The Hermit of Forgotten Love frowned.
He was about to voice his doubt, but held back—the Hermit of Forgotten Love’s divination just now had clearly taken a toll on him, and doubting him further would cause a rift between them.
And what if his divination was not mistaken?
The most dangerous place was also the safest. If Jiang He did hide near the Penglai Sect…
As the thought crossed his mind, the Hermit of Forgotten Love promptly whipped out his acoustics jade charm to contact the Penglai Sect.
Soon, both men sped off, leaving the oceans and hurried towards the Penglai Sect.
***
Meanwhile, Jiang He was naturally unaware about all that.
He was rubbing his temples in his farm and breathing a long, weary sigh. “I’ve finally harvested everything…”
It had taken him over an hour to do all that. Still, having to work hard did not matter since he was a farmer. How much did that little bit of effort even weigh?
Most importantly, the System Notifications were so annoying.
Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding… there was no end to the ringing and his head was almost exploding. Fortunately, the System had a silent mode or Jiang He would definitely had been overwhelmed.
Still, a smile showed on his face at the sight of his System Backpack, which was filled to the brim.
Diligent effort would always be rewarded.
Jiang He did a general count and noticed that he had harvested a total of 410,000 mediocre-grade spirit stones as well as 38,000 superior-grade spirit stones. The soul items and sage items that he had planted had each improved by one grade after he strengthened them too.
After turning the tables against the Penglai Sect and the Ten Thousand Swords Sect cultivators, he had initially obtained thirty-eight soul items of various grades. As for sage items, there were six of inferior-grade, three of mediocre-grade and two of superior-grade.
But after strengthening them via planting, all his inferior-grade soul items became mediocre-grade soul items, while mediocre-grade soul items became superior-grade soul items, and superior-grade soul items became premium-grade soul items.
“All six inferior-grade sage items became mediocre-grade sage items.”
“Meanwhile, the three mediocre-grade sage items became superior-grade sage items… with that, I have enough sage times to trade for the Taixu Sect’s moon.”
“As for the two superior-grade sage items…”
Jiang He felt a little helpless then.
The two superior-grade sage items had certainly been upgraded to premium-grade sage items, but the sword-honing bottle gourd and a moon blade were useless to him… even if those were great treasures for others, neither items were worth a penny to Jiang He.
Instead of taking the time to hone a sword, would it not be better for him to plant it?
“What a shame.”
“And here I was thinking that the bottle gourd would grow into seven little bottle gourds after replanting, and letting the Seven Bottle Gourd Brothers eat it… wouldn’t the kids be able to breathe Sword Qi as well after that?”
“When that happens, they could switch between Sword Qi and Blade Qi at any time with just one ‘hetui’. How wonderful would that be?”
With that, he nonchalantly dumped both premium-grade sage items into his System Backpack.
Out of sight, out of mind.
He would keep them to trade for other premium-grade sage items in the future.
After that, he would plant the traded item and he just might strengthen it into an immortal weapon.
Collecting his thoughts, Jiang He turned his eyes toward his stats panel.
[Name: Jiang He]
[Cultivation: Immortal Path—advanced Yuan Spirit; Martial Arts—divine-tier (union)]
[Ability: Royal Sword, fire]
[Martial Arts Cultivation: Indestructible Diamond (Mastery+), Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms (Mastery+), Strengthened Nine Yang Technique (Eighth Tier+), Ninefold Thunderblade (Mastery), Dragon-Elephant Prajna (Mastery), Nine Heavenly Stars Body Formula (Third Tier+), Three Thousand Calamities (Fourth Fold+), Twenty-Three Swords (Mastery).]
[Arrays: Ice and Fire Duality Sword Array, Sword Array of Five Elements and Six Pulses, Great Nine Heavens Array of Dragon Sealing, Nine Heavens Thunderflame Array, Earthen Black Tortoise Array, Ten Thousand Phenomenon Array.]
[Owned Land: 9 Mu]
[Farm Level: 5 (EXP 500000/500000)]
[System Backpack: 24 boxes]
[System Shop: Unlocked]
[Farm Points: 112,800,000]
“112.8 million Farm Points. It is more or less expected.”
