Chapter 144: Mystic Item, Broken Sword
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Splash.
Jiang He stepped out of his swimming pool.
While his figure did not appear robust, each muscle contained the strength to split mountain and stone, and bore a streamline aesthetic.
“Master.”
Sora pa.s.sed Jiang He a towel, and had also prepared a set of expensive silk pajamas.
After helping Jiang He with his pajamas, Sora then headed towards Jiang He’s room, blushing as she said very quietly, “Master, I’ll warm your bed.”
“Shoo!”
Jiang He barked, scowling. “What are you warming? I’m a fire-type Awakened now, why would I be afraid of the cold? Moreover... are you trying to be depraved here?”
Sora hung her head and ran to her bedroom without a word, looking upset like a child.
Still, Jiang He felt rather unsettled as he watched Sora leave.
The only reason he planted a maid was so that she would cook and clean his dishes, tidy the house and wait on him in his daily life. However, she ended up attempting to warm his bed from day until night.
What was she scheming?
Was she trying to seduce him?
Returning to the bedroom...
He took out the new laptop he bought and quickly logged on to Warrior Home.
First, he searched topics on the forum panel that mentioned Orirocks, and found several—there were others who were asking to buy it as well, but had received no response in return.
After musing to himself for a moment, Jiang He wrote another post.
[WTB Orirock, conditions negotiable, mobile number & WeChat: 1310953x.x.xX]
Posting doesn’t cost anything, and moreover, what if he got lucky?
After posting, Jiang He searched for information about heritage sites at Warrior Home and found much information, although Jiang He thought that there was nothing reputable or believable about them.
It was soon two in the morning already.
Even so, Jiang He’s spirit was overflowing and he felt no fatigue at all. In fact, after turning on his laptop and lying around, he found himself becoming even more spirited.
“What’s going on...”
“My quality of sleep is weaker than before? Why can’t I fall asleep even at two?”
Jiang He was rather speechless.
Could this be the rumored PTSD?
He had been extremely worried for a while because of the Sky Demon Cult. Had that caused this?
“What a pity...”
“The Sky Demon Cult is too well-hidden that I can’t root out this problem for now. Still, their main camp would definitely be crawling with outrageous people, and I would never win with my current ability.”
“I’ll get some medicine from the pharmacy to condition myself. I remember that there’s that tablet pill called Black and White: Take the black during the day to sleep soundly, and take the white at night to refine spirit...”
Jiang He only fell asleep groggily at three in the morning.
However, he had the feeling he had not fall asleep for too long when he heard Sora’s voice.
“Master, someone is asking for you.”
Still in her maid costume, Sora had already readied some clothes for Jiang He.
“Who is it?”
Jiang He was rather irritated from being woken, and turned around on his bed, picking up his phone to check the time. “It’s just twelve and still early,” he could not help exclaiming, “Who’s not letting me sleep?”
After washing up for a bit, Jiang He went downstairs.
In the living room, Zhou Yu was having a lively chat with Cheng Dongfeng over the living room couch.
When he saw Jiang He coming downstairs, Zhou Yu came to greet him, smiling. “Apologies, Mister Jiang. I’m not aware that you have the habit of taking afternoon naps. I hope you could accommodate me.”
He put palm over fist and performed a martial-artist salute, before extending his hand.
Habit of taking afternoon naps?
Jiang He complaint inwardly.
Afternoon nap?
‘My sleep quality is so weak that I have to toss and turn in my bed around every night, and still remain insomniac. And you’re talking about afternoon naps?’
He would usually sleep until around two in the afternoon before we woke up, and he was too spirited to sleep even if he wanted an afternoon nap around five. He would never fall asleep even if he forced himself!
‘I want afternoon naps too, but I just can’t fall asleep!’
Jiang He had been a little aggrieved after he was dragged out of his dreamland, but since one should not lay a hand on those who admitted their mistake, he said nothing, and returned Zhou Yu’s salute before shaking his hand.
“And you are...?” He then asked uncertainly.
