Chapter 84: Dispute
In a room at Ziyun Inn.
Jiang Huai sat on the bed, meticulously going through the strategy guide for Dragon Burial Valley prepared by Ziyun Pavilion. As the saying goes, know yourself and your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles. Jiang Huai always liked to be thoroughly prepared, which was why Bai Li enjoyed following him into secret realms. Jiang Huai could discern what was valuable and what was not, which guardian spirit beasts could be outsmarted, and which could only be overcome by force, along with their weaknesses. His efficiency was countless times higher than when she explored secret realms alone.
While Jiang Huai was engrossed in the guide, Bai Li sat by the wall behind him, idly using her black silk-clad feet to step on Jiang Huai’s back, treating it as a massage.
“How far along is your Warm Jade Exquisite Melody?”
“Almost finished.”
“Let me see.”
Jiang Huai tossed the completed manuscript of the Warm Jade Exquisite Melody to Bai Li. Bai Li held the book and flipped through it for a long time, then her eyes widened. She lifted her black silk-clad feet high and clamped them around Jiang Huai’s neck. “You’ve degenerated, Jiang Huai! You actually wrote such a boring ending! It’s too degenerate!”
“Alas, you don’t understand.” Jiang Huai grabbed the black silk-clad feet around his neck and tickled them lightly. Moments later, Bai Li hastily retracted them, itching. Jiang Huai turned his head and looked at her flushed face. Her little feet were still as sensitive as ever.
“It’s too degenerate,” Bai Li muttered, still unsatisfied as she returned the script she had finished reading to Jiang Huai. “This is not the ending I wanted at all!”
“As long as someone wants to see it, it’s fine.” Jiang Huai put away the script. After exploring the secret realm, he still needed to find time to send it to Ziyun Pavilion.
He stood up. Dragon Burial Valley would open late tonight. He walked to the window and opened it, intending to get some fresh air. The area near Ziyun Inn was now crowded with people. These cultivators were also here to explore Dragon Burial Valley. Most of them were rogue cultivators, and some were sect disciples. Their cultivation levels generally ranged from the middle stage of Foundation Establishment to the middle stage of Nascent Soul, as Dragon Burial Valley only allowed cultivators in the late stage of Nascent Soul to enter at most.
These secret realms, considered ancient tombs, had this rule, leaving the resources for the younger generation of cultivators.
The Dragon Burial Valley secret realm belonged to the Yin family’s territory in Riange Continent. Therefore, to enter Dragon Burial Valley, one had to buy a ticket from the Yin family. The Yin family had released the news of Dragon Burial Valley’s imminent opening long ago, and Jiang Huai had bought a ticket early on.
Yes, only one ticket was needed. When the time came, Bai Li could transform into her true form and hang around Jiang Huai’s neck. If anyone asked, Jiang Huai would say she was his spirit beast, saving a lot of money. Bai Li didn’t care anyway. In a sense, her thick skin was as thick as Jiang Huai’s.
Bai Li also sauntered to the window out of boredom. But as her gaze fell, her pupils suddenly contracted. She looked at a figure in the distance and tightly grabbed Jiang Huai’s clothes.
“It’s him!”
“Who?”
“That scumbag who wanted to capture me as a spirit beast!” Bai Li’s voice became a gritted snarl, her dark eyes burning with rage, her slender shoulders trembling uncontrollably. Jiang Huai followed Bai Li’s gaze and saw, in the distance below, a man in white, surrounded by a crowd, discussing interesting recent events.
“Are you sure it’s him?”
“I’m sure. I’d recognize him even if he turned to ash!”
Jiang Huai’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Let’s go, get revenge.”
As Jiang Huai took a step, Bai Li reached out and grabbed his clothes. “No, he has a protector at the Fifth Level Transcendent stage by his side.”
“Fifth Level Transcendent, huh…” Jiang Huai weighed it for a moment, then chuckled softly. “It’s fine, come up to my neck.”
…
The cool touch on his neck made Jiang Huai feel a little more refreshed.
At this moment, Bai Li had transformed into a small white snake, coiling around his neck. Perhaps because he was used to Bai Li’s antics, Jiang Huai wasn’t as frightened. Jiang Huai quickly went downstairs, passed through the crowd of rogue cultivators, and arrived in front of the man in white that Bai Li had identified.
Beside the man in white stood a middle-aged man in grey, along with some sect disciples and rogue cultivators. They were all gathered around, chatting. They were all seated on the grass, with fine wine and delicacies laid out on the ground. However, as Jiang Huai suddenly arrived, everyone’s gaze shifted to him.
“Who is this?” The man in white looked up at Jiang Huai.
Although Jiang Huai’s name had spread throughout the Eastern Region, not many people had seen him in person. Jiang Huai spoke unhurriedly, “Jiang Huai of Tian Xuan Sect. Ever heard of me?”
The man in white and the grey-robed cultivator beside him were both taken aback. In an instant, the grey-robed cultivator scanned Jiang Huai’s entire body with his spiritual energy. Only after confirming that Jiang Huai’s cultivation was only at the first level of Qi Refining did he quietly breathe a sigh of relief.
“I have naturally heard of Brother Jiang’s name. I am also somewhat familiar with the little snake on Brother Jiang’s neck. May I ask why Brother Jiang has come?” The man in white looked at Jiang Huai. Before Jiang Huai could question him, he had already admitted his identity.
“I heard from my little Bai that some days ago, she clearly stated my name, yet you still wanted to take her as your spirit beast and even tried to steal my sword?” Jiang Huai sneered, his tone aggressive.
When seeking trouble, a pleasant demeanor was absolutely unnecessary. A pleasant demeanor would only embolden the other party. Although the outcome wouldn’t change, Jiang Huai didn’t like to play the weak to catch the strong.
Revenge for grievances. Seeking revenge required efficiency.
Upon hearing Jiang Huai’s words, the man in white chuckled.
“Brother Jiang, there seems to be a misunderstanding. I am Ji Qingchen, the young master of Moon Wheel Sect. Some days ago, I encountered this little snake in a secret realm. She kept insisting she was your spirit beast and was holding that Yening Sword. I thought she had stolen Brother Jiang’s spirit sword and intended to return it to Brother Jiang. Unexpectedly, she managed to escape. This is truly a huge misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding?” Jiang Huai glanced at him.
“Yes,” Ji Qingchen nodded slightly.
“But I don’t believe you,” Jiang Huai interrupted him coldly. “Kneel and kowtow to my spirit beast. If she’s in a good mood, she might spare you.”
Ji Qingchen looked at him with confusion at first, then couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Brother Jiang, are you joking?”
“Does my tone sound like I’m joking?”
“Doesn’t it?”
“Do you know who my Master is?”
“Who doesn’t know Flower-Plucking Fairy Chu Xianning?”
“Then do you think I still look like I’m joking?”
“Why not? Brother Jiang, you probably haven’t recognized the current situation. Your cultivation has been crippled. Calling you Brother Jiang, do you really see yourself as someone important? Granny Jiuyou personally said that your cultivation recovery in this lifetime is hopeless. Being expelled from the sect like a stray dog is probably only a matter of time. Even your engagement has been broken off. I’m quite curious, Jiang Huai, what gives you the audacity to be so arrogant?”
“So you’re not going to kowtow?”
Ji Qingchen stood up from the ground, his eyes fixed on Jiang Huai. “If you say another word, you’ll be the one kowtowing to me. If there’s no bloodshed, I won’t let this go easily.”
Jiang Huai drew his sword.
The Yening Sword emerged, and in an instant, sword energy permeated the air, as if every blade of grass and tree was an enemy soldier. Ji Qingchen’s grey-robed cultivator instantly stood beside him. Although he only displayed the cultivation of the late stage of Nascent Soul, Jiang Huai remembered that his true cultivation level was the realm after Nascent Soul: Fifth Level Transcendent.
The moment he held the Yening Sword in his hand, Jiang Huai had no worries. This was the advantage of a sword, and the reason why countless cultivators preferred to be sword cultivators. With a sharp blade in hand, one held power.
A faint, almost imperceptible smile played on Jiang Huai’s lips. But just as he slightly raised his hand, a faint female voice reached both their ears.
“Young sirs, this is Yin family territory.”
The source of the voice was a woman in a green dress. She had a buxom figure and enchanting eyes. In an instant, she appeared between Jiang Huai and Ji Qingchen, separating them with an invisible wave of spiritual energy. She slowly said, “Dragon Burial Valley is opening tonight. The Yin family wants to do a little business. I hope both young sirs can put away your anger and not fight on Yin family territory. After the Dragon Burial Valley secret realm ends, you can do whatever you want, and the Yin family will naturally not interfere.”
Ji Qingchen shifted his gaze to the woman before him, a trace of greed appearing in his eyes before it quickly vanished. “Are you perhaps the Second Fairy of the Yin family, Fairy Ling Su?”
“That’s right.”
“I have long heard of Fairy Ling Su’s name. Now that I see you, you are even more beautiful than the legends say.”
Yin Ling Su chuckled and covered her mouth. “You’re such a sweet talker, little one.”
Jiang Huai gave her a cursory glance. Although he had lost his spiritual energy, he could still probe her cultivation with his soul. Yin Ling Su’s cultivation was at the Fifth Level Void Refinement stage, belonging to the Sixth Realm cultivators. She was clearly an older woman.
He seemed to have heard the name “Fairy Ling Su” before, but his memory of her was of a promiscuous woman who had engaged in dual cultivation with many young male cultivators and kept several male consorts.
Jiang Huai couldn’t even be bothered to look at her again. Although her appearance was not bad, it was like the light of a firefly compared to the radiance of the moon when compared to Chu Xianning. Having spent so many years with Chu Xianning, his standards had become very high. Unless a woman was exceptionally beautiful, he lost interest in looking at her for more than a second glance.
“You must be Jiang Huai of Tian Xuan Sect, yes? I saw you once at the Eastern Region Grand Competition four years ago. Your swordplay at that time left a deep impression on me.”
“If I make a move to strike him, will you stop me?” Jiang Huai asked faintly, looking up slightly.
“This is Yin family territory. If any dispute arises between you two and causes unpleasantness, and your elders come to the Yin family to hold us accountable, it will be difficult for me to explain. Therefore… I ask young sir Jiang to give me some face.” Yin Ling Su’s eyes flowed with a false coyness. For some reason, Jiang Huai felt a slight disgust.
He disliked such affectation. He preferred a woman’s genuine flushed cheeks and shy blush.
“I’ll give you some face.”
Jiang Huai knew he couldn’t draw his sword anymore. He wasn’t afraid of the Fifth Level Transcendent, but if a Fifth Level Void Refinement cultivator tried to stop him from drawing his sword, he naturally wouldn’t be able to. Since there was a way to back down, he took it. He said no more, turned, and left.
Ji Qingchen watched Jiang Huai’s retreating back from behind, a undisguised cold smile on his lips. He slowly said, “Jiang Huai, you’d better pray you don’t run into me in the secret realm.”
“I advise you to do the same,” Jiang Huai said without looking back, returning to Ziyun Inn with Bai Li.
Ji Qingchen’s eyes stared sinisterly at Jiang Huai. The grey-robed cultivator beside him couldn’t help but remind him in a low voice, “Young Master, his master is Chu Xianning. Unless absolutely necessary, it’s best not to kill him.”
“So what if his master is Chu Xianning? He’s just a cripple. Would Chu Xianning even care about such a cripple? Perhaps she’s already been wanting to expel this cripple from the sect, but she just couldn’t bring herself to say the words. Besides… who said I’m going to kill him? If we happen to meet in the secret realm, we can spar. Breaking a few of his bones would be the same.”
Yin Ling Su looked at Ji Qingchen beside her and gently reminded him, “Young Master Ji is joking. Some things are best said, but not done.”
These young juniors nowadays were all so sharp-edged, unlike their era when they were more reserved, only thinking of secretly killing each other. Yin Ling Su felt somewhat helpless. If Jiang Huai were to meet with an accident in the secret realm after he said all this, trouble would find him.
Ji Qingchen understood her meaning after hearing her words and also smiled. “That’s true, it’s best to just talk about it. There’s no need to get angry with this cripple. If Fairy Ling Su has nothing else to do, would you care to share a drink with us?”
Yin Ling Su’s eyes remained as enchanting as ever. She lightly tapped Ji Qingchen’s forehead with her spiritual fan. “Do you think I haven’t heard of your reputation in the sect? I’ve heard that among your concubines, you take them all, from girls as young as fourteen to exceptionally talented cauldron-womb cultivation partners over a hundred years old.”
“Dual cultivation is a matter of mutual consent,” Ji Qingchen didn’t try to deny it, but rather smiled. “Those common women cannot compare to Fairy Ling Su. It’s a rare opportunity to meet you today. Fairy Ling Su, please do me the honor of sharing a drink with me. We can get to know each other. There will be many opportunities for cooperation between Moon Wheel Sect and the Yin family in the future, won’t there?”
Yin Ling Su glanced at Ji Qingchen before her and sat down on the chair.
There were still plenty of places in this cultivation world where propriety had broken down. Many older female cultivators coaxed young male cultivators into dual cultivation for energy extraction. Rumors of this surfaced every year. However, if beauty was the standard, Yin Ling Su was more interested in Jiang Huai, who had already returned to Ziyun Inn.
Four years ago, as she sat in the spectator seats of the Eastern Region Grand Competition, feeling the sharp sword intent emanating from Jiang Huai’s movements, her legs had involuntarily pressed together, and her body had felt incredibly weak. It was a pity that his master was that Flower-Plucking Fairy Chu Xianning. Who would dare to approach and flirt with him?
Even though his cultivation was crippled now, with his looks and those alluring peach blossom eyes, Yin Ling Su still wanted to have him under her. She wanted to thoroughly “extract” him.
