Chapter 99: Old Celestial Master: Wei Wen Zheng From ’98, I Can’t Beat Him
No one present dared to breathe.
They could never have imagined that a Sixth Rank Jianghu sorcerer could erupt with such an aura.
Their views on Jiang Ce had undergone drastic changes several times in the past ten-plus minutes. Now, they all solemnly regarded this young man as a formidable figure they might face in the future.
Not to mention anything else, just daring to question the Old Celestial Master had already surpassed their imagination. Perhaps only True Person Qin of the Quanzhen Sect just now would dare to do the same.
True Person Qin, at this moment, also opened his eyes and quietly watched Jiang Ce.
Xuan Qing sighed in his heart, full of regret, while inwardly cursing himself for having guaranteed in front of Wei Lao that he would take good care of Jiang Ce. But he still stepped forward and stood beside him from behind Jiang Ce.
The Old Celestial Master slightly furrowed his brows, stared straight into Jiang Ce’s eyes, and secretly exerted dark force, wanting to press the other back without a trace first.
But at that moment, he suddenly perceived an extremely eerie power appearing within Jiang Ce’s body.
Not only did his own dark force fail to return after going out, as if sunk deep into a quagmire, but he himself was also counterattacked by it, his eyes suddenly experiencing intense stinging pain.
He remained outwardly calm, but inside, huge waves surged in his heart.
Cao Zheng, Wei Wen Zheng, where exactly did you two find this monster?!
He realized he was wrong, terribly wrong!
He had thought that Cao Zheng and Wei Lao were cultivating Jiang Ce only because of the Four Gods Hall, but now it seemed it was not just that.
He didn’t believe these two old foxes hadn’t noticed the strangeness on Jiang Ce. Although it was just a fleeting glimpse, he was now absolutely certain that if it were only Cao Zheng, even in another hundred years, the Gatekeeper might not be an impossible foe to defeat.
But if Jiang Ce were added, all sects would have no chance of turning things around!
For a split second, killing intent surged in the Old Celestial Master’s heart. The entire Celestial Master’s Hall felt like winter was approaching, with a cold and murderous aura that left everyone at a loss while filling them with extreme fear.
Perfect Enlightenment in anger could actually possess such might!
True Person Wang on the vice seat looked puzzledly at the Old Celestial Master, while True Person Qin quietly gripped his Dao Sword.
Jiang Ce seemed utterly unaware and continued to lock eyes with the Old Celestial Master.
Xuan Qing looked toward Zhang Ze Xing, who was poised to strike at any moment, already prepared to fight to the death.
However, this atmosphere lasted only a mere instant.
Because the Old Celestial Master remembered the purpose of Jiang Ce’s visit here—
“Wei Lao sent me to pay a visit to you and request the Five Thunder Pill.”
Thinking of this, the Old Celestial Master suddenly felt somewhat uninterested. Even dominating the Buddhist Sect seemed like chicken ribs to him now.
Wei Wen Zheng ah Wei Wen Zheng, no wonder you were completely unconcerned when probing you like this. If I made a move, Cao Zheng’s Past Body would probably cross space and appear before me, right?
In an instant, everyone in the Celestial Master’s Hall felt they could breathe again. They were instantly relieved and looked toward the two confronting each other with hearts pounding in fear.
True Person Wang averted his gaze, True Person Qin released his grip, Zhang Ze Xing put his hands behind his back again, and Xuan Qing also breathed a sigh of relief.
“Wei Men Shen knows.”
The Old Celestial Master suddenly spoke, breaking the dead silence, and explained with a smile:
“For such a big matter, how could I possibly not tell him? Perhaps he just hasn’t had time to tell you yet. As power against the Gluttonous Ghost, naturally the stronger it grows, the better. He supports it very much.”
When saying the last sentence, the Old Celestial Master felt a faint bitterness in his heart. Thinking back now, in Wei Lao’s eyes, he had always been inferior by a notch, completely pinned down from beginning to end.
