Chapter 153: Chapter 142: The Madman of the Ninth Realm

“None of the other senior brothers or sisters came back either.”

No one anticipated that this expedition to the Fifth Floor would be so perilous!

Jiang Zhi hates recalling that night for the rest of his life.

The Fifth Senior Brother, who was usually the kindest and loved making pastries for everyone, had become so foolish and mad.

As the junior martial brother, Jiang Zhi was always the most mischievous one of his generation in Junzi Temple, thus often getting punished.

Yet even when punished, he didn’t feel he was wrong and would sulk.

The Fifth Senior Brother would then make pastries for him to eat.

However, that night, Jiang Zhi, standing guard at the entrance of the Origin Spirit Realm, witnessed this scene.

The Fifth Senior Brother, holding a necessary item for advancing to the Ninth Realm — the Profound Yellow Origin Fragment — had a foolish grin on his face, even drooling from the corner of his mouth.

He kept handing out pastries like he used to, laughing and repeating, “For you, for you, for you…”

…

…

In an elegant small courtyard, Jiang Zhi sat in his white robe in front of an old man with disheveled hair.

The area where the old man was seated was filled with restrictions, and every corner was inscribed with an Array.

Black iron rings hung from his limbs.

These iron rings bore complex, obscure runes, flickering with a faint light.

These four iron rings weren’t to restrain the old man’s movements.

They were merely to prevent him from suddenly going mad again and hurting himself.

After Zhong Ming emerged from the Origin Spirit Realm, his Sea of Consciousness was severely damaged, and his Divine Sense was severely impaired as well.

His mental world could be described as shattered.

All the Alchemy Grandmasters from the Profound Yellow Realm had come to see him, yet a solution remained elusive.

“Fifth Senior Brother, today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, how about making mooncakes instead of Victory Cake?” Jiang Zhi sat at the table, watching the old man who was persistently preparing Victory Cake.

He, however, turned a deaf ear, stubbornly making the Victory Cake.

The old man always wore a faint smile, and now he was better than before, drooling less frequently.

Jiang Zhi poured himself some wine as he took a few steps closer.

“Fifth Senior Brother, truth be told, the pastries you make now are truly awful.” He said.

The old man glanced up at him, staying the same, either ignoring people or repeating the last few words of others.

He laughed heartily, but his hands did not stop, continuously muttering, “Awful! Awful! Awful!”

Jiang Zhi could only laugh helplessly, letting him be.

No matter how bad the pastries turned out, he would always finish them off.

He returned to the table, continued to pour himself Spirit Wine.

As he drank, he chattered away, telling the old man all the “strange things” that had happened in the sect recently, regardless of whether he could understand.

Jiang Zhi spoke of Xu Ziqing, mentioned Han Shuangjiang, and also brought up Chu Huaixu.

He shared the foolish things he and Li Chunsong had done with the Fifth Senior Brother.

He talked about the sword on the mountain and what Chu Huaixu inscribed on the Gentleman Stele.

“Now, Xu Ziqing has become a Sword Attendant, and I have imparted some Secret Techniques to him, so that sword should be able to control him.”

“It’s just that the overall power might still have declined somewhat.”

“As a man of destiny, he should bear this burden.”

“As for that Chu Huaixu, I don’t quite like him anyway, maybe Senior Sister Nine… never mind, not mentioning this.”

“Fifth Senior Brother, now that we have the Daoist Ancestor Sword, I feel somewhat at ease and can prepare for the Fifth Floor with peace of mind.”

“I think the first and second floors of the Origin Spirit Realm shouldn’t be problematic.” He seemed to be reporting work.

Yet, the old man, whose hands did not stop, began repeating the last few words again.

“Problematic, problematic, problematic…”

Jiang Zhi smiled helplessly, shaking his head, and continued to drink by himself.

Like that, he drank cup after cup, and after downing a considerable amount of Spirit Wine, his gaze grew a bit blurry, the intoxication beginning to hit him.

