After saying farewell to Shi Meng, Tang Jie returned to the Carefree House.

As he pushed open the gate, he saw a shower of flower petals. Tang Jie confidently snatched out with his hand, and as a petal drifted past his hand, it made a bloody scratch.

The other petals began to assail him.

Tang Jie used his hands to protect his face, and there was a thudding as his hand was turned into a pincushion.

He saw Yiyi come out from a flower bush and giggle. “What do you think? Big Brother, my Petal Rain is pretty good, right?”

Tang Jie looked at the back of his hand and nodded. “Not bad. You’ve made a lot of progress. But Yiyi, starting from now, you can’t practice it anymore.”

“Oh? Why?” Yiyi was confused.

“Use this time to learn another spell,” Tang Jie said as he opened up the copy of the Divine Firmament Sword Classic.

“Another spell? Are you saying that the second mission has come out?” Yiyi immediately sensed that something was wrong. Though she was still young, under Tang Jie’s tutelage, she was much sharper when it came to considering problems, and she quickly realized that Tang Jie was taking an ad-hoc action.

“Mm, it’s in the Valley of No Return.” Tang Jie gave her a rough summary of the Valley of No Return.

Yiyi was scared out of her wits once she learned about how dangerous it was.

Tang Jie replied, “While the Valley of No Return is dangerous, with the Weapon Mantra, I’m not afraid. My only worry is the young master. Even with you at his side, and with the fiend fox, he might be able to escape any Spirit Sensing beasts, but he’ll be out of luck if he runs into a Mind Opening fiend beast. Thus, our most urgent priority is to get a way to establish a communication link with each other so that I can find you as soon as we enter the valley. Fortunately, the Divine Firmament Sword Classic has just such an art.”

He pointed at one of the spell arts.

“Heart Consonance?” Yiyi called out.

Heart Consonance was a very special spell art.

It needed at least two people to cultivate it for it to work.

Once it was used, regardless of distance, one person could talk and the other could hear. This was Heart Consonance.

This spell consumed spiritual power while it was being used. The farther apart the two were, the more energy was consumed. But as it wasn’t a combat spell, it didn’t have very high proficiency requirements.

Tang Jie firmly said, “The second mission starts tomorrow. Tonight, you need to focus on this spell, and you must completely memorize it. Once you’re in the Valley of No Return, you have to immediately use the spell to get in contact with me.”

“Mm.” Yiyi earnestly nodded.

Even so, Tang Jie couldn’t relax.

After thinking it over, he left the house and headed for Spirit Wonder Market.

Along the way, he ran into someone going the other way. It was none other than Qi Shaoming.

“Tang Jie,” Qi Shaoming shouted. “It’s so late. Where are you going?”

For the usually proud Qi Shaoming to call out to him gave Tang Jie pause, and he replied, “To Spirit Platform Pavilion. I have some things that I would like Madam Shui to help me get.”

“Oh? Can you tell me what it is? I might be able to help you,” Qi Shaoming replied.

Tang Jie froze.

To tell the truth, he was going to Madam Shui to borrow some money.

But he still owed ten thousand coins, and while Madam Shui had said that she wouldn’t take interest, borrowing some money now made things rather awkward.

He hesitated for a moment before finally saying, “I was going to borrow some money from the madam.”

“How much?” Qi Shaoming asked.

“…One thousand.”

“I’ll lend it to you.” Qi Shaoming opened up his Mustard Seed Bag and threw over a spirit jade.

He loaned the money so easily that Tang Jie was dumbfounded. “You…”

“In my battle with you, while I may have lost, you opened my eyes, and I was finally able to walk away from the wrong path. Consider this a sign of my gratitude.”

“How could I accept this?”

“There’s no need to be polite. I’m just loaning it to you. It’s not like I’m asking you to take it for free. Right, are you borrowing money for the trip to the Valley of No Return?”

Tang Jie nodded. “Yes. If you’re going to the Valley of No Return as well, isn’t loaning money to me helping your enemy?”

