Mr. Jiang Is a God

Jiang Wang held his blade and used its flat to pat Cai Tanggu's wrinkled face, smiling as he said, "See? Beating you was still pretty easy."

Cai Tanggu endured the humiliation and said in a deep voice, "Only when there is a vast gap in cultivation can one suppress an opponent with aura alone. I already came into contact with your power just now. Even if you held some of it back, your cultivation could not be much higher than mine. How exactly did you do it?!"

If it had only been aura, it truly would have been terrifying beyond measure.

But after truly coming into contact with it, Cai Tanggu could basically confirm that Jiang Wang had yet to step beyond the Cave Nether Realm, though he had at least gone farther down that path than Cai Tanggu.

Yet the present situation made him begin to doubt whether he had gotten it wrong.

And how could Jiang Wang possibly understand anything about cultivation? To this day, he had never cultivated at all, okay?

The Green-robed Cultivator and White-robed Cultivator, who had witnessed everything, raised their respect for Jiang Wang to another level.

The White-robed Cultivator had actually cultivated at Fish Abyss Academy in Kutan for a time, but his aptitude had been poor. It had taken him more than twenty years to complete Hundred Days Foundation Establishment.

It was already all but certain that he would remain at the Cave Nether Realm for the rest of his life.

The requirements for becoming a cultivator were simply too harsh.

Other than the Divine Capital, Fish Abyss Academies across the various realms were actually a mixed bag of good and bad.

Whenever they encountered someone with even a little aptitude, they accepted them all without exception. People like the White-robed Cultivator were everywhere at Fish Abyss Academy in Kutan.

But anyone who could truly become a cultivator would never be doing too badly.

Unless they were like the Green-robed Cultivator and White-robed Cultivator, gathered at Moonlit West Tower and uninvolved with the imperial court.

As an instructor, Cai Tanggu naturally would not remember someone like the White-robed Cultivator, but the White-robed Cultivator knew very well how formidable Cai Tanggu was.

Yet even someone like that had still been effortlessly handled by Jiang Wang.

The White-robed Cultivator found it hard to imagine just what sort of mighty figure Mr. Jiang was.

He felt that Mr. Jiang was simply a god!

"Instructor Cai, you were born in Kutan. At fifteen, you entered Fish Abyss Academy. At twenty-four, you entered the Cave Nether Realm. Now, in your sixties, you can rank among the top hundred Cave Nether cultivators in the entire world."

The White-robed Cultivator knew Cai Tanggu's history like the back of his hand.

Trembling, he and the Green-robed Cultivator supported one another as he said in a resolute tone, "In my eyes, you may stand high above us, but you have not even traveled all of Kutan. There must be peerless hidden experts in this world, just like Mr. Jiang."

"What you think impossible may in fact be entirely possible."

With his back to the White-robed Cultivator, Cai Tanggu said flatly, "Are you saying that I lack experience?"

The White-robed Cultivator said, "I merely feel that the vast world holds all manner of wonders. Instructor Cai ought to travel more. It would benefit your cultivation as well. Otherwise, you would not have ended up in such an embarrassing state."

Jiang Wang scratched his face and asked in confusion, "If I remember correctly, the Cave Nether Realm is the first realm of cultivation in the true sense. You are already in your sixties, yet you still have not broken through the first realm. Instructor Cai, aren't you far too weak?"

Though he had not cultivated, he yearned to cultivate.

He still understood a little about certain basic matters.

Cai Tanggu: "..."

He did not think Jiang Wang's understanding of cultivation was overly simplistic. Instead, he believed Jiang Wang was deliberately humiliating him.

If Jiang Wang truly possessed extraordinary talent and had not received the nurturing of a great sect, then by comparison, Cai Tanggu really was weak enough to be unbearable to behold.

But that was not how things were calculated.

Just as the White-robed Cultivator had said, Cai Tanggu could absolutely rank among the top hundred in the Cave Nether Realm.

And Cave Nether Realm cultivators were the most numerous in the entire world.

It could even be said that most cultivators were in the Cave Nether Realm.

The conditions required to climb toward higher realms were even harsher.

Take Kutan alone. It was considered one of the larger regions of the Sui Kingdom, with a total population of more than seventy million. Yet the great cultivators above the Cave Nether Realm could be counted on one hand.

If Cai Tanggu wished it, he could practically destroy half of Kutan by himself.

Yet in Jiang Wang's mouth, he seemed like nothing more than a piece of trash.

Cai Tanggu felt deeply wronged, but he was even angrier.

Thus, the sword in his hand trembled and flew into the air.

"..."

Jiang Wang and Cai Tanggu stared into each other's eyes.

For a moment, the atmosphere was somewhat awkward.

"It seems my estimate was correct. Though I do not know what is happening with you, you can suppress my body, but you cannot suppress my consciousness. With an unconstrained flying sword, even if my body cannot move, I can still wield considerable power."

Jiang Wang remained silent.

This was the first time Mirage's power had encountered a problem.

Perhaps Cai Tanggu was truly too strong.

Or perhaps Mirage could only control other people's bodies?

Jiang Wang suddenly realized that he had never truly used Mirage's power to suppress a cultivator.

The Green-robed Cultivator and White-robed Cultivator had merely overthought things.

But he felt that Mirage's power ought not to be limited to this.

He looked at the many Black Flame Army soldiers still lying on the ground and tried raising his hand.

The Black Flame Army soldiers' bodies slowly floated into the air.

