One of them was around forty and wore robes of coarse cloth. His hands were calloused and his appearance was honest and frank, looking like an old farmer. He was currently shouting something in agitation. Across from him stood several young men wearing golden robes and sneering at the old farmer.
The students upstairs needed only a glance to tell where those golden-robed youths were from.
Cai Junyang snorted, “Those Godhead Palace guys are causing trouble again.”
Though they hadn’t seen the incident, that old farmer was a stall owner and had laid out a carpet on the street. At this moment, he was desperately clutching a book. It was easy to see that this was a business dispute.
Upon hearing Cai Junyang’s words, Peng Yaolong laughed. “The cubs of Godhead Palace have finally left their nests, and the first thing they do is bully kindhearted people? Have they no shame?”
The Godhead Palace disciples looked up and saw the Basking Moon students on the floor above, and they paled.
The leading Godhead Palace student recognized Peng Yaolong, and he angrily said, “Peng Yaolong, this has nothing to do with you, so keep out of it!”
Peng Yaolong threw his head back and laughed. “Kang Guoran, it’s not your place to say that. I love getting up in your business, so what about it? If you don’t like it, then let’s settle things on the martial arts stage.”
That Kang Guoran instantly fell silent, clearly not willing to take him up on the offer.
Tang Jie curiously asked, “‘The martial arts stage’?”
Wei Tianchong explained, “That’s the place where we’re going to compete.”
“Why can we use it now?”
Wei Tianchong chuckled, “You think that the Wandering Palace set up such a large formation and put out so many puppets just for decoration? Tang Jie, I’ll have you know that in these last few days, the students in Red Plum City have already had more than one hundred private fights.”
“So many?” Tang Jie was alarmed. “If they’re that strong, then why don’t they just wait until the official tournament?”
“The problem is that some people don’t think that way,” Cai Junyang said.
Wei Tianchong and Cai Junyang explained so that Tang Jie would understand.
In this Immortal Fortune Conference, the official participants were only 120 people, which were the 20 people from each of the six major sects.
But this concerned the balance of power between the six major sects and the hand of the little palace lord of the Wandering Palace. People would always pursue beauty and money, and so tens of thousands of spectators had been drawn to the event. Adding on the numerous slaves, servants, merchants, and the additional visitors who were drawn by all the people, the Immortal Fortune Conference became an event of rare size and grandeur.
What had been a simple problem of the Wandering Palace’s allegiance gradually became a struggle for power between the six major sects.
The power ranking of the six major sects had been an unsettled question for hundreds of years. This was a matter of survival, so the six major sects had never set up something like a tournament. While being number one would bring benefits, these were far outweighed by the risks that came from being last.
In their position, conservatism was the best course of action. They only stood to make it a few steps forward at most, but backing away would send them over the abyss.
But the Immortal Fortune Conference had inadvertently given them a chance. Through this grand occasion, they could test the strength of the students of each side.
As the students did not represent the strength of the sects, the outcome would not deal any long-lasting harm. Thus, the six major sects had put their all into the venture, encouraging competition. The less they feared loss, the more willing they were to fight.
This was the upper echelon factor.
Besides that, the six major sects had never really gotten along. Just like how the people of the Thousand Passions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion would glare at each other whenever they met, the Seven Absolutions Sect had never gotten along with Godhead Palace, and the Beast Refining Gate had never been on good terms with the Basking Moon Sect. This was the emotional factor.
In addition, there were many students in the six major sects, and there were always some students who had decent strength but had not been chosen. Hungry for fame and acknowledgment but unable to show their prowess at the Immortal Fortune Conference officially, they sought opportunities in private. This was the personal factor.
Finally, there were a lot of people, and the more people there were, the more quarrels there were. They needed a place to vent their emotions. This was the management factor.
For these various reasons, before the Immortal Fortune Conference had even begun, countless good shows had already played out.
Some students had even chosen this opportunity to get famous, becoming celebrities of Red Plum City.
There were some from the six major sects, but also some from small sects. There were official participants, and also students who had not been able to qualify.
Peng Yaolong was one of these celebrities. He had fought many battles on the martial arts stage and had won with overwhelming power. He was currently one of the top picks for the top ten of the Immortal Fortune Conference.
This was exactly why that Kang Guoran had shrunk back upon hearing Peng Yaolong.
Upon understanding this, Tang Jie asked Cai Junyang, “What about you? How have you done on the martial arts stage?”
Cai Junyang pursed his lips and replied, “I didn’t go. I don’t want to expose myself that early.”
Most of the official participants didn’t participate in these unofficial matches. They wanted to preserve their strength and keep their aces hidden for the more important official matches.
