Chapter 15 for Monthly Tickets)
"Demon Hawk acknowledged you as his mentor, and the Mentor-Disciple option is now available on your panel. With Demon Hawk destined for great luck, your faction's Luck Index has increased by 100 points!"
"Notification: Your faction's total Luck Index has reached 430 points, meeting the standard to advance to a fifth-tier force. Your faction is poised for promotion, but external risks currently prevent advancement."
"Notification: Having broken through 400 points in your faction's total Luck Index, you as the leader have also begun to possess luck. Regardless of whether you leave your faction in the future, you have now obtained a measure of luck."
"Luck..."
Jiang Dali looked at the three notifications appearing on the panel, lost in thought.
He now possessed a certain amount of luck himself; it seemed that with the increase of individuals destined for luck within the faction, a qualitative change had occurred, granting him, an otherwise ordinary individual, a measure of luck.
Although the power of luck was intangible, it didn't increase his Qi-Blood or Inner Strength.
But this thing, typically found only in significant characters in ancient texts, would likely play a role in the future tribulations or when advancing to a higher Realm, potentially even affecting one's fate.
With the faction now having such a high Luck Index, Jiang Dali conjectured that, upon his return to Song Country and the lifting of the Green Forest seal, Black Wind Village might directly advance to a fourth-tier force.
When that time came, the promotion of his faction would significantly enhance his own strength.
"Demon Hawk's Luck Index actually surpasses that of the combined Shuanglong; this man, despite his difficult childhood experiences, truly has a remarkable fate.
However, now that I have directly influenced him, who knows how this will affect his future destiny..."
Jiang Dali stood on the hillside, his disheveled black hair dancing in the wind, gazing pensively at Little Wuji below, who was learning the Holy Fire Order Divine Skill.
The Holy Fire Order Divine Skill, recorded in Persian, was recognized by the Golden Lion King Xie Xun, who was able to discern it by touch.
This allowed Little Wuji to start learning the Holy Fire Order Divine Skill directly.
If one attributed this to the influence of luck, then Little Wuji's aura of luck was indeed enviable.
Yet Jiang Dali had never expected Little Wuji to become powerful enough to aid him after growing up.
The time required was simply too long.
By then, he didn't know how strong he himself would have become; what use would there be for a mere disciple like Little Wuji?
For now, Jiang Dali only planned to regard Little Wuji as a blessed doll to enhance the faction's luck.
At most, he would allow Little Wuji to assist the growth of the Wuxiang Sect, accumulating some management experience.
Later on, he considered capturing Monk Bu Jingyun to make use of his Qiankun Qi Bag to help Little Wuji achieve great success in the Nine Yang Divine Skill.
As for the Qiankun Great Shifting of the Ming Sect Hierarch Yang Dingtian, Jiang Dali no longer intended for Little Wuji to learn it.
Choosing Martial Arts based on personality had always been his standard.
In his past life, he looked down on Little Wuji's indecisive nature.
The Qiankun Great Shifting was just like him, always shifting and evading issues, except for the time when the Six Great Sects surrounded Bright Summit—then he behaved like a real man; at other times, he was disappointing.
"The Nine Yang Divine Skill, paired with the Heaven Rank Holy Fire Order Divine Skill, makes for a decent Martial Arts foundation for young Little Wuji.
To achieve Great Success in these two Martial Arts, even with exceptional talent, it will probably take two to three years.
Cultivating a native from childhood is indeed too exhausting..."
Jiang Dali shook his head inwardly, hands crossed over his chest in reflection, thinking of the second and third Player elite teams that were already moving according to his orders.
The purpose of the second and third Player elite teams was to find Nie Feng and Bu Jingyun, who was at Huo Family Manor.
He did not plan to presume and take Feng Yun as disciples.
Considering the mysterious forces of destiny and fate, these two would inevitably be Mutually Exclusive with Xiong Ba, who possessed twenty years of Heavenly Destiny.
His goal was to leave a lasting impression in their young minds so that if a war with Xiong Ba's World Association indeed broke out in the future, Feng Yun would be the trump card he could use to eliminate Xiong Ba.
