The White-Faced Monster's corpse had been split cleanly in two, but since his right arm had already been severed, the two halves were far from symmetrical.
Jiang Wang landed before the corpse. His hand relaxed, and the long sword shattered into countless fragments that scattered across the ground.
Its mission was complete.
The sword was made of ordinary materials and could not withstand such a prolonged infusion of Dao Essence.
Jiang Wang once again felt it clearly: the Heaven-Connecting Palace was empty. Not a single one of those lively, adorable little things remained.
Before the ownerless gray mist could spread, Jiang Wang returned to the Official Path. He noticed some of it drifting to the roadside, but an invisible force held it back, slowly dispersing it.
Jiang Wang knew that force must have come from some kind of formation pattern carved into the Official Path.
After waiting a little longer, the rumble of thunder approached from afar. Zhang Linchuan bounded over in a few leaps and landed beside Jiang Wang.
"Junior Brother Jiang, you didn't leave, did you?" he asked.
Despite having just fought, his clothes remained neat and tidy. He had even kept his hair impeccably arranged. Every gesture carried an air of distinction.
"I ran into... that monster from Tangshe Town."
"After you cut off his blood, he was bound to come and retrieve it. Otherwise, he'd have had no choice but to flee Zhuang Kingdom."
"I killed him."
Zhang Linchuan's eyebrows jumped. "What?"
Jiang Wang pointed toward where the White-Faced Monster had fallen. "I just don't know if the corpse will be of any use, or if we can find any clues."
Zhang Linchuan came back to himself and shook his head. "These people have incomplete souls. Searching their souls while they're alive is useless, let alone after they're dead. I just killed several of them, and they were all the same."
"I see." Jiang Wang wasn't particularly disappointed. Killing the White-Faced Monster was enough for him.
He didn't blame Zhang Linchuan for choosing to pursue the enemy right away instead of staying behind to protect him. He wasn't some frail flower in need of protection, and Zhang Linchuan wasn't his nursemaid.
Besides, without the pressure Zhang Linchuan had put on him, the White-Faced Monster would never have lost the will to fight and chosen to flee at once. Nor would his accomplices have given Jiang Wang the chance to face him alone.
Zhang Linchuan glanced at the spot where the gray mist had dissipated and sighed. "The formation patterns on this stretch of the Official Path have been corroded. We'll have to report it to the authorities and have them send someone to repair it as soon as possible."
The two horses hadn't bolted. Jiang Wang flicked the reins, and his horse sprang eagerly into motion.
Then he felt something happen in some unfathomable corner of the Heaven-Connecting Palace: a Dao Essence bead suddenly rolled into view, followed by another, until there were five in all. They were fuller and rounder, too.
They hadn't completely replenished what he had spent, but it was still an unexpected boon.
Only then did he understand more deeply the lessons taught by those experienced Daoists.
Dao Essence was the beginning of the Great Dao. Its birth wasn't simply the refinement of blood and vitality, but the perfect fusion of intent and strength—the truest response of the spirits of all things to the origin of Heaven and Earth.
It was still early when they returned to the Dao Academy, so the two went straight to Dong A's courtyard to report.
The gate stood open, but the courtyard was empty save for Fang Heling, who paced about looking bored.
At the sight of them entering empty-handed, his eyes lit up.
Fang Heling first greeted Zhang Linchuan properly, then offered what sounded like consolation. "Looks like Senior Brother Zhang didn't get much out of this trip... Even a genius like you would have a hard time bringing along a newcomer who knows nothing."
He certainly didn't consider himself a newcomer. The Fang Family had been around for a hundred years and produced quite a few cultivators. He'd grown up hearing about them and wasn't unfamiliar with battles between cultivators. But what could someone named Jiang, from some little town, possibly know?
Jiang Wang couldn't be bothered to answer him.
Zhang Linchuan, however, was in the mood to tease him. "Oh? It sounds like Heling had quite a fruitful trip."
"It went smoothly enough." Fang Heling made a token show of modesty before eagerly starting to brag.
It turned out that when they went to Fulai Inn to investigate the clues, someone had been spying on them from the shadows. But Li Jianqiu had struck decisively and captured the spy alive. What had seemed like a fruitless investigation had suddenly found its direction thanks to that prisoner!
As for how much Fang Heling had actually contributed, that was hard to say.
"Where's Junior Brother Li?" Zhang Linchuan asked.
Fang Heling froze awkwardly for a moment before replying, "In the room. Master Dong is searching the prisoner's soul with a secret technique."
Dong A was searching the prisoner's soul, Li Jianqiu was at his side, and Fang Heling hadn't even been allowed to watch... His contribution to the mission spoke for itself.
Since Zhang Linchuan and Jiang Wang couldn't go in and disturb them, they had no choice but to wait in the courtyard with Fang Heling.
Jiang Wang said nothing, closing his eyes as he moved the Dao Essence in his Heaven-Connecting Palace to where it was supposed to hover. Zhang Linchuan and Fang Heling made small talk.
Fang Heling was naturally pleased with himself. Dong A had said earlier that the mission's Dao Merit would be divided nine to one. Jiang Wang clearly hadn't gained much, while they had brought back a prisoner alive. This was the first step in widening the gap between them.
Before long, Dong A emerged at a brisk pace with Li Jianqiu, dressed in a black Daoist robe.
Under Fang Heling's expectant gaze, Li Jianqiu shook his head.
"The prisoner's soul is incomplete," Dong A said. "I only managed to search a few scattered fragments. Nothing important."
Fang Heling hurried to show off. "They're so well prepared. There must be a tightly organized group behind them! This matter is definitely no simple affair!"
Dong A neither agreed nor disagreed. He simply turned to Zhang Linchuan.
