"Fine work, lad! You actually found something!"
Du Yongchang arrived swiftly.
Not long after Jiang Weichuan sent someone back with a report, Du Yongchang swept into the cave.
Judging by the timing, he must have rushed over the instant he received the news.
Jiang Che stood in a corner with his hands at his sides, making no move to draw attention.
Earlier, he had persuaded Jiang Weichuan to search the mountain, and they had found this place after barely half a day.
It seemed remarkably smooth, but honestly, if those terrain features had not been etched into his mind, anyone else could have turned the mountain upside down and still never found the entrance.
Even with his memories, finding it had not been easy. The twenty-odd men had spread out, working from Jiang Che's few vague descriptions. Whenever they saw something that roughly matched, they called him over to make the final judgment.
Their luck really had been good, too. Half a day, and they had found something.
Of course, this cave was not exactly the same as the one Jiang Che had seen forty years earlier, but North Luan Mountain had undergone no major geological changes in those forty years, so its general shape remained consistent.
After finding the cave, they had first explored it.
They discovered dried wax, burned-out fire starters, and several old garments scattered over the cave floor, all recently disturbed or used again.
These were traces of someone having stayed here briefly!
More importantly, deep in the cave, the spot where the teleportation array had been inscribed had not changed at all!
At the Willow Source County office, this teleportation array had been concealed extremely well, hidden in the void where even Qi Refining cultivators could not detect it. Here, however, the array was exposed. Jiang Che had seen it with his own eyes when he came to the cave during his second and third runs through the instance.
Seeing the array again in reality finally settled his heart back into his chest-the instance was not fictional, its information corresponded to reality, and the enemy was indeed still using this array!
The case was cracked!
What followed was simple.
They secured the site, continued investigating, and sent someone racing back with the report. Thus, Du Yongchang had also arrived at speed.
Du Yongchang stood before the stone wall, tracing the grooves of the damaged array with his fingers, and murmured, "This seems to be... the Sky Pillar Secret Art?"
"An array like this lies hidden within Void Maitreya. Each activation costs a Qi Refining cultivator's life. A lavish expenditure indeed. When the Sky Pillar Sect was destroyed forty years ago, I thought all such arrays had long since been obliterated. To think one still remained in North Luan Mountain. On the night of the theft, the thieves received the stolen goods here. They activated this array, with the other end opening inside the Hall Department, and sent the Purple Sandalwood Casket out without a sound. That must have been how it happened."
At this point, his gaze suddenly turned to Jiang Che. "How did you find this place?"
Jiang Che's heart jolted, but he managed to keep his expression steady. Cupping his hands, he said, "Reporting to you, Steward. While looking through old records over the past two days, I found an entry in the county gazetteer saying that remnants of the Sky Pillar Sect fled toward North Luan Mountain forty years ago. I suspected there might be a secret passage or something of the sort, so today I persuaded my clan uncle to search here. And we found it."
He dared not say a word too much, choosing only truths to tell while concealing most of the story.
If Du Yongchang insisted on pressing him for details, Jiang Che could only play dumb and credit his luck for many things if he wanted to avoid lying.
Fortunately, Jiang Weichuan backed him up from the side. "We searched everywhere in the county and truly had no options left. At last, Che helped us dig through those heaps of old papers and found a few clues. We had to search this mountain again anyway, and it actually yielded something!"
Du Yongchang nodded slightly. "Good, as long as there are clues. Jiang Che, was it? Not bad. Better than those other useless fools! Do good work for me, and naturally you'll be rewarded!"
With that, he casually tossed over a thin booklet.
"You've earned merit this time. This is my Azure Mystic Sect's introductory cultivation method, the Upper Azure Smoke Cloud Embryonic Breath Method. Take it for now. Once this matter is settled, I'll admit you into the sect."
Jiang Che caught it with both hands and bowed deeply. "Thank you, Steward!"
