Chapter 303 - 159: Small Town 2

That meant he could no longer rely on a lucky leap to escape an array’s effective range.

It stood to reason, then, that he should at least have a basic understanding of them.

Now, as he listened intently and mulled it over, he began to grasp a few things.

Once Scholar Jingtan finished speaking, Jiang Ran offered his thoughts:

"In my humble opinion, if it’s as you say, sir, it would be better to separate the Four Symbols and the Five Elements.

"Although the Five Elements array would be missing the Saber element, it would still have its own power.

"The Four Symbols array is ferociously offensive. As a standalone array, while it might not be as difficult to break as the Five Elements, its power would surely be greater.

"That’s far better than having them hinder each other, leaving a fatal flaw for an enemy to exploit."

"That’s exactly right."

Scholar Jingtan nodded again and again. "A pity Xuanyuan One Slash couldn’t see the crux of the matter. He thought himself so clever."

Jiang Ran let out a sigh.

"I’m merely making an assessment based on the situation at hand. It’s not my own brilliance, but yours, sir.

"Otherwise, if I were on my own, I could only rely on brute force to break through the array."

"Are you interested in arrays, Young Hero Jiang?"

Scholar Jingtan asked, looking at Jiang Ran.

Jiang Ran nodded. "I am, but unfortunately, I’ve had no one to teach me."

Hearing this, a smile touched Scholar Jingtan’s lips. He reached into his sleeve, took out a bamboo scroll, and handed it to Jiang Ran.

"What’s this?"

Jiang Ran took it instinctively.

"Young Hero Jiang, we’ve only just met, yet you’ve already agreed to lend me the Jiaowei. This shows you are a friend worth having.

"Since you’re curious about arrays, and it just so happens I’ve dabbled in the subject...

"This Hundred Array Map is a collection of my personal notes from my years of studying the art of arrays.

"It contains both simplified basics and profound techniques. While it isn’t a systematic treatise, I believe it can help you understand the variations within array formations, Young Hero Jiang.

"I’ll give it to you now, Young Hero Jiang, as a gesture of goodwill."

Scholar Jingtan said with a light chuckle, but his tone was sincere.

Jiang Ran smiled faintly. ’He knew Scholar Jingtan was saying this because he was worried I would go back on my word later.’

’Now that I’ve not only agreed but also accepted a favor from him...’

’...it would be truly difficult to refuse to lend him the zither after the eighth of the tenth month.’

He smiled at once.

"Well then, it would be rude of me to refuse."

Seeing Jiang Ran accept the bamboo scroll, Scholar Jingtan breathed a quiet sigh of relief. He knew the matter was as good as settled.

A glance around revealed that everyone else was asleep, except for Ruan Yuqing, who was still listening in.

Even the Great Master was leaning against a tree trunk with the shaft of a brush in his mouth, snoring like thunder.

Ruan Yuqing finally gave in to exhaustion in the latter half of the night and fell fast asleep.

Jiang Ran and Scholar Jingtan, however, talked for the entire night.

When dawn broke in the east, the others woke to find Jiang Ran still discussing arrays with Scholar Jingtan.

Ruan Yuqing shook his head groggily.

"You two are still talking...?"

When Scholar Jingtan saw them waking up, he looked as if he’d just been granted a royal pardon.

"Wonderful... It’s morning. Shouldn’t we be on our way?"

Jiang Ran glanced at the eastern sky with a hint of disappointment and sighed.

"It’s a shame. I still have so many questions to ask."

"You can ask him tomorrow."

Ruan Yuqing said with a laugh, "It’ll be a while before we reach Sunset Plateau. Scholar Jingtan will be with us the whole time, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to learn from him."

Jiang Ran nodded.

"You’re right. The art of arrays is truly vast and profound; it’s not something one can master overnight.

"I’ll be in your care for the coming days, Scholar."

Scholar Jingtan was already starting to regret his proposal to travel with Jiang Ran’s group.

He had been utterly tormented the entire night.

Jiang Ran had excellent aptitude and high comprehension, able to infer a great deal from a single point.

As Jiang Ran himself had said, the art was vast and profound. An ordinary person could spend a lifetime studying it and still not grasp it all.

Although Scholar Jingtan was a self-proclaimed expert, he couldn’t possibly be a master of every single aspect.

But Jiang Ran, despite being a beginner, picked things up with astonishing speed.

He asked strange and difficult questions, some of which Scholar Jingtan himself had never even considered. How was he supposed to have answers for those?

To avoid revealing his ignorance, he had to constantly change the subject.

This happened countless times throughout the night.

Scholar Jingtan was crying endlessly inside.

And as a senior figure, he couldn’t very well lie or make things up.

Besides, with the matter of the Jiaowei zither still up in the air, he had no choice but to muddle through.

It was all truly unbearable.

He had barely survived until dawn. But when he thought about having to endure Jiang Ran’s strange and difficult questions for the foreseeable future, a sense of despair washed over him.

The others, of course, had no idea what Scholar Jingtan was going through.

Tang Huayi even clapped Jiang Ran on the shoulder.

"Scholar Jingtan is a senior whose knowledge is vast and profound. That you have such an opportunity to learn from him pleases me greatly.

"You must study hard and not waste this wonderful opportunity."

"..."

’Could you please say a little less...’ Scholar Jingtan thought to himself.

Then he heard Jiang Ran nodding eagerly.

"Of course."

Scholar Jingtan: "..."

Ruan Yuqing, meanwhile, gave Jiang Ran a surprised look.

’For ’Li Tianxin’ to speak to him like that... in the past, Jiang Ran would never have let it slide. But today, for the sake of learning about arrays, he was being so compliant.’

’His martial skill is so incredible, yet he’s still so humble and eager to learn, to the point that he can’t even be bothered to bicker with ’Li Tianxin’.’

Thinking of this, Ruan Yuqing couldn’t help but feel a surge of admiration for him.

Once everyone was awake, they packed up their belongings while Luo Qingyi deftly prepared breakfast, moving with practiced ease.

After they finished eating, Jiang Ran and the others gathered the bodies of the men from Blood Saber Hall, dug a large pit, and buried them.

After all, the dead deserved to be laid to rest.

There were dangerous beasts in the forest. They had kept watch last night, but if they left the corpses behind today, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t end up as food for wild animals.

It was a rare act of compassion in their grim and ruthless world.