As such, he pondered and strategized his future plans.
The shouting from Fire King Ancestor Gold Hall up in the mountains could already be heard in the wind.
Jiang Dali turned to look.
He saw Fire King Ancestor Gold Hall, Medicine King Mo Feiyuan, and the blacksmith Yu Cheng'an, all had carried Demon Hawk to the summit of the island's volcano.
They had already surveyed the terrain; the summit was covered in ice and snow, with a depression at the center filled with volcanic rock and ash—a black Volcano caldera.
There was no smoke indicating that the volcano was still dormant.
To forge the Heavenly Sword into a First-class famous artifact with the aid of Earth Fire, Fire King Ancestor Gold Palace would need to protect Yu Cheng'an as he sought Earth Fire inside the volcano.
During this process, Medicine King Mo Feiyuan would need to constantly monitor the volcanic environment, ready to retreat immediately if their Bodies suffered.
According to Yu Cheng'an, the forging process would take at least two months.
This time was enough for Jiang Dali to search for an Exotic beast.
However, he had an even bolder and crazier idea to implement.
At that moment.
Suddenly, a stirring arose among the Players on the opposite beach, who had been measuring the winds in preparation to set sail the next day; they stood frozen like flocks of silly geese, behaving oddly.
Surprised, Jiang Dali opened the Jianghu Forum to check.
A rapidly climbing hot post immediately caught his eye.
"Lang Fan Yun and Yan Jing'an duel with the Iron Gall Divine Constable! All three injured, the Iron Gall Divine Constable is rescued by a mysterious person!"
"Huh?!"
Jiang Dali's gaze sharpened with surprise.
Given the strength of Lang Fan Yun and Yan Jing'an, how could they possibly end up mutually wounded with Iron Gall Divine Constable.
Moreover, the fact that Iron Gall Divine Constable needed to be rescued indicated he was even more severely injured.
"Lang Fan Yun and Yan Jing'an have already tasted my prowess; they would not challenge Iron Gall Divine Constable by themselves. That the two of them could injure the Iron Gall Divine Constable means there must be something unusual.
And, the mysterious person who rescued Iron Gall Divine Constable—who could it be..."
Jiang Dali opened the post with curiosity to read the details.
The post contained a series of videos that were clearly shot from various angles by numerous Players.
Clicking on one of the videos,
I saw Sword Qi raging, with a crisscross of sword light filling the entire screen.
Lang Fan Yun and Yan Jing'an were ganging up on Iron Gall Divine Hou Zhu Wushi in a siege attack.
However, Yan Jing'an's sword momentum appeared significantly stronger than when he had fought against him before.
Even from Iron Gall Divine Hou Zhu Wushi's various evasive actions, it seemed he was more wary of Yan Jing'an than of Lang Fan Yun.
"Strange..."
Jiang Dali's expression condensed, revealing his perplexity.
Recalling the past encounters with Yan Jing'an, this successor of Cihang Jingzhai didn't display much combat strength.
But now, judging by the state in the video, he seemed to have become more than three times stronger.
However, through the video, it was impossible to grasp the opponent's Sword Intent and the real situation on the scene, leaving Jiang Dali unable to make further judgments or analyses.
He continued watching all the other videos.
Until the last one,
where Iron Gall Divine Hou was forced to fully mobilize the Absorption Skill, and directly absorbed Yan Jing'an into his body.
But at the moment Yan Jing'an was absorbed, Iron Gall Divine Hou's face showed shock and struggle, suddenly letting out a roar as his clothes burst from the powerful Qi Force, vomiting a mouthful of fresh blood.
Yan Jing'an was also instantly forced out of his body.
But at that instant, Lang Fan Yun seized the opportunity, stabbing with his sword into the body of Iron Gall Divine Hou who couldn't dodge in time, nearly piercing his heart.
Iron Gall Divine Hou retaliated fiercely with a palm, sending Lang Fan Yun flying out, blood spitting from his mouth, while his own body was explosively lacerated by longswords bursting from within like rain, falling backward onto the ground, coughing up blood.
Jiang Dali was already shocked by such an astounding battle situation when the video reached this point.