Seeing this, Jiang Wang was slightly delighted. He waved his hand again and sent all the Black Flame Army soldiers lying on Qixia Street into the marquis's residence.

He thought that perhaps Mirage had not malfunctioned at all. Rather, he simply did not know how to use it.

He tried again to make himself fly, but no matter how he jumped about, nothing happened.

Cai Tanggu watched Jiang Wang hopping around like a grasshopper as though he were an idiot, and could not help asking, "What are you doing?"

Jiang Wang frowned and said, "Just as you said, cultivation is a very arduous thing. It is not something you can easily master through hard work, much less by merely thinking about it in your head when you have not actually worked hard at all."

Cai Tanggu did not understand.

What was the point of those words?

Was he saying that he did not need to work hard to be stronger than Cai Tanggu?

You really managed to show off, didn't you.

This was simply bullying people too far!

With a thought, his flying sword shot directly toward Jiang Wang.

Jiang Wang hurriedly raised his blade to block it. "Old man, you're launching a sneak attack!"

But just as the flying sword reached him, it seemed to be firmly locked by a huge invisible hand. No matter how it struggled, it could not advance another inch.

Jiang Wang let out a soft breath. It seemed he could not suppress Cai Tanggu's ability to control the flying sword, but the flying sword itself could still be suppressed.

"How can this be?!"

Cai Tanggu's eyes were about to split with rage. If this continued, was there any need for him to resist at all?

Would it not be better to lie down and let Jiang Wang humiliate him?

At this moment, the White-robed Cultivator stepped forward, cupped his hands to Jiang Wang, and said gravely, "Mr. Jiang, Fish Abyss Academy's influence in Kutan is second only to Sword Pavilion. Its Chancellor is an important figure above the Cave Nether Realm. Unless absolutely necessary, do not provoke them too harshly."

He had just learned from Xiaoyu why Cai Tanggu had come here. He felt there was still room to turn this matter around, and there was truly no need to make an enemy as formidable as Fish Abyss Academy.

Surely, once Cai Tanggu understood Mr. Jiang's strength, he would not seek revenge afterward. After all, one needed the qualifications even to take revenge.

Though cultivators who formed grudges generally killed one another without mercy, it still depended on the circumstances.

Even if Mr. Jiang possessed divine abilities, the marquis's residence was here. If the fish died and the net tore, the consequences would be unthinkable.

The White-robed Cultivator turned and advised Cai Tanggu as well. "Instructor Cai, your status is honorable, and you know how highly the imperial court values cultivators. A powerhouse like Mr. Jiang is someone even the Divine Capital would strive to win over. Moreover, neither side bears an irreconcilable hatred. There is truly no need to take things to the point of fighting to the death."

Cai Tanggu's face darkened, and he remained silent.

Those matters were no longer important. The most important thing was that he simply could not do anything to Jiang Wang. If he continued saying tough things, he might very well die here today.

He was someone who cared greatly about his dignity, but as the saying went, a wise man submitted to the circumstances.

Lowering one's head at the right time was not shameful.

Just as he was about to say something conciliatory—

Jiang Wang directly placed his blade against Cai Tanggu's throat, forcing the words that had just reached his lips back down.

"Just looking at your face, you don't seem like a good person. Rather than worry about revenge afterward, it would be better to cut through the mess with a sharp blade and eliminate every hidden danger."

Cai Tanggu was so furious that flames seemed to burst from his head.

Using appearances to humiliate me again?

The White-robed Cultivator had originally intended to dissuade Mr. Jiang, but then he recalled that he had already explained things very clearly, while Mr. Jiang's attitude remained forceful.

Perhaps the formidable enemy he imagined was, in Mr. Jiang's eyes, merely a dish served cold?

If Mr. Jiang did not take Fish Abyss Academy seriously at all, and was even confident of dealing with someone above the Cave Nether Realm, then his earlier words had indeed been completely unnecessary.

Thinking this, he silently nodded and returned directly to the Green-robed Cultivator's side.

Cai Tanggu was stunned.

Weren't you here to make peace?

How could you give up so easily?

Say one more thing!

As the White-robed Cultivator and Green-robed Cultivator waited for Jiang Wang to strike, while Cai Tanggu sweated profusely as he thought of how to avoid death—

Jiang Wang suddenly moved the blade away.

"But after thinking it over carefully, letting you go is fine too. You are too weak, after all. Perhaps Fish Abyss Academy is exaggerating as well. I refuse to believe that your Chancellor would personally come all the way to Hun City. Even if he does come, he is probably some fame-seeking fraud. I'll chop him to death with one swing."

This was because Jiang Wang had thought that if Cai Tanggu could summon more cultivators from Fish Abyss Academy, he would have many sparring partners.

Only real combat experience could help him better control Mirage's power. This was a marvelous opportunity that would be hard to encounter in Hun City.

After all, he did not know when the Monsters would appear again. If he wanted to become stronger in the shortest possible time, there was nothing better than directly using cultivators for practice.

But to ensure that Cai Tanggu would seek revenge, even if Jiang Wang let him go, he had to humiliate him to the utmost. He even had to insult Fish Abyss Academy along with him, lest Cai Tanggu leave and never return.

He immediately began speaking with a torrent of words, chattering without end, saying every ugly thing he could think of. Only when Cai Tanggu was so enraged that he was nearly unconscious did he finally stop.

Jiang Wang hurriedly beckoned for Xiaoyu to bring him a pot of tea. After hurling tens of thousands of words of abuse without pause, he was utterly exhausted.