Chapter 539: Immortal Sect Special Recruitment Announcement

Several more days passed.

Mission World 1, Qixing.

A villa nestled in the jungle.

Zhou Kongming sat in an armchair, with some Qixing-style pastries and drinks laid out before him, gazing calmly at the jade-green lake not far away.

Looking into the distance, one could see some docile herbivores strolling leisurely by the lakeside, occasionally lowering their heads to nibble on the aquatic plants along the shore.

The cooing of birds drifted from deep within the forest, and every now and then the rustle of movement could be heard.

He picked up the drink in front of him and took a small sip; a sweet flavor bloomed across his palate, yet it did not feel cloying.

"It can only be that way."

He set down the drink, his fingertips tapping lightly against the table.

Over these past days, he had once again made several trips through the starry skies of this world and discovered a few races entirely unlike humanity.

Among them were races like the Changyuan civilization, which possessed special innate talents.

But there were also a small number of civilizations like the Qixing civilization, which possessed reason, self-awareness, creativity, and a thirst for knowledge.

Still, even the most advanced among them had only just barely gained the ability to leave the planet their race inhabited.

They were worlds apart from the Qixing civilization, which could already reshape entire planetary systems.

Naturally, he hadn't found any method that could speed up the progress of the genetic optimization project.

As he was pondering this in his heart—

"Master."

—a voice came from the side.

Then, a figure was seen walking in.

Neat short hair, a face both dashing and delicate, a one-piece white fitted leather suit outlining a lovely figure, with a generous, alluring curve at the chest.

That's right—still Heng!

After observing over these past days, She had noticed that Master seemed to prefer short hair.

So, building on that, She kept adjusting Her appearance, hoping to gain a little more favor and thereby avoid the fate of Her own annihilation…

One could say She was putting in tremendous effort.

At this moment, She held a metal tray, upon which lay a creature of the Changyuan civilization, sliced clean in half.

One could see its interior riddled with dense, tiny pores, looking like countless honeycombs pieced together, instinctively unsettling at a single glance.

"Their racial talent seems to originate from another dimension that cannot be observed, so the existing technology of Qixing simply cannot fully replicate their talent."

Let alone reverse-engineer their talent to repair the genes of the humans who had been transformed.

"And their talent is very dangerous. If not for your help, Master, I wouldn't even dare approach them…"

At the end, Heng even threw in a small flattery.

Zhou Kongming paid no heed to Her flattery; instead, his eyes lit up with a golden gleam as he looked at the halved Changyuan creature in Her hands.

Another dimension that cannot be observed, huh…

As the Grand Void Delusion-Sundering Golden Pupils activated—

He discovered that within those dense, tiny pores had appeared a peculiar pale-blue substance.

It did not exist in the real world, possessed not the slightest weight, yet was tightly bound to this world.

"…"

Just as he had expected.

That peculiar pale-blue substance was the concrete manifestation of their "talent."

The talent of the Changyuan civilization's creatures was, in essence, a special method of leveraging the world's rules to achieve the effects of "invasion, transformation, and utilization"…

Any civilization within this world, so long as it had not yet reached the level of touching the "rules," could not avoid their "invasion."

Unless—

One strengthened oneself through a system that did not belong to this world itself!

His thoughts flashed like lightning, and the golden gleam in Zhou Kongming's eyes faded.

These talents, which pointed straight to the essence of the world, belonged in essence to another system; analyzing them would not be easy.

Let alone the fact that he was a sword cultivator who only secondarily studied formations—this area was not his forte…

Ahem!

Of course, that sword cultivators possessed the greatest killing power was undeniable!

In any case, based on all of the above—

"Heng."

Heng's heart gave a sudden thump: "Master!"

"I'll give you a choice."

Zhou Kongming raised his hand and gave a light tap.

A wisp of magic power sketched out a rune shimmering with flowing light, floating lightly at his fingertip.

Hum~

The air current stirred by the oscillation of magic power blew Heng's hair.

"Accept this, and I will pass on to you a method to strengthen your own spirituality. Of course, you may also choose not to accept…"

"I accept!" Heng said without the slightest hesitation.

Not accept?

What if Master simply swapped Her out for someone else?

She had no desire to let Her own existence perish…

"The master's command is my will; where the master looks, there is my path!" He said with resolute strength.

His tone was utterly firm.

Zhou Kongming: "..."

Since that one beating earlier, he had become like this.

"Since this is your choice..."

With a flick of his fingertip, radiant, shimmering runes spun toward Heng, sinking directly into His brow and vanishing.

In an instant, Heng felt a heavy restraint suddenly form upon His 'Spirit'.

