"Look, that's Qin Luan of the Wind Calming Temple!"
As people focused their attention on the pouting Song Ying, someone finally noticed Qin Luan. Judging by the tone, Qin Luan was a somewhat famous fellow. As for Jiang Li, he was plain and unremarkable, clearly not some formidable character at a glance, so he was ignored.
"I heard this person was picked up by the Wind Calming Temple Master. When his talent was tested at the age of eight, it turned out to be a Lightning Single Spiritual Root. For a time, all the major sects extended an olive branch, but all were rejected."
"People all thought that although his talent was quite good, without the support of a great sect, he would only waste it. Who would have thought that he would actually rely on his comprehension and fortuitous encounters to overpower the Dao Children of the various great sects!"
Spiritual Roots were also divided into superior and inferior. The best were the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Roots, followed by Single Spiritual Roots, and the worst were the Five Elements Spirit Roots. Among Single Spiritual Roots, the five types of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth were the most common.
Mutated Spiritual Roots like wind and lightning were relatively rare. A Mutated Single Spiritual Root was half a notch better than an ordinary spiritual root. Although not as good as the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Roots, it was the ceiling for Single Spiritual Roots.
"Why are you pretending not to see me!"
Song Ying stood with her hands on her hips, glaring angrily at Qin Luan.
"If I hadn't seen you, how could I have introduced you to Brother Kong," Qin Luan said with righteous conviction.
"I just didn't want to bother with you."
Seeing that the two were about to start arguing, Jiang Li asked, "Brother Qin, do you know who that person over there is?" Qin Luan thought for a while but indicated that he couldn't remember. Seeing that Jiang Li and Qin Luan had a good relationship and were possibly friends, Song Ying answered out of respect for Qin Luan.
"That person is Li Litong, a True Disciple of the Stone Dragon Gate. I heard that his aptitude and comprehension were very average before, but ever since he fell off a cliff, it was like his mind was opened. His cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds, and in just half a year, he cultivated from the Early Foundation Establishment Stage to the late stage. I've fought him before. Although I won easily, I feel like he was holding something back, that it wasn't his true level."
Jiang Li nodded, then gestured for the two of them to continue arguing. Amidst their bickering, the Mysterious Secret Realm finally opened. The number of people who could enter the Mysterious Secret Realm was fixed, with only eight hundred spots.
After a total of eight hundred disciples from the various sects had entered the Mysterious Secret Realm, Jiang Li, as the eight hundred and first person, unhurriedly walked into the mystic realm's entrance.
Some people thought this was some Rogue Cultivator trying to sneak in, but then they discovered that this person had actually entered the Mysterious Secret Realm and was not rejected by it. Could they have miscounted? Upon entering the mystic realm, Jiang Li immediately felt a repulsive force.
Its strength was like a three-year-old child trying to push away an elephant; even using all its might, it couldn't budge him. Soon, the mystic realm also seemed to realize it couldn't drive away this uninvited guest and simply gave up on the useless effort, concentrating its power on conducting its trials.
What appeared before Jiang Li's eyes was a small stream formed by Spiritual Qi condensed into Spiritual Water. A single sip was equivalent to three months of cultivation for someone in the Foundation Establishment Stage. Not far away, a wooden zither played by itself, and immortal cranes danced gracefully to the sound of the zither.
In the distance, immortal mountains floated, presenting a scene of an Immortal's household that made one reluctant to leave. Jiang Li was drawn in by this beautiful scenery. He walked involuntarily to the wooden zither, chopped it down, and then looked at the immortal crane.
The immortal crane sensed danger and wanted to fly away, but it was forcefully held back by Jiang Li. Soon, cooking smoke rose from the side of the stream, and the aroma of roasted meat drifted far away. A weak cry for help came from not far away.
Just from the sound, one could imagine that its owner was surely a beautiful and delicate woman. Jiang Li turned a deaf ear and continued to focus on roasting the meat. That voice came from far to near, finally arriving before Jiang Li.
"Wandering Hero, save me!"
