Manager Lin Chuan

Yang Chen had been in the sect for nearly five months and had also asked around about where Manager Lin Chuan lived.

After Wang Kui left, he immediately hurried toward the mountainside of Nineteen Peaks.

The Nineteenth Servant Peak stood two thousand three hundred zhang tall, a towering and majestic peak indeed. Snow atop its summit never melted throughout the year, and even mortals found it extraordinarily difficult to climb.

At the summit lay the cultivation cave residence of the Nineteen Peaks' deacon, while the mountainside was where the manager cultivated.

After spending more than twenty minutes traveling, he arrived outside Area 8's manager cultivation grounds. Though called cultivation grounds, it was actually a large Training Ground, with a tranquil environment and several halls built against the mountain.

The moment he reached the entrance, a Labor Disciple wearing servant robes appeared and stared at him scrutinizingly. "Manager cultivation grounds. Unauthorized persons are forbidden from approaching!"

"Disciple Yang Chen greets Senior Brother!"

Yang Chen cupped his hands, unsurprised that there were Labor Disciples here.

In fact, among all the Labor Disciples in Area 8, those within the manager's Training Ground held the highest status. They were the people closest to Lin Chuan and had the most opportunities to see him.

"What business do you have here?"

"This junior brother has come to request that my lord uphold justice. The spirit field under my care was infested with..."

Yang Chen recounted the matter from beginning to end. After listening, the Labor Disciple blocking the way nodded slightly. "Wait here. I will go inside and report it."

"Thank you, Senior Brother!"

"It is merely my duty."

The disciple waved his hand and entered the Training Ground.

A manager's authority came from strength and status. Lin Chuan's strength went without saying; it was enough to suppress every disciple in Area 8. His status, meanwhile, came from his authority to directly manage the Labor Disciples.

Simply put, the rewards and punishments of every Labor Disciple in Area 8 rested in Lin Chuan's hands.

Something had happened to the spirit field Yang Chen was responsible for, so the authority to handle it lay with Lin Chuan. This was also why Wang Kui had told him to come here and wait.

"The scenery here truly is quite good."

Yang Chen waited patiently while gazing into the distance. Standing halfway up the mountain, his view was exceptionally broad, and he could even vaguely see faraway mountain peaks rising and sinking between heaven and earth.

Looking downward, he could clearly see stretches of residential quarters, including the area where Yang Chen and the others lived. The entirety of Area 8 was divided into five residential zones. Yang Chen and the other new disciples lived in Zone One, which was also the residential area for disciples who had entered the sect five years ago.

While Yang Chen waited, the disciple responsible for reporting arrived outside a secret chamber deep within the Training Ground. "My lord, someone outside wishes to see you."

Inside the secret chamber, Lin Chuan, dressed in cultivation robes, slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a mouthful of turbid air. He had heard the voice outside, yet he did not answer. Instead, he murmured to himself, "My path is correct. Once I grasp perfected Sword Intent, comprehending Transcendent power afterward will yield twice the result with half the effort."

"At most, within half a year, I will enter the Transcendent Realm in one stroke and rise to become an Inner Sect Disciple!"

"When the day of my promotion arrives, I wonder what those fools who mocked me for being ignorant and keeping company with the sword all day will think?"

The corners of Lin Chuan's lips curved upward. "Their expressions will surely be splendid."

A moment later, he suppressed his thoughts and said blandly, "Who is it, and what is the matter?"

"Yang Chen from the current batch of newcomers. Someone released Rice Devouring Worms into his spirit field, and there is conclusive evidence."

A thoughtful look flickered through Lin Chuan's eyes. He quickly recalled who Yang Chen was. With a turn of his palm, he grasped at empty air, and a scroll appeared in his hand. When he unfurled it, it displayed the names on the cultivation Rankings Board.

His gaze shifted from the back toward the front, and at rank fifty-two, he saw Yang Chen's name.

Lin Chuan examined Yang Chen's name, a hint of interest appearing on his face.

"At the start of the month, this person had not been on the board. He only entered it in his fourth month after joining the sect, and then merely at rank ninety-nine. At the end of last month, he was ranked eighty-four. Now, in less than a month, he has surged all the way to rank fifty-two."

"Is he extraordinarily gifted, or has he encountered another opportunity? Or perhaps both?"

Yang Chen had only entered the Rankings Board in his fourth month, and he had been ranked ninety-nine when he did. From this, it could be judged that the possibility of him concealing his strength was small. It also proved that before joining the sect, he had most likely not cultivated to the Qi Martial Realm.

Yet in the five months since entering the sect, his cultivation had overtaken those ahead of him. Among more than six thousand new disciples of Nineteen Peaks, he already ranked fifty-second. A person like this either possessed peerless talent or had encountered some other opportunity and lacked no cultivation resources.

Lin Chuan directly ruled out the possibility of peerless talent. The Sun Moon Sword Sect was a holy-land-level force, its influence spanning hundreds of thousands of li and encompassing more than a hundred dynasties in the southern part of the Azure Dragon Continent. Unless one was an unrivaled prodigy with bone roots transcending into sainthood, even a newcomer with a Ninth-grade Bone Root could only begin from the Labor Peak.

Yang Chen had entered the Labor Peak, so his bone root could be no higher than ninth-grade. And a martial artist with ninth-grade talent could not possibly cultivate at such a speed.

Following this line of reasoning, there was only one answer: he had encountered another opportunity and seemingly did not lack cultivation resources.

As for having a powerful background, that was not within consideration either. Anyone who truly had a background would already possess martial artist strength before entering the sect. He could not possibly have only barely made the Rankings Board in his fourth month.

"Looks like he is also a man blessed with deep fortune."

Light flashed in Lin Chuan's eyes. It was not that he was interested in Yang Chen's opportunity. Of the disciples who had reached his level, which one did not have an opportunity supporting them?

What interested him was whether Yang Chen could be of help to him in the future. He had served as Area 8's manager for four years. This batch marked his fifth year, and most likely his last. The disciples who emerged from under his command all counted as members of his faction.

This was very important. Even if he would soon be promoted to the Inner Sect, he still needed trusted confidants at his side. Not only did they need clean backgrounds and ties binding them together, their talent could not be too poor either. At the very least, they needed a sliver of a chance to advance into the Inner Sect.

Over the previous four years, he had recruited and invested in several promising disciples. Among them, only one had yet to advance into the Outer Sect. Those who had entered the Outer Sect were already creating convenience and benefits for him.

Inner Sect Disciples would only require more cultivation resources, and he was no exception. Naturally, the more confidants he had, the better.

Among the current batch, only Huang Tianyu caught his eye. Even if the others had a chance to advance into the Outer Sect, their odds of achieving anything there were negligible.

Now, seeing Yang Chen's leapfrogging progress stirred a hint of appreciation for talent within him.

"Wait and observe a little longer. If he can truly rise from behind and squeeze into the top ten, I will invest a little and forge a good connection."

Thinking this, he rose leisurely, opened the secret chamber door, and walked out.

"Bring him to the discussion hall."

At the same time, Wang Kui led three people, including Wang Feng, straight toward the spirit field area.

"We're here!"

After arriving at Spirit Field Number Twenty-Three, Wang Kui swept out his hand. "Take down this scoundrel!"

Wang Kui had already explained the situation clearly on the way there. Thus, the moment he gave the order, Wang Feng and another Blood Martial Realm disciple charged directly into the wooden hut without another word.

Wang Feng kicked open the wooden hut's door. A woman's scream immediately rang out from inside, followed by the astonished and furious roar of a thinning-haired man. "Who are you? What do you want?!"