Settling the contract

Before long, the two had provisionally settled the terms of the contract.

There was not much written on it. Aside from a few minor details, there were four substantive requirements in total.

First, provided Jiang Yan's talent for pill refinement had not been exaggerated, Muling Daoist Boy would do everything he could to help him join Firehead's disciples.

Second, Muling Daoist Boy would acknowledge Jiang Yan as his master. After Jiang Yan broke through to the Sixth-Rank Realm, he was to give his full support to Muling Daoist Boy's breakthrough to the seventh grade.

Third, Jiang Yan could not deliberately delay his own breakthrough until after Muling Daoist Boy died.

Fourth, Muling Daoist Boy could not outwardly obey Jiang Yan's instructions while secretly defying them, nor could Jiang Yan deliberately send Muling Daoist Boy on missions that meant certain death.

Both checked the contract and found all their respective requirements included.

Once he confirmed everything was correct, Jiang Yan stirred his Law Power. A thread of it carried blood from his fingertip onto the contract.

Across from him, Muling Daoist Boy did the same, and two drops of blood fell.

The golden tablet immediately absorbed them, then crumbled inch by inch, turning into ash that returned to heaven and earth.

Yet beyond the sight of ordinary people, a faint streak of gold vanished into the vault of heaven, its destination unknown.

With the contract settled, Jiang Yan looked at Muling Daoist Boy, still feeling somewhat unaccustomed to it all.

Just like that, I somehow have a follower now?

Muling Daoist Boy adapted far faster than he did, however, and immediately bowed low.

"Muling greets his master."

Watching the plump, round-bodied Daoist Muling call him master made Jiang Yan feel even stranger.

Had it been a young woman, that would have been one thing, but instead, it was a fat Daoist...

He raised a hand and waved it, saying:

"Fellow Daoist... you needn't call me master. It sounds terribly strange to me. Just call me young master."

Muling Daoist Boy readily accepted Jiang Yan's instruction.

"Yes. Young master, just call me Muling."

Jiang Yan nodded, settling on that form of address.

Naturally, he would no longer call Muling Daoist Boy "fellow Daoist" and play at being gentle, kind, respectful, modest, and yielding.

Since they were master and servant in fact, what use was making the terms of address sound nicer?

"Muling, you said you could help me become the disciple of the Prefecture Academy's Fire Head. Can you explain the arrangements now?"

"Of course, young master. Although I failed to become the Fire Head's disciple back then, I told him all of these plans of mine.

"He also gave me a token of authorization, agreeing that once I had chosen someone, I could bring them straight to him."

So that was it. Understanding dawned on Jiang Yan. No wonder Muling Daoist Boy was so confident about introducing him to the Fire Head.

It turns out the Fire Head knew his entire plan. More than that, the Fire Head might even have devised it himself!

"With your talent, young master, Blowing Fire High Person will certainly accept you as his disciple."

Muling Daoist Boy adapted very well to his change in role. Not only did his expression remain perfectly natural, but even these flattering words rolled right off his tongue.

Yet Jiang Yan's attention was fixed entirely on the latter half of Muling's remark.

"Blowing Fire High Person? The Fire Head has the cultivation of a sixth-grade High Person?"

At Jiang Yan's question, Muling Daoist Boy wore a somewhat self-satisfied look, as though he had been waiting for him to ask.

"Of course. If he were a seventh-grade Daoist, your talent would be enough for you to become his disciple directly, young master. Why would you need Muling's introduction?"

That was true. Jiang Yan himself was confident he could find a good teacher.

However, most of the Prefecture Academy's higher-ups, such as the Three Capitals and Five Masters, had been away from the academy lately.

Otherwise, Jiang Yan would not have met only a single capital lecturer, Green Fox High Person, even by now.

From his inquiries in various quarters, Jiang Yan had learned that these higher-ups had all been drawn away and kept busy by the planar coordinates submitted by a certain Daoist.

Even among the Eighteen Heads below them, only a handful seemed to have remained.

