True Martial World - Chapter 86: Moving towards the Horn

At that moment in time, the horn's energy had entered Yi Yun's body, putting tremendous pressure on it! The energy contained within the horns was not ordinary. It contained an aura of unspeakable evil and blood-curling arrogance!

"Boom!" Yi Yun felt his vision shake as if a white tiger-like desolate beast was standing on a mountain roaring, and under its feet were ten thousand beasts succumbing to it!

The suppressor of these beasts was no ordinary beast, but an existence that was above the fierce beast grade. Some large beasts were much stronger than Purple Blood realm human warriors.

This white tiger-like desolate beast had a respectable status as a beast king. During its life, it had conquered large territories, winning it infinite glory. Even in its death, its remnant horn still possessed such awe-striking power!

It seemed like it was this evilness and blood curling arrogance that placed immense pressure on the participants, causing their misery!

Yi Yun repeatedly took in deep breaths. His face pale, for he realized that the energy he had absorbed seemed to have a life of its own. Although it was suppressed by the Purple Crystal without a fight, the energy upon reaching his body was still extremely oppressive. It surged within his meridian channels causing Yi Yun pain!

He had to gather up all his strength to withstand the pain. Even so, he still felt an excruciating pain. The heat within his body made sweat appear on his forehead, as his body trembled!

Yi Yun felt as if he had dropped into a cauldron of fire. His fists tightened as he clenched his teeth. Blood even seeped out along the edges of his mouth!

Whereas at that moment, Tao Yunxiao had finally reached a position within twenty steps from the Fierce Divine Tiger's horn. Members of the Jin Long Wei proceeded to draw a circle at that spot. Tao Yunxiao was the first participant to cross into the region.

"Haha, I'm indeed the first!" Tao Yunxiao glanced at Lian Chengyu who still needed at least five steps.

But Lian Chengyu's progress was considered good. Many of the other heirs of the smaller tribes could not compare with Lian Chengyu.

There were also some elites that had been nurtured by the Tao tribal clan who were still short of a few steps from that circle.

As for Yi Yun, he was no longer noticed by Tao Yunxiao. This was because Tao Yunxiao only looked at the ones closest to him.

"Compared to these people, there's nothing to be proud of even if I became first. I need to walk another ten steps, and eventually, hold the horn within my hand!"

With this thought, Tao Yunxiao looked up to the airship.

"Wait and see, see how far I can go forward!"

Past the twenty-step radius, it became much harder to move forward as Tao Yunxiao felt immense pressure.

At that moment, Lian Chengyu had already walked into the circle. "I passed. This is my Spirit, and the ability to accomplish great things in the future! Very good, even if I wasn't first, nor within the top three, the people in front of me are all elites of the Tao tribal clan. The only person to have such Spirit from a small tribal clan is me!"

Lian Chengyu was pleased with himself. Coming from a small area like the Lian tribal clan, he had little resources to enjoy, so his ambition was limited. To obtain such results made him proud of himself.

Lian Chengyu took a glance at Yi Yun. He wanted to see how far Yi Yun had progressed.

With that glance, he was stunned as Yi Yun was standing motionless on the same spot.

Not only that, Yi Yun's face was red, and he was sweating profusely. A thin blue vein had appeared on his forehead as if there was a blue line buried under his skin.

Yi Yun looked as though he had been chasing wild horses for days.

"How can he be that weak?" Lian Chengyu was stumped. He had originally believed that Yi Yun's Spirit would barely make it. Although Yi Yun was incomparable to him, Yi Yun should have been able to enter the twenty-step radius, or at least the thirty-step radius.

But from the present situation, he seemed no different to those losers who had been scared out of their wits. Besides being able to maintain his standing position, he seemed to be at his limits in every aspect.

Facing the facts, Lian Chengyu sneered to himself, "I thought this kid was so capable that he could be arrogant. It looks like forcibly standing up without kneeling down is his limit. To think I thought he would be a future threat. What a joke. So what if he has good luck, he has a worthless background. That’s all he amounts to. That's right, how is it possible to find a Heaven's Child in a group of beggars? All the luck accumulated by the Lian tribal clan had been used to support me. There cannot be another person who will threaten my status!"

With that thought, Lian Chengyu no longer cared about Yi Yun and proceeded walking towards the horn.

The participants with considerable power began crossing the twenty step boundary and started walking past it.

