Free Web NovelChapter 323: Chapter 201: Old Yellow Ox: A Great Demon Wants to Save Me?
But soon, someone came to report that the mist was beginning to churn.
It seemed a third great array had begun to expand.
Xu Chen was a little surprised. "What’s the distance?"
"It’s still very far," the person reported.
"No matter. We’ll continue capturing people, and keep spreading the rumors about the Celestial Essence Array. Sooner or later, we’ll run into the newly risen array and swallow it whole," Xu Chen said.
————
At that moment, Jiang Man activated the Array Materials, expanding the Array.
In an instant, all the materials resonated, their power connecting.
Immediately after, a large amount of mist receded.
A vast stretch of forest appeared within the Array.
Behind it was a river.
And in front, a stretch of wasteland.
The Array’s sudden expansion astonished Hai Lian and the others.
After growing accustomed to the Array’s original field of view, the sudden sight of such a vast vista was staggering.
However, they didn’t know what had happened.
All they knew was that Jiang Man and Shangguan Lingyue had suddenly been isolated by the Array, and after a long wait, the Array had abruptly grown larger.
Just then, Shangguan Lingyue emerged from his isolation within the Array. He walked over to Hai Lian and the others and said seriously, "You’ve all seen the current situation. Get ready to recruit people. We’ll definitely have to face the Blood Sacrifice Array and the Celestial Essence Array in the future."
"The Blood Sacrifice Array follows a crooked, evil path, and the Celestial Essence Array’s approach is to share the rewards. What path will we take?" Hai Lian asked.
After a pause, she added, "Who’s in charge now?"
Shangguan Lingyue hesitated for a moment before saying, "I lost."
Lin Chenling was stunned. "You fought?"
Shangguan Lingyue nodded.
For a moment, Hai Lian and Lin Chenling exchanged a look of disbelief.
’Wasn’t he just in the Early Stage of Golden Core?’
’To think the intel was wrong.’
’But there are so many of us.’
As if reading their minds, Shangguan Lingyue said, "Numbers are meaningless. We can’t set up an Array like this."
"The Array is the core of this place."
"Without this Array, we don’t stand a fighting chance, let alone have any hope of becoming the final victors."
"Before, we only wanted the rewards from a small array. Now, things are different."
After a pause, Shangguan Lingyue continued, "You all understand the situation with those people from the Blood Sacrifice Array. But this Jiang Man has both strength and the Array."
"We can’t compete with him."
"Cooperating with him is the only way to gain more."
Hearing this, Hai Lian and the others had nothing more to say.
Afterward, Shangguan Lingyue explained their recruitment philosophy.
The idea was to first become part of the winning side, and then let opportunities go to the worthy.
And by "worthy," of course, he meant whoever could snatch it for themselves.
"With so many people, different groups will form, and there will definitely be conflict," Hai Lian said.
"It doesn’t matter. It’s just mutual exploitation from the start. Let’s focus on becoming the victors first."
"The Blood Sacrifice Array won’t be so easy to beat," Shangguan Lingyue said.
Next, they arranged for people to guard the Array and began searching for the Thirty-Six Array Patterns of the Hall for Jiang Man.
Unfortunately, no one had them.
The Taiyang Pill requirement for joining the Mist Array was also abolished.
Joining was now unconditional.
Different times called for different strategies.
The others had no objections.
The next day, Shangguan Lingyue led a group out to find more people.
Soon, their location would become the third major Array.
A three-way standoff, all vying to be the final winner.
After the group left, Jiang Man summoned Zhao Qiu.
He asked for his name.
Zhao Qiu didn’t dare to hide it and answered truthfully.
Hearing the name, Jiang Man was a bit surprised. "The Zhao Family from Wind and Rain City?"
Zhao Qiu immediately replied, "The Zhao Family from Qiuye City."
He was suddenly very grateful that there were two Zhao Families.
Jiang Man’s tone softened. "Do you know Zhao Yaoyao?"
"Little Zhao Girl? I’m her older cousin," Zhao Qiu said seriously.
’We both have the surname Zhao, so Yaoyao isn’t losing out.’
’Besides, the fact that this man mentioned Zhao Yaoyao means her standing in the Zhao Family will be very high in the future.’
’Especially if the person before me continues to rise meteorically.’
’All the more so.’
"Why did you cause trouble for me?" Jiang Man asked curiously.
"I was jealous," Zhao Qiu answered honestly. "Senior Brother Jiang’s talent is unparalleled, the greatest in all of history. My jealousy was uncontrollable."
Jiang Man was taken aback, apparently not expecting such an answer. "Then couldn’t you have suppressed it?"
"I’ve heard Senior Brother Jiang has a cultivation partner. Can Senior Brother suppress his feelings for his partner?" Zhao Qiu asked.
"I can," Jiang Man nodded.
