It was the eighth of November and it was not even eight o’clock yet, though the skies had already brightened and Jiang He woke up on his own.
To tell the truth, Jiang He was a little surprised himself.
His day and night had been reversed for a long time and he would usually sleep at around three to four in the morning, only waking up at twelve noon or in the afternoon. In fact, he did not wake up early the previous day, but he somehow woke up naturally this morning?
He headed downstairs after washing up.
Boa Hancock and Sora were already awake and had just cleaned up the house.
“Master, I’ll prepare breakfast right now,” Sora said cutely, putting on her apron and was about to head to kitchen when Jiang He stopped him with a smile. “It’s too early in the morning and I don’t have the appetite, so let’s skip breakfast today. I’m heading overseas, so let’s go together.”
“Master, I want to go!”
“Gramps, we want to go!”
“Squawk-squawk…”
The two eaglets cried then, while Dumbo quickly translated, “Master, they are saying they want to go too.”
“Yes, yes, everyone’s going. Word has it that foreign Ferals are much stronger, so you guys could train up your actual battle experience.” Jiang He smiled. “Now get inside the farm—I’ll be carrying it along.”
Around twenty past eight, Jiang He had packed up his farm, bringing everyone along as he prepared to depart.
Before he left, Jiang He sought Duan Tianhe out and informed him, “Chief Duan, I’ve put a few arrays outside my own house. It’s very dangerous, so don’t send anyone there if there’s nothing urgent.”
Duan Tianhe nodded solemnly.
He realized with a start…
It was no wonder why the Yuan Qi nearby had been raging last night—it seems that Jiang He had caused it when he laid out his arrays.
After Jiang He left, Duan Tianhe quickly called for an emergency meeting and sent word to have some people guard the entrance to Jinyintan Village for the long run, the goal being to prevent any average martial artists from running off into the village.
Meanwhile, Jiang He was with Wang Siyu.
He asked her about her cultivation progress and then took out dozens of initiation pellets, saying, “These pellets are the newest developed product of the Superpower Research Department. It initiates a person’s orifices so that it accelerates cultivation progress and the strength of True Qi released.”
“Have these bottles of Origin Fluid for now.”
“And there’s five catties of sunflower seeds here…”
Jiang He stuffed her a huge pile of stuff, which probably would improve Wang Siyu’s spirit up to tier-nine. She would naturally ascend when her cultivation was sufficient and she could instantly ascend as a full-fledged rank-nine if he were to give her Sword Will Barrenwort once she reached rank-nine.
“By the way, keep this jade charm with you.”
Lastly, Jiang He brought out another jade charm, saying, “There’s a protective array at my house, but you could avoid triggering it with this. I have something to do and will be heading overseas—I’ll be gone a week if things prove to be time-consuming, or three days if it isn’t.”
Wang Siyu accepted the jade charm, standing on tip-toes to give Jiang He a peck on the cheek before lowering her head and blushing.
“Be safe,” she said shly.
Jiang He laughed out loud and patted Wang Siyu’s head before taking to the skies and disappearing over the horizon.
He was Yuan Spirit-intermediate right now. With his divine mind shifting to buffing his body, he was flying at four times the speed of sound even though he had yet to release his full power, hence arriving at Jingdu City in a dozen minutes.
Once he arrived at Jingdu City, he went to Wang Hou first.
Wang Hou was cultivating in his training room, although strands of Daemonic Qi was still latching him and had even eaten into his spirit.
“Aren’t the Amoxicillin Capsules and the Bezoar Detox Pills I gave you working?” Jiang He exclaimed in shock.
“They worked.”
Wang Hou flashed a pained smile. “I would have had a hard time moving if it wasn’t for the wonder medicine you sent me.”
“Were you that seriously wounded?”
Jiang He asked with a frown. “What’s going on?”
The divine-tier martial artist who had delivered the mutated rice and Mosquito Cutter did not mention that Wang Hou’s injury was this serious… Of course, Wang Hou had kept quiet about his situation on purpose and did not tell the uninvolved.
Wang Hou then said, “I had spoken to the disciples of West Mountain’s Wanshougong before heading there, and had an idea what happened—they had kept the Mosquito Cutter, a sword left behind by their ancestral master, beneath a huge tree, but that tree has now evolved into a floral spirit that could match rank-eight pinnacle martial artist.”
“Nonetheless, I cut down the huge tree after arriving at Wanshougong and took out the Mosquito Cutter from under the tree… it was only then that I realized that the ancestral maser had kept the sword beneath the tree to suppress the daemon beneath the Eight-Sided Well!”
Jiang He’s gaze twitched. Having more or less guessed the situation, he said, “It seems that Heavenly Master Xu did not slay that daemon back then, but instead kept it sealed beneath the Eight-Sided Well, after of which he laid some arrays to restrain it further. The huge tree and the Mosquito Cutter must have been the eyes of the array, so after you had cut down the tree and removed the Mosquito Cutter, it was equal to breaking the array, which was why the daemon beneath the Eight-Sided Well could injure you.”
Guilt was written all over Wang Hou’s face.