All of them wanted to show what their limits were. At the same time, they wanted the upper echelon of the Jin Long Wei to notice them, and nurture them for greater achievements in the future.

At that moment, Lin Xintong, who was in the airship, could no longer understand Yi Yun.

Could Yi Yun not withstand such a degree of pressure anymore? Not only could he not withstand it, his whole body was also sweating as if he could no longer stand.

"Master, what's up with him?" Lin Xintong asked. Old Man Su took a side glance as he was curious what the kid was doing. Can he be that bad?

No one knew what Yi Yun was experiencing with the Purple Crystal's energy trap.

Every pore of his was burning. It was as if knives were moving through his meridian channels. Yi Yun had never felt such pain from absorbing energy with the Purple Crystal. This was because the Fierce Divine Tiger's energy was too difficult to overcome.

Under the extreme pain, Yi Yun found it unbearable. But at the same time, he was extremely excited. Due to the violent flow of energy entering his body, he felt his vessels and meridians becoming stronger; his bones and organs were also being tempered by this violent energy, becoming even stronger.

His body was transforming!

His cultivation was rapidly increasing!

Originally, Yi Yun was just at the beginning stages of the fifth level of the Mortal Blood realm, but slowly he felt his strength consolidate, and his base turning solid. He had gradually reached the middle stages and even making steps towards the peak of the fifth level of the Mortal Blood realm!

If he reached the peak of the fifth level of the Mortal Blood realm, Yi Yun's cultivation level would be no different from Lian Chengyu's! Combined with his Tempered Body, Dragon Pulse, defeating Lian Chengyu would be an easy task!

The rapid increase in strength made him excited. It made Yi Yun's determination firmer. Even under the excruciating pain of his meridians tearing apart, he carried on enduring!

He wanted to break through to the peak of the Qi Gatherer realm in one sitting!

But Yi Yun felt there was something lacking to push his body to the limit. To compress all the energy into his body, it seemed like there was a lack of pressure.

He wanted to push himself to the limit, only then would he shine.

Biting his teeth, Yi Yun began to take steps forward towards the horn!

He planned to be close to the horn, using the Fierce Divine Tiger's immense pressure to temper his body, and force him to break through, all the way to the peak of the Qi Gatherer realm! noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

"Master, he's moving." Lin Xintong's eyes lit up, but Old Man Su was still frowning.

He may have moved, but such a state didn't seem like he would pass. I don't want you to steal the show, but don't make me ashamed…

Oh? That's not right…

Old Man Su suddenly realized something and looked towards Yi Yun with a surprised look.

True Martial World - Chapter 85: Noteworthy

"I didn't expect the extraordinary girl to be watching the kingdom's selection preliminaries. Who is she here for? Could it be me?" Although he felt it was impossible, who else in the preliminaries besides him was worth paying attention to?

The likes of Lian Chengyu were nothing compared to him.

Upon thinking of that, Tao Yunxiao grew excited. Whether if she was here to see him or just to soak in the atmosphere, he wanted to put in greater efforts to shine in the selection, winning the attention of that extraordinary girl!

To shine, standing there was insufficient.

Noticing that, Zhang Tan understood Tao Yunxiao's intentions.

Releasing the seal was just the first step. To pass the preliminaries, they had to march forward despite the horn's tremendous pressure.

Zhang Tan shouted, "A bunch of wimps! It’s only the horn of a dead desolate beast, and yet you are unable to handle it! Besides wasting the food and creating waste, what are you doing while living in this world? If you can't handle it, get lost, for you are not suitable for practicing martial arts!"

"I shall now announce the goal of the preliminaries. Using your own strength, you must walk towards the horn and when you reach a distance of twenty steps from this horn, you must be able to stay there for the time it takes for ten breaths. For every ten steps you move forward, the pressure will double. Whether you are a mule or a horse, that will be decided. It begins now!" Zhang Tan's words echoed in a five-kilometer range. Zhang Tan was only a few feet away from the horn, and under the pressure, he was still able to convey his words loudly. Just based on this, it was extremely admirable.

"I wonder what state Zhang Tan is in, maybe… he has exceeded Purple Blood..." thought Lian Chengyu. He then began to open up his strides and walked towards the horn!

As he was walking forward, Lian Chengyu glanced at Yi Yun.

Lian Chengyu was still surprised that Yi Yun was able to stand there. It was surprising that a poor little bastard could withstand the pressurizing aura of the horn.