The stunningly beautiful girl's clothes barely covered her body, her robes must have been torn while running, revealing her fair skin. She looked pitiful and could stir a man's desire to protect. Jiang Li was a proper person, so he continued to roast the meat.
The young girl was stunned by Jiang Li's posture of boiling a crane and burning a zither, as if she had never seen such a situation before. But thinking of the villain chasing her from behind, she hurriedly asked Jiang Li for help.
"Wandering Hero, help! There's a ruffian who wants to take liberties with me! If you can save Chun'er, Chun'er is willing to give herself to you, and all my vast family fortune will belong to the Wandering Hero!"
The girl named Chun'er bowed deeply, revealing a snow-white expanse on her chest that far surpassed her peers. Testing a cultivator in this way, which cultivator could withstand it? Jiang Li withstood it.
He could tell at a glance that the girl was sixteen years old, and her strength was only at about the first or second layer of Qi Refining. In the Nine Provinces, such talent would be considered first-degree crippled. For such a person to escape, the strength of her pursuers couldn't be too high either.
Sure enough, before Chun'er could speak again, her pursuers chased her up from the foot of the mountain, surrounding Chun'er and Jiang Li with cruel smiles. The strength of these people was slightly greater than Chun'er's, probably at the level of two and a half layers of Qi Refining.
Normally, the Qi Refining stage was only divided into layers one through nine, with no mention of half-layers, but today, seeing the pitiful cultivation of this group, Jiang Li specially added a realm for them. The two-and-a-half layer of Qi Refining. The Human Emperor's pity.
"Little wench, run! Let's see where you can run to!"
The leader had a lewd smile on his face; one knew what he was thinking without seeing what happened next.
"Today, you'll die together with your boyfriend!"
"He's n-not my boyfriend!"
Chun'er's face flushed red. Those people didn't care about Chun'er's reaction. At their leader's command, they were all thrown down the mountain by Jiang Li.
They didn't even have a chance to attack as a group.
"Benefactor, thank you for saving my life. This humble girl has no way to repay you, I can only offer myself to you!"
Chun'er's eyes sparkled, filled with love. Jiang Li naturally would not refuse Chun'er's kind intentions and said gently, "Maybe in your next life."
Chun'er: "...
Benefactor, you jest. Please come to Chun'er's village for a visit, as thanks for saving my life." The density of Spiritual Qi in the mystic realm was several times higher than in the Nine Provinces.
On the way to the village, Jiang Li saw that the wild fruits by the roadside could be considered heavenly materials and earthly treasures, very helpful even for those at the Golden Core or even Nascent Soul stage. If a Foundation Establishment cultivator came here, they would probably want to live in the mystic realm directly.
It was truly difficult for Chun'er, to be able to maintain a level of one and a half layers of Qi Refining with so many heavenly materials and earthly treasures around. Chun'er's village was very attractive. According to her, all the men in the village had been forcibly conscripted into the army and sent to the battlefield.
Ten years had passed, and not a single one had returned. Therefore, only a group of widowed beauties and shy young girls remained in the village. These beauties and young girls were charming in appearance.
When Jiang Li first arrived, he thought he had come to the Red Dust Pure Land. Chun'er also said that the country was now torn apart by war and strife, and men were scarce, leaving behind many widows and young girls. Moreover, their looks were no worse than those in this village.
With Jiang Li's earth-shattering cultivation, if he could throw himself into the battlefield, he would surely be able to unify the world and become a king. In his conversation with Chun'er, Jiang Li learned that the people of the mystic realm could not cultivate immortality; they could only train their bodies and enhance their martial arts.
Those heavenly materials and earthly treasures were useless to them. Chun'er was considered to have good talent, being a Post-Heaven Master at such a young age. Above Post-Heaven was the Pre-Heaven Master, and above Pre-Heaven was the rare Grandmaster!
The Grandmaster Realm only appeared in legends! And according to Chun'er's description, the Grandmaster Realm was equivalent to the seventh to ninth layer of Qi Refining! After hearing this, Jiang Li sucked in a breath of cold air, and the temperature of the entire mystic realm dropped by several degrees.
What a weak mystic realm world