Chapter 255: 宮彩衣的考察

Fu Chaojun was stunned, then quickly said, "Wait, Sect Master Gong!"

"Are you... are you entrusting this mission to Jiang Fan?"

This was completely different from what he had expected! Could it be that Gong Caiyi was so doting on Jiang Fan that she was disregarding the bigger picture?

Ming Youlian was also shocked, saying solemnly, "Sect Master Gong, please be careful! Many factions are eyeing the Thousand-Mile Eagle, and among them are powerful martial arts families. Even I wouldn't dare guarantee that I could deliver the Thousand-Mile Eagles safely. Let alone Jiang Fan?"

Gong Caiyi seemed not to hear. With a flick of her jade pen, she assigned the mission to Jiang Fan.

This made Fu Chaojun both anxious and angry. He shouted, "Jiang Fan! What exactly did you give Sect Master Gong? Just a moment ago, Gong Caiyi had strongly opposed it. How could her attitude change 180 degrees after whispering a few words in the corner?"

Ming Youlian was also indignant. Extremely unconvinced, she said, "Sect Master Gong, this concerns a major issue for the Nine Sects in resisting the beast tide. Please reconsider! These ten Thousand-Mile Eagles cannot be lost!"

Although she didn't question directly like Fu Chaojun, it was hard for her not to suspect that Gong Caiyi had received some benefit from Jiang Fan. Otherwise, this was simply too much of a joke.

Gong Caiyi snorted with a natural air of authority, "Is it for you to dictate how this Sect operates? The mission to the Joyful Union Sect has been set. You can only choose another."

Fu Chaojun was furious. Such a high-merit, first-tier mission was actually given to a good-for-nothing! How infuriating!

Left with no choice, they could only select another mission: to the Giant Sect.

Once the mission was finalized, Gong Caiyi said, "You can depart in half a day." Preparing the spirit beasts, loading the carts, pre-departure inspections, and so on, all required time.

During this interval, Jiang Fan wanted to try if he could break through his current realm with the help of the Earth Phoenix Grass Marrow. "Sect Master, may I borrow a cultivation room?" Jiang Fan asked.

Gong Caiyi immediately guessed his intention. She reminded him, "I suggest you wait until you have at least three days of free time before attempting a breakthrough. The Earth Phoenix Grass Marrow is incredibly potent; it needs to be consumed little by little. If taken all at once, much of its medicinal power will dissipate before it can be absorbed."

"Is that so?" Jiang Fan pondered for a moment, then said, "I'll give it a try." No matter how potent the Earth Phoenix Grass Marrow was, could it escape the absorption of his transparent spirit root?

Gong Caiyi helplessly said, "You're truly a stubborn one. Alright, use my cultivation chamber. Just try a small sip first, and you'll understand how powerful this medicine is."

Under Fu Chaojun's envious gaze, Gong Caiyi led Jiang Fan to a secluded chamber in the rear hall, filled with a faint fragrance. Inside were items Gong Caiyi commonly used for cultivation. There were also several silk martial robes for changing during cultivation, and a chest wrap... Wait, a chest wrap?

Jiang Fan looked at the silver brocade chest wrap embroidered with cymbidium orchids on the shelf in the corner. His expression couldn't help but become awkward.

"Why aren't you going in?" Gong Caiyi looked at the unmoving Jiang Fan with confusion. Following his gaze, her face flushed slightly. She quickly stepped forward, hastily rolled up the martial robes and chest wrap, and clutched them to her chest.

Afterwards, her beautiful face flushed with two streaks of red, she walked out of the chamber. As she passed Jiang Fan, she glared at him playfully.

"So young and already learning bad habits. Cultivate properly! In half a day, I will inspect your cultivation progress!" After speaking, she raised her jade foot and kicked him in the backside, sending him stumbling into the chamber. She then closed the chamber door.

Jiang Fan rubbed his backside, speechless. "You left it lying around, and now you blame me. How unreasonable."

Time was tight, so he sat cross-legged on the bear-hide cushion on the floor. He took out the Earth Phoenix Grass Marrow and swallowed it in one gulp without hesitation.

As expected, a scorching sensation immediately surged within him, like a ball of fire. The powerful medicinal energy spread through his limbs and bones, releasing incredibly pure spiritual energy. The amount of spiritual energy was a hundred times that of a top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill. An ordinary person could absorb at most fifty percent of it; the rest would uncontrollably dissipate through their pores and orifices. But for Jiang Fan, with his transparent spirit root, this was not an issue.

