Chapter 140 - 113: Dragon Transformation Pool, Golden Scale Dao

Chapter 140: Chapter 113: Dragon Transformation Pool, Golden Scale Dao

"Xingyue City Earth Realm—Jiang Hao!"

The moment those powerful, striking words entered their line of sight, everyone was dumbstruck, as if struck by lightning.

"Xingyue City Earth Realm? Jiang Hao?" Leng Tianlin slowly read the name out loud, looking as though he had been hit by a bolt from the blue.

Tang Xin Yi’s breathing quickened, and she drew in a sharp breath. "Jiang Hao... he’s Jiang Hao of Xingyue City? That white-robed youth who killed the seven great monstrous prodigies of the Celestial Sword Sect with a single strike?"

Everyone abruptly turned their heads, staring blankly at the now-empty corridor outside the private booth. Any Cultivator who could pull out so many ancient ruin treasures at once was undoubtedly a standout among peerless monsters. Just moments ago, they had been guessing his identity. They never expected him to be the dark horse causing an uproar across the entire Eastern Domain lately.

"It’s actually him? He actually came to the Holy City?" Leng Tianlin turned pale with fright.

Originally, they had all felt that the rumors about this Jiang Hao were exaggerated. They assumed he had only managed to slay the Celestial Sword Sect’s seven great sequence prodigies by taking advantage of their vulnerability. A terrifying entity rising from a barren land was likely just a product of boasting.

However, at this moment, they were completely shaken, each of them breathing heavily. Anyone who could seize so many astounding treasures from ancient ruins was likely no fraud. After all, even Leng Tianlin had only managed to secure two Celestial Tier Techniques and five Celestial Tier martial skills in another ancient ruin—and he couldn’t bear to trade them away.

Yet that young man had just offered up a massive hoard of world-shocking treasures all at once. This was simply too terrifying.

"It seems the legends really aren’t empty rumors," an offspring of the Ice Race murmured beside Leng Tianlin. If word got out, probably no one would believe that a junior Cultivator could produce such a vast fortune obtained from fortuitous encounters.

While the crowd was left practically speechless in shock, Jiang Hao’s figure appeared at the entrance outside the Tiancheng Auction House, having received his 183,500 Middle-grade Spirit Stones.

Casting a faint glance at the endless stream of Cultivators with terrifying auras on the street, he did not linger any longer in the open within the Holy City, but turned to leave. Of course, Jiang Hao didn’t intend to leave this region so soon. By staying here, he was at least free from the threats of the Celestial Sword Sect and countless terrifying factions of the Eastern Domain. Furthermore, now that he was within the confines of the Holy City, according to the Mu Family Siblings, he would only have the freedom to leave once he climbed onto the Holy City’s Celestial List. Otherwise, he would have to stay in Nanling to marry and have children, leaving his prodigious bloodline behind.

At dusk.

"Brother Jiang, how was it? Did the trip go smoothly?" Mu Zhen had been waiting outside the thatched cottage’s courtyard early on. Seeing Jiang Hao return, he immediately stepped forward to greet him.

Jiang Hao smiled faintly and said, "It went smoothly enough. The Tiancheng Auction House is indeed a worthwhile place to trade, just as Brother Mu said."

"Of course! The Tiancheng Auction House is the largest auction house in the Sword Dynasty. Its properties spread throughout the entire Dynasty’s territory, and it is one of the most reputable auction houses around." Earning Jiang Hao’s acknowledgment seemed to make Mu Zhen very proud. Although he had only been in the Holy City for a little over half a year, he had already figured out how things worked.

During a lull in their conversation, Mu Yiyi’s voice rang out from the courtyard. "Brother, Jiang Hao, time to eat."

"Brother Jiang, Yiyi prepared the meal ages ago and has just been waiting for you," Mu Zhen said, his face instantly blooming into a smile as he turned toward the voice.

With that, the two walked into the courtyard and were greeted by a table full of delicious food.

Faced with the Mu Family Siblings’ warm hospitality, Jiang Hao did not refuse. After all, they had taken care of him for over three months; if not credit for success, they at least deserved credit for their hard work. Moreover, through their interactions over the past few days, Jiang Hao had gained a good understanding of Mu Zhen and Mu Yiyi. The siblings were also ill-fated people who had depended on each other since birth, lonely and desolate, just like him—without anyone else to rely on.

Jiang Hao was naturally aware of Mu Zhen’s deliberate attempts to curry favor with him, but he maintained an attitude of turning a blind eye to it. At the very least, the siblings’ way of dealing with people wasn’t off-putting.

Time slowly slipped by.

In the days that followed, Mu Zhen remained as busy as usual, while Jiang Hao chose to cultivate in silence.

"The battle in the Xingyue City Earth Realm brought me quite a few benefits. At the very least, my cultivation has improved significantly," Jiang Hao thought. Sitting cross-legged inside the thatched cottage, he slowly opened his eyes, sensing the changes in his body and cultivation.

However, one thing was giving him a tremendous headache.

"My cultivation has surged forward drastically, almost reaching the Spirit Transformation Perfection realm," he mused. "But my eight veins and spine can hardly advance another inch."

Jiang Hao was growing anxious. If the ninth qualitative transformation didn’t happen soon, and he couldn’t suppress his cultivation from breaking through, his future potential would inevitably be limited.

"Could it be that the ninth transformation doesn’t exist?" he wondered. Attempting to break through his Ren Vein once more, Jiang Hao nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Although each stage of the Eight Veins Eighth Transformation had been incredibly perilous, he had ultimately succeeded. But when it came to the ninth transformation, it was as if he had hit an impenetrable bottleneck and shackle; triggering it seemed fundamentally impossible.

"It has to be possible. If others can do it, so can I. Ji Qingxue once said that Cultivators who achieve the Nine Transformations of One Vein are not unheard of," he told himself.

With this in mind, Jiang Hao relentlessly cultivated his Ren Vein, repeatedly attempting to trigger the ninth transformation, brushing past death time and time again. Whenever he reached his absolute limit, he would immediately abandon his assault on the bottleneck.

Like this, he cultivated his Ren Vein day after day. After a full half month of training, Jiang Hao had still made no progress, though his cultivation base had soared rapidly.

"This won’t do. If this continues, not only will I fail to achieve the ninth transformation, but I might even prematurely break through to the next realm," he realized.