Chapter 545 - 300: Have You Ever Seen an Unparalleled Celestial Pride?

Chapter 545: Chapter 300: Have You Ever Seen an Unparalleled Celestial Pride?

Report after report left Senior Brother He astonished and suspicious.

When the eighth day’s report arrived, he was stunned.

’Setting aside why this guy always starts his reports by talking about Cultivation, what the hell does the rest of it even mean?’

’The aura of an Ancient Well Type Evil God is good for Cultivation?’

’Was he even making sense?’

’On top of that, he actually went *in*?’

He sent men to investigate and found that Jiang Man had indeed disappeared.

They figured he was a goner. Fortunately, they had retrieved a trace of his aura, which allowed them to light a Soul Lamp to see if he had become lost inside.

On the first day, the lamp remained lit.

The next day, it went out.

Everyone sighed, thinking he must not have understood the situation.

Yet on the third day, the Soul Lamp lit up again.

And then, Senior Brother He received another report.

Then the lamp went out again.

Everyone was dumbfounded, unable to comprehend the situation.

All they could do was check the report.

"Three days and nights of ceaseless Cultivation have left my Spirit brimming. I feel I’ve surpassed my peers and even left everyone at the Same Tier in the dust. Cultivating here yields twice the results with half the effort. However, with continued Cultivation, I can now perceive the aura of the Ancient Well Type Evil God with greater clarity. It seems to be spreading upward. This is an attempt to lock down the region while simultaneously locking people’s Heart Spirits. I must continue my Cultivation to confirm the situation."

After reading this, everyone’s brows furrowed.

’Abyssal Evil Gods lock down regions; Ancient Well types lock the Heart Spirit.’

If that was the case, then this place was in deep trouble.

They had plenty of experience, so upon reading his report, they immediately ran a simulation.

Sure enough, there were signs of the Heart Spirit being locked.

He had initially thought the effect was localized, but now it seemed it was truly targeting the entire region.

They began to discuss how to deal with it.

As for the Spirit Gathering Array, they had already begun setting it up to influence the area.

「Five days later.」

A report arrived once again.

"Five days and nights of ceaseless Cultivation have given me a deeper understanding of the situation here, allowing me to perceive the source of the Ancient Well Type Evil God’s aura. I’ve discovered a tree, and on it, a single fruit. That fruit must have come from the Ancient Well Type Evil God. I’ve decided to pick it and shatter the lock on the Heart Spirit."

"No," Captain He said instantly upon reading the report.

He even wanted to send a message telling Jiang Man to stop.

But the message wouldn’t go through.

His Soul Lamp had gone out again.

He was once again lost within.

To this day, he still couldn’t figure out what method Jiang Man was using to send the messages.

After reading the reports, Junior Sister Mo looked at Senior Brother He in bewilderment. "Senior Brother, are you *sure* you escaped on your own?"

Senior Brother He froze.

It wasn’t just Junior Sister Mo; even the others were starting to have their doubts.

’Could it be that Senior Brother He and the others’ memories were jumbled? That they hadn’t actually fought their own way out?’

’Instead, had Jiang Man charged in at their most desperate moment? And then they had passed out, only to be carried to safety?’

’And their minds, seeking to fill the gap, automatically concocted the story that they had fought their way out, and Jiang Man had merely found them afterward?’

Even Senior Brother He was starting to doubt himself. ’Did I really fight my way out back then?’

Jiang Man’s current performance suggested he was more than capable of coming and going as he pleased.

’Anyone else who goes in loses all contact. But him?’

’He’s cultivating, analyzing, and searching for the source.’

’And he can send messages back whenever he wants.’

’Does it make sense for a person like that to have *just* found them?’

’It doesn’t add up.’

’Why hadn’t anyone else found them? Why was it specifically Jiang Man—someone who could apparently come and go as he pleased—who stumbled upon them?’

The truth, then, was likely that Jiang Man really had saved them. But Senior Brother He and the others, severely injured and influenced by the Evil God, had mistakenly believed they’d fought their own way out.

He didn’t dwell on it, instead reporting the matter immediately, hoping to stop Jiang Man from taking such a risk.

If that fruit was truly the source of the Ancient Well Type Evil God...

...then it absolutely could not be approached.

Get too close, and even someone with the strongest Heart Spirit would be doomed.

They would live out the rest of their lives in mediocrity, their Heart Spirit trapped, their freedom lost, and their progress halted forever.

It was a fate a hundred, even a thousand times more painful than death.

After that, the Zhenyue Bureau sent out message after message. The content was simple: stop Jiang Man from throwing his life away.

This man was far from being an ordinary member of the Zhenyue Bureau.

To continue on this path would be to throw away a brilliant future.

However, the messages were like stones sinking into the ocean, disappearing without a trace.

It was impossible to know if he hadn’t received them, or had simply left them on read.