This troublesome kid has that much Spirit?

Lian Chengyu was not pleased. Besides having good talent in martial arts, he was lucky, this luck allowed him to meet some fortuitous event, improving his strength rapidly.

Now the kid even had Spirit. Could he be destined to achieve great things?

Lian Chengyu was unwilling to accept that. He felt that he himself was the true Heaven's Child in the Lian tribal clan. How could that troublesome slave Yi Yun have the luck that could compare with his luck, luck that had been accumulated from many generations in the Lian tribal clan?

With those thoughts, Lian Chengyu carried on walking towards the horn. He wanted to prove that, not only could he be within twenty steps, but he could be within fifteen steps, ten steps or even be able to touch the horn!

Lian Chengyu began to speed up his pace as he forced his way forward in a bid to prove himself!

But after taking about ten steps, Lian Chengyu felt that the pressure emitted by the horn increased tremendously!

That desolate beast phantom image in the air gave out a terrifying force that felt extremely realistic. Both its eyes seemed to be able to see through people's minds. Its tusks seemed to have torn apart countless warriors.

This desolate beast phantom made Lian Chengyu unable to face it.

"It's fake! It's just an illusion!" Although Lian Chengyu told that to himself, no matter how he tried to convince himself, a chill still came to him.

This was similar to a person who is afraid of ghosts and going to the bathroom late at night. Although he will keep telling himself that there are no such things as ghosts, he would still a feel a chill. If a black cat were to suddenly leap out, or a sudden cold gust of wind blew, it would scare him out of his wits.

Lian Chengyu had taken fifteen steps forward, but Tao Yunxiao's progress was much faster, having entered the thirty-step range.

Upon entering the thirty-step range, Tao Yunxiao felt the pressure for the first time.

"What sort of desolate beast horn is it? It’s so powerful!" Tao Yunxiao frowned. He surveyed his surroundings and found himself to be the first. This pleased Tao Yunxiao, for if he were the first to enter the twenty-step radius, he would be the person with the greatest Spirit in the preliminaries!

But this was understandable. Spirit was a person's boldness, resoluteness, self-confidence, and it also included strength.

A person’s Spirit might be strong, but they could be weak.

But a strong person would naturally have great Spirit!

Tao Yunxiao raised his head to the airship and a smile appeared on his lips.

"Beauty, are you looking at me from up there? First place is mine! Although it is as easy as picking one's own pocket and nothing worth mentioning, this is just the beginning. As time goes on, my light will shine brighter!"

Tao Yunxiao began moving forward without fear and with a most gallant posture!

Up in the sky in the airship, a girl in white was holding a teapot. The way she poured and drank the tea did not emulate the etiquettes of the nobles, but it still looked extremely elegant.

Her every move seemed to be of the greatest elegance.

The girl in white looked out of the window from her side but she did not notice Tao Yunxiao's gallant posture. She was here today only to see Yi Yun.

Facing the pretty girl was the exact opposite, a wretched fat elder busily filling his mouth with salt-baked chicken.

This salt-baked chicken was of course made by Yi Yun. As the fat old man ate, he also drank wine. He did not use a wine cup but just drank directly from a wine flask, flooding his greasy mouth with alcohol.

"So how is it, has the kid passed yet?" The old man was vague. In this opinion, the kingdom's selection was nothing of great importance. If not for Lin Xintong's Yin Meridians having a tiny reaction, he would not have bothered coming here.

"Not yet, he has been staying still..." Lin Xintong frowned slightly, what was he doing? Why was he idly standing there?

Lin Xintong did not believe that this test was able to trouble Yi Yun. Although she was not optimistic about Yi Yun's martial arts talent....no, to be accurate, Yi Yun had no martial arts talent, Yi Yun's Tempered Body and Dragon Pulse would make it easy for him to reach a spot twenty steps away from the beast horn, unless he did not have a shred of Spirit.

Although she had met Yi Yun by chance, Lin Xintong did not know why she could not bear to see Yi Yun performing poorly at the Kingdom's selection. It might have been because she subconsciously hoped that Yi Yun was no ordinary person after triggering her Yin Meridians. To her, it was hope, even if there was the slimmest of chances that he could help her join up her terminated meridian channels.

"Hahaha, is this kid a coward?" Old Man Su wiped the oil from his mouth and stuck his neck out. All he saw was Yi Yun foolishly standing there.

