Huh? Isn't this an adventure kingdom building game?!

Chapter 1391: Chapter 1021: Hao Daqiang_2

Jiang Yuan rose to his feet, and before he even saw the man he heard a booming voice answer, "You don’t understand Arrays, so of course you can’t see it. All the rain and snow in this Golden Chicken River Market are coming out of that Golden Chicken Seal. Obviously, they’re trying to draw out the rich Spiritual Energy the Golden Chicken Seal left behind.

It’s said that the Demon Realm Alliance discovered the Golden Chicken Immortal’s Ascension cave abode under the Golden Chicken Seal and is trying every possible way to benefit from it. But they don’t know Arrays aren’t meant to be used like this, and there’s no Divine energy left in that Golden Chicken Seal for them to extract anyway."

"Mr. Jiang, this is the Array master Hao Daqiang!" Hou Ze introduced warmly. "Mr. Hao, this is the Mr. Jiang I told you about before. That Array at Golden Carp Lake Market was funded by him so we could build it, and now it works great! The workshop chief doesn’t notice a thing—your work really is godlike!"

[Hao Daqiang: Array master, Sixth Layer of Body Tempering Realm, Nine‑headed Leopard Demon. Entered the Dao through Arrays. Eccentric temperament, hopelessly obsessed with the Dao of Arrays. Any Array in the mundane world is something he can handle with ease.]

The description was only a few lines, yet Jiang Yuan could clearly sense the system’s praise for this person—"handle with ease," listen to that phrase, it carries the bearing of a true expert.

It was just that Hao Daqiang didn’t look much like an expert; he looked more like an honest farmer.

Tall, sturdy, broad‑shouldered like a Military General; yet his skin was dark, as if he’d spent his life in the wind and rain, facing the earth with his back to the sky; his clothes were casual, a loose short shirt, and a brown cloth belt with an old gourd tied to it.

After some brief pleasantries, they sat down. Hao Daqiang got straight to the point: "While Xie Chenyuan was roaming for training, we met by chance. Later he introduced me to Hou Ze.

Though I met Xie Chenyuan first, my temperament doesn’t really mesh with his.

Especially those Divination Mages of theirs, always playing word games and being cryptic—truly annoying. Hou Ze’s temperament is better. I just came out of seclusion yesterday, in a foul mood, wanted to find a quiet place to relax a bit. I don’t know what Daoist You Jiang has in mind for inviting me today?"

Jiang Yuan: ???

That choice of words feels a bit off, doesn’t it?

"I have a small courtyard, the environment’s pretty good." He took a sip of tea and, for a moment, didn’t know where to start, so he simply went for the main point. "If Daoist Hao is interested, you can stay there a few days. Also, there are some matters about Arrays I’d like to ask your help with.

First, I obtained a very interesting space—its Array that maintains an oasis has been badly damaged and needs repair; second, I’d like to ask you to construct a Teleportation Array to the Otherworld—mainly for teleporting Demon Beasts for now."

Hao Daqiang drained his cup of Spirit Tea in one gulp, praised, "Good tea," then wiped his mouth and laughed. "An Otherworld Teleportation Array is no big deal. One for Demon Beasts isn’t difficult either. It’s just a matter of combining the set used by the Demon Realm Alliance with the Otherworld Teleportation Array. A trivial matter.

But I do want to take a look at the Array that maintains the oasis in that space. If it’s really interesting, I won’t charge for building the Teleportation Array. How’s that?"

He truly was a Demon Cultivator absorbed in Arrays and focused on nothing else—an interesting one, at that.

Seeing he wasn’t in the mood to talk about anything else, Jiang Yuan simply brought Hao Daqiang and Hou Ze along and clicked to enter the small space Xuanyuan Yangguang had created for the Vermilion Bird to recuperate in.

A scorching wave hit them, and Hou Ze exclaimed, "Such dense fire Energy! You’re saying this is a space? Then why is there still a sun in the sky?"

"Fake. It’s a Divine Artifact built from various Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, used to regulate the balance of Energy in the space." He casually explained, checked the map, then led the two of them in one direction, flying for a while before finding the remnants of an oasis.

Hao Daqiang was instantly drawn in; his gaze went completely blank with focus. "Tsk! This Array may be damaged, but it’s fascinating—truly fascinating! Whoever designed this Array is a great talent! Mr. Jiang, do you know who created the destroyed Array?"

"Xuanyuan Yangguang."

"The name sounds familiar, like I’ve heard it somewhere." He frowned and stepped up, practically wanting to lie down over the dried‑up pebbles that were mostly buried in yellow sand so he could examine them carefully, muttering, "Can Mr. Jiang find this person? If you could introduce us..."

He broke off mid‑sentence as he realized something. "Oh, right, right, you’re asking me to help restore it, so clearly you can’t find Xuanyuan Yangguang. Otherwise you wouldn’t need me... Ah, water and fire have always been incompatible—either fire dries up water, or water douses fire. Yet this Array actually manages a balance, mutual restraint... interesting! Very interesting!"

