Starting My Cultivation With Time Management

Chapter 421: Chapter 54: Gathering Information

Jiang Liyan was very afraid of dying.

As she said, ever since she was fished out of the sea by the Fairy Caie, she lived in constant fear every day in the Heavenly Demon Path and eventually awakened a strange ability:

Whenever she was about to face a lethal danger, she would have a premonition of fear.

Whether in her own sect or outside, Jiang Liyan relied on this intuition to avoid many dangers.

However, up to this day, she had also roughly realized the true nature of this ability, which was actually not aimed at external dangers but rather at the malice of human hearts.

For a Demon Cult Cultivator, the dangers one faced were mostly borne out of the malice of other cultivators, and Jiang Liyan was extremely sensitive to this sort of malice. If someone harbored intense murderous intentions towards her, although it wasn’t a hundred percent certainty, she had a high probability of sensing it in advance.

However, Wei Dongliu was one of the few, or it could even be said, the only one who had never harbored any malice towards her.

(As for Luo Yan… who is Luo Yan?)

Though Jiang the Witch was a witch, she also knew how to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.

With such a Demon Lord Wei, if she did not firmly cling to him, it would simply be unjust to her many years of experience on the Demonic Path.

“About the White Jade Capital tournament, we don’t have much information at the moment,” Jiang Liyan softly whispered on the way to the Mount Wutai Market, “What is known so far is that the White Jade Capital tournament is initiated by Shushan, aiming to gain more prestige through the results of the tournament, and perhaps even to re-arrange the rankings of the Three Pure Orthodox Sect.

“Also, there is a rumor that the White Jade Capital Secret Realm is not the only one; there are even more secret realms deep inside.”

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“Oh? What is this theory?” Wei Dongliu raised his eyebrows.

“Has Demon Lord Wei ever heard these four terms?” Jiang Liyan crisply said, “White Jade Capital, Golden Que, Seven Treasures Mysterious Garden, Great Bright Hall.”

“According to the Daoist teachings, White Jade Capital refers to the body, Golden Que to the Divine Sense, Seven Treasures Mysterious Garden to the Soul, and the Great Bright Hall to the Origin.

“Therefore, deep inside the White Jade Capital Secret Realm, there could likely be an entrance to the Golden Que Secret Realm.”

“How confident are you in this theory?” Wei Dongliu asked indifferently.

“Thirty or forty percent,” Jiang Liyan said with difficulty, “If it weren’t for this, Shushan wouldn’t have taken the initiative to organize the tournament, and Kunlun Penglai might not have given them any face.”

“What is the method to open the White Jade Capital?” Wei Dongliu confirmed.

“It’s still difficult to say,” Jiang Liyan thought for a moment, then continued, “But the first step is certainly to pass through the Orthodox Sect’s grand tournament, select twelve sufficiently strong Orthodox Sect cultivators, and each occupy one of the twelve cities of the White Jade Capital.”

“As for what to do next, no one knows. The Orthodox Sect hasn’t revealed any hint.”

“What about the Six Paths? Are they not planning to intervene?” Wei Dongliu asked indifferently.

“It seems the upper echelon doesn’t have such plans at the moment,” Jiang Liyan said with a bitter smile, “Firstly, after the previous long drawn out tug-of-war, everyone feels they’ve already seized enough benefits, and continuing to struggle against the Three Pure Ones would do more harm than good.”

“Secondly, we can’t infiltrate the White Jade Capital Secret Realm.”

“Oh?”

“Since the White Jade Capital Secret Realm was discovered, not many cultivators have entered, including our people,” Jiang Liyan explained, “Therefore, the upper echelons also consider the possibility of a trap.”

“For example, it’s speculated that the news of the White Jade Capital tournament was released to lure us, the Demon Cult cultivators, to raid the event, and then spring a trap with an ambush in the secret realm, catching us like turtles in a jar…”

After a moment of silence, Wei Dongliu dismissed this possibility.

The reason was simple: the Ziwei Master had issued a deadly command that Qiu Changtian must win first place in the tournament, so how could it possibly be an ambush?

Then what would be the point of me taking first place? To provide you a backdrop, a smokescreen for ambushing Demon Cult cultivators? That’s right?

I think the Demon Cult is losing its nerve, not daring to face the Three Major Sects in the White Jade Capital Secret Realm, hence the nonsense about there possibly being an ambush.

“However, I did hear that there’s some secret intelligence from the Hell Path,” Jiang Liyan suddenly said.

Wei Dongliu’s ears perked up immediately.

“Speaking of moles, the Hell Path has buried more spies within the Three Pure Ones than the rest of us five paths combined,” Jiang the Witch said casually. “They must have obtained some definitive and substantial information; that’s why they didn’t propose searching for or even attacking the White Jade Capital Secret Realm.”

“Go on,” Wei Dongliu said indifferently.

“Is that all?” Jiang the Witch said in astonishment. “That’s all I know, I can’t tell you any more.”

“After all, the Hell Path only deals with the higher-ups of the sects. For minions like us, at most we can only infer some signs from our fellow disciples’ bits and pieces of information; specifics are difficult to detail.”

“Utterly useless!” the Flying Asura spat disdainfully from the side. “When the master tells you to explain in detail, he’s giving you a chance to show yourself! If you truly don’t know, then sincerely apologize first, promise to work hard gathering intelligence, and then make a military pledge to come back and report within a few days… Just saying ‘that’s all I know’ – are you reporting or just making small talk? How can you be so shameless?”

Jiang the Witch was shocked by this barefaced sycophantic remark, and momentarily she couldn’t utter a word.

“Enough,” Wei Dongliu waved his hand nonchalantly, rescuing her from the embarrassment. “There’s no need to be so forceful.”

“Aren’t you going to say thank you?” the Flying Asura exclaimed.

Jiang Liyan sulked for a long time before she could only say in a low voice:

“Alright, I will go and inquire.”

Upon arriving at the Mount Wutai Market, Jiang the Witch left first to gather information.

Wei Dongliu, on the other hand, strolled around the market with the black-robed and masked Flying Asura.

According to the usual patterns in fantasy novels, a villain should appear at this time to provoke the protagonist for some reason, only to be unmasked and beaten up by the Flying Asura, then fleeing in panic to find a more formidable villain to help.

However, Wei Dongliu wandered around the market for half a day and didn’t encounter any villainous provocateurs.

Hmm, it must be the effect of my mysterious persona at work; bystanders can’t gauge the depth of my strength, so they can only keep their distance… Huh?

Suddenly, he saw Gu Lie mingling among a group of bald monks, wearing a red robe over his shoulders, hands clasped together, continuously reciting scriptures as he walked toward a distant Buddhist pagoda.

“What a bunch of bald donkeys,” the Flying Asura remarked. “Their foreheads are really shining; they could be used as mirrors.”

“Where are they going and what are they doing?” Wei Dongliu frowned and asked.

“Does my master wish to know?” the Flying Asura volunteered eagerly. “Shall I go and find out for my master?”

“Never mind, let’s not create unnecessary complications,” Wei Dongliu said coldly.

Sending the Flying Asura into Buddhist territory was something he was quite uneasy about.

“Very well,” the Flying Asura looked towards the distant pagoda, suppressing the urge in its heart.

Of course, it had already discerned that Wei Dongliu was acquainted with one of the monks.

It also knew from past memory that these monks were evil monks, each wearing a Blood Robe.

After all, “clothing oneself in blood and sleeping in skin” was one of the necessary conditions for practicing the “Blood Wrath Zen.”

And the other requisite condition was to “indulge in fury.”

Once these evil monks began reciting scriptures, it meant they were going to kill. It’s too bad Demon Lord didn’t like meddling in trifles, for he actually didn’t allow me to join in that excitement…

With this thought, the Flying Asura felt a subtle regret, continuing to suppress the killing urge at the bottom of its undead heart.

Looking up again, he saw Jiang Liyan briskly crossing the mountain path, hurrying towards Wei Dongliu with her skirt in hand and an exhilarated look on her face.

On her face was the joyous, pure smile that the Flying Asura loathed deeply.