Jiang Ce had just been highly focused and hadn’t noticed the danger at all. Hearing this, the cold sternness instantly vanished, and he felt a strong sense of embarrassment.
Holy shit, Wei Lao knows, then didn’t I just completely ruin the Old Celestial Master’s favor by harshly calling the old bastard?
Who will compensate me for the Five Thunder Pill?
He swallowed some saliva, dry laughed twice: “Aiya, so that’s how it is, it’s all my fault for being too sensitive. No way around it, gentlemen are like that, always thinking of their own elders, hehe, Old Celestial Master, don’t take offense.”
He turned back to glance at Xuan Qing, then squeezed out a smile and looked at everyone in the arena:
“Actually, the Old Celestial Master is still very accurate at judging people. I’m born to be a Daoist Sect person. From a young age, I’ve disliked those sanctimonious bald donkeys from the Buddhist Sect. So strictly speaking, if I represent the Daoist Sect in the fight, it’s actually not inappropriate—it’s what everyone expects, hehe.
For this, I can address all you uncles and nephews at that time. Monks are all stubborn and stick to principles. As long as everyone doesn’t say anything, they definitely won’t notice I’m the Gatekeeper.”
After Jiang Ce finished speaking, he bared his teeth like a boy with a fake smile, his big eyes blinking.
Most people were still immersed in the dangerous standoff just now and couldn’t find words to say for a moment.
On the contrary, True Person Qin, who had stated his position earlier, suddenly changed his attitude and calmly looked at Jiang Ce before speaking: “Are you confident in being invincible at the same rank?”
Jiang Ce put away his fake smile, thought for a moment: “If the opponents are all like that Third Rank just now, not to mention same rank, I have confidence in handling even a True God.”
True Person Qin shook his head. He saw clearly that Jiang Ce’s win over the Third Rank seemed impressive but was actually a lucky fluke where he took a big advantage:
“Although your Mental Energy is very special, most cultivators without background or heritage might not qualify to contact Mental Energy cultivation until they become Heaven-Reaching Dharma Masters, but that doesn’t rule out the Buddhist Sect having monks equally proficient in it.
If you’re merely pinning your hopes on this, to be honest, I don’t think highly of you.”
Jiang Ce was at a loss for words because what True Person Qin said was indeed the truth.
The Golden Liquid Divine Elixir Compendium had just reached minor completion not long ago, and his most powerful sorcery was still the Golden Bell Shield.
But against the Buddhist Sect, no matter how he thought about it, it was impossible to use the Golden Bell Shield—that would be a total Buddhist traitor, right?
Moreover, even if Righteous Qi could be used, it absolutely couldn’t be. It was equivalent to, from the moment he represented the Daoist Sect in the fight, already determining that he could only use Daoist Qi sorcery.
Jiang Ce was confident in the most plain and vicious verbal attacks, but he wasn’t sure if everyone from the Buddhist Sect was as easy to deal with as Liang Zhi Zhou.
So he actually couldn’t guarantee a steady win under the premise of only using Mental Energy.
So what to do?
“True Person Qin, you’re mistaken. There’s still a few days until the grand ceremony. You’ve seen his Daoist Qi too—the younger generation has no one thicker than him. Learning some sorcery now is still in time.”
Another old Daoist who hadn’t spoken before opened his mouth.
He sat opposite True Person Qin. By the rule of right being superior, he was slightly inferior to True Person Qin, but he was also a Return to Origin Limitless powerhouse.
True Person Qin glanced at him, not taking it seriously: “Then pick a few of your Mount Mao Talisman Arts to teach him.”
That old Daoist chuckled: “You think I don’t dare to give it?”
“Give it then.”
“I’ll give it!”
“Give it.”
“Wait, I didn’t bring it.”
“.”
The Maoshan old Daoist priest looked at Jiang Ce and smiled: “Youngster, although I didn’t bring the classic on Talisman Art, that sorcery is profound, and you might not grasp it in a short time. How about this, I have a book on Object Manipulation Technique here, I can give it to you without issue, how much you can learn depends on your fortune.”
