Chapter 94 - 90: Ruthless Time

Chapter 94: Chapter 90: Ruthless Time

New Year’s Eve.

Chen Jianghe steered his boat into Jingyue Market Port. He watched the bustling crowds of Cultivators coming and going in an endless stream. A luxurious, hundred-zhang ship sailed into the port, and before long, hundreds of Cultivators disembarked. Immediately afterward, another group of Cultivators boarded the ship and left the port.

This passenger ferry route was Chen Jianghe’s idea. Although the Yun Family would have thought of it eventually, he had proposed it first, earning Yu Daniu significant political capital within the family. Taking the large ship to Jingyue Marketplace was inexpensive—only five grains of Spiritual Sand per Cultivator. Moreover, leaving the marketplace on the ship was completely free of charge.

Looking at the increasingly prosperous Jingyue Marketplace, the ship fare alone for the day would easily bring in more than ten Spirit Stones. No wonder Yu Daniu claimed this route had raked in well over one thousand five hundred Spirit Stones for the Yun Family. Judging by the scene before him, that figure seemed entirely plausible.

Without lingering at the port, he headed straight for Jingyue Treasure Pavilion and, following Yu Daniu’s instructions, went up to the second floor. This wasn’t a sales area; rather, it looked like a place for patrons to rest. Camphor wood screens carved with various patterns divided the spacious second floor into individual lounging areas. In the very center sat a private room. This was likely the workspace of the Jingyue Treasure Pavilion’s Steward, though it was currently occupied by Yun Xiaoqian.

Chen Jianghe also recognized the Elder tasked with supervising the oath. He had seen him once before—it was Fifth Elder Yun Zhonghou from the Fisherman and Farmer Assembly.

"Junior Chen Jianghe greets the two Elders." Introduced into the room, Chen Jianghe bowed respectfully to Yun Xiaoqian and Yun Zhonghou.

At this time, Yun Zhonghou’s face was a crisscross of deep wrinkles. With a head full of white hair and snow-white eyebrows, he looked thoroughly senile and decrepit. The aura of Death Qi leaking from his body strongly suggested his final days were approaching.

"Mhm. You were the one who proposed the idea for the passenger route?" Yun Xiaoqian’s profound gaze fixed on Chen Jianghe, exuding a commanding presence.

"It was this junior."

"Good, you are quite capable." A smile appeared on Yun Xiaoqian’s face before he quickly added, "Did you bring the Spirit Stones?"

Chen Jianghe stepped forward, took out the Spirit Stones Yu Daniu had entrusted to him, and handed them over.

"The amount is correct." Yun Xiaoqian nodded to Yun Zhonghou beside him and said, "Grand Elder, you may impart the Cultivation Technique now."

"Grand Elder?" Chen Jianghe wondered with some confusion. Wasn’t Yun Zhonghou the Fifth Elder of the Yun Family? Why did Yun Xiaoqian address him as Grand Elder?

He was unaware of the Yun Family’s high-level personnel changes over the past two years. Second Elder Yun Zhongbo and Fourth Elder Yun Zhongwei had passed away from old age in succession. Yun Zhonghou was over a hundred and ten years old this year, and his natural lifespan was likely to run out within the next year or two. Seventh Elder Yun Zhongyong was also a hundred and nine; having suffered severe injuries in his early years, his lifespan was similarly limited, and he would likely pass away around the same time as Yun Zhonghou.

This meant that the Elders of the Yun Family’s "Zhong" generation would be passing on one after another in the coming two years. Therefore, Yun Zhonghou and Yun Zhongwei had both been elevated to Grand Elders, while the Supreme Elders were the Yun Family Ancestor and Yun Bufan. As the eldest Ninth-Layer Qi Refining Great Cultivator of the "Xiao" generation, Yun Xiaoqian was now the Great Elder of the Yun Family. The remaining "Xiao" generation Elders were ranked according to their age. To fill the vacant Elder positions, the Yun Family had aggressively begun grooming Direct Descendants of the "Yi" generation over the last two years—this was Yun Bufan’s generation.

Yun Bufan’s original name was Yun Yifan. He only changed his name to Bufan after the Yun Family Ancestor praised him as a Master Qilin. Yu Daniu was also among those heavily nurtured by the Yun Family. As long as he broke through to Ninth-Layer Qi Refining, he could become an Elder of the Yun Family, though he wouldn’t be part of the official lineage sequence. He could only be a Foreign Clan Elder.