"Oh, this kid is dully watching a show!" Actually, even if Yi Yun was timid, Old Man Su would not have been surprised since Yi Yun was just a child. He had never seen such a large desolate beast phantom image. It was pretty good that Yi Yun did not wet his pants.

But to Old Man Su, he felt that Yi Yun was no ordinary child.

"This will get interesting. The thing Zhang Tan took out is a horn from an ancient desolate beast, the "Fierce Divine Tiger" that Marquis Wenyun killed in the Cloud Wilderness. It was about three meters in length originally, but a Desolate Heaven Master had carved it, reducing its size to its present size. Marquis Wenyun then used this as the Jin Long Wei sixth division's commander's seal."

"The Jin Long Wei's commander seals are usually in the hands of the generals, to control the troops. Seems like ever since the Purple Clouds' Birth in the Cloud Wilderness, the six division's reckless general Yan Menglong joined in the fun. So this commander's seal was used as a prop by the reckless general for this Kingdom's selection."

It's was apparent that Old Man Su was on good terms with Marquis Wenyun, so he knew a lot about the matters of the Jin Long Wei.

"I want to see the kid embarrass himself. If he were to perform well and overcome all obstacles, I can't even be bothered. It’s fun only if he embarrasses himself though!" Old Man Su derived pleasure from the misfortune of others, so upon hearing those words, Lin Xintong was speechless. She did not understand how he could be happy if Yi Yun were to really perform badly.

Yi Yun was indeed especially unique among the crowd.

Those that could withstand the desolate beast's pressure, would have long begun walking towards the horn; as for those who couldn't withstand it, either they were paralyzed on the ground or tumbling away.

But for Yi Yun, he remained motionless, because he was focusing on absorbing the Divine Tiger's desolate bone's energy.

True Martial World - Chapter 84: Absorbing energy again

"It seems like the horn was sealed and now the examiner is releasing the seals!" Upon seeing the lit runes, Yi Yun understood. Back when he received the Chi Lin head from Old Man Su, Old Man Su had done something similar.

After desolate bones were obtained, people would seal it with an arcane technique to prevent the loss of energy. They would only unseal it when they were going to refine and use it.

"That horn must be the horn of a desolate beast!" thought Yi Yun. If it was a desolate beast, it had to be an impressive one. Because as the seals were removed, colorful light dots appeared from the horn!

These light dots could only be seen through Yi Yun's pairing with the Purple Crystal.

The energy contained within the horn made Lian Chengyu's Frost Python desolate bone pale in comparison!

"Such strong energy, I wonder which desolate beast the horn belongs to." Yi Yun was startled and uncertain, and he realized the participants who were beside him had all begun to turn nervous.

Some of them were worse and had turned pale. Fear could be seen in their eyes as if they had seen something terrifying.

The seals were lifted one after another by Zhang Tan's quick fingers!

As more and more colorful light dots appeared in Yi Yun's vision, more and more participants began to tremble!

Suddenly, Zhang Tan stopped. His gaze swept through the people surrounding him, speaking with a hushed voice, "It begins, the first test, the test of your Spirit!"

With this, Zhang Tan tore off the last seal by waving his hand.

The moment the seal was removed, Yi Yun saw a bright light pillar shoot up into the sky like a sword stabbing the clouds!

"This is?" Yi Yun's expression changed and took several steps back!

As for the participants around Yi Yun, their faces were ashen, full of cold sweat and their knees went soft, causing them to collapse to the ground on their knees!

There were even some who had trouble breathing as their teeth chattered. They could only feel an immense invisible force encasing them, causing them to be frightened out of their wits.

Those that could still stand had retreated with their trembling bodies. After retreating more than ten meters, they turned around and ran!

"Such a strong desolate beast!" Yi Yun was shocked. At that moment, he realized that the light pillar had formed a phantom image!

This phantom image was not only seen by Yi Yun, but by all the participants.

It was huge and had robust limbs. Its body was burning with blue flames like a huge white tiger but was infinitely more terrifying.

Everyone held their breath when the huge phantom beast appeared.

The beast was unrestrained but stared at everyone with great killing intent! It was as if it were to charge forward at any time, beginning its wanton killings!

Those who couldn't bear it, like the members of the warrior preparation camp, were scared silly. A man that had the strength to lift 250 kilograms who had previously ridiculed Yi Yun collapsed onto the ground, his wet pants stained with the stench of urine.