Simultaneously, a foundational cultivation method titled 'Infusing Spirit into Objects' began circulating deep within His 'Spirit'.

【Detecting unknown information, analyzing...】

【Analysis interrupted!】

Heng's eyes flashed with a glimmer of spiritual light—he himself had halted the analysis, instead using His own 'Spirit' to sense the method Zhou Kongming had transmitted.

As a Spirit born from advanced artificial intelligence, Heng's talent was unquestionable.

Among all spiritual lifeforms, He was among the most exceptional.

In less than half a minute, He successfully entered the threshold; a faint attraction formed upon His 'Spirit', drawing in the spiritual energy derived from Zhou Kongming's magic power, slowly seeping into His 'Spirit'.

The originally fragile and pure Spirit began to grow stronger, becoming heavier...

But soon!

The world's craving appeared!

With an even stronger pull, it began competing with Heng for that sliver of spiritual energy.

Hm?!

Heng's heart startled; instinctively, He accelerated the cultivation method.

Yet even with such innate talent, He was still merely a newly born Spirit, one that had only recently gained self-awareness.

How could He possibly rival the world's entire craving?

All the spiritual energy was snatched away in an instant; Heng's own Spirit remained stalled at the level equivalent to Qi Refinement Stage One, unable to advance further...

Seeing this, Zhou Kongming nodded slightly.

Qi Refinement Stage One...

Everything matched his expectations.

But Heng still felt unwilling, desperately turning the cultivation method to squeeze even a trace of spiritual energy from the air.

Yet...

How could that possibly work?

Had it not been for Zhou Kongming's protective measures upon His Spirit, Heng himself might have regressed spiritually due to the world's craving.

After a long while, Heng finally ceased this futile effort, opening His eyes to look at Zhou Kongming before Him.

"Sorry, Master, I... just what was that...?"

He hesitated, wanting to ask but fearing he might inquire into something forbidden.

"That was the world's craving."

Zhou Kongming rose from his chair, walked to the side, and gazed at the jade-green lake nearby.

"This world has no soil for the extraordinary; my arrival brings the hope of the extraordinary to this world."

The contract has been reinforced; it won't hurt to give Him a hope, to give Him some motivation.

The extraordinary...

Heng paused, then walked behind Zhou Kongming and said earnestly.

"I will fully assist the Master in restoring humanity as it once was."

Zhou Kongming said nothing more, still gazing into the distance.

... Tai Xuan Realm, Central Continent.

Xiang Jianzong.

Inner Sect's Alchemy Pavilion.

After a night's work, Chi Jiuyu finally fully refined the medicinal effects of the Xuan Jade Bone-Forging Pill and the refined version of the Pure Essence Marrow Elixir.

The Sword Bone Scripture successfully broke through to the Ninth Layer—his combat power surged!

For example:

The sword technique he learned from his uncle previously allowed him to unleash at most three strikes before his body could no longer bear it.

But now, he could strike nine times in succession before reaching his body's limit.

This was him!

The number one prodigy of all realms, the youngest Soul Transformation in history!

Chi Jiuyu!

In high spirits, she leaned back in her recliner, holding her phone, chatting with Zhao Ruohan.

Future Sect Leader of the Xiang Jianzong: "So you don't know how things stand between Dog Brother and Xiao Ye's sister?"

Future Sect Leader of the Xiang Jianzong: "/Sharkfish stopped thinking"

She had wanted to ask before.

But she'd gotten drunk, slept for over ten days, then got busy with missions and never asked.

Quietly cultivating Zhao: "I don't know."

Quietly cultivating Zhao: "He won't say, and I can't force him."

That's right, Zhao Ruohan has changed her online name back again.

Future Xiang Jianzong Master: "Are you still his sister or not? /pointing with a finger"

Zhao Silently Cultivating: "How about I push my mother's account to you, and you go ask her yourself? /picking nose"

Future Xiang Jianzong Master: "Then forget it /chickening out"

Future Xiang Jianzong Master: "I'll go ask Little Ye instead"

Zhao Silently Cultivating: "Let's talk business"

Zhao Silently Cultivating: "This year's Xian Sect special recruitment announcement is out, have you seen it?"

Special recruitment announcement?

What does that have to do with me?!

The moment she typed out those words, she felt something was off and quickly deleted them.

She was going to be the Sect Master, so she really did need to keep an eye on the sect's various affairs!

Future Xiang Jianzong Master: "What's up? I haven't looked yet. Isn't it all the same as usual?"