As for the academy's regular lecturers, most were in the lower seventh-grade realm. It was uncertain whether they were stronger or weaker than Desire Corpse Daoist, so even becoming their disciple would not secure their protection.

Who knew how long he would have to wait if he wanted to take a master only after the higher-ups returned? It would take several years at the very least. How could Jiang Yan be willing to wait?

Fortunately, the weakest of the Eighteen Heads was in the upper seventh-grade realm, and all were outstanding among their peers. He had only hoped for someone capable of sheltering him.

Never had he expected Muling to give him such a pleasant surprise. The Prefecture Academy's Fire Head was actually a High Person in the Sixth-Rank Realm!

This truly was a fortuitous opportunity for him.

Jiang Yan drew Muling Daoist Boy over and questioned him closely. Yet although Muling had considerable ties to Blowing Fire High Person, the gap between them was ultimately too great, and he knew only scattered scraps.

Blowing Fire High Person did not live in town. Instead, he had established his own cultivation grounds near the Dao Academy and cultivated there.

His disciples and servants also lived with him at his cultivation grounds.

It was not somewhere they could reach in an instant.

Upon receiving this answer from Muling Daoist Boy, Jiang Yan naturally decided to have him set out immediately.

There was nothing much at his own home, so he simply went straight to Muling Daoist Boy's residence.

Looking at the small, street-facing building before him, Jiang Yan could not help silently marveling.

Muling Daoist Boy truly was an established local, owning a three-story building facing the street in town.

If he did not still harbor hopes for his Dao Path, would it not be wonderful to take in three or five beautiful maidservants and seven or eight manservants, open a shop, and enjoy himself all day?

Why put himself through becoming someone else's servant? At that thought, Jiang Yan recalled Jiang Chi again.

What he had done and endured for his Dao Path was likewise beyond what ordinary people could bear.

Had he not set his sights on Jiang Yan, Jiang Yan really would have admired his devotion to the Dao.

After all, if their positions were reversed and Jiang Yan reached that point, he most likely could not have made the same choices.

With countless thoughts running through his mind, Jiang Yan entered the building with Muling.

The place seemed to have once been a restaurant. The tables and chairs had yet to be cleared out and were piled in a corner on the ground floor.

Muling Daoist Boy led Jiang Yan to the third floor, where a concealed space lay tucked into a corner by the stairs.

Opening it, Muling Daoist Boy took out a large bundle.

When he opened the bundle, there was nothing particularly valuable inside, only a few articles of clothing and some miscellaneous belongings.

"Young master, after my parents died unexpectedly, most of the family property was lost.

"I closed the family business and sold off all the miscellaneous things. Only those broken tables and chairs remain; they wouldn't fetch anything."

Muling Daoist Boy continued speaking:

"All these years, I couldn't be bothered to reopen the shop. I've just made a living selling things at the Market each day."

Jiang Yan stood to one side, watching Muling Daoist Boy gently stroke those belongings. Presumably, these were things his parents had cherished while alive.

As he watched, Jiang Yan suddenly recalled the wooden doll little Jiang Li had given him before he left home. He wondered how his second uncle and the others were doing now.

Jiang Yan had sent letters home, both to his second uncle and to the clan chief.

However, he had not felt it appropriate to mention Jiang Chi's affairs directly in his letter to the clan chief. After all, his second uncle's entire family still lived in the clan.

The clan chief was in the eighth-grade realm. If he became agitated and wanted to do something, nothing could be easier.

Jiang Yan had only dropped a few hints in his letter to his second uncle. His second uncle had always been levelheaded; after reading the letter, he would surely understand.

Muling Daoist Boy did not linger over his memories. He took the bundle with him, while Jiang Yan stayed there.

Muling Daoist Boy would go to Blowing Fire High Person's cultivation grounds to report the matter. As for precisely how they should proceed, they would discuss that later.

There was no helping it. Even at this juncture, Jiang Yan was unwilling to venture rashly out of town.

After all, Desire Corpse Daoist could wait in vain countless times, but Jiang Yan only had to be caught once for the entire board to be lost.