Chapter 80: Return

The Tier One Upper Grade Attack Spiritual Artifact was the Blood-Colored Small Knife in Ji Shengliang’s hand.

The other Tier One Middle Grade Attack Spiritual Artifacts were a black hammer and a trident about two meters long.

As for the Defensive Spiritual Artifacts, there was a shield resembling a turtle shell and a Small Heart-Protecting Mirror.

Jiang Xu only gave the other Low Tier Spiritual Artifacts a cursory glance, picking out two or three Supporting Magical Artifacts and putting them into his Storage Bag.

After stowing everything away, Jiang Xu felt a sense of daze.

’Killers and arsonists wear belts of gold, while bridge-builders and road-menders leave no corpse behind. It seems being a Tribulation Cultivator really is the most profitable way to earn Spirit Stones.’

’No wonder so many Cultivators can’t resist the temptation and get into this business with no overhead.’

’But if you want to kill, you must be prepared to be killed, just like what happened today.’

’No matter if you succeed a thousand times, one single failure is all it takes to be fatal.’

...

Jiang Xu returned to the Marketplace.

Within these ten days, Jiang Xu had also taken the time to inquire about the situation with the Secret Realm exploration team led by the two Elders from the Profound Origin Sect, as well as the group of disciples from the Hundred Arts Pavilion.

He heard they had been attacked by the Three Sects, resulting in the death or disappearance of several hundred disciples.

The two Elders, however, were completely unscathed.

Five days ago, the Profound Origin Sect simply sent the remaining few dozen Hundred Arts Pavilion disciples into the Marketplace, and took no other action.

They didn’t even make threats of retaliation or issue any harsh words.

This greatly disappointed the gossiping onlookers, who assumed the Profound Origin Sect was now afraid of the Three Sects, including Wind and Thunder Manor, and began to mock them.

Even many disciples of the Profound Origin Sect became righteously indignant, feeling ashamed of their Sect.

Only a small, shrewder group secretly sensed that something was amiss.

They understood that the dog that bites doesn’t bark, and that all of this was merely the calm before the storm.

The Profound Origin Sect was likely planning a major move.

Jiang Xu had booked a room two days prior. Now, he entered it and placed all the extra Storage Bags inside.

Since Storage Bags cannot be stored inside one another, carrying them all was cumbersome, so he had to put them away first.

’Ten days. That’s long enough. I’ve confirmed there’s no other danger. It’s time to go and ’rejoin the family.’’

...

Profound Origin Hall.

This was a branch hall established by the Profound Origin Sect within the Purple Profound Celestial Marketplace.

On this day, the Profound Origin Hall received a Cultivator who was pale-faced, clutched his chest, and would occasionally let out a pair of violent coughs.

The guards at the hall’s entrance saw Jiang Xu and thought he was some kind of scam artist, stepping forward to question him:

"This is an important territory of the Profound Origin Sect! Unauthorized personnel are forbidden to approach!"

Seeing Jiang Xu continue to approach, the guard grew vigilant, drew a Magical Artifact, and pointed it at him:

"Are you deaf?! Take one more step forward, and don’t blame me for being discourteous!"

Jiang Xu stopped, pulled a Token from his robes, and shakily handed it over.

The guard took one look and was stunned:

"A Profound Origin Sect Outer Disciple! Quick, please, come in!"

With that, the guard hurried forward to support Jiang Xu.

It was no wonder the guard’s attitude had changed so drastically.

The guard was merely a temporary worker, with a status equivalent to that of a Servant Disciple.

Meanwhile, Outer Disciples of the Profound Origin Sect rarely had the chance to leave the Sect, and even if they did, few had the opportunity to come to the Marketplace.

Thus, the guards had all reached a consensus.

As long as someone was a disciple of the Profound Origin Sect, regardless of whether they were from the Inner Sect or Outer Sect, they were people the guards couldn’t afford to offend. Therefore, they treated them all with the standard reserved for Inner Sect Disciples.