Even the people who were participating were only playing around, not showing off their hidden moves. For example, Peng Yaolong’s consecutive victories had been won through his brute strength. Nobody knew what he had besides that.
By now, Tang Jie and the others had come to understand what had transpired.
This old farmer had been selling some formation commentary that he had picked up somewhere, and these Godhead Palace students had wanted to buy it.
This formation commentary wasn’t some rare item. It was most likely some cultivator’s notes on his understanding of the Dao of Formations.
There were numerous cultivators in the world who understood formations. If they weren’t famous, their commentaries were usually not of much value.
But every cultivator would have their own unique understanding. If they were used as an example, something worthwhile could be learned. Thus, they had some reference value.
The Godhead Palace students clearly wanted to buy the book as a reference, but to their surprise, this old farmer lacked experience in the world and took this for some otherworldly text, demanding three thousand spirit coins for it.
These students couldn’t possibly accept this price, but they also didn’t want to give up, so they had started arguing. They were young and full of vigor, spoke with force, and had noble statuses, so whether intentionally or not, they had exerted a threatening pressure. But this old farmer wasn’t afraid of death, so a quarrel had broken out, drawing the attention of the dining Basking Moon students.
Thus, in terms of wrongdoing, it wasn’t like the Godhead Palace students were bullying the merchants. This old farmer had also been too sensitive. But Peng Yaolong and the others didn’t care about such things. The Gu Changqing affair from three years ago had resulted in a rapid chilling of relations between the Basking Moon Sect and Godhead Palace, and now that he had come upon this chance, Peng Yaolong wasn’t going to just let it go. He coldly said, “What? Do the people of Godhead Palace only know to bully the common people and cower when facing actual fighters?”
Kang Guoran’s face shifted between green and red. He was clearly enraged by Peng Yaolong’s words, but as his skills were inferior, he could only stomach his anger.
At this point, a voice called from the distance, “If my Godhead Palace only knows how to bully the common people, then what should we say about Great Brother Peng, who only challenges the weak? You want to go onto the martial arts stage? Fine, then; I’ll keep you company!”
The Basking Moon Sect students grimaced while the Godhead Palace students excitedly turned their heads and shouted, “Senior Brother Yun!”
A group of people strode over, led by a person holding a book and wearing white robes rather than the golden uniform of Godhead Palace. He had a smooth complexion and appeared like a pale-faced scholar.
Peng Yaolong’s face sank upon seeing this person. “Yun Wuji!”
Tang Jie turned to Wei Tianchong. He was newly arrived and still didn’t understand a lot about the situation. Wei Tianchong explained, “Godhead Academy seventh-year student Yun Wuji, and one of the official participants from Godhead Palace. He’s a genius student of Godhead Academy and has fought two matches with Senior Brother Peng, winning both. He’s also known as the one with the greatest hope of being picked by the little palace lord… as he’s quite handsome.”
Cai Junyang tossed his head, acting confident as he said, “What’s so special about a pretty boy? If you’re a man you’ve got to have the aura of a man, reserved and not showy, but also not making yourself into a big coward or a sissy!”
Qi Shaoming lightly said, “If that’s the case, I think I fit the description.”
Cai Junyang grunted, “You’re too soft.”
Ye Tianshang asked, “What about me?”
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“Too hard.”
“…I guess you’re the perfect fit, then.” Qi Shaoming and Ye Tianshang rolled their eyes.
Cai Junyang laughed. “Of course not! I’m saying that Tang Jie is the best fit.”
Tang Jie coughed. “I’ve got nothing to do with this. Don’t try and drag me into your conversation.”
As they joked, Peng Yaolong and Yun Wuji glared at each other, the tension rising.
The two of them kept glaring at each other, and while Peng Yaolong was like an ornery donkey, Yun Wuji stood upright and unafraid, not backing down an inch. If looks could kill, the two of them would have already given each other a death by a thousand cuts.
Finally, Peng Yaolong took in a deep breath and said, “Good, good, very good! Yun Wuji, if you want to fight, I’ll give you a fight!”
With a wave of his sleeve, he shot into the air like a cannonball, flying toward the distant martial arts stage. Yun Wuji snorted, and then he jumped onto his silver sword and flew after Peng Yaolong. The two of them vanished in the blink of an eye.
The remaining students immediately rushed off to the martial arts stage to cheer for their senior brother.
“Tang Jie, come on. Let’s go,” Wei Tianchong said, pulling on Tang Jie.
Tang Jie shook his head. “You guys go first. I’ll come a little later.”
He went downstairs and to the old farmer who had been selling the book.
Tang Jie pointed at the book and said, “Could you let me take a look at this formation commentary?”
The old farmer saw that Tang Jie had been with the group that had broken up the fight, so he quickly said, “Young Master, if you want to take a look, you can. If not for the forthrightness of Young Master’s friends, this old man would have had his treasure stolen by those bastards from Godhead Palace.”
