"Senior Zhang, should we just leave it at that?" Yuan Wuxing cautiously inquired, a tinge of fear in his voice.
"Are you afraid?"
"Who would fear those beasts of the Jiang family? Just thinking about those corpses fills me with great anger." Yuan Wuxing clenched his neck, veins bulging on his forehead, but his resolve waned soon after. "But if our actions truly affect the faith in the Emperor, and subsequently impact the resistance against the extraterritorial demon, then we would be condemned for eternity."
The death of hundreds of infants was indeed a major event, but the defense of the nine provinces by the Emperor was an even greater matter. If Yuan Wuxing had to choose, he would likely choose the latter.
Jiang Li chuckled, "You're overthinking it. The sect master once told me that the current Emperor has exceptional talent, far surpassing the emperors of the past. The power of faith has its benefits for the Jiang emperor, but it doesn't affect him much if it's absent."
Yuan Wuxing was immediately relieved.
Jiang Li did not mention that every time he experienced the Tribulation of Thunder, he would grow stronger. After his fourth tribulation, the power of faith was already useless to him. He had crafted a bronze cauldron 160 years ago, placed in the Emperor's Hall, so that all faith in the nine provinces would not affect him but be stored in the cauldron for the next emperor.
...
"System."
In the silence of the night, Jiang Li summoned the system interface.
"Congratulations to the host for enduring arduous cultivation and difficult battles, defeating Jiang Yixing. Do you wish to claim the rewards?"
Jiang Li's mouth twitched. He wanted to ask the system when these "arduous cultivation and difficult battles" had taken place.
Suppressing the urge to retort, Jiang Li said, "Claim the rewards."
A pure force descended from the void and entered Jiang Li's body.
"This power... it's still less than the power I generate in one breath. Oh, this is for the Qi refining stage, it's fine then."
According to Jiang Li's estimation, if he had access to this power in the past, he would have attained a "perfect" state during his Foundation Establishment, a treatment only the core disciples of major sects could receive. It would have made his basics much stronger than typical Foundation Establishment-stage cultivators and elevated his combat prowess by several levels.
"Good stuff," Jiang Li praised, then expelled the power from his body.
Joking aside, he wouldn't refine an unknown power.
From the void dropped a bamboo scroll tied with a thin red string, titled "Dragon and Tiger Arhat Force," a body-refining cultivation method.
According to the introduction of this method, as the cultivation deepens, it would gradually change the practitioner's blood, and an unparalleled force would burst forth when the practitioner's emotions were stirred. The levels of cultivation were divided based on animal powers, such as the power of an ox, tiger, elephant, dragon, and so on. Achieving a minor level would mean having the power of a tiger, an intermediate level would possess dragon power, and reaching a major level would integrate both dragon and tiger powers, allowing the practitioner to wrestle with a real dragon in a fit of extreme rage, showing extraordinary brutality.
After two minutes of reading the introduction and three minutes of contemplation, Jiang Li concluded that he had wasted five minutes. This body-refining method was powerful and would be considered a treasure even to those in the Nascent Soul stage or higher.
However, it was of no use against Jiang Li.
Now, the Dragon Clan in the Four Seas is all about a cultivation method called "Jiang Li Ren Huang's Strength." It is said to have been compiled personally by the Four Sea Dragon King. When cultivated to the highest level, it can match the strength of Emperor Jiang Li's hand.
From the results, Jiang Li has not yet seen a Dragon Clan member who can defeat him with just one hand.
As for other things like Dan medicine with Dan clouds and fragrances, and high-grade spiritual swords, Jiang Li was not the least bit interested.
He specially designated a place in his spatial ring for the system, placing these Dan medicines, treasure swords, and cultivation methods in a pile and labeled them. The labels read:
"Useless stuff #2 given by the Lonely System"
The previous beginner's gift naturally was #1.
[New mission posted: After joining the Hua Yun Sect, the grandson of the sect's elder, Yun Bo, believes that your Five Elements Spiritual Roots have lowered the average level of the sect, and he’s making things difficult for you. Please use overwhelming strength to defeat him.]
[This mission can be declined]
[Mission rewards: one chance for enlightenment, a mysterious map fragment, a high-grade spiritual weapon of any style (can be advanced)]
This time, Jiang Li was able to quickly recall who Yun Bo was.
The Hua Yun Sect is a small sect near Qingcheng, with a late-stage Golden Core stage sect leader and five Golden Core stage elders. At that time, Jiang Li concealed his natural spirit roots and showed only the worst Five Elements Spiritual Roots externally, with no sect willing to take him in. After observing the Hua Yun Sect disciples’ shopping list when they descended the mountain, Jiang Li inferred that the sect was financially tight. He then found an opportunity to communicate with the sect leader, analyzed the local economic situation for him, and told him ways to make money. The sect leader was amazed and defied opposition to let Jiang Li manage the finances, under the sect leader's supervision.
Jiang Li lived up to everyone's expectations, turning around the financial losses of the Hua Yun Sect and acquiring several small sects. After finally obtaining the Hua Yun Sect's core cultivation methods and guidance from the senior elders, Jiang Li set out on his journey throughout the Great Zhou once again.
During this period, Yun Bo gathered followers to bully newcomers. Jiang Li discussed with the senior elder and had him pretend to die. Those following after Yun Bo scattered like birds and beasts, and only after experiencing the warmth and coldness of the human world did Yun Bo finally understand the importance of cultivation. He then diligently practiced to atone for his past mistakes.
"Three hundred years ago, when I returned to the Hua Yun Sect, Yun Bo was already in the Yuanying stage. With the few life-extending pills I gave him, it's not a big problem for him to last until now."
Jiang Li decided not to give up on this task for now.
He was attracted by the mysterious map fragment.
[New function activated: Shop]
Jiang Li was delighted that there was finally an interesting function. He summoned the shop, and a light screen appeared in his mind, neatly displaying a large number of commodities.
Wherever his consciousness focused, the screen would display a brief introduction of that product.
However, Jiang Li soon felt disappointed because the items displayed on the screen were all from their world—there were no smartphones, computers, nuclear bombs, or satellites from his previous life, nor were there any special products from the immortal world.
Whether or not there were smartphones didn't matter. What mattered was trying out the feeling of withstanding a nuclear bomb physically.
"System, are there no products from other worlds?"
[Host needs to visit other worlds first]
Jiang Li sneered. It was another useless function. If he were able to go to other places, what would he need this system for?
"System, arrange the items based on the required source points in descending order."
The number of items on the screen quickly changed, with the Emperor's Palace's cultivation method at the forefront, followed by the Dao Sect's treasure "Yin Yang Heaven Seal," and then treasures hidden in other sects' imperial cities, such as the puppet of Tribulation Crossing stage and an immortal's notes.
Although these items were good, they were either already used by Jiang Li or not useful to him. For instance, when facing the extraterritorial fiend, the Dao Sect lent him the Tai Chi Heaven Seal, but Jiang Li later found that he preferred using his own weapons and returned the seal to the Dao Sect. As for the puppet of the Tribulation Crossing stage, Jiang Li had no use for it as a grand cultivator; and he had read the immortal's notes, exchanged for teaching him cultivation techniques.
Moreover, Jiang Li suspected that these items didn't appear out of thin air but were stolen from the sects.