"Look, that's Qin Luan from Wind Stabilizing Temple!" The crowd's attention had been focused on the puffed-up Song Ying, but someone finally noticed Qin Luan. Judging by their tone, Qin Luan was somewhat famous.
As for Jiang Li, he looked utterly ordinary, clearly not anyone formidable. Ignore him.
"I heard the Wind Stabilizing Temple's master found him and took him in. When his talent was tested at age eight, he turned out to have a Lightning Single Spiritual Root. For a time, every major sect extended an olive branch, but he rejected them all."
"Everyone thought that although his talent was decent, without the support of a great sect, he would only waste it away. Who would have thought that through comprehension and fortunate encounters, he would suppress the chosen heirs of every major sect!"
Spiritual roots varied in quality. The finest were the Heaven and Earth spiritual roots, followed by Single Spirit Roots, while the worst were Five Elements Spiritual Roots.
Among Single Spirit Roots, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth were the most common. Mutated spiritual roots such as wind and lightning were comparatively rare. A mutated Single Spirit Root was half a notch better than an ordinary spiritual root. Though inferior to Heaven and Earth spiritual roots, it was still the ceiling of Single Spirit Roots.
"Why are you pretending not to see me?!" Song Ying planted her hands on her hips and glared furiously at Qin Luan.
"If I hadn't seen you, how could I have introduced you to Brother Kong?" Qin Luan said with complete confidence. "I just didn't want to talk to you."
Seeing that the two seemed ready to start arguing again, Jiang Li asked, "Brother Qin, do you know who that person over there is?"
Qin Luan thought for a while and said he could not recall. Seeing that Jiang Li seemed close to Qin Luan and was perhaps his friend, Song Ying answered for Qin Luan's sake.
"That man is Li Litong, a true disciple of Stone Dragon Gate. I heard his aptitude and comprehension used to be quite average, but after falling off a cliff, it was as though he had suddenly opened his mind. His cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds. In just half a year, he went from the early Foundation Establishment Realm to the late stage. I've fought him before. Although I won easily, I think he was hiding something. That wasn't his true level."
Jiang Li nodded, then gestured for the two to continue arguing.
Amid their bickering, the Profound Mystery Realm finally opened.
The number of people allowed into the Profound Mystery Realm was fixed, with only eight hundred slots. After eight hundred disciples from various sects had entered, Jiang Li, as the eight hundred and first person, leisurely walked into the Secret Realm's entrance.
Some thought he was some Rogue Cultivator trying to sneak in amid the confusion, only to discover that he had actually entered the Profound Mystery Realm without being rejected.
Had they miscounted? The moment Jiang Li entered the Secret Realm, he felt a repelling force. Its power was like a three-year-old child trying to push away an elephant—no matter how hard it strained, it could not move him.
Soon, the Secret Realm seemed to realize that it could not drive away this uninvited guest. It simply gave up the useless effort and concentrated its power on testing him.
Before Jiang Li appeared spirit water condensed from spiritual energy, forming a small stream. One sip was worth three months of cultivation for someone in the Foundation Establishment Realm. Nearby, a wooden qin played itself as immortal cranes danced gracefully to its music. In the distance floated immortal mountains. It was a scene from the celestial realms, one that made people unwilling to leave.
Drawn in by the beautiful scenery, Jiang Li involuntarily walked over to the wooden qin, chopped it apart, and looked at the immortal cranes.
The immortal cranes sensed danger and tried to fly away, but Jiang Li forcibly dragged them back.
Soon, smoke rose beside the stream, and the scent of roasting meat drifted far and wide.
A weak cry for help came from nearby. Just from the voice alone, one could imagine that its owner must be a beautiful, delicate woman.
Jiang Li turned a deaf ear and continued roasting the meat with full concentration.
The voice drew closer and closer until it finally reached Jiang Li.
"Hero, save me!"
The peerlessly beautiful girl was barely clothed. Her garments had presumably been torn as she fled, exposing swaths of springtime splendor. She looked pitiful and helpless, enough to stir any man's protective instincts.
