Volume One: The Autumn Sacrifice Chapter Two: I’m Just a Rich, Good-Looking Good-for-Nothing

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Jiang Wang had also been trying to figure out how to control that force.

But he had not the slightest idea how.

He could only feel the scorching aura gradually weakening,

until it vanished completely.

Su Lingyi discovered that he seemed able to move again.

Although he had instantly thought of two hundred ways to kill Jiang Wang, he remained extremely cautious.

The path of cultivation was arduous, and those who ultimately managed to enter it were rarer than one in ten thousand.

The very first step was already fraught with difficulty.

There was qi between Heaven and Earth.

The primordial qi that could first be perceived was minuscule and delicate, like the tender shoot that had just pushed through the soil after a seed was planted. Though tiny, it contained boundless vitality.

Only by grasping that single thread of life could one hope to forge the Yellow Court within the body.

During the process, one had to use qi to strike the acupoints at least three thousand five hundred times, and every single strike brought the agony of having both body and spirit torn apart.

It was a pain beyond the endurance of ordinary people. Without extraordinary willpower, one was fated to have no connection with the path.

This stage was known as the Hundred-Day Foundation.

Those blessed with exceptional talent might forge the Yellow Court in less than a hundred days.

Some required three years; others, nine. There was no fixed duration.

Du Yanruo was currently at the Hundred-Day Foundation stage, and had only just begun.

Su Lingyi, on the other hand, had already completed the process of striking his acupoints. He needed only to seize the right opportunity and forge his Yellow Court before truly stepping through the gates of cultivation.

He carefully observed Jiang Wang, searching for anything unusual about him.

Yet he found that he could not see through him at all.

Ordinary.

He was simply too ordinary.

Even among people of the same realm, the smallest differences were difficult to perceive, but not impossible.

When nothing could be perceived, the implication was obvious.

He silently wiped the cold sweat from his brow and gave Jiang Wang a most amiable smile.

A cultivator who could perfectly establish his foundation and enter the Profound Insight Realm at such a young age must either possess truly extraordinary talent or have an extremely powerful background.

There were many subtleties involved in dealing with people.

Although Fish Abyss Academy was the supreme institution of learning in the Sui Kingdom, those with genuine aptitude were all in the Divine Capital. In the Bitter Sandlands, the Sword Pavilion stood unrivaled.

When all was said and done, the Bitter Sandlands belonged to the Sword Pavilion.

Two years was neither a long time nor a short one.

No one could guarantee that Jiang Wang had not encountered some great opportunity and entered the sect of a powerful cultivator.

What was more, Su Lingyi knew virtually nothing about the young marquis of Hun City.

He saw the somewhat bewildered look in Jiang Wang’s eyes.

His heart tightened.

The facts were already laid bare before them, yet Jiang Wang was pretending to understand nothing. Clearly, he had ulterior motives.

There were indeed cultivators in this world with peculiar tastes.

Despite being immensely powerful, they pretended to be useless.

They disguised themselves as utterly feeble, all for the sake of playing the weakling who triumphs over the strong and savoring the so-called pleasure of it.

What a vile趣味.

Su Lingyi remained on the highest alert.

With extreme caution, he retreated one step.

At that moment, Jiang Wang was thinking that the time he had managed to control Su Lingyi seemed rather short.

When he had faced the monster before, the effect had lasted an entire hour.

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There had to be some reason for this.

“I’m just an ordinary good-for-nothing who happens to be rich and handsome!” Jiang Wang looked at Su Lingyi with complete sincerity. “Don’t you feel even the slightest urge to beat me to death?”

Su Lingyi gave an awkward laugh. “What happened just now was all a misunderstanding. Fighting and killing are hardly elegant. Why don’t we sit down and have a cup of tea, then let bygones be bygones?”

Jiang Wang frowned. “A man must have backbone. You wanted to kill me just now, so how can you back down now? Acting like this will only make the beauty beside you look down on you.”

“...Senior Brother Su...” Du Yanruo began.

Su Lingyi raised a hand to interrupt her and declared righteously, “Fish Abyss Academy follows the principle that education should be offered to all without discrimination. I have received a higher education, and must treat everyone equally. The weak must never be bullied. My actions just now were entirely my fault. I must deeply repent. I am certain Junior Sister will agree!”

