35: Chapter 35 Objectives

Jiang Yan sat cross-legged in the cave, the animal skin map seized from Zhao Xuancheng spread out before him.

His finger slowly traced across the map of the Jin Kingdom's territory—the capital was in Luo Prefecture, while his current location was in the lower reaches of the Luo River.

The waterfall outside the cave roared, and mist drifted in from the entrance, dampening a small corner of the map.

He began to analyze the situation.

Marquis Zhennan was no fool; his son was a Cultivator, and having gone missing for so many days without a trace, dead or alive, it would sooner or later be reported to the imperial palace.

Once those three resident Cultivators intervened, given the methods of Jinyang Sect Cultivators, finding the ashes in the River God Temple was only a matter of time.

The traces of Spiritual Qi remaining in the ashes could not be completely cleared.

The aura left behind by the Bloodthirsty Demon Scripture was cold and overbearing, making it even harder to completely erase.

Jiang Yan was not panicked by this risk; the Cultivators guarding the imperial palace might know that such a Cultivator practicing a Demonic Technique was active in the Jin Kingdom, but tracking him down personally would be extremely difficult.

Compared to the benefits of looting Zhao Xuancheng, this small risk was still within his control.

What would the Cultivators guarding the imperial palace do?

Reporting to the Sect was a certainty.

A Demonic Cultivator appearing in their jurisdiction—hiding it would be seeking death.

But reporting was one thing; a Demonic Cultivator at the Qi Refinement Stage was not worth a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator making a personal trip.

A Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator's time was precious; the possibility of coming all this way to catch a Qi Refining Stage Demonic Cultivator was zero.

It was more likely they would assign the task to those nearby, letting the three resident Cultivators in the Jin Kingdom investigate first and report back once they found clues.

The real danger was in half a year.

Every two years, for the collection of resources and the selection of children with Spiritual Roots, the Jinyang Sect would send a cloud ship.

Zhao Xuancheng had said that the leader was usually a Foundation Establishment Stage Elder.

The gap between the Qi Refinement Stage and the Foundation Establishment Stage was not just a sheet of window paper, but a wall—Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators had liquefied Spiritual Qi, Divine Sense spanning a hundred zhang, and their speed when controlling objects to fly was many times that of the Qi Refinement Stage, not to mention those Tier 2 Spells.

With his current strength, even escaping in front of a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator would be a struggle.

Unless he didn't use Spiritual Qi and hid deep in the mountains and forests.

But without using Spiritual Qi, he couldn't obtain resources, and without resources, he couldn't improve his strength.

This was a deadlock.

Jiang Yan tapped his finger on the location of Pingjiang Commandery.

Four months.

He could stay in the Jin Kingdom for at most four months.

Four months later, he would either have to cross the Manghuang Mountains to leave or switch to a Righteous Path Cultivation Technique and sneak onto the Jinyang Sect's cloud ship.

Both paths required strength as a foundation, and strength had to be piled up with resources.

He took out the book "Biographies of Influential Figures in the Jin Kingdom" and turned to the page about General Jiang Ce.

The book recorded in detail: General Jiang Ce, Innate Grandmaster, Great General Protecting the Nation, holding command over 100,000 border troops.

He had practiced the spear for thirty years, his long spear weighed ninety-nine catties, and he once killed an Innate Perfection vanguard general of the Northern Yan Kingdom with a single strike.

His mansion was in the city of Pingjiang Commandery in Qing Prefecture.

The book also mentioned that General Jiang Ce enjoyed collecting rare treasures seized from years of warfare, and his mansion contained many precious items.

Innate Perfection.

Jiang Yan converted it in his mind—Early Xiantian roughly corresponded to Qi Refining Stage 1, Middle Stage to Stage 2, Late Stage to Stage 3, and Perfection to Stage 4.

General Jiang Ce's essential blood was equivalent to the essential blood of a Middle Stage Qi Refining Cultivator, far stronger than the Qi Refining Stage 2 Zhao Xuancheng had piled up with Medicinal Pills.

Absorbing General Jiang Ce's essential blood and then looting the Generals Mansion's treasury should be enough to reach a Breakthrough to Qi Refining Stage 3.

If he could reach Qi Refining Stage 4 in one go—both his total Spiritual Qi and the strength of his Divine Sense would have a qualitative leap.

He closed the book and decided not to go to the capital.

He turned west, heading to Pingjiang Commandery in Qing Prefecture.

There were many prominent families in the prefectures and counties he passed along the way, so he would loot them as well.

Time was tight; he couldn't put all his eggs in one basket.

From Yu Prefecture to Qing Prefecture, the imperial road passed through three commandery cities and a dozen county towns.

Jiang Yan traveled by day and worked by night.

The mansion of the Prefect of Huai Prefecture was built grandly, and hidden in a secret room was a century-old Spirit Medicine, its medicinal efficacy as thin as tea leaves steeped three times.

In the cellar of the richest man in a large city, he found a few pieces of jade, but the Spiritual Qi was so weak that his Divine Sense could barely detect it; they could only barely be used to replenish the consumption of a Formation.

The most outrageous one was the Minister who had retired to his hometown.

The secret room in his mansion was built like a palace, with gold, silver, and jewels piled up like mountains, calligraphy and paintings hanging all over the walls, all signed by famous masters of the previous dynasty.

Jiang Yan stood in the secret room, his Divine Sense scanning over and over again—nothing, there was nothing.

He couldn't even find a stone with Spiritual Qi.

He turned and left, not even touching those calligraphy and paintings.

There were also surprises.

In the warehouse of a pawnshop in a remote small town, his Divine Sense scanned a piece of cold iron the size of a fist.

It was dusty, thrown in a corner as scrap iron, with a few tattered cotton jackets piled on top.

Cold iron was a Material for forging ice-attribute Magical Artifacts; its grade wasn't high, but it was pure—a Tier 1 Medium Grade material.

He didn't know how it ended up in such a place.

He collected everything into his Storage Pouch.

Six stalks of semi-Spirit Medicine, a dozen pieces of unranked spirit jade, two or three types of low-level Spirit Materials, and one piece of cold iron.

Added together, it didn't even equal a fraction of what was in Zhao Xuancheng's Storage Pouch.

The world of Mortals was, after all, the world of Mortals.

Places that could produce cultivation resources either had Cultivators stationed there or were guarded by those at the Xiantian Perfection stage.

In the homes of ordinary rich people, no matter how much gold and silver they piled up, it was all mundane.

Five days later, late at night.

Pingjiang Commandery city.

Jiang Yan crouched on the roof of a three-story pavilion opposite the Generals Mansion.

His cloak was pressed against his body by the night wind, his silhouette appearing and disappearing in the moonlight.

The Generals Mansion occupied less land than the Marquis Zhennan's Mansion, but the layout was more compact.

The five courtyards were arranged in a 'pin' shape, the surrounding walls were one and a half zhang high, and there was an observation post every ten steps along the wall.

Those patrolling were not ordinary guards, but real border troops—each team had ten men, led by an expert who had condensed Internal Energy, and the members were all burly, their walking pace uniform and synchronized.

Jiang Yan's gaze passed over these Mortal soldiers and landed deep within the mansion.

He spread out his Divine Sense, and three auras far surpassing ordinary people were clear.

The strongest one was in the main room of the third courtyard, its aura steady as a mountain, like a piece of red-hot iron buried in ashes—Xiantian Perfection, General Jiang Ce.

The other two were in the side courtyard, weaker but equally solid—two Early Xiantian, likely deputy generals or personal guards.

Three Innate Martial Artists, one Xiantian Perfection comparable to a Qi Refining Stage 4.

A head-on battle would take too much time; he had to launch a surprise attack first.

The plan was simple: infiltrate, ambush General Jiang Ce, cripple him first, and then deal with the other two.

The heavenly thunder bead and the Golden Gang Slash Talisman were trump cards and couldn't be used lightly.

Using the Flying Sword, gold needles, and the small golden shield, along with Talismans, would be enough.

He took out a Tier 1 Low Grade Mobility Talisman and stuck it on his leg.

As he injected Spiritual Qi, the Talisman turned into a light cyan glow that seeped into his skin, and his legs immediately felt as light as if they had no weight.

He flipped off the roof, his figure melting into the shadows of the Generals Mansion.

Jiang Yan snuck through the Generals Mansion for a quarter of an hour, his Divine Sense mapping out the layout of the mansion clearly.

General Jiang Ce was in the study.

An Innate Martial Artist at the Xiantian Perfection stage didn't need to patrol at night; he was the strongest defense of this mansion.

The study was lit, and the candlelight cast the silhouette of a person sitting upright on the window paper.

When Jiang Yan flipped down from the roof, he was already prepared for the surprise attack—the Flying Sword hung by his side, and thirteen gold needles silently dispersed, circling towards both sides of the study.

He didn't use the door; he flipped directly from the eaves into the skylight.