Chapter 16

The cause of Elder Liu's death was quickly determined. Jiang Yi felt less guilty when he learned that Elder Liu had a chronic illness and had nearly died three times in the past few years. He had recently been working day and night, which led to his premature death...

Jiang Yi had no feelings for Elder Liu, but since he wasn't the one who killed him, yet his death was indirectly his fault, he felt very uneasy and guilty these past few days. He even went to Elder Liu's grave at midnight, bowed several times, and poured two cups of yellow wine.

Due to Elder Liu's death, Jiang Yi lost his chance to refine pills, as the entire pill-refining room was sealed. The family's only alchemist was gone, so they had to buy pills from outside, and the pills stored in the pill room were sealed and managed uniformly.

Elder Liu had been dead for three days, and Jiang Yi had been hiding in the backyard of his home to cultivate, leaving Jiang Xiaonu to guard the front yard. He had a deep sense of worry. Now that he was no longer working in the pill-refining room, the family might assign him new chores, and Manager Rong might come to reclaim the token for the West Mountain medicinal field.

"Time, I just need a little more time, and no problem will be a problem anymore!"

Sitting cross-legged in the backyard, Jiang Yi clenched his teeth. In the past few days, he had cracked dozens more runes on his seal, and his cultivation speed had gradually increased, reaching seven to eight times his original speed.

Although this speed was still far from that of the family's outstanding disciples, who could cultivate in a day what he could in a month, his cultivation speed was thirty times slower than theirs. However, he firmly believed that as long as he continued to crack the runes on his seal, his cultivation speed would eventually catch up with most of the family's disciples, and perhaps even far surpass them.

The black primordial energy could only refine ten strands at a time, but it had an extraordinary amplification ability. As long as his cultivation speed could reach the level of the family's outstanding disciples, his combat power might not be impossible to catch up with them in a short time.

In fact, he had considered informing the family about his seal being cracked and the nameless cultivation technique, which would likely draw their attention and solve all his problems. But thinking about how the Jiang family had treated him over the years and the incident with Elder Liu, he feared that the Jiang family would blame him, so he decided to wait until his strength improved so much that it couldn't be hidden.

"Jiang Yi, get out here!"

A deep voice from the front yard snapped Jiang Yi out of his thoughts. Recognizing the voice, he knew it was Manager Rong. He quickly hid in the straw pile in the backyard, not daring to breathe.

He faintly heard Jiang Xiaonu's soft explanations and Manager Rong's angry scolding. After a while, Jiang Xiaonu ran into the backyard: "Young Master, Manager Rong is gone, but he said to find him early tomorrow to inventory the West Mountain medicinal field."

"Of course..."

Jiang Yi's face darkened. His eyes darted around, and after a moment of contemplation, he gritted his teeth and said, "Xiaonu, stay at home. I'm going out for a bit."

He went into the house, took out the black robe he had bought, put it on, and hurriedly left the yard. After walking a few dozen paces, he suddenly stopped and turned his head, seeing a figure flash at a corner in the distance. He immediately sneered.

"Jiang Ruhu has indeed sent someone to tail me!"

He infused his legs with primordial energy and ran full speed toward the West Gate while listening carefully. The person behind him indeed followed quickly. Jiang Yi ran for a while, then suddenly turned into a small alley and hid. When the person behind him rushed past like a gust of wind, he quickly turned and ran toward the Jiang family's South Courtyard.

Leaving the Jiang family's South Gate, Jiang Yi confirmed that no one was following him, put on a hood, and headed straight for the city square. Half an hour later, he arrived at a large medicinal shop on the east side of the square.

He walked in confidently, took out the only purple gold leaf he had, and slapped it on the counter, shouting, "Shopkeeper, give me ten Spirit Nourishing Pills!"

"Sure thing, someone, get ten Spirit Nourishing Pills."

The shopkeeper was a fat middle-aged man who immediately smiled obsequiously when he saw the purple gold leaf. He laughed and reached for the gold leaf: "Hehe... Sir, one Spirit Nourishing Pill costs ten taels of silver, totaling one purple gold leaf."

"Humph!"

Jiang Yi snorted coldly but didn't let go. The fat shopkeeper's face changed, and he quickly smiled awkwardly: "It seems you are a regular customer. I'll... charge you ninety taels of silver in total."

Jiang Yi nodded slightly, gritted his teeth in pain, and let go, watching the purple gold leaf he had just obtained a few days ago go into someone else's pocket.

This was a helpless move. Without high-grade pills, it was impossible for him to cultivate to the Second Stage of the Cauldron Formation Realm in a short time, and going to the West Mountain would mean crawling back. The day he and Jiang Ruhu agreed to meet outside the West Gate in ten days, he had decided to use high-grade pills to quickly cultivate with the help of black primordial energy...

After buying the Spirit Nourishing Pills, he left with only ten taels of silver left and headed straight for the Jade Treasure Pavilion on the south side of the square.

The receptionist was still Manager Liu from last time. Manager Liu politely led Jiang Yi into a private room, called a servant to serve tea, and then smiled and asked, "Young Master, are you here to sell pills again? Do you have something good?"

Jiang Yi smiled bitterly. He did have ten Spirit Nourishing Pills, but they were just bought... Fortunately, his face was hidden under the hood, so Manager Liu couldn't see his expression. He stood up and bowed: "Manager Liu, I want to see your young miss. I have a favor to ask."

