Chapter 3844 — Winning Him Over and Making a Move

Yu Jiang was not the sort to resign himself to being a nobody. Just think about it: a man bold enough to commit the heinous crime of murdering his own master, an act that would outrage both gods and men, would there be anything in the future capable of stopping him?

Naturally, obtaining the Little Formless Divine Technique from Nan Tianguan would be no easier than taking the Star Ink Stone back from Lin Er, who had appeared out of nowhere. If anything, it would be even more difficult.

Unlike the simple-minded Nan Tianyong, Nan Tianguan, the second of the Nan family's three heroes, was unfathomably deep and calculating. And from his reaction to Nan Tianyong's death, it was plain that the man was utterly cold-blooded, even cruel and heartless.

No matter how poor his relationship with Nan Tianyong had been, the two were brothers born of the same mother. Yet when Nan Tianyong died, Nan Tianguan had shown not the slightest trace of sorrow. On the contrary, he had seemed almost delighted by the calamity. Had he not been concerned for the reputation of the Nan family's three heroes, he might not even have bothered to ask about it.

With such a nature, he and Yu Jiang, who had committed the monstrous crime of murdering his own master, were birds of a feather. To lull a man like that into complacency, then obtain the Little Formless Divine Technique from him, would be more difficult than ascending to heaven.

Even so, a cultivation art as rare as the Little Formless Divine Technique was far too precious to abandon. No matter how difficult it might be, Yu Jiang would never give up so long as there remained even the slightest chance. Like the Star Ink Stone, it was a powerful inheritance capable of changing one's fate. Its effects, however, might not be quite as heaven-defying as those of the Star Ink Stone.

Yu Jiang knew full well that if he wanted to obtain the Little Formless Divine Technique, he first had to find a way to make Nan Tianguan take him as a disciple. And if he wanted Nan Tianguan to accept him, he would have to begin by currying favor with him and earning his approval.

At Nan Tianguan's question, Yu Jiang fell silent for a moment before replying, "Reporting to Eldest Martial Uncle, I was present when Master was killed. However, I was standing rather far away, and Lin Er's attack was both sinister and well concealed, so I did not see it clearly. All I know is that the strike seemed to condense an unimaginable amount of true qi. When it exploded, its power was so tremendous that it reduced several mountains around the market district to rubble and left behind a gigantic crater. The scene was truly astonishing."

"Is that really so?" Nan Tianguan could not help staring in surprise. "As far as I know, in recent years the Threefold Pavilion has dispatched a great many men to establish layers of protective formations throughout every territory. The market district is a place where dragons and snakes intermingle, and to prevent cultivators from destroying the surrounding area when they clash, several layers of protective formations were deliberately set up around it. An ordinary person could not possibly bring down those mountains."

Once one reached the Foundation Establishment stage, one could still be considered a beginner on Cloud Stair Island, but such cultivators were nevertheless heaven-defying beings who had seized the mysteries of Heaven and Earth. If they truly unleashed their full strength, even an ordinary early Foundation Establishment expert could easily destroy an entire mountain range.

With so many experts on Cloud Stair Island, conflicts were breaking out at all times. Without corresponding protective measures, the five Heavenly Rank islands would have been blasted into ruins long ago. How could they possibly have survived and passed down their inheritances for millions upon millions of years?

The reason the five Heavenly Rank islands had remained standing all this time was that the various sects had rendered an immeasurable service. They had established layers upon layers of protective formations throughout Cloud Stair Island, offsetting the shock waves produced whenever cultivators fought. Only then had Cloud Stair Island been able to endure and continue to exist to this day.

Take the protective formations established around the market district by the Threefold Pavilion. Because the market district drew crowds from every direction, was a place where dragons and snakes mingled, and gathered nearly every cultivator on the Northern Island rather than merely disciples of the Threefold Pavilion, all manner of conflicts were unavoidable each day. Without special precautions, the place would have been reduced to dust long ago.

The protective formations around the market district had always been the most tightly constructed, and their defensive power had always been the strongest. Even the full-force strike of an early Foundation Establishment expert could scarcely leave so much as a trace in the surrounding area.

To bring down several mountains around the market district with a single move, what kind of terrifying power would that require? Even an expert at the peak of late Foundation Establishment might not have been capable of such a feat.

"That is indeed the case. And from what this disciple observed, Lin Er himself did not seem capable of controlling such a powerful killing move. He could only hurl it out and be done with it, without any way to concentrate its destructive force and bring it to its maximum potential." Yu Jiang pondered for a moment before continuing.

By all rights, if Wei Zhao's killing move had been powerful enough to overwhelm the protective formations and bring down several mountains outright, then with even a little control and restraint, such immense force should have made killing Nan Tianyong, an expert at the peak of late Foundation Establishment, effortless.

Yet although Nan Tianyong had been caught off guard and grievously wounded, he had not died on the spot. Had Yu Jiang not succumbed to greed and killed him afterward, Nan Tianyong might well have recovered by now and be alive and vigorous.

Yu Jiang's deduction was entirely reasonable, and it was indeed just as he had surmised. Wei Zhao could not fully control the technique known as the true-qi bomb, especially not the supreme true-qi bomb he had spent an entire hour accumulating.

Nan Tianguan's smile deepened as he listened to Yu Jiang. "Interesting. Very interesting. To kill the Third Brother despite being unable to fully control a single killing move, this Lin Er you speak of has made me more and more curious."

Yu Jiang smiled inwardly. Curious was exactly what he wanted. Otherwise, if Nan Tianguan had not been interested in the slightest, how could he be expected to dig Lin Er out for him?

Sure enough, Nan Tianguan immediately took the initiative and asked, "Since this Lin Er is an unaffiliated cultivator, do you, Martial Nephew, know how we might track him down?"

A rootless unaffiliated cultivator was nothing like a disciple of a sect such as the Threefold Pavilion. Such people rarely possessed blessed cultivation abodes and were often without a fixed residence. Unless one knew them particularly well, finding them was harder than ascending to heaven.

"Reporting to Eldest Martial Uncle, this disciple has been searching for him all these days and has tried every method that came to mind, but I have never managed to dig him out. The only reason I encountered him in the market district this time was pure coincidence." Yu Jiang answered with utmost respect.

"This..." Nan Tianguan could not help frowning. "That does complicate matters." Even if the other party possessed a killing move capable of slaying Nan Tianyong in an instant, he would pose no threat at all if Nan Tianguan himself took action.

The true difficulty lay in finding him as quickly as possible.