Chapter 655 - 349: Ji Meng is Really Kind

Chapter 655: Chapter 349: Ji Meng is Really Kind

In the interrogation room, Jiang Man sat in a chair, listening to Ren Qian.

The room wasn’t large. The four walls were carved with restrictive Array Patterns, emitting a faint, cold glow. Several documents were spread out on the table, the ink not yet fully dry. A faint scent of sandalwood lingered in the air, likely intended to calm those being interrogated.

But Jiang Man couldn’t calm down. His heart had plummeted to rock bottom. His world had come crashing down.

Eight hundred thousand.

Those words tumbled and echoed endlessly in his ears. It was the crushing reluctance of losing eight hundred thousand Spiritual Sources.

Jiang Man didn’t plead guilty. Instead, he planted his hands on the table, leaned forward, and argued his case. "Senior Brother, I was merely participating in the assessment normally. I had no intention of intentionally destroying anything. It was just that the Array at the venue wasn’t strong enough. It couldn’t withstand the impact, which is why this accident happened.

"The fault should lie with the organizers."

"The organizers?" Ren Qian lifted his eyelids to look at him. "Isn’t that just your courtyard?"

"Wasn’t it a Sect assessment?" Jiang Man asked in confusion. The organizer was obviously the Sect; how could it be their courtyard?

Ren Qian put down the document in his hand, leaned back in his chair, and explained, "The assessment hosted by the Sect is half a month from now."

Hearing this, Jiang Man froze.

At this moment, Ren Qian continued, "Who applied for the early assessment?"

Seeing that Jiang Man didn’t answer, Ren Qian pressed on. "Who insisted on challenging everyone alone? Neither of these two actions are part of the Sect’s normal procedures. Since it was an application, certain agreements must have been signed. Did you sign them?"

Jiang Man recalled the events and fell silent. He had been too naive.

"So, when the venue couldn’t hold up, who bears the primary responsibility?" Ren Qian looked at Jiang Man and sighed helplessly. "If you had fought one-on-one and caused this much damage, it would be the fault of the Sect’s Array. You would only bear secondary responsibility. But you just had to challenge everyone alone.

"The Sect agreed, but from the moment you applied, the primary responsibility fell entirely on you."

Jiang Man sighed inwardly and quickly asked, "Then what about the Sect’s secondary responsibility?"

"The one holding secondary responsibility was knocked out by you and is still recovering," Ren Qian said, flipping open the document on the table and tapping his finger on the numbers. "However, the Sect will cover her portion. In addition, the Sect has taken on half of the total fine.

"The total compensation is two million. The Sect covers one million, you cover eight hundred thousand, and Mr. Yan covers two hundred thousand."

Pausing for a moment, Ren Qian closed the file and offered a kind reminder. "Your Nine-star Series is at Great Success, your Cultivation is at Great Success, your control is at Great Success, and your Grand Technique is at Great Success. This is truly rare. Therefore, absolutely do not use your full strength carelessly within the Sect. Hitting a person doesn’t necessarily require compensation, but if you hit something, there’s no telling how much you’ll have to pay."

For a moment, Jiang Man was speechless. In the past, all these Great Success achievements would have made him flush with success, but now, they were practically debt collectors.

Eight hundred thousand. If he had known earlier, he wouldn’t have used his Grand Technique at the end. That one fight had bankrupted him.

"I remember I still have some rewards," Jiang Man said.

"You have one Grand Technique, an Inner Sect storefront, a courtyard-guarding Spirit Beast with average intelligence, and a standard Spirit Sword to go with it." Ren Qian pondered for a moment before adding, "As for Spiritual Sources, you still have three hundred thousand."

Ren Qian looked at Jiang Man and continued, "The Spiritual Sources have already been deducted. The Sect can buy back the storefront for two hundred thousand, which makes five hundred thousand.

"The Spirit Sword can be bought back at a high price of five thousand. The Spirit Beast this time is a bit ordinary, so let’s count it as one hundred thousand.

"That totals six hundred and five thousand."

"What about the Grand Technique?" Jiang Man asked. A Grand Technique was by no means cheap.

"We can’t buy that back." Ren Qian shook his head helplessly. "A Grand Technique is too important. The Sect doesn’t allow it to be deducted. Of course, you have enough merits. If you don’t agree, you can take all these items with you, but you still have to repay the debt."

"Can I serve prison time to offset it?" Jiang Man inquired.

"That’s not entirely impossible. One month offsets ten thousand." Seeing Jiang Man reveal a joyful expression, Ren Qian quickly added, "However, once you come in, you can’t go out. You’ve already secured a spot and can compete for the Returning Void qualification.

"If you come in, it means you’re giving it up."

Jiang Man fell silent. That definitely wouldn’t work.

"There is another option. You can have your two Spirit Pets serve the prison time in your place. One is worth three thousand, the other two thousand. Together, that’s five thousand a month." Ren Qian calculated carefully. "That’s sixty thousand a year. After a dozen years or so in prison, your debt will be cleared."

"I’ll write an IOU," Jiang Man said with utmost seriousness.

In the end, Jiang Man walked out of the Law Enforcement Hall. The winter sun shone on his face. He narrowed his eyes, standing on the steps for a long moment.

This place was too ruthless—completely inhumane. He still owed roughly two hundred thousand, and he only had a year to pay it off; otherwise, they would start charging interest. He never dreamed that a single fight would cost him eight hundred thousand Spiritual Sources.

"I still didn’t control my power well enough, otherwise this wouldn’t have happened. But to achieve that level of control, the Primordial Spirit alone probably isn’t enough," Jiang Man pondered.

He realized that sometimes, control wasn’t just about controlling the physical body; it also required an understanding and mastery of the power itself. This exceeded the inherent scope of the Primordial Spirit. It had nothing to do with Talent or effort.

"Young Master Jiang is out?" The sound of a Silver Bell rang out from below the stone steps outside the Law Enforcement Hall. Ji Meng stood by a corridor pillar. A corner of her light blue Immortal Skirt was gently lifted by the draft, and she looked up with a smile on her face.

"Is Miss Ji Meng alright?" Jiang Man walked down the stone steps, his gaze sweeping over her.

"I’m fine. Xiaoqing took me away to escape very early on." Ji Meng tilted her head, her tone brisk. "It’s just that Mr. Yan couldn’t escape in time. I even covered her medical expenses, which totaled sixty thousand."

She reached out and signaled a number with her fingers, then pulled her hand back and added with a smile, "Young Master Jiang doesn’t need to pay this back."

"Why?" Jiang Man asked curiously.