To his surprise, Qi Shaoming shook his head. “I have no interest in the True Inheritor position.”

“Oh?” Qi Shaoming hadn’t taken part in the last mission, which had rather puzzled Tang Jie. In his view, Qi Shaoming had no reason to let this opportunity pass by, so to hear this answer from him was rather unexpected.

Qi Shaoming explained, “My clan has already cleared the way for me and found a master. It won’t be long before he takes me as his disciple.”

So that’s what was going on.

Although the academy route was the proper path to entering a sect, there was never just one road.

Just like how the children of True Persons could enter the sect despite being unable to get into the top ten, there were always special routes that people could exploit.

The Qi Clan could be considered one of the major clans of Sageheart, and Qi Shaoming was a genius who was very hardworking. So long as one was willing to spend money, it wasn’t hard to find a master. There was naturally no need to fight with everyone for the True Inheritor position.

For him, making up for lost time to cultivate was the right path.

“But I’m still going to the Valley of No Return,” Qi Shaoming added.

“And why is that?” Tang Jie didn’t get it.

“One: I want to temper myself. Two: I want to get some resources. I’ve heard that there’s darkswamp grass there. If I manage to get it, it will be very useful for my Chill Phantom Sword, so I’d like to try it out.”

“I see. That being the case, if Brother Qi enters the valley and we get the chance to meet, I will lend you a hand!” Since Qi Shaoming wasn’t fighting with him over the True Inheritor spot, he didn’t mind helping Qi Shaoming if he had the chance.

“Then I thank you,” Qi Shaoming accepted. While he was proud, he wasn’t a fool. It wouldn’t be easy to get darkswamp grass, and if he had Tang Jie’s help, his chances would be much better. He had also had some ulterior motives when he had been so straightforward just now. He said, “Right, An Rumeng might go into the Valley of No Return this time as well. You should be careful.”

“An Rumeng?” Tang Jie was amazed.

An Rumeng was clearly a student of the Thousand Passions Sect and had no chance of obtaining the True Inheritor spot. Why was she going to the Valley of No Return? At this thought, Tang Jie asked, “Is she also going into the valley for resources?”

“No,” Qi Shaoming unexpectedly replied. “She was hired.”

“‘Hired’?” Tang Jie’s eyes constricted. “Who?”

“Long Dao.”

“So it was him.” Tang Jie understood now. It appeared that Long Dao was hiring soldiers to go against him in the second mission. He couldn’t help but laugh. “The proud daughter of Heaven is starting to bend at the waist for spirit coins?”

Qi Shaoming didn’t find this strange. “If there was enough money, I would also bend at the waist.”

Tang Jie was startled at first, and then he loudly laughed.

Qi Shaoming was normally as cold as an iceberg, but even he had times when he could say things like this. A rather passionate heart beat beneath that refined exterior.

As Tang Jie loudly laughed, a hint of a smile appeared in Qi Shaoming’s eyes. “Good luck.”

“Same to you,” Tang Jie replied.

Only then did Qi Shaoming leave.

After walking another few steps, he suddenly stopped and said, “Tang Jie!”

“Mm?”

“Be careful of the people around you.”

Qi Shaoming finally turned and left.

With the money, Tang Jie went to Spirit Wonder Market. The place was bustling with activity, even though it was the middle of the night.

Everyone would be battling it out in the Valley of No Return tomorrow, and all the students after the True Inheritor spot had come to the market in search of treasures to be used in battle.

This inflated the cost of goods.

Fortunately, the prices of the things Tang Jie needed weren’t too unreasonable. He quickly bought what he needed and returned to the Carefree House.

Opening the formation diagram, Tang Jie dumped in the materials he had bought and started to lay down a formation. After finishing the diagram, Tang Jie passed it to Yiyi and exhaled in relief.

With this chain of plans in place, unless Wei Tianchong and Yiyi were unlucky enough to be teleported right in front of an upper-grade Mind Opening fiend beast, they would be able to protect themselves, even from upper- and middle-grade Spirit Sensing fiend beasts.

After doing this, Tang Jie practiced the Heart Consonance spell with Yiyi.

On this night, almost none of the students after the True Inheritor spot were able to rest.

In the Refined Pavilion, Shi Meng flew back and forth in the courtyard, constantly shifting positions as he threw out the Silver Cloud Needles.

Thudthud! The needles slammed into the target with such force that they trembled.

Seeing how far the silver needles were from hitting the center of the target, Shi Meng grumbled, “How could I possibly master this spell weapon in a single night? I can’t even fire them accurately, so what would be the point of coating them in poison? I have to think of a way…”

He twirled his bamboo flute in his hand. Suddenly, his eyes flashed. “I’ve got one!”

Bang!

A silver arrow slammed into a mountain rock, sending debris into the air.

“Beautiful shot!” A student clapped. “Young Master’s Dragon Roar has gotten even stronger. On this trip to the Valley of No Return, Young Master is certain to get the Iceflame Red Lotus!”

Long Dao coldly put away his longbow. “I don’t care if I get the Iceflame Red Lotus or not. What I want… is to kill Tang Jie.”

He massaged his throat.

In Long Dao’s carelessness, Tang Jie had attacked his throat in the battle of the Student Forest. Though he hadn’t died, he considered it the humiliation of a lifetime.

He was the son of a True Person and cared little about the True Inheritor position. Rather, he had just wanted to get famous through this battle, but in the end, the one who had gotten famous was Tang Jie.

In the battle of the Student Forest, he had gone one versus one hundred and displayed a terrifying savagery. He had slain Lu Fei in front of everyone and had been simply unstoppable. There were already some people calling him “Fierce Tiger” in private.

He considered himself a proud dragon that reigned over the nine heavens, so he naturally couldn’t stand the sight of this fierce tiger.

Moving his hand away from his throat, he clenched his fists and viciously said, “In this battle, Tang Jie must die!”

Autumn Wind Home.

Bang!

A palm shattered a large tree, and leaves drifted down.

In a flash of sword light, a gale stirred up that tore through the world.

Once the storm had settled, the sword light faded and the sword returned to the owner’s hand. Countless sliced leaves drifted down, and if one looked carefully, one would find that each leaf had been evenly sliced into ten pieces, as if someone had cut them with scissors.

This attack had been both powerful and accurate.

Ye Tianshang made a flashy move with his sword, organizing the fallen leaves into a single word: “Tang”!

Dragonsoar House.

A storm had just been through here.

A muscular student in tight and dark clothes solemnly stood. Everything within three meters of him had been cleaned away, and beyond three meters were shattered stones and the remnants of various kinds of weapon energy.

The muscular student nodded in satisfaction. Clenching his steely fist, he said, “I’ve heard that there’s an up-and-coming student called Tang Jie who cultivates the Formless Golden Body and set a new record in the Celestial Defense Hall, possessing formidable defensive abilities. Is this true?”

“Yes, Senior Brother!” a student answered.

“Very good. Then I’d like to see which is stronger, his Formless Golden Body or my Apex Combat True Astral!”

Frost Pavilion.

A girl with peach-colored cheeks and a rosy complexion, wearing a purple gown, was seated idly, a large black wolf lying at her feet.

Her hands propping up her head, she was lost in thought for some time. It was only when the wolf snorted that she stirred from her stupor.

Looking at the giant wolf, she suddenly smiled. “Alright, Baobao, don’t be impatient. Once we’re in the Valley of No Return… there will be plenty for you to eat.”

The Meditation Garden.

Wei Tianchong was carrying the little fox and feeding it its favorite food.

He lovingly said, “My baby, we’ve been together for so long, and I don’t think I’ve treated you poorly. In the Valley of No Return, you have to help me. You can’t treat me like you did before…”