As his cultivation method circulated, his spirit root, like the roots of a towering tree, absorbed spiritual energy from all directions. The bursting spiritual energy was captured, not a single wisp escaping. It was refined into pure spiritual power, settling in the spiritual pool within his dantian.

Two hours passed. Jiang Fan slowly opened his eyes. Looking inward, the liquefied spiritual power in his spiritual pool shimmered, almost filling it.

"Foundation Establishment Eighth Layer!" Jiang Fan's eyes gleamed with joy; his spiritual power had nearly doubled!

"The later one gets in Foundation Establishment, the greater the gap between each layer!" Jiang Fan understood. He was confident that if he encountered a powerful individual like Black Lotus again, he wouldn't need so many moves. He could end the fight within three moves.

Seeing there were still two hours left, he didn't stay idle. The destination was the Joyful Union Sect. He heard that demonic beasts there were restless, and a beast tide could erupt at any moment. He needed to make more preparations.

He immediately took out some medicinal herbs and began refining them on the spot.

Not long after, over a hundred peculiar, crimson, soybean-sized pills were refined. Their special scent, lethally attractive to demonic beasts, caused the little Qilin, who was sound asleep, to poke its head out from inside his loose robe. Its nose twitched constantly as it sniffed its way right up to the pills. It was practically drooling. Opening its hazy eyes, it sent a telepathic message to Jiang Fan: "Master is so good, refining spirit pills for me again."

However, when it clearly saw what was in front of it, it immediately recoiled sharply. Its eyes widened suddenly, and all traces of sleepiness vanished. Grinding its teeth, it asked, "Master, why are you refining these things?" It hadn't forgotten how it, a fearless spirit beast capable of traversing space, had fallen into Jiang Fan's hands. That's right, it was these very pills, highly attractive to demonic beasts, that had been its downfall. Back then, it had eaten one and immediately fainted on the spot! When it woke up, Jiang Fan had given it a multiple-choice question: did it want to be steamed, stir-fried, or stewed? Now, seeing these pills again, it was utterly furious.

"They're not for you, what are you afraid of?" Jiang Fan put them all into a jade bottle.

Just then, Gong Caiyi's knock sounded from outside the door. "How's your cultivation progressing?" Jiang Fan quickly pushed the little Qilin's head back inside and said, "Don't come out!" Then, unhurriedly, he opened the door.

Gong Caiyi walked in, casually closing the stone door behind her. In the not-so-spacious chamber, only the two of them remained. This made Jiang Fan involuntarily think of the chest wrap he had seen earlier, and his mind raced. He said, "Sect Master, are you...?"

Gong Caiyi also sensed the subtle atmosphere and cleared her throat. "Although you have the jade talisman for a Nascent Soul-level strike, I'm still a bit worried that you might have difficulty coping. Attack me with your full strength; I want to test your true power."

"True power?" Jiang Fan nodded slightly. He also wanted to know how much his strength had increased after breaking through a realm. "Alright! Please be careful, Sect Master," Jiang Fan reminded her.

He immediately began circulating his spiritual power.

"Be careful of me?" Gong Caiyi smiled faintly and chuckled. She was the dignified Sect Master, a martial artist in the late Core Formation realm. What realm was Jiang Fan in? Could he possibly shake her?

"Just attack as you wish!"

Jiang Fan frowned slightly and said, "Sect Master, don't be careless; it wouldn't be good if you got hurt."

"Injured?" Gong Caiyi didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She said, "Alright, alright, as you wish." Smiling, she casually gathered ten percent of her spiritual power in her palm, just enough for a token defense.

Jiang Fan nodded and no longer hesitated. Without relying on artifacts, his strongest move was undoubtedly the "Heavenly Cripple Finger." He immediately circulated all his spiritual power. With a low roar, "Purple Qi from the East!" He raised a finger and pointed, and a dazzling purple beam of light shot straight towards Gong Caiyi.

Gong Caiyi raised her palm with a smile. She gently blocked the purple beam and said with a beaming smile, "Not bad, you've learned another new finger technique." She still vividly remembered the Earth-tier finger technique remnant that Jiang Fan had comprehended from the Moha Stone Wall.

However, just as her words fell, the smile on her face froze! Because a scorching sting was transmitted from her palm! The ten percent spiritual power gathered in her palm had been pierced through!!!