Chapter 512: One Year

What I intend to achieve?

Jiang He smiled but said nothing.

The problem there was that he did not know how to answer that question.

The Jade Emperor noticed it and therefore did not press him. Smiling, he said, “All the Dao Enlightenment Pellets that the Celestial Court holds in stock is available for your purchase, Mister Jiang. However, the recipe for the Dao Enlightenment Pellet is not owned by the Celestial Court but passed down by the Ren Sect, which is why I need to ask for permission.”

“That would be great!”

Jiang He’s eyes lit up at that and asked, “Your Majesty, may I trouble you to help me purchase the medicinal ingredients for the Dao Enlightenment Pellets? I’ll repay it with some of the Dao Enlightenment Pellets I refine.”

“That would be easy.”

The Jade Emperor glanced at Lü Dongbin, and Lü Dongbin promptly understood and acknowledged his intent. “Mister Jiang, the Dao Enlightenment Pellet is the best rank-eight immortal pellet there is, and the materials are costly and rare… we might not be able to get much in a short time.”

“It’s fine.”

Jiang He waved him off with a smile. “Buy up as much as you can. You would also have more willing sellers if you raise the price.”

Then, they made some small talk, with Chan Sect disciples bringing in various snacks and desserts.

The Jade Emperor was very curious about modern-day Earth, and asked many questions about it.

Jiang He told him everything he knew.

“I heard that immortal arts are declining while martial arts are on the rise, and that someone embodying great Fortune Qi has developed martial arts to great heights?” Clearly, the Jade Emperor knew about what had happened on Earth to some extent.

After all, it had already been some time ago since the various immortal sects were evacuating. As the immortals sent to Earth returned, they brought back a lot of information for the Celestial Court.

Jiang He did not hide it either, and told the Jade Emperor about Wang Hou.

“Wang Hou gained the acknowledgement of the Star Map? The Twelve Bronze Men’s Fortune Qi empowers him?”

The Jade Emperor was surprised. “I know about the Star Map and the Twelve Bronze Men, for they were backup measures left on Earth by the Saints. Wang Hou’s acknowledgement by both means that the Saints acknowledge him, and the martial arts he has founded would probably be extraordinary.”

Staring at Jiang He, his gaze twitched then and he asked uncertainly, “I also sense a unique strength of will, Brother Jiang He. Perhaps you have cultivated martial arts as well?”

“Strength of will?”

Jiang He thought about it before answering, “Could you be referring to the Martial Yuan Spirit, your majesty? To tell the truth… aside from planting flowers and vegetables, I am slightly learned in both immortal arts and martial arts. Wang Hou paved the path for martial arts and improved it up to Golden Immortal, and when he asked for my help to further strengthen martial arts, suggesting a brand-new system that would not lose out to cultivators…”

“After some discussion, I created the Martial Scripture and founded the fourteen tiers of martial arts.”

Jiang He invoked his Martial Yuan Spirit as he spoke.

Oom!

A powerful martial aura instantly filled the small yard.

He was now Grand Luo, which corresponded to the thirteenth-tier in martial arts, while his martial arts cultivation was on the twelfth-tier. Even so, his powerful Martial Yuan Spirit was stunning enough.

“That’s a Martial Yuan Spirit?”

The people present possessed great vision.

The Jade Emperor closely felt out the Yuan Spirit and exclaimed in surprised, “This Martial Yuan Spirit shares some similarities and differences to the spirits of cultivators. I could not sense much Dao presence from the Yuan Spirit, and it appears that the Yuan Spirit embodies aspects of eternity and destruction…”

The Immortal Hermit of the South Pole was studying the Martial Yuan Spirit, too.

“Sigh…”

Jiang He flashed a bitter smile after invoking his Martial Yuan Spirit. “My martial cultivation has only reached tier-twelve and it is too low… It had not been long since I started cultivating and I’ve mostly spent it on immortal arts, item refinement, arrays, and pellet refinement…”

“Human strength is ultimately limited.”

That last line sounded like a sigh, conveying Jiang He’s helplessness.

The yard turned silent at that.

Whoosh~

A breeze blew past, kicking up a pile of fallen leaves.

Lü Dongbin’s eyes widened and he mumbled, “Jiang He, it had only been two years since you started cultivating, yes?”

