"Thank you, Master. You’ll soon be glad you took in," Jiang Man said.
’What a big talker.’ He Huai’an didn’t mind, though.
Jiang Man was number one in the Third Courtyard, though there were always those who claid he only got it because the real geniuses weren’t around.
But an advantage was still an advantage.
Now, the most Mo Zainian could say was that he couldn’t teach the boy Alchemy. But could he say the disciple himself was lacking?
However, in Mo Zainian’s eyes, the current Jiang Man had just gotten lucky and gained a bit of fa.
Next year, when he suffers a setback against the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Courtyards, he would understand there are always bigger fish in the sea.
He Huai’an didn’t care whether he suffered a setback or not.
After all, he could finally stand tall. That was enough.
He didn’t dwell on anything else.
’Number one in the Outer Sect? Only a young man would think like that. Who wasn’t full of grand ambitions in their youth? Being so poor and still dreaming of becoming number one in the Outer Sect... that’s just a fool’s dream. Otherwise, why would I have taken up Alchemy back in the day?’
"Still so young," He Huai’an sighed. "If he had started learning Alchemy with sooner, he could have avoided a few detours.
"A sha. Young people are just so stubborn."
He took a sip of wine and didn’t dwell on it.
Now when he went out, he no longer had to worry about being accused of having no heart for Alchemy.
Instead, he could be the one making a few remarks about others.
Life finally had sothing to look forward to.
After leaving his master’s residence, Jiang Man went to buy so Elixirs.
For the next three months, he would focus on cultivating his Spirit.
Because of the tempering process, he’d need one pill a day, which ant ninety pills in total.
His master had given him ten, so he still needed eighty more.
They cost six hundred each.
With a ten percent discount, that ca to forty-three thousand.
Next were Nourishing Essence Pills. He’d grab thirty to do so light Cultivation and deal with hunger.
Sixteen thousand.
Jiang Man did the math. Just like that, he was out sixty thousand.
He had fifty thousand left.
And that was before buying any Fire Elent Pills.
He got ten, just in case.
Seven thousand two hundred.
That left forty-two thousand.
Besides Cultivation, he also needed to prepare so healing Elixirs and Talismans.
They were all light and easy to carry.
After buying everything, he was left with thirty-eight thousand Spiritual Source.
It was still a decent amount.
After that, Jiang Man went to the Seventh Courtyard to et up with the others.
Everyone had prepared a lot of supplies.
Most of it was for Cultivation. He didn’t see much food, so they were probably relying on Nourishing Essence Pills or Qi Blood Pills.
When Ji Hao arrived and saw that everyone was ready, he said, "Let’s go. We need to get in quickly, or it will close.
"Rember, don’t run around recklessly after we get inside. It’s called a Secret Realm, but it isn’t, really. In short, be extrely careful.
"The first priority in an unfamiliar environnt is to conceal yourself and ensure your safety."
Everyone indicated they understood.
Then, everyone from the small courtyard received an Iron Token.
They stepped into a large Array that had been prepared in advance.
—
「Within the archipelago.」
The vegetation was extrely tall. There were so buildings on the periphery, with people occasionally flying in and out on their swords.
At that mont, on the island at the very center, streaks of light descended.
Standing in a patch of tall grass, Jiang Man looked around in so surprise.
The environnt here was surprisingly good.
It was countless tis better than the Ancient Well Sixth Secret Realm.
The others also looked around in astonishnt.
It was unexpected. The vegetation was lush, and the sun was bright.
It looked like a good place.
But as the light from the Array dissipated, Jiang Man’s brow furrowed. ’The Spiritual Qi is fading?’
All the previous places, even the Ancient Well Sixth Secret Realm, had an abundance of Spiritual Qi.
But here, just like in the region where the Yunqian Bureau was located, the Spiritual Qi was extrely thin.
And once the light of the Array faded completely, even that thin Spiritual Qi vanished.
This place...
...was no good place at all.
"Feel that?" Ji Hao, standing at the very front of the group, said with a smile. "This is where the Inner Sect holds its grand competition. Of course it’s not going to be a nice place.
"Control the Spiritual Qi in your bodies carefully. You have three months, and you don’t want to run out of Spiritual Qi at a critical mont, do you?"
Jiang Man wasn’t too worried, though. Only Ancient Cultivators would need to worry in a situation like this.
Nowadays, they cultivated their Physical Body, Spirit, and Cultivation base.
Spiritual Qi could be converted; as long as one ate their fill, they could slowly convert food into Spiritual Qi.
’Otherwise, why would villages be able to grow food? And why would everyone need to pursue Immortal Cultivation?’
In short, as long as they could eat, they would be fine.
"Also, a little reminder: everything edible here is poisonous. It won’t be easy to find sothing to eat," Ji Hao said with a smile.
Everyone was stunned.
Jiang Man felt like Ji Hao must have co here just to torture them.
Yan Yiqiu sighed internally. ’So we really are here to endure three months of tornt.’
This place was far from peaceful.
After they had a mont to collect themselves, more streaks of light appeared around them.
Imdiately after, figures appeared in mid-air, one after another, all on flying swords.
They erged and imdiately scanned their surroundings.
