Proving God begins with the principle that no effort is wasted.

Chapter 95 The Bet

The rain stopped, and the sky was as dark as iron.

The wooden door of the main hall of the incantation lineage was wide open, and the damp, cold mountain wind blew through the hall, causing the edges of the ancient landscape paintings on the walls to tremble slightly.

In the central position, Qian Tong sat motionless.

The account books lay flat on the table, the abacus beads fell silently, making intermittent, soft clicking sounds.

Before long, footsteps sounded from the steps.

Chen Xuan entered the hall alone. He sat down opposite him and pushed a letter across the wooden table with his fingertips.

"The sect leader has approved it."

Chen Xuan's voice was flat and emotionless, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

Qian Tong reached out and took the letter. The paper was neat and the seal was bright red and upright.

The words were few; he read them silently twice, his fingertips slowly tracing the signature.

"The sect leader's intention is that cultivation is voluntary, and no academy may forcibly obstruct it."

He raised his eyes, his gaze slightly cold, a hint of mockery playing at the corners of his lips:

"But they never agreed; they must release him."

"That's why I came to find you, to discuss something." Chen Xuan looked directly at him.

Qian Tong gently tapped the armrest with his five fingers, producing two soft sounds, like the final tone of a hammer.

"It's negotiable."

He leaned back slightly, his gaze fixed intently on Chen Xuan opposite him:

"What do you intend to offer in exchange for your Demon-Suppressing Meridian?"

He spoke calmly and deliberately:

"Traces of remnants of the Demonic Sect have been discovered in the Yinshan mines, and the Zhensha Vein needs to be investigated. Jiang Lan is the most suitable."

"If he goes and returns safely, I will personally go to the sect leader to request permission for him to cultivate both lineages' techniques simultaneously."

"The disciple register will still belong to your Curse Magic lineage, and the cultivation resources will be shared equally by my Suppressing Evil lineage."

As soon as he finished speaking, the hall fell silent.

Dual cultivation of two meridians!

The Daishan School has been established for a thousand years, and only a handful of people have achieved this level of accomplishment; each one is a prodigy of the school.

Qian Tong paused, a strange light flashing in his eyes, which he quickly suppressed.

"Yinshan mineral vein".

He spoke slowly, his tone chillingly indifferent:

"The malevolent energy devours the body, and evil spirits abound. You don't use your own people from the Demon-Suppressing Clan, but instead send my men into this death trap?"

"It's not that I dare not, it's that I'm unworthy."

Chen Xuan answered frankly and without any concealment:

"Those with the most outstanding talent and innate ability in the Suppressing Evil Vein should be preserved as the foundation of the sect, and their loss should not be tolerated. Those with mediocre talent are simply sent to their deaths if they enter; they are of no use."

"Only Jiang Lan."

His words were firm and resolute:

"He single-handedly razed Black Wind Stronghold, fighting five opponents at the peak of the Nine Acupoints stage and one at the early stage of the Condensation Realm."

"Having the means doesn't guarantee survival," Qian Tong retorted, his voice turning completely cold. "You're using the guise of investigation to drive him into danger."

"I'm giving him an opportunity."

Chen Xuan pulled out a rough topographical map from his sleeve and laid it flat on the table.

"The ominous energy of the mineral vein soars to the sky, which is just the right time for someone who is about to accumulate ominous energy to hone their foundation."

"If he enters, he can use the evil spirits to cultivate his Dao."

Qian Tong glanced down at the map; the scarlet markings were glaring and alarming.

He got up and walked to the window, his back to Chen Xuan.

The sky outside the window was gray and gloomy, and the fog over Dingbo Lake was so thick that it was hard to breathe.

After a long silence, he slowly spoke, word by word:

"The period is March."

"Having returned alive, I agree to the dual cultivation arrangement."

He paused, and a chill suddenly ran through him:

"Your fate is determined by heaven, and has nothing to do with your sect or your Zhensha Vein."

Chen Xuan stood up and solemnly clasped his hands in greeting.

It's a deal.

Qian Tong slowly turned around, his gaze sharp as a knife:

"Born into poverty, yet only at the fourth level of Dao Foundation, he has come this far without any support... This kid is truly remarkable."

He sat down again, his fingertips resting on the abacus beads once more, the clicking sound ringing out again, cold and crisp.

"But he chose this path himself."

"If one dies out there, it is all predestined."

Chen Xuan said no more, turned around and strode out of the hall, his robes billowing in the wind, his movements swift and agile.

……

The wind travels very fast.

Within half a day, undercurrents were already surging within the magic lineage.

Whispers drifted on the wind under the eaves in the courtyard.

"The head of the Zhen Sha Sect personally came to our door, just to ask for an outer disciple?"

"Jiang Lan? That guy with a fourth-grade foundation? What makes him so special?"

"Because he slaughtered Black Wind Stronghold."

"So what? The Yinshan mines! That's where the remnants of the Demonic Sect are entrenched! Ten out of ten will not survive!"