「Three days later.」

The team scouting the grove sent back an urgent message: the Evil God’s aura there was fluctuating.

It wasn’t expanding; on the contrary, it showed signs of receding.

「Two days later.」

The team surveying the entire region brought back exciting news.

The aura of the Ancient Well Type Evil God was receding.

They then saw it was receding in the direction of the grove.

"It’s moving too fast. This isn’t a normal recession—it’s more like an Attack," Senior Brother He said, looking at the sensor readings.

In that instant, they all arrived at the same conclusion.

Jiang Man...

...had begun his Attack on the source of the Ancient Well Type Evil God.

Over the next two days, they watched as the Evil God’s aura in the grove began to contract, while the aura of the Ancient Well Type Evil God in the sky started to churn and recede.

What began as a subtle retreat was now becoming a rapid collapse.

It was as if a fierce battle was unfolding within.

The Zhenyue Bureau began to seal off the area, preventing any external Evil God aura from flowing back in.

Though they didn’t know what kind of battle Jiang Man was fighting, they knew that blocking the influx of Evil God aura was the right thing to do.

The disturbance was so great that the entire Zhenyue Bureau had no choice but to coordinate their efforts.

At that moment, the lead official looked at everyone. "Weren’t you the ones saying he was falsely claiming credit?"

The crowd fell silent.

"What did he say when he collected his reward?" a man who appeared to be in his fifties or sixties asked.

Junior Sister Mo, who had been summoned, lowered her head to recall. "He said that being able to rescue people from the forest proved he was strong, but only being able to *barely* rescue them proved he was still too weak. He said he needed to obtain the Cultivation Skill as soon as possible.

"He also said one more thing: ’A prodigy seizes every moment.’

"He couldn’t wait for the official process to run its course."

Silence fell over the room.

For a moment, no one could think of a single word of rebuttal.

Before, when he had claimed the credit, they had all had plenty to say in opposition.

But now...

Actions speak louder than words.

He truly did seize every moment.

With the Cultivation Skill in hand, he even dared to launch an assault on the very source.

Just then, someone ran in. "Steward, we’ve detected it! The aura of the Ancient Well Type Evil God is being forced out!"

Under normal circumstances, the aura of an Ancient Well Type Evil God was like the Spiritual Qi of the heavens and earth—difficult to detect, yet invisibly affecting everyone.

It locked their Heart Spirits, making them believe their path had reached its end.

Condemning them to a lifetime of mediocrity.

But once the source was provoked, the aura became perceptible.

"What’s its power level?" the lead official asked immediately.

"It’s comparable to a dead Evil God that has just reawakened and is recuperating. Without prior preparations, it could lock down the entire Black Spirit Abyss," the messenger reported.

"What’s the situation over there now? Can we go in?" the lead official demanded.

The messenger was silent for a moment before replying, "We can’t get in. There’s an Abyssal Evil God’s influence there. Even if we made it inside, we would lose all contact and our sense of direction, making it impossible to pinpoint the source’s location.

"This is already beyond our capabilities. For now, all we can do is try to contain it."

The room fell silent once more.

It was clearly beyond their capabilities, yet someone had charged right in and launched a direct Attack on the source.

And they had accused him of falsely claiming credit?

People would think the Zhenyue Bureau had a strange sense of humor.

Just then, another scout rushed in. "There’s been a change! The aura of the Ancient Well Type Evil God is spinning rapidly! Barring any unforeseen circumstances, something must have provoked it. It’s about to enter a state of mutually assured destruction!"

The lead official’s brow furrowed. He ordered someone to notify Jiang Man immediately. "Tell him to stop!"

’He can’t push any further. What he’s done is enough.’

’If he keeps going, he’ll destroy himself!’

「Elsewhere.」

Jiang Man, his entire body radiating light, walked step by step toward a large tree.

On the tree hung a single fruit. He had a feeling that if he ate it, his Evil God’s Technique would advance by leaps and bounds.

He certainly wasn’t going to pass up such a treasure.

As for the lock pressing down on his Heart Spirit, he didn’t even spare it a glance.

Even as those locks transformed into countless chains to bind him.

He paid them no mind.

In fact, as he walked forward, the chains snapped one by one.

They were utterly unable to halt his advance.

’Otherwise, why would the tree be panicking?’

’But my time is also limited. I need to deal with this tree quickly.’

’Otherwise, I really might not make it out.’

Along the way, he received another message from the Zhenyue Bureau. After a moment’s hesitation, he sent a reply.

「Meanwhile.」

Senior Brother He and the others received Jiang Man’s reply almost instantly.

"He replied," Senior Brother He announced.

The lead official immediately fixed his gaze on Senior Brother He. "What did he say?"

The others were just as curious.

Senior Brother He swallowed hard, his voice unsteady as he relayed the message: "He said, ’Have you ever seen an Unparalleled Celestial Pride?’"

Everyone was stunned.

’Even at a time like this, he’s still posturing?’

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