Free Web NovelChapter 319: Chapter 199: Testing Me to See if I’m from the Immortal Sect?
’But no matter what, I have to find a way out of here.’
’Now, arrests have been made regarding Jiang Man, and the Zhao Family has also been captured. Someone has to become the key figure, or they won’t release anyone easily. Even if the initial inspection turns up nothing, they’ll just dig deeper. And if they dig any deeper, I won’t be able to withstand the scrutiny.’
’So the only way is to make that Old Yellow Ox the target of all blame. The price is too high. If I’d known it would come to this, I never should have let the Zhao Family act.’
Zhao Tiankuo was filled with regret.
He had originally planned to use the Zhao Family to get on the good side of the Immortal Sect, hoping to recover his own strength under their banner.
’Now I see it would have been better to just figure things out myself.’
————
The situation outside had come to a temporary close.
Now, Jiang Man, inside the Immortal Mansion, only needed to occasionally check his Identity Token for any reports.
His remaining task was to improve his strength as quickly as possible within the Immortal Mansion.
Additionally, he had to be careful of the strange mist.
For the next ten days, Jiang Man spent all his time reading. He needed to improve further, then set up an array.
He had a feeling the second earthquake was coming soon.
If he couldn’t finish studying the Twenty-One Introductory Books before the second earthquake arrived, he would be in trouble.
In ten days, he had read another five books.
June 1st.
Four Array Books remained.
’Another eight days should be enough. Then I’ll spend a day to fully integrate the knowledge, and after that, I can lay the array.’
The woman who had been injured had already mostly recovered five days ago and had started going out with the others.
Her name seemed to be Lin Chenling.
On this day, they returned, bringing someone else back with them.
He had some injuries, but they weren’t serious.
Jiang Man looked over.
The man looked at Jiang Man, a hint of contempt in his eyes.
"I have to give him two Chao Yuan Taiyang Pills?" the man asked, unconvinced.
"It’s what’s required. After all, the array belongs to him," said Lin Chenling, who had recovered from her injuries.
"I can set up this array," the man said.
But he didn’t have the materials.
You had to bring the basic materials in with you.
It was hard to find basic materials later on.
’But now that the foundation is here, I can actually take over and seize control of this place.’
Jiang Man looked at him, rather surprised, and said, "In that case, do you have the Thirty-Six Books of Ascension?"
Hearing this, the man was taken aback, not understanding what Jiang Man meant.
"If you do, you can enter here directly. If you want this array, I can give it to you, and then I’ll leave on my own," Jiang Man said.
’Fewer people isn’t a bad thing for me. It’s better to find a good place to develop on my own than to get caught up in schemes with these people. I’ll eventually meet other people and buy Chao Yuan Taiyang Pills from them.’
Jiang Man’s words took everyone by surprise.
He didn’t want the array, only the Thirty-Six Books of Ascension.
’This... Just how much does he love to study?’
At this moment, Shangguan Lingyue turned to the man and said, "This place has been through a major earthquake, and the array didn’t even budge. Do you have that kind of skill?"
At that, Hai Lian and the others also looked at the man.
The meaning was clear: if you replace him and your skills are lacking, the consequences will be dire.
For a moment, the man was at a loss for words.
’Why should they believe him?’ he wanted to ask.
Actually, Lin Chenling had an instinctual feeling: ’A person who can read nonstop for days, through day and night, can’t be ordinary. He’s genuinely making constant progress. How could anyone else compare? Especially since he’s someone who reached the Golden Core realm from the Outer Six Courtyards. If he says he has a talent for arrays, it’s almost certainly true. As for the others... They’re probably just exaggerating.’
In the end, the man handed two pills to Jiang Man.
Jiang Man also purchased five Chao Yuan Taiyang Pills from him.
He paid the difference of 2,500 Spiritual Source.
Now he had twenty-nine Chao Yuan Taiyang Pills and thirty-three Chao Yuan Shaoyang Pills.
As well as 134,500 Spiritual Source.
"Outside, someone has started destroying arrays, defeating and heavily injuring people, and using their blood to refine arrays," the newcomer said.
Hearing this, everyone grew concerned.
Jiang Man asked about the other party’s Cultivation.
The answer he got was that there should only be cultivators at the Early and Middle Stages of Golden Core in the vicinity.
He had never seen a single one at the Late Stage.
That was why the other party was so brazen.
After that, they began to rest.
Jiang Man paid it no mind and continued reading.
「Eight days later.」
June 9th.
Jiang Man closed the final book and proceeded to return them.
Then, he closed his eyes and began to recall all the array patterns he had seen.
In an instant, a vast number of array patterns swirled around him in a chaotic jumble.
As Jiang Man understood and categorized them, the array patterns began to rotate in an orderly fashion.
Finally, they all settled deep into his mind, merging with the previous array patterns until they were indistinguishable.
When Jiang Man opened his eyes, he discovered that the group of four had grown to eight.
These people all bore injuries to some degree.
Seeing Jiang Man awake, Shangguan Lingyue gave him eight Chao Yuan Taiyang Pills.
