The End of the Immortal Path

This force had to be coming from the mountain, or something within it.

’The source of the Sword Intent, for instance.’

After trying for a moment, Jiang Man went back to killing the beetles, then began trying to acquire a Spirit Sword.

For five straight days, after he finished his tasks, he would take a book to the edge of the Iron Sword, reading while he tried to pull it out.

People passing by couldn’t help but stare.

Some even came over to strike up a conversation. At first, they just asked what he was doing.

Jiang Man, of course, said it was for the reward.

This continued until the tenth of June.

After Jiang Man had read thirteen books and was on his tenth day of trying to pull the sword, a woman with a sallow complexion approached him and whispered, "Are you using the Six Harmonies Palm?"

Jiang Man turned to her and said, "I am."

"I’m an Inner Sect Disciple of the Wuyun Sect. I’m the one who sent for rescue," she said cautiously.

Jiang Man looked at her and asked, "Are you alone?"

"There are three others. I’ll point them out when they pass by later. How many of you came?" the woman asked, a hint of joy in her voice.

Jiang Man whispered, "Wait here for a moment."

With that, Jiang Man headed down.

The woman waited where she stood, anxious.

’If the Sect really sent people, then I’m saved.’

But soon, she saw him coming back up, and he had brought a Steward with him.

The woman was baffled.

Jiang Man said earnestly, "Steward, it’s her. She’s from the Wuyun Sect, and she said she sent for rescue. Not only that, but she has three accomplices."

The woman was furious. Pointing at Jiang Man, she cursed, "You’re shameless! You must be the spy! You must be from the Wuyun Sect! I’ll report you!"

The Steward sighed and said, "He’s been staying up all night for Cultivation for four or five months now."

The woman froze, finding it hard to believe. This place was outside the orderly domain of the Immortal Sects; staying up all night caused severe harm here.

’So...’

’I got the wrong person?’

"Let’s go," the Steward said, looking at the woman. "Don’t make this difficult for me."

The woman said, unwilling to give up, "One day, this place will be broken open! You Evil Demons and Outsiders will all meet a terrible end!"

"That will be in the future," the Steward said calmly.

He then turned to Jiang Man. "What do you want? Your own quarters?"

Jiang Man shook his head. "I want this sword."

Jiang Man said, pointing to the Iron Sword.

The Steward said, "You’ll have to pull that one out yourself. You can pull out two swords from here. They’ll both be yours."

"But you can’t leave for ten years. You should be prepared for that."

Hearing this, Jiang Man thanked him.

He no longer needed his own quarters, and as for the ten years, he wasn’t worried about that either.

The more he studied Arrays, the more he felt that the Array here was gradually developing problems.

’I wonder if the people from Lingyue Sect have noticed anything.’

’But there’s no doubt that things here are about to go wrong.’

Besides, July was almost here.

’Ting Fengyin will be here soon.’

’Once he arrives, I can ask him about the situation here. It won’t be difficult to leave then.’

Most importantly, he wasn’t sure just how strong the most powerful expert here was, and he hadn’t achieved his own goals yet.

’So naturally, he was in no hurry to leave.’

Meanwhile, the Steward had taken the woman below and had her locked up.

"Steward Luo, what’s going on?" a man who looked to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight walked in.

Seeing the newcomer, Steward Luo immediately said with respect, "Young Sect Leader, a spy from the Wuyun Sect was just reported."

He quickly explained the general situation.

After listening, the Young Sect Leader frowned slightly and asked, "Is there a problem with this Ah Niu?"

Steward Luo answered respectfully, "At present, there don’t seem to be any problems. The Grand Elder has been keeping an eye on him."

"Why do you think there are no problems?" the Young Sect Leader asked.

Steward Luo replied truthfully, "He stays up all night for Cultivation."

"Staying up all night for Cultivation means he’s fine?" the Young Sect Leader sneered. "What if he’s just capable of it? Or what if he was sent here as a disposable pawn from the start? He could be using this ’all-night Cultivation’ act just to lower our guard."

"A person like that is exactly the kind we need to watch carefully."

"Besides, isn’t it easy enough to find out the truth?"

"Have someone injure him severely."

"Once he’s badly hurt, we won’t have to worry even if he really is a spy."

"If he’s not, then he’ll just have to bear the hardship and contribute to the Sect. He can keep working while injured, and we’ll even give him some extra resources."

"Someone so devoted to the Sect will definitely agree."

"If he doesn’t agree, we only lose a Qi Refining Disciple. It’s no great loss."

"It’s better to kill the wrong person than to let our guard down."

Hearing this, Steward Luo frowned.

The Grand Elder had suspected from the very beginning that this Ah Niu was a spy from the Wuyun Sect.

But in every respect, he didn’t act like a spy, which was confusing.

Now, he had even reported someone from the Wuyun Sect.

’He seems reliable.’

’But if they were to test him...’

’What if the test actually revealed something?’

’A spy from the Wuyun Sect would surely be a Golden Core Powerhouse. This old bag of bones couldn’t handle that.’

’Plotting against someone like that was a job for the Grand Elder and the Sect Leader.’

"I know what you’re worried about. I’ll handle this," the Young Sect Leader said with a cold laugh. "Doesn’t he want that sword? There are so many people here. If we offer them a small benefit, won’t they be willing to fight him for it? Let’s test his limits, and then, slowly, we’ll make our move."

"In any case, we won’t be the ones taking action—they will."

"We just need to watch quietly."

Steward Luo sighed. He could only agree.