“So that’s what it is.” True Person Qin sneered: “It’s such a crude technique.”
Jiang Ce caught the book thrown by the Maoshan old Daoist priest, saluted and said: “I haven’t asked for Daoist Priest’s name yet.”
“This old Daoist priest can’t even remember his own name anymore, people in Jianghu all call me Old Daoist Priest Li, now I reluctantly hold the position of Sect Leader.” The old Daoist priest said freely.
Jiang Ce nodded: “So it’s Daoist Priest Li, Sect Leader Li, pleased to meet you.”
He lowered his head to flip open the book, and the more he read, the more something felt off.
Why does this thing look so familiar?
This seems to be the same version as the Object Manipulation Technique that Ye Lu Feng gave him.
So you Maoshan Daoist Priests always pick Object Manipulation Technique to mess around with when giving gifts?
“Uh…” Jiang Ce awkwardly looked up: “Daoist Priest Li, this Object Manipulation Technique… Predecessor Ye Lu Feng once gave me the same one too, but I haven’t had time to learn it.”
“Who?” The previously carefree old Daoist priest suddenly became stern-faced.
“Ye Lu Feng, Daoist Priest Ye…”
“Ye Lu Feng? You know Ye Lu Feng? He’s still alive?” The old Daoist priest, for some reason, got his teeth itching with anger at the mention of this name: “Good, good, good, next time you see him, remember to tell him that Li Xi of Maoshan knows he’s still alive, if he can still breathe, hurry up and kneel down at the foot of Maoshan!”
Jiang Ce was stunned, suddenly remembering that Ye Lu Feng seemed to be from Maoshan.
Could it be…
He twitched the corner of his mouth, then lowered his head and stayed silent.
Ye Lu Feng… this time I let you down.
“Did you hear that?!”
Seeing Jiang Ce staying silent, Li Xi roared.
Jiang Ce’s body shook, he humbly nodded: “I heard it.”
“Alright.”
The Old Celestial Master timely called to stop, and gave the final word:
“Anyway, the situation is like this, of course it might not necessarily require Jiang Ce to act in the end, if we can decide the victor ahead of time of course that’s best, after leaving this door, I hope everyone keeps it confidential, understood?”
Some still felt it was improper and wanted to persuade a bit more, but recalling the confrontation between the two just now, the words reached their mouths but they couldn’t say them no matter what.
In the end, it was just a sentence of “Understood.”
At this point, the meeting that decided the Daoist Sect’s future fate thus ended, representatives from each sect successively left the Celestial Master’s Hall.
They each harbored their own thoughts, the Sect Leaders’ hearts all held lingering worries that couldn’t be shaken off, while those representatives who weren’t Sect Leaders immediately contacted their distant Sect Leaders to inform them of the matter.
Jiang Ce, besides feeling like he had offended the Old Celestial Master, didn’t feel any unease.
His first thought was how to ensure his own vested interests.
He pondered whether he could use this as an excuse to advance some Five Thunder Pills.
If the Old Celestial Master could refine them for him first, that would be best. This way, even if he lost to the Buddhist Sect despite his best efforts, he could reveal his Buddhist Cultivator identity on the spot and shout to the Daoist Sect crowd:
“I am the renowned Buddhist Sect and Gatekeeper double-duty senior agent, code name: Venerable Du Ma! You don’t want to lose, and don’t think about winning either. Cao Gong, Wei Lao, Shaolin Abbot, my mission is complete!”
Then he could directly slip away to the Buddhist Sect side.
This was the confidence that cultivating multiple paths brought him!
Unfortunately, the Old Celestial Master insisted that he couldn’t prepare the materials in a short time and would have to wait until after the grand ceremony to refine the Five Thunder Pills.
This was extremely awkward.
So he could only sigh and leave the Celestial Master’s Hall, wanting to find a way to quickly boost his combat power without advancing to Fifth Rank.
