Chapter 634 - 342: Falsely Claiming the Reward Comes at a Price

Chapter 634: Chapter 342: Falsely Claiming the Reward Comes at a Price

After that, it continued weeding. It missed the days in its prison cell. If it ever had the chance to go back, it definitely wouldn’t come out again.

Jiang Man didn’t mind the Old Yellow Ox grazing with its head down. Instead, he prepared to take a trip to the Law Enforcement Hall. He figured he still had a portion of his reward left to collect, so he needed to ask for it.

However, just as he was about to leave, Ji Shoumo and his group arrived. They said they were heading out on a mission. The three from the Bai Family had also gone out. Ji An and the others had done the same, making the courtyard relatively safer. Inside the Sect, there wouldn’t be any major trouble; he just couldn’t wander outside casually, as accidents could easily happen.

Jiang Man expressed his understanding. Before leaving, they left fifty Hundred Refining Pills for Jiang Man to improve his physical body.

"We don’t have any extra either," Ji Chenfeng said. "Focus on improving your physical body so you can last a bit longer even if you encounter danger."

Jiang Man asked curiously, "Does Miss Ji Meng have any?"

"Do you really like her that much?" Ji Linglong asked curiously. He was just receiving some Elixirs, yet he still bothered to ask if she had any.

Jiang Man paused for a moment, then answered truthfully, "I haven’t thought that deeply about it, but if you have to ask who I like, then I definitely like Miss Ji Meng."

"No need to tell us. We aren’t going to pass on the message," Ji Linglong said with a look of disdain.

Ji Chenfeng nodded. "You can tell her to her face. If she happens to hate you, then you’ll be able to focus on your Cultivation in peace."

Ji Shoumo agreed. "That would be a good thing."

With that, the three of them left.

Jiang Man was puzzled. "Old Huang, what’s wrong with them? It feels like they don’t want to see Miss Ji Meng and me end up together."

The Old Yellow Ox kept its head down and continued eating grass, showing no reaction whatsoever. Regardless, those three were true Gold Masters; whatever they said went.

Putting the Elixirs away, Jiang Man headed to the Law Enforcement Hall. In the end, he received a manual for a Magic Skill, a letter, and a Token. The Token was a half-copper, half-iron badge from the Zhenyue Bureau. If he were to take office in the Zhenyue Bureau of the Wuyun Sect, he would become a team leader in charge of five people. Even if he didn’t take up a post, he would still have a certain level of authority. For instance, he could collect one thousand Spiritual Sources every month.

At the thought of this, Jiang Man immediately remembered his own Jade Token. Could that one be used to collect Spiritual Sources? If so, how many Spiritual Sources had he already missed out on? Moreover, wouldn’t he expose himself the moment he tried to collect them? After all, his Cultivation was too low to shake off any tails. He couldn’t even risk trying it out.

The letter contained access to a Foundation Establishment Secret Realm. It was used to acquire Core Formation Skills. This left Jiang Man bewildered—what use did he have for this? Not even Chang Qiweng was at the stage for Core Formation yet. What he needed was a Qi Refining Secret Realm.

"It has both," the person at the Law Enforcement Hall replied. "This qualification can be used all the way up to Core Formation. It’s specifically given to junior brothers with great achievements like you so they can cultivate their own subordinates. It serves the same purpose as a shop."

The more ties a person had, the harder it was for them to do something extreme. Someone with no attachments and boundless strength posed the highest level of danger.

As for the Magic Skill, it turned out to be the Wind-Collecting Technique. It was also meant for cultivating subordinates. But why wasn’t it the Sword Control Technique?

"As Flying Swords become more common, the price of the Sword Control Technique has started to drop, mainly to popularize Flying Swords. Consequently, the price of the Wind-Collecting Technique has gone up to differentiate the physical experience of those who use Sword Control," the person from the Law Enforcement Hall explained once again.

Jiang Man understood what they meant—it was a way to separate the rich from the poor. It hadn’t been like this ten years ago. In just a short decade, production capacity had surged. Still, he checked the price and realized that he wouldn’t have been able to afford it back then either. Now, however, it felt incredibly cheap; a single Elixir would more than cover the cost.

Afterwards, Jiang Man visited the flatbread shop again. This time, he was very cautious, only approaching after making sure the Bai Family Ancestor wasn’t around. Returning to his own shop felt like sneaking around as a thief.

As soon as he arrived, he saw a woman saying to Song Qing, "Senior Brother Song, the Cultivation Method you mentioned last time was really useful. It’s truly a waste of your talents to be making flatbread here."

Jiang Man watched the scene with a puzzled expression. It was a different woman this time. He used to think Song Qing was being tricked by the younger sister of the Chang Family, but looking at it now, it was hard to say who was tricking whom. How did this guy always have women flocking around him wherever he went? Was the Evil God’s influence really that strong? Sooner or later, he would have to eradicate the Evil God backing him.

It wasn’t until the woman left that Song Qing noticed Jiang Man approaching.

"Senior Brother Song?" Jiang Man probed.

Hearing this, Song Qing’s face instantly flushed red. He quickly defended himself, "Young Master Jiang, they were just speaking nonsense. Besides, they only came here for the Spirit Pet, it has nothing to do with me."

As he spoke, Song Qing pointed to the snow-white fox at the shop entrance.

