Chapter 79 - 77: Spirit Transformation? Pure Fantasy

Chapter 79: Chapter 77: Spirit Transformation? Pure Fantasy

When Jiang Hao and Ji Qingxue walked into the stronghold, several figures subconsciously stood up upon seeing them and walked toward Ji Qingxue.

"Qingxue, who is this?" asked the young man with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes. He and the young woman beside him were the first to greet the pair, both being experts of Spirit Transformation.

Hearing this, a smile graced Ji Qingxue’s lips beneath her bamboo hat, and she immediately explained the situation to them. It turned out that this unfamiliar young man in white was a peerless genius she had invited to join their camp.

"Oh? A peerless genius? Qingxue, do you mean this gentleman wants to join us?"

As soon as these words were spoken, many gazes from the surroundings were cast over once again, accompanied by slight frowns.

Seemingly sensing the unfriendly stares from their surroundings, the young man with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes knitted his brows tightly. After sizing Jiang Hao up and down once more, his eyes narrowed into slits.

The young woman simply pulled Ji Qingxue aside and lowered her voice. "Qingxue, do you realize that adding another person means one more person to divide our future fortunes?

"You suddenly brought someone over and said you want him to join us. Have you considered that everyone else likely won’t agree to this?

"And it’s not like I want to lecture you." Ji Qingyu paused and glanced at Jiang Hao before continuing, "Even if we want to expand our lineup, you can’t just find someone off the street to make up the numbers.

"Although this person has stepped into the Spirit Transformation Realm, it’s been five months since we entered this ancient ruin, and he hasn’t even achieved Spirit Transformation. Even if he is a peerless genius, the gap between him and us is not just a tiny bit."

Evidently, Ji Qingyu’s meaning was clear: the young man in white that her younger sister Ji Qingxue had brought over was not yet qualified to join their ranks.

While Ji Qingxue and Ji Qingyu were discussing in low voices, the young man with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes spoke up, a flash of discomfort and aversion in his eyes. "Sir, it’s not that I want to disrespect you, but there are some things I probably need to clarify.

"It’s true that our camp recruits terrifyingly strong fellow Cultivators to jointly explore the ancient ruins. However, as you can surely see right now, not just anyone can join our Nanling camp.

"At least based on your current performance, you don’t meet our minimum standards. Right now, we don’t lack peerless geniuses who have just stepped into the Spirit Transformation Realm; what we lack are experts of Spirit Transformation."

The young man’s words were already quite tactful, but the meaning he conveyed was exactly the same as Ji Qingyu’s.

To sum it up in one sentence: *You are not worthy of joining a camp of this caliber.*

Although it sounded harsh, that was basically the gist of it. Everything depended on strength.

As soon as he finished speaking, the astonishing figures around them couldn’t help but nod slightly. After all, adding another person meant redividing everyone’s resources and fortunes in the future; no one could just stand by and watch.

However, right after the young man’s voice faded, Ji Qingxue immediately spoke up.

"Second Brother, what’s the rush? Our lineup indeed doesn’t lack Cultivators who have just entered the Spirit Transformation Realm, but we are missing an Alchemy Master." Having said that, the young woman beneath the bamboo hat looked at Jiang Hao through her veil and added, "And this gentleman happens to be an Alchemy Master—one with unimaginably vast potential."

RUSTLE!!!

Upon hearing this, a commotion swept through the crowd. This Nanling team indeed didn’t lack Spirit Transformation Cultivators; their only shortcoming was lacking a Pill Master.

When he learned that the young man in white before him was actually a Pill Master, the young man with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes was taken aback for a moment. Following that, his attitude underwent an instant one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.

"So you are an Alchemy Master, Brother. It was I, Ji, who spoke too harshly just now. I hope you can forgive me." He bowed slightly as he spoke.

Jokes aside, simply possessing the identity of an Alchemy Master made one stand above others in the entire Celestial Martial Continent.

In the Eastern Domain, there was even a saying: *It is better to offend a powerful enemy than to ever slight a Pill Master.* The networks and connections of such existences were simply too terrifying and vast.

Naturally, Jiang Hao did not put on airs and immediately returned the bow.

At this moment, Ji Qingxue began to introduce them. She first pointed at the young man with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes. "Let me introduce you. This is my second brother, Ji Wufeng of the Nanling Ji Family. As for this..."

