The representatives of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect led by Jin Sidao did not even dare to breathe too loudly.
In fact, sweat could be seen on the foreheads of the less gutsy ones.
Because the Penglai Immortal Sect was already a precedent.
The people that they had sent to the Penglai Sect a few days ago had asked around about the battle after they returned. After learning how easily Jiang He had wiped out the Penglai Sect—another immortal sect without thousands of years-worth of history that would not lose out the Ten Thousand Swords Sect—every single person from top to bottom of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect were left fearing for their lives.
And the best solution they could come up with… was to apologize, and make amends to resolve the grudge.
Word had it that Jiang He had offered to resolve their differences after reaching the Penglai Sect, although the Penglai Sect was reluctant and was hence wiped out.
And upon hearing Jiang He’s words, Jin Sidao quickly said, “Please calm down, Brother Jiang He. I have learned about how the events had actually turned out, and we, the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, were certainly at fault in the first place.”
He then nonchalantly threw Zhong Yue, who was wrapped into a dumpling, in front of Jiang He, adding, “This brat caused this entire mess, and the Ten Thousand Swords Sect is willing to hand him over to you to deal with at your discretion.”
“Additionally…”
He paused then, while the chieftain of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect had already handed out a Spatial Ring.
Jin Sidao took it and handed it to Jiang He with both hands, saying, “Here is a little token of sincerity from our sect. We hope you can accept it, Brother Jiang He.”
Jiang He then coolly looked at Zhong Yue who was still down on the ground.
There was venomous hatred in his eyes.
Withdrawing his gaze, Jiang He calmly said, “He is a disciple of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect. You should deal with him as you see fit.”
Jin Sidao’s eyes flashed at Zhong Yue then.
And in the next split second, Zhong Yue’s Yuan Spirit had crumbled and his body was completely devoid of all signs of life, after of which the Ten Thousand Swords Sect chieftain retrieved his corpse. Necessary gestures ought to be made, and it did not matter whether Zhong Yue was at fault—he had to die right this moment.
Otherwise, his hatred against Jiang He might drive him to do something in the future, thereby implicating the Ten Thousand Swords Sect as well. Should that ever happen, the entire sect would have to die with him.
Meanwhile, Jiang He pretended as if he did not see all that and reached out his hand to accept the Spatial Ring.
It was ownerless, so it did not have to be cultivated for anyone to see whatever was stored inside.
There were only three medicinal pellets, but these were aromatic and astonishingly effective, and would definitely be superior to the spirit condensation pellets.
The Ten Thousand Swords Sect even paid enough attention to detail that they had placed a gold leaf label beside the pellets—it appeared that these were called Epiphany Pellets and were class-eight, and one would reach the state of epiphany after consumption, and easily grasp the essence of Dao.
There was also a premium-grade sage combat garment, a superior-grade sage flying sword, five thousand mediocre-grade spirit stones, and five hundred superior-grade spirit stones.
It was obvious that the Ten Thousand Swords Sect was being very sincere.
Quickly putting away the Spatial Ring, Jiang He chuckled, “I’m not obsessed with death and destruction, and since the Ten Thousand Swords Sect has been so sincere, it would not hurt to clear all grudges with a smile.”
“Still, I have three conditions.”
The Ten Thousand Swords Sect crowd could not help breathing a sigh of relief, with Jin Sidao himself smiling. “Just mentioned it as you will, Brother Jiang He. As long as the Ten Thousand Swords Sect can fulfill it, thirty or even three hundred conditions are fine, let alone three.”
“That many is unnecessary.”
Jiang He waved him off and smiled. “The first condition is for the Ten Thousand Swords Sect to swear an oath that none of you would bear ill will towards me. Or else, don’t blame me for being heartless and dismantle your sect.”
Though he spoke with a smile, everyone present felt a chill in their hearts.
Even so, they had to agree to Jiang He’s right away.
They were not crazy enough to bring death upon themselves.