Seeing this, Hou Ze lowered his voice. "Sir, he’s always like this. Once he sees an interesting Array, he gets obsessed and keeps muttering who‑knows‑what. Don’t mind him."

Although Hou Ze had a fire pearl gifted by the City Lord of Sand Hill City to resist the heat, his Realm wasn’t high enough. In this desert steeped in dense Fire Element, he was still sweating buckets.

"Daoist Hao is fully immersed in his research. If you still have things to do, you can return to Trapped Snake Island first; I’ll handle the rest with him." Noting that he hadn’t brought the Golden-haired Little Monkey and was already suffering from the heat, Jiang Yuan sent him out first.

Hao Daqiang paid this no mind at all; his heart and eyes were filled only with the scant remnants of the Array before him.

After studying it for a while without figuring out a clear pattern, he simply plopped down on the yellow sand, crossed his arms over his chest, and began to run deductions in his mind: if he wanted to design and build an oasis that could stay moist for ten thousand years, how would he do it?

Seeing this, Jiang Yuan sat down beside him and asked, "I’ve heard Daoist Hao once designed and crafted a Leaving‑Fire Array?"

"Mm, that’s true." Very satisfied with this meeting, and grateful for the chance to see such a wonderfully subtle, incomplete Array, he was in a fine mood and answered patiently. "That was a commission taken by my disciple Ugly Slave—seems it was for the Demon Realm Alliance leadership. I refined it for them."

He gestured the size of a plate with his hands, and Hao Daqiang said proudly, "My disciple said it had to be easy to carry, which did make it somewhat challenging. It took me three days to figure it out, shrinking the Leaving‑Fire Array down to such a tiny size. When using it, you just toss it out and chant the Incantation!"

"Have you ever met the Demon Realm Alliance leadership yourself?" Jiang Yuan thought, There are plenty of high‑level Demon Cultivators; as for which one is colluding with the Demon Realm, Du Li still hasn’t found out. Looks like the Heart Mirror isn’t that easy to use.

Hao Daqiang shook his head. "No idea, never met them. I’m not interested in that kind of trivial matter. Ugly Slave is the one who takes the commissions and negotiates prices. I don’t care how much he earns, as long as he prepares enough materials for me to use."

At this point, he suddenly sat up straight and took out a Communication Stone, frowning slightly. "Speaking of which, I haven’t heard from Ugly Slave in quite a long time. Who knows where that brat has run off to now. If he keeps refusing to properly study the Dao of Arrays, he’ll probably never attain long life!"

Jiang Yuan: ...

Now that’s wrong.

Ugly Slave nowadays not only has long life, he’s downright undying.

The system’s appraisal didn’t display any information related to Ugly Slave. Jiang Yuan didn’t know what their master‑disciple relationship was like and didn’t dare mention anything outright, so he probed, "You only have this one disciple? Do you know who he usually associates with?"

The Communication Stone delivered no reply. Hao Daqiang let out a heavy sigh. "Yes, only this one disciple—and one’s trouble enough. If I took on any more, they’d annoy me to death!"

He paused for a moment, then said helplessly, "But what could I do? Back then, it was also a chance encounter. I was in the deep mountains searching for materials needed to refine Arrays when I met Ugly Slave, who’d been abandoned by his clan for being born disabled.

No matter how troublesome, I couldn’t just watch him die. I originally thought I’d feed him for a couple days, and once he’d grown stronger, I’d find him a master with a good temper. Didn’t expect that, being ugly and disabled, nobody wanted him, and he ended up stuck with me.

Fortunately, Ugly Slave has some talent as an Array Master. Stumbling along with me these years, I’ve managed to teach him enough to stand on his own. Though his looks are ugly and he’s disabled, the kid sure has a way with words and quite a lot of friends.

He’s already an adult and has solid skills to rely on, so he should’ve founded his own sect long ago. But he insists on clinging to me and pestering me; I can barely avoid him, so how would I know who he hangs around with?"

"If you leave him unchecked and Ugly Slave becomes acquainted with Evil Cultivators, what then?"

Hao Daqiang stared at Jiang Yuan in shock. "What else can I do? Naturally, I’d expel him from the sect and sever ties! If he wants to mingle with Evil Cultivators, that’s his own downfall—but he mustn’t tarnish my good name."

Jiang Yuan: ...

In that case, it seems... maybe... he can be honest about Ugly Slave’s whereabouts?

"What, Mr. Jiang, you know Ugly Slave?" He finally caught on and pressed, "Earlier I heard Hou Ze say you’ve been busy wiping out Evil Cultivators. Don’t tell me Ugly Slave really did collude with them?"

Since they’d come this far, Jiang Yuan countered, "Have you heard of the Leisure Sect?"

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