Ji Qingxue then pointed to the young woman. "...she is my older sister, Ji Qingyu."

After briefly introducing the two, she looked toward the thirty-odd terrifying figures around them. "They are all the cream of the crop among the peerless geniuses from the Nanling Ancient Clan Families and the Saint Races. How about it? Care to introduce yourself?"

With that, Ji Qingxue tossed the ball into Jiang Hao’s court.

Obviously, her meaning was clear: whether he continued to call himself Jiang Ye or Jiang whatever was entirely up to him.

After a brief moment of thought, Jiang Hao furrowed his brows in silence. Only after a short while did he give a faint smile. He turned around, bowed to all the astonishing figures, and his calm voice slowly echoed.

"I am Jiang Hao of the Earth Realm of Xingyue City. Greetings to all the Nanling brothers and Fairies."

BOOM!!!

As soon as Jiang Hao spoke, it was as if a fierce gale had instantly swept through. All the Nanling Cultivators jerked their heads up, their eyes filled with shock and surprise.

"Jiang Hao of the Earth Realm of Xingyue City?"

"Could you be that young heaven’s pride who beheaded the Qilin Child of the Qi Family?"

"The champion of the Eastern Domain’s Pill Master Tournament five years ago? The Celestial Tier Ninth Grade Soul Martial Awakener who obtained the Royal Clan Alchemy Stele’s Alchemy Mark?"

The moment Jiang Hao proactively revealed his identity, the entire audience turned pale with fright, everyone looking as though they had been struck by lightning.

In their eyes, perhaps beheading Qi Tianyang with a sword was not all that earth-shattering, but being the champion of the Eastern Domain’s Pill Master Tournament was a completely different story.

One had to know that it was a competition among Pill Masters from countless regions across the entire Eastern Domain. To snatch the championship meant carrying the title of the number one person in the Alchemy Dao among his peers.

Not to mention, he was a new-generation Pill Master acknowledged by the Alchemy Stele. In the near future, he would become an existence comparable to a Pill King.

"So it is Brother Jiang. I’ve long heard your great name, Brother Jiang, but I never expected to have the honor of meeting you in person today. Hearing of your fame truly doesn’t compare to seeing you in the flesh."

"Brother Jiang is indeed a man of striking appearance and extraordinary bearing. We were blind just now and failed to recognize that you are Pill Master Jiang yourself. We are truly ashamed."

"You... you are Jiang Hao?"

"Qingxue, he... is he the young Pill Master the Grand Elder mentioned to you?"

Ji Wufeng felt as though he had been struck by lightning. Recalling his own words from moments ago, he wished he could find a hole in the ground to crawl into.

This was a representative of the Peak of Pill Dao who carried an Alchemy Mark! He had actually almost rejected the team-up request of a future star of the Alchemy Dao.

It must be known that the Nanling Ancient Clan Families were numerous, dominating their respective domains like deep dragon pools. They were fiercely renowned in every aspect, but when it came to Alchemy Masters, they fell severely short.

Due to the uniqueness of its geographical location, Nanling rarely produced Pill Masters. One could say they were virtually nonexistent.

"Brother Jiang, welcome to our group," Ji Wufeng said, immediately correcting his attitude after snapping out of his daze to welcome Jiang Hao.

Upon learning that the newcomer was actually that heaven-defying young Pill Master from Xingyue City, none of the Nanling crowd objected to Jiang Hao’s inclusion.

The arrival of an Alchemy Master gave this lineup wings like a tiger, ensuring they would be peerless from now on.

They didn’t expect Jiang Hao to hold his own in combat for the camp; they only hoped he could guarantee the team’s supply of alchemical pills in the future.

Watching this scene, Ji Qingxue felt a sense of pride from the bottom of her heart. This could be considered a massive contribution she had made to the team.

"However, Brother Jiang, the ruins of the Ancient Emperor Sect are opening soon. Cultivators in the Early-stage Spirit Transformation who enter will likely face more misfortune than luck. Fortunately, there is still some time before the ruins open. If you can achieve Spirit Transformation before then, your ability to protect yourself will increase significantly.

"May I ask when you stepped into the Realm of Spirit Transformation, Brother Jiang?"

Ji Wufeng spoke subconsciously. Heading into the Ancient Emperor Sect ruins, even the people of Nanling dared not be careless. Now that Jiang Hao was one of them, it would naturally be best if he could break through to Spirit Transformation.

