Chapter 251 - 158: The Rumor-Plagued Beardless Sect, A Battle to Establish Authority

Chapter 251: Chapter 158: The Rumor-Plagued Beardless Sect, A Battle to Establish Authority

"What did you say? A Tier Five Ninth Grade Alchemy Master?"

"How is that possible?"

Dozens of Pill Master Elders gasped heavily, as if they had just witnessed some truly terrifying existence.

No one understood better than them what it meant for someone to reach the realm of a Tier Five Ninth Grade Pill Master at such a young age.

The moment the words left the Elders’ mouths, countless Beardless Sect disciples drew sharp breaths.

"Good heavens! Eldest Senior Brother... he’s a Tier Five Alchemy Master?"

"A Tier Five Pill Master? How could this be? Eldest Senior Brother looks younger than some of our other senior brothers and sisters. How can he be a Tier Five Alchemy Master?"

"He’s not just a Tier Five Alchemy Master. Didn’t you hear what the Pill Master Elders said? He’s a Tier Five Ninth Grade Alchemy Master!"

BOOM!!!

Those words exploded in the disciples’ minds like a bolt of heavenly thunder, instantly shattering their psychological defenses.

A Tier Five Alchemy Master!

What kind of existence was a Tier Five?

Even across the entire Beardless Sect, not many Elders had managed to reach that realm.

When Mu Yunshang and the other nine heard this, they were similarly shocked to the extreme.

Standing in front of the Pill Technique Pavilion, Feng Moyuan felt as if he had been struck by a bolt from the blue, completely petrified on the spot.

A Tier Five Ninth Grade Alchemy Master. Even an Elder like him was merely a Tier Four Eighth Grade, dispatched by the Pill Hall to guard the Pill Technique Pavilion.

And yet, a mere teenager was a Tier Five Ninth Grade Pill Master!

"Good heavens—!" Feng Moyuan cried out subconsciously. What kind of monster was this?

Compared to the Elders, the most horrified of all were the junior brothers and sisters who had witnessed and heard everything with their own eyes and ears.

They were completely dumbfounded.

At roughly the same age, their Eldest Senior Brother was already a Tier Five Ninth Grade Great Pill Master.

"Eldest Senior Brother... a Tier Five Pill Master." A junior sister’s chest heaved violently, her eyes overflowing with absolute astonishment.

As time passed and the Beardless Sect disciples who had gathered at Scripture Peak dispersed, the news that the Eldest Senior Brother was a Tier Five Ninth Grade Pill Master began to spread like wildfire. The rumors even grew more embellished with each retelling.

"What did you say? Eldest Senior Brother has already stepped into the Tier Five Pill Master realm? He’s a Tier Five Ninth Grade Alchemy Master?"

"How is that possible? Eldest Senior Brother’s age isn’t much different from Senior Sister Yun Shang and the others. How could he be a Tier Five Alchemy Master?"

"It’s true! It happened just this morning at Scripture Peak. It’s said that even the Elders of the Pill Hall were alarmed. A Pill Hall Elder announced it in public!"

"Have you heard? They say the Eldest Senior Brother of our Beardless Sect is a peerless monster of the Alchemy Dao. He was already a Tier Five Pill Master ten years ago!"

"A Pill Hall Elder confirmed it. Eldest Senior Brother was born practicing Alchemy and could recognize pill recipes from birth. By the time he was ten, he had already entered the realm of a Tier Five Pill Master."

"I heard our Eldest Senior Brother has already broken through the Tier Five Pill Master realm and reached Tier Six!"

"It’s actually true! Eldest Senior Brother is a Tier Seven Alchemy Master. He can learn any Alchemist Secret Technique just by looking at it once."

"Word has it that Eldest Senior Brother has already entered the realm of a Pill Venerable. He’s a Pill Venerable-level Alchemy Master!"

"What did you say? Eldest Senior Brother is an Elder of Pill Dao?"

"According to reliable sources—no, hearsay—our Eldest Senior Brother is highly likely the reincarnation of a Pill King! No wonder the Sect Leader appointed him as the Eldest Senior Brother. He’s a teenage Pill King!"

"Rumor has it that the Grand Elder even spoke out personally. Eldest Senior Brother is the reincarnation of a Pill Saint!"

In just half a day, the entire Beardless Sect was in an uproar. Hundreds of thousands of disciples were discussing the Eldest Senior Brother candidate announced yesterday.

However, compared to these increasingly outrageous rumors, another piece of news whipped up a massive storm within the Beardless Sect.

"Huge news! Massive news! Reliable sources say Senior Sister Mu Yunshang and Senior Brother Jun Yichen have challenged the Eldest Senior Brother! The time is set for noon tomorrow!"

"The location of the challenge is the Beardless Dojo. Eldest Senior Brother is going to duel the ten peerless prodigies!"

"What did you say? Mu Yunshang, Senior Brother Jun Yichen, and the others signed a Life and Death Contract with Eldest Senior Brother? Tomorrow at the dojo, they won’t just determine the victor, but also decide life and death?"

Great Ming Peak.

Listening to the stream of news brought by Jiang Huaiyu, Jiang Hao was utterly dumbfounded. Even he couldn’t help but gulp.

"Rumors are fearsome. Truly terrifying," he muttered. The speed at which news spread among hundreds of thousands of disciples was simply horrifying.

Jiang Huaiyu looked at Jiang Hao, who didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and asked with some concern, "Eldest Senior Brother, are you really going to accept Senior Sister Yun Shang and the others’ challenge tomorrow?"

Jiang Huaiyu really wanted to ask if his Eldest Senior Brother could even defeat Senior Sister Yun Shang and Senior Brother Yichen. If Jiang Hao couldn’t win, he would have to hand over the position of Eldest Senior Brother on a silver platter, and Jiang Huaiyu would lose his powerful backer.

Jiang Hao simply offered a calm smile in response. He hadn’t taken the matter to heart at all.

He had to admit that the Beardless Sect had indeed fallen into decline. The so-called ten peerless monsters only reached the level of the Saint Sons and Saintesses of the Celestial Sword Sect at best.

Only Mu Yunshang and Jun Yichen were significantly stronger, but even they were merely a notch above the Celestial Sword Seven Sons.

Tomorrow’s battle was nothing more than an opportunity to establish his authority. What truly worried Jiang Hao was the aftermath of the Thousand Sects Secret Mirror.

"Three months should be enough time to cultivate an Alchemist Secret Technique," Jiang Hao murmured.

Ultimately, he chose the Celestial Ninth-level Secret Technique—"Flame Prison Space"!

Aside from this Secret Technique, he also selected a Celestial Tenth-level martial art named "Heaven Shattering Fist" from the martial arts he had picked out last night.

Originally, Jiang Hao had planned to choose a few Secret Techniques in the Pill Technique Pavilion before heading to the Martial Arts Tower to look for the Beardless Sect’s martial arts.

However, after causing such a commotion, going to the Martial Arts Tower was out of the question. He simply decided to pick the best option from the most suitable martial arts he already had.