He had neglected that fact since he was preoccupied with studying Jiang He’s Martial Yuan Spirit.

Everyone came to a realization and was beside themselves in shock upon hearing Jiang He’s sigh, and even the Jade Emperor exclaimed, “A full-fledged Grand Luo already after little over two years of cultivation, even founding a new martial arts system and strengthening it up to the level of Grand Luo… as well as being adept at item refinement, pellet refinement. and arrays. It is unbelievable even if you’d cultivated in an array that accelerates time over ten thousandfold!”

In a ward that accelerated time over ten thousandfold, two years passed inside would be two thousand years passed outside.

And yet, even in all the worlds existing, any being gaining such accomplishments in twenty thousand years would be unparalleled.

“No!”

The Immortal Hermit of the South Pole spoke with a rather hoarse and solemn voice then. “My master had said that Jiang He’s age would never exceed fifty. He would not have started cultivating for long even if he had done so in a time acceleration array!”

Jiang He stayed silent and said nothing.

The Primeval Lord of Heaven was referring to the age of his soul.

When added together, the ages of his preexistence and current life were definitely not more than fifty.

Despite that, he was not bothered to explain that truth to these people.

After a while, their mood eventually calmed.

The Jade Emperor then promised Jiang He to ask the Ren Sect for the recipe of the Dao Enlightenment Pellets, and invited him to visit the Celestial Court. In fact, he had come intending to recruit Jiang He for the Celestial Court…

Nonetheless, he gave up on the idea after their conversation.

A demon like Jiang He could not be recruited.

Still, building ties was possible even if recruitment was not.

Jiang He had long since been fascinated with the legendary Celestial Court, and naturally agreed with a smile.

Soon, the huge pot of Body Honing Pellets took shape thanks to the work of the many Chan Sect disciples, and Jiang He put them away before taking out some of the Body Honing Pellets he had planted as gifts to the Chan Sect disciples, along with one superior-grade immortal item. “I’ll be refining more pellets after I gather enough materials in a few days,” he said. “I’ll need your help to condense the pellets again then.”

The Chan Sect disciples all agreed happily.

In the afternoon, the Chan Sect prepared a banquet in honor of the Jade Emperor. Both Jiang He and Wang Hou feasted with him.

It was only the next day that the Jade Emperor left with Lü Dongbin.

After they left, Wang Hou went up to Jiang He and told him, “I’m going to the celestial battlefield to train and observe the techniques of various elites across worlds. Are you coming with me?”

“Not yet.”

Jiang He replied, “I’ll look for you in a year.”

Hence, Wang Hou left the Hollow Jade Temple and headed to the celestial battlefield, while Jiang He remained in the Hollow Jade Temple.

His lifestyle was very laid-back. He would occasionally refine pellets and plant them afterwards, or tour around the Chan Sect and have idle chat with Chan Sect immortals. At first, there were many Chan Sect pellet refinists who would discuss pellet refinement methods with him…

Eventually, no one would ask about his pellet refinement methods anymore.

There were even rumors between Chan Sect pellet refinists that Jiang He did not actually know how to refine pellets, since all they would get were rejected pellets should they follow his instructions in pellet refining.

People would sneer and snort when they heard the pellet refinists say that. “If Jiang He can’t refine pellets, then what would you lot amount to?”

The pellet refinists had no answer to that.

Jiang He himself would smile faintly in response.

Be that as it may, he was taking a long time to gather Farm Points.

At this level, there were too few Farm Points to be earned from normal crops, and it is hard to plant large batches high-level crops…

***

Soon, it was a year.

Jiang He checked his System Panel.

“It takes one trillion Farm Points to ascend from Grand Luo to Demi-Saint, but I’ve only gathered 500 billion…”

Almost all of the 500 billion Farm Points were basically earned from planting Body Honing Pellets… now, the raw ingredients for Body Honing Pellets available at the Chan Sect was diminishing, and Jiang He did not hold out hope on that now.

“I wonder how many Dao Enlightenment Pellets Lü Dongbin had prepared over at his end…”

“Well, whatever.”

“I will cultivate the thirteenth-tier of martial arts before checking on the cultivation progress of Dumbo and the others… After I return the Three Gems Back Scratcher, I’ll have a tour around Primeval and head to the Celestial Court to get my Dao Enlightenment Pellets.”