Chapter Seventy-Seven: The Hunt Begins

Jiang Yan’s spiritual sense circled the white disk several times, familiarizing himself with its structure.

According to his knowledge from past games, the disk contained an immense amount of complex talismanic arrays. If Jiang Yan rashly entered it, he would be forced out by the overwhelming flood of talismanic information, inevitably harming his spiritual sense. So he examined the white disk cautiously, hoping to understand it better before venturing in.

As he circled the disk, dozens of powerful restrictions swept over his spiritual sense, their force so oppressive it felt as if a sword hung above his head, an eerie sensation constantly swirling around him.

Finally, after mastering the disk’s structure and movement, Jiang Yan’s spiritual sense ceased its orbit.

With a sudden flicker, his spiritual sense transformed into a violet arrow and pierced into the disk’s interior.

A dizzying sensation enveloped him the moment his spiritual sense broke through the disk’s surface—like striking solid rock, the tip nearly bent from the collision, a repeated feeling of hitting a wall flashing across his forehead.

The white disk, invaded by his spiritual sense, burst forth with radiant white light, flooding every crevice of the space.

Inside the disk, Jiang Yan’s experience was altogether different. He felt as though he were in a transparent crystal sphere, whose inner walls shifted with ever-changing images.

He swept his spiritual sense across the inner wall of the crystal sphere, sensing the images and was momentarily stunned.

The images depicted scenes from Mount Hua.

In the world of talisman masters, there were many jade talismans designed to transmit information and images over distance, but only one array could relay real-time visuals—the Thousand Illusions Crystal Sphere.

The core of the talisman array field turned out to be the Thousand Illusions Crystal Sphere, greatly facilitating Jiang Yan’s observation of Mount Hua.

…

In the alchemy room behind Mount Hua, Tang Wan held a slowly spinning azure lotus between her fingers, her face glowing with joy as she carefully controlled the lotus at her fingertips.

Yun Ying, with a sullen expression, sat cross-legged on a cloud bed nearby, watching her senior sister cultivate the Fire Condensing Technique with little enthusiasm, unable to comprehend why her sister practiced so diligently.

Below Yun Ying’s cloud bed, the Howling Sky Dog and Howling Soul Dog lay side by side, one black, one white, both staring curiously at the lotus in their mistress’s hand, their heads shifting restlessly, clearly impatient.

In the training hall behind the main sect hall, Nanmen Luo sat cross-legged in Room One, calm and focused, immersed in arduous cultivation. In Room Five, yellow spiritual energy filled the air as Mu Yun, with a chubby, uncomfortable face and furrowed brows, meditated on his cushion.

On the mid-mountain training grounds, Ning Qian sat at one corner of the Six-Star Platform, motionless as he cultivated the Azure Wood Technique bestowed upon him. Opposite him, Zisu sat cross-legged with eyes closed, diligently practicing as well.

In the corner of the training grounds, Lin Ke, veiled in black, also sat cross-legged, unmoving. Noticing the faint azure spiritual energy emanating from Lin Ke’s body, Jiang Yan was surprised. Wasn’t Lin Ke practicing the Water Transformation Technique? When did she switch to the Azure Wood Technique? Jiang Yan felt somewhat negligent as sect master—not even aware when his few disciples changed their cultivation methods.

In the Mount Hua Spirit Beast Garden, the golden Moon Mink lay motionless in a corner. The Golden-eyed Eagle flapped its massive wings, occasionally stirring powerful gusts, thoroughly enjoying itself.

In the rear mountain’s spiritual fields, Elder Chen meditated beside the spirit fields, cultivating. In the garden’s earth, the spirit earthworm burrowed joyfully, and to Jiang Yan’s surprise, several other earthworms now tunneled happily through the fields. He hadn’t yet examined the new companion skill acquired by the earthworm upon advancing, but seeing so many in the field, Jiang Yan deduced it gained the ability to split, producing earthworms of lower grade than itself after advancing to the mid-level of grade one.

Jiang Yan was quite pleased with this ability—it would greatly ease the sect’s labor needs when cultivating spiritual grains and herbs as more advanced fields appeared.

With Jiang Yan’s thoughts, the images of Mount Hua shifted like scenes from a film, changing above, below, and all around him.

“I can observe Mount Hua—can this Thousand Illusions Crystal Sphere also show the world beyond?” The thought struck him suddenly.

With a shift in his spiritual sense, the images on the sphere’s wall transformed. Next moment, Mount Hua was far below his feet.

The inner walls of the sphere now showed aerial views of Mount Hua: clouds drifting past, above him the heavens like a great lid, below the boundless lands of Linqing Prefecture, and directly beneath, Mount Hua encased in a protective azure array.