"Don't…Don't eat…me." He seemed lost in an illusion as he trembled to crawl out of the area.

As Zhang Tan had mentioned, this test could destroy a person's wits, preventing them from ever having the confidence to practice martial arts or to amount to anything.

But then again, even if they had been scared out of their wits, they would not have gone far due to their lack of talent.

Yi Yun stood motionless and felt a chill. He held his breath as he saw the energy light dots from the phantom image slowly float towards him!

Even such fierce and terrifying bones would have its energy absorbed by the Purple Crystal after having its seal removed!

Noticing that the Purple Crystal was going to consume all the energy from the horn, Yi Yun's face turned solemn. He immediately began to interface with the Purple Crystal to slow down the absorption rate.

Not long ago, Yi Yun had absorbed dry the energy within the Frost Python desolate bone and he had nearly ripped apart his meridian channels. Hence, having learned his lesson, he felt that to absorb all the energy from this unknown horn that had many times the energy of the Frost Python desolate bone would likely blow up his body.

As Yi Yun was focusing on dealing with the surge of energy, a large number of participants around him had been eliminated.

As Zhang Tan said, they lacked the Spirit, so they were unable to withstand the terrifying aura. Such people would never be able to exhibit their full strength when entering a mysterious land or while battling a desolate beast. They were nothing but a bunch of trash.

Of course, out from the trash appeared strong warriors!

About four hundred people could handle the pressure. And out of those, another hundred could easily cope with it.

It was to the point that tens of people including Lian Chengyu and Tao Yunxiao were able to laugh in the face of such adversity.

Tao Yunxiao took a glance at the people around him, and only felt disdain. It was so unsightly to see those bunch of good-for-nothings exhibit such ugly expressions in front of the desolate beast's aura.

He was not surprised to see Lian Chengyu standing firmly where he was.

But…

Oh?

Tao Yunxiao noticed that not far from Lian Chengyu stood Yi Yun. A twelve-year-old child was very noticeable in the crowd.

Yi Yun was surprisingly still standing there. Besides him being in a daze, there were no signs of discomfort.

Tao Yunxiao was surprised. Didn't Lian Chengyu previously mention that this kid had just increased his strength by eating some treasure? How could he withstand the fierce pressure of the desolate beast's aura?

"Interesting." Tao Yunxiao only smiled. He knew that this was just the beginning. Although Yi Yun had attracted his attention, it was just a cursory notice. Tao Yunxiao did not see Yi Yun as a competitor. In fact, Tao Yunxiao did not treat anyone below the Purple Blood realm as a competitor.

He was thinking of how to show off in the kingdom's selection, and how to attract the attention of the upper echelon of the Jin Long Wei. Suddenly, he noticed that high in the sky, there was a blur. It was a white boat drifting over.

An airship?

Tao Yunxiao was slightly stunned. He had previously read about airships in books, but this was the first time he had seen one.

An airship was extremely fast. It also contained extremely precious cargo and passengers. To have an airship, it would make it easy to travel in the vast wilderness.

But in the entire Tao tribal clan with a hundred thousand households, they could never afford such an airship.

Not just buying it, even if an airship was given to the Tao tribal clan, they could not use it. That was because the power source of the airships came from desolate bone essences!

If they had desolate bone essences, the Tao tribal clan would have given it to their young geniuses to eat, how could they afford to use it to power an airship?

To be able to sit in an airship was an extremely expensive affair!

As for the person residing in the Tao tribal clan who owned an airship…

That person's identity could be easily guessed, it was the mysterious girl in white!

Tao Yunxiao did not know her name and had only seen her side view from afar.

But this did not prevent Tao Yunxiao from having thoughts of love and conquest about the girl.

A strong girl with a mysterious background, who had Thousand Households Zhang’s respect, would, of course, arouse the interest of the arrogant Tao Yunxiao.

If he could conquer this girl, then it would be proof of his strength. And secondly it would be a perfect way to satisfy his ego. As an extraordinary man who would leave the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, how could he not have a mysterious, extraordinary girl as his partner?

True Martial World - Chapter 83: Testing your Spirit!

A day later, all the participants from the small tribal clans within a few thousand kilometers slowly arrived at the Tao tribal clan. After a night's rest, the kingdom's selection was officially started!

The selection's venue was a flat wasteland just outside the Tao tribal clan's city.

The flat wasteland covered a large area and its surface was littered with black ironstones as if they were specially paved tiles.

