"What kind of rotten team name is that?"
Ji Xinghuo’s face froze, feeling that it was a name only a child filled with juvenile fantasies, without a completed middle school education, would choose.
Chi Zhonglin touched his nose, his expression awkward.
Ji Xinghuo looked at him, subconsciously assuming it was this guy’s doing, but Chi Zhonglin quickly explained, "Don’t look at me, it wasn’t my idea."
"It was me." Ren Mian’s voice came from upstairs, once again showcasing her capriciousness, "Do you have a problem with that?"
Ji Xinghuo had guessed as much, but hearing her admit it still felt unbelievable.
The mature and intelligent image of Ren Mian that had just been established in his mind suddenly wavered, was there a heart of unspoiled innocence under her stunning beauty?
"Xinghuo, please come with me," Jiangnan Caiyi said.
"Caiyi, there’s no need to be so formal with me, it feels odd, just call me by my name," Ji Xinghuo spoke softly.
Jiangnan Caiyi turned around and gave him a sweet smile as she walked ahead.
Ji Xinghuo couldn’t help but feel resigned.
The three teammates in this team didn’t seem quite like normal people.
Jiangnan Caiyi opened up a guest room located on the first floor.
Calling it a guest room was an understatement; it was quite spacious, fully furnished with household items, and had its own bathroom. The balcony looked out to a garden with a path leading deep into it, ideal for a morning stroll, with a training room and shooting range at the other end of the garden.
"My sister and I live on the second floor."
"Zhonglin lives next door, if Xinghuo needs anything, feel free to come to me," Jiangnan Caiyi roughly introduced the layout of the villa, "I prepare meals five times a day, be sure to come and eat on time, Xinghuo. Let me know now if you have any preferences."
Ji Xinghuo nodded, "Thanks, I’m not picky about food."
"Then I won’t disturb Xinghuo’s rest," Jiangnan Caiyi said as she bowed and then left the room.
Ji Xinghuo took a look around the room, finding the conditions here much better than at a hotel; besides the inconvenience of lacking electrical appliances, everything was better than his apartment in Chang’an.
He sat on the bed and couldn’t resist spreading out his electromagnetic induction.
In an instant, the entire villa’s situation reflected in his mind; he saw only the distribution of the magnetic field without visual images, so he wasn’t intruding on anyone’s privacy.
Ren Mian was in the master bathroom on the second floor, taking a bath...
Ji Xinghuo quickly withdrew his magnetic field induction.
Although the magnetic distribution was abstract to his senses, not revealing the actual scene, he could still clearly discern the outlines of a human body from the shape of the fields.
"Lush and bountiful! Genuine quality! Concealing profound depths!"
Several phrases popped into Ji Xinghuo’s mind, and thoughts began to stir; he immediately forced himself to divert his attention.
Jiangnan Caiyi was busy in the kitchen, preparing a midnight snack for Ren Mian, while next door, Chi Zhonglin had already collapsed on his bed, sound asleep.
Night had fallen outside, all enveloped in darkness.
Ji Xinghuo lay on the soft bed and quickly drifted off into dreamland as well.
When the golden light of dawn fell upon Olympia City, Ji Xinghuo had already completed a training cycle.
The nights of Warm Moon lasted 13 hours, but he did not need to sleep that long; eight hours were enough, and he awoke not wanting to disturb anyone, silently practiced Thousand Spirit Skillful Hand in his room without making a sound.
Walking into the dining room, he saw Jiangnan Caiyi wearing an apron, busy preparing breakfast.
"Good morning, Xinghuo," she turned to greet Ji Xinghuo, "Breakfast will be ready shortly, please wait a moment, Xinghuo."
Ji Xinghuo knew she had risen over an hour ago.
This young and beautiful woman from Fusang possessed qualities now rare to find, industrious and uncomplaining, diligent in managing a household. If it were not for the two knives she perpetually wore on her waist, one could easily believe her to be just any homemaker, and not a single person would doubt it.
When breakfast was served, Ren Mian also came downstairs.
She was neatly dressed in a different combat-dress than the day before but still maintained a simple and antiquated style. She had no makeup on but was naturally radiant, her smooth skin free of any spots or dullness, so tender it seemed it might drip water at a touch.
