Fantasy: Immortality Begins with Absorbing Demons

Chapter 313 The Way Out (Part 4)

"We've arrived?" Han Yi lifted the curtain, got out of the car, and looked around.

Since failing the assessment at Yuanmiao Sect that day and leaving the mountain, he traveled day and night to Jingtian Manor early the next morning.

He didn't stay a few more days, nor did he go to see Wang Yunkai again. The fact that Old Wang was able to give him a letter of recommendation was already a great favor, and he didn't want to be disliked by others any longer. So he didn't even go into the city of Lianyun Prefecture and went straight to Jingtian Manor.

Nestled among the dark green mountains and along the official road, vast expanses of red rooftops, like distinct layers of fish scales, stretch across hundreds of acres, seemingly endless, in a tranquil and pleasant environment.

Jingtian Manor is located beside a large, expansive lake on the outskirts of Huayang City. The lake, like a half-open flower bud, encloses most of the buildings here. Among the red buildings, a few stand out, like cranes among chickens, mostly pavilions, terraces, and archways.

On a tall archway, the three characters "Jingtianzhuang" are clearly carved into the stone and are clearly visible.

A few banners stood forlornly inside the archway, looking rather lonely.

The grand gate and wide stone path were only frequented by a handful of people, a stark contrast to the bustling atmosphere at the foot of Yuanmiaozong Mountain.

"Is this really Jingtian Manor?" Han Yi asked, somewhat puzzled.

“That’s right, this is Jingtian Manor.” The carriage smiled憨厚ly, revealing a tooth missing from its front, and emphasized, “If you’re talking about the sect that teaches martial arts, Jingtian Manor, then this is it.”

Han Yi glanced at him. "Sir, please pay..." the coachman said, extending his hand with a simple, honest smile.

"Take it." Han Yi took out a wad of silver, weighed it in his hand, and then used his fingers to break it into two pieces, tossing the larger piece over.

Those who work in carriages, boats, inns, and government offices should be killed even if they are innocent.

These drivers may seem honest and kind, but they are all involved with local gangs and other criminal organizations. When they encounter rich and gullible victims, their true nature is revealed.

But after seeing Han Yi's move, he immediately became much more obedient.

The coachman kept his smile, took out a small, bronze-colored scale, skillfully placed the weight on it, adjusted the weight, and only after confirming that the weight was correct did he take his leave and drive the carriage back.

Han Yi put the silver back into his bag. He had already spent most of his money when he was at Yuanmiao Sect. Now, the money he had left was not only for buying monster meat to maintain his cultivation, but also for expenses such as accommodation and finding connections when traveling.

Without any additional funds, he had to be frugal with his money.

He glanced at the somewhat forlorn words "Jingtian Manor," took a deep breath, and strode over.

The two guards only glanced at him, too lazy to say anything more. Both of them had dark circles under their eyes, clearly having gone out partying somewhere the night before.

Han Yi followed the somewhat broken stone path and kept walking further in.

Jingtian Manor was deserted, and there were hardly any people on the road. Perhaps it was because everyone was taking a midday nap, or perhaps it was just that quiet.

"This Jingtian Manor is said to have a collection of over ten thousand books and over a thousand martial arts manuals. I've heard that the manor lord, Zhao Ziyang, the Azure Dragon, is a renowned figure throughout Yunzhou with his iron fists. How come he's like this now..." Han Yi couldn't help but mutter to himself. He walked along the main road for a while and soon arrived at a large hall with three large vermilion characters above it: Zhongzheng Hall.

This should be the main hall of Jingtian Manor, with several side halls around it.

The roof tiles of the side hall are mottled, and some of the plaster on the walls is peeling off. Looking through the windows, you can almost see spider webs that shimmer with color in the sunlight.

Han Yi muttered a few words to himself, took a breath, and calmed himself down.

Anyway, since we're already here, we should at least go in and take a look.

Perhaps it's all rotten on the outside but precious on the inside.

In front of the main hall, two small, bright red doors were open, and two screens with black characters on white cloth were placed on either side.

One side is inscribed with 'courage and integrity', and the other side with 'benevolence and righteousness'.

Behind the screen on the left was an empty space with only a large, dark red table flanked by rows of wooden chairs, and landscape paintings hanging on the walls. Behind the screen on the right were several sandbags and wooden stakes, and along one wall were several weapon racks.

In the middle of the lobby was a semi-circular counter, where several women were chatting idly.