They were sowhat surprised to discover Jiang Man and his group.
One of the n looked down in astonishnt and said, "A group of Foundation Establishnt cultivators? There are people this weak in the competition this ti?"
Then a woman glanced down at Jiang Man’s group. "Has the Wuyun Sect run out of people?"
Then, they flew away on their swords.
Only after they had all left did the group let out a sigh of relief.
Such a powerful pressure.
Even Jiang Man could feel that these people were incredibly strong.
"How did that feel?" Ji Hao asked, coming up beside Jiang Man.
After a mont of thought, Jiang Man asked, "Why do they all have Spirit Swords?"
’They can’t all be that rich, can they? Or maybe they were forced to buy one?’
If he gritted his teeth, he could afford one too.
But it felt like a waste.
"Because when you advance from the Outer Sect to the Inner Sect, the Sect gives you a very ordinary Spirit Sword," Ji Hao explained.
Hearing this, Jiang Man felt the Sect was quite generous.
But on second thought, only giving one to Golden Core cultivators was a good way to save money.
"Let’s go. Those people won’t bother with us on the ground, and we don’t need to pay them any mind.
"As long as we don’t enter the area of their grand competition, we won’t be attacked by them," Ji Hao said with a smile.
Yan Yiqiu reminded them, "Even if we stay out of their area, this place is still very dangerous. You can’t let your guard down."
The others nodded.
So, however, were curious. Why were they using Sword Control? Weren’t they afraid of wasting Spiritual Qi?
"The weight and total amount of their Spiritual Qi is far greater than ours," said Zhuo Bufan.
Everyone nodded.
That made sense.
Afterward, they left the grassy area and walked along a main path.
Before long, they arrived in front of a marketplace.
"This is the Sect’s stronghold. We’ll stay here, and during the day, we’ll leave the Central Island to head for the Outer Islands.
"There are three things you need to be careful of.
"First, the various Demon Beasts in the sea and on the islands.
"Second, be wary of people who suddenly appear. If you encounter anyone, you must imdiately check if they have a Sect Token. There are people who live outside the archipelago, and they are not ordinary humans.
"Third, there are strongholds of Evil Demons and Outsiders here. They might attack this place, so you must be extrely careful."
’Evil Demons and Outsiders?’
As Outer Sect disciples, they had never seen such things before.
’Isn’t it too soon for us to be encountering them now?’
Jiang Man felt that his advantage as an Unparalleled Celestial Pride had vanished.
Because everyone here seed stronger than him.
Telling powerful enemies that he was an Unparalleled Celestial Pride would be... foolish.
All he could do was lie low, gather so resources, and raise his strength as quickly as possible.
Besides, the presence of Evil Demons and Outsiders ant this place was likely outside the jurisdiction of the Immortal Sects.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to maintain overt strongholds.
Within the Immortal Sects’ jurisdiction, anything that couldn’t see the light of day had to remain hidden.
Just like Old Huang.
’His power is extraordinary, but he has to be cautious in everything he does. Back at the Yunqian Bureau, he’d dared to help find a wife, but here in the Sect, he doesn’t even dare to retaliate against an attack from ng Qiewei. Because it would be too easy for the Sect to detect him. The closer one gets to an Immortal Sect, the more sensitive their detection thods beco.’
—
「Outside the archipelago.」
Aboard a ship, two masked figures confird each other’s identities.
The taller masked figure asked, "Have you been dreaming?"
The rotund man replied in a low voice, "I received the decree. We need to rescue the ssenger."
The tall masked figure said, "I hear the Wuyun Sect sent a group of Foundation Establishnt cultivators this ti. Perhaps we can find a breakthrough with them."
The rotund man was surprised. "Foundation Establishnt? We can’t just enter the area where they’re staying. We’ll be easily discovered."
The tall masked figure said confidently, "They’re from the Seventh Courtyard. A single cultivator at the Late Stage of Foundation Establishnt could take them down. To be safe, we could send soone at Foundation Establishnt Perfection."
The rotund man sighed. "You know as well as I do, our Foundation Establishnt cultivators are different from the Sect’s. Theirs are stronger."
The Sects monopolize the resources of this era, and their Cultivation thods are constantly being revised.
How can the Ancient Dharma Gates compare?
But the Ancient Cultivators have one advantage: they remain in the Foundation Establishnt Realm for many years and have nurous tricks up their sleeves.
The Sect’s experts, at most, spend ten years before moving past this Realm.
"They don’t follow the heavenly cycle or the natural way of the Dao. They take unorthodox shortcuts. It’s not yet certain who the real Evil Demons and Outsiders are," the tall man scoffed. After a pause, he added, "We’ll send soone to launch a sneak attack tonight. We should be able to make a breakthrough. They’ll definitely be resting at night."
The rotund man suddenly asked, "I rember the decree ntioned soone... that Cloud Mist Peak’s Seventh Courtyard also has a substitute ssenger. Is this Seventh Courtyard from Cloud Mist Peak?"
The tall man froze. "Yes."
Both of them lit up with joy.
’The heavens are helping us!’
—
This is the last day for the monthly ticket lottery, ending at midnight tonight. The list of winners will be announced tomorrow or the day after.
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