Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

”What did you just say?”

”Nothing.”

Li Tianxin said unflinchingly, ”Are we really just going to leave him be? I sealed his acupoints, but if he uses his Inner Strength to break through them, it won’t hold him for long.”

”That’s why you have to stay here and watch him.”

Jiang Ran said, ”He’s already injured, and now even more so. If he really tries to leave, with your skills, taking him down would be a piece of cake.”

”And what will you be doing?”

Li Tianxin glanced at Jiang Ran.

”Sleeping.”

Jiang Ran yawned. ”It’s the middle of the night. Only an idiot would stand guard out here.”

With that, he turned and left.

”!!”

Li Tianxin felt the urge to curse up a storm. A curse or two wouldn’t even begin to quench his anger toward Jiang Ran.

Even cursing him for three days and three nights wouldn’t be enough. He’d deserve all of it.

...

...

Jiang Ran didn’t go far, just picking a room in the courtyard.

He took a fire starter from his robes and lit the oil lamp.

The faint light gently pushed back the surrounding darkness.

Jiang Ran walked to the bed and sat down.

With a thought, a notification popped up before him.

[Reward Acquired: Spirit Snake Dance (Forty-three Years)]

The silver bounty from Xu Hongyi had been a bit small, and the rewarded lifespan wasn’t much either—only about ten days.

But this reward was decent enough.

Jiang Ran was just considering whether he should even claim it.

’The Spirit Snake Dance is a type of Liuyun Flying Sleeves technique. There’s one simple requirement for using this type of technique: you need long sleeves. If you were wearing practical, close-fitting attire, you wouldn’t be able to execute the moves even if you had a hundred years of proficiency in the Liuyun Sleeves. While the technique is usable with ordinary sleeves, its power can’t compare to when it’s performed with the signature, extra-long Liuyun sleeves.’

’Besides, I still have one stacking opportunity left from my arrest missions.’

’If I use it on this, what kind of change will the reward undergo?’

Jiang Ran stared at the reward, wrestling with the decision, but ultimately chose to forfeit it.

’I’m curious and very interested in the technique, but it’s better to wait than to claim a reward I might rarely get to use.’

’I’ll wait for a more suitable technique, then use all my stacked buffs on it to reap a much greater benefit all at once.’

And as Jiang Ran selected the option to forfeit, a new notification appeared as expected.

[One reward forfeited. The quality of the reward for the next completed mission will receive a small boost.]

Jiang Ran opened the system interface. The ’1’ on it had now become a ’2’.

’I wonder what the maximum stack is?’

As this thought crossed his mind, he glanced at the reward for the Ghostblade mission.

The contents still read, ’Please wait patiently.’

’This whole thing is ridiculous...’ Jiang Ran thought.

He actually had his own theory about this reward.

But given the circumstances, all he could do was wait patiently.

Shaking his head slightly, Jiang Ran didn’t continue to agonize over it.

Instead, he began to mull over everything that had happened since his arrival in Benma County, clarifying his objectives.

Right now, the most important matter was using the Heterodox Manor to investigate clues about the ’old monster’.

He had already made the necessary preparations for this. The rest didn’t require his direct involvement.

The people from Heterodox Manor would take care of everything stealthily.

Second was the struggle between Ye Jingshuang and the Heartless Ghost Mansion.

Jiang Ran already had a plan for this as well.

All he lacked now was the final catalyst.

Once that catalyst appeared, everything else would fall into place.

Besides, both the Heterodox Manor and the Heartless Ghost Mansion...

...were undoubtedly hiding a large number of wanted criminals.

To Jiang Ran, they were a treasure trove of opportunities he couldn’t have hoped for.

Never mind those further off—Jiang Ran was already practically salivating over Tie Cheng, the man who followed Yang Monarch Dugu Yu.

He hadn’t made a move back then so as not to alert the enemy.

’It’s fine, though. One step at a time. Not a single one of them will escape!’

Jiang Ran took a deep breath to calm himself. Just as he was about to circulate the Creation Heart-Righting Sutra, his gaze suddenly shot toward the window:

’An uninvited guest...’

With a thought, he flicked his wrist. There was a WHOOSH.

The window was instantly blasted open by his Inner Strength. His body flickered, and like a shadow, he shot outside. With a single tap of his foot on the ground, he vaulted onto the roof.

Before he could even look, he heard a burst of laughter:

”Such parlor tricks, and you dare show them off in front of a true master?!”

’Is that the ”Mighty Dragon” I hear?’

Jiang Ran froze for a second. The voice was suddenly familiar.

He looked in the direction of the voice and saw a large, heavy-set man leaping through the air in a nearby courtyard.

He was wielding a massive iron hammer. It looked incredibly heavy, yet he held it as if it were weightless.

’Tie Cheng!?’

Jiang Ran was stunned. ’What is this?’

’Speak of the devil... I was just thinking about him, and here he is.’

’Did Dugu Yu and that old woman come too?’

With that thought, he didn’t rush over immediately. Instead, he first did a sweep of the area.

Master Ma’s residence wasn’t very large, so it didn’t take much time.

Soon enough, Jiang Ran was back where he started:

”Looks like the old man and woman didn’t come.”

Jiang Ran rubbed his fingers together lightly.

”What wicked scheme are you hatching now?”

Li Tianxin’s voice suddenly came from behind him.

Jiang Ran glanced back at him.

”Shouldn’t you be watching Gui Shisan? What are you doing wandering around out here?”

”It looked like you were over here hatching another one of your schemes, so I thought I’d come uphold the Righteous Path of the Martial World.”

By now, Li Tianxin’s tone with Jiang Ran was completely devoid of courtesy.