Chapter 603 - 329: Wait for Me to Come Out of Seclusion

"Do you think these four have it?"

"I doubt it." The muscular middle-aged man leading the group shook his head slightly. "I noticed their eyes when they looked at me. They showed surprise and astonishment.

"The great Evergreen Sect did not. In fact, one of their people had eyes full of disdain. These people are probably not as good as the previous four."

"So, should we still favor the Evergreen Sect?" the large, fat man asked.

The leading man shook his head slightly and said, "Let's see their sincerity. If there were only one Sect, we would have no choice, but now there are two, so we have more options.

"Let's see where their bottom line is. As long as we don't cross that line, we should be able to get more benefits."

"We should still be careful when it comes to disputes between great Sects," the large man said.

They all naturally understood this logic. But it was still early. The people who had come were neither overbearing nor particularly strong. They had more room to maneuver.

"They are all very young. If we are this cooperative, even if they want to make a move, they won't find an excuse to vent," a woman said, her voice soft.

Naturally, they didn't dare go against a great Sect. But it was still possible to extract benefits from the situation. These people were too young and thus more likely to cough up good things.

Jiang Man and the others arrived at a mountain peak where there were several courtyards. The four of them each took one. The location was excellent, and the accommodations were luxurious. There was no slighting them whatsoever, but it still made Han Meixue feel uncomfortable.

"Why do I feel like there's nothing we can do about them?" she said.

Zhuo Qingcheng nodded. "They say they're cooperating, but in reality, they aren't at all. They are leaving us hanging, making us figure out how to fight the Evergreen Sect ourselves.

"They will side with whoever wins, and they can even demand more benefits."

He Que looked at Jiang Man and asked, "What do you plan to do this time, senior?"

Returning to his courtyard, Jiang Man replied, "Go negotiate first, then gather some information. See what the overall strength of this Sect is, as well as the strength of the Evergreen Sect.

"It should be very easy to find out."

"We can handle that," Zhuo Qingcheng offered.

He Que looked at Jiang Man and asked, "Will you be sitting here to coordinate and command, senior?"

Jiang Man looked back at him. "What's there to coordinate and command for such a minor matter? You handle it yourselves."

Hearing this, He Que was surprised. "Then what will you be doing?"

"Me?" Jiang Man pointed to the empty space in the courtyard. "I'll be Cultivating."

He Que remained silent for a long time before saying, "I will record everything in detail."

Jiang Man nodded. "If there's nothing else, go get busy."

Zhuo Qingcheng and the others naturally had no objections. He Que hesitated for a moment before leaving with Zhuo Qingcheng. He needed to take notes. And since Jiang Man was just Cultivating the whole time, there was nothing to record.

Once they left, Jiang Man decided to start Cultivating. No matter what mission he was doing, he felt that strength was the most important thing. The overall strength of the Cyan City Sect was very high. They had an expert at Primordial Spirit Perfection with a magnificent aura. If He Que didn't have a Grand Technique to rely on, he would probably find it hard to win against them. After all, it felt like the opponent also possessed such a Grand Technique.

Furthermore, there was the issue of their attitude. Although they were polite, they showed no emotional fluctuations, which meant they had seen stronger people. It wasn't necessarily something they could just see; it was more likely reflected in their demeanor. If they were at Primordial Spirit Perfection, the way they looked at Jiang Man's group would have been different. It was a matter of confidence.

In short, Jiang Man's group was at a disadvantage. The best fighter among them was actually He Que. While Jiang Man appeared to be at the Late Stage of Primordial Spirit, he actually couldn't unleash much strength. Under such circumstances, what else could he do but Cultivate?

As for what these people were scheming or what the Evergreen Sect was thinking, it meant nothing to him. Once he was strong enough, it would be the other side pondering the meaning of his actions. Now, he needed to raise his Physical Body to the Late Stage and then continue accumulating enough Cultivation and Physical Body power for the third Gourd. If he didn't accumulate power for the third Gourd, he would have to improve his Grand Technique.

Thinking of this, Jiang Man took out a Hundred Tempering Pill and swallowed it.

Three days later.

Ten Elixirs were gone, and the Flesh Body Gourd had accumulated ten percent.

Ten days later.

Thirty percent. On this day, they started a new round of negotiations. They increased the resources offered to the Cyan City Sect by ten percent. But they were rejected; the Evergreen Sect offered more.

Fifteen days later.

Fifty percent. Zhuo Qingcheng confirmed the strength of the Evergreen Sect's arrivals: one at Primordial Spirit Perfection, two at the Late Stage of Primordial Spirit, and one at the Early Stage of Primordial Spirit. Their strength far exceeded theirs. Moreover, the budget given by the Evergreen Sect was not small, making it impossible to determine their bottom line. Meanwhile, Evergreen City was also holding out for a better price. She decided to contact the people from Evergreen City first.

Thirty days later.

