After increasing it to 85 points, Jun Changxiao gave up on continuing to add crystal cores.
No choice—he only had 10 to 20 million left. Even throwing it all in would probably only increase it by one or two points. The rest would be left to fate to decide.
Although even with just 1 percent, there was still a possibility of mutation.
But he still worked hard to increase the mutation rate, just to prove that he didn’t rely on protagonist’s halo—he relied on truly burning money.
What if it failed?
If it still failed at 85 percent, then that would be Heaven playing tricks on people.
“Out of 100 attempts, only 15 would fail. Out of 10 attempts, only 1.5 would fail. My luck shouldn’t be that bad.” Jun Changxiao consoled himself.
The system said, “If the host happens to land on that 1.5 times, it will definitely be a complete failure.”
Damn.
Can you not discourage me!
Jun Changxiao ignored it and quietly waited for the incubation time to be reached.
Only 1 day had passed now, with 14 days remaining.
The time was a bit long, so he focused his attention on cultivation and managing his disciples.
The next day.
Su Xiaomo returned from participating in the sect tournament in the outer commandery. He left clean but came back covered in dust.
Clearly, he’d rushed back.
The disciples quickly gathered around. Seeing the championship medal around their senior brother’s neck, they immediately cheered!
Two senior brothers had gone to different commanderies and consecutively won first place. This absolutely greatly boosted the morale of the Tiegu Sect disciples, filling them with hope for the future!
Su Xiaomo went to pay respects to the Sect Master and turned in the championship reward.
He wouldn’t keep it for himself, because without the Sect Master’s cultivation, there wouldn’t be his current self, and he wouldn’t have easily won the championship.
Of course.
Jun Changxiao wouldn’t shortchange him either, giving Su Xiaomo ten spirit stones.
The rest he saved up to use as rewards for various sect tests, to be given to other disciples.
Over the next few days, Li Fei and Tian Qi also returned one after another.
The two lived up to the Sect Master’s trust, successfully winning championships in various competitions and obtaining considerable martial arts resources.
The inner sect disciples that Jun Changxiao cultivated, though their realms were only at Wutu level, their strength had already reached Wushi.
Aside from high-level competitions, participating in those low-tier sect tournaments, they were absolutely invincible existences—there was simply no suspense whatsoever.
“Qingyang and the other four brought back a total of 100 spirit stones. Although the quantity isn’t much, at least there are some gains.”
Regarding the path of having disciples participate in various sect tournaments to earn resources, Jun Changxiao was quite satisfied.
Unfortunately.
There were too few competitions, and the sustainability was rather poor.
“Strange.”
Jun Changxiao stroked his chin and said, “Why hasn’t Ziji returned yet?”
All five inner sect disciples had completed their missions and returned, only Xiao Ziji hadn’t come back yet.
Could it be.
That martial competition was very difficult?
“Sect Master!”
Just then, Li Luoqiu rushed into the great hall and said, “News came from Heyang Commandery. On his return journey after winning the sect tournament championship, Xiao Ziji was blocked in the mountain forest by a large group of experts. The situation is very bad—rescue is urgently needed!”
Jun Changxiao’s brows furrowed.
No wonder he hadn’t returned yet—so he’d been blocked!
“How many people?”
“At least a hundred or so, among them quite a few Wuzong experts!”
Jun Changxiao was silent for a moment, then said, “Summon the Xiyu Hall forces. Follow this seat to Heyang Commandery to rescue him.”
“Yes.”
Li Luoqiu hurriedly withdrew and summoned all the Xiyu Hall members at the sect.
According to Jun Changxiao’s intention, the other disciples would continue cultivating.
But when he walked out of the great hall, he saw Li Qingyang, Su Xiaomo, and others standing at the front of the training grounds, their faces displaying solemn expressions.
They had already received news that Junior Brother Xiao was blocked in Heyang Commandery.
“You also want to go?” Jun Changxiao asked.
Li Qingyang said, “Our junior brother is in trouble. We are willing to go rescue him!”
“Very well.”
Jun Changxiao said, “Depart!”
The other disciples also wanted to follow and rescue Senior Brother Xiao, but knowing their own strength was limited—not only would they be useless, they would also slow down the rescue speed—they could only watch the Sect Master and others leave, praying for their safe return.
…
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
On the road to Heyang Commandery, over fifty Xiyu Hall members executed the Ghost Dash and rushed forward at high speed.
