Chapter 84: One Battle, Instant Fame! Tributes Pour In from All Directions!

Cao Ying’s scream was shrill and piercing, causing all the inner-disciple students inside the hall who were selecting missions to turn their heads in unison.

When they saw the sack on the ground and the several severed heads rolling out, their faces turned ashen, and gasps of shock rose one after another.

“My god...”

“That sack is full of heads!!!”

“This... this is just too...”

“Were all these brought back by that Elder...?”

As the students cried out in shock, they couldn’t help but crowd closer.

Cao Ying was nearly terrified into numbness.

She herself was mediocre in strength, not even outstanding among Qi-Condensation cultivators; she had only been transferred here as an administrator due to some connection with an Elder in the Duty Hall.

And here, she had always handled clerical work, daily dealing with scrolls and mission requests, rarely encountering such bloody scenes.

When others completed anti-bandit missions, they either brought back the bandits alive or returned their intact corpses as proof.

Who would ever do what Elder Jiang did—pack the heads into a giant sack and carry them back?!

Cao Ying covered her mouth with both hands; her once-fair face was now as pale as paper, her eyes filled with disbelief and horror.

She had read the Black Wind Fortress dossier several times; the portraits of those bandit leaders were etched into her memory.

So the instant she recognized the heads, she realized in shock—

The Black Wind Fortress had truly been wiped out.

Those bandits who had driven previous Elders to failure, those long-standing poisons entrenched on Black Pine Mountain, were truly finished.

Especially these heads, their faces frozen in the grotesque terror of death.

One could only imagine what they had endured before dying...

Cao Ying stared at Jiang Ye, at that old man whose expression remained calm, her lips trembling, unable to utter a single word.

She simply could not imagine that this seemingly withered old man possessed such terrifying power and methods.

Jiang Ye looked at Cao Ying, her face pale with shock, and shook his head slightly.

This girl’s mental fortitude was truly lacking.

Seeing her still dazed, Jiang Ye cleared his throat and said, “Check it over. If everything’s correct, transfer the contribution points to me.”

He needed those points to exchange for the True Fire Eye Refinement Art in the Scripture Hall.

“Ah... oh! Sorry, Elder Jiang, hand me your token—I’ll process it for you right away.”

Cao Ying snapped out of her daze, took the token from Jiang Ye, and opened the dossier to verify and cancel the mission.

The inner-disciple students who had gathered finally recognized the faces of the severed heads; someone cried out:

“Heavens!!! These are the heads of the Black Wind Fortress leaders—they’re all here...”

Hearing this, the other students froze in shock.

Wiping out the Black Wind Fortress was one of the more notorious missions in the Duty Hall.

Not because the reward was high, but because it was too difficult.

Those Qi-Condensation bandit leaders worked in perfect sync, and with the terrain’s natural defenses, several Golden Core Elders had failed to complete it.

Yet now, those bandit leaders who had plagued the Elders lay silently in the sack, eyes still wide open in death.

Countless eyes unconsciously fixed on Jiang Ye.

Their gazes held shock, reverence, and unmistakable curiosity.

Who exactly was this elderly man with white hair and unfamiliar face?

Jiang Ye ignored all the stares, standing quietly in place, waiting for Cao Ying to finish the paperwork.

“Elder Jiang, the information has been verified. I’ve transferred twenty thousand contribution points into your token.”

Cao Ying rose respectfully, holding the token out with both hands to Jiang Ye.

“Hmm.”

Jiang Ye nodded slightly, took the token, and turned to leave.

“Elder Jiang...”

Cao Ying watched Jiang Ye’s retreating figure, her heart still unsettled.

The inner-disciple students, seeing Jiang Ye leave the Duty Hall, gathered courage and crowded around.

They surrounded Cao Ying, chattering excitedly, asking about the identity of this mysterious Elder.

Juding Peak, Scripture Hall.

Jiang Ye stepped inside; the first floor remained dim, a few oil lamps flickering in the corners.

The eccentric Elder Zhong still sat behind his desk, reading.

He was deeply absorbed, seemingly unaware anyone had entered.

Jiang Ye stepped forward slowly, about to speak—

“Elder Zhong...”

The moment the words left his lips, Elder Zhong snapped his head up, his cloudy eyes filled with disbelief as he stared at Jiang Ye: “You... you succeeded?!”

His aged face wore an extraordinary expression—shock, envy, and mostly confusion.

Jiang Ye knew he meant the Great Sun Heavenly Flame Qi Cultivation Art; he nodded calmly. “Lucky enough to have mastered it.”

“Lucky?!”

Elder Zhong gave a faint smile, one laced with hidden meaning.

He stared at Jiang Ye for a long while before speaking slowly, his voice hoarse and drawn out:

“I never would’ve guessed... you’re actually a genius.”

He paused, then pulled out several ancient bronze coins from his robe and laid them in a straight line on the desk.

“Rare indeed! Let this old man cast a divination for you!”

His cloudy eyes fixed on the coins, muttering incantations under his breath, as if calculating something obscure.

Jiang Ye couldn’t decipher the omen, so he stood quietly to the side.