Jiang He only breathed a sigh of relief after he saw everyone else nod and took the oath. “It seems that your sect truly wishes to resolve this grudge. You must be insincere if you have not sworn it, and if you were insincere, you might regret it and ambush me, leaving me fearing my life every day and wary be it when I sleep, go shopping, or need the loo. If that was really it, I most certainly would have to make the trip to the Ten Thousand Swords Sect.”
“We would never dare, Brother Jiang He,” Jin Sidao quickly said.
With that, Jiang He mentioned the second condition, “Right now, the Hua Nation lacks any form of immortal arts. I intend to promote all immortal arts, but since the Penglai Sect’s legacies were destroyed entirely by me, I would have to loan it from the Ten Thousand Swords Sect.”
“As such, give me a handful of your cultivations manuals spanning from Qi Refinist to Heavenly Immortal, and each must be complete.”
The looks on the Ten Thousand Swords Sect elites’ faces changed sharply at that.
These ancient sects valued their legacies more than anything else in the world. While they lowered their heads towards Jiang He today mostly because they feared that he would destroy the Ten Thousand Swords Sect and end their millennia-old history, demanding their cultivation manuals hurts more than killing them.
One Sufferance-tier Supreme Venerable Elder was about to step forward then, but was stopped by Jin Sidao, who communicated through acoustics. “He is only demanding for our cultivation manuals, not the heart of our legacies. We did collect some manuals over the years, and we could give him those.”
Even as he communicated in secret, Jin Sidao flashed a pained smile. “Brother Jiang He, to tell the truth, we, the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, have no technique to cultivate immortality like now. In fact, it’s not just us—none of the secluded immortal sects possess any manuals of cultivation techniques for immortality.”
He then explained that after the great war over two thousand years ago, the Dragon Vein of Earth had been sealed. Without sufficient Spirit Qi to sustain them, the immortals hence left Earth and journeyed across the stars.
“The immortals left Earth to journey across the stars?”
Jiang He’s eyes glinted as he asked, “Where had they gone to?”
Jin Sidao shook his head to gesture that he had no idea, and mused to himself for a while before saying, “The starry skies of the universe are immeasurably vast with innumerable species residing everywhere. It is said that the predecessor of humans had once established themselves as a faction upon the stars, and the immortals must have left in search of them.”
“Could they have taken away the Daoist legacies before they left for the stars?” Jiang He asked.
Jin Sidao smiled bitterly again then. “My own ancestral master was one of the immortals who had gone on one of those voyages… back then, he said that with the Dragon Vein of Earth having been severed, Spirit Qi would soon dry up. It would be fine for Earth if no one ascended as an immortal, but if someone did, the Spirit Qi on Earth would wither even more quickly and usher in the Degenerate Age earlier than planned. That is why my seniors in the Ten Thousand Swords Sect left with half of our legacies, leaving only cultivation manuals and other relics with which we could cultivate to Mahayana-tier, which is also the case for most major immortal sects and demonic sects.”
“There are exceptions, of course—after the great war, there were immortals who were fatally injured and left their Daoist keepsakes behind, and there were commoners who managed to obtain it by chance, hence cultivating all the way to Heavenly Immortal… which quickened the exhaustion of Earth’s Spirit Qi. That happened over six hundred years ago, when the ancestral master of Wudang ascended as an immortal and drove Earth entirely to the Degenerate Age. Spirit Qi was basically dried up after that, and things only improved around a dozen years ago.”
Jiang He understood with a start then.
At the same time, he understood why there were still martial elites who appeared during ancient times, even though martial arts had decayed over six hundred years ago. He had assumed that it was caused by the invasion of the Sky Demons, and did not expect the ancestral master of Mount Wudang to be the cause.
Even so, there were more mysteries even as many mysteries were solved.
The Wudang ancestral master ascended as an immortal at the time, but neither Elder Guo nor the guru of the Tantra Sect had found out the real reason why the Hundred Races would invade Earth after searching the entire planet for three years.
So, why would the Hundred Races invade Earth?
There must be something that they coveted on Earth. It surely wouldn’t be because they had too much free time, would it?
As those thoughts came to mind, Jiang He asked, “It’s fine if you have none of those cultivation manuals. How about a few manuals that train up to Mahayana-tier, then?”
