Chapter 169 - 114: Hard to Get Off the Tiger
"The eighth level."
Jiang Ran didn’t hide it.
"Ever since the trip to the Valley of Rebirth, after the battle with the Sun and Moon Monarchs, I broke through to the eighth level."
"But as for achieving complete mastery... who knows how many years that will take."
The eighth and ninth levels completely defied the common logic of martial arts.
With ordinary techniques, one simply has to break through acupoints and accumulate Inner Strength to achieve a natural breakthrough.
But the Scripture of Creation’s Virtue was different...
The eighth level required one to accommodate three supreme skills, and Jiang Ran had already obtained two of them.
He had the Great Brahman Vajra Skill and the Cold Moon Skill. To break through to the ninth level, he was still missing one Inner Energy technique.
Jiang Ran had to be extremely cautious about this.
This choice would determine the ultimate heights the Scripture of Creation’s Virtue could reach.
And even after gathering all three supreme skills, Jiang Ran couldn’t be sure if he would be able to break through to the ninth level immediately.
He had a feeling there might be other mysteries involved—that it wouldn’t be as simple as he imagined.
As for the ninth level... that was an even more distant prospect.
Ye Jingshuang had no idea about the dilemma Jiang Ran was currently facing.
She only heard that Jiang Ran had cultivated the Scripture of Creation’s Virtue to the eighth level and felt as if she were looking at a deity.
After snapping back to reality, she was overcome by an indescribable feeling.
She was happy for Jiang Ran, yet a faint sense of loss lingered in her heart.
The feeling was baffling, and even Ye Jingshuang herself couldn’t understand it. Jiang Ran’s martial arts were unparalleled, which was naturally a good thing. So where was this sense of loss coming from?
"What’s wrong?"
Jiang Ran glanced at Ye Jingshuang, sensing that something was off with her mood.
Ye Jingshuang quickly shook her head.
"I’m fine. Let’s go out."
"Mm."
Jiang Ran nodded, stood up, and the two of them left the room.
Just as they stepped out, they saw Li Tianxin emerging from his room with a weary look on his face, tailed closely by Zhang Zhihua.
As Jiang Ran’s eyes met his, Li Tianxin’s eyes widened abruptly.
He looked at Jiang Ran, then at Ye Jingshuang, and nodded repeatedly, grinding his teeth as he said:
"You’re doing great, aren’t you?!"
Jiang Ran looked bewildered.
"You’re not?"
"I... I’m great too!"
He clearly didn’t mean it.
Li Tianxin felt extremely irritable right now; everything was setting him off.
He shot an indignant glare at Jiang Ran and Ye Jingshuang, then another resentful look at Zhang Zhihua, before striding down the stairs.
Apparently feeling that wasn’t fast enough, he simply leaped into the air and landed in a seat in the first-floor hall.
He roared:
"Waiter!!"
Old Wang quickly answered the call and hurried over.
"What can I get for you, esteemed guest?"
"Bring me your best wine and food! You’ll get your silver!"
Jiang Ran felt like he was looking at a repeat of Mo Tingzhi from the previous night.
He cast a puzzled glance at Zhang Zhihua.
"What did you do to him last night?"
Zhang Zhihua looked aggrieved.
"I spent the whole night at his door and only got in this morning. I didn’t get to do anything."
...
’From the sound of it, you actually wanted to do something?’
’But Li Tianxin is really something else. How could he just lock such a charming and beautiful girl outside his door?’
’What kind of guy is he...?’
Downstairs, Old Wang was in a difficult position.
"This... Wine and meat? So early in the morning?"
"Don’t have any?"
Li Tianxin’s expression darkened, and the single-edged saber in his hand let out a low HUM.
"We do, we do, we do!!"
Before Old Wang could speak, the Shopkeeper hurried forward.
"We’ll prepare it for you right away."
He immediately ordered the kitchen staff to slaughter chickens and geese and prepare a feast.
Only then did Li Tianxin seem to vent some of his frustration.
By the time Jiang Ran and the others came down from the second floor, he was sitting like a statue with a cold expression, refusing to look at anyone.
Zhang Zhihua sat beside him, acting somewhat cautiously.
Jiang Ran couldn’t bear to watch anymore. He cleared his throat, but before he could speak, Li Tianxin snapped:
"Shut up!"
"I haven’t said anything yet."
Jiang Ran was a little speechless. He raised an eyebrow.
"Your temper seems to have grown."
"So what if it has?"
At this moment, Li Tianxin seemed to fear nothing.
"Go on, poison me if you’ve got the guts! See if I’m afraid of you!"
"Forget it, forget it. I can’t be bothered to argue with you."
Jiang Ran felt this guy was probably possessed.
Ye Jingshuang glanced at Li Tianxin, pondered for a moment, then peeked at Jiang Ran, seemingly lost in thought.
The atmosphere grew a little stiff.
Just then, Luo Qingyi came downstairs, dragging Mo Tingzhi with him.
"Everyone’s up already."
No one paid him any mind.
Luo Qingyi blinked. He was about to call for Old Wang when he saw the man himself approaching with a platter of lamb chops.
"...Eating this so early in the morning?"
Luo Qingyi felt a little full just looking at it.
However, this was only the beginning.
Old Wang brought up dish after dish—a wide array of fish and meat. Finally, he carried over two jugs of Huadiao wine.
Luo Qingyi stared at the overflowing table, completely dumbfounded.
"Debauchery and extravagance, a lake of wine and a forest of meat?"
"Isn’t this a bit much for the morning?"
"Eat it or don’t, I don’t care."
Li Tianxin snorted, grabbing a lamb chop and stuffing it into his mouth.
Jiang Ran, however, was quite pleased with the two jugs of Huadiao wine and proceeded to fill his own wine gourd to the brim.
Only then did he invite everyone to eat and drink.
Eating such greasy food so early in the morning wasn’t ideal, of course.
He picked at a few of the more plain-looking dishes, had a few bites, and was full.
And with such a massive spread, how much could Li Tianxin possibly eat by himself?
In the end, the food only suffered a ’flesh wound’ before Li Tianxin couldn’t eat another bite.
After the meal, however, much of his anger had dissipated.
He got up to pay the bill and had them pack up all the leftovers from the table.
He planned to eat them on the road later.
As the group set off and the inn gradually receded into the distance, Jiang Ran couldn’t help but look back one last time.
He had originally thought that an inn appearing in the middle of nowhere was likely a deathtrap.
But unexpectedly, the night had passed so peacefully.