More than a thousand participants, who split up into their own tribal clans, lined up neatly on the wasteland.

In the middle were the young elites of the Tao tribal clan. They numbered about six hundred people and had more participants than all the small tribes combined! Not only were they large in numbers, the quality of their cultivation was excellent. Even those who were pulled in to fill the numbers were stronger than the Lian Clan's warrior preparation camp members.

Yi Yun noticed that right in front of those people stood the Tao tribal clan's third young master, Tao Yunxiao.

As for the first and second young master, they did not make an appearance. According to the rules of the kingdom's selection, the first assessment was a preliminary round. It would eliminate those who lacked strength. As for those who had already reached the Purple Blood realm, there was no need for them to participate in the preliminaries as they could just participate in the final selection rounds.

In fact, by reaching the Purple Blood realm, it was a guaranteed spot in the Jin Long Wei. The final selection round was just going through the motions. A Purple Blood warrior before the age of twenty-eight would have already proven their talent even if they were in the early stages of the purple blood realm; hence, they were well-qualified to be a member of the Jin Long Wei.

In the entire Tao tribal clan, besides the first and second young master, there were seven other Purple Blood warriors who were below the age of twenty-eight. Hence, nine spots in the kingdom's selection had already been reserved for these nine people.

Over a thousand people had to vie for the last eleven spots!

A group of cavalry horses galloped forward, and leading them was the Jin Long Wei's Thousand Households, Zhang Tan.

He was also the examining officer of the selection in the Tao tribal clan.

Zhang Tan gently reeled in the reins and dismounted the horse, "Now, I'll announce the rules of the first preliminary round!"

Zhang Tan was direct with his no-nonsense attitude. He did not even introduce himself before jumping straight to the point, "The selection's first round is to test your Spirit!"

"Spirit?"

The participants were stunned. They were guessing that the preliminary would be a test of strength or something similar as it was the simplest and easiest. But to test Spirit? What is Spirit? How does one test it?

"Spirit is your morale, and it’s also your resoluteness! A person with great Spirit would be able to deal with matters decisively. They would be daring, and never retreat in the face of adversity. They would charge forward with determination regardless of any temptations!"

"On the path of learning martial arts, there are several obstacles! There are many mysterious areas that are life threatening; and without Spirit and resoluteness, you would not dare enter those areas."

"When facing a strong desolate beast in battle, Spirit is required to protect the human cities. It is insufficient to only have power. When facing a primordial desolate beast in battle, if you were to be timid, you would not be able to display a half of your true strength, how would you be able to fight?"

"One step on the path to breaking through the realms is to defeat the demons within one’s self. You need to have the momentum and the will to break through everything. On the path to becoming a peerless expert, you will face endless temptations. Many forces will try to draw you to their side by granting you riches, treasure, and beauty, hoping to corrupt you, and then eventually, they will exploit you! If you were to indulge in these temptations, without being resolute, that would be the end of your martial path!"

"So the future of a warrior is not talent, but Spirit!"

Upon hearing Zhang Tan's monolog, Yi Yun understood it deeply; having great Spirit is a quality that every accomplished person should have!

The heroes of ancient China were all focused on one goal and they forged forward through tribulations. Adversity and temptations had all failed to hinder them!

This Spirit was known in ancient China as "aura"!

The people who could read a person's aura would see an accomplished person have a purple halo above their head. A person with this halo would be known to have the aura of Heaven's Child. In novels, it is known as having the aura of a conqueror.

In summary, to have the aura of Heaven's Child meant that they had the power to accomplish great deeds!

Zhang Tan carried on, "To determine your Spirit, it will be a holistic test. A simple test will not be able to accurately assess you. Now, all of you will circle around me. The closest person has to be at least fifty steps away from me!"

With that, the crowd began to move. A crowd of a thousand people without any unified direction—not to mention the vagueness of Zhang Tan's orders—made the scene chaotic.

Seeing this situation, several people, including Tao Yunxiao and Lian Chengyu, began to display their leadership qualities.

"The people of the Tao tribal clan, hear my command. We shall hold hands and form a circle around Thousand Households Zhang, and then spread out.

As the Tao tribal clan had the most number of people. By holding hands and forming a circle, they could avoid the confusion.

Several other tribes began to follow suit.