"Grand Elder, you may impart the Cultivation Technique now." Seeing that Yun Zhonghou wasn’t moving, Yun Xiaoqian stepped forward, gently nudged him, and carefully sent a voice transmission.

Only then did Yun Zhonghou slowly open his eyes. His eyelids drooped, leaving only a slit, and his eyes were murky and devoid of light.

"Mhm, good, good. Boy, I remember you. You’re still the same; you haven’t changed a bit." Yun Zhonghou approached Chen Jianghe, his raspy voice ringing out.

These words gave Chen Jianghe a fright. His appearance indeed hadn’t changed at all from before. Normally, he should have matured visibly. After all, once New Year’s Eve passed, he would be fifty years old. How could his face not show a single wrinkle?

Fortunately, Yun Zhonghou didn’t dwell on the matter. Instead, he took out a Jade Scroll and said sternly, "You may swear the oath now."

Chen Jianghe didn’t hesitate and immediately swore the oath. The "Ten Thousand Waters True Scripture Qi Refining Chapter" obtained from the Yun Family would only be used for his own Cultivation and would absolutely not be passed on to a third party. If he violated this oath, a Heart Demon would instantly spawn, his qi would sever at the Dantian, and he would die on the spot.

After making the solemn vow and receiving the Jade Scroll, Chen Jianghe bowed to Yun Zhonghou and Yun Xiaoqian, then immediately left the second floor of the Jingyue Treasure Pavilion. He didn’t dare stay around Yun Zhonghou a moment longer.

Upon reaching the first floor, Chen Jianghe took out all the Five Elements Escape Talismans he had drawn over the past two years to exchange them for Spirit Stones. He had drawn a total of ninety-seven Five Elements Escape Talismans over the two years. With a fifteen percent discount on the buyback rate, that came out to two hundred and forty-seven Spirit Stones. He didn’t need to purchase Talisman-Making Materials. He bought three pots of Fasting Pills, which cost twenty-four Spirit Stones. With the remaining two hundred and twenty-three Spirit Stones added to his previous savings, he now had a total of three hundred and forty-seven Spirit Stones.

Leaving Jingyue Treasure Pavilion, he turned straight into the Beast Taming Workshop to buy a High-Level Spirit Beast Circle. His main priority now was to hide himself as much as possible. At the same time, he needed to conceal Little Black well. Now reaching his fiftieth year, and on the verge of leaving Jingyue Lake, he couldn’t afford to be the slightest bit careless or make a single mistake.

The reason he spent a hefty sum on Fasting Pills was that he didn’t want to leave his aquaculture waters anymore. He didn’t want to run into any acquaintances he had met before. He only wanted to hide away, safely bide his time for the next few years, and strive to break through to Seventh-Layer Qi Refining. Then, he would leave Jingyue Lake.

Half a quarter of an hour later, Chen Jianghe walked out of the Beast Taming Workshop with an extra cyan bracelet on his wrist. This was the High-Level Spirit Beast Circle he bought for three hundred Spirit Stones. Once he formed a contract with Little Black, he could store him inside it and carry him around wherever he went.

When he returned to the port, he suddenly felt eyes watching him. He glanced around but didn’t spot anything unusual. Without stopping, he immediately steered his boat out of the port.

At this moment, two elderly men emerged from the crowd. They stared at Chen Jianghe as he disappeared across the lake, traces of bewilderment on their faces.

"Big Brother, that kid is too bizarre. Thirty years have passed, so how does he still look exactly the same?" The skinny, small elder could still be recognized by his youthful facial outlines, but he had long since been erased from Chen Jianghe’s memory.

"He should be over fifty by now. Seeing that he hasn’t broken through to Late-Stage Qi Refining yet, it won’t be long before he turns out just like us." The once-strapping middle-aged man stared at the passing crowd with cloudy eyes, looking like a wolf hunting for prey. "Forget about him. Hurry up and find a target. If we can scrape together another fifteen Spirit Stones, we can buy the Misfortune-Breaking Pill for Zhuzi."

Back at his aquaculture waters, Chen Jianghe anchored his fishing boat, dove to the bottom of the lake, and called Little Black out from the gravel. He had already dripped his blood on the Spirit Beast Circle to brand it. As long as Little Black’s blood dripped onto it, they would establish a master-servant contract. Then, the Spirit Beast Circle could absorb Little Black inside.