He said, “After that, I had tried to put the Mosquito Cutter and the huge tree where they had been, but it doesn’t work now.”
“Heavenly Master Xu lived over eighteen hundred years ago. The found of the array was basically crumbling after so long had passed—in fact, if you didn’t cut down the tree or remove the Mosquito Cutter, the array would have faded on its own as time passed.”
Jiang He then asked, “By the way, where’s the daemon now, Minister Wang?”
“It’s still inside the Eight-Sided Well.”
Wang Hou said. “It promised me many boons if I helped it break the Eight-Sided Well, but I did not comply, which was why it had struck at me from the distance.”
Gasp!
Jiang He inhaled sharply before crying out in surprise, “Striking at you from the distance… that means he won’t be weaker than I am.”
Wang Hou was dumbstruck.
Woah.
Studying Jiang He with wide eyes and left at a loss of words, he then quietly asked, “You could… maim me from afar now?”
“It depends on the distance. It’s easy for me to maim or kill you with a single strike if you are within fifty kilometers, but it would be difficult if you were further away,” Jiang He said, honest as ever and now telling the truth as he always did.
On the other hand, Wang Hou was left utterly bewildered, feeling that his martial artist’s heart suffering a terrible blow just then.
Jiang He ignored him, and instead mused to himself for a while before saying, “That daemon would probably not be short of Convergence-tier since he could hurt you from beneath the Eight-Sided Well… but since it had been sealed for over a thousand years, it would probably be Mahayana-tier if it recovered its peak powers, surpassing even Sufferance-tier.”
“Sufferance? Mahayana?”
Wang Hou did not know of such things, which was why Jiang He kept his patience and told him, “It’s how I group cultivators. Right now, I’m Yuan Spirit, after of which comes Convergence, Sufferance, and finally Mahayana… after of which one ascends as an immortal.”
Wang Hou’s face dropped at that.
A daemon, closing in on immortality?
The world would be left in chaos if it gets loose.
Still, Jiang He was not concerned and smiled, “Don’t worry, Minister Wang. It won’t be able to break through the sealing of the Eight-Sided Well since it has yet to free itself. I’ll head to Wasnshougong myself when I return from overseas and strengthen its seal with over a dozen other arrays. If we could delay its escape for a few years, it won’t be stirring any waves even if it gets loose then.”
“You have learned arrays too?”
“Of course. Being a cultivator, won’t I become an absolute joke if I don’t know arrays?”
***
After leaving Wang Hou, Jiang He went to the Superpower Research Department to look for Elder Mu, who was delighted once he heard that Jiang He would help him catch Feral Kings. “Don’t worry, Mister Jiang,” he said. “I’ll put together a crew right away to start producing initiation pellets, and once you return with the Feral King and secured sufficient blood and essence, we would be able quickly produce a new batch.”
Delight showed on Jiang He’s face.
It was only with rewards that one would get motivated.
Hence, around ten, Jiang He left Jingdu City and headed straight for the oceans. He was not concerned with specific coordinates since the Earth was round anyway—all he had to do was keep flying around… or what, was he supposed to be afraid of getting lost with his current ability level?
He was not aware that just as he reached the skies above the vast oceans, a crowd of figures were streaking to the skies or riding clouds, descending upon Jinyintan Village.
The cultivators from the Ten Thousand Swords Sect and the Penglai Sect had arrived.
“Father, Elders… Jiang He’s house is just ahead!”
Zhong Yue stepped up then, saying, “Please wait here for a moment. I’ll knock on his door!”
Glee was all over his face as he made his way towards Jiang He’s house.
Were you not being so smug, Jiang He?
How dare you walk all over me before! I will teach you what’s what on this very day!
Even as he walked, he was laughing haughtily, “Jiang He, come out… eh?”
His face dropped even before he could finish.
He had picked up on a mysterious sense of danger…
Nearby, Zhong Wanshan’s face dropped and he promptly cried, “Yue’er, be careful…”
But it was too late.
Oom!
A radiance abruptly shone, shrouding Zhong Yue… and he vanished in the next instant.
“Array!”
The Fourth Elder of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect—Zhong Wanshan’s wife and Zhong Yue’s mother—appeared very worried. She frowned even as she stared at the radiance that abruptly shone, exclaiming, “It’s an array… Jiang He had actually set up an array over his own house!”
As a matter of fact, Zhong Wanshan’s wife was very skilled at arrays. Though she was merely a full-fledged Yuan Spirit, no one barring the Supreme Venerable Elder of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect would claim to be her superior when it comes to arrays.
Even as she watched her son fall inside the array, she did not panic, but instead, used her divine mind to study it before sneering, “Jiang He is truly arrogant. To think that he would set up an illusory array here… But a mere illusory array would not stop me. Gentlemen, please wait here for a moment as I tear down that array.”
She hence stepped inside the array, brimming with confidence.
Soon, the veins of brighter radiance shone out of the array and a feminine cry echoed.
The cry slowly grew weaker until it eventually faded entirely. With his face dropping, Zhong Wanshan rushed towards the array with a whoosh…