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Jiang Hao.

If he couldn’t achieve Spirit Transformation before the ruins of the Ancient Emperor Sect opened, they would have to divide their attention to protect him, which would inevitably do more harm than good.

After all, keeping those three Array Masters safe was already no easy task. Adding a Pill Master to the mix made the situation less than optimistic.

Following the voice, Jiang Hao didn’t hide the truth and answered honestly, "A little over half a month."

"Half a month?"

Hearing this, everyone invariably frowned slightly.

Having stepped into the Spirit Transformation Realm just half a month ago, breaking through to Spirit Transformation before the Ancient Emperor Sect ruins opened was clearly quite impossible.

However, Jiang Hao followed up with a question, "How much time is left before the Ancient Emperor Sect ruins open?"

Ji Qingxue thought for a moment before answering, "Probably about a month. Maybe even less."

"A month, huh?" Jiang Hao muttered to himself. After pondering for a moment, he continued, "A month might be enough."

Now that he had stepped into the Spirit Transformation Realm, there was little point in suppressing his breakthroughs. Generally, the time to suppress one’s cultivation was before breaking through major realms.

Although the gap between Spirit Transformation and Early-stage Spirit Transformation was like a massive chasm, it wasn’t a major realm boundary after all. Moving forward, Jiang Hao simply needed to push for breakthroughs wildly. Only when he reached the Peak of Spirit Transformation would suppressing his cultivation be effective again.

To break through to Spirit Transformation in one month—though he wasn’t entirely certain, he could certainly give it a try. Being a suspected Divine-rank or higher Martial Soul Awakener wasn’t just for show.

More importantly, from everyone’s words, Jiang Hao had also guessed the minimum threshold for entering the Ancient Emperor Sect: one had to reach Spirit Transformation at the very least to stand a chance.

It wasn’t that Cultivators below the Spirit Transformation Realm couldn’t enter, but to maximize one’s fortunes inside, one needed to be an expert of Spirit Transformation at the bare minimum. Otherwise, they would only be able to pick up the leftover scraps and legacies that others had discarded.

Therefore, achieving Spirit Transformation before entering the Ancient Emperor Sect ruins was an absolute imperative.

However, as soon as he said this, everyone blanked out slightly.

"Haha, Brother Jiang, there’s no need to take it to heart. We were just mentioning it in passing. There’s no need to rush for success. When the time comes, we will definitely protect you. After all, you’re the only Alchemy Master in our team. Everyone here will have to rely on your alchemical pills in the future."

"That’s right, Brother Jiang, don’t feel pressured. We definitely won’t let you fall into danger in there. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, we won’t easily abandon any teammate."

Many people spoke up one after another.

To put it bluntly, they actually felt that Jiang Hao was being a bit arrogant. To think about breaking through to Spirit Transformation within a month when he had barely stepped into the Spirit Transformation Realm less than half a month ago was undoubtedly the ravings of a lunatic. It was simply impossible.

Looking at the entire ancient ruin, even experts of Spirit Transformation like them had only recently broken through. And this was an achievement that had taken them nearly half a year in such an environment dense with Spiritual Qi.

Every single one of these peerless geniuses at Spirit Transformation had stepped into the Spirit Transformation Realm the moment they entered the ancient ruins.

In other words, according to everyone’s cultivation speed, Jiang Hao would need at least five months to reach Spirit Transformation. A mere one month was pure fantasy.

However, Ji Qingxue, standing to the side, fell into deep thought.

It had to be known that she was the person who understood Jiang Hao the most out of everyone here, bar none.

"Back then in the Earth Realm of Xingyue City, he seemed to only take three months to break through from the Peak of Body Refining Realm to the Unity Realm. Could it be that even after reaching the Spirit Transformation Realm, he can still possess such a terrifying cultivation speed?" she wondered.

As she thought this, Ji Qingxue quickly shook her head inwardly.

This was just too unlikely. One had to realize that everyone standing here was the cream of the crop among peerless geniuses—some of the most terrifying figures in Nanling. If even they couldn’t do it, who else could possibly achieve Spirit Transformation in one month?

At this thought, Ji Qingxue couldn’t help but shake her head, not overly optimistic about Jiang Hao’s previous claim.