised.
Although the Heavenly Scar beneath the purple bamboo fruit tree did not contain much heavenly spiritual energy.
It was already more than enough for Zhang Yang at the moment.
He had successfully broken through to the Carefree Heavenly Realm, and even reached the peak.
With this strength, He Qiyan should no longer be his match.
After breaking through his realm, Zhang Yang left the Dragon Group base.
However, as soon as he left.
Fang Zheng appeared at the place where he had just broken through, lost in thought.
...
Returning to Han Corporation, it happened to be the time for the afternoon shift.
When Zhang Yang arrived at the marketing department, he found Zhu Dongling standing somewhat awkwardly at the entrance of the marketing department office.
She nervously fiddled with the corners of her clothes, looking unsure of herself.
Her two timid eyes darted around nervously, as if searching for something.
When she spotted Zhang Yang, she quickly ran over.
"Brother Zhang Yang, you're here," Zhu Dongling said with a smile.
"Have you been here for a while? Why didn't you call me?" Zhang Yang asked, seeing her expression.
"It's okay, I just came a bit early," Zhu Dongling said sheepishly.
"I really don't know what to do with you. Come on, I'll take you to complete the onboarding procedures."
With that.
Zhang Yang led Zhu Dongling to the human resources department.
He was now the manager of the marketing department, so hiring a team member for the company was a simple matter.
After completing the onboarding procedures, Zhang Yang led Zhu Dongling back to the marketing department.
He handed her over to a team leader in the marketing department and then left the office.
"I haven't seen Xiyao for almost a whole day. I wonder if she misses me."
Zhang Yang muttered to himself narcissistically and then headed towards Han Xiyao's office.
However, before he could enter.
He heard strange sounds from inside.
"Slow down, don't be so fast."
"Can it go in like this?"
"No, it's too narrow, still can't get in."
"This way is fine. How about going through the back door?"
...