He gave a slight cupping of his fists and once again said with utmost solemnity, “I shall certainly visit in person another day to apologize, so that the young marquis may feel the sincerity of my profound repentance. Farewell!”

The moment he finished speaking, he was already galloping away like a streak of dust.

Jiang Wang’s body trembled as he gave several frail coughs.

You’re leaving just like that?

I haven’t even started showing off yet.

Don’t you understand the joy of helping others?

If you truly want to repent, come and hit me!

Du Yanruo: “o((⊙﹏⊙))o... Senior Brother Su, wait for me!”

Su Lingyi did not dare look back. Only after they had left Rosy Cloud Street far behind did he rein in his horse and stop, waiting for Du Yanruo to catch up.

Seeing her hesitant expression, Su Lingyi realized that if word of this spread, it might disturb the young marquis’s amusement and cause him to offend someone for no reason. He therefore decided to keep silent.

“Junior Sister, we have a mission in Hun City. We must place the greater good first.”

“Continuing to entangle ourselves with the young marquis will only waste time. After all, the Du family is still in Hun City. If we offend the young marquis too deeply, the Du family will be unable to survive here once we leave. You must understand my painstaking concern.”

Du Yanruo was deeply moved by his words. “I was thoughtless. Although the marquis’s residence has fallen into decline, it still wields considerable influence in Hun City. If he deliberately made things difficult for the Du family, it would indeed be troublesome.”

Su Lingyi nodded in satisfaction. “Let us pay a visit to the Du family first, then return to Rosy Cloud Street to investigate.”

...

Zhao Si carried the basket containing the paintings and also had to drag the wicker chair behind him. Watching Jiang Wang stroll leisurely ahead, he grew so furious that steam seemed to pour from his ears.

“What exactly happened just now?”

“That man was obviously provoking us on purpose. Why did he suddenly seem like a different person? Are you truly able to control other people’s bodies?”

Jiang Wang said nothing.

When he had first encountered the monster, he had been just as confused.

But once he realized that he could control more than monsters alone,

he understood.

This would be the moment when his fate changed completely.

What he needed to do now was learn to control that force at will.

Clearly, that was not something he could accomplish easily.

Until he became truly powerful, he had to keep this secret.

Rosy Cloud Street was one of Hun City’s old streets. It had once been a bustling thoroughfare, but most of the original residents had moved away, leaving behind only a few households and many empty mansions.

The Marquis of Xunyang’s residence was the most magnificent building on Rosy Cloud Street. From the design of its eaves to the decorations inside, from the objects arranged in its courtyards to the rare flowers and exotic plants, every detail was extravagantly luxurious.

It was only because the household servants had either been dismissed or left of their own accord that, on the surface, the residence appeared to have fallen into ruin.

Jiang Wang had always been curious.

Why was his family so wealthy?

Although they were a marquis’s household, their residence stood in the tiny city of Hun, a place so remote that it seemed beyond the reach of the imperial court. By any measure, they were clearly not favored by the court.

Moreover, the marquis’s residence was merely a residence. It had no other apparent source of income.

Jiang Wang could only suspect that something was amiss with his long-missing father.

Just as they returned to the front of the marquis’s residence,

a figure suddenly emerged from an alley to the side.

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“Young Marquis, would you like a wife?”

Jiang Wang said helplessly, “Old Xu, that’s the fifteenth time you’ve asked me.”

Old Xu, dressed in coarse hemp clothing, rubbed his hands together and chuckled. “Who can blame me? You’re so handsome. All the young ladies in the city adore you.”

“Just say the word, and I’ll search the entire city for you. I’ll absolutely find the prettiest one. No matter what, I can’t let you suffer a loss, can I?”

When the marquis was still present, Jiang Wang had never left the residence. The people of Hun City knew only that there was a young marquis, but no one had ever seen him. Even so, matchmakers had nearly worn down the threshold of the marquis’s residence in their efforts to form a connection.

After the residence supposedly began to decline, the matchmakers who came calling did not diminish in number at all. Ultimately, it was still because of Jiang Wang’s face.

For certain wealthy families in Hun City, having a young marquis marry into their household was something well worth boasting about.