Zhang Linchuan then described what had happened after they went to Tangshe Town, without embellishing a thing. As for the details of Jiang Wang's two fights with the White-Faced Monster, Dong A wouldn't ask, and Jiang Wang didn't need to tell him.
He was a proper Dao Academy disciple, not a criminal. There was no need to interrogate him.
After hearing the account, Dong A merely nodded. "Jiang Wang did well."
It sounded like faint praise, but to anyone familiar with Dong A's character, it was already a rare commendation.
Both teams led by Zhang Linchuan and Li Jianqiu had submitted new clues for the mission, but neither had found anything further, so the mission couldn't be considered complete. Still, Dong A awarded each of them five points of Dao Merit as encouragement.
For Zhang Linchuan and Li Jianqiu, the point had only been to take their junior brothers along as they made their first foray into ranked missions. A gain would be welcome, but they wouldn't have minded none. Their own senior brothers had once taken them along in the same way.
But for Jiang Wang and Fang Heling, five points of Dao Merit was no small amount. It was half the reward for completing a lowest-tier, ninth-rank mission.
A ninth-rank mission awarded between ten and one hundred points of Dao Merit; an eighth-rank mission awarded between one hundred and five hundred, depending on its difficulty.
Dong A was decisive. After determining that the mission had temporarily ended, he dismissed the disciples.
Once they were done, Fang Heling egged Zhang Linchuan and Li Jianqiu on to go have a few drinks. Jiang Wang thought it over and decided to visit the Dao Merit Hall.
The Dao Merit Hall stood directly opposite the Sacrificial Hall, a testament to its importance.
The entire hall was empty of furnishings, save for a Dao Merit Board glowing with a hazy Clear Light, suspended above an offering table.
There was no one guarding it, because the Dao Merit Board could protect itself. It was a spirit treasure—or, more precisely, the board enshrined in the Dao Merit Hall of Maple Forest City Daoist Academy was a subsidiary board. Its main body was in the State Daoist Academy, where it received the incense and Dao Merit offered throughout the kingdom.
Jiang Wang had made the trip solely to broaden his horizons.
A middle-sized Daoist in hemp robes stood before the Dao Merit Board, his hands folded in front of him as he gazed at the list.
Jiang Wang couldn't see his face from behind, but anyone in the inner academy whom he didn't know had to be more accomplished than he was.
They were all his senior brothers, after all.
Jiang Wang didn't disturb him. He walked up to the Dao Merit Board, gathered his focus, and studied it. The Clear Light rippled faintly, and a wealth of information flowed through his mind.
This was only a subsidiary board, so it showed only information related to Maple Forest City Daoist Academy. They said the main Dao Merit Board contained everything under Heaven, but that was still a distant prospect for Jiang Wang.
The subsidiary board of Maple Forest City Daoist Academy offered plenty of things to redeem, enough to make Jiang Wang's eyes swim. But the prices of those items made him want to turn around and leave.
The cheapest Vein-Opening Pill cost one hundred points of Dao Merit. It was worth far more than that, of course; the Daoist Sect provided some support to its academy disciples. The second Vein-Opening Pill cost fifteen hundred points. That was closer to its true price.
Aside from that, even the cheapest standard-issue Dharma Sword cost at least five hundred points of Dao Merit!
Jiang Wang glanced at his own five points of Dao Merit. Well, he'd only come to broaden his horizons.
Since it was a board, the Dao Merit Board naturally had rankings. Only now did Jiang Wang realize that Zhang Linchuan, who seemed unfathomably powerful to him, ranked only third on Maple Forest City's subsidiary board.
The person in second place was named Wei Yan. He wasn't a Dao Academy disciple, but a military officer in the City Guard. Judging by his name, he might have some connection to Wei Quji.
The top-ranked Zhu Weiwu had thirteen hundred points of Dao Merit. He was also widely recognized as the senior-most disciple of Maple Forest City Daoist Academy, though he was rarely seen. Jiang Wang had always heard his name, but never met him.
Wei Yan, in second place, had only seven hundred points of Dao Merit, about the same as Zhang Linchuan—yet both were left far behind by Zhu Weiwu.
Jiang Wang scrolled further down and saw Li Jianqiu in seventeenth place, then severed his connection to the Dao Merit Board.
"Are you a newly admitted junior brother?"
The senior brother from earlier seemed to have been waiting for him.
Hearing the question, Jiang Wang turned and saw a warmly smiling face.
"Greetings, Senior Brother. I'm Jiang Wang. I joined the inner academy not long ago."
"Likewise. I'm Wang Changxiang." Wang Changxiang's features weren't particularly striking, but his smile made him seem very approachable. "Well, I'll see you again."
"Until next time." Jiang Wang's thoughts stirred. On the Dao Merit Board he had just checked, this man ranked seventh, far above Li Jianqiu.
Of course, the Dao Merit Board counted only Dao Merit, not personal strength. But in a certain sense, it could still reflect something.
Back in the outer academy, the brothers he'd sworn kinship with had stood head and shoulders above the rest, sweeping all before them. It was only after entering the inner academy that he'd learned how high the sky was and how deep the earth.
Among those he'd met so far—Li Jianqiu, Zhang Linchuan, and Wang Changxiang—each had a different bearing, but all were outstanding. Jiang Wang knew he was nowhere near their level.
If a single Dao Academy in Maple Forest City had so many talented people, what of all Qinghe Prefecture—or even the entire Zhuang Kingdom?
And those prodigies whose names resounded throughout the world, whom heroes across the nations looked up to—what kind of brilliance did they possess?
These thoughts didn't discourage Jiang Wang. Instead, a boundless fighting spirit burned within him.
At least now, he had set foot on the path beyond the mundane, standing on the same field as those dazzling figures. What was there left to fear?
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