139: Chapter 139 Volunteers

Just as he was thinking, a boom resonated from within Tang Long's body once more; the azure water-attribute Spirit Ring had already been forged.

Only then did Tang Long open his eyes and meet the old man's gaze.

"This old gentleman... who are you?"

"Oh, you must be Xiao Lan's classmate, right? I am her grandfather."

Jiang Xiaolan's grandfather, the Jiang Family head, Governor Jiang Shiqi?

Tang Long immediately put two and two together and quickly stood up to salute.

"Greetings, Elder Jiang. My name is Tang Long. I apologize for the presumptuous visit; have I disturbed you?"

"Not at all," Governor Jiang Shiqi waved his hand. "To be able to meet a prodigy like you, what does losing a little sleep matter?"

"You flatter me. I'm hardly a prodigy."

"You've forged the Spirit Rings inside your Qi space until they look like a coil of mosquito repellent incense, and you don't consider yourself a prodigy? At this level, you've mastered the Spirit Blast too, right?"

Hearing Governor Jiang Shiqi's analogy, Tang Long was left between laughter and tears.

Indeed, he had currently forged six Spirit Rings; with large circles encircling small ones, it really did look like a coil of mosquito repellent incense.

However, Governor Jiang Shiqi's words also revealed some other information, making him feel he could no longer brush it off.

"You noticed."

"The Open-Ring Forbidden Method, for an old fellow like me, is no secret. But you are the first person since Ye Baiqiao to be able to train it to six rings. However, do you understand the true secret behind this forbidden method?"

"A secret? Please enlighten me, Elder."

Governor Jiang Shiqi chuckled.

"The Open-Ring Forbidden Method is a brilliant technique for simultaneously controlling multi-attribute Yuan Spirit Energy, but its brilliance lies only in the fact that it can achieve such effects while in the Qi Manipulation Realm."

"In fact, by the late Open Origin stage, when a martial artist must condense all their cultivation into one, such methods are not rare. It is very common for Spirit Map experts to control three or five attributes simultaneously, and creating a Spirit Blast is even less surprising."

"Therefore, multi-attribute compatibility and the Spirit Blast are not the most powerful aspects of the Open-Ring Forbidden Method."

Speaking up to this point, Governor Jiang Shiqi paused again, leaned his face close to Tang Long, pointed at his abdomen, and lowered his voice significantly.

"Its true power lies in the final core."

"The entire Open-Ring Forbidden Method was actually created for that core; all the Spirit Rings are merely preparatory work to contain that core."

"And that core can only be the most unique thing in the world—the Sun Spirit Energy!"

Tang Long's eyes went wide.

Although he could sense that Governor Jiang Shiqi's actual attitude did not seem as warm as it appeared on the surface, and the intention behind these words was debatable, he did not doubt the authenticity of what was said.

Because having trained the Open-Ring Forbidden Method up to now, combined with learning some secret rumors about Ye Baiqiao, he had already discovered some oddities.

Since Ye Baiqiao's core cultivation technique was the Sun Spirit system, why would he go to such trouble to create the Open-Ring Forbidden Method?

Now, Governor Jiang Shiqi's explanation suddenly made these oddities seem reasonable.

He couldn't help but ask, "Why must this core be Sun Spirit Energy?"

Governor Jiang Shiqi shook his head repeatedly. "To continue this conversation would be taboo. Regardless of which jurisdiction The Sect is under, discussing such issues is illegal."

Illegal?

Tang Long sneered inwardly, 'You evil capitalist, why are you putting on an act of being law-abiding with me?'

Taboos and such were just excuses. If he didn't want to talk, he wouldn't have droned on about all that beforehand.

"If you have any conditions, just say them straight."

Governor Jiang Shiqi couldn't help but laugh out loud upon hearing this.

He walked to the side while laughing, then took out his phone to make a call.

"Hello! Hanwen, come to Lan Lan's training hall immediately."

"Yes, bring a few types of the new drugs you've developed."

"Stop the nonsense! Of course, the forbidden-grade ones."

After hanging up, Governor Jiang Shiqi's smile became even stranger, while Tang Long was completely confused.

"New drugs? Forbidden-grade? Elder Jiang, what do you mean?"

Governor Jiang Shiqi's smile became increasingly strange.

"Young man, this is my condition."

"You should have heard that the Jiang Family is famous for pharmaceuticals; Xiao Lan's father is an expert in this field. He has recently developed a few new drugs that haven't entered formal testing yet, and I hope you can help me with this favor."

"As for drug testing, there are definitely risks; I don't want to hide that from you. However, if the drug's effect doesn't deviate from the original intention, you will also receive certain benefits."

"As for the true secret of the Open-Ring Forbidden Method, consider it a bonus. How does that sound?"

