Chapter 8: Jianghua (Part 1)

Halechi asked in confusion, “What’s going on?”
Li Ran snapped, “Idiot, that’s a defense platform!”
Ying Bei shouted, “Get down quickly! You’ll be attacked…” Before he could finish, a flash of lightning appeared on the platform, followed by a crackling sound as an electric current surged toward Halechi. Startled, Halechi leaped into the air, screaming, “What the hell is that?” The current suddenly surged upward like a bucket-sized stream, crashing down with a loud noise.
Halechi let out a scream and swung his sword downward. With another loud crash, he not only shattered the lightning but also split the metal platform below in two. He cursed, “Damn it, who’s attacking me?”
Ying Bei said with a wry smile, “That thing attacks automatically!”
Dozens of metal machines the size of calves crawled out from the shattered platform. They resembled spiders, with eight thick metal legs, emitting a screeching sound. It was a sonic detection mechanism—they quickly locked onto the people around the platform. Their eyes suddenly emitted red light, and two beams shot out to attack everyone.
Ying Bei sighed and said, “Hurry up, kill them all! Otherwise, it’ll be troublesome!” He sent a message token and added, “It’s okay. I’ve already notified the local master.”
Those spider-like metal machines not only emitted red light but also fired various metal particles, similar to bullets that Guo Shier had seen in his past life—flying densely like rain. However, these professionals were too powerful; such attacks barely hurt them. Halechi continuously slashed them with his sword, turning them into piles of broken metal.
Guo Shier roughly estimated that even machine guns in his past life couldn’t fire bullets this densely. But he never expected that facing such a barrage, he wouldn’t even need to dodge or activate any defensive mechanisms—just the altar’s own defenses were enough to block them easily.
In just over ten seconds, there were already dozens of piles of broken metal on the ground. One after another, metal platforms rose from the grassland, making everyone feel a sense of threat.
Li Ran said, “Ying Bei, if your friend doesn’t come to stop them soon, we’ll have to take action!”
Who knew what kind of attacks those metal platforms could unleash? Li Ran didn’t want to stand there foolishly and get attacked by the Mechanical Clan’s machines—it would be terrifying, as their attacks would continue tirelessly until the platform’s energy was exhausted. That was the characteristic of the Mechanical Clan’s attacks: perhaps not very powerful, but extremely annoying.

At that moment, a large number of hover vehicles rushed out of the city and quickly closed in from above the grassland. Li Ran and the others slowly rose into the air, waiting quietly. They all appeared relaxed; with their strength, any one of them could move freely, and if they united to attack any city, it would be beyond the city’s defenses. Even here, on this miraculous Sacrificial Star, they were a small group at the top, their strength far from to be underestimated. Ying Bei was not nervous either; of course, he didn’t want to provoke a fight either, so he stepped forward first to negotiate. Soon, most of the hover vehicles retreated, and a very large one arrived—its design was stunning, with a streamlined shape, a beautiful metallic color, an oval shape, and a small pointed cone at the front, making it resemble a flattened, thick cigar. Halechi said, “It’s fucking ugly…” Guo Shieru, however, praised it, “It’s so beautiful…” Li Ran nodded, “Yes, it really is beautiful.” The others disagreed, all showing expressions of finding it ugly. It was purely a matter of different aesthetic views. If Guo Shieru hadn’t had the concepts from his past life, he might have agreed with Halechi and thought it ugly, but influenced by his past experiences and knowledge, he had his own unique perspective. The group boarded the hover vehicle and quickly entered the city. Moments later, it stopped atop a 100-meter-tall building. Guo Shieru felt a familiar sensation, as if he had returned to his past life—though it was only a sense of familiarity, as there were still significant differences between the two. A middle-aged man with a straight back stood smiling not far away, with two rows of people behind him. When he saw Ying Bei coming down, he stepped forward and said, “Ying Bei, how did you find time to come to Jiang City? Hehe, welcome, welcome!” The two exchanged professional greetings. Ying Bei smiled and said, “Lord of Jiang City, let me introduce this professional who just came from the Spell World.” Jiang Hua showed a very surprised expression and said, “Just came from the Spell World? Good heavens, how long has it been since any professionals have arrived? Haha, that’s great! Professionals have become increasingly rare in the past hundred years. Welcome, everyone. I am the lord of Jiang City, from the 16th-tier altar—Jiang Hua.” As the team leader, Li Ran stepped forward first and said, “I’m Li Ran, a professional from the 15th-tier altar.”

Not only was Ying Bei shocked, but Guo Shier also was. Guo Shier thought he had advanced fast enough—having climbed three levels of the Virtual Form Altar at Ying Bei’s manor in a row. But compared to Li Ran, he had to admit that this guy was even more insane, having reached four levels of the Virtual Form Altar. After all, he was originally a professional who had surpassed the ninth-level altar, equivalent to the tenth level. After entering the Star Sacrifice Realm, he advanced another level, reaching the eleventh level, and then climbed four more levels of the Virtual Form Altar, bringing his total to the fifteenth level.

Qi Wu Zhen said, “Qi Wu Zhen, professional, sixteenth-level altar.”

Halechi couldn’t help but mutter under his breath, “Damn it, is it even possible to live like this? Ugh, one is worse than the other… Already at the sixteenth-level altar in just a few days…” He was deeply shaken.

Jiang Hua’s eyes were filled with confusion. His gaze turned to Ying Bei, clearly asking, “Did you just come from the Spell World? Are you not making things up?”

What could Ying Bei say? He couldn’t say anything. Could he say that these people were insane? He could only force a wry smile.

Guo Shier said, “Professional, Guo Shier, thirteenth-level altar.”

At least these people had each advanced two levels of the Virtual Form Altar, with one of them having just advanced one level of the Solid Form Altar. And they were already top professionals in the Spell World. Except for Halechi, who was at the eighth-level altar before entering, the rest were at the ninth level.

As professionals, it was common for them to communicate with each other, and they often passed on knowledge to one another, especially the top professionals, who were accustomed to doing so. By this point, they no longer cared about family or status; what mattered to them was breaking through themselves and learning more knowledge. So Jiang Hua didn’t hesitate and asked directly, “Did you really just come from the Spell World? How is your level so high?”

This was truly unusual. Even high-level professionals needed time to advance further after entering the Star Sacrifice Realm. Jiang Hua couldn’t keep this question to himself, so he asked right away.

Li Ran was also surprised. He hadn’t expected Qi Wu Zhen to be so insane, having advanced five levels of the Virtual Form Altar in such a short time. Compared to her, they professionals were far inferior—this was the gap. He said, “We indeed haven’t been here long… To correct a mistake, we didn’t enter through the traditional path but came from another world.”

Jiang Hua was confused and asked, “A small world?” He didn’t have this concept yet, but he quickly ignored the question. What concerned him most was why these people had advanced so rapidly just by arriving here. He asked, “Did you advance after coming here?” This question was crucial, and he ignored propriety, asking repeatedly.

Qi Wu Zhen grew impatient and revealed her altar. Seeing the altar appear in her palm, Jiang Hua was truly stunned.

Jiang Hua now understood what a super-top-tier professional was—her physical altar actually had eleven layers. What did that mean? Of course he understood, as he was also a top-tier professional. It meant that before entering the Star Sacrifice, Qi Wu Zhen was a professional who surpassed nine-layer altars, which in the World of Spells was nothing short of legendary.

Li Ran also revealed his altar. Since it was hard to explain, he simply showed them his altar.

Jiang Hua was completely stunned. This was too devastating—first one, now another? Two legends? Were the others the same? Could it be that the legendary professionals who surpassed nine-layer altars in the World of Spells were no longer valuable now?

Fortunately, the altars revealed by the others weren’t those legendary ones. But upon closer inspection, Jiang Hua still felt dizzy—each one was a ten-layer physical altar! How could he even breathe? Once he calmed down a bit, he realized that these people’s strength had reached an extremely terrifying level. As a professional, he understood that their arrival could even change the power structure of this world—all top-tier professionals. Could anything be more terrifying than that?

Everyone revealed their altars, except one person. Halechi was too embarrassed to show his altar; he thought it would be too shameful. So he slunk aside. Though he didn’t hide in a corner drawing circles, he still didn’t have the courage to reveal his altar, muttering constantly, “These heartless bastards—none of them consider my feelings, damn it!”

Only then did Jiang Hua understand why Ying Bei had been forcing a smile. He could only do the same. Thankfully, as a top-tier professional himself, he quickly regained his composure and politely invited everyone inside the building.

Everyone followed Jiang Hua to the top floor of the building.

It was a huge rotating hall surrounded by metal walls covered in runes. As Jiang Hua cast a spell, the entire metal wall gradually became transparent. At the center of the hall stood a massive circular hollow pillar with many large compartments, filled with various collections, many of which were never seen before by anyone. Besides some strange and unusual items, there were also many weapons and materials, including quite a few belonging to the mechanical race. Although Guo Shier didn’t know what kind of weapons they were, he could tell they were definitely weapons. The attention of the others was drawn to the various materials in the pillar’s compartments. Li Ran asked, “Jiang Hua, can these materials replace those used for spells?” Jiang Hua replied, “Yes. The Fengtai Continent produces a large amount of materials that can replace those used by professionals in the world of spells. Some of these materials are even better than those from the spell world. When combined with spells, their properties become excellent. If you need them, I can pass them on to you—of course, there will be a small exchange, as there are some things produced in the spell world for which no substitutes can be found here. You should have brought them.”