Tang Jie lightly said, “I can only know if it’s a treasure after reading it.”
He flipped it open, and the first words he saw left him deeply shaken.
“Investigation into Ancient Formations”.
This was a commentary on ancient formations?
Tang Jie immediately knew why those Godhead Palace disciples had been so interested in this book.
The Nine Executions Immortal Formation was a formation of High Antiquity!
The Rosecloud Domain had a history of tens of thousands of years when it came to the cultivation of Immortality. As history marched on and the environment changed, so did Immortal spells and arts. For example, the body cultivation that had been so popular in the Rosecloud Domain was now difficult to find. Although Tang Jie and Peng Yaolong cultivated the body, they would have been less than infants back in High Antiquity.
The formations of High Antiquity were also extremely different from those of the present. Their principles, mysteries, and guiding thought processes differed so greatly that many formation masters found it difficult to break ancient formations. This was because much of their knowledge was not applicable.
Theoretically, if one could understand the secrets of ancient formations and grasp their guiding principles, it wouldn’t matter if one had the Martial Mirror or not.
Without the key, you just smash the door open, and if you can’t smash, just pry open a gap.
This was precisely why Godhead Palace had been searching for knowledge on ancient formations in the last few years. By now, not even the Seven Absolutions Sect could compare to their knowledge in this field.
He could now understand why those Godhead Palace disciples had wanted to buy this formation commentary. But they had probably spied it while strolling around and hadn’t brought much money with them, so they hadn’t been able to afford the old farmer’s high price.
Tang Jie carefully read through the pages. A total of three ancient formations had been recorded here, and so the book was divided into three parts, each part devoted to the process of breaking down a single ancient formation.
Although there were three ancient formations, this cultivator had ultimately managed to only break one, with the other two ending in failure. But they did record the circumstances, the progress they had achieved, and the reasons for their failure.
As a reference, this book was a huge boon in Tang Jie’s effort to break through the Nine Executions Immortal Formation. After all, he didn’t know what he would be dealing with once he was in the Ten Direction Valley.
He hadn’t expected such good luck right after entering Red Plum City, and he softly smiled.
A test or a lucky encounter?
Coincidence or a plot?
Tang Jie didn’t know.
But he did know that if this was bait, then it was very tasty bait, so tasty that he couldn’t help but take a bite.
He held it for quite a while before saying, “This is pretty good, but it’s a little too expensive. I’m interested in formations, but three thousand coins is just too much.”
The old farmer chuckled. “This three thousand coins is only the opening price. Young Master, if you want it, this old man can give it to you for a little cheaper. What about 2500 coins?”
Tang Jie smiled. “You’ve really gone mad for want of money. Just how many ancient formations do you think this world has? Moreover, even if there were a lot, do you really think this alone would be enough to undo them? There’s no guarantee of that. And researching it won’t have any benefit against current formations. 2500… 250 is more like it.”
The old farmer grew anxious. “Young Master, this is too little. There are still the studies of three ancient formations there. Just as you said, ancient formations are rare, and a normal person might not run into even one ancient formation, let alone three.”
He grew frantic and was willing to say anything to get a sale. Tang Jie’s eyes flashed as he listened.
He chortled and said, “If that’s so, then one hundred coins for each ancient formation. I’ll give you three hundred coins. If you like the price, then sell it, but if you don’t sell, I’ll leave.”
He acted like he was about to walk away.
The old farmer panicked. “Sell, sell, I’ll sell!”
Tang Jie threw over three hundred coins, took the book, and left.
Once Tang Jie was gone, the old farmer’s frantic expression gradually calmed down, and he muttered, “He’s bought the book, but it seems like I was suspected. He proposed three hundred coins to test me. If I were a real seller, I wouldn’t have agreed to such a low price, particularly after I quarreled with the Godhead Palace disciples over three thousand coins. For me to drop my price down to three hundred doesn’t make sense! Milord, I feel like you had me agree to his demands too early. We’ve probably deepened his suspicions.”
“That’s exactly what we’re looking for,” a voice breezily replied. “If he is innocent, why would he suspect us? It’s precisely because he’s hiding something that he’s paranoid, which makes him likely to be Tang Jiye. The chance might originally have been 80%, but now, it’s 99%!”
The old farmer understood. “I see now! Milord is truly wise! Tang Jie would never imagine that his suspicion is exactly what we wanted.”
“No. Whether he took the bait or not is not important. What’s important is the question of whether he has the guts to do what he wants to do. It now seems like he at least has a lot of courage. Even though knows it’s bait, he still gulps it down… Excellent, excellent!”
“Then we now…”
“We give him even more chances.”