Taking out several spirit condensation pellets and cultivating nonchalantly, Jiang He felt the growth of his Yuan Spirit while thinking, ‘At this rate, I would be a full-fledged Yuan Spirit come tomorrow morning… of course, on the condition that I cultivate overnight without sleeping.’
Overnight cultivation?
Jiang He gritted his teeth and went for it!
It was not like losing one night’s worth of sleep would kill!
Moreover, how could he sleep soundly if he did not resolve the annoyance that were the two immortal sects?
“Still… there is something that needs solving.”
Jiang He stepped out of his farm in a flash, arriving on the isle where he had a barbecue.
Taking out his jade charm, he studied it.
However, he still had no idea how to use it after studying it for half a day.
“Since Elder Mo could reach me with this jade charm, I should be able to reach him as well… the fact that I can’t use it means it still lacks something… the jade charm in novels would have a spiritual mark left on its counterparts.”
Elder Mo had given Jiang He this jade charm, which meant that he had placed his spiritual mark on it, which was how he could contact Jiang He. However, Jiang He had not left a spiritual mark on Elder Mo’s jade charm, which was why he could not initiate contact Elder Mo.
Jiang He realized that with a start.
Is that not the same as phone calls?
I can call you if know your number, but how could I reach you if I don’t know your number?
Moreover, it would be they type without a caller ID, meaning I can’t get back to you after you’ve called me.
“This jade charm is so outdated…” After complaining a little, Jiang He was ready to head back to his farm when his jade charm flashed. He appeared delighted—Elder Mo was calling him.
He promptly answered.
A silhouette of Elder Mo was projected then and he went straight to the point, saying, “Jiang He, did you run off to the Penglai Sect? I just received word that all their elites have been mobilized to search the nearby seas!”
“The Thousand Sword Daoist who is hunting you is adept at divination and is able to deduce the general location of where you are hiding. You have to be careful!”
Jiang He appeared taken aback and he exclaimed in surprise, “That impressive?”
That was when a powerful aura flew in from afar and Jiang He looked up to find a full-fledged Yuan Spirit cultivator streaking through the skies with Royal Sword Flight. His divine mind was searching the seas without holding back… and he eventually found Jiang He.
Incidentally, that cultivator was the True Habitant of Nine Dragons, and he was astonished at the sight. He promptly attempted to flee but it was already too late—two Sword Qis, one scarlet and the other blue shot towards him like long dragons, piercing his chest immediately. With that, raging Sword Qi pervaded his body and extinguished his Yuan Spirit.
Jiang He then retrieved both flying swords with a wave of his hand and could not help laughing. “It seems that using mediocre-grade sage weapons to cast the Ice and Fire Duality Sword Array greatly improves its power.”
Elder Mo’s silhouette was left gaping and he could not help exclaiming, “Did you just… kill someone?”
“Yeah.”
“You know him too, it’s that True Habitant of Nine Dragons from the Penglai Sect. Anyway, I have something to ask you, Elder Mo.”
“I’m sure an elite would arrive soon after I’ve killed him, so let’s keep it short…”
Jiang He appeared calm, as if killing another cultivator of equal level with Elder Mo was just like killing a mosquito as he asked, “Elder Mo, I’d like to ask… how is the Sufferance-tier specifically categorized?”
That question left Elder Mo deeply suspicious.
He asked by reflex, “Could the legacy you received not categorize Sufferance-cultivation into different tiers?”
Nonetheless, Jiang He answered truthfully, “You wouldn’t know, Elder Mo, but I did not receive any legacies on the immortal path. Every technique I’ve cultivated to date has actually been developed on my own or revamped from online documents… By the way, do you know about the Internet? It’s something very interesting…”
Elder Mo did not catch the last part clearly, though he would not have understood it even if he did.
His silhouette shook once, a look of disbelief showing on his face.
After seeing that, Jiang He said, “Could you be doubting me, Elder Mo? Heck, it’s not just immortal cultivation—I created every martial art, array, pellet refinement, item refinement and even sword array on my own!”
He appeared a little unbearably angry at that. “That Ten Thousand Swords Sect or whatnot is too much! I created a sword array on my own and they had to insist that the Ice and Fire Duality Sword Array is a forbidden technique they keep within their own sect. Don’t you think that’s ridiculous?”