“Allow me to introduce myself. The name’s Zhou Yu, deputy to Minister w.a.n.g.”
Zhou Yu was all smiles. As the eighth best rank-nine in the Hua Nation, he was quite famous in the country. Also, being the deputy of w.a.n.g Hou, the ‘Hua Nation’s Number One’, Zhou Yu possessed great authority.
However, Minister w.a.n.g tended to be cultivating in seclusion, which was why it was no exaggeration that Zhou Yu had the last word in the Martial Arts Department (MAD).
However, Zhou Yu was quite... humble.
Of course, any elite martial arts scene was the same, but that was especially the case since Zhou Yu always followed w.a.n.g Hou around. Still, his personality was more or less influenced in turn, which was why he would demand that Jiang He meet him after returning to Lingzhou City yesterday.
When Duan Tianhe told him that Jiang He did not answer his phone, Zhou Yu knew very well that Jiang He did not want to meet him.
However, Zhou Yu was not angry at all. Instead, he felt jolted inwardly, as if waking from a dream.
He has become bloated.
Setting aside Jiang He’s many accomplishments that made him someone who had provided outstanding service, he should be the one visiting Jiang He in the first place since it was Minister w.a.n.g’s orders: go to Jiang He and examine his depth.
There was no helping it.
Jiang He’s accomplishments were simply astounding: killing rank-sevens as a rank-five, killing rank-eights at rank-six, even taking out the Third and Sixth Elders of the Sky Demon Cult. In fact, they were so amazing that they had reached a level that was beyond belief.
That accomplishments alone ought to have Zhou Yu treat Jiang He as an equal already.
Meanwhile, they chatted idly, having a laugh as they took their seats.
But even if Jiang he was all-smiles on the surface, he was very puzzled inwardly...
Deputy Zhou?
Minister w.a.n.g?
Who the heck were they? He neither heard of them nor know who they are!
Still, Jiang He was not to be blamed for his ignorance... after all, he was a martial arts newbie who had barely taken the path of cultivation for a month, and there would always be those who complain how could there be such a powerful newbie... Even so, newbies were not to be defined with ability. If it was counted according to work hours, it was still far from the three-month probation period!
And in this single month, he had either been busy ‘cultivating’ or fighting to death against Sky Demon Cultist. Where would he get the time to learn such things?
Still, after using secret acoustics to converse with Cheng Dongfeng, Jiang He came to a realization.
The look he was giving Zhou Yu changed too.
Zhou Yu...
One of the best rank-nine elites, deputy to Minister w.a.n.g, who was in charge of the MAD headquarters and his voice.
Does such a person... have an Orirock?
Moreover, Jiang He’s had just mastered the second fold of his Ninefold Thunderblade, just as his cultivation had reached rank-seven advanced. With that leap in ability... he was just thinking about sparring someone.
They chatted for half an hour.
Through the course of the conversation, Zhou Yu flattered Jiang He by multiple times in w.a.n.g Hou’s stead, and yet the praise was no different from eating wax—it does not help at all.
What use were praises?
It’s better to just give me some actual reward.
“Hold on...”
Suddenly, Jiang He remembered something and said, “Deputy Zhou, I remember Chief Duan mentioning that the MAD would soon reward me, and that I could request the reward I wanted?”
“That’s right. That indeed happened.”
Zhou Yu smiled. “I’ve came bringing you an inventory of treasures, Mister Jiang. The Minister has spoken: You may pick three of any items listed here!”
Taking the inventory of treasures and scanning them a few times, Jiang He found that the inventory overlaps with the one Mu Wanqiu provided him, and there was no Orirock either.
Jiang He had wanted to shamelessly ask for a few Orirocks, but just as he lowered the inventory, his eyes narrowed at the image of the last page of the inventory.
The image showed a rusted, ancient longsword.
Of course, calling it a sword it was an exaggeration, since it was only half a piece of edge.
There was a line of text beneath written as a simple introduction.
[Broken Nameless Sword]
[Grade undetermined. Excavated from the Sword Sage’s heritage site at Mount Hua. Suspected mystic tools fragment.]