Passing through the crowd of people practicing martial arts, Ye Chen walked a bit further and saw various small circles gathered across the square, where many Qingyun Sect disciples sat together, discussing various martial arts rumors within and outside the sect.
"Have you guys heard? Not long ago, our Qingyun Sect's number one inner disciple, Brother Xiao Long, encountered the notorious bandit 'Crimson Source Light' in Qingfeng Town, and the two of them fought fiercely for three days and nights. In the end, Brother Xiao Long successfully killed 'Crimson Source Light'!"
"The notorious bandit 'Crimson Source Light'? It's said that he committed all kinds of evil deeds, pillaging and plundering without restraint. But because his cultivation had reached the twelfth level of the True Qi Realm and he was incredibly cunning, many sects wanted to eliminate him but all let him escape. This time, he actually died at the hands of Brother Xiao Long?"
You guys probably don't know, but it was during that fierce battle that Brother Xiao Long broke through to the twelfth level of the True Qi Realm, transforming the True Qi in his body into True Qi Spiritual Fluid, stepping into the 'Spirit Sea Realm' and becoming a high-level Spirit Sea master!
Even if 'Crimson Source Light' was at the twelfth level of the True Qi Realm, how could he be a match for Brother Xiao Long!"
"The 'Spirit Sea Realm', Brother Xiao Long actually stepped into the Spirit Sea Realm? Legend says that the masters of the Spirit Sea Realm can fly through the skies and tunnel through the earth, can inhale water and spit fire, and possess incredible magical powers. Our Qingyun Sect only has eight Spirit Sea Realm masters, and Brother Xiao Long actually became the ninth?"
"With this, our standing in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom's eastern domain among the thirty-six sects will see a big leap in strength!"
Hearing these words, Ye Chen's expression changed.
From his previous memories, Ye Chen knew that the True Qi Realm was divided into twelve levels, and above the True Qi Realm was the even stronger Spirit Sea Realm.
The Spirit Sea Realm was not divided into twelve levels like the True Qi Realm; it had only three stages: early, middle, and late.
Upon stepping into the Spirit Sea Realm, the gaseous True Qi in the entire Qi Sea would all transform into liquid Spiritual Liquid, turning the Qi Sea into a Spirit Sea. The amount of True Qi that the Spirit Sea could hold would increase by thousands of times.
Correspondingly, the strength of a Spirit Sea Realm master would far exceed that of a True Qi Realm cultivator. It could be said that an early-stage Spirit Sea Realm master could easily slay countless True Qi Realm masters.
"I wonder when I can become a 'Spirit Sea Realm' master capable of flying and tunneling through the earth," Ye Chen thought to himself.
To be able to fly and move through the earth was something mythical, and he, of course, yearned for it greatly.
However, at present, Ye Chen was only at the third level of the True Qi Realm, still very far from the "Spirit Sea Realm."
As Ye Chen was thinking, a voice suddenly came from another small circle not far away, "Speaking of the number one genius among the thirty-six sects of the eastern domain, that has to be 'Sister Jiang Yao' without question!"
"Although Brother Xiao Long has also entered the Spirit Sea Realm, he is already twenty-eight years old. Sister Jiang Yao, however, stepped into the 'Spirit Sea Realm' when she was only sixteen."
"It could be said that among all the thirty-six sects of the eastern domain, Sister Jiang Yao is the earliest to step into the 'Spirit Sea Realm,' and she is truly the number one genius without a doubt!"
The young man speaking clearly admired this "Sister Jiang Yao" immensely, his voice revealing an extreme sense of worship.
"Sixteen years old and already in the 'Spirit Sea Realm'?!"
Ye Chen was greatly startled when he heard this.
Although he did not know this "Sister Jiang Yao," he understood how difficult it was to reach the Spirit Sea Realm. It could be said that among a hundred True Qi Realm level twelve masters, if even one could break through to become a "Spirit Sea Realm" master, that would already be quite remarkable.
In the entire Qingyun Sect, with tens of thousands of cultivators, there were only nine "Spirit Sea Realm" masters, which illustrates just how rare Spirit Sea Realm masters are.
It was rumored that reaching the "Spirit Sea Realm" before the age of thirty was the mark of a genius.
This "Sister Jiang Yao" actually reached the "Spirit Sea Realm" at the age of sixteen, which was almost unthinkable.
The circle that was initially discussing Brother Xiao Long suddenly heard someone interrupting them and was a bit disgruntled. However, when they heard the name "Jiang Yao," those who were about to react angrily suddenly became quiet.
After a while, the people from this circle began to swarm towards the other circle, with many asking directly, "The 'Sister Jiang Yao' you're talking about, is she the one from the 'Taixuan Sect,' ranked number one among the thirty-six sects of the eastern domain?"