Zhao Silently Cultivating: "You'd better take a look. This year it's actually somewhat interesting; not many people should be able to succeed"

Future Xiang Jianzong Master: "Fine, fine! I'll go take a look then"

After replying with that, she exited the chat app, preparing to search the Spirit Web for the Xiang Jianzong's special recruitment announcement.

Beep beep!

A line of messages popped out from the top of the screen.

Resigned from Jingwei: "Was just refining pills"

Resigned from Jingwei: "/hands cradling a pill furnace"

Resigned from Jingwei: "What's up, Little Yu? Something going on?"

The instant she saw this message, Chi Jiuyu immediately became unhappy!

No way!

Who are you calling Little Yu!

Future Xiang Jianzong Master: "/flustered little shark"

Future Xiang Jianzong Master: "I am the Sword Venerable's personal chief disciple"

Resigned from Jingwei: "So? What's actually up, Little Yu"

Resigned from Jingwei: "/confused"

"……"

Playing dumb again—Little Ye is really annoying!

Forget it!

Better get to the main topic first.

Future Xiang Jianzong Master: "It's nothing really. Your sister's side and Brother Dog should be fine, right?"

Future Xiang Jianzong Master: "After all, you and Little Zhao are our good friends, so naturally we have to show a little more concern"

Resigned from Jingwei: "/sideways glance smile"

Resigned from Jingwei: "After all that talk, turns out you just want to dig up some gossip"

Resigned from Jingwei: "/smiling pill furnace"

Resigned from Jingwei: "Call me Sister Zhiwei once, and I'll tell you everything /sideways glance smile"

Future Xiang Jianzong Master: "???"

Future Xiang Jianzong Master: "/little shark has stopped thinking"

Future Xiang Jianzong Master: "/look at this person"

Future Xiang Jianzong Master: "/simply unreasonable"

Resigned from Jingwei: "So? Do you want to know or not /sideways glance smile"

Dream on!

No way!

Absolutely not!

Future Xiang Jianzong Master: "Fine, don't tell me then!"

As if she were dying to know—she could spot a dozen cases of this kind of gossip on the Spirit Web in a minute!

Don't tell me then, whatever!

……

……

Three minutes later.

Future Xiang Jianzong Master: "So you're saying your sister is also applying for the Xiang Jianzong's special recruitment"

Future Xiang Jianzong Master: "Isn't she an alchemist?!"

Resigned from Jingwei: "I never said she was an alchemist"

Resigned from Jingwei: "Compared to alchemy, her sword Dao talent is better, so naturally she should take the path that suits her more"

So it can be like that too.

A pile of alchemy talent suddenly mutating into a sword Dao talent…

Chi Jiuyu flipped over and took a sip of the fruit juice sitting beside her.

Future Xiang Jianzong Master: "This year's assessment isn't simple. Are you sure she can pass?"

Resigned from Jingwei: "On that point, I do have confidence in her. Zhiwei's sword Dao talent may not compare to yours, but it's not bad either"

The future master of the Xiang Jianzong: "Hmm, that should be quite good."

If you can compare yourself to her, isn't that already good?!

Do you even understand the value of the number one prodigy across all realms?

Suddenly, Chi Jiuyu's heart stirred.

The future master of the Xiang Jianzong: "Why don't you call me Jiuyu-sister? After she joins, I'll take extra care of her."

Ci Zhiyu Jingwei: "Mm-hmm, then Zhiwei will rely on Jiuyu-sister's kind attention."

Ci Zhiyu Jingwei: "/patting head"

Chi Jiuyu: "..."

Are you trying to哄children?!

Take off that emoji right now!

But Ye Zhiwei gave her no chance to regain her dignity.

Ci Zhiyu Jingwei: "Let's stop talking for now—I still have a few batches of pills to refine."

As soon as this message was sent, her avatar dimmed immediately.

Chi Jiuyu sat up abruptly, her heart filled with frustration.

"I fucking...!"

After a long while, she finally calmed her inner vexation.

She took a screenshot of Xiao Ye's earlier message about Dog Brother and Ye Zhiwei, then blacked out some useless content.

The future master of the Xiang Jianzong: "Little Zhao, don't you want to know what happened between Dog Brother and Little Ye? Call me sister and I'll tell you."

The future master of the Xiang Jianzong: "/side-eye smile"

After sending the message, she watched the screen nervously.

A reply came quickly.

Xiao Zhao, silently refining the method: "He's not important."

Chi Jiuyu's expression froze; she stared blankly at the chat interface for a long while...

Her eyes regained clarity once more.

She casually exited the messaging app, then searched the Spirit Web for information regarding the Bencixian Sect's special recruitment.

《Announcement of the Xiang Jianzong's Annual Public Selection of Disciples》(End of Chapter)