“Damn it!”
Li Shangtian also followed along, saying angrily, “They’ve got guts, daring to bully our Tiegu Sect disciples!”
After experiencing the Black Eagle Hall extermination incident, this kid had shed quite a bit of his youthful naivety and had become somewhat more mature.
Because this was a rescue, everyone increased their speed to the maximum.
Jun Changxiao rode the Purple Lightning young tiger at the very front, the cold gleam in his eyes growing increasingly intense.
Although he didn’t know why so many martial artists would block Xiao Ziji, since they dared to offend my Tiegu Sect, they must be severely punished!
Li Qingyang and Su Xiaomo followed close behind, equally worried about their junior brother, so they kept accelerating, pushing their speed to the absolute limit.
Junior Brother Xiao.
You must hold on until we arrive!
Heyang Commandery was at least a thousand li from Qingyang Commandery. Normal travel would take at least two or three days.
However, Jun Changxiao led his disciples rushing at maximum speed, and by dusk, they had already entered Heyang Commandery territory.
Li Luoqiu stood in the wilderness, looking around in all directions, confirming the markers left by members, and pointed east, saying, “Sect Master, it should be in this direction.”
“Go.”
Jun Changxiao led his disciples straight toward the east.
…
In a concealed spot within a mountain valley.
Xiao Ziji tore strips of cloth from his clothing and wrapped them around his wrist that bore sword marks, then raised his Type 88 sniper rifle, his gaze emanating cold intent.
His complexion was pale—clearly he had not only external injuries but internal injuries as well.
After participating in Heyang Commandery’s sect tournament, Xiao Ziji was originally going to return to the sect, but was blocked here by martial artists from various sects.
The reason?
His attacks were too heavy and he’d injured their disciples.
In truth, during the competition, disciples from various sects had attacked even more viciously because they looked down on Xiao Ziji for coming from a ninth-tier commandery’s third-rate sect.
The major sects of Heyang Commandery wouldn’t care about this point.
As long as their disciples were bullied, the perpetrator must pay the price and must be severely punished!
“Boy!”
Suddenly, a resonant voice rang through the valley: “You’re already trapped in the valley now. Give up struggling, show yourself obediently and hand over that divine fire blunderbuss, and perhaps you can still live.”
Xiao Ziji set up his Type 88 sniper rifle, leaned close to the 8x scope, aimed toward where the voice came from, and discovered over ten martial artists from various sects standing there. He pulled the trigger again.
Swoosh—
The bullet shot out silently, directly killing a peak Wutu, then he shouldered the gun and relocated at maximum speed.
“He’s over there!”
“Damn it, hurry and chase!”
“Using hidden weapons to kill so many of us—when we catch him, we’ll dismember him!”
The martial artists from various sects all rushed over.
Unfortunately, Xiao Ziji had rich outdoor combat experience. After killing one person, he hid himself well once again, making them continue searching while becoming even more vigilant.
The mountain valley wasn’t large. As everyone continuously tightened the encirclement, the area grew smaller and smaller.
Having already killed quite a few people from various sects, Xiao Ziji knew he would eventually be discovered, so he set up his Type 88 sniper rifle again.
Kill as many as possible—even if he died, it wouldn’t be a loss!
“Whoosh!”
Suddenly, the sound of breaking wind came from behind, and a powerful force swept over.
“Not good…” Xiao Ziji’s expression changed drastically. He hurriedly put away his gun to dodge, but was still a step too late, getting struck directly in the back by a fist carrying powerful spiritual energy.
“Bang!”
He was sent flying, crashing into the stone wall.
The person who’d sneak attacked from behind was a middle-aged man in flowing white robes. His entire body emanated Wuzong aura as he said indifferently, “For a junior to hide this long is already quite good.”
“Gah!”
Xiao Ziji struggled to stand up, spurting out a mouthful of blood.
“Hmm?”
The middle-aged man said in surprise, “To withstand my 200,000 jin of force and still be able to stand—that’s even more commendable.”
Xiao Ziji grinned with his blood-stained mouth and said with a smile, “Don’t… don’t underestimate me.”
“Swoosh!”
The middle-aged man instantly closed in, saying arrogantly, “I’d like to see just how much you Iron Bones Clanging Sect disciples can endure.”
Fist shadows instantly filled the air, mercilessly bombarding Xiao Ziji.
Bang! Bang! Bang!