Jiang Man then realized that there was one Spirit Egg missing. He hadn’t noticed it at all when facing the Bai Family Ancestor earlier. Looking closely now, he saw that this White Fox was of excellent quality. Especially with that lazy gaze as it threw a disdainful glance in his direction. This fox was not normal, and it had zero concept of restraining its arrogant looks. Just how much did it look down on the people who came by? Did it have any idea who the man in white who visited last time was?

Ignoring the fox, Jiang Man asked about Xiaopang and the others. He was told that there hadn’t been any major changes. The Luo Family members had indeed visited the Sect, but they left shortly after.

"They didn’t take anyone with them?" Jiang Man asked.

"They seem to have taken Miss Luo’s cousin, Luo Lu," Song Qing said, sounding somewhat uncertain.

Hearing this, Jiang Man nodded. It seemed that Luo Xuan hadn’t left after all. He needed to ask Xiaopang what was going on.

Afterwards, Song Qing called over Xiaopang and Chang Qiweng.

"Brother Jiang, you were looking for me?" Xiaopang asked with a smile.

Seeing this, Jiang Man remarked, "You look awfully happy."

"Huh?" Xiaopang was a bit confused. "Shouldn’t I be happy to see you, Brother Jiang?"

"Are you sure that’s why you’re happy?" Jiang Man pressed.

"What else is there to be happy about?" Xiaopang was completely baffled.

"You’re not happy because Luo Xuan isn’t leaving?" Jiang Man asked, puzzled.

Xiaopang remained confused. Luo Xuan was leaving? When did that happen? Jiang Man briefly explained the situation to him.

Then, it finally dawned on Xiaopang. "No wonder Miss Luo suddenly asked me the other day if I would leave if I were in her shoes. I even told her it was a great opportunity."

Song Qing sighed emotionally. "Then why did Miss Luo choose not to leave? Was it for you, Young Master?"

Xiaopang looked at him and asked curiously, "Song Qing, do you even believe that yourself?"

Song Qing fell silent.

Jiang Man also fell silent. It was true—what could she possibly want from him? Was she after his chubbiness or his dark circles? Right now, Luo Xuan had a wealthy family background, high Talent, and good looks. Xiaopang, on the other hand, was lacking quite a bit in comparison.

Chang Qiweng arrived late, looking as exhausted as ever.

Xiaopang asked curiously, "Old Chang, didn’t your younger sister pass the exam?"

Jiang Man felt rather amazed. Had the chubby younger sister of the Chang Family reached Foundation Establishment? Song Qing was actually still at Qi Refining.

Jiang Man patted Song Qing’s shoulder and said, "This is for you."

Song Qing was puzzled. However, when he saw the envelope, he felt a bit pleasantly surprised. He opened it, only to find that it wasn’t quite what he had expected.

"What kind of qualification is this?" he asked.

"A qualification for the Foundation Establishment Secret Realm, used for Core Formation," Jiang Man answered casually.

Song Qing was stunned. "But I haven’t reached Foundation Establishment yet."

"It includes a qualification for the Qi Refining Secret Realm inside," Jiang Man said earnestly.

This way, the massive debt of Spiritual Sources he owed Song Qing would be cleared. Out of everyone, he owed Song Qing the most.

Song Qing was bewildered but still managed to process the information. "But there’s no guarantee I can reach Foundation Establishment Perfection."

Simply getting the qualification didn’t guarantee Core Formation. He would have to cultivate to that Realm first and then comprehend the Core Formation Skill. It felt like a bit of a waste to give it to him. He knew exactly what kind of Talent he had, didn’t he?

Jiang Man didn’t care; it was just to settle his debt anyway. Afterwards, Jiang Man sold the Wind-Collecting Technique to Chang Qiweng. This wasn’t meant to settle a debt. This item could be bought by anyone with Spiritual Sources, so it didn’t hold enough weight to clear his tab.

Next on the agenda was to preach and impart Cultivation Methods to them. Jiang Man told Xiaopang to gather everyone so he could explain the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment Skills to them. It would be the perfect opportunity for him to deepen his understanding of these lower Realms.

Soon after, Luo Xuan, Cheng Yu, Tang Feng, and the others were all called over. Jiang Man attempted to extract some of the essence from the teachings he had received from Mr. Ji and Mr. Tantai, merging it with Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment to formulate an even more ingenious and direct Cultivation Method.

***

Outside the Lingyue Sect.

The two who had originally escaped had now mostly recovered from their injuries.

The petite woman spoke up, "I’ve gathered some intelligence. They say the person who collected the bounty is named Jiang Man."

"The one who tried to kill us back then?" the white-haired man asked.

The petite woman shook her head. "He should only have Primordial Spirit Cultivation. He fraudulently claimed the bounty. I did a comprehensive investigation, and I can basically confirm that he was an imposter. Are we going to make a move against him?"

The white-haired man looked at the information they had received and spoke coldly, "Claiming a bounty under false pretenses comes with a price. Find out his itinerary. We need to make him understand that some people’s bounties cannot be collected so casually. Also, capture him alive. Since he was bold enough to do this and the Law Enforcement Hall even gave him the Spiritual Sources, it means he has some background."

Even if the target had a background, they didn’t care. The most troublesome part of this mission was tracking down his whereabouts. As long as they could confirm when he was leaving the Wuyun Sect, everything would become easy. No matter how high his Talent was, they had nothing to fear. They might not be able to defeat that mysterious person, but could it really be that they couldn’t even defeat a mere Primordial Spirit cultivator?