Chapter 18: Seeing the Mountain Again, Then Going Toward the Mountain Again

The pale-faced evil cultivator’s entire corpse was split into two halves down the middle. But because his right arm had already been severed and sent flying, the two halves did not look particularly symmetrical.

Jiang Wang landed before the corpse and loosened his grip. The long sword in his hand split apart into countless fragments, falling one after another to the ground.

Its mission was complete.

The sword’s material had only been ordinary, and it could not endure being infused with dao essence for so long.

And once again, Jiang Wang clearly felt that his Heaven-Connecting Palace was completely empty. Not a single one of those lively and adorable little things remained.

Before the ownerless gray mist could spread, Jiang Wang returned to the official road. He noticed that part of the gray mist drifted toward the edge of the road, but was blocked by an invisible force and slowly dispersed.

Jiang Wang knew that this should be the power of some formation pattern engraved upon the official road.

After waiting a while longer, rumbling thunder came from far to near. With several leaps, Zhang Linchuan landed beside Jiang Wang.

“Junior Brother Jiang didn’t leave this place, did you?” he asked.

Although he had just gone through a battle, his clothes and hat were still neat, and even his hair bun had been carefully preserved. His bearing naturally revealed itself in every gesture.

“I encountered… the evil cultivator from Tangshe Town earlier.”

“You cut him and drew his blood. He was definitely going to come retrieve it. Otherwise, he could only flee Zhuang Country.”

“I killed him.”

Zhang Linchuan’s brows twitched.

“What?”

Jiang Wang pointed toward the direction where the pale-faced evil cultivator had been executed.

“I just don’t know whether the corpse is useful, or whether we can find any clues.”

Zhang Linchuan recovered from his surprise and shook his head.

“These people have incomplete souls. Soul-searching them while alive is useless, let alone after death. I just killed a few, and they were all the same.”

“I see.”

Jiang Wang did not feel any disappointment. To him, killing that pale-faced evil cultivator was already enough.

He did not blame Zhang Linchuan for choosing to pursue the enemy immediately instead of staying behind to protect him. He was not some delicate person who needed protection, and Zhang Linchuan was not his nanny.

Moreover, if not for Zhang Linchuan’s pressure, that pale-faced evil cultivator would never have lacked the will to fight and chosen to flee at the first moment. Nor would his accomplices have given Jiang Wang a chance to fight him alone.

Zhang Linchuan looked at the place where the gray mist dispersed and sighed somewhat emotionally.

“The formation patterns on this section of the official road have been corroded. This must be reported to the authorities so they can send someone to repair it quickly.”

The two horses had not been frightened away. Jiang Wang shook the reins, and his horse ran forward spiritedly.

At that moment, he felt that within his Heaven-Connecting Palace, from some unfathomable place, a dao essence suddenly rolled down.

Then another, and another.

Five in total.

Moreover, they were fuller and rounder than before.

Although they did not fully replenish his earlier consumption, this was already an unexpected joy.

Only now did he more deeply understand the lessons taught by those experienced Daoists.

So-called dao essence was the beginning of the Great Dao.

The birth of dao essence was not merely the sublimation of qi and blood. It was the perfect fusion of will and power, the truest feedback of the spirit of all things toward the origin of heaven and earth.

…

By the time they returned to the Dao Academy, it was still early, so the two of them went directly to Dong A’s courtyard to report.

The door was open, but the courtyard was empty. Only Fang Heling paced back and forth, looking bored.

When he saw the two of them come in empty-handed, his eyes immediately lit up.

Fang Heling first greeted Zhang Linchuan honestly, then seemed to offer comfort.

“It seems Brother Zhang did not gain much from this trip… Even for a genius like Brother Zhang, bringing along a complete newcomer who understands nothing must truly be rather difficult.”

He naturally did not consider himself a newcomer. The Fang family had existed for a hundred years and had produced many cultivators. Having been influenced by what he had seen and heard since childhood, he was not unfamiliar with battles between cultivators.

As for this Jiang fellow, he was merely from a small town. What experience could he possibly have?

Jiang Wang could not be bothered to respond.

Zhang Linchuan, however, had the leisure to tease him.

“Oh? It seems Heling gained quite a bit this time.”

“It went fairly smoothly.”

Fang Heling forced himself to say one modest sentence before impatiently showing off.

It turned out that when they went to Fortune Arrival Inn to investigate clues, someone had also been secretly watching them. However, Li Jianqiu acted decisively and captured that person alive. What had originally been an investigation with little hope suddenly gained direction because of this living prisoner!

Of course, how much of a role Fang Heling had played in this was truly hard to say.

“Then where is Junior Brother Li?” Zhang Linchuan asked.

Fang Heling froze awkwardly for a moment before saying, “He’s in the room. Teacher Dong is using a secret art to search the prisoner’s soul.”

Dong A was searching the soul, and Li Jianqiu was attending him. Fang Heling did not even have the qualification to watch from the side…

His contribution to this trip was obvious.

Zhang Linchuan and Jiang Wang could not conveniently go in and disturb them, so they had no choice but to wait in the courtyard with Fang Heling.

Jiang Wang said nothing. He closed his eyes and sent the dao essence within his Heaven-Connecting Palace to the position where it should remain suspended, while Zhang Linchuan chatted casually with Fang Heling.

Fang Heling was naturally pleased. After all, Dong A had said before that the dao merit reward for the mission would be divided nine-to-one. Jiang Wang clearly had gained nothing, while they had brought back a living captive.

This was the first step in widening the gap.

Before long, Dong A, wearing black Daoist robes, strode out with Li Jianqiu.

Facing Fang Heling’s expectant gaze, Li Jianqiu shook his head.

Dong A said, “This person’s soul is incomplete. Even I only found a few scattered fragments, none of them important.”

Fang Heling hurried to show himself.

“To have made such thorough preparations, there must be a strict organization behind these people! This matter is definitely not simple!”

Dong A neither agreed nor disagreed and merely looked toward Zhang Linchuan.

Zhang Linchuan then described what had happened after they went to Tangshe Town, without adding the slightest embellishment. As for the details of Jiang Wang’s two battles with the pale-faced evil cultivator, Dong A did not ask, and Jiang Wang did not need to say.

He was a proper Dao Academy disciple, not a criminal. There was no need for him to be interrogated.

After hearing it, Dong A merely nodded.

“Jiang Wang, not bad.”

Those words sounded cold, but to those familiar with Dong A’s personality, they were already rare praise.

For this mission, both Zhang Linchuan and Li Jianqiu’s teams had submitted new clues, but neither had follow-up results, so the mission naturally could not count as completed. Still, Dong A assigned each of them five dao merit points as encouragement.

For Zhang Linchuan and Li Jianqiu, they had only been leading junior brothers who were newly exposed to ranked missions. If there were gains, that was best. If not, it did not matter. Their own senior brothers had once led them in the same way.

As for Jiang Wang and Fang Heling, five dao merit points were not a small amount. This was equivalent to half-completing the lowest-level ninth-rank mission.

Ninth-rank missions awarded between ten and one hundred dao merit points, while eighth-rank missions awarded between one hundred and five hundred, depending on the difficulty.

Dong A handled matters decisively. After determining that this mission had temporarily ended, he told the disciples to disperse.

After the matter was finished, Fang Heling urged Zhang Linchuan and Li Jianqiu to go drink a few cups. Jiang Wang thought for a moment and decided to visit the Dao Merit Hall.

…

The Dao Merit Hall stood directly opposite the Ritual Hall, showing its importance.

The entire hall was empty, with nothing else inside. Only a Dao Merit Board glowing with faint clear light hung above the offering table.

There were no guards here because the Dao Merit Board had the power to protect itself. It was itself a spiritual treasure—or more accurately, the board enshrined in the Dao Merit Hall of Maple Forest City Dao Academy was a subsidiary board of the main Dao Merit Board, which was enshrined in the national Dao Academy and received incense offerings from the entire country.

Jiang Wang had come here specifically only to broaden his horizons.

Since it was called a Dao Merit Board, naturally there were rankings.

Jiang Wang only now discovered that Zhang Linchuan, who seemed unfathomable to him, was only ranked third on this Maple Forest City subsidiary Dao Merit Board.

The person ranked second was named Wei Yan. He was not a Dao Academy disciple, but a military officer in the city guard. Judging from his surname, he might have some connection to Wei Quji.

And ranked first with 1,300 dao merit points was Zhu Weiwo, publicly acknowledged as the eldest senior brother of the entire Maple Forest City Dao Academy. He had always been like a divine dragon glimpsed only by head and not by tail. Jiang Wang had always only heard his name and never seen him in person.

One had to know that Wei Yan, ranked second, only had 700 dao merit points, roughly similar to Zhang Linchuan, yet both of them had been left far behind by Zhu Weiwo.

Jiang Wang continued looking down and saw Li Jianqiu at seventeenth place. Only then did he cut off his connection with the Dao Merit Board.

“A newly admitted junior brother?”

The senior brother from earlier seemed to have been deliberately waiting for him.

Hearing the voice, Jiang Wang turned his head and saw a warm, gentle smiling face.

“Greetings, Senior Brother. I am Jiang Wang, newly admitted into the inner academy.”

“Greetings to you as well. My name is Wang Changxiang.”

Wang Changxiang’s appearance was not outstanding, but the smile on his face made him very approachable.

“Well then, see you next time.”

“See you again.”

Jiang Wang’s heart stirred. On the Dao Merit Board he had just checked, this person was ranked seventh, far above Li Jianqiu.

Of course, the Dao Merit Board only counted dao merit, not personal strength. But in a certain sense, it did reflect some things.

Back in the outer academy, he and his sworn brothers had stood above the crowd and been almost unmatched. Only after entering the inner academy did he learn the height of the sky and the depth of the earth.

Among those he had met so far—Li Jianqiu, Zhang Linchuan, Wang Changxiang—each had a different temperament, but none was not exceptional. Jiang Wang judged himself to be far from their match.

A single Maple Forest City Dao Academy already had so many talented people. Then what about the entirety of Qinghe Commandery, or even all of Zhuang Country?

And those prodigies whose names shook the world and whom the heroes of the nations looked up to—what kind of brilliance did they possess?

Thinking of these things did not discourage Jiang Wang. Instead, an endless fighting spirit burned within him.

At the very least, he had now stepped onto the extraordinary path and entered the same arena as those dazzling people.

So what was there to fear?

[End of Chapter]