"It seems that the Zhensha Clan has no one else to use, so they're using him as a pawn to test the waters."

Whispers drifted over, neither too close nor too far.

Beside the well.

Jiang Lan washed the water from her palms with her hands, her expression calm and indifferent.

The rumors I heard did not disturb my mind in the slightest.

Zhao Shi walked over slowly, handed over a piece of dry cloth, his expression complex.

"You agreed?"

Jiang Lan took the towel, wiped the water droplets from the back of her hands, and responded faintly, "Mm."

Do you know what kind of place that is?

Zhao Shi lowered his voice, his tone grave:

"The malevolent aura corrodes to the bone, and evil spirits abound. Of those who enter, not three out of ten survive."

Why gamble with your life?

Jiang Lan handed the cloth back, her gaze calmly fixed on the distant, overcast sky.

"Not going is tantamount to waiting to die."

Zhao Shi was taken aback, his throat tightened, and he offered no further words of advice.

He patted Jiang Lan's shoulder heavily, remained silent for a long time, and then left only one sentence.

"Come back alive."

……

As dusk fell, the houses became dimly lit.

Jiang Lan locked the door and bolted it shut. The room was dark and gloomy.

He spread his belongings out on the bed one by one.

Thirty thousand taels of silver notes, gold leaves, three bottles of Qi-boosting pills, one bottle of evil-gathering pills, and one Heavenly Thunder Talisman.

Finally, there was the gray stone obtained from Black Wind Village.

It feels cool to the touch, neither gold nor jade, and carries a hidden, unusual aura.

Others only said that he was a man from a poor family who had risen to prominence by sheer luck, and that he was extremely bold to take on the dangerous job of mining in the Yinshan Mountains, which was considered a gamble on youthful recklessness.

But only Jiang Lan himself knew that he never gambled on luck.

He had no other choice but to rush ahead.

From the moment he slaughtered everyone in Black Wind Stronghold, he had already been standing at the forefront of controversy.

Now that he is hiding in the Daishan Sect, he still has the sect's outer shell to protect him, so the Xu family dares not openly break into the sect and cause trouble.

However, if he remains stuck in the sect and stagnates, always at the early stage of Condensing Qi and unable to break through to the next level, his cultivation will stagnate and he will lose all value. Before long, he will become a discarded pawn.

Qian Tong was incredibly shrewd and calculating, always seeking advantage and avoiding harm.

This head of the incantation lineage only supports useful people and does not protect useless disciples.

The reason they are willing to gamble with Chen Xuan for him right now, and tacitly allow him to go to dangerous places, is never because they cherish his talent, but because they value the uncertainty in him—betting that he can live, betting that he can bring benefits from dual cultivation of the two lineages, and betting that he can win face for the Curse Lineage.

If he remains mediocre and stagnant, without any value, and the Ye family secretly works to exert pressure step by step, Qian Tong will not hesitate to discard him, wiping away this useless pawn to quell the anger of worldly forces.

Without the protection of a master, without family support, and without a powerful patron, not advancing will surely lead to death.

Staying in the sect may seem safe, but it's actually like being slowly boiled like a frog in lukewarm water. Day after day, you waste your time, your cultivation stagnates, your enemies keep pressing in, and your sect watches coldly from the sidelines. In the end, you die quietly, with no one even caring about your death.

The route to the Yinshan mines is treacherous, but it is also the only way to survive and the only way forward.

As thoughts raced through Jiang Lan's mind, her heart remained clear and transparent, devoid of any侥幸 (a sense of luck or chance), only extreme calmness remained.

The world fears the Yinshan mines for their corrosive evil energy and the mysterious presence of demons, regarding them as a deadly place. What is a death trap for others is a tailor-made opportunity for cultivation for him.

The energy within his dantian is extremely special, unlike the foundation of ordinary cultivators. Ordinary cultivators need to cultivate step by step, absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to nourish their dantian and break through barriers. If they are not careful, their energy will become disordered and they will suffer from qi deviation.

However, his energy is most attracted to violent, malevolent, and sinister auras. The more dangerous and murky the aura, the more it can stimulate the activity of his energy and help him break through bottlenecks.

His inability to condense evil spirits was not due to a lack of talent, but rather because the spiritual energy within the sect was too mild, insufficient to break through the shackles and overcome the barrier to condensing evil spirits.

The dense, malevolent energy emanating from the Yinshan mines is a deadly poison to others, a source of inner demons and destructive influence, but to him, it is the finest nourishment for tempering and a perfect opportunity to break through his current realm.

If he can keep his mind steady and focus on refining his skills within three months, using the malevolent energy of the mine to nourish his inner strength, he may well be able to break through and enter the realm of condensed malevolent energy.

Breaking through a cultivation level signifies a qualitative transformation.

At that time, he will no longer be a nine-acupoint cultivator who can be manipulated at will. Even if aristocratic families hold a grudge and his sect is indifferent, with his own strength, he will have the confidence to stand in the world.

