"Thirty thousand talisman coins."
It wasn't that much.
For a Servant of the Quenching Room, such a small sum was a drop in the bucket.
Yang Xun nodded.
"I can lend it to you."
He paused for a moment before asking again:
"Are you sure you don't have any cultivation difficulties you want to ask me about?"
Jiang Yi straightened his back and answered with confidence:
"With your permission, Marshal, I went to the Records Room of the Labor Institute and retrieved the *Little Refining Yuan Fire Control Technique*. I have carefully studied it, copied down passages, and have already gained considerable understanding. At present, I have no questions."
Yang Xun seemed unconvinced, asking hesitantly:
"You've already read through the Essentials and understood their meaning? You've reached the entry-level?"
Jiang Yi replied calmly:
"Reporting to the Marshal, it's not entry-level. It's Small Success."
Huh?
Yang Xun's eyelid twitched. The skin on his fierce face trembled as he struggled to suppress the shock rising in his throat.
'This kid!'
'Could he be a one-in-a-million Refining Talent?'
...
...
After receiving the thirty thousand talisman coins, Jiang Yi returned to the Big Mixed Courtyard. He sat cross-legged in his room, his heart calm, and began to cultivate.
Two patches of Tiger and Wolf Ointment clung to his skin, melting like wax and slowly seeping into his muscles and bones, causing his blood and qi to boil.
As his True Qi completed a Circulation, strands of it were refined as if by scorching flames, coalescing into a thread of Fire Attribute Radiance that shone with even more dazzling heat.
Jiang Yi was drenched in sweat, as if he'd just been pulled from the water.
His pores opened and closed, releasing an astonishing amount of heat.
He then consumed some Cyan Ganoderma Dew to replenish his depleted Primordial Qi.
The two remedies seemed to work in synergy, causing his cultivation to grow continuously.
'At this rate, it shouldn't be difficult to reach the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer before the start of spring, just as Marshal Yang said.'
Bare-chested, Jiang Yi walked straight into the courtyard, drew a bucket of water, washed himself off, and changed into a clean Daoist Robe.
The vibrant sunset cast an orange glow over everything.
He waited for Widow Qin to return from work. She furtively brought him ten thousand talisman coins.
It just goes to show, an older woman knows how to dote on someone.
This sworn older sister of his even knew to be considerate of his pride, deliberately avoiding the other residents of the Big Mixed Courtyard.
"Thank you, Sister Qin."
Jiang Yi didn't stand on ceremony. He tucked the ten thousand talisman coins into his robes and said with a smile:
"If there's ever anything I can do for you in the future, just ask."
Seeing that Jiang Yi was still in the Big Mixed Courtyard and hadn't done anything out of the ordinary, Widow Qin's anxious heart could finally rest.
Her bright eyes blinked as she said softly:
"Why be so polite? Back when your elder brother passed away, he didn't leave any savings, and I nearly had nowhere to go."
"It was you, Brother Yi, who lent a hand and paid my rent for two months..."
Jiang Yi smiled.
"We live under the same roof. It's only normal to help each other out in times of trouble. I'm surprised you've remembered it for so long, Sister Qin."
But Widow Qin shook her head.
"Fawning on the powerful and trampling the weak is the norm. Someone willing to lend a helping hand is a rare thing indeed."
"In our Outer Sect, there's never a shortage of vicious jackals and wolves who want to pounce on you for a pound of flesh and a mouthful of blood."
Jiang Yi's expression remained calm. He made no comment.
He thought He the Venerable was right. Daoist Lineages may be divided into Immortal and Demon, but what was the difference between mortal Cultivators?
If you were born into the Immortal Dao, did that mean you would automatically have compassion for all living things?
If you were part of the Demon Dao, were you destined to commit every evil imaginable?
'In the end, is it man who cultivates the Dao, or the Dao that devours man?'
Tucking the talisman coins away, Jiang Yi skipped his meal and returned to his room to continue refining his Fire Attribute Radiance.
He also summoned the Celestial Book.
[I beg the Celestial Book, show me if there will be any mishaps tonight when I attack Zhang Chao and Dong Ba of Red Flame Peak.]
[Subject of inquiry: Conflict]
[Deduction time: One hour]
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
A cold wind howled past.
The snow was falling heavily tonight, weighing down the treetops until they creaked and swayed.
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
Jiang Yi gently knocked on the door of He the Venerable's shack.
"Brother Yi, it's so late..."
Ever since his breakdown last night, He the Venerable had been like a frost-bitten eggplant—wilted and listless.
"Brother He, let's go outside and talk."
Jiang Yi didn't elaborate, simply tossing out the words before heading out of the Big Mixed Courtyard.
He the Venerable's expression shifted, his heart in turmoil. Suddenly, he gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and chased after the Brother Yi who was already leaving the courtyard.
The wind blew fiercely, and the snow fell thick and fast.
He the Venerable hurried after Jiang Yi, his voice trembling as he asked:
"Wait for me! Brother Yi, are you going after Zhang San and Dong Si?"
The latter chuckled.
"Exactly. Can you lead the way, Brother He?"
He the Venerable stared blankly at the usually friendly and gentle Brother Yi, feeling as if he had changed immensely in an instant.
The man was like a blade quenched in fire and ice—his gaze sharp, his edge exposed!
"I get it now!"
He the Venerable said fiercely:
"Brother Yi, you're doing this to stand up for me! I won't be a coward! Let's go fight Zhang San and Dong Si together!"
Perhaps it was the oppressive wind and snow, the bone-chilling cold, that paradoxically forced out a sliver of courage.
The usually mediocre and spineless He the Venerable had actually found his nerve.
He strode ahead of Jiang Yi, heading straight for a large, tile-roofed house at the other end of the area.
It was a nice place, the kind that cost one thousand talisman coins a month to rent.
Spacious and bright, with a heated kang bed, it was worlds more comfortable than the shacks of the Mortal Servants.
WHOOSH!
The cold wind blew down the accumulated snow. When the large, tile-roofed house came into view, He the Venerable's heart began to pound with fear again.
He unconsciously slowed his pace and lowered his voice.
"Brother Yi, if both Zhang San and Dong Si are in there, let's just throw a few harsh words at them and leave it at that. There's no need to fight with those two vicious dogs! They have numbers on their side..."
As He the Venerable spoke, he cocked his ear to listen. Bursts of laughter could be heard from a distance; it seemed Zhang Chao and Dong Ba were together.
"This is bad. We picked the wrong time. Inside..."
BANG!
Jiang Yi didn't stop. He marched forward, head held high, and kicked open the loosely bolted wooden door.
He immediately strode past He the Venerable and swept into the yard like a gust of wind.
On the golden paper that flickered in his eyes, the tiny, tadpole-like characters glittered.
[Deduction result: A near certainty.]
Below that.
The result of another query was just appearing.