Early April. Jiang Man began his advancement. During these days, Zhuo Qingcheng and the others hit a wall at every turn. The people from the Evergreen Sect clearly gave them no face and intended to take over the Cyan City Sect, which was also obviously leaning towards the Evergreen Sect.

Thirty-four days later.

Jiang Man quietly opened the third Gourd. At this moment, he felt the torrents within his body rapidly dispersing and flowing freely through him, completely lacking the previous blocked sensation. The pain vanished, and all discomfort was gone. However, he still couldn't use his full strength; after all, his Spiritual Level was too high.

On this day, Zhuo Qingcheng came and reported their results. Simply put, there were no results whatsoever. She asked Jiang Man if they should continue to raise the price. If they failed to win over the Cyan City Sect, their mission would not be considered a success. He Que also urged Jiang Man to do something. In addition, the Cyan City Sect didn't dare to delay any further, stating they would make a decision on May 1st. They only had a little over twenty days left.

Jiang Man looked at them and said, "Handle it yourselves. Don't feel any psychological pressure; it's still early."

He Que felt that Jiang Man, as the person in charge, was completely irresponsible. He resumed writing his records. Afterward, Jiang Man dismissed them.

He calculated the time and finally took out the Magic Skill he had obtained last time. Four large words were written on it: "Great Sun Shining Sky."

The content of the Magic Skill was about the great sun and the stars. It was a Cultivation Skill that matched the Nine-star Series. It was an Attack type. Tantai Xue had explained this Magic Skill to him, and her explanation had been extremely thorough. Her Talent was truly earth-shattering. It was comparable to Mr. Ji's. Even Old Huang would praise her a time or two. Fang Yong had only been praised by Old Huang once.

Afterward, Jiang Man began Cultivating the Great Sun Shining Sky.

The First Layer could condense a massive sphere of light ten meters across, like the Taiyang. After the Ninth Layer, there would be nine such great Taiyangs. Up to this point, it was still within the scope of a normal Magic Skill. When reaching the Tenth Layer, the nine Taiyangs would merge into one. Its weight and power would multiply by nine times. At the Eleventh Layer, its size would double again. At the Twelfth Layer, it would expand once more. At the Thirteenth Layer, both its weight and size would expand together.

A Grand Technique emphasized the word "Grand." By then, the great sun would be like a mountain peak—massive and heavy. It would be just like Bai Qiufeng's gigantic human phantom. This was why Grand Techniques could differentiate those at the Primordial Spirit stage. The power was simply too immense. They were completely on different levels. Not to mention that his Nine-star Series was an outstanding one among them.

Mr. Ji had said that if one at the Late Stage of Primordial Spirit also had a matching Magic Skill, they would be practically invincible within the Primordial Spirit stage. Unless a cultivator at Primordial Spirit Perfection was a genius of similar caliber to him, they wouldn't have the slightest power to fight back.

Now it remained to be seen how many layers he could reach in a month of Cultivation. Because he had already understood it beforehand, he successfully reached the Entry Level in just two hours. Entry Level on the first try.

An hour later.

Second Layer on the next try.

Another hour later.

Third Layer after two tries. Fourth Layer after four tries.

In the afternoon.

Fifth Layer after eight tries.

By evening.

Sixth Layer after sixteen tries.

The next morning.

Seventh Layer after thirty-two tries.

On the third day.

Eighth Layer.

On the fifth day.

Ninth Layer.

On the eighth day.

Tenth Layer.

On the eleventh day.

Eleventh Layer.

On the eighteenth day.

Twelfth Layer.

On the twenty-fifth day.

Still at the Twelfth Layer. Today was the last day of April. Jiang Man felt it was a bit of a pity; there wasn't quite enough time.

"Senior, tomorrow the Cyan City Sect will be making their decision," Zhuo Qingcheng said. "They've rejected every condition we offered."

Jiang Man was silent for a moment before saying, "Tomorrow, go tell the Sect Leader of the Cyan City Sect that we will take them in under our very first, original conditions, and give him one day to think about it."

"What if he refuses to consider it?" Zhuo Qingcheng asked.

"How are the Arrays of the people from the Evergreen Sect?" Jiang Man asked.

"Probably not very strong," Zhuo Qingcheng replied.

"Place this at their residence." Jiang Man took out his Array Furnace.

Zhuo Qingcheng didn't understand, but she followed his instructions anyway.

The next day.

Zhuo Qingcheng went and relayed Jiang Man's words. But the other party thought she was joking. Were they getting desperate? However, they still refused and decided to join the Evergreen Sect. Except, the people from the Evergreen Sect did not show up that day.

Jiang Man continued Cultivating. He was only two days away from reaching Great Success. Even with the bonus from reaching Great Success in the series, he hadn't expected it to still be this difficult to Cultivate. His unlocked Talent wasn't enough. He needed to continue searching for ancient relics to unlock his Talent.