“Aside from the Ice and Fire Duality Sword Array, I’ve also made the Sword Array of Yin-Yang and Three Realms, the Sword Array of Four Harmonies and Universality, the Sword Array of Five Elements and Six Pulses, the Sword Array of Seven Stars and Eight Trigrams, the Sword Array of Nine Skies Thunderflame, as well as the Sword Array of Ten Realms and Infinity! What, do those sword arrays belong to the Ten Thousand Swords Sect?”
Elder Mo’s eyes bulged into circles then, and his mouth was hanging open so wide that even a large eggplant could fit.
That was when Jiang He gasped in surprised and muttered to himself, “What the heck… the the Sword Array of Nine Skies Thunderflame? I forgot I had that… and isn’t that overlapping with the Nine Skies Thunderflame Array?”
At that very moment, endless thoughts flowed through Elder Mo’s head. As a million emotions coursed through his mind, he was left unsure of what to say just then.
He was thinking…
Was Jiang He for real?
He could accept it if Jiang He was merely bragging, but wouldn’t it be ridiculous if it was all true?
Regardless, he was unwilling to believe it and simply proceeded to explain the cultivation tiers in Sufferance, which Jiang He was left at a loss. “There really are nine heavenly retributions… by the way, how many thunderbolts would there be in each heavenly retribution, how powerful would it be, and what is the timeframe for each heavenly retribution?”
“There are nine thunderbolts in each heavenly retribution, and the bolts would naturally be powerful—there is no telling how many elites have died to their heavenly retributions. As for the timeframe… it would be two joss sticks between each bolt.”
“That long?!”
Jiang He was surprised. “There are people actually getting killed even though there is so much time between each bolt? Shouldn’t they have recovered from any injury after taking some mystic pellets or medicine the time of two joss sticks?”
“Those take times to refine, just as time is needed to recover from one’s injuries…”
Elder Mo was about to ask ‘why would you ask this’ when he heard Jiang He mutter, “One joss stick is half an hour… so two joss sticks is an hour?”
“With each heavenly thunderbolt descending in the space of an hour… each heavenly retribution includes nine thunderbolts, and nine times nine is eighty-one…”
“Gasp!”
“Doesn’t that mean I would have to suffer through eighty-one hours’ worth of heavenly retribution?”
Jiang He felt a massive headache then and could not help cursing, “Damn it, and I thought suffering overnight was enough. It turns out to be eighty-one hours instead, and not even three days and nights would be enough!”
Elder Mo’s mouth hung open before asking blankly, “What are you calculating, Jiang He?”
“I’m calculating how much time it would take for me to suffer through all nine retributions in one go… not even three days and nights is enough? Isn’t that too troublesome? Is there a quicker method to Sufferance?”
“You’re just a Yuan Spirit. Do you need to think that far?”
Elder Mo laughed.
Now, he was convinced that everything Jiang He said before was mere boasts.
A mere Yuan Spirit-novice cultivator like him thinking about Sufferance? And all nine retributions at once?
Hehe!
Why don’t you ascend to the heavens?
Hold on…
Yuan Spirit-novice?
The silhouette was a spiritual mark Elder Mo placed in the Jade Charm, and it could both talk to Jiang He and detect his aura…
Hence, after feeling his aura a little, he exclaimed in shock, “What the hell? Jiang He… you’re already at Yuan Spirit-advanced?”
How many days had it only been?
Elder Mo clearly remembered that the brat was a Yuan Spirit novice when he visited Jiang He’s house.
As for Elder Mo himself, how many years had it taken him to ascend as a full-fledged Yuan Spirit?
“Yeah.”
Jiang He nodded then. All he could think about was Sufferance, and he muttered to himself, “A heavenly thunderbolt every hour is a real pain to even think about … how painful it would be to wait for each hour to pass.”
“Oh, yes!”
“I could stay on top of the Penglai Sect’s mountain archway for my Sufferance and kill time in that hour by socializing with them…”
“Anyway, Elder Mo, I’m off to suffer my retribution. After I deal with the Penglai Sect and the Ten Thousand Swords Sect in a few days, I’ll have a drink with you.”
Elder Mo was left speechless.