Jiang Li was an upright man, so he continued roasting the meat.
The girl was startled by Jiang Li's posture of cooking cranes and burning qins, as though she had never encountered such a situation before. But remembering the villains chasing her, she hurriedly pleaded with Jiang Li for help.
"Hero, save me! Some ruffians want to violate me. If you can save Chun Er, Chun Er is willing to give herself to you, and all my family's vast fortune will be yours as well!"
The girl named Chun Er bowed deeply, revealing a dazzling expanse of pale flesh far exceeding what someone her age ought to possess.
Testing cultivators this way—what cultivator could withstand it?
Jiang Li did.
At a glance, he saw that the girl was sixteen years old and roughly at the first or second layer of the Qi Refining Stage. In the Nine Provinces, talent like that counted as first-rate disability.
If someone at that level could escape, then the people chasing her could not be very strong either.
Sure enough, before Chun Er could speak again, her pursuers came rushing up from the foot of the mountain. Wearing cruel smiles, they surrounded Chun Er and Jiang Li from all sides.
These people were slightly stronger than Chun Er, roughly at the level of Qi Refining two and a half layers.
Ordinarily, the Qi Refining Stage was divided only into the first through ninth layers; there was no such thing as a half-layer. But seeing these people's pitiful cultivation today, Jiang Li had specially added a realm for them.
Qi Refining two and a half layers—the Human Emperor's mercy.
"You little brat, run! Let's see where the hell you can run to!" The leader wore a lecherous grin. There was no need to watch what came next to know what he was thinking. "Today, you'll die together with your boyfriend!"
"He-he's not my boyfriend!" Chun Er's face instantly flushed red.
Those people did not care how Chun Er reacted. At their leader's command, Jiang Li tossed every last one of them down the mountain.
Before they could even swarm him together.
"Benefactor, thank you for saving my life! This little woman has no way to repay you, so I can only offer myself to you!" Chun Er's eyes flickered, brimming with affection.
Naturally, Jiang Li would not refuse Chun Er's kind intentions. He said gently, "Next life, then."
Chun Er: "...Benefactor certainly knows how to joke. Please come sit in Chun Er's village, so I may thank you for saving my life."
The Secret Realm's spiritual energy was several times denser than that of the Nine Provinces. On the way to the village, Jiang Li saw that even the wild fruits by the roadside qualified as Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, greatly benefiting Golden Core cultivators and even those in the Nascent Soul Realm.
If a Foundation Establishment cultivator came here, they would probably want to settle down in the Secret Realm directly.
It truly was not easy for Chun Er to maintain the level of Qi Refining one and a half layers with so many Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures around.
Chun Er's village was very enticing. According to Chun Er, all the men in the village had been forcibly conscripted by the state and dragged off to the battlefield. Ten years had passed, and not one had returned. Thus, only a group of beautiful widows and inexperienced young girls remained in the village.
These women and girls were all captivating in appearance. The moment Jiang Li arrived, he thought he had entered the Red Dust Pure Land.
Chun Er also said that the country was now split into four pieces, with war and strife everywhere. Men were scarce, leaving behind countless widows and young girls, and none of them were less beautiful than those in this village. Jiang Li's cultivation was heaven-shaking and earth-moving; if he threw himself into the battlefield, he would surely unite the realm and become a king and hegemon.
Through his conversation with Chun Er, Jiang Li learned that the people of the Secret Realm could not cultivate immortality. They could only temper their muscles and bones to strengthen their martial arts, while those Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures were useless to them.
Chun Er was considered talented. At such a young age, she was already an Acquired expert. Above Acquired experts were Innate experts, and above Innate experts were the rare Grandmasters!
The Grandmaster realm existed only in legends!
And according to Chun Er's description, the Grandmaster realm was equivalent to the seventh through ninth layers of the Qi Refining Stage!
Jiang Li sucked in a cold breath, and the entire Secret Realm dropped several degrees.
What a weak Secret Realm world!
Before you continue