In addition, Chen Xuan's promise was an offer he couldn't refuse.

The Daishan Sect has been established for a thousand years, and there are very few practitioners who cultivate both lineages. Each one of them is an exceptionally talented individual who eventually becomes a pillar of the sect.

The spellcasting lineage is unpredictable and skilled in controlling arrays and casting spells, as well as stealth and surveillance; the demon-suppressing lineage is powerful and domineering, specializing in suppressing evil spirits and demons, and in attacking fortified positions.

The two martial arts styles each have their own strengths. If they can cultivate both and complement each other, his style will be completely perfected. He can fight and defeat enemies head-on or hide and escape danger. His combat power and survivability will increase exponentially, completely getting rid of the shortcomings of a single martial art.

Not to mention the cultivation resources that the Zhensha Meridian shares equally.

Born into a fishing family, he had nothing. To this day, all his resources have been earned through risking his life in his cultivation journey. The offerings from ordinary disciples of the sect are simply insufficient to support his high-intensity cultivation breakthroughs.

The Zhensha lineage has a foundation far superior to the Zhoufa lineage. Its elixirs, talismans, magical artifacts, and cultivation secret realms are all of the highest quality. With such resources as a safety net, his cultivation path will be ten times smoother.

As for the remnants of the Demonic Sect, they may seem terrifying, but in reality, they are not necessarily doomed.

Chen Xuan issued an order to investigate, not an order to annihilate!

A single word makes all the difference.

He didn't need to confront the entire force of the Demon Sect's stronghold head-on; he only needed to secretly investigate their movements, find out their details, and record the layout of their stronghold before he could report back.

If they can defeat the demonic cultivators, they will seize the opportunity to plunder the resources and treasures left behind; if they cannot defeat them, they will turn around and retreat, never lingering in battle.

The pros and cons are now clearly apparent.

Staying behind is a slow death, while moving forward is survival amidst danger.

A wise person always chooses the only path to survival.

Outsiders only see his recklessness in rushing into a desperate situation, but they cannot understand his meticulous planning.

Jiang Lan slowly opened her eyes. Her dark eyes were calm and still in the darkness, showing no fear, only determination.

Adventure is never recklessness.

True life-or-death situations always involve being fully prepared before venturing into danger.

He never fights a battle unprepared. For this trip to Yinshan, he had already planned all the necessary measures to save his life, with layers of backup and a way out at every step.

The first trump card was the third-tier Heavenly Thunder Talisman in his palm.

His second trump card was the minor-level spear technique he had honed through countless days and nights of practice.

His third trump card is his extraordinary forbearance and temperament.

The fourth trump card is that gray stone of unknown origin.

It feels cool to the touch, with an obscure and silent aura. Despite repeated investigations, its true nature remains elusive, yet it can subtly conceal its presence.

He had a gut feeling that this item was extraordinary. Bringing it into the mine would most likely allow it to resist the erosion of the dense evil energy, protect his dantian meridians, and reduce the disturbance of his inner demons. It was an invisible protective treasure.

The fifth trump card was Chen Xuan's secret backup plan.

The head of the Zhensha Pulse Academy is shrewd and calculating; he would never needlessly lose a valuable talent.

He dared to send himself into the mine to explore, so he must have left a backup plan, secretly setting up early warning systems or reinforcements.

When faced with a truly desperate situation and imminent death, Chen Xuan would never stand by and watch him perish in vain. This was a silent understanding and the most reliable guarantee.

Finally, and most importantly, he knew how to choose and when to advance and when to retreat.

The purpose of this trip was never to exterminate the enemy or gain merit, but to use evil spirits to break through the realm, gather intelligence, and protect oneself.

Whenever faced with an enemy far beyond his capabilities or an insurmountable danger, his first choice would invariably be to retreat and save his life. Opportunities may be tempting, but one must be alive to seize them; if greed takes hold and one forces a fight, that is truly courting death.

Layer upon layer of measures, multiple escape routes.

Having calculated all this, what others saw as a high-stakes gamble had long since become his meticulously planned path to break the deadlock.

You can't talk about ice with a summer insect; a mediocre person can't see the hope for survival in dire straits.

He raised his hand and stroked his dantian, where the inner energy trembled slightly, as if it had already sensed the call of the dense baleful energy in the distance, restless and expectant.

Three months is enough time for him to build a brand new future.

If they return victorious, they will be able to cultivate both meridians, have abundant resources, and break through to a higher level of cultivation, thus completely escaping the quagmire of the lower class and gaining a firm foothold in the Daishan Sect!

If...we lose.

That was his fate, and he had no complaints.

The world is inherently unfair, and every step a child from a poor family takes to rise is paved with blood, tears, and danger.

To break free from fate and defy destiny, one must dare to do what others dare not do and endure what others cannot endure.

He closed his eyes again, his mind completely calmed, and he cleared away all distracting thoughts.

Yinshan is an extremely dangerous place, but also a path for the poor to ascend to heaven.

……