"Little Black, drip a drop of blood onto this Spirit Beast Circle." Chen Jianghe waved his hand, and the Spirit Beast Circle flew over to hover in front of Little Black.

"What’s this thing?" Instead of dripping blood, Little Black opened his wide mouth and bit into it. "PTOO, PTOO, PTOO! It’s too hard, I can’t eat it."

"I told you to drip your blood on it, not eat it." Chen Jianghe stared at him speechlessly, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

"You should have said so earlier," Little Black grumbled. He carefully tried to use his left front claw to scratch his right front claw, only to find he couldn’t reach it.

"Just use your Magical Power to squeeze out a drop of blood!" Chen Jianghe watched from the side, getting anxious.

"You do it." Little Black flipped over, sprawling out his four limbs in a posture that basically invited Chen Jianghe to do as he pleased.

Chen Jianghe twitched his lips. He certainly wanted to, but he knew his own limits perfectly well—he absolutely could not break through Little Black’s defenses. "Stop dawdling and hurry up. Don’t you still want to eat Spirit-Encompassing Flowers?"

"Okay, Master! Right away." Hearing there were Spirit-Encompassing Flowers to eat, Little Black attempted a kip-up but failed, ending up just using the water current to flip himself right-side up. With a flash of dark light, a drop of blood seeped from his right claw and fell onto the Spirit Beast Circle.

What happened next left Chen Jianghe stunned. After dripping onto the Spirit Beast Circle, the blood simply slid off, landed on the gravel of the lakebed, and dissipated.

"We can’t form a contract?" he wondered aloud.

A High-Level Spirit Beast Circle was a Magical Artifact specifically used to form contracts with Spirit Beasts. It could also store them, allowing the owner to carry them around. What did it mean that they couldn’t form a contract? The Beast Taming Workshop would never sell counterfeit goods; ruining a thousand-year-old reputation for a mere three hundred Spirit Stones simply wasn’t worth it. That left only one possibility: Little Black had already formed a contract with someone else.

"Could it be because of the Spirit Platform Mark?" he wondered.

He and Little Black were connected by the Spirit Platform Mark. Perhaps that counted as a far more profound form of a contract. If that were the case, he could try using the Spirit Platform Mark to store Little Black in the Spirit Beast Circle.

"Little Black, don’t resist," Chen Jianghe transmitted. He slipped the Spirit Beast Circle back onto his wrist, connected his Divine Sense with the Spirit Platform Mark and the Spirit Beast Circle, and with a thought, he silently commanded the artifact to absorb him.

Instantly, Little Black—who was a size larger than a millstone—vanished from before his eyes. His Divine Sense probed into the Spirit Beast Circle and found Little Black deeply asleep inside. Then, with another thought, he released Little Black.

"Two-Legged Beast, what did you do to me?!" Little Black furiously sent a voice transmission at Chen Jianghe.

"That’s a Spirit Beast Space meant to protect you. Remember, whenever I bring you inside in the future, you must never resist. Otherwise, if you end up stewed by someone, don’t blame me," Chen Jianghe threatened.

Little Black pulled his turtle head back and nodded furiously. Right now, being stewed into soup was his greatest fear. Then, in a frightened tone, he asked, "Master, where are the Spirit-Encompassing Flowers? I feel like I’m about to break through any moment."

Chen Jianghe took out his remaining four Spirit-Encompassing Flowers from his Storage Pouch and gave them all to Little Black. These should be enough for Little Black to break through to Late-Stage Tier One.

"Master, you struck it rich!" Little Black exclaimed in pleasant surprise. This was the first time he had seen Chen Jianghe pull out four Spirit-Encompassing Flowers all at once. Without a moment to lose, he opened his gaping mouth and swallowed all four Spirit-Encompassing Flowers at the same time. He chewed a few times and swallowed them down to his stomach.

Instantly, a pale cyan light flickered in his stomach, glowing so brightly it could be seen from the outside. A massive burst of Spiritual Power erupted, but it was tightly confined within his flesh by the dark light emanating from his Turtle Shell. As time passed, Little Black’s aura began to climb, growing increasingly powerful. These were the signs of an impending breakthrough.