Moments later, Elder Zhong stared at the coins thoughtfully; his usually stern face unexpectedly broke into a faint smile.

“So... it’s withered wood meeting spring.”

He offered no explanation of the omen’s meaning, ignored Jiang Ye’s confusion, simply tucked the coins away, and asked, “So, what are you here to exchange this time?”

Jiang Ye didn’t press further; he said firmly, “Elder Zhong, I wish to exchange for the True Fire Eye Refinement Art.”

“You’ve got good taste.”

Elder Zhong gave Jiang Ye a knowing, amused look, then said, “Hand me your token. I’ll fetch it for you upstairs.”

Jiang Ye handed over his token, then asked curiously, “Why can’t I go up myself?”

Elder Zhong took the token, raised his head, and smiled wryly: “Without the Sect Master’s written order, if you climb to the third floor on your own, I can kill you on the spot.”

He paused, then added with a touch of malicious amusement: “Don’t believe me? Go ahead and try.”

“Oh?”

Jiang Ye raised an eyebrow.

Wen Yueyao had never mentioned this rule; he hadn’t realized climbing to the third floor required the Sect Master’s authorization.

The Scripture Hall’s rules were far stricter than he’d imagined.

Elder Zhong paid him no further attention, turned, and walked toward the stairs. His pace was unhurried; his figure soon vanished into the dim corridor.

About half a cup of tea later.

Elder Zhong slowly descended the stairs, holding a crimson-bound scripture in his hand.

He didn’t glance at Jiang Ye, walked straight to the small room behind the desk, the door slightly ajar, faint rustling sounds coming from within.

Soon after, he pushed the door open, now holding a copy instead—the paper slightly yellowed but well-preserved, the cover bearing the same title, “True Fire Eye Refinement Art,” though the ink was faded.

“Take it.”

Elder Zhong returned both the copy and the token, his tone as flat as ever, revealing no emotion.

Jiang Ye took the copy, his eyes brightening slightly.

Merely the characters on the cover radiated heat, as if flames danced upon the paper.

He immediately bowed to Elder Zhong: “Thank you, Elder Zhong.”

Saying this, he turned to leave.

“Since you’re also an old man...”

Behind him, Elder Zhong’s hoarse voice drifted out, slow and casual, like idle chatter:

“I’ll give you one piece of advice. If you don’t want to blind yourself, use Azure Spirit Liquid to protect your eyes.”

“Huh?!”

Jiang Ye froze mid-step.

Azure Spirit Liquid?

He remembered Gongsun Hong mentioning it was an internal tonic, aiding cultivation and healing.

How had Elder Zhong turned it into an external application?

He turned back, staring at the old man now bent over his book again, his eyes filled with confusion.

But Elder Zhong seemed to have said all he would; he had returned to his absorbed state, eyes glued to the page, ignoring Jiang Ye entirely.

Jiang Ye stood still for a moment, seeing no further reaction, shook his head slightly, and turned to leave.

Behind him, the oil lamp still flickered, casting Elder Zhong’s hunched shadow long against the wall.

He seemed to sense Jiang Ye’s departure; a faint, almost imperceptible smile curled at his lips.

"Withered wood meets spring... intriguing..."

When Jiang Ye returned to the Tianyangfeng herb garden, the sight before him made him pause slightly.

In the open space before the wooden hut, Lu Ming and Chen Lili stood with deep respect, as if they had been waiting for a long time.

Their expressions were more complex than before—beyond respect, there was now a clear trace of awe.

"Elder Jiang!!!"

The moment they spotted Jiang Ye, Lu Ming rushed forward, his round body moving with surprising agility that defied his size.

Panting heavily, his voice brimmed with excitement:

"You're finally back! Just now, several Golden Core Elders came to visit you!!!"

Jiang Ye raised an eyebrow slightly, a flicker of confusion in his eyes: "Why would they come to visit me?"

As an elder assigned to guard the herb garden, he should have been an obscure figure in the Tianqing Sect.

Normally, few even greeted him—why would anyone suddenly come calling today?

Beside him, Chen Lili also rushed forward, her beautiful eyes wide with astonishment as she exclaimed:

"Elder Jiang, word of your destruction of the Black Wind Mountain Stronghold has spread throughout the Tianqing Sect."

She paused, drew a deep breath—as if it were necessary to steady her trembling heart—and continued:

"Everyone is talking, saying you're a hidden master who wiped out over a hundred men from the Black Wind Stronghold all by yourself!"

Lu Ming nodded vigorously, his round face glowing with pride:

"Exactly! I bet if this keeps spreading, soon even the families in Fucheng will send envoys to pay their respects to you!"

He rubbed his hands together, his eyes gleaming as if he could already see Jiang Ye rising as a rising star of the Tianqing Sect—and himself, as "Elder Jiang's longtime acquaintance," riding the wave of glory.

Hearing this, Jiang Ye’s aged eyes flickered with a strange light.

Those bandits from the Black Wind Stronghold were nothing but a bunch of riffraff.

Five Qi Condensation cultivators, plus a hundred or so rabble—slaughtering them was no different from cutting grass.

Why make such a fuss over it?