Afterward, Jiang Man tried to trade with them, but this time they didn’t want to trade, opting to sell directly instead.
They sold for 2,300 each.
Jiang Man was silent for a moment, then agreed.
In the end, he bought fifteen Chao Yuan Taiyang Pills.
Thus, he now had fifty-two Chao Yuan Taiyang Pills and thirty-three Chao Yuan Shaoyang Pills.
And 100,000 Spiritual Source remaining.
Afterward, Jiang Man asked if anyone had the Thirty-Six Books of Ascension.
Unfortunately, no one did.
Then, Jiang Man listened as Hai Lian and the others spoke about the outside world.
It was the same as before; someone was attacking people everywhere to refine an array.
Their group was large. They used blood sacrifices for refinement and carried arrays for personal reinforcement.
As a result, many cultivators with weak defensive perimeters were brutally ambushed.
Normally, it would be difficult to find arrays and claimed territories in the mist.
But the enemy seemed to have mastered some special ability.
They could locate others within the mist.
This location was far enough away to be safe for now, but what would happen later was unknown.
However, Jiang Man also heard some people complaining that the price here was too steep.
But no one wanted to have their blood drained to refine an array.
They had no choice but to find an array to hide in.
Because outside, they would be exposed targets, while their enemies remained hidden.
They could easily be ambushed.
As the situation grew more dangerous, Shangguan Lingyue hesitated for a moment before approaching Jiang Man.
He asked if the entry fee for newcomers could be reduced.
If things continued like this, their small numbers would make them vulnerable.
With more people, it would be easier to find Array Materials, and it would also be easier to purchase the Elixirs Jiang Man wanted.
Jiang Man agreed.
In the end, the price was changed from two Taiyang Pills to one.
As for the few who had already paid the higher price, it was just their tough luck.
Just then, Jiang Man noticed a new notification on his Identity Token.
Upon checking, he saw it was from the person in charge.
The content was simple. It said the investigation was so difficult because they couldn’t obtain better information on the Evil God.
They hoped to be able to view the books about the Evil God in the Immortal Sect’s Immortal Dao Pavilion.
This would allow them to improve more so that things wouldn’t be so troublesome next time.
It asked if he could borrow them.
Jiang Man’s brow furrowed.
’Improve? Borrow? This is a test. They’re testing to see if I’m really from the Immortal Sect.’
’These people are a real handful,’ Jiang Man sighed.
’How am I supposed to borrow them? There’s no way. I can only pretend I haven’t seen it for now.’
He had thought that using Old Huang’s translations would solidify his credentials, but now it seemed they only recognized official Immortal Sect items. The translations didn’t count for anything.
At most, it just made him seem well-read.
But Jiang Man wasn’t worried, because there was nothing he could do about it.
Overthinking it was pointless.
For now, he should first consider whether to reinforce the array or to unlock the second layer of the box.
The requirement for the box’s Second Layer was to reach the Middle Stage of Golden Core and finish studying the Twenty-One Introductory Books on arrays within three hundred days.
Now, he had met the conditions.
However, he examined the box and figured it would take three to five days to unlock.
Learning and setting up the new array would take about the same amount of time.
In the end, Jiang Man decided to first study the arrays from the Mountain and Sea Array Pattern, and then set one up.
Because he couldn’t be sure when the second great earthquake would happen.
He then looked through the Mountain and Sea Array Pattern.
There were two Basic Formations he could now set up.
One was the Array of All Things Rejuvenation, which could heal injuries, and the second was the Mountain and River Illusion Array, which had certain spatial properties.
Both arrays worked on him personally, like support skills. But they could also strengthen the main array severalfold, making it harder to break.
After a moment’s hesitation, Jiang Man decided to set up the Mountain and River Illusion Array. As long as he was inside the array, his movements would become erratic and difficult to track.
It was equivalent to gaining an extremely powerful Magic Skill while inside the array.
If anyone tried anything funny, he would have no choice but to display the might of a prodigy.
「Three days later.」
Thanks to Shangguan Lingyue’s recruitment efforts, the original team of eight had already grown to twenty people.
Half of these people were at the Middle Stage of Golden Core.
At this time, several people were standing guard within the array to prevent any accidents.
Among them was a fairly strong cultivator at the Middle Stage of Golden Core named Zhao Qiu. After observing his surroundings, he gestured for the person next to him to look at Jiang Man.
Then he whispered, "Do you guys think this person is really that important?"
The others couldn’t say for sure.
But having to give him a Chao Yuan Taiyang Pill just to enter bred resentment.
Especially when even Shangguan Lingyue, who did all the hands-on work, didn’t charge anything, while this guy who just read books all day did.
They couldn’t help but feel it was unfair.
Zhao Qiu looked at the expressions on their faces and said softly, "We’re staying here to protect him. If we were to ask to ’borrow’ some elixirs from him to improve our cultivation, do you think he’d agree?
"He must be loaded. After all, every person who comes has to give him a pill.
"And I hear he’s only at the Early Stage of Golden Core."
