Chapter 195: Nurturing Soldiers for a Thousand Days

"Senior Brother Jiang, you should go hide outside," suggested an outer disciple. "Come back after things have settled down. If they can't find you, perhaps the elders of the Giant Sect will leave."

Jiang Fan shook his head slightly. "It's not me the Giant Sect wants. They want to establish their authority, to make an example for all the Nine Sects' lands! If they can't find me, they'll just demand other exorbitant things."

The outer disciple suddenly understood, then smiled bitterly. "What can we do then? With that jade talisman, the Giant Sect can do whatever they please."

Jiang Fan frowned. "That's right! The problem still lies with that Nascent Soul jade talisman. As long as they have it, the Giant Sect will remain unchallenged. Even if they don't cause trouble for the Azure Cloud Sect today, they will in the future."

"Ugh! Did the Heavenly Secret Pavilion lose its mind, releasing such a dangerous item?" The outer disciple was also helpless, sighing, "If only we could snatch that talisman back. Then the Giant Sect wouldn't dare cause trouble. But it's in their hands, who would dare try to snatch it?"

Jiang Fan's eyes widened suddenly as an idea popped into his head. After careful consideration, he felt it was highly feasible! "Snatching it might be difficult, but stealing it? That might just be possible."

He quickly ran back to his peak, arriving at his private courtyard. The little Qilin was sound asleep, sprawled on a soft comforter. It was clutching several spirit herbs in its paws, with half of one still in its mouth, occasionally twitching its jaw and making soft chewing noises.

Jiang Fan's face showed anticipation. "Train soldiers for a thousand days to use them for an hour! You've eaten so many of my spirit pills and herbs; it's time to get to work, isn't it?" He picked up the little Qilin's tail and dangled it in the air.

The little Qilin groggily woke up, flapping its limbs in protest and grunting discontentedly. "Annoying! I was dreaming of so, so much food. Master ruined it all!" It voiced its displeasure.

Jiang Fan smiled and pulled out a Rejuvenation Pill. "Master will help your dreams come true!" The little Qilin was initially uninterested. But when it caught the scent of the pill, its eyes lit up. It immediately dropped the spirit herbs it was holding, then nimbly climbed onto his arm, drooling as it stared at the Rejuvenation Pill. Its two little stubby legs were pressed together as it pleaded inwardly: "Master, give it to me! Please, Master, give it to me!"

However, Jiang Fan closed his fingers, retracting the Rejuvenation Pill. This made the little Qilin wail incessantly and scramble frantically over him. The allure of a Grade Three spirit pill was far greater than ordinary spirit herbs!

Jiang Fan smiled faintly. "If you want to eat this, help me steal something. Once it's in my hands, I'll give you this spirit pill."

The little Qilin tilted its head and scratched its ear, wondering to itself: "But didn't Master scold me a few days ago and tell me not to steal things? Why is he asking me to steal now?"

Jiang Fan's old face flushed, and he said sternly, "When a cultured person takes something, can it be called stealing? That's called 'taking'! Help me 'take' a jade talisman; it's sealed inside a jade box. I need you to get it silently. Can you do that?"

He was a little worried. After all, the little Qilin could only teleport itself. But that jade box was quite narrow, and the little Qilin was rather plump. If it couldn't teleport inside, it would be difficult.

The little Qilin, however, nodded without hesitation. "That's easy!" Thinking this, it immediately demonstrated. It stood on its hind legs and opened its mouth towards a spirit herb nearby. The next moment, the spirit herb vanished instantly and appeared in the little Qilin's mouth.

Jiang Fan was stunned. "You can retrieve items from a distance? Why didn't I ever notice that before?" The little Qilin nodded. "Uh-huh, because I realized it's a bit tiring to pick things up with my paws and put them in my mouth. It's much more comfortable to lie still and let the food come to my mouth. So then I learned how."

Jiang Fan was speechless! For a moment, he didn't know whether to complain about its laziness or marvel at its incredible spatial talent. However, this resolved Jiang Fan's worry. With this spatial retrieval ability, getting that jade talisman wouldn't be difficult, would it?

"Oh, right, are there any limitations?" Jiang Fan asked out of caution. Even if spatial retrieval was a divine ability, it should have a certain range, right? The little Qilin couldn't possibly stand in the Azure Cloud Sect and retrieve something from the Giant Sect a thousand li away.