From above, the mountain’s protective array appeared as a giant azure lid covering Mount Hua, obscuring all beneath it.

With a thought, Jiang Yan watched as the protective array contracted, gradually revealing Mount Hua’s sprawling expanse.

Looking down from the sky, he saw a vast mountain, its terrain splitting into three interlocking peaks at mid-height, lush and deep green everywhere.

Having browsed the sights over Mount Hua, curiosity sparked in Jiang Yan. How far could the Thousand Illusions Crystal Sphere observe? Could it see Qingyang Town in the distance?

Once the idea took hold, Jiang Yan could not resist. As his spiritual sense shifted, the sphere’s images changed—the mountain receding, clouds on the sphere’s wall moving faster. Before long, a small town appeared.

“Qingyang Town!” Jiang Yan exclaimed inwardly, astonished to have reached its outskirts.

He had visited Qingyang Town before and recognized its scenery—the main street paved with bluestone, homes built of the same, all familiar. As his spiritual sense moved, the image of Qingyang Town unfolded before him.

“Sun Family Tavern,” appeared in his senses—a two-story building, the town’s only inn, owned by Sun Yang and his father Sun Tianpeng.

Inside, Sun Tianpeng, brimming with pride, regaled impatient patrons with tales of his son’s achievements.

“My boy is now a proper disciple of Mount Hua, same as Ning Er’s son, a real Mount Hua disciple! Now I, Old Sun, am father to a future immortal,” Sun Tianpeng boasted, waving a shiny, oily towel.

“Old Sun, you won’t go back to your old ways, will you?” asked a local, chewing melon seeds and clearly tired of Sun Tianpeng’s bragging. Though his son’s success was good news, the daily boasting was tiresome—were it not for the free snacks, he wouldn’t bother listening.

“The Zhang brothers look down on me, huh? How could I tarnish Mount Hua’s name? Young Master Jiang himself instructed me to pursue virtue. Unless I had the courage of a bear or leopard, I wouldn’t dare oppose him. If anyone could, it’d be the sect master of Golden Flame Sect,” Sun Tianpeng declared.

Golden Flame Sect was Linqing Prefecture’s preeminent sect, its dominance ingrained in the people’s hearts. To compare Mount Hua to Golden Flame Sect was Sun Tianpeng’s way of praising Mount Hua’s strength.

“Indeed, only someone from Golden Flame Sect could match Young Master Jiang’s power,” the townsfolk agreed. Though they didn’t know Jiang Yan’s strength, his stature was unquestioned. Their talk focused solely on him—never would they believe Mount Hua to be stronger than Golden Flame Sect, an old and mighty sect. But to compare Young Master Jiang to Golden Flame’s master seemed natural to them.

Crash!

Suddenly, the sound of tables, chairs, teacups, and kettles shattering erupted in the tavern.

“Ignorant rabble! To compare my Golden Flame Sect with Mount Hua—fools! That insignificant Mount Hua could be crushed at a whim if Golden Flame Sect desired!” Bai Lun of Golden Flame Sect rose from his seat, his gaze cold as he scolded the stunned townsfolk.

“Why is Bai Lun here?” Jiang Yan wondered from above, watching Bai Lun in the tavern.

Inside, Sun Tianpeng and the townsfolk stared in terror at the wreckage, their eyes fearful as they looked at the yellow-robed youth.

Bai Lun glanced at the frightened crowd, spat “bumpkins,” then leapt out the window, landing atop a flying white-headed wild goose, which he patted before soaring away.

Jiang Yan frowned—the direction Bai Lun flew was toward Mount Hua. What was his purpose? Jiang Yan was curious.

“Bumpkins! To compare Mount Hua to my Golden Flame Sect—ridiculous! That little Mount Hua dares dream of matching us…” Bai Lun muttered disdainfully atop the white-headed goose.

“Hmph, what’s wrong with those monks at Huasheng Temple? They want to summon all second-grade sects for this year’s demon hunt—a bunch of ignorant monks! That run-down Mount Hua is nothing but a whim of Xu Shi the bastard, and now even they’re invited.”

Bai Lun cursed, full of dissatisfaction with Xu Shi’s sudden rise and the monks of Huasheng Temple. Yet even as he complained, he wondered why his granduncle treated a young monk so respectfully. Was that novice secretly a foundation stage expert? It didn’t seem likely…

Cursing, Bai Lun urged the wild goose swiftly toward Mount Hua.

…

PS: Thanks to Little Grass hyc for the reward. Here’s the update. Please help with today and tomorrow’s recommendation votes, everyone.