Jiang Zuo was still working on his medicinal concoction when his phone rang.
Someone was calling.
Jiang Zuo was surprised. 'Someone is actually calling me?' In theory, he didn't know very many people.
He barely knew anyone from school, let alone his workplace—he wasn't close to a single person there.
'So who could be calling me?'
Once the medicinal concoction was ready, Jiang Zuo went to the living room and picked up his phone.
He froze when he saw the screen.
'Su Qi?'
"Something's very wrong. In theory, I haven't had any contact with Su Qi since my return. With no cause or reason, why would she call me now?"
Jiang Zuo didn't quite understand. With no contact, Su Qi shouldn't be sending him texts, let alone calling him, before returning two days later with a gloomy look.
'No, not gloomy. Sad, more likely.'
Back then, Jiang Zuo didn't really understand.
But it was different now. Something must have happened.
Otherwise, there was no way this unexpected change would have occurred with Su Qi.
As Jiang Zuo's thoughts raced, his phone rang again.
It was Su Qi again.
Jiang Zuo hesitated. He didn't know how to face Su Qi right now. A moment later, his hand answered the call on its own accord.
Jiang Zuo was exasperated with himself, but he didn't say a word.
Jiang Zuo remained silent, and so did the person on the other end.
After a tense ten seconds, Su Qi's uneasy voice came through the phone. "I... I can come home tomorrow. Are you still mad?"
Jiang Zuo sighed. 'She's actually coming back a day early.'
Looking at the messy kitchen and the Array in the bedroom... 'Does this mean I have to clean up immediately?'
In the end, Jiang Zuo just quietly said, "Oh."
Silence fell between them.
Then they hung up.
It wasn't that Jiang Zuo was angry; he just truly didn't know how he should face Su Qi.
His purpose for returning wasn't to fix past regrets or anything of the sort.
His current goal was, in fact, to walk a more interesting path this time.
He wanted to see what he could ultimately become, and he wanted to be alive to witness it.
But Su Qi was a disruption. If it were any other woman, Jiang Zuo could have ignored her, but not Su Qi.
Jiang Zuo shook his head. 'Now is not the time to be thinking about this.' He needed to reach Tier Two as soon as possible. Only then could he bring his true power into play.
A Tier Two could channel Spiritual Qi to cast spells, while a Tier One could only fight like a Warrior.
The gap was enormous.
Tier Two was basically a melee Mage. And what Mage didn't dream of fighting in close quarters?
Jiang Zuo spent a little more time preparing the rest of his materials, then he began to clean the apartment.
He cleared away everything that shouldn't be left around.
He also decided that from now on, he would stay in the spare bedroom and leave the master bedroom to Su Qi.
This way, his Array wouldn't be discovered.
As for letting Su Qi know he was a Cultivator... well, Jiang Zuo was somewhat reluctant.
It was a strange feeling. Anyone else in the world could know he was a Cultivator, but he just didn't want to tell Su Qi.
'Perhaps it's because Su Qi never told me she's a Cultivator, either.'
"Heh, I can't believe I'm being so childish," Jiang Zuo said with self-derision.
Afterwards, Jiang Zuo poured the refined Spiritual Liquid into the Array. This was a Support Array used for Cultivation.
It was also an essential Array for his Innate Chaos cultivation method.
The Array was divided into yin and yang; the yin formation served as support, while the yang formation was primary.
All materials were funneled from the yin formation into the yang formation, accelerating the absorption of external resources.
Simply put, it was gathering yin to supplement yang.
After finishing his preparations, Jiang Zuo left the apartment. The Array was most effective at night, so he would wait.
With the whole afternoon still ahead of him, he decided to go out and try his luck.
And when it came to trying his luck, flipping a coin was an indispensable part of the process.
But just as the coin was tossed up, Jiang Zuo felt a gust of wind rushing towards him.
He instinctively dodged to the side but still underestimated the gale. It brushed past him, forcing him to take two steps back.
"So fast! What a powerful gust. This person has at least a Tier Two Cultivation."
That's right—the gust of wind had been a person running past him.
"To think you could dodge me. Kid, I can see you have an extraordinary frame. I wish to bestow upon you a heaven-sent opportunity. Do you dare accept it?" a middle-aged man said, appearing out of nowhere as he looked at Jiang Zuo.
Jiang Zuo narrowed his eyes, observing the man. 'This person's Cultivation is... strange.'
He appeared to be only Tier Two, yet there was a faint roar of a Dragon and the cry of a tiger within his body.
A Dragon's roar and a tiger's cry—these were signs of Spiritual Qi Transformation, the nascent manifestation of Divine Abilities. No one below Tier Five should be capable of this.
'So, is this man actually Tier Five? No, that doesn't seem right. There must be a special reason for this.'
Then Jiang Zuo smiled. "I wouldn't dare. Senior, perhaps you should continue on your way."
'I'm not an idiot. A 'heaven-sent opportunity'? As if he could just hand one out. I'd be lucky if he didn't try to kill me.'
The middle-aged man looked at him with contempt. "You gutless whelp! A man ought to have the heart of a hero.
Why wouldn't you dare to accept a heaven-sent opportunity?
Don't you want to get stronger? Don't you want to be... ever-ready? Don't you want to build a massive harem?
A man who doesn't want a harem is unworthy of my great opportunity."
Jiang Zuo: "..."
Finally, Jiang Zuo asked, "May I ask, Senior, do you have a harem? Or, how big is it?"
"Ignorant whelp! For the benefit of future generations, this humble Daoist once made a solemn vow: until the global male-to-female ratio reaches 1:1, I shall never start a harem."
It was the first time Jiang Zuo had ever heard someone state their reason for being single in such a grandiose and refreshingly shameless way.
Jiang Zuo then raised a hand to the sky. "I, Jiang Zuo, hereby swear a Great Dao Vow! So long as the male-to-female ratio does not reach 1:1, I shall not start a harem for a single day! If I violate this oath, may my Dao Heart shatter, my body perish and my path come to an end, and my soul scatter to the winds!"
Then, Jiang Zuo looked at the middle-aged man. "Your turn. Swear the same oath for me."
Middle-aged man: "..."
'This motherfucker is ruthless.'
The corner of the middle-aged man's eye twitched uncontrollably. "Our fated encounter has come to an end. This Daoist takes his leave."
Jiang Zuo said nonchalantly, "You gutless whelp. A man ought to have the heart of a hero. But forget it. You can go."
Middle-aged man: "..."
'But who did he think he was? Did he think such a simple goad would work on me? No way.'
Jiang Zuo then added, "What a disgrace."
"..." Now, in addition to his eye, the corner of the man's mouth started twitching.
Yet he still held back and vanished without a trace.
Jiang Zuo shook his head and chuckled. 'He's got some self-control. An interesting fellow. But I wonder, is my vow even effective? My Cultivation is so low, it probably can't invoke the power of heaven and earth, can it?'
Jiang Zuo didn't dwell on it. In any case, ever since he'd started his Cultivation journey, he hadn't gotten entangled with any other women.
'A harem?'
'Other than his ex-wife, Su Qi, what other woman had he ever been emotionally involved with?'
In his past life, the women he met were targets to be killed.
Just then, Jiang Zuo bent down to pick up the coin he had dropped. "I didn't even get to catch the coin. Guess my luck's run out for today. Hm?"
Jiang Zuo's phone rang, which made him freeze for a moment.
He took it out, but his expression fell in disappointment. It wasn't Su Qi.
The number wasn't saved in his contacts, so Jiang Zuo had no idea who it was, but he answered anyway.
"Sir, we have a seaside villa available, with a down payment of only three hundred thousand. Would you be interested?"