CHAPTER 435: CHAPTER 283: ZHANG ZE, ACTING WITH INTEGRITY_2

However, Lily’s confident punch struck nothing but air. A distorted vortex swirled over Zhang Ze’s head as he sank into the ground.

He softened the ground using Escape Technique.

Zhang Ze didn’t actually move; it was just that the ground beneath him couldn’t support his majestic presence.

This was a victory of gravity.

After Zhang Ze submerged himself underground, Lily was a bit bewildered. She stopped Maomao, who was still circling around, and huddled within the Thousand Mechanism Cocoon, trying to trace Zhang Ze’s whereabouts.

"Boss, you’re cheating! Come out!"

"It’s just Earth Escape Technique, perfectly reasonable and legal. Plus, I haven’t left the field, so how am I cheating? Why aren’t you coming down here?"

Zhang Ze’s voice echoed around Lily’s ears.

Lily was momentarily speechless.

"Oh, I see. Lily, your cultivation level isn’t enough, and there’s no corresponding spell on the Thousand Mechanism Puppet. That’s why you can’t find me, right?" Zhang Ze’s sly voice came from another direction.

"Hmm~"

Zhang Ze had hit a sore spot. Lily indeed had trouble locating Zhang Ze. While configuring those Thousand Mechanism Puppets, she hadn’t considered the opponent might dive underground.

Still lacking experience and it was too rushed.

"But Maomao could find me. However, the Thousand Mechanism Armor you put on him probably has sensory blocking features. You’re guarding against me, aren’t you?"

A piece of elbow emerged from the ground in front of Maomao, yet Maomao was indifferent and unresponsive.

Seeing Zhang Ze uncover her little trick, Lily became anxious, "Referee, I report the boss for passive contest, please penalize him!"

The elder looked a bit troubled. Earth Escape Technique wasn’t against the rules, but staying huddled underground wasn’t acceptable either.

However, before the elder could speak, Zhang Ze emerged on his own.

When he initially dove underground, he probed around and had a rough understanding of the workings of Lily’s Thousand Mechanism Fist Gloves.

The real secret was actually hidden underground here.

Lily indeed had an extraordinary talent for sneaky tactics, backdoor dealings, and finding loopholes.

The completion of these venues was done by the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion itself, so they made some small adjustments during the setup, as per Lily’s instructions.

And Old Tang definitely had a hand in it too.

They arranged the Shadow Vein underneath the Qinghe Association and connected it with the Earth Vein below the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion.

The gloves didn’t emit some mighty Taoist Technique; it was just an unstable Earth Vein Transmission Technique.

Due to the need to fit the related Thousand Mechanism Rune Array and associated components into such small gloves, this teleportation technique was rudimentary and lacked any safety.

Speaking metaphorically, it’s like a metro without carriages, where the person being teleported launches abruptly and stops with sheer bodily friction.

In this tense and thrilling teleportation process, Taoist Art would be neutralized, living beings obliterated, leaving only traces of Qi which would persist in some form.

This is why Zhuge just sensed his spell’s aura appearing in the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion.

It got teleported over there.

Although understanding the logic, Zhang Ze had no intention of revealing this; it was a family secret, after all, and publicly exposing it would be no fun.

Moreover, dismantling the venue would pain him too, and he couldn’t manage it anyway.

To take down Lily, the focus still needed to be on the gloves themselves.

That wasn’t too difficult; Zhang Ze had a way to achieve this without exposing the Innate Tao Pill, but how could he approach Lily?

Watching those fingers adorned with gloves, manipulated by Lily like a sleazy uncle’s sword spirit and puppet, Zhang Ze suddenly had a great idea.

All these sword spirits and puppets were controlled by Lily, so he just needed Lily to not want to touch him subjectively.

Zhang Ze knew his way around off-the-record tactics too.

Zhang Ze raised a hand in a stop gesture to Lily, "We agreed beforehand, transformation equals invincibility, so let me transform first."

Reluctantly, Lily had Maomao step back but still sneakily instructed those Thousand Mechanism Puppets to begin charging.

Zhang Ze, pretending not to notice, rummaged through his Hundred Treasures Bag while chatting with Lily.

"You know, we at the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion have a semi-annual bonus." Zhang Ze said.

"Since when?" Lily’s ears perked up.

"Just now. I thought, since our Thousand Mechanism Pavilion has been around for a while, but the sect’s benefits are still lacking, I’ve decided to distribute semi-annual bonuses to everyone, with back payments, and additional allowances based on titles."

"How much do I get?" Lily asked.

Zhang Ze whispered a number via sound transmission to Lily, and then he saw the Thousand Mechanism Cocoon housing Lily enter vibration mode.

But Lily soon calmed down, and her cautious voice echoed from within the cocoon.

"I’m telling you, bribing me won’t work."

"I’ve always conducted myself with integrity; would never do such a petty thing." Zhang Ze said as he donned a robe.

A golden robe.

The entire garment was woven with Purple Gold Silk, rich in Spiritual Qi, and invaluable. On the robe were embroidered the auspicious figures of a dragon and phoenix, only the dragon was Li, and the phoenix was Rongrong.

So, it wasn’t quite as refined, looking like children’s pajamas from afar.

On the back, front placket, and hem of the robe, many golden crystal chips were sewn, glittering in the sunlight.

These crystal chips were crafted from the finest spirit stones and were priceless, equivalent to gold in the Immortal Cultivation Realm.