Chapter 21

After replying to the steward Rong, Jiang Yi returned to his own courtyard and asked Jiang Xiaonu to go to Chun Ya to gather information. Half an hour later, Jiang Xiaonu returned with news about Jiang Ruhu and others.

Jiang Ruhu was carried back in a state that was barely recognizable, causing a stir in the Jiang family. However, when they heard that the Ma family's disciples were responsible, no one cared. Instead, they secretly cursed Jiang Ruhu and his companions for being useless and disgracing the Jiang family.

In Tianyu City, the Ji family was the leading clan, followed by the Liu family, the Ma family, the Jiang family, and the Leng family. There were also some smaller clans, such as the Yi family where Yi Lingxue belonged, and the Yang family, but they were far inferior to the five major clans.

The Divine Martial Kingdom was founded on martial prowess, and all city administrators were powerful warriors. Even military generals with significant military achievements were directly granted small cities as fiefs. The city lord of Tianyu City, Ji Tian, was awarded the rank of Yulin General and enfeoffed as the lord of Tianyu City for his outstanding contributions in the Six Kingdoms War fourteen years ago.

In Tianyu City, the Ji family was like an emperor, and no clan dared to provoke them. The Ji family's disciples were also very disciplined and rarely oppressed the disciples of other clans. However, the other clans were different. They often engaged in open and covert struggles for their own interests, and over the centuries, the four major clans had accumulated deep-seated grudges. Brawls among clan disciples in Tianyu City were as common as daily meals.

The Tianxing Continent valued martial prowess, and the clans did not intervene in brawls among their disciples, let alone brawls outside. As long as no one died, they would ignore it, and those who won outside would even be rewarded.

Therefore, when they heard that Jiang Ruhu was beaten by the Ma family, the Jiang family did not care. The chief steward, Jiang Yunshe, was furious, and despite Jiang Ruhu being unrecognizable, he still scolded him harshly and ordered all the collateral descendants of the Jiang family to stay at home. If anyone dared to go out and disgrace the family, they would be severely punished.

After hearing the news, Jiang Yi felt a great relief. He knew that he would be safe at least until Jiang Rulong returned from the Martial Hall. He could focus on cultivating, continuously breaking the seals, and strive to improve his realm in a short time.

The black essence energy could double his strength. At his current Second Rank Cauldron Formation realm, after integrating the black essence energy, his strength could reach the Fourth Rank Cauldron Formation level, equivalent to the strength of four horses. With enhanced vision, his overall combat power would definitely surpass that of an ordinary Fourth Rank Cauldron Formation warrior.

Jiang Rulong was at the Seventh Rank Cauldron Formation. If Jiang Yi could advance to the Third or Fourth Rank Cauldron Formation before Jiang Rulong returned from the Martial Hall, he might have a chance to fight him.

"Cultivate, continue breaking the seals! After checking the medicinal fields tomorrow, I'll go to the city to look for ways to earn money and pay off the debt."

Jiang Yi pondered for a while and then stopped thinking. He began to rapidly refine the black essence energy and break the seals. He could now break about ten seal runes per day, and the rest of the time was spent cultivating, with his cultivation speed gradually increasing to about seven or eight times his original speed. Although this speed was still relatively slow, Jiang Yi was very satisfied.

The next day, before dawn, Jiang Yi woke up to go to West Mountain to check the medicinal fields. Jiang Xiaonu, however, insisted on going out to work and was scolded harshly, leaving him too afraid to say more.

After returning from West Mountain and reporting to Steward Rong, Jiang Yi slipped out of the Jiang family compound and began wandering around the city, looking for ways to earn money.

After wandering for the whole morning, Jiang Yi sat dejectedly on a stone bench in the center of the square. He had no idea how to make money, unless he did manual labor, but that would only earn him a few copper coins a day, which was like a drop in the bucket.

There were only eighteen days left until the one-month deadline with Fengyue Tower, and Jiang Yi only had ten taels of silver. He thought of many ways but realized that the only options were to confess to the Jiang family and have them pay, or to borrow money from Ji Tingyu.

The Jiang family had not favored him in recent years, and Jiang Yi had a proud spirit and did not want to rely on them. Moreover, due to the matter with Elder Liu, he did not want the Jiang family to know about his black essence energy unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Find Ji Tingyu?"

The image of the breathtakingly beautiful girl in yellow flashed in his mind, but he quickly shook his head. The academy was about to recruit new students, and since Ji Tingyu had gone to the Martial Hall to meditate with Jiang Hen Shui, she would not come out for a while.

"Right... the Martial Hall! I can go there to be a sparring partner! That way, I can earn some silver and might even meet Miss Ji!"

Jiang Yi was suddenly excited and stood up, looking toward the Martial Hall. He remembered that his strength had reached the Second Rank Cauldron Formation, and his black essence energy had become more refined. If he channeled ten strands of black essence energy to his eyes, it could last for an hour. In the Martial Hall, he would not be on the field all the time, and if he only had a few sparring sessions a day, his black essence energy would be more than enough.

Moreover, only Jiang Hen Shui and Jiang Rulong from the Jiang family were cultivating in the Martial Hall. If he wore a mask, they might not recognize him. Besides... with their strength, they would likely look for top-tier sparring partners, not someone at the Second Rank Cauldron Formation.

Think and act!

Jiang Yi didn't even eat lunch and put on a cloak, heading toward the Martial Hall.

Outside the Martial Hall, they were still recruiting sparring partners, but there were fewer people around. As soon as Jiang Yi approached the side door, the tall, black-armored guard greeted him enthusiastically, "Hey, young man, you're here! Steward Yang has been asking for you several times."

