The Eternal Sin-Chapter 37: Pearls Buried in the Mud.

The waterfall crashed down from the cliff like a curtain of shattered moonlight pouring from the sky. Each strand of water struck the pool below with a sharp hiss, as if countless moon blades were falling together. Cold mist rolled outward, clinging to stone and grass, turning the surrounding ground slick and dark.

Within that haze, something moved.

Swish swoosh~!

A figure flashed through the rocks and trees, circling the pool in ceaseless cycles.

At times it seemed like a human form. At others, it was only a smear of motion, a fleeting dark shadow brushed onto the world and wiped away in the same breath.

Jiang Chen’s body blurred as he ran at a speed that could only be described as inhuman.

His feet touched the ground so lightly that not even the wet soil beneath showed a footprint. Each step landed and vanished, like ink dropped into flowing water, leaving no trace behind.

The concept of noise had been completely forgotten by his feet. Behind him, faint distortions lingered in the air, thin and wavering, resembling strokes of black ink dragged across emptiness. They existed for less than a breath before dissolving completely.

Jiang Chen twisted his waist mid stride, leapt off a grey rock, and changed direction without slowing. His body flowed like a brush guided by an invisible hand, strokes smooth and continuous. After several more circuits around the pool, he halted abruptly atop a flat stone.

The ink like distortions faded.

Jiang Chen stood quietly, his chest rising and falling at an even pace. His clothes were damp from the mist, sleeves clinging to his arms, strands of black hair plastered against his temples. Yet his eyes were calm and bright, clear as an autumn sky after rain.

’Basic mastery at last.’ Jiang Chen closed his eyes as he replayed the sensation in his mind.

At first, even taking three steps had been utterly crude and stiff, like a wooden puppet forced to dance. But now, Traceless Ink Steps could be maintained for continuous periods of movement.

’This should be enough for now.’

He knew his own limits better than anyone. Advancing Traceless Ink Steps from basic to intermediate mastery would not be a matter of days or even months. With his dog shit aptitude, a year would be optimistic, and that would demand single minded devotion bordering on madness. He was not unwilling to be mad, but madness also had to be useful.

’There are better places to invest my effort.’ Jiang Chen sat down on the stone, letting the spray of the waterfall wash over his shoulders.

He lowered his gaze, his thoughts drifting like leaves carried downstream.

’Hm.. Things have been going smoothly lately. I broke through to the Eighth layer of Qi Condensation. My Heavenly Tiger Fist has reached advanced mastery. And now a peak tier movement art is also in my arsenal.’

If any outer disciple had achieved these feats within such a short span of time, they would already be boasting loudly in the wine halls, eager to make sure every ear within ten li heard of it. They would probably say something like; "Look at me, I am the future pillar of the sect. Elder so and so should hurry and accept me as a disciple."

A faint smile tugged at the corner of Jiang Chen’s mouth. He thought, ’If someone else achieved this much in such a short time, I might even feel impressed. Then, Jiang Chen, should you be impressed with yourself?’

The smile faded just as quickly, replaced by a scoff.

’No. This much is nothing.’

Jiang Chen’s gaze turned toward the falling water, his eyes deepening in thought.

’The road ahead is long. Too long to waste time patting myself on the back. You slow down even a little, someone stronger will trample you into the mud and use your corpse as fertilizer in their backyard. What I should instead focus on is the Heavenly Star Treasure Pavilion auction that is scheduled to take place in a month and a half.’

’To get my hands on a fire essence, I will need a tremendous amount of spirit stones.’ His expression turned calculating. ’From selling the Purple Ghost Flowers, the Honey Pumpkins, and several other materials harvested from the plantation, along with the spirit stones taken from corpses, I currently have just over nine thousand spirit stones.’

It was not a small sum by Qi Condensation standards. Most outer disciples would never see such wealth in their lifetime.

But Jiang Chen was not like most outer disciples.

’Fire essences are absurdly expensive. Those damned things are devoured by pill refiners like starving dogs. Rich starving dogs. Tsk, why does even a Yellow Rank fire essence start at around twenty thousand spirit stones.’

He rubbed his chin slowly.

’I need to move the remaining resources quickly.’

Jiang Chen had not sold everything taken from the Jade Heart Plantation. He had been very careful and methodical. Only the materials that had been his marked targets from the beginning had been sold. If he sold everything, it would be like standing in the middle of the sect and announcing that he was the one who killed the Buddha masked cultivator and stole his identity.

’That would be asking to die.’

He exhaled softly.

’And the first person to come knocking would not be Wang Wei, no matter how violently he gnashes his teeth in hatred of his elder brother’s death. Hehe, it would be Sun Jian.’

How could Sun Jian tolerate such wealth slipping into the hands of a Qi Condensation ant? Was his head only for decoration? Of course not.

Jiang Chen had thought deeply about the problem of selling those remaining plants.

’Selling through the contact Wang Wei introduced me to is not an option.’

That person was an alliance mate under Sun Jian’s banner. Selling to him would be like placing his head on the chopping block and politely asking for a clean cut.

’As for selling openly in other sect shops.’

Jiang Chen almost laughed.

Even dividing the goods into smaller portions and spreading them among various vendors within the sect would not help. Jiang Chen was under no illusion about the intelligence of cultivators who had survived decades within the sect’s internal struggles. Such people have eyes sharper than knives and noses bigger than dogs.

’Only an idiot believes himself to be the only clever one.’

The smarter a person became, the more cautious they grew. Jiang Chen was smart enough to know he was not the smartest person alive.

Since the sect was a dead end, that left only one path.

Leaving the sect lands and entering cultivation cities and neutral territories to do business.

That decision had been made days ago.

And that was precisely why he had driven himself so hard these past days, learning this movement art until his legs screamed and his bones ached.

Yet just today, that plan had taken an unpleasant turn.

Earlier, Jiang Chen had gone to the mission hall to issue a mission. Luckily, Wen Shan was there, and as casual talk and banter unfolded, Jiang Chen subtly directed the conversation toward cultivation towns and cities to probe for more information about them.

That was when Wen Shan had casually mentioned that Sun Jian had dispatched people to observe those areas.

Jiang Chen’s mood had darkened immediately.

The culprit who had duped them would naturally seek to dispose of materials outside the sect. Sun Jian thinking of it only proved he was not merely relying on his high cultivation alone.

Jiang Chen even assumed the worst and thought Sun Jian might have spread rumors of a demonic cultivator on the run with stolen goods.

Such rumors were deadly. They would give local forces justification to act freely. Once labeled demonic, one lost the protection of righteousness in the public eye.

Jiang Chen understood the game too well.

If he appeared in those cities with materials, even after evading Sun Jian’s surveillance, would the people running those places be appreciative of him?

The answer was obvious.

They would never side with a Qi Condensation nobody.

Any force could use righteousness to justify killing him and taking all his resources, or capturing him in the name of justice and negotiating benefits later with Sun Jian privately.

Even if Jiang Chen attempted to sweet talk those forces, even if he offered greater profits, he would still lose. Who negotiates with a weak party?

’When placed between me and Sun Jian, the choice is rather obvious.’

Sun Jian was at the Foundation Establishment stage. More importantly, he was the eldest son of Elder Sun Yifeng, a Core Formation expert.

That alone tilted the scales beyond reason.

’If I were them, I would do the same.’

Jiang Chen felt no enthusiasm for their actions, but he understood them well enough to feel no resentment.

’When Wen Shan first offered me the plantation mission, I only accepted because there was a Core Formation expert behind Sun Jian to clean up the mess. Otherwise, would I really be stupid enough to kill spirit farmers at a core resource point? Absolutely not.’

The sect was not blind. The chaos at the plantation had not been tolerated because Sun Jian was so clever.

It was tolerated because his father willed it.

’The son shits and the father wipes. Truly moving.’ Jiang Chen sneered.

At that time, he had been glad to have the indirect backing of a Core Formation expert.

’And now that same backing is the most troublesome obstacle before me.’ Jiang Chen laughed softly, though there was no mirth in it.

’The workings of fate truly are strange.’