Chapter 616 - Taking Every Precaution

“Hai Zongming, fifty-four years old, tall and sturdy in stature, one of the twenty-four elders with actual power at the Diao Hai Building, at the peak of the External Building Environment in cultivation, has already established four sacred buildings.There is no record of him having plucked a Divine Power Seed.

Nine years ago, he crossed hands with a cultivator from the Tian family’s External Building Environment, and both sides fought fiercely, pushing each other to the brink of life and death, yet no Divine Skills were seen.

Therefore, it can be basically confirmed that he did not acquire any Divine Power Seeds during his time in the Inner Mansion Realm.”

“His main Cultivation Technique is the Dragon Fishing Classic.

This technique was passed down by the founding ancestor of the Diao Hai Building, the Dragon Fisher, and it involves using oneself as the rod to fish for all things.”

“He is skilled in Wind Taoism Technique and Water Taoism Technique, and the strongest Dao Technique he has shown is the top-grade Wind Taoism Technique, Azure Nine Strikes, of which the detailed power and the countermeasure suggestions provided by Uncle Chu Liang will be written in a letter to you later.

Hai Zongming’s last public battle was last year, and it is unclear whether he has mastered any new Dao Techniques.

However, without a breakthrough in his realm, it’s unlikely that there has been any significant improvement.

Additionally, Hai Zongming is known for his fierce close-combat style, and his weapon of choice is a pair of water-splitting spikes.”

“The strongest Magic Artifact he has revealed is the Dragon-binding Chain, which binds upon contact.

So one must definitely avoid being touched by it.”

“Lastly, Hai Zongming is no longer at the Diao Hai Building.”

Hai Zongming no longer being at the Diao Hai Building signifies that he has already set off.

It means that he has learned of Jiang Wang leaving the Qi Boundary and is now on his way to pursue and assassinate him!

The information provided by Zhongxuan Sheng was incredibly detailed, so much so that it was only lacking in telling Jiang Wang what tea Hai Zongming drank each day.

Gathering this intelligence must have taken considerable effort; Zhongxuan Sheng alone could not have collected it all, indicating a definite contribution from his fourth uncle, Zhongxuan Minghe of the Near Sea Archipelago.

And in fact, due to matters of the previous generation, Zhongxuan Sheng has always been closest to his cousin, Zhongxuan Chuliang.

There was no need to mention his uncle Zhongxuan Mingguang.

Zhongxuan Minghe, who is often in the Near Sea Archipelago and scarcely returns to Linzi, has virtually no contact with them.

But for Jiang Wang’s sake, Zhongxuan Sheng still sought him out.

Jiang Wang could surmise these things, but he said nothing and merely nodded: “I know what to do.”

“Don’t be careless, you absolutely mustn’t be careless,” Zhongxuan Sheng said seriously.

“On the side of ‘Hell Has No Door,’ no matter what the price, I can afford it.”

He knew of the relation between Jiang Wang and Yin Guan and agreed that hiring ‘Hell Has No Door’ was the best choice.

Because Hai Zongming has already left, if Jiang Wang turns back now, he may not be able to return to the Qi Boundary before Hai Zongming intercepts him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be careful,” Jiang Wang said.

Upon learning that Hai Zongming has not obtained any Divine Skills, Jiang Wang had in fact already made up his mind.

He planned to try and kill Hai Zongming by himself!

Inner Mansion challenging Outer Building is probably the most common cross-boundary challenge among cultivators.

The main reason for this is the existence of a realm called God’s Inner Mansion.

In fact, in ancient times, the Inner Mansion Realm was known as the Divine Power Realm, and one could not be considered to have reached this realm without having acquired a Divine Power Seed.

However, because Divine Skills were so difficult to obtain, too many cultivators found themselves stuck in this realm, unable to make any progress.

Through the improvements made by generations of genius cultivators, today’s practitioners are able to bypass Divine Skills and advance from ordinary Inner Mansion levels to the External Building Environment.

Only thus has the number of cultivators in the Outer Building and even higher realms been able to grow rapidly.

This is one proof of the continual development of the cultivation world.

From then on, Divine Skills were no longer a bottleneck.

Possessing Divine Skills does not necessarily guarantee one’s advancement to God Arrives.

Without Divine Skills, it is still possible to ascend to Dongzhen and even cultivate to the Transcendent ultimate peak.

But within the specific realms, there is an unavoidable fact—those in God’s Inner Mansion are qualified to fight against those in the ordinary Outer Building.

That is why those in God’s Inner Mansion are so revered.

Even though the qualifications to become a Prefectural Governor of Qi Country usually start at the Outer Building, they also open up to those in God’s Inner Mansion.

Hai Zongming was the peak of the four simultaneously standing Star Towers in the Outer Building Environment, his combat power roughly regarded as that of Lei Zhanqian after attaining the Perfect stage of the five mansions.

There definitely was a gap, but it was not the kind that was utterly insurmountable.

Especially now, since Jiang Wang had acquired a comprehensive advantage in intelligence.

It was possible to make arrangements in advance for every aspect concerning Hai Zongming.

This was a huge advantage.

One might even say it was an opportunity to bridge the gap in strength!

If Jiang Wang couldn’t take good advantage of it, he would be unworthy of the title of genius.

Of course, he wouldn’t just directly confront him, leaving his fate entirely to the outcome of a battle simulation.

After having carried out all-encompassing battle simulations and having firmly resolved to act, he still proceeded to the nearest major city and managed to make contact with Hell Has No Door.

Hell Has No Door only accepted assassination contracts, not protection jobs.

Thus, the task Jiang Wang issued was to kill Hai Zongming, but if Hai Zongming were to die before Hell Has No Door could act, the contract would be canceled.

Then, only the deposit would be required.

Such was a dual preparation.

It would be better to resolve Hai Zongming directly, and if not, they would wait for Hell Has No Door to make a move.

However, to kill a summit of the Outer Building Environment, even just a deposit required fifty Prime Stones, equivalent to one B-grade Channel-opening Pill.

After leaving Zheng Country, Jiang Wang continued westward with Xiang Qian.

Jiang Wang’s fire source totem was formed through the combination of the White Bone Lotus and the Celebrating Fire Division’s flame totem, resulting in changes Jiang Wang still could not comprehend.

It had the ability to store the Star Power of Dark Heaven star beasts, but it could not directly attract the Star Power of the firmament.

In Star Moon Plain, this situation changed.

As Guan Yan said, Star Moon Plain was one of the places closest to the starry sky in the present world, and with Guan Yan’s intentional gathering, he could store some Star Power there.

Jiang Wang chose to store the Star Power in the White Bone Lotus portion, while the flame totem part continued to accumulate Totem Power.

However, the Star Power mainly from Yuheng Star was ultimately not as pure as what was obtained by killing star beasts, and there was also a difference in quantity; it was far from full after one night.

The starlight that bolstered that one sword in the Life and Death game was from a totem filled to the brim; the current scale was far from comparable.

To store Star Power at the speed of Star Moon Plain, at least a month was required to be full.

Jiang Wang couldn’t wait that long and left after just one night.

Now having decided to confront Hai Zongming, he should have returned to Star Moon Plain to store more Star Power, increasing his chance of victory in battle.

But as they were making good time on their journey, suddenly returning to Star Moon Plain would definitely raise Hai Zongming’s vigilance and cause the loss of their most significant advantage; the losses would outweigh the gains.

Therefore, Jiang Wang chose to continue onwards.

“Hai Zongming set out, which means he has a way to track me down,”

Jiang Wang analyzed as they traveled, saying to Xiang Qian, “However, I’m not certain how he’s doing it.

He might have gotten something related to me in Qingyang Town or Linzi.

He might also have received information from someone.

But he can definitely track me, and this can still be exploited.

I can make him misjudge my speed, and consequently, misjudge my strength.

His knowledge of me is, at most, limited to the battle I fought with Lei Zhanqian.”

“Then there’s time.

According to the judgement of the powerful from Zheng Xuan Family, with his strength, he should be able to catch up to me in two to three days.

We’ll pretend to be oblivious and keep moving without a stop, but we can control our speed to possibly reach the pre-set battlefield.”

“I’ve preliminarily chosen Camel Hump Mountain as the battlefield.

It’s sparsely populated, and one cannot walk out of it in a day, making it ideal for an ambush.

Moreover, there are no water sources nearby, an environment that greatly restricts Hai Zongming’s performance.

I can’t stop, and I can’t look back, so I’ll leave the task of setting up the ambush to you.

Traps, formations, poison…

Use everything you’ve got.”

“I only know swordsmanship, but I do have a few Sword Arrays ready.” Xiang Qian thought for a moment before asking, “What if we don’t encounter him at Camel Hump Mountain?”

“If the opportunity is not right, or he’s too cautious, then we will have to pay a painful price.”

Jiang Wang sighed, “The information I provided to Hell Has No Door is that we’ll be at Camel Hump Mountain.

We’ll wait only one day before leaving; by then, the assassin from Hell Has No Door should have arrived… What’s the matter, why are you looking at me like that?”

Xiang Qian shifted his dispirited gaze, “I suddenly feel a bit of sympathy!”