Skin like creamy jade, face like blooming peach blossoms!
Ji Xinghuo took a closer look and inwardly gave his compliments.
If Ren Mian’s image were on the internet, she would instantly become a global sensation as film companies waved hefty contracts, clamoring for her appearance.
Men would line up around the equator for her!
"Concentrate on your breakfast," Ren Mian suddenly glanced at Ji Xinghuo with a mix of coyness and charm, "looking at me won’t fill your stomach."
Ji Xinghuo had a grasp of her personality and laughed, "Beauty is a feast for the eyes..."
"You’re not old, but you’re certainly bold," Ren Mian said with resignation.
"If I were indifferent, I wouldn’t be a man," Ji Xinghuo honestly admitted. He didn’t believe there was a man in the world who could sit at the same table with Ren Mian and resist glancing at her. Suddenly he asked, "Ren, how old are you?"
"What do you want to know that for?"
"Just curious," Ji Xinghuo laughed, "As a teammate, it’s only normal to know the age of our team leader, right?"
"That’s a decent excuse," Ren Mian paused, then replied, "I’m 26 years old."
"You’re only four years older than me!"
Ji Xinghuo was astonished; at 26, to be a Super Mutant was to be a rare prodigy, with potential and talent ranking among the tiny elite in human history.
Enviously, he said, "Ren, being a Super Mutant so young, advancing to Legendary and even Heavenly King status shouldn’t be difficult for you."
Jiangnan Caiyi looked a bit strange.
"Who told you I was a Super Mutant?" Ren Mian laughed.
Ji Xinghuo was confused, "Aren’t you?"
"I’m just an Advanced Mutant," Ren Mian clarified, "But you’re right, advancing to Super isn’t far off, probably just a year or two more."
Ji Xinghuo’s eyes widened instantaneously, as if he had seen a ghost.
No, that’s not right!
From the first moment I met Ren Mian yesterday, the magnetic field induction was very clear—her magnetic field strength not only reached the level of a Super Mutant but was also stronger than any Super Mutant I’ve ever seen, almost bridging a rank gap, yet not quite legendary.
Now she says she’s only an Advanced Mutant?
Ji Xinghuo subconsciously thought she was hiding her strength, if not, could it be that there was a problem with his own magnetic field induction?
Isn’t a higher magnetic field strength indicative of a higher rank in power?
Jiangnan Caiyi spoke softly, "My sister advanced to an Advanced Mutant three years ago; it’s already quite fast. Why is Xinghuo so surprised?"
Ren Mian also threw a puzzled look.
"It’s nothing, I just misunderstood," Ji Xinghuo shook his head, "Last night during the test, Sister Ren was so powerful, I thought she was a Super Mutant."
Pride was written all over Jiangnan Caiyi’s face: "You’re not wrong to think that; Sister’s strength is indeed stronger than a Super Mutant."
Ji Xinghuo nodded, indeed that was the case.
"I still don’t know what profession sister Ren is?"
Ren Mian replied, "Plant Witch."
"Then I guessed correctly." Ji Xinghuo smiled, the peach blossom at the center of Ren Mian’s brow, the fragrance she carried, and those vigorously growing rare plants in the villa garden—all unmistakably revealed her professional template must be a Plant Witch.
The first impression a Plant Witch gives is healing.
In actuality, what they can accomplish goes far beyond just healing, which is just one of their most basic abilities.
The essence of a Plant Witch is a Wizard who uses plants as a medium for casting spells.
They can manipulate plants, utilizing seeds, fruits, roots, leaves from a multitude of Star Realm plants to achieve various unexpected effects.
Close combat, enhancing allies, physical attacks, energy bursts;
Defense, control, toxins, tracking, pharmaceuticals, beast mastery, cultivation, and so on...
There’s almost nothing a Plant Witch is not capable of!
The versatility of a Plant Witch’s abilities far exceeds that of other professional templates.
The diversity and complexity of Star Realm plants mean that the potential of a Plant Witch is almost limitless. Of course, that’s assuming they can gather enough plant samples.
"What about you, Caiyi?" asked Ji Xinghuo.
He had always been unable to discern Jiangnan Caiyi’s professional template, as it was difficult to determine from the surface, and magnetic field induction could only reflect the range and strength of the field, not the details of the profession.
Moreover, Jiangnan Caiyi’s magnetic field was very strange—extremely faint and inconsistent.
Jiangnan Caiyi spoke softly: "I am both a Demon Refiner and an Evil Spirit."
Ji Xinghuo was greatly surprised, almost dropping his chopsticks, "An advanced career as a Demon Lord?"
Once a professional template is formed, a Mutant can choose to merge additional abilities to strengthen their main profession or concurrently cultivate a second professional template.
Not every pair of professional templates can be concurrently pursued—some can, some cannot.
But there are some dual careers that perfectly match, bringing forth even more powerful capabilities.
This is known as an advanced career!
A Demon Refiner is already a very rare and powerful profession on its own, and it doesn’t have many directions for advancement—just a mere few. One of them is to dual-class with an Evil Spirit, becoming a Demon Lord!
Furthermore, the prerequisite for an advanced career is at least a Legendary Mutant!
"No, that’s not it," Jiangnan Caiyi gently shook her head, "I’m just an Advanced Mutant, not advanced. I have fused parts of both the Demon Refiner and Evil Spirit abilities, none of them are complete."
"Is that even possible?" Ji Xinghuo heard of it for the first time.
The very reason for the existence of professional templates is to form combat effectiveness as quickly as possible. A complete set of abilities is integral to a template; prematurely merging abilities from other professions, even if they are directions for future advancement, could greatly delay the enhancement of strength. It might end up being counterproductive, doing more harm than good.
Ren Mian interjected, "As long as you find the correct method and fuse them successfully, advancing ahead of time won’t be a problem."
Jiangnan Caiyi nodded, "This is all taught by my sister."
"I see," Ji Xinghuo looked enlightened, yet he was inwardly shaken. The methods for advancing ahead of time were definitely top secrets, inaccessible to ordinary individuals.
What is the background of Sister Ren?
At that moment, Chi Zhonglin walked into the dining room, yawning, grabbed a bun and stuffed it into his mouth, swallowing it in two bites, and then downed a whole glass of juice.
"Good morning, everyone."
He greeted and continued eating.
Ji Xinghuo had finished eating and was chatting leisurely with the two ladies. During the conversation, he learned that Chi Zhonglin was also an Advanced Mutant, though he was not a Martial Artist, but a Mutant with no profession.
Chi Zhonglin smiled proudly.
Ji Xinghuo wasn’t surprised by that anymore; a Mutant with no profession was not too rare.
Chi Zhonglin’s strength was formidable, among the very best of the Mutants with no profession, but his path of evolution was not a personal endeavor; it too was guided by Ren Mian.
Ren Mian was the absolute core of this team.
The team "Sole Dominance of the Five Stars and Ten Realms" was formed five years ago, with Ren Mian inviting the then 18-year-old Jiangnan Caiyi to join.
Three years ago, the then freshly-graduated 22-year-old Chi Zhonglin became the third member.
Both possessed supreme talent and, under the guidance of Ren Mian, their strength skyrocketed, ascending to Advanced Mutants as if rocketing through the ranks.
And now, Ji Xinghuo was the third team member Ren Mian had found!
He found himself increasingly unable to see through Ren Mian; she seemed shrouded in layer upon layer of mysterious veils, beckoning the curious to discover what lies beneath.
Fortunately, up to this point, all of Ren Mian’s revealed aspects had been beneficial for him.
Ji Xinghuo sighed inwardly.
For some reason, he suddenly felt rather pessimistic, hoping that when the secrets were eventually unveiled, they wouldn’t lead to an unfortunate outcome.
"Alright," Ren Mian clapped her hands, "Everyone follow me to the training grounds. We’ll assess Xinghuo’s strength, so everyone can familiarize themselves with each other’s abilities to better coordinate during battles."
She said this while glancing at Ji Xinghuo.
"Incidentally, I will also plan for Xinghuo how to quickly enhance his strength."