"You had the guts to practice the Open-Ring Forbidden Method and the guts to sneak into my house in the middle of the night; surely you don't lack the courage to take some medicine, right?"

Hearing Governor Jiang Shiqi say the word 'sneak', Tang Long immediately realized something was wrong.

The old man must have misunderstood the relationship between him and Jiang Xiaolan and was deliberately making things difficult for him, right?

However... drug testing?

Forbidden drugs aren't poison.

Even if it were poison, with his 50 poison resistance, over 20,000 HP, and recovery ability that could be called formidable, what would it matter if he took some?

Besides, as the old man Jiang said, the forbidden drugs his family developed might even have benefits.

Moreover, looking at the old man's stance, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to refuse even if he wanted to.

So he quickly put on a smiling face. "As long as you are willing to enlighten me, I have no problem with it."

"Very good. Now, let's continue with our previous topic."

"The Sun God of the past was just an honorary title; His true designation should be the God of Light and Life."

"But His power was indeed the most violent, because the form in which Sun Spirit Energy exists is, by nature, a Spirit Blast—a continuous, high-intensity Spirit Blast."

"So the question arises: how can one allow such violent power to remain within one's own Qi space?"

"Tracing back through the countless years to the era of the God War, many geniuses in the world created various methods. But, in truth, none were very successful."

"Ye Baiqiao was indeed a rare, world-shocking talent in the entire history of martial arts, who actually devised a method to use Spirit Blast to restrain Spirit Blast—that is, the Open-Ring Forbidden Method—and successfully completed a Sun-system Wuque Method, nearly stepping into the Huagai Realm realm."

Tang Long was stunned as he listened. "Use Spirit Blast to restrain Spirit Blast?"

"Correct. Only by weakening, dividing, and intercepting it layer by layer can it be reduced to a controllable state. Can you now understand why this forbidden method requires forging so many Spirit Rings?"

Tang Long roughly understood the principle, but he still had one huge question.

"With such violent power constantly exploding within the Qi space, can a person endure it? And how is control finally achieved?"

Governor Jiang Shiqi smiled even more strangely at this moment. Not only did he not answer, but he asked a question in return.

"And how do you control the Spirit Blast?"

"I use Yuan Spirit Energy as a barrier to temporarily block the foreign spirit energy. Once it is released, I remove the obstruction."

Governor Jiang Shiqi nodded with satisfaction. "I said you were a prodigy. That's right; controlling Sun Spirit Energy also requires such means, but not by using Yuan Spirit Energy, but by using other attributes."

"Which attribute?"

Just as Tang Long asked the question, the door to the training hall was suddenly pushed open, and a middle-aged man with a stubbly beard and disheveled hair walked in quickly.

While handing several tube-shaped reagents in his hand to Governor Jiang Shiqi, he complained.

"Dad, it's so late, why do you want the forbidden drugs?"

"The initial effects of these reagents are very unstable. A few days ago, seven or eight out of ten spirit beasts that tested the drugs either went mad or died; you absolutely must not use them yourself."

"Eh? Who is he...?"

Tang Long had already recognized that the man in front of him was Jiang Xiaolan's father, Jiang Hanwen.

It should be said that the Jiang Family's genes are good; despite Elder Jiang's age, his appearance is still quite high-class.

There is quite a resemblance between the brows of these three generations.

However, Jiang Hanwen's appearance at this moment was truly a bit slovenly, his eyes bloodshot; who knows how long it had been since he last slept.

"I have found a volunteer for you; it's this young man. Let the human testing for these few reagents start with him."

Jiang Hanwen, who was originally looking drowsy, was immediately shocked after hearing his father's words.

"Dad, isn't this inappropriate?"

"Medicine is a rigorous discipline, especially forbidden drugs; how can they be used on people before passing preliminary tests?"

"Please reconsider; if something goes wrong, it could cost a life!"

Governor Jiang Shiqi rolled his eyes at him directly. "You don't know anything!"

"This young friend is a new seed secretly cultivated by The Sect; even the Open-Ring Forbidden Method couldn't kill him, so what's a dose or two of medicine?"

"And he is a volunteer; I didn't force him. If you don't believe me, ask him yourself."

Jiang Hanwen couldn't help but turn his gaze back to Tang Long. "Young man, do you know what you are doing? You... right, who are you? Why are you in my house?"

Tang Long was also left between laughter and tears, feeling that this Uncle Jiang's reaction time was truly a bit slow.

"Hello, Uncle Jiang. My name is Tang Long, and I am Jiang Xiaolan's classmate. I have just spoken with Elder Jiang and volunteered for the drug testing."

Tang Long did not answer the question about his identity. He didn't know if the 'seed of The Sect' that the old man Jiang mentioned was just a label he threw out or if it referred to someone else, but as a 'Reincarnated Saint', he did belong to a special category of people, and he couldn't explain that yet.

So, he just let it slide.