If others knew about Jiang Ce’s troubles, they would probably be jealous to the point of disfigurement.
Because ordinary people thinking of boosting strength first consider cultivation, then sorcery, but Jiang Ce was different. Due to his extreme lack of merit, as long as there was enough time, he could endlessly advance his realm.
His real problem was that his progress was too fast, he had too few sorceries mastered, his foundation was sufficient but his techniques were extremely limited.
His current positioning was the three-axe trick brother: Golden Bell Shield and Righteous Qi for one round, then retire on the spot.
Just as he paced intending to return to his residence and cram the Object Manipulation Technique at the last minute, he saw Xuan Qing talking with True Person Qin.
Out of curiosity, he quietly approached and hid in the shadows, planning to eavesdrop on their conversation.
But as soon as he got close, he heard the conversation abruptly stop.
True Person Qin turned around and silently stared at Jiang Ce, who was squatting behind him with his back turned, speaking neither happily nor angrily:
“Do you think I can’t sense you hiding here?”
Jiang Ce was shocked: Damn! Conan’s invisibility theorem is a lie!
He awkwardly stood up and bowed to True Person Qin: “I saw Martial Uncle Xuan Qing chatting with you and got curious for a moment. I hope True Person Qin won’t take offense.”
“Martial Uncle?” True Person Qin raised an eyebrow at Xuan Qing: “His master is Wei Men Shen, and you’re his martial uncle? You’ve really soared to success as a Gatekeeper.”
“No, no.” Xuan Qing hurriedly explained in a panic: “It’s just a fond nickname from these juniors, there’s no real formal relationship. Master, don’t listen to his nonsense.”
“Oh.” True Person Qin nodded and said no more.
Jiang Ce quietly sized up the two, somewhat surprised in his heart. It turned out Xuan Qing was actually a Daoist Priest from the Quanzhen Sect and True Person Qin’s disciple. No wonder he came over to catch up right after the meeting ended.
Following the motto of being shameless and climbing the pole, Jiang Ce feigned surprise: “Oh my, I didn’t expect Big Brother Xuan Qing and Uncle Qin to have this connection. We’re all family then.”
Xuan Qing was stunned and wanted to scold Jiang Ce for not knowing the rules on the spot, but True Person Qin was not annoyed; instead, he looked at Jiang Ce with great interest:
“Wei Wen Zheng comes from Confucianism, not only teaching a Daoist Cultivator disciple, but even tolerating your slippery tongue? Interesting.”
Jiang Ce, slapped in the face so bluntly without any face saved, felt awkward while mentally noting the Quanzhen Sect in his little black book.
But Xuan Qing smoothed things over: “Master, it’s not like that. He was originally a Confucian Cultivator, but after a great battle, his Righteous Qi was shattered. He had no choice but to come see the Old Celestial Master for Five Thunder Pills. As for the Daoist Cultivator path, it’s because he received four Blessings in the Four Gods Hall, giving him innate advantages in cultivating four Great Daos. To be honest, he only just cultivated Daoist Qi on the way here.”
Jiang Ce was stunned. Why doesn’t your mouth have a gate on it, like the waistband of sweatpants? You’ve sold me out just like that?
“Four blessings grant Wei Wen Zheng such authority over him, and even send you to protect the Dao?”
True Person Qin smiled meaningfully:
“You’re underestimating him.”
Jiang Ce frowned slightly upon hearing this. Besides the four blessings, was there some other reason?
But just as he was about to ask, he looked up and True Person Qin’s figure was gone. Turning his head, he had already stepped out a hundred zhang.
Just as he was muttering about the other showing off, True Person Qin’s voice transmission came into his ear.
“The art of controlling objects is quite crude. After the third watch, have Xuan Qing bring you to find me, and I’ll teach you a set of sword techniques.”
Just one watch left, gonna be exhausted to death today, my waist hurts, wuwuwu don’t know if I can hold on tomorrow, four thousand is more my style for slacking off