"Who goes to my Jingtian Manor?" The leader, a tall, beautiful woman dressed in a green outfit, looked at Han Yi.

"Young lady, I've come to become your disciple," Han Yi introduced himself briefly. "I wonder how a rogue martial artist like myself can enter Jing Tian Manor?"

As he spoke, he took out a ten-tael silver note and handed it over discreetly.

"No, no, don't come. We at Jingtian Manor don't do these things." The tall woman shook her head and refused, then laughed, "Entering the sect now? That's not a good time."

"What do you mean?" Han Yi asked, taking back the ten-tael silver note and then taking out another ten-tael note, this time a ten-tael gold note. One tael of gold is worth ten taels of silver, so ten taels of gold notes are equivalent to ten times the value.

"This..." The tall woman hesitated. She quickly glanced around and, finding no one was looking in her direction, accepted the gold note.

After accepting the gold ticket, her attitude improved significantly. She smiled and said, "It's not the annual time to open the door for apprentices yet. If you join now, there will be many problems."

"A problem? Is it possible that I won't even be able to get started?"

"That's not it. It's just that if you applied to join the manor when it was open to the public, and you had excellent aptitude, you would have a good chance of being noticed by the manor lord's lineage. But now, most of the academy leaders are not here. They are either out hunting or on business. There are very few teachers to choose from."

She explained patiently.

Suddenly, as if she remembered something, she said, "My name is Huang Rong, and yours is Huang Rong? What's your name? My name is Han Yi, Yi as in easy."

"Han Yi, your name is not bad either." Huang Rong continued with a smile, "When we Jingtian Manor recruit disciples, the disciples first choose a courtyard based on their martial arts skills, and then select their master. If the head of the courtyard also takes a liking to you, and there happens to be a recruitment quota, then the master-disciple relationship is settled."

"Of course, besides having excellent qualifications, there are many other ways to get the head of the academy to take notice of you... Many times, even if all the spots are filled, you can still be specially recruited through other means..." Huang Rong's face revealed a meaningful smile.

Han Yi instantly understood; wasn't this just similar to the Yuanmiao Sect?

It's just that there's one more step: the disciple needs to first choose a suitable master, and then see if he can win the master's heart, which is no different from the two-way interview for graduate students in my previous life.

There's bound to be some underhanded dealings, pulling strings, and using back channels involved. But didn't you say at the beginning that your Jingtian Manor didn't have any of those sordid things?

Han Yi looked at Huang Rong, whose face revealed a deep meaning, and secretly cursed him in his heart.

"Currently, the vacant position for head of the academy within our manor is..." Huang Rong secretly took out a list from under the counter.

She glanced at the others; some were fast asleep, others were writing love letters, and no one was paying any attention to them.

That's true. It's not time to recruit disciples yet. Only a few people come each day, mostly to ask questions. They're happy to have some free time and just let things slide.

"Look!" Huang Rong instructed, "This is our internal list. According to the rules, we can't tell outsiders."

Han Yi understood immediately and quickly scanned the list.

The list, written in black and white, detailed all the vacancies for the heads of the various academies within Jingtian Manor, including those for disciples of the Manor Lord's lineage. Jingtian Manor was not large; the only truly well-known figures were the Manor Lord, the Deputy Manor Lord, and the renowned Seven Heroes of Jingtian.

The Seven Heroes of Jingtian are all exceptionally skilled and possess unique martial arts techniques. They are also the most solid pillars of Jingtian Manor.

Of course, this is not the key.

Most importantly, the Seven Heroes of Jingtian and the Sect Master all practice the same technique: the Seven Transformations of Heavenly Evolution.

Zhao Ziyang of Shangqinglong, a graduate of Yangzhi Academy, was one of the Seven Heroes. His martial art is the Dragon-Controlling Heavenly Fire Fist. His iron fists are like blazing hammers. He once fought five masters of the same level at the same time without being defeated, which made him famous and secured his position as the head of the manor.

The Dragon-Controlling Heavenly Fire Fist is derived from one of the Seven Transformations of Heavenly Evolution True Skills.

The other seven heroes of Jingtian also cultivated seven different martial arts techniques derived from the Seven Transformations of Heavenly Evolution True Skill. Any one of these seven techniques has the potential to allow one to reach the Grandmaster level. Of course, having this possibility does not mean that it can actually be achieved.

Ultimately, these seven martial arts techniques are all derived from a single true skill, and therefore cannot compare to the complete true skill.

But that's enough.