Manager Liu's face showed difficulty, and he shook his head: "Young Master, I'm really sorry! The young miss went to the Martial Hall to cultivate two days ago. If you have something important, perhaps... I can ask the chief manager?"

"The Martial Hall?"

Jiang Yi was taken aback and felt a bit uneasy. Had something big happened in Tianyu City recently? Why were all the young masters and misses going to the Martial Hall to cultivate?

He didn't have anything particularly important to ask Ji Tingyu, but he felt she seemed to value him that day. So he came to see if he could borrow ten purple gold leaves to redeem the token from the Wind and Moon Tower. He thought that as a Ji family miss and with the Jade Treasure Pavilion's wealth, ten purple gold leaves would be a drop in the ocean for her, but he didn't expect her to be absent.

"No need, I'll come back later."

Jiang Yi stood up awkwardly. With the young miss not there, how could the servants dare to lend money without permission? If he asked the chief manager and was refused, he would be extremely embarrassed.

He walked out of the Jade Treasure Pavilion awkwardly and stood on the square, watching the bustling traffic, feeling very troubled. With the Spirit Nourishing Pills, he wasn't afraid of Jiang Ruhu and others anymore, but the pill-refining room was sealed, and he had no failed pills. How could he earn money quickly?

His gaze swept across the square and was suddenly drawn to a grand hall in the north, which was surrounded by people, making him curious.

The Martial Hall!

Jiang Yi knew a bit about this grand hall. In fact, no one in the entire Tianxing Continent didn't know about the Martial Hall, as there was a black and ancient hall in the center of every city. The history of the Martial Hall was so long that it seemed to have existed since the beginning of human civilization.

The Martial Hall was not a force and never participated in the continent's conflicts. Strictly speaking, it was the largest merchant in the Tianxing Continent! However, its service targets were high-level martial artists and the young masters and misses of wealthy families. Without the strength of the Purple Mansion Realm, one had to pay one purple gold leaf to enter the Martial Hall.

Jiang Yi had heard about the Martial Hall when he was very young. It was said to be a paradise for cultivation, with powerful spirit-gathering arrays that could double the cultivation speed. It also had various aids for cultivation that could rapidly improve a martial artist's strength. However, for someone who struggled to eat, the Martial Hall was too far away, so he never deliberately inquired about it.

Seeing the Martial Hall surrounded by people and remembering that Jiang Henshui and Ji Tingyu had gone in to cultivate, Jiang Yi became curious and quickly walked toward the Martial Hall.

The main gate of the Martial Hall was closed, but the side door was open, guarded by two black-armored guards. Jiang Yi's gaze followed the crowd to a notice outside the Martial Hall.

After a quick glance, Jiang Yi lost interest. The Martial Hall was recruiting sparring partners. The pay was quite tempting: one tael of silver per day for a bronze badge sparring partner, ten taels of silver per day for a silver badge, and one purple gold leaf per day for a gold badge.

A sparring partner, of course, meant accompanying others in practice to help them gain combat experience. In other words, others could hit you at will, and you could hit back, but you couldn't injure them. It was a job of taking hits voluntarily.

Jiang Yi's strength was not high. Even if he wanted to take hits, he would likely only be a bronze badge sparring partner, earning one tael of silver per day, which wouldn't help much with his debt of ten purple gold leaves. He naturally didn't want to waste his time.

Listening to the nearby crowd's discussions, Jiang Yi's confusion was resolved. It seemed that a prestigious academy would be recruiting in Tianyu City in a few months, so the top young masters and misses in the city had all entered the Martial Hall to cultivate, hoping to perform well in the recruitment competition and enter the academy. With so many top young masters and misses cultivating in the Martial Hall, the number of sparring partners was naturally insufficient...

"Go back and cultivate!"

Jiang Yi was not interested in the prestigious academy, as it was out of reach for him. As for the gossip about the top young masters and misses in the city, he had no curiosity. He turned to head back to the Jiang family's courtyard.

However!

Just as he turned, he was attracted by the conversation of two young martial artists.

"One purple gold leaf per day! One purple gold leaf can buy a courtesan at the Wind and Moon Tower for ten days and nights. Unfortunately, my martial skills are not good enough. Otherwise, I would definitely go in and try to become a gold badge sparring partner."

"Forget it. Although the sparring partners seal their primordial energy during the match, those young masters and misses are all at the Fifth or Sixth Stage of the Cauldron Formation Realm or higher. Even without using primordial energy, they can easily beat you into a pig's head with their reaction speed and martial skills. My cousin, who is at the Third Stage of the Cauldron Formation Realm, went in to spar yesterday and came out crawling. He is still recovering at home. Those young masters and misses are too ruthless. This money is not easy to earn..."

"Sealing primordial energy for sparring?"

Jiang Yi's heart stirred. If both sides didn't use primordial energy and relied only on reaction speed and martial skills, he could use the black primordial energy to enhance his vision, increasing his reaction speed several times. Perhaps he could become a gold badge sparring partner?

Without the support of primordial energy, how fast could those young masters and misses be? In terms of martial skills, who was afraid of whom?

"One purple gold leaf per day? I'll give it a try!"

The more Jiang Yi thought about it, the more he was tempted. Even if he failed, it would just be a beating. After a moment of contemplation, he gritted his teeth and walked toward the side door of the Martial Hall, bowing to the two black-armored guards: "I want to sign up as a sparring partner!"