Chapter 118 - Behind the Skeleton

After officially entering the Grade-8 Zhoutian Realm, Jiang Wang adjusted the frequency of his Meridian Rush Practice back to twice a day, morning and evening.The focus of his cultivation from then on was no longer the speed of accumulating Dao Spirals.

On the contrary, he intentionally slowed down to solidify his foundation.

He had constructed the Minor Trigram, and completing the Small Zhoutian was a matter of course.

But his accumulation for the Grand Circulation was not yet sufficient.

Nevertheless, with the Entangling Star Spirit Snake and the three Star River Dao Spirals, Jiang Wang of Tongtian Palace was already producing thirty-three Path Origins every day, which meant that nearly every ten days he could construct a new Dao Spiral.

Jiang Wang was using a significant amount of Path Origins to practice Dao Techniques, honing his foundation in the Zhou Tian Jing.

Among his brothers, both Jiang Wang and Du Yehu were Grade-8 Complete Cycle Realm Cultivators.

To achieve this rate of cultivation in the military, Du Yehu not only followed the ancient Soldier Home’s approach of Energizing Blood and Stamina Pulse, but also his Four Spirits Body Refinement Technique must have reached a high level of accomplishment.

On this front, he had indeed outpaced Jiang Wang.

Zhao Rucheng had quietly completed his foundation and caught up with Ling He’s cultivation.

Two Ninth Grade Circulation Realm Cultivators and one Grade-8 Zhou Tian Jing Cultivator could already form a small team capable of undertaking tasks of slightly higher difficulty.

Cultivators from the Dao Institutes have an endless craving for Dao Honors.

For example, Ling He and Zhao Rucheng needed to equip at least one Magic Artifact each; even the two lowest-grade artifacts would require a thousand points of Dao Honors.

For instance, powerful Dao Techniques beyond the regular ones, which can significantly boost combat ability, also require certain Dao Honors to exchange.

Furthermore, Jiang Wang wanted to get a better Channel-opening Pill for Jiang Anan, but he didn’t even know the price yet and could only accumulate as much as possible.

Therefore, they needed to actively take on tasks.

Actively seek out challenges.

It was an opportunity to temper themselves with worldly affairs, validate their learnings, and help with the nation’s construction.

It has to be said, the person who first established the Dao Honor system truly understood the way of the world with exceptional talent.

Although Huang Azhan was always with them, as an upperclassman, he also had his fixed team.

Teams that often undertake tasks together generally have an upper limit of five members.

Though Jiang Wang’s team had only three members, it couldn’t be considered weak by any means.

No one expected that Jiang Wang, who was late in laying his foundation, would step into the Zhou Tian Jing so quickly.

Even less known was the strength of Jiang Wang, who had been crazily battling in the Taixu Illusion Realm, using “merits” to pave his way and hone his skills.

Although he had stepped into the Zhou Tian Jing not long ago, he was confident that if the debate over the Three Cities were to start anew, he could contend for the top position among the three-year students.

In terms of cultivation and combat prowess, Jiang Wang was in the lead.

Yet, Ling He remained the team leader.

From their time in the outer sect, Ling He had always been thorough in his thoughts and steady in his actions.

Though his presence may not seem prominent, he was the person least likely to make mistakes.

Moreover, he had the best relationships within the Dao Institute.

For the remaining two vacancies in the team, Jiang Wang and his companions decided to fill them with next year’s juniors.

If there were no suitable candidates, they would rather leave the spots vacant.

Being in the same team, facing many trials, it was important to have a shared spirit.

Having one more person did not necessarily mean having increased combat strength; sometimes, an unsuitable person could doom the entire team.

The first task their newly formed squad received was a Grade-8 task.

It was a mission assigned directly to them by the Dao Institute, non-refusable.

Of course, the Dao Honor reward was also traditionally increased by thirty percent.

The background of the task was not complicated:

A full team of Dao Institute disciples in pursuit of two rogue cultivators had been annihilated, with only one Circulation Realm Cultivator surviving.

As the intelligence showed, both rogue cultivators only had the cultivation of Ninth Grade.

And the Dao Institute team had two Grade-8 Zhou Tian Jing Cultivators and three Ninth Grade Circulation Realm Cultivators.

Logically, it should have been a certain victory.

The task for Ling He’s squad was to investigate the truth behind this mission.

And the only survivor of this task was Fang Helling.

Heading back to the Fang Family Clan grounds with a heavy heart, Jiang Wang’s feelings were undoubtedly complex.

He had enjoyed hearty drinks here, and he had also narrowly escaped death here.

However, what surprised him was that in the entire Fang Family Clan grounds, the Fang clan members were rushing about, hardly any paying attention to them.

Of course, there was none of the hostility or enmity they had anticipated.

Zhao Rucheng and Jiang Wang exchanged glances and casually stopped a passing woman.

“Excuse me, miss, could you please tell us where Fang Helling is?”

This woman was originally very impatient, but upon seeing Zhao Rucheng’s handsome face, she softened a bit and tossed her hair back: “You’re asking about the young clan leader ah…”

The young clan leader?

Zhao Rucheng became somewhat interested and smiled, “We are all disciples of the Taoist academy, looking for Brother Fang.

Could the lady be so kind as to inform us?”

Hearing that Zhao Rucheng claimed to be a disciple of the Taoist academy and furthermore, a senior brother of Fang Helling, the woman completely let go of the resentment qi from being intercepted midway, her smile becoming especially bright: “The young clan leader is at home!

The roads here are complicated; let me take you there.”

With that, she began to lead Zhao Rucheng forward, completely ignoring Ling He and Jiang Wang who were beside him.

“In that case, thank you for your trouble, Miss,” Zhao Rucheng said with a tender smile, like a warm spring breeze.

The two of them chatted merrily along the way, and while Ling He and Jiang Wang silently followed behind, by the time they reached the entrance of Fang Helling’s house, the two had almost started to exchange their personal details down to their Eight Characters.

After volunteering to explain their purpose to the gatekeeper, the woman finally left with some reluctance.

Zhao Rucheng smiled and bid her farewell, then turning back, he chuckled: “How intriguing.”

Of course, the interesting one wasn’t this girl.

From the exchange just now, they had already learned about the changes in the Fang Family.

The old clan leader of the Fang Family, who had been bedridden for many years, had just passed away a few days ago, and Fang Zehou, who had been effectively acting as the clan leader, naturally shifted from acting to official status.

But the one now effectively in charge of the Fang Family was the “young clan leader” Fang Helling.

Because after Fang Zehou assumed leadership, he handed full authority of the family’s affairs over to his son.

Indeed, this was inevitable at some point, and paving the way for one’s own son was only to be expected.

However, it gave the impression of being too hasty.

Moreover, Fang Zehou was in his prime and shouldn’t have been retiring this early.

While they were entertaining these thoughts, the gatekeeper had already returned with a report.

Fang Helling, without any pretension, followed the gatekeeper out of the main gate.

His expression wasn’t very good, but he wasn’t too rude either.

This was a kind of progress.

Given his past behavior, Jiang Wang thought he would definitely make trouble.

“What’s the matter?” he asked Ling He.

“It’s like this, Brother Fang,” Ling He explained, “Regarding the mission you went through before…”

“I have already explained that mission very clearly.

The Taoist academy, the Procuratorate, they all have records,” Fang Helling interrupted, “You can go and check them, instead of coming to ask me again.

You don’t have the right to do so, and I have no obligation to tell you.”

“We have the authority,” Ling He said, his voice steady, “We’ve taken on an investigation mission from the Taoist academy.

Anyone and any organization involved need to cooperate with us.

This applies not only to you but also to the Procuratorate.”

“An investigation mission?” Fang Helling seemed to be surprised but quickly suppressed it without revealing more emotion.

He simply said, “Fine, then I will tell you again: That day we were pursuing two evil cultivators, and we ended up on a mountain just outside Du Town.

Because it was connected to the Qi Chang Mountain Range and I had injured my leg, we discussed whether to lay an ambush outside the mountain, waiting for the cultivators to come down.

But the team leader, Senior Brother Zhang Xizhi, insisted on not doing so.

He asked me to stay behind to heal my wounds, and he led the others into the mountain.

I waited until the next day and they did not come down.

I knew something was wrong, so I contacted the local authorities.

Both the Procuratorate and the Taoist academy sent people, and they found their skeletons in a cave.

That’s the entirety of the event.”

His right leg was indeed wrapped in several layers of gauze, with faint blood stains visible.

“Only skeletons?” Jiang Wang asked.

He couldn’t help but think of the events that had happened in Tangshe Town.

Fang Helling looked at him, his eyes devoid of emotions such as hatred.

“Yes.”

He then turned to Ling He and continued, “That’s all I know; I’m not clear about other matters.

My grandfather has died, my father is too heartbroken to handle family affairs.

Now, in the Fang family from top to bottom, I am the one supporting everything alone.

I am very busy, so please do not disturb me unless it’s important.

Alright?”

After finishing his speech, looking at Ling He who still had not moved, he asked, “Anything else?”

“I wish to go in and offer incense,” was the answer.

“What?” Fang Helling thought he had heard wrong.

But Ling He simply and earnestly said, “I wish to offer incense to Fang Pengju’s grandfather.

He was very fond of Peng Ju in life.”

He really just wanted to pay respects, very purely, very simply.

Fang Helling was silent for a moment, then stepped aside to allow entry.