So, upon hearing that Jiang Xu was a Profound Origin Sect disciple, the four or five guards outside the Profound Origin Hall all scrambled to curry favor.

Three came forward to support him, one cleared a path in front, and another rushed inside to report his arrival.

This left Jiang Xu completely baffled.

’What’s going on?’

’I’m just an ordinary Outer Disciple.’

’Why is the service so attentive?’

Amid the commotion, the dispatched Steward from the Profound Origin Hall hurried over. Seeing the grand scene and the bewildered Jiang Xu, he asked:

"Junior Brother, what happened to you?"

Jiang Xu coughed heavily twice more before speaking weakly:

"Senior Brother, I’m actually one of the Talisman Pavilion disciples led by the Elder a few days ago to provide reinforcements. Unexpectedly, we ran into trouble along the way, and I fell from the sky."

"If I weren’t considered a Beginner Body Cultivator and hadn’t fallen into a river, I wouldn’t have survived."

"But even so, I nearly died. It took me several days to recover just enough to hurry here and report."

The Steward was astonished after hearing Jiang Xu’s account.

He had heard bits and pieces about the incident and had even sighed over it. He never expected to meet someone who had experienced it firsthand.

The Steward didn’t dare to be negligent. He first ushered Jiang Xu inside, then left to verify the situation.

About half an hour later.

The Steward came out, found Jiang Xu, and grasped his hands, bursting into tears on the spot.

"Junior Brother, you have truly suffered!!!"

Jiang Xu didn’t know what on earth the man had verified to elicit such a reaction, but he wasn’t foolish enough to ask.

So, Jiang Xu also let tears stream down his face:

"It’s no hardship! It’s all for the future of the Sect! No amount of suffering or toil is too much!"

The Steward wiped his tears and said to Jiang Xu:

"Junior Brother, you are truly fortunate to be alive! Of your group, only one-fifth made it to the Marketplace alive. We at the Profound Origin Hall value you all greatly, so I’ve brought you three Rejuvenating Pills right away!"

After speaking, the Steward placed a small vial in Jiang Xu’s hand.

"Quick, your injuries are so severe, take one now!"

Jiang Xu opened it and took a sniff. It was indeed a Rejuvenating Pill.

A single one of these cost two Spirit Stones.

He hadn’t expected the Profound Origin Hall to be so generous, giving him three at once.

To avoid arousing the Steward’s suspicion, and trusting in the power of his Cangmu Skill to protect him from poison, Jiang Xu immediately consumed one.

The Elixir melted the moment it entered his mouth, and a warm current spread through him. The color in his face instantly improved.

Seeing this, the Steward also felt relieved.

When he had made his report just now, he had heard how concerned the Sect was about these "precious darlings" with production skills.

The Sect had lost so many Hundred Arts Pavilion disciples at once, which was equivalent to losing many high-potential prospects. The Sect’s future could even face a generational gap.

The resources invested in the remaining disciples would surely be more than double what they were before.

When the higher-ups heard that a newly arrived Talisman Pavilion disciple was seriously injured, they had immediately reprimanded the Steward, telling him to hurry and deliver some Elixirs, lest the disciple die in their Profound Origin Hall. If that happened, they would have to bear the responsibility.

That was why the Steward had gone so far as to pay for the Elixirs out of his own pocket to ensure nothing happened to Jiang Xu inside the Profound Origin Hall.

After his injuries felt a bit better, Jiang Xu asked the Steward:

"Senior Brother, what arrangements has the Sect made for me?"

This question stumped the Steward.

He took out a register from his Storage Bag and flipped through it for a long time before saying to Jiang Xu with an awkward expression:

"Junior Brother, ah, this situation of yours is a bit tricky. It’s not that I, your Senior Brother, want to make things difficult for you, but you’ve really arrived a bit too late. The slots for resident Talisman Makers at many of the shops have already been filled. You see, about this..."