"Yi Yun, what are you idling there for? Go across, can't you see that there are few people there?" Lian Chengyu shouted at Yi Yun. He felt that maintaining order in the chaos was also a way to showcase his Spirit. If he did it well, he would gain the attention of the upper echelon of the Jin Long Wei.

This was an opportunity for him.

Yi Yun was, after all, a member of the Lian tribal clan. If Yi Yun did not obey his orders and ran amok, it would make him lose face and make him appear incompetent.

Yi Yun looked coldly at Lian Chengyu and said, "Just take care of your lackeys."

Yi Yun's words made Lian Chengyu turn cold, "I'll see how long you can stay arrogant. You may have talent in martial arts, but in this test of Spirit, how could a follower like you, who is poor and always hungry, have any?"

Spirit was the ability to achieve great things, only a person with leadership qualities could possess it. As for the Lian tribal clan, who was the leader? It was clear!

"Let us try it and we'll find out who has more Spirit" shrugged Yi Yun. "Also, Young Master Lian, how's your injury? It won't affect the test of Spirit later, will it?"

Yi Yun was great at targeting people's weak spots and ridiculing them about those weak spots.

Lian Chengyu's failure to break through to the Purple Blood realm and his anger at this failure that caused him to cough up blood was his most depressing and disgraceful memory.

Lian Chengyu's face fell when Yi Yun mentioned it.

"Little bastard, I'll see how long you can be this arrogant! You will eventually fall into my hands and then I'll let you know what it means to lead a living death!"

After saying it in a hushed tone, Lian Chengyu turned and walked away.

Yi Yun chuckled and was not bothered by Lian Chengyu. He moved with the crowd and he would occasionally glance at Zhang Tan. He saw Zhang Tan retrieving a black box, which exceeded three meters in length, from his interspatial ring.

This black box was made entirely of black iron and its surface was covered in ancient, mysterious looking inscriptions.

When all the people had finally formed a circle around Zhang Tan, he coldly said to the crowd, "the preliminaries are about to begin. I will give you all a word of advice. Do not push it, if you think you are lacking in Spirit, stand further away to prevent injury."

No one moved after listening to Zhang Tan's words. In fact, a few people, including Tao Yunxiao and Lian Chengyu, moved forward a few steps, to demonstrate their Spirit.

Zhang Tan smiled and opened up the box. From the box, he took out a three-foot-long black object. It was a curvy spiked spine. The spiked spine was helical and looked like a scimitar.

Yi Yun could tell that the black object was the horn of a huge beast.

After Zhang Tan took out the horn, it began floating slowly upwards, defying gravity.

This was the object to test one's Spirit?

Everyone was confused and was unsure how the assessment would proceed. Weirdly, they felt a sense of unease while in front of the horn.

This feeling of unease sank into their hearts…

"I will say it once more. Those people who lack confidence, stand back or this test might kill your confidence. It might even prevent you from practicing martial arts ever again," said Zhang Tan solemnly.

A few of the Jin Long Wei members by his side retreated and left Zhang Tan alone. With a few light taps, blinking runes appeared around the horn!

True Martial World - Chapter 82: He Really Came

"What third young master?" asked the man who was at a loss.

"You don't know? He is the Tao tribal clan's third young master. An elite carefully nurtured by the Tao tribal clan! The first young master is eighteen years old, and his cultivation level has reached the middle stage of the Purple Blood realm. The second young master is sixteen and has just broken into the Purple Blood realm, as for the third young master, he's the youngest and had just turned fourteen, but his cultivation level is already at the peak of the Qi Gatherer realm! Most people are saying that he will break through into the Purple Blood realm before fifteen years of age!

Breaking into the Purple Blood realm at fifteen years of age?

Hearing these words, everyone gasped. The angry man no longer dared to say anything. He was twenty-five, and just at the third stage of Mortal Blood, how could he go against him!

Even Lian Chengyu could hardly keep up his facade after hearing Tao Yunxiao's arrogant words. His talent which he was proud of had been criticized with a "barely make it".

Fuck, if not for the desolate bone refinement failure, I'd be in the early stages of the Purple Blood realm!

From the Mortal Blood to the Purple Blood, the former was considered mortal, while the latter was considered to have exceeded mortality. It was two different concepts.

If everything had gone well, he would have been in the early stages of the Purple Blood realm at seventeen. To be able to receive such results from a poor tribe would be something to be proud of. This kingdom's selection would no longer be a question. Would he need to listen to this kid's bragging?

Tao Yunxiