Chapter 22

Listening to the words of the old man with white hair, Manager Yang became very excited. He did not rush out immediately but paused and said, "Old Fei, should we recruit this young man into the Martial Hall?"

"No need!"

Old Fei indifferently got up and walked out. At the door, he turned his face to explain, "At fifteen or sixteen, he's only at the Second Level of the Cauldron Formation Realm. This young man has already passed the golden period of cultivation. He won't achieve much in his life. Even though his reaction ability is abnormal, his realm won't improve. He can only be a waste. The Martial Hall... does not keep wastes."

"Yes!"

Manager Yang hurriedly bowed and crouched. After Old Fei left, he quickly walked to the wall, placed his hand, surrounded by essence energy, on a brick, and the image on the wall magically disappeared, turning back into a snow-white stone wall.

"Someone, go and bring me Langlang!"

Manager Yang sat for a while and instructed a guard at the door. The guard hurriedly walked toward the training room and soon brought Jiang Yi, who was full of doubts, into the room.

"Manager Yang, you called me?"

Jiang Yi had just started practicing when he was interrupted and was now brought to this small room. Fortunately, Manager Yang was sitting inside, which made him feel a bit more at ease.

Manager Yang waved his hand to dismiss the guard and then said to Jiang Yi with a smile, "Langlang, I won't hide anything from you. Let's get straight to the point. I represent the Martial Hall and want to make a deal with you."

Jiang Yi's eyes behind the Langlang mask flashed, and he asked in a deep voice, "A deal?"

Manager Yang nodded and said, "Exactly. The Martial Hall will cultivate you to the Fourth Level of the Cauldron Formation Realm within two months. In return, you must serve as a sparring partner for five years. Of course... the Martial Hall will pay you according to your strength. For example, if you are a silver-level sparring partner, you will earn ten silver taels per day. If you reach the gold level, you will earn one purple gold per day."

Jiang Yi's eyes narrowed, and he subconsciously asked, "Just be a sparring partner? Nothing else?"

"Of course not!" Manager Yang saw Jiang Yi's concern and smiled, "Our Martial Hall values reputation the most. We are absolutely fair and just, and we keep our word. You can rest assured about this."

Jiang Yi lowered his head and pondered, still feeling uncertain. Was this a stroke of luck? The higher a martial artist's realm, the harder it is to advance, and the more essence energy is needed. Unless the Martial Hall provided him with enough high-grade pills, he could not possibly advance to the Fourth Level of the Cauldron Formation Realm in two months. Such a huge investment? Just to keep him here as a sparring partner? And even pay him a salary while sparring? How could there be such a good thing in the world?

If the person negotiating with him was not the manager of the Martial Hall, Jiang Yi would have turned and left, thinking the other person was a madman. The problem was that the Martial Hall, as the king of the continent's commercial houses, had never been involved in any scandal in hundreds of thousands of years, and there had never been any reports of the Martial Hall doing anything evil. Moreover... he was just a small figure. Why would the Martial Hall go to such lengths to deal with him?

He was silent for a long time and asked again, "Manager Yang, if I cooperate with you, will I... lose my freedom?"

"How could that be?"

Manager Yang laughed and explained, "Langlang, you are just hired by the Martial Hall. You are not a member of the Martial Hall. In other words, you are working for us, and we pay you. The other gold-level sparring partners also have deals with us. Langlang... don't overthink it. To be honest, I value your abnormal combat instincts and reaction speed. I plan to cultivate you to become a top gold-level sparring partner. This way, you can earn money for the Martial Hall. It's that simple!"

"Is that so..."

Manager Yang's frankness made Jiang Yi feel more at ease. He pondered for a while and finally showed a determined look, gritting his teeth, "I can work here for five years, but I have two conditions."

Manager Yang casually waved his hand and said, "Go ahead, as long as they are not excessive, we can discuss them."

Jiang Yi nodded and quickly said, "First, I can't be in the Martial Hall all day. Of course, I will try to come to the Martial Hall when I have time. Second, I need... an advance on my salary."

The debt from the Fengyue Tower was suffocating Jiang Yi. Now that the Martial Hall valued him, he naturally wanted to get ten purple golds to pay off the debt.

This time it was Manager Yang's turn to hesitate. After a moment, he said in a deep voice, "The first point is acceptable, but I will count you as working four sessions a day. Only after completing four sessions will you earn a day's pay. As for the second point, how much salary do you need in advance?"

Jiang Yi's spirits lifted, and he quickly said, "Ten purple golds."

Manager Yang smiled, got up, and nodded, "No problem, but you must work for ten days before I can give you the advance. Do you have any other questions? If not, I wish us a pleasant cooperation!"

"Uh..."

Jiang Yi blinked suspiciously and asked, "No questions, but don't we need to sign a contract or something?"

"Ha ha!"

Manager Yang laughed and said proudly, "We don't need that. The Martial Hall does not break its word, and we are not afraid of... others breaking it! Alright, take this bottle of pills first. Go and cultivate in the main hall. I won't have you spar unless it's absolutely necessary these few days. Your main task now is to cultivate and quickly reach the Fourth Level of the Cauldron Formation Realm."

Jiang Yi took the porcelain bottle with one hand, opened the cap, and saw three Spirit God Pills inside. He thought the Martial Hall was indeed wealthy and powerful, and he bowed in thanks before walking out. At the door, he suddenly remembered something and turned back to ask, "Manager... if I don't want to work for the full five years or if I need to leave temporarily, what should I do?"

Manager Yang smiled faintly and said, "Simple, that would be a breach of contract. According to the rules, you would have to pay a hundredfold penalty. I calculated that you would need to pay the Martial Hall ten thousand purple golds. Of course... if you die, the contract is automatically terminated."

"Ten thousand!"

Jiang Yi's body shrank as he walked out, thinking that he had sold himself to the Martial Hall for five years. If he took the Martial Hall's money and didn't work, he would face endless pursuit and killing from the Martial Hall. Thinking of the Martial Hall's branches in every city on the continent, Jiang Yi felt a chill.

Back in the main hall, Jiang Yi quickly became excited again. Selling himself for five years at least relieved his immediate crisis. After ten days, he could get an advance of ten purple golds to redeem his token from the Fengyue Tower. As for Jiang Rulong? Jiang Yi no longer cared. With the Martial Hall providing pills, he had great confidence in rapidly advancing his realm. Once he reached the Fourth Level of the Cauldron Formation Realm, Jiang Rulong would be nothing to fear.

Quietly swallowing a Spirit God Pill, Jiang Yi immediately sat down to cultivate. Since Manager Yang said he wouldn't have him spar for a few days, he wasn't worried about the black essence energy being consumed.

Cultivating in the Martial Hall was indeed twice as fast. The black essence energy at the Second Level of the Cauldron Formation Realm condensed, and the duration of the pill's effect increased to about half an incense stick. Feeling the blue essence energy gushing out like a well in his dantian, Jiang Yi was extremely excited.

Cultivate, cultivate!

Jiang Yi didn't feel hungry even though he skipped lunch, fully immersed in cultivation. In the afternoon, many young masters and misses came to find sparring partners, but Manager Yang indeed did not call Jiang Yi to spar.

He continued cultivating until dusk. Checking the essence energy in his dantian, his eyes were filled with passion. Just a few hours of cultivation had accumulated as much essence energy as he used to in a month. The cultivation speed in the Martial Hall, combined with the black essence energy pills and the unsealed rune, made his cultivation speed skyrocket.

"No wonder the rich and talented young masters cultivate so fast. It's really frustrating to compare!"

Jiang Yi had been puzzled before. Jiang Henshui was only three months older than him, yet his cultivation speed was so fast, reaching the Eighth Level of the Cauldron Formation Realm. Now he understood. Jiang Henshui had good talent, never lacked pills, and often came to the Martial Hall to seclude himself. With various resources at his disposal, how could his cultivation speed be slow?

"It's getting dark. I'll sit for a while and then go home. The little servant will worry if I'm late."

Looking through the skylight, Jiang Yi saw the sky gradually darken and stopped cultivating. Curiously, he began to observe his surroundings. He saw young masters and misses frequently entering and exiting the training rooms, and occasionally sparring partners being beaten and crawling out, spitting blood. The young masters and misses would leave coldly...

After a while, Jiang Yi roughly understood the situation. There were only three gold-level sparring partners in the Martial Hall, all around the Fifth or Sixth Level of the Cauldron Formation Realm. There were four or five silver-level sparring partners, around the Third or Fourth Level of the Cauldron Formation Realm, and the remaining eight or nine were all bronze-level sparring partners.

At least twenty to thirty young masters and misses were in seclusion in the Martial Hall. Most of them would come to spar one or two times a day, which was why the Martial Hall was short of sparring partners. Of course, according to Jiang Yi's guess, there should be more sparring partners in the Martial Hall, but many were likely injured and had to return to recover. These young masters and misses never treated sparring partners as human beings and had no control over their strength...

After waiting for a while, Jiang Yi was about to say goodbye to Manager Yang and go home when he suddenly heard footsteps in the corridor. He glanced over and quickly hid.

He had encountered acquaintances, and not just one but two!

Four people walked down the corridor, all dressed in expensive robes and exuding an air of nobility. They were three young masters and a beautiful young lady. The lady wore a yellow dress, as beautiful as a blooming yellow rose. She was Ji Tingyu, the young lady of the Ji family, who managed the Treasure Pavilion. Among the three young masters, Jiang Henshui was one of them.

"Ha ha, Miss Tingyu, your strength is unparalleled, already at the Eighth Level of the Cauldron Formation Realm. These sparring partners are no match for you. Why don't I spar with you?"

"Yes, these lowly sparring partners can't possibly have the honor of sparring with Miss. I recently comprehended a ground-level martial technique. Let me practice with you!"

Two handsome young masters accompanied Ji Tingyu, their loud laughter echoing through the main hall. Jiang Henshui did not speak, but his eyes were fixed on Ji Tingyu, filled with passion.

"Eighth Level of the Cauldron Formation Realm? And the young lady of the Ji family, managing the Treasure Pavilion? Such beauty! No wonder Jiang Henshui and these two are like flies around her."

Jiang Yi thought to himself, secretly looking at Ji Tingyu to see her reaction.

Unexpectedly, Ji Tingyu's eyes swept over the group of sparring partners and met Jiang Yi's gaze. As Jiang Yi hurriedly lowered his head to hide, Ji Tingyu suddenly pointed at him with a slender finger and said calmly, "I appreciate your kindness, young masters. Manager Yang, please arrange a sparring session with this sparring partner wearing the wolf mask."