But the fight was far from over, while Iron Gall Divine Hou lay on the ground severely wounded, coughing up blood and barely breathing, a sword-like white light flashed from Yan Jing'an's forehead, pressing towards Iron Gall Divine Hou.
Because the angle of the video was too far,
Jiang Dali couldn't make out what that white light was.
However, just as that white light shot towards Iron Gall Divine Hou, two ghostly figures suddenly appeared.
They both struck simultaneously, hitting the white light.
Instantly the white light dissipated with a "pfft."
Yan Jing'an screamed miserably, his body, which was just getting up, stiffened and collapsed, his head tilted as if he was already dead.
The two ghostly figures also revealed their true faces at the same moment, and they turned out to be two pretty and adorable girls holding dolls stuffed with steel needles.
These two cute girls seemed to have sustained injuries when they shattered the white light, landing with changed expressions and staggered steps, standing stiff on the spot for a while, then without hesitation, they picked up Iron Gall Divine Hou's body and left swiftly.
The video ended there, showing the player who had been recording apparently preparing to approach the battlefield, and the footage stopped.
Jiang Dali took a deep breath, his eyes grave, "Yan Jing'an... Cihang Jingzhai... What exactly was that white light just now?
That must be the reason why Yan Jing'an's strength suddenly surged.
But obviously, Yan Jing'an's sudden increase in strength came at a great cost, even the cost of death."
Thinking up to this point, Jiang Dali felt he still had no leads.
Because even in his memory from his past life, his exposure to Cihang Jingzhai wasn't that extensive.
Now he could only analyze and speculate that the white light should be related to the founder of Cihang Jingzhai, Di Ni; otherwise, it would not have such astonishing power.
"As for the two girls holding dolls..., they seem very unfamiliar, but obviously, they are strong, and it seems they were ambushed and followed.
It doesn't seem like they have any relation to Iron Gall Divine Hou, so why did they take him away?"
Jiang Dali furrowed his brows, watching the videos back and forth several times, memorizing the appearances of the last two girls.
These girls were strong and both held dolls filled with steel needles; their unique image couldn't possibly be from unknown individuals.
Jiang Dali planned to activate Manduo Villa's intelligence capabilities to investigate thoroughly.
However, seeing the rapidly rising topic popularity on the Jianghu Forum, he suspected that maybe there was no need for Manduo Villa to investigate; the enthusiastic Players might help out by figuring out who those two girls were.
Most male players, upon seeing the two pretty girls in the video, had turned into howling Werewolves, clamoring around to find out who the two beautiful girls were, seemingly more curious than him.
"Iron Gall Divine Hou is seriously injured this time, and it seems that Yan Jing'an is already dead, and Lang Fan Yun is also not lightly wounded. I didn't expect such an outcome.
However, Iron Gall Divine Hou is not dead after all. If the people who took him also have ambitions and want to use his identity as the royal family to seize the Great Ming,
Jiang Dali's eyelids flickered, sensing a vague guess, and immediately exited the Jianghu Forum to look toward the vast sea under the twilight.
Wave after wave kept rolling in, crashing against the rocks at the base of the mountain, creating earth-shattering roars and spraying white foam.
Crabs scurried in the crevices with the rising tide, while barnacles and oysters clung to the rocks still warm from the day's sun.
Whoosh—
Jiang Dali shook his cloak with a whoosh and let out a long howl, leaping straight down from the hillside.
Squeak—
The Demon Hawk circling in the sky tucked in its Double Wings, dove down, and caught him precisely under his feet, carrying him towards the distant sea.
Howling sea winds beat against his face, Jiang Dali's Black Cloak and disheveled hair wildly dancing in the wind, he gazed out over the undulating sea with bright, burning eyes.
"Such a vast expanse of sea should surely nurture an Exotic beast... this is Beihai, still a very long distance from the South Sea.
However, Hero Island lies in the South Sea, and Hui Prefecture is close to the South Sea too, if I want to return, it would be just right to take this route and make a trip to Hero Island..."
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(Please vote for monthly and recommendation tickets! Can everyone guess who those two doll girls are? Dali can't, haha. Vote for monthly tickets.)