By their expressions, it was clear that they had also heard of this famous "Sister Jiang Yao."
Ye Chen had previously been at the bottom of the Qingyun Sect in terms of cultivation, rarely wandered around the mountain gate square, and knew little about the various peculiar tales within and outside the sect. He had not heard of the renowned "Sister Jiang Yao."
Seeing many people surrounding the place, he also moved closer and listened attentively.
After all, newly entering this world, he was extremely curious about some legendary tales and mythical figures.
"Yes, there's only one Sister Jiang Yao, and she is indeed from the 'Taixuan Sect,' ranked number one among the thirty-six sects."
"That Taixuan Sect, being a sixth-rank sect, is a hundred times more powerful than our 'Qingyun Sect,' an eighth-rank sect. Even within the most powerful Taixuan Sect, Sister Jiang Yao is the most talented!"
The young man who had spoken earlier said.
No sooner had he finished speaking than another young man added, "Sister Jiang Yao, she is the legend of the thirty-six sects of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom's eastern domain. It is said that Sister Jiang Yao, who turned seventeen this year, is extremely beautiful, like a fairy descended from the heavens. If I could just see her once, I would die without regrets!"
"Lin Yan, you said you have a portrait of Sister Jiang Yao, hurry up and show it to us," the young man urged the one who had previously spoken.
"Alright, you can look at the portrait, but you have to promise me that if you get any news about 'Sister Jiang Yao' in the future, you'll share it with me," Lin Yan said.
"Agreed."
"No problem."
The crowd promptly made their promises.
It was then that Lin Yan carefully took out a painting scroll.
As soon as the scroll was brought out, everyone crowded around, clearly very curious about this Jiang Yao's appearance.
Seeing the actions of this group of young men, Ye Chen smiled and shook his head.
These youths looked just like he had in his past life when he was in school; whenever someone got a picture of the beauty queen from another school, everyone else would run over to admire it.
However, as the scroll unfurled, revealing the image of a young girl, Ye Chen sighed to himself, thinking that even if all the beauty queens from his former life were combined, they'd likely not amount to one ten-thousandth of this "Jiang Yao".
She was a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl wearing a simple yet elegant white long dress, her figure graceful and enchanting, with her black hair cascading down her waist like a waterfall.
Her dainty nose, rosy lips, and the slight dimples that appeared when she smiled bestowed her an ethereal beauty; especially the eyes beneath her long eyelashes, like resplendent stars, gave off an indescribable aura of sanctity.
Ye Chen had never seen such clean, such clear eyes.
After the scroll was opened and the girl within was seen, the entire painting seemed to glow with a faint luminance.
Surely, she was an exceedingly beautiful woman, so ethereal as if not of this world.
All the young men watching the scroll were stunned, and only after a long while did they come back to their senses.
"Is this Jiang Yao?"
"She's really... really too beautiful, I've never seen such a beautiful girl."
Lin Yan, being very careful, put the scroll away again: "This painting was made by my sister after she glimpsed Jiang Yao from afar. My sister said she couldn't capture Jiang Yao's true essence, and that in person, she is even more beautiful than the painting!"
Upon hearing Lin Yan's words, the youths grew even more excited.
One of them even said aloud, "Lin Yan, how about selling this scroll to me? I'll pay three thousand taels of silver!"
"Three thousand taels? This is an image of Jiang Yao, I'd buy it even for five thousand taels!" another exclaimed eagerly.
But Lin Yan simply shook his head: "This painting is something I finally coaxed out of my sister, and I'm not selling it. Moreover, Jiang Yao's image is not something that can be measured with silver."
"Lin Yan, what about six thousand taels?"
"Seven thousand taels, even seven thousand would be fine!"
Many people still didn't want to give up, raising their offers further.
"Just for a painting, to sell for seven thousand taels, seven thousand taels... that's enough to buy two or three sets of low-grade Yellow Tier martial arts!"
"Such is the charm of 'Sister Jiang Yao'!"
Ye Chen, watching the youths bidding against each other, sighed to himself and then walked out of the crowd.
He came from the Ye Family, a large clan in Qingyang City and thus wasn't short on silver.
However, Ye Chen had no intention of spending his money in this way, although the girl in the painting also evoked a sense of marvel from the depths of his heart.
"This painting, after all, is someone else's work."
"If I were truly powerful, I might one day meet this 'Sister Jiang Yao' in person."
Ye Chen thought to himself.
"It's more important to go to the Martial Skill Pavilion to select martial arts techniques first."
"A towering building starts from flat ground; there's still a long way for me to reach the 'Spirit Sea Realm', and I can't afford to slacken for even half a moment!"
Half an hour later, after crossing the mountain gate plaza, Ye Chen finally arrived at the Martial Skill Pavilion.