Chapter 653 - 350: How Am I Supposed to Fight That?

Chapter 653: Chapter 350: How Am I Supposed to Fight That?

The early commencement of the Primordial Spirit assessment made Miao Yulin and the others somewhat nervous. If they had been the ones to propose moving the date forward, they might have felt a bit smug about their successful scheme. But the situation was exactly the opposite.

They had requested an early assessment just yesterday. Jiang Man, however, had made the same request months ago. Now, they couldn’t shake the feeling that he was chomping at the bit to participate. At the very least, he had more than enough confidence.

Under these circumstances, no one wanted to compete fairly against someone who had achieved Great Success in the Nine-star Series. Therefore, whether it was Miao Yulin or the three members of the Bai family, they all planned to pull some strings to increase their odds of winning.

Jiang Man paid it no mind. He had been looking forward day and night for these people to return and kick off the assessment. This way, his brilliance would shine over the entire courtyard, making them all understand a crucial truth: even among celestial prides, the gap in talent could be as vast as the distance between the heavens and the earth.

Upon returning to his residence, Jiang Man had originally intended to focus on condensing the Evil God’s Technique. However, the sight of his courtyard left him stunned. The entire area was engulfed in black smoke, heavily saturated with Spirit impurities.

"Are the battles between celestial prides truly this brutal?" Jiang Man muttered to himself. He had anticipated that someone might play dirty, but he hadn’t expected them to be this brazen. The place was literally smoking!

Even the Old Yellow Ox had brought the Tengu outside to escape it.

"Old Huang, what happened here?" Jiang Man couldn’t help but ask. Even if those people were resorting to underhanded tricks, it shouldn’t have been this obvious. How could anyone possibly fall for a trap they could see from a mile away?

"Someone wanted to control your Heart Spirit, someone else wanted to disrupt your Spiritual Qi, and another wanted to drug you with the Six Desires Poison," the Old Yellow Ox said while munching on the weeds outside. "Add them all together, and this is what you get."

"The Six Desires Poison?" Jiang Man was taken aback. Was it the poison he was thinking of? That was too ruthless. Just who could be so malicious?

Before he could figure it out, he saw Ji Meng walking over.

"Did Young Master Jiang call me over just to watch this house smoke?" Ji Meng asked curiously.

Jiang Man was surprised. "I called Miss Ji Meng over?"

Ji Meng pulled out a Communication Talisman and said innocently, "Look for yourself. It says you wanted to see me and asked me to come alone. I thought you were going to give me a massive surprise."

Jiang Man stared at the Communication Talisman in astonishment. First, his courtyard was laced with the Six Desires Poison, and then Miss Ji Meng was lured here. The mastermind behind this clearly wanted him to succumb to a night of passion, making him miss tomorrow’s assessment entirely. How incredibly vicious!

Jiang Man sighed. "Miss Ji Meng, let’s go for a stroll outside. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen what the Outer Sect streets look like at night."

Ji Meng glanced at the black smoke billowing from the house. "Aren’t you going to put that out?"

"Never mind, someone will come and put it out eventually," he replied. He decided to notify Ji Shoumo and the other two, having them pass the message to the Bai family. Upon seeing this chaotic scene, they would likely remove their traps themselves. Battles between celestial prides inevitably had some hiccups, and they would surely clean up their own mess.

Ji Meng didn’t mind and simply asked, "For tomorrow’s assessment, does Young Master Jiang plan to take a spot in the top three?"

Jiang Man shook his head. "I plan to take first place."

Ji Meng was curious. "By fighting your way to the top?"

Jiang Man looked at her and smiled without saying a word. Miss Ji Meng still didn’t have a deep enough understanding of what an Unparalleled Celestial Pride truly was.

***

Not long after, Ji Shoumo and the others received the message and arrived at Jiang Man’s residence. The black smoke was so thick that even they found it hard to look at. They then called over Ji An, Miao Yulin, and Bai Qiufeng. Eventually, all eight of them stood there staring at Jiang Man’s house, exchanging dismayed glances.

"Aren’t your methods a bit too on the nose?" Ji Linglong couldn’t help but say.

The group remained silent.

Ji Shoumo said calmly, "Pack it all up. If we compete fair and square, it doesn’t mean we have no chance. It’s just the Nine-star Series; he might not be unbeatable."

Miao Yulin looked at Ji Shoumo. "Why don’t you give it a try, then?"

Great Success in the Nine-star Series, eighty-six points. Just hearing those words was enough to make their scalps tingle with dread. Most importantly, they had never heard of anyone achieving Great Success in the Nine-star Series and scoring eighty-six points after merely three years in the Inner Sect. And that was his score from four months ago. He could very well be at ninety points by now.

"I haven’t seen him engaged in Cultivation lately," Ji Linglong chimed in.

Hearing this, the group fell into an even deeper silence. Didn’t that make him even more terrifying? Before, he had improved openly, but now he was doing it behind their backs—likely because he feared they wouldn’t be able to handle the shock.

"He may be formidable, but he might not be able to defeat opponents back-to-back," Bai Long pointed out. There were so many of them; if they wore him down one by one, he would eventually run out of stamina. After all, none of them were pushovers. Every single one of them was a dragon or phoenix among mortals.

"Then let’s see whose luck is rotten enough to face him first," Miao Yulin said. It was hard to say for the rest, but the first person to encounter Jiang Man would almost certainly be eliminated.

Ji Shoumo sighed inwardly. He, too, could end up drawing Jiang Man. When it came to a random draw, who could say for sure?

***

That night, when Jiang Man returned, his residence was finally back to normal. However, he wasn’t sure if they had removed their traps or simply combined their efforts to lay a single, more insidious one. But after going inside and beginning his Cultivation, he found absolutely no obstructions. The lack of interference actually made him feel a bit unaccustomed.

"Before, there was always something hindering me. Now that there’s nothing, it actually feels weird," Jiang Man muttered, shaking his head before resuming his Cultivation.

These petty tricks were merely child’s play to him. The only thing he really needed to worry about was whether Peak Master Bai’s people would take a desperate risk. Additionally, there were those hiding in the shadows who wanted him dead. They had been ready to strike back in the Black Spirit Abyss, and there was no guarantee they wouldn’t try again now.

Of course, he wasn’t too worried about them either. With the Old Yellow Ox present within the Sect, his life wouldn’t typically be in danger. However, there would definitely be some peril involved. Unless it was the absolute final moment, Old Huang would not intervene.