The Geared Immortal

The Nian clan misfortune Part 2

/*unedited*/

A grand elder of a sect is either a late-stage infant soul realm or a nascent realm cultivator. This depends on the size of the sect and the power it holds. Sometimes, when a sect is really powerful they have two or more grand elders. This would be a deterrence force against those who would attack or threaten the sect.

Jin Nian is the master and patriarch of the Nian clan, at the same time; he is also one of the grand elders of the Heavenly Crow sect. This gave him enough authority and power to have a say to both his clan and the sect.

As a late-stage infant soul realm cultivator, he is a proud person. Plus these days, he can already feel that his breakthrough is nearing. Hence he is really excited and has left the clan's business to the elders and just stayed inside the Heavenly Crow sect to cultivate.

…

Shin Jiao and BeiBei Ji have already infiltrated the Crow town under the cover of the night. The scenery as they walk down the streets is really familiar to Shin Jiao because he's been in this place a few months ago.

As they walk the two talked, because he could not casually talk in the Dark Forest, when they arrive in town Shin Jiao began asking BeiBei Ji some questions.

"Are you familiar with Master Zhen Nian?" Shin Jiao asked.

"The previous youngest son of the Nian clan?… of course I know him…" BeiBei Jin said as she turned to look at Shin Jiao with a bit of hesitation.

But then she helplessly sighs, as she added.

"But now, Zhen Nian was removed from the Nian clan along with Ya Nian. They both are now living in one of the mortal kingdoms near the border of San and Wu kingdoms. The clan punished them for… for shielding you, se... senior. Both of their dantian were broken and their cores cracked hence they are now considered as trash. It was the first elder of the clan who sent them there to live among the mortal people."

When Shin Jiao heard this he frowns a bit. This is because it is the first time that he heard about a mortal kingdom in the cultivation land. Although he can already imagine a small area of land given to the mortals and from there they would grow and flourish and then die. This cycle is common for them, yet Shin Jiao knows that the mortal kingdoms are the source of cultivators for the sects and the cultivation cities and towns in that area.

But what made Shin Jiao angry at this time is the way the Nian clan treated Zhen Nian and his older sister. Now he worries about Rat Ling because that fellow is unyielding and headstrong.

"If they are not safe, then the Nian clan can't blame me for being impolite." Shin Jiao said with gritted teeth in anger.

When BeiBei Ji heard this, she felt scared. She has already seen and experienced the fierceness of Shin Jiao in battles. If it's one on one, she estimated that even the clan patriarch would have a hard time dealing with him.

BeiBei Ji immediately grabs Shin Jiao's hands and looks at him with pleading eyes.

"Senior, please don't destroy the Nian clan. There are still good people in the clan. I beg of you." BeiBei Ji pleaded.

Shin Jiao's anger was suddenly doused as he realized what BeiBei Ji said. He knows how his friend and former master Zhen Nian treated his clan. Although he was disappointed with the clan, yet Zhen Nian sticks to it as he treated the clan as his family.

So now, Shin Jiao had to plan out his next actions. Since he can't just waltz in the Nian clan and do a killing spree, he decided to be a spy and an assassin once more.

His targets are those people who are eyeing his stuff and the one responsible for Zhen Nian's predicament. Before making his moves, he decided to investigate first and then carefully picks out his targets.

As the two arrive in the only inn of Crow town, Shin Jiao immediately used a face changing rune on him as his face quickly changed into a middle-aged man.

When BeiBei Ji saw this she was stunned and unable to think what to do next. So she just followed Shin Jiao directly to the bar counter.

"Room for two please…" Shin Jiao said while handing out a bag of ten spirit stones.

When the bartender saw this he immediately grabs the leather bag and checked its contents. After a satisfied smile appears on his face, he quickly gave Shin Jiao two keys.

"You go and rest, remember not to go out at this time." Shin Jiao instructed.

Shin Jiao actually didn't trust BeiBei Ji yet, because he is not sure which side she is in. But since they have already entered the enemy's territory, he would just see how everything goes.