The little Qilin pointed to its chin. "I can only retrieve things within three zhang." Just as he expected. It was a good thing he thought about it carefully, otherwise, if the retrieval failed, it would alert the other party.

So, Jiang Fan picked up an empty satchel, slung it diagonally over his waist, and said, "You hide inside. Later, I'll figure out a way to get within three zhang of that jade box. You steal the jade talisman from inside the box for me."

The little Qilin obediently burrowed into the satchel immediately. "Don't worry, Master, leave it to me!"

***

The Grand Hall of the Sect. Liu Wenchen's face was livid with rage! "Tie Bubai, you are too insolent!"

Tie Bubai was over sixty years old. He had a burly build, a rough face, and exuded a wild, steel-like aura. Yet, this outwardly crude man gave off an impression of shrewdness, of being cunning and calculating. He sat with his legs crossed, looking smug and leisurely. Listening to Liu Wenchen's angry reprimand, he stretched out a finger with a knowing half-smile, flicked the jade box, and grinned, "Sect Master Liu, watch your tone!"

Liu Wenchen was furious! How dare a mere elder speak to him like that? Simply outrageous! But glancing at the jade box resting on the other's legs, he suppressed his anger and stated flatly, "Jiang Fan? Impossible!"

Although he didn't like Jiang Fan, logically, Jiang Fan had injured Kong Wushuang for the honor of the sect. Emotionally, he was his disciple. There was absolutely no reason to hand him over to the Giant Sect for punishment!

Tie Bubai narrowed his eyes and said, "Is that so? Then your Azure Cloud Sect wants to experience the power of the Nascent Soul jade talisman?" Liu Wenchen's face darkened. "You are welcome to try! At worst, I die, but you won't leave the Azure Cloud Sect either!"

Tie Bubai's eyelid twitched. The deterrent value of the Nascent Soul jade talisman far outweighed its practical use. If the other party wasn't deterred, its effect would be greatly diminished. But even if Liu Wenchen wasn't afraid, wouldn't the other elders be? Tie Bubai calmly surveyed the grim-faced elders around him and said, "Who said I would use it on Sect Master Liu? I could also use it on your esteemed sect's Grand Elder, or the Master of Medicine Peak, or even your Supreme Elder. In short, with this talisman, whoever I want to kill must die! If you don't want to die, hand Jiang Fan over to my Giant Sect for disposal!"

Upon hearing this, the elders' eyelids twitched; they all felt the immense threat firsthand. Feng Guchan slammed the table and roared, "Sect Master! Are you going to disregard the lives of all the elders in our sect for a mere good-for-nothing? Jiang Fan brought this trouble upon himself, and he should bear the consequences!"

Liu Wenchen immediately became incensed. He rebuked, "Do you have the nerve to bring that up? Let me ask you, why didn't you bid for the last Nascent Soul jade talisman? Was it because my Azure Cloud Sect couldn't afford two million spirit crystals?"

Feng Guchan guiltily closed his mouth. If not for his personal selfishness, the Azure Cloud Sect wouldn't be in a situation where a knife was being held to their throats.

Tie Bubai's lips curled into a slight smile, and his tone softened. "Of course, I, Tie Bubai, am not unreasonable. If you truly don't want to hand over Jiang Fan, then just offer fifty thousand spirit crystals as compensation."

This was his true intention. Taking Jiang Fan or not was actually unimportant. He knew perfectly well how Kong Wushuang had fallen into a coma; it had absolutely nothing to do with Jiang Fan. The important thing was to establish authority and extort a sum of money.

Liu Wenchen was enraged. "What kind of joke is this? Fifty thousand spirit crystals?" For the Azure Cloud Sect, fifty thousand was undoubtedly a huge sum! And to be extorted like this! Who could swallow such an insult? The other elders also glared, firmly unwilling to yield.

Tie Bubai flicked the jade box again, his tone light. "Fifty thousand spirit crystals or Jiang Fan—you choose one! Decide for yourselves!" Silence fell in the hall. They began to deliberate.

However, a clear voice suddenly rang out from outside the hall. "There's no need to choose. I'm here!"