Jiang Yi smiled awkwardly and didn't need the black-armored guard to lead him. He went straight into the Martial Hall and headed toward the training room.

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

As soon as Jiang Yi appeared in the training hall, a group of people immediately looked over. Steward Yang's wrinkled old face broke into a smile, and he called from a distance, "Canglang, you're here! How about staying to spar for the afternoon? I'll pay you a day's wage, one tael of silver, okay?"

Jiang Yi touched his nose and nodded, "Okay!"

Steward Yang quickly gave Jiang Yi the Canglang mask he had worn before and signaled to a servant, who immediately rushed away.

"Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!"

As soon as Jiang Yi sat down in the hall, a series of hurried footsteps echoed in the corridor. A fiery red figure appeared, and a pair of large eyes immediately locked onto Jiang Yi. She said excitedly, "Steward Yang, I want to spar with that Canglang."

Jiang Yi scratched his head, thinking that this fiery-figured girl must enjoy being beaten. She had attacked him for so long the other day but couldn't even touch a corner of his clothes. Was such sparring really meaningful?

"Canglang, get ready!" Steward Yang grinned and waved at Jiang Yi. He had already notified Yi Lingxue, which was why she came so quickly.

Since someone had requested him, Jiang Yi could only laugh bitterly and step forward. He followed Yi Lingxue into a training room, and the door quickly closed. The walls of the room glowed, sealing their essence energy.

To Jiang Yi's surprise, after Yi Lingxue entered, she did not immediately attack. Instead, she smiled gratefully and bowed, "You're Canglang? Thank you for the sparring! I hope you will give it your all today."

Being respected and thanked was a pleasant experience, especially from a beautiful girl. Jiang Yi had never received such treatment in the Jiang family, but he had been treated well by Miss Ji and Miss Yi outside, which naturally improved his mood. He waved his hand, "Miss, you're too kind. I will give it my all."

Yi Lingxue's strength was only at the Fourth Rank Cauldron Formation. The other day, he was only at the First Rank Cauldron Formation, and even with the black essence energy, she couldn't touch a corner of his clothes. Now that his strength had greatly increased, it was even more so.

Sure enough!

After Yi Lingxue launched her attack, Jiang Yi began to move gracefully around the training room. No matter how she attacked, she couldn't touch a corner of Jiang Yi's clothes. It seemed as if Jiang Yi had a premonition, and he started to dodge before Yi Lingxue even made a move. With their essence energy sealed, their attack speeds were not much different, so how could Yi Lingxue possibly hit Jiang Yi?

"Ha! Watch my perfected Rainstorm Fist, Canglang, be careful!"

After a quarter of an hour of fighting, Yi Lingxue was drenched in sweat, her perfect curves exposed. She didn't seem to notice and shouted, "Rainstorm Fist!" Her fists came at him like a storm, creating a dozen fist shadows in an instant.

"Hmm? This girl has improved a lot. Her Rainstorm Fist is clearly much stronger than before."

Jiang Yi sighed inwardly, but the number of fist shadows was irrelevant to him. He could clearly see the real fist, and even if she created a hundred fist shadows, it would be the same.

The Jiang family had a martial technique called Phantom Fist, which was similar to the Rainstorm Fist. Jiang Yi had already mastered it to a high level, and his fist shadows were much more realistic than Yi Lingxue's. How could she possibly hurt him?

He stepped into a mesmerizing stance, advancing three feet forward, bent his knees, leaned back, and slid to the left, easily avoiding Yi Lingxue's attack.

"Pant, pant, no more, you're too crazy..."

Without essence energy, using martial techniques was very exhausting. After one round of Rainstorm Fist, Yi Lingxue was immediately out of breath. If Jiang Yi weren't there, she would have sat down on the ground.

Jiang Yi stood up, patted his robe, and smiled faintly, "Miss, you're very strong. At your age, you're already at the Fourth Rank Cauldron Formation. If our essence energy wasn't sealed, you would have knocked me down with one move."

Yi Lingxue's robe was soaked, and she was breathing heavily, her slightly raised chest rising and falling, incredibly alluring. Hearing Jiang Yi's words, a faint blush appeared on her face, and she looked at him and smiled, "You're very good with words. Alright! I had a great time today. I'll find you again tomorrow, but... can you counterattack tomorrow? Don't just dodge, it's no fun."

"Uh..."

Jiang Yi scratched his head awkwardly. If he counterattacked, with her essence energy sealed, she would likely be knocked down in one move. But what could he say now? He could only nod, "Okay!"

Yi Lingxue straightened her robe and walked out. Jiang Yi followed her out and sat among the crowd. He looked around but didn't see Steward Yang. He decided to ignore it and closed his eyes to meditate and recover his black essence energy.

Steward Yang was indeed not in the training room but in a nearby small room. He was not alone; there was also a wealthy-looking old man with white hair. The two were intently watching a moving image on the wall.

If Jiang Yi and Yi Lingxue saw the image, they would be shocked beyond measure. The wall displayed their sparring match, but the image was somewhat blurry, as if a magical array had recorded their battle.

"That doesn't make sense. This boy is clearly at the Second Rank Cauldron Formation, so how can he have such an abnormal reaction speed?"

Steward Yang's old face was full of confusion. He watched the image for a long time, still uncertain. Finally, he bowed to the old man, "Old Master Fei, what do you think?"

The old man with white hair stroked his white beard and said, "There's no need to look further. This boy is at the Second Rank Cauldron Formation, but he has extraordinary talent and an abnormal reaction speed. Steward Yang, cultivate and nurture him well. If you can advance him to the Third or Fourth Rank Cauldron Formation, he will definitely become an excellent top-tier sparring partner, bringing a steady stream of silver to the Martial Hall!"