Jin Sidao nodded an affirmative.
Jiang He suddenly turned solemn then, and spoke very seriously, “Then, my last condition…”
At the same time, Jin Sidao’s heart thumped.
The other elites of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect saw Jiang He’s look as well…
Still, they could not help feeling very relieved after Jiang He said that he was requesting to borrow someone from them, since they were very afraid that Jiang He would come up with some ridiculous request.
One of their black-robed Sufferance-tier Supreme Venerable Elder offered then, “As long as you ask, Brother Jiang He, we would loan three or even five of our own, let alone one!”
Jiang He smiled in response. “Do you have someone who is great at refining Thunder Talismans?”
The grin on the Sufferance-tier Supreme Venerable Elder promptly froze.
The Ten Thousand Swords Sect was a sect of sword cultivators and not many of them knew how to create talismans. In fact, it was that Supreme Venerable Elder himself who knew how to refine Thunder Talismans.
His Daoist title was Thunder Talisman Daoist, and he was a six-retribution elite at that.
After Jin Sidao introduced them, an enthusiastic Jiang He went up and grasped the Thunder Talisman Daoist’s hands with a hopeful look. “Thunder Talisman Daoist, I am very impressed by your technique in crafting talismans. To tell the truth, I want to learn it as well and I wonder if you could stay around my house so I could discuss the technique with you?”
Nope!
The Thunder Talisman Daoist really wanted to fling his sleeves, though when he spoke, he said, “It is my honor to share our learnings about the art of talismans.”
With that, Jin Sidao and the other Ten Thousand Swords Sect elites left, leaving the Thunder Talisman Daoist alone with Jiang He, fidgeting uncomfortably…
Jiang He then pointed at the houses in the farm and said, “Find a room you would like to stay in for now, Daoist. I have some private affair to see to, and I will discuss things in detail with you later.”
Would the Thunder Talisman Daoist even dare to refuse?
After that, Jiang He returned home and reinserted his farm.
He took out the Spatial Ring that the Ten Thousand Swords Sect had given him in compensation, feeling a little thrilled. “Aside from the Epiphany pellets, the premium-grade sage combat attire and the superior-grade sage flying sword, the five thousand mediocre-grade spirit stones, and five hundred superior-grade spirit stones would be enough for me to cultivate the Sword Array of Nine Skies Thunderflame as well as the Sword Array of Ten Realms and Infinity. I could also master the Nine Heavenly Stars Body Formula…”
At that very moment, a bold idea occurred to him…
Shouldn’t he rob some of the immortal sects, demonic sects, and ancient daemon cultivators, while aiming for spirit stones specifically?
He would have enough resources to ascend as an immortal after plundering a handful of sects.
“Still, I would need an appropriate excuse if I am going to plunder. That said, since I did maim one of the daemonic cultivator’s Yuan Spirit clone at Shennongjia, I could go there again. Although I wonder if it has recovered by now…”
“And then there is that eight-retribution daemonic cultivator who had the guts to aim his hostility at me…”
Jiang He was about to make up his mind when his jade charm vibrated.
He took it out and answered Elder Mo’s call, who said, “Have you returned from overseas yet, Lord Jiang He? Two of my Taixu Sect’s ancestral masters have left confinement and wish to visit you at your residence… do you think that’s possible?”
“Visit me?”
Jiang He did a double take, not quite able to adapt to Elder Mo’s change of tone and attitude toward him now.
You were calling me ‘fellow Daoist’ before, and now you’re calling me ‘Lord’?
Is that not a little too distant?
Jiang He thought about it and said, “I actually have something I need the Taixu Sect to find out, and we could complete the deal we agreed on last time as well. How about this? I’ll come to visit the Taixu Sect tomorrow.”
He was just done talking to Elder Mo when his gaze shifted toward the distance. Feeling out the veins of powerful aura approaching from afar, Jiang He appeared taken aback. “Why did Minister Wang and the others come?”
Then, he smiled.
These people had come just in time.
He might not have returned if they had come one or two hours earlier.
They could now discuss about promoting immortal arts.