But after a while, the busy old man suddenly clutched his head, looking pained as his expression turned hideous.

The disheveled Zhong Ming seemed insane, his eyes bulging and shouting continuously, “Fake! Everything’s fake!”

“Everything is fake, all fake!”

“No one died, no one has died…”

“I died! It was me who died!”

Jiang Zhi hurriedly stood up, but he was somewhat accustomed to the scene before him.

A powerful pressure radiated from the old man.

The Ninth Realm’s Spiritual Power within him began to grow wild!

All the Arrays within the courtyard were instantly activated.

The black iron rings on his limbs, those intricate runes began to glow brighter.

They suppressed the old man, preventing him from doing anything out of line.

He was clearly a surviving savior, yet now he had no choice but to be trapped in this “prison.”

After about half the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the old man gradually calmed down, as if nothing had happened, smiling and resuming making pastries.

Jiang Zhi sighed, an endless agony within his eyes.

Because the other had gone mad, lost his mind, while he was still very sober.

He returned to the table, picked up the Spirit Wine, and drank it down hard.

Soon, his gaze grew even more unfocused, the drunkenness hitting him.

“I don’t want the Profound Yellow Origin Fragment, I told you all before you went in, I don’t care about reaching the Ninth Realm.”

He spoke as if he was having a conversation with the senior brothers and sisters, seemingly hearing their responses.

“Okay, okay, I know I put too much importance on myself, I understand retrieving the Profound Yellow Origin for me was incidental, the main thing is the Origin Spirit Realm mustn’t be lost, to delay the arrival of the great calamity.”

“But you can’t, you can’t… just leave me and the Fifth Senior Brother?”

“The pastries he makes now are truly awful, too awful, too awful…”

Just as he finished, the old man brought over a small plate of Victory Cake, placed it in front of him, and looked expectant.

Jiang Zhi’s face froze, and he picked it up and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing a few times, then gulped down Spirit Wine to swallow it all down.

Finally managing to finish it all, he became even more drunk.

But the old man still wanted to make more.

“Fifth Senior Brother, enough! Really enough!”

“I still have a gathering with the younger generation later, there’s another meal to eat.”

The old man didn’t listen, ignoring him completely.

Jiang Zhi shook his head, the intoxication growing stronger.

Before his eyes, it seemed like figures appeared one after another.

On this Mid-Autumn Day, he naturally hoped to be reunited with them.

“You all aren’t here, I can’t finish all of this.” He chuckled bitterly.

“He’s used to making portions for twenty people…”

A charming silhouette appeared in front of Jiang Zhi.

The lively young girl he thought about day and night, seemed to point at him and laugh at him.

“Junior Martial Brother, who told you to always grab the food before? Now eat as much as you want! Haha!”

“Too awful, too awful…” Jiang Zhi slurred these words drunkenly, gradually burying his head onto the table.

He buried his ordinary face in his arms, mouth still muttering incessantly.

“You all left, it’s just me and a madman now.”

“Now, great, I’m supposed to become the Observatory Master of Junzi Temple.”

“You all know how awful my disposition is.”

“If everyone was here, and Fifth Senior Brother hadn’t gone mad, this generation’s master should be chosen from among Senior Brother, Senior Sister Three, Fifth Senior Brother, or Senior Sister Six…”

“Xiang Yan mentioned it to me several times.”

“But I’m his Martial Uncle, I said I wouldn’t take it, so I won’t!”

“Anyone among you is more suitable for the Observatory Master position, more suitable than I am, I’m not suitable, not suitable…” This Daoist Junior Martial Uncle kept repeating, as if he was completely drunk.

The old man brought over another platter of Victory Cake and placed it on the wooden table.

He still bore that smile, habitually repeating the last few words of others’ conversation.

Zhong Ming looked at his Junior Martial Brother, pointing at him and endlessly repeating:

“Suitable, suitable, suitable!”

…

(ps: First update, 4000-word Chapter, request for monthly tickets!)

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