"And that is why Senior Brother Jiang’s talent is unparalleled, the greatest in all of history, while I am merely one of the common masses," Zhao Qiu said, bowing his head in admiration.
Hearing this, Jiang Man was startled.
’This guy’s way of talking...’
’He’s no worse than Li Yuan.’
After that, Jiang Man asked about the matter of borrowing resources. He wanted to defeat the people from the other Arrays and "borrow" from all of them.
He wanted to ask if this was appropriate.
"It is not!" Zhao Qiu shook his head in terror. "Senior Brother, you absolutely must not do such a thing. Borrowing an Elixir or two from one or two people is nothing, but if you ’borrow’ on a large scale by force, the Sect will intervene."
"At the very least, you would have to hand over all your resources for an investigation."
"Why?" Jiang Man asked, curious.
Zhao Qiu immediately explained, "While the Sect allows competition, it is always over unclaimed opportunities, not the resources people already possess."
"If this sort of thing were allowed to happen, Student Cultivators with weaker foundations who are trying to polish themselves would have no chance to rise."
"The young masters and ladies raised by families, and the disciples of Elders, would plunder the opportunities of everyone below them."
"The Sect does not allow such things to happen."
"This is to protect them, to protect people like Senior Brother Jiang, and even more so, to protect the healthy development of the Sect."
"Once this matter becomes serious and is confirmed by the Sect, your path will become difficult, and entering the Sect’s core will be even harder."
"For a prodigy, it’s a fatal mistake."
After a pause, Zhao Qiu added, "Although this is an Immortal Mansion, it is still within the Sect’s jurisdiction."
In truth, Zhao Qiu had considered not warning him, letting Jiang Man dig his own grave.
But, the other party was copying him.
If that happened, he would be doomed as well.
Besides, if he didn’t give the warning, Shangguan Lingyue certainly would. It was better to claim the credit for himself.
Jiang Man felt it was a bit of a pity.
’Looks like I still need others to come looking for me.’
’That way, I’ll have just cause.’
Afterward, Jiang Man decided to open the second layer of the box.
As for the Array, he also needed to speed up its expansion.
According to Shangguan Lingyue, after the second great earthquake, the trees would begin to bear fruit—fruits of three different colors.
Each person could only eat one type.
Red enhances Cultivation.
Orange enhances the Physical Body.
Green enhances the Spirit.
You could eat as many as you could control, but they would have no effect once you left the Array.
When the third earthquake occurred, the person at the core of the Array would be able to draw upon the power within the Array.
This power was similar to Cultivation.
After learning this, Jiang Man’s first thought was, ’After the third earthquake, with my Great Success of All Rivers Flow into the Sea, won’t I be invincible?’
’With that kind of power, couldn’t I pull off a big score?’
However, Zhao Qiu had poured a basin of cold water on that idea.
’What a shame.’
He needed to enter the Sect’s core and become a Direct Disciple.
With that, Jiang Man focused his Heart Spirit and began to examine the box.
He began to unlock it.
——
Deep within the Law Enforcement Hall’s prison.
Ren Qian walked in carrying some fodder and placed it inside a cell.
The one imprisoned here was none other than Jiang Man’s Old Yellow Ox.
Ren Qian wasn’t sure if this was actually the Evil God, but he still had to provide the fodder.
He had wanted to say that once the Immortal Sect arrived and determined there was no issue, the Old Yellow Ox would be free to go.
But if it was the Evil God, saying that would be equivalent to tipping it off.
So he just put down the fodder and left.
The Old Yellow Ox lowered its head and ate the grass.
’The food here is better than outside.’
’But they haven’t done anything more to me after all this time, so I should be fine for now.’
But it had no way of knowing what was happening outside.
’That Ren Qian is cautious, though. He doesn’t say a thing.’
The Old Yellow Ox wasn’t worried, however. Jiang Man’s luck was heaven-defying. As long as he didn’t revert to his childhood form, he would surely make use of the identity that person had given him.
Of course, if he told that person about his own situation, then it would all be over.
There would be no point in escaping; they could just wait for death together.
For now, it didn’t need to do anything but wait quietly for Jiang Man’s arrangements.
But just as it was eating, it suddenly detected an extremely faint wisp of Demon Qi.
’A Great Demon?’
Immediately after, the Demon Qi transformed into a wisp of information that a yellow ox could understand.
It said that the people here wanted to kill it, and asked if it wanted to leave.
The Old Yellow Ox looked down at the unprecedentedly fine fodder and fell silent.
’Here, not only do I not have to witness Jiang Man’s youthful impulsiveness, but I also don’t have to suffer from hunger.’
’Other than not being able to wander around, there doesn’t seem to be anything bad about this place.’
"You won’t live long here, and you can’t leave. I can awaken your intelligence and let you feel power. After that, you just have to wait for an opportunity to escape this place."