…

After the battle with Shin Jiao, the two Nian clan warships returned to the clan's main base in the town of Crow.

While traveling, a figure standing at the side deck of the ship calmly watches the scenery on the horizon. The person could not help himself but show a smile on his face every now and then. But sometimes he would show a bitter expression on his face.

"Is what I did the right thing to do at that time?" the person muttered to himself.

This person is Hong Nian, who has retreated along with the rest of the 100 plus elite members of the Nian clan people. Many are wounded grievously with their dantian already worthless. Although Shin Jiao spared their lives, yet as punishment, he shot and destroyed their dantian. This would stop them from being a threat to him.

"Sigh… That's what you get for not trusting me." Hong Nian thought as he looks at the wounded people on the deck scrambling about.

But in his heart, he felt a little excited. As a tactician, he has already researched the place where they would ambush Shin Jiao. Along with knowing the elite cultivators and their attitude towards the enemy, he planned everything, even swapping the burst talisman to a teleportation talisman from BeiBei Ji.

The almost perfect plan he concocted ended with Shin Jiao and BeiBei Ji being missing.

"Hehe… since I already have you in my hands, then I would just have to wait until I reached the nascent realm or at least the middle-stage of the infant soul realm. After that, I can have that servant's legacy for myself, Keke…" Hong Nian thought as he thought about the future.

"That thing was wasted in your hands... Just giving it away for free to others just like that. What a waste! A fool would always be a fool. Keke…" Hong Nian thought as he cursed Shin Jiao in his mind while drooling at the things that they thought was a legacy.

While the warship is traveling back to Crow town, Shin Jiao has already left the inn and is currently sneaking towards the Nian clan estate.

His first stop is the establishment in front of him, the medicinal herb building of the Nian clan, the Alchemy house.

As Shin Jiao's strength grew stronger he needs more medicinal herbs to improve his physique. Although the poison is very effective on him, yet the side effect is unbearable. So, if he had a choice then medicinal herbs would be better and safer.

The Nian clan Alchemy house contains wide fields of medicinal herbs. Plus there is the secret area where they have those rare plants.

With this in his memory, Shin Jiao carefully watched the place from where he stood on the other side of the road. Since it's already night time there are fewer people on the street, so it's easier for him to hide in the darkness using the camouflage function of his cloak.

"I need to get a better view… I can feel the presence of an array formation surrounding his place." Shin Jiao thought as he quickly jumps up to a light pole. Then from there, he flew towards the tree near the Alchemy house.

From his position, Shin Jiao can feel a faint fluctuation of energy which is almost invisible to one's perception. If his body is not sensitive to the natural energy in the area, he could not have seen the array.

"This array is a defensive and trapping array. I guess they have learned from what has happened before." Shin Jiao thought as he carefully approached the border of the array.

It took him some time before he figured out how to bypass the array Qi flow so that he can enter the formation array stealthily without activating it.

As Shin Jiao made his move and was about to touch the array with an array plate with a new rune array formation on it, his complexion suddenly changed.

This is because; the flow of Qi in the array formation suddenly changed its pattern.

With the changing pattern of the array, Shin Jiao would have a hard time dealing with the array formation, so he needed to think of another way to enter the place.

"If I can have more time in the interval, I can break this array, but the change interval of the array is too short for me to analyze it completely."

"Damn, it! I guess BeiBei Ji is my only way in now." Shin Jiao muttered dejectedly as he looks at the huge array formation surrounding the large state of the Nian clan Alchemy house.

With a helpless expression, Shin Jiao returns to the inn.

But on his way, he suddenly saw two familiar figures. Although he hadn't met them for a long time, these people had helped him and he has also helped them. But they are the reason why he was able to advance before and was able to put up a fight against the Nian clan 2nd elder who had ambushed him.

Upon seeing the two, Shin Jiao showed a happy smile.

"Hmm… where is the other sister?" Shin Jiao thought as he approached them after taking off his camouflage in a dark corner.