The traces and clues left here were far more plentiful than those in the county town. With Du Yongchang personally taking part, following them was easier still.
The Qi Refining cultivator soon found some sort of lead. Without explaining much, he merely pointed in a direction and told Jiang Weichuan to contact the other teams led by outer disciples so they could join the pursuit. Then he went ahead alone.
Jiang Weichuan had no room to object. He could only send men to notify the other outer disciples' teams while leading his own men in pursuit along the direction Steward Du had indicated.
The entire team did not stop until evening.
They were simply too exhausted.
As they made camp to rest, Jiang Che pushed through his fatigue and gave the Upper Azure Smoke Cloud Embryonic Breath Method that Steward Du had given him a quick read.
One look, and he immediately felt something was off.
All the essential principles of the Azure Heaven Wind Dew Embryonic Breath Method were etched into his mind. Comparing the two, Jiang Che wondered why these cultivation methods were so alike.
They were not entirely identical, but they seemed to share the same origin. Their opening tenets, the nature of the methods, the explanations of their principles... all were seventy or eighty percent alike.
The same held true for the sections on circulating the method.
This made things much easier for Jiang Che.
For an ordinary person holding this method, even with a teacher's guidance, grasping the basics after several months of study would count as good aptitude.
But Jiang Che was different.
By comparing it against the essential principles of the other method in his mind, he fully understood how the entire Embryonic Breath Method operated, despite his present lack of energy.
Could this Azure Heaven Wind Dew Embryonic Breath Method have belonged to the Azure Mystic Sect all along?
Was it merely given a different name, then expanded and revised by some senior?
Was my earlier guess wrong-that the reward came from the instance and might belong to the Sky Pillar Sect?
He was not quite sure, but this ought to be a good thing.
Whatever the origins of the Azure Heaven Wind Dew Embryonic Breath Method, he could not go wrong practicing the Upper Azure Smoke Cloud Embryonic Breath Method, a genuine introductory Embryonic Breath Period cultivation method of the Azure Mystic Sect.
Now was not the time. In his poor condition, he should not force himself to practice.
Clearing away distracting thoughts, he rested well through the night and slept until the following morning.
He did not even have to stand watch. After all, he had earned merit, and everyone kindly let him rest until dawn.
When he got up, the sun had only just risen on the horizon.
Facing the sunrise amid the woods, Jiang Che drew in a breath of fresh air. On an impulse, he moved toward the edge of the group and sat cross-legged.
He began circulating the Upper Azure Smoke Cloud Embryonic Breath Method. The entire process went astonishingly smoothly!
After just one full cycle, he felt a faint, elusive force seep into his sinews, bones, skin, and flesh.
His spirits soared, but then something happened that left him uneasy: the Azure Heaven Wind Dew Embryonic Breath Method began circulating as well!
It was as though this method had awakened by instinct. The two methods combined, drawing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into his body and circulating it within.
This won't cause trouble, will it?
But Jiang Che's cultivation was still far too shallow. He dared not act rashly, afraid of causing something to go wrong with the circulation.
Yet that was not the end of it. As the methods circulated, the strand of [primordial origin first spirit] inside his body was slowly stirred into motion as well.
This hazy gray strand of spirit essence had lain dormant in his dantian for days, drifting lazily about and granting him slow, slight, but comprehensive improvements.
Now, drawn forth by the methods, it immediately became active, swiftly turning a clear, luminous green as though its nature had changed. Then it seeped into his sinews, bones, skin, and flesh.
Jiang Che felt warmth spread through all his limbs and bones, bringing extraordinary comfort. It was nothing like the passive absorption from before.
When the circulation ended, he exhaled a long breath of stale air. Within his dantian, he sensed a force that was not strong, but was clearly under his control, turning slowly along the method's pathways.
He could not help throwing a straight punch. The gust it raised stirred the sand and dust, its power utterly unlike anything he had possessed before!
Was this Embryonic Breath?
Before you continue