The representatives of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect led by Jin Sidao did not even dare to breathe too loudly.
In fact, sweat could be seen on the foreheads of the less gutsy ones.
Because the Penglai Immortal Sect was already a precedent.
The people that they had sent to the Penglai Sect a few days ago had asked around about the battle after they returned. After learning how easily Jiang He had wiped out the Penglai Sect—another immortal sect without thousands of years-worth of history that would not lose out the Ten Thousand Swords Sect—every single person from top to bottom of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect were left fearing for their lives.
And the best solution they could come up with… was to apologize, and make amends to resolve the grudge.
Word had it that Jiang He had offered to resolve their differences after reaching the Penglai Sect, although the Penglai Sect was reluctant and was hence wiped out.
And upon hearing Jiang He’s words, Jin Sidao quickly said, “Please calm down, Brother Jiang He. I have learned about how the events had actually turned out, and we, the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, were certainly at fault in the first place.”
He then nonchalantly threw Zhong Yue, who was wrapped into a dumpling, in front of Jiang He, adding, “This brat caused this entire mess, and the Ten Thousand Swords Sect is willing to hand him over to you to deal with at your discretion.”
“Additionally…”
He paused then, while the chieftain of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect had already handed out a Spatial Ring.
Jin Sidao took it and handed it to Jiang He with both hands, saying, “Here is a little token of sincerity from our sect. We hope you can accept it, Brother Jiang He.”
Jiang He then coolly looked at Zhong Yue who was still down on the ground.
There was venomous hatred in his eyes.
Withdrawing his gaze, Jiang He calmly said, “He is a disciple of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect. You should deal with him as you see fit.”
Jin Sidao’s eyes flashed at Zhong Yue then.
And in the next split second, Zhong Yue’s Yuan Spirit had crumbled and his body was completely devoid of all signs of life, after of which the Ten Thousand Swords Sect chieftain retrieved his corpse. Necessary gestures ought to be made, and it did not matter whether Zhong Yue was at fault—he had to die right this moment.
Otherwise, his hatred against Jiang He might drive him to do something in the future, thereby implicating the Ten Thousand Swords Sect as well. Should that ever happen, the entire sect would have to die with him.
Meanwhile, Jiang He pretended as if he did not see all that and reached out his hand to accept the Spatial Ring.
It was ownerless, so it did not have to be cultivated for anyone to see whatever was stored inside.
There were only three medicinal pellets, but these were aromatic and astonishingly effective, and would definitely be superior to the spirit condensation pellets.
The Ten Thousand Swords Sect even paid enough attention to detail that they had placed a gold leaf label beside the pellets—it appeared that these were called Epiphany Pellets and were class-eight, and one would reach the state of epiphany after consumption, and easily grasp the essence of Dao.
There was also a premium-grade sage combat garment, a superior-grade sage flying sword, five thousand mediocre-grade spirit stones, and five hundred superior-grade spirit stones.
It was obvious that the Ten Thousand Swords Sect was being very sincere.
Quickly putting away the Spatial Ring, Jiang He chuckled, “I’m not obsessed with death and destruction, and since the Ten Thousand Swords Sect has been so sincere, it would not hurt to clear all grudges with a smile.”
“Still, I have three conditions.”
The Ten Thousand Swords Sect crowd could not help breathing a sigh of relief, with Jin Sidao himself smiling. “Just mentioned it as you will, Brother Jiang He. As long as the Ten Thousand Swords Sect can fulfill it, thirty or even three hundred conditions are fine, let alone three.”
“That many is unnecessary.”
Jiang He waved him off and smiled. “The first condition is for the Ten Thousand Swords Sect to swear an oath that none of you would bear ill will towards me. Or else, don’t blame me for being heartless and dismantle your sect.”
Though he spoke with a smile, everyone present felt a chill in their hearts.
Even so, they had to agree to Jiang He’s right away.
They were not crazy enough to bring death upon themselves.