Old Xu relied on the fact that he had often entered and left the marquis’s residence in the past and was familiar with Jiang Wang. Having learned of a profitable arrangement that benefited everyone, he naturally refused to let it pass.

Jiang Wang shook his head and walked past him. “I am the distinguished young marquis of the Marquis of Xunyang’s residence. How could an ordinary woman possibly be worthy of me?”

Old Xu followed behind him, entirely unfazed by Jiang Wang’s status.

“The Marquis of Xunyang’s residence has nothing left but the residence itself. If not for your status as a young marquis, those wealthy ladies would not need to find matchmakers. They would probably simply abduct you and bring you home.”

Jiang Wang said, utterly speechless, “You run a tailor shop. Why are you competing with matchmakers for business? Is it really worth it for that little bit of money?”

Old Xu beamed. “What does money matter? It is all merely an external possession. The main thing is, you’re no longer young. You’ve just reached twenty, too. It’s time you found yourself a wife.”

Jiang Wang also wanted to send Old Xu away and said directly, “I won’t accept one who isn’t beautiful.”

In any case, he would be the one deciding whether she was beautiful.

Upon hearing this, Old Xu became extremely excited and repeatedly promised that he would find the perfect woman. Despite his advanced age, he ran astonishingly fast, vanishing in a flash.

Zhao Si could not help laughing. With his only right hand, he patted Jiang Wang on the shoulder and said, “Young Marquis, let me offer my advance congratulations on your finding a beauty.”

Jiang Wang looked at Zhao Si. “You’re almost thirty yourself, aren’t you? I should tell Old Xu to find a wife for you too.”

Zhao Si walked straight past Jiang Wang and pushed open the gates of the marquis’s residence. “I’ll spend my entire life painting. I absolutely refuse to do anything else!”

...

The Du residence.

Rows of beautiful maids carried out exquisite dishes. Though only three people were seated, the table was filled to overflowing with food and wine.

Du Heng looked at Su Lingyi and Du Yanruo seated across from him, laughing with great satisfaction.

His former determination to bring his daughter and Jiang Wang together

was both his greatest regret and the thing for which he was most grateful.

He regretted that his “good intentions” had been cruelly rejected, leaving him utterly humiliated.

Yet he was grateful that, precisely because she had been rejected, Du Yanruo had gained the chance to encounter the path of immortality.

That was a far more joyous blessing than marrying into the marquis’s household.

Fish Abyss Academy was affiliated with the imperial court. To study there was a blessing worthy of making one’s ancestors’ graves glow with honor.

The academy did not merely teach books and cultivate people. Everyone within it possessed the ability to fly through the heavens. Calling them immortals would hardly be an exaggeration.

Du Yanruo slightly furrowed her brows. “Where is Zicheng?”

Du Heng sighed. “Your younger brother is ignorant and unaccomplished. Who knows where he has gone to fool around now? I spent a fortune inviting a master to teach him martial arts, yet after all this time, he has learned only half-heartedly. He truly means to anger me to death.”

Du Yanruo said, “Hun City may become somewhat unsettled in the near future. It would be best to warn him not to wander about.”

Su Lingyi took up the conversation. “Uncle is no outsider, and we also require his assistance, so I shall speak plainly.”

He glanced at Du Yanruo beside him and continued, “We came to Hun City under our master’s orders to investigate traces of immortals. Several days ago, a mirage appeared high above Rosy Cloud Street. The academy’s libationer observed it and suspected that it was a sign of an immortal descending into the mortal world. Before long, various forces may send people to Hun City.”

Du Heng was astonished. “An immortal?”

He studied Su Lingyi before him, then looked at Du Yanruo, puzzled. “Perhaps my knowledge is limited, but was not Instructor Cai an immortal back then?”

Su Lingyi smiled. “We are merely cultivators. Even if Instructor Cai is a hundred times more powerful than I am, we would still never dare call him an immortal. Though I have never seen one myself, a true immortal could likely destroy our entire world with the movement of a hand.”

He suddenly thought of Jiang Wang.

Although Jiang Wang was already a true cultivator, he was still very young.

When Instructor Cai came to Hun City, Su Lingyi would surely avenge the humiliation he had suffered.