Han Yi knew that even if he hadn't encountered any accidents at Yuanmiao Sect and had successfully joined the sect as an inner disciple under Elder Wang's recommendation, he still wouldn't have been able to obtain a complete and genuine skill.

True skill contains the opportunity to elevate a martial artist from an ordinary person to a grandmaster. It would not be easily given to a disciple who has just started learning, especially one from another state.

It would take at least several years of observation, and one might even have to make a great contribution and sign a strict oath before they could possibly obtain the true skill.

That's too slow and too late.

Therefore, the best solution is to settle for second best and come to Jingtian Manor to learn the unique skills of Jingtian Manor, which are not as valuable as true skills but have the potential to become true skills.

Once he understands the secrets of a martial arts master breaking through to the grandmaster level, with the system at his fingertips, he refuses to believe he can't forge his own path.

To achieve a breakthrough through systematic deduction, one needs a large amount of martial arts knowledge as resources.

The second reason he valued Jingtian Manor was because it contained a wide variety of martial arts knowledge and a large number of martial arts manuals. Although they might not be very practical or valuable, they were full of ingenious ideas and abundant resources.

He could easily use the martial arts collection here to forge his own path again, just like before.

Therefore, although Jingtian Manor looked rather unimpressive and somewhat desolate, Han Yi remained steadfast in his determination to join the sect.

But the information on the list was indeed similar to what Huang Rong had said: there were no vacancies in the sect leader's lineage, and half of the remaining seven academy leaders were not in the manor.

Han Yi was willing to join any academy head's tutelage, and he quickly memorized the information on academy heads who had vacancies and available positions.

He then returned the list to Huang Rong.

"Phew... After looking at it for so long, I thought you couldn't read..." Huang Rong breathed a sigh of relief and put the list away.

In those days, people who could read and write were still a minority, and many martial arts practitioners only knew how to practice but not how to learn.

"Alright, fill out the registration form again." Huang Rong took out a pen and paper from under the counter and handed it to Han Yi.

"To get started, you also need to pay a registration fee. After paying the fee, you need to take an entry test. If you pass the test, the fee will be... huh?" Her voice suddenly stopped.

Huang Rong clearly saw that Han Yi had neatly written the words "Second-level Martial Master" in the realm column.

"A second-level martial arts master?" Huang Rong exclaimed in surprise. Although his voice was not loud, it still caused a small commotion.

"What are you doing at Jingtian Manor, Master Erjin?" she asked half-jokingly.

As an outer court disciple, although she is only one step away from the inner court, she is still just a Blood Refining Martial Artist.

In the inner courtyard, a second-level martial arts master is already considered to be in the middle ranks.

"It's just a forced breakthrough through dual cultivation; it's nothing to brag about," Han Yi said calmly, quickly finishing the registration form.

"The registration fee is ten taels of silver, which will be refunded to you if you pass the test." Huang Rong suddenly realized why this person would come to their Jingtian Manor to learn martial arts.

Without practicing true skills, one can indeed progress rapidly by cultivating multiple martial arts styles and following a mixed martial arts path. However, in the later stages, there is no future and it becomes extremely difficult to develop further.

However, given Han Yi's level as a second-tier martial artist, entering the basics is definitely not a problem. The following tests are just a formality.

"Come with me, a senior from the inner court will be testing you in a moment." Huang Rong opened the cabinet door and led Han Yi to the small room at the back. Inside the small room, several people were sitting at both ends of several rows of chairs.

He looked travel-worn, and there was a package on the chair next to him, suggesting that he had also come from afar to learn from a master.

"Don't be nervous later. The person who will be testing you should be the sect leader's chief disciple, Senior Brother Zongwu. He is gentle and kind, and you have already opened your meridians and entered the energy realm, so there will definitely be no problem."

At the door, Huang Rong gave Han Yi some words of encouragement and cheered him on.

"Chief Disciple?" Han Yi asked in return.

“Yes, outer court disciples, inner court disciples, and above that are chief disciples, also known as personal disciples. Every year, our Jingtian Manor selects peers from the chief disciples of each court according to their strength level, and the strongest one is called the chief disciple.” Huang Rong blinked and explained in a low voice.

"The chief disciple enjoys far better treatment than the personal disciples and inner disciples. The inner disciples are similar to the head of the academy and are basically the future successors to the higher-ups. If you can get close to Senior Brother Zongwu, your future will be much easier."

She gave Han Yi a detailed explanation. Although she knew that Han Yi should have no problem getting started, becoming the chief disciple would be too difficult, practically impossible.