Jiang He only breathed a sigh of relief after he saw everyone else nod and took the oath. “It seems that your sect truly wishes to resolve this grudge. You must be insincere if you have not sworn it, and if you were insincere, you might regret it and ambush me, leaving me fearing my life every day and wary be it when I sleep, go shopping, or need the loo. If that was really it, I most certainly would have to make the trip to the Ten Thousand Swords Sect.”
“We would never dare, Brother Jiang He,” Jin Sidao quickly said.
With that, Jiang He mentioned the second condition, “Right now, the Hua Nation lacks any form of immortal arts. I intend to promote all immortal arts, but since the Penglai Sect’s legacies were destroyed entirely by me, I would have to loan it from the Ten Thousand Swords Sect.”
“As such, give me a handful of your cultivations manuals spanning from Qi Refinist to Heavenly Immortal, and each must be complete.”
The looks on the Ten Thousand Swords Sect elites’ faces changed sharply at that.
These ancient sects valued their legacies more than anything else in the world. While they lowered their heads towards Jiang He today mostly because they feared that he would destroy the Ten Thousand Swords Sect and end their millennia-old history, demanding their cultivation manuals hurts more than killing them.
One Sufferance-tier Supreme Venerable Elder was about to step forward then, but was stopped by Jin Sidao, who communicated through acoustics. “He is only demanding for our cultivation manuals, not the heart of our legacies. We did collect some manuals over the years, and we could give him those.”
Even as he communicated in secret, Jin Sidao flashed a pained smile. “Brother Jiang He, to tell the truth, we, the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, have no technique to cultivate immortality like now. In fact, it’s not just us—none of the secluded immortal sects possess any manuals of cultivation techniques for immortality.”
He then explained that after the great war over two thousand years ago, the Dragon Vein of Earth had been sealed. Without sufficient Spirit Qi to sustain them, the immortals hence left Earth and journeyed across the stars.
“The immortals left Earth to journey across the stars?”
Jiang He’s eyes glinted as he asked, “Where had they gone to?”
Jin Sidao shook his head to gesture that he had no idea, and mused to himself for a while before saying, “The starry skies of the universe are immeasurably vast with innumerable species residing everywhere. It is said that the predecessor of humans had once established themselves as a faction upon the stars, and the immortals must have left in search of them.”
“Could they have taken away the Daoist legacies before they left for the stars?” Jiang He asked.
Jin Sidao smiled bitterly again then. “My own ancestral master was one of the immortals who had gone on one of those voyages… back then, he said that with the Dragon Vein of Earth having been severed, Spirit Qi would soon dry up. It would be fine for Earth if no one ascended as an immortal, but if someone did, the Spirit Qi on Earth would wither even more quickly and usher in the Degenerate Age earlier than planned. That is why my seniors in the Ten Thousand Swords Sect left with half of our legacies, leaving only cultivation manuals and other relics with which we could cultivate to Mahayana-tier, which is also the case for most major immortal sects and demonic sects.”
“There are exceptions, of course—after the great war, there were immortals who were fatally injured and left their Daoist keepsakes behind, and there were commoners who managed to obtain it by chance, hence cultivating all the way to Heavenly Immortal… which quickened the exhaustion of Earth’s Spirit Qi. That happened over six hundred years ago, when the ancestral master of Wudang ascended as an immortal and drove Earth entirely to the Degenerate Age. Spirit Qi was basically dried up after that, and things only improved around a dozen years ago.”
Jiang He understood with a start then.
At the same time, he understood why there were still martial elites who appeared during ancient times, even though martial arts had decayed over six hundred years ago. He had assumed that it was caused by the invasion of the Sky Demons, and did not expect the ancestral master of Mount Wudang to be the cause.
Even so, there were more mysteries even as many mysteries were solved.
The Wudang ancestral master ascended as an immortal at the time, but neither Elder Guo nor the guru of the Tantra Sect had found out the real reason why the Hundred Races would invade Earth after searching the entire planet for three years.
So, why would the Hundred Races invade Earth?
There must be something that they coveted on Earth. It surely wouldn’t be because they had too much free time, would it?
As those thoughts came to mind, Jiang He asked, “It’s fine if you have none of those cultivation manuals. How about a few manuals that train up to Mahayana-tier, then?”
Jin Sidao nodded an affirmative.
Jiang He suddenly turned solemn then, and spoke very seriously, “Then, my last condition…”
At the same time, Jin Sidao’s heart thumped.
The other elites of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect saw Jiang He’s look as well…
Still, they could not help feeling very relieved after Jiang He said that he was requesting to borrow someone from them, since they were very afraid that Jiang He would come up with some ridiculous request.
One of their black-robed Sufferance-tier Supreme Venerable Elder offered then, “As long as you ask, Brother Jiang He, we would loan three or even five of our own, let alone one!”
Jiang He smiled in response. “Do you have someone who is great at refining Thunder Talismans?”
The grin on the Sufferance-tier Supreme Venerable Elder promptly froze.
The Ten Thousand Swords Sect was a sect of sword cultivators and not many of them knew how to create talismans. In fact, it was that Supreme Venerable Elder himself who knew how to refine Thunder Talismans.
His Daoist title was Thunder Talisman Daoist, and he was a six-retribution elite at that.
After Jin Sidao introduced them, an enthusiastic Jiang He went up and grasped the Thunder Talisman Daoist’s hands with a hopeful look. “Thunder Talisman Daoist, I am very impressed by your technique in crafting talismans. To tell the truth, I want to learn it as well and I wonder if you could stay around my house so I could discuss the technique with you?”
Nope!
The Thunder Talisman Daoist really wanted to fling his sleeves, though when he spoke, he said, “It is my honor to share our learnings about the art of talismans.”
With that, Jin Sidao and the other Ten Thousand Swords Sect elites left, leaving the Thunder Talisman Daoist alone with Jiang He, fidgeting uncomfortably…
Jiang He then pointed at the houses in the farm and said, “Find a room you would like to stay in for now, Daoist. I have some private affair to see to, and I will discuss things in detail with you later.”
Would the Thunder Talisman Daoist even dare to refuse?
After that, Jiang He returned home and reinserted his farm.
He took out the Spatial Ring that the Ten Thousand Swords Sect had given him in compensation, feeling a little thrilled. “Aside from the Epiphany pellets, the premium-grade sage combat attire and the superior-grade sage flying sword, the five thousand mediocre-grade spirit stones, and five hundred superior-grade spirit stones would be enough for me to cultivate the Sword Array of Nine Skies Thunderflame as well as the Sword Array of Ten Realms and Infinity. I could also master the Nine Heavenly Stars Body Formula…”
At that very moment, a bold idea occurred to him…
Shouldn’t he rob some of the immortal sects, demonic sects, and ancient daemon cultivators, while aiming for spirit stones specifically?
He would have enough resources to ascend as an immortal after plundering a handful of sects.
“Still, I would need an appropriate excuse if I am going to plunder. That said, since I did maim one of the daemonic cultivator’s Yuan Spirit clone at Shennongjia, I could go there again. Although I wonder if it has recovered by now…”
“And then there is that eight-retribution daemonic cultivator who had the guts to aim his hostility at me…”
Jiang He was about to make up his mind when his jade charm vibrated.
He took it out and answered Elder Mo’s call, who said, “Have you returned from overseas yet, Lord Jiang He? Two of my Taixu Sect’s ancestral masters have left confinement and wish to visit you at your residence… do you think that’s possible?”
“Visit me?”
Jiang He did a double take, not quite able to adapt to Elder Mo’s change of tone and attitude toward him now.
You were calling me ‘fellow Daoist’ before, and now you’re calling me ‘Lord’?
Is that not a little too distant?
Jiang He thought about it and said, “I actually have something I need the Taixu Sect to find out, and we could complete the deal we agreed on last time as well. How about this? I’ll come to visit the Taixu Sect tomorrow.”
He was just done talking to Elder Mo when his gaze shifted toward the distance. Feeling out the veins of powerful aura approaching from afar, Jiang He appeared taken aback. “Why did Minister Wang and the others come?”
Then, he smiled.
These people had come just in time.
He might not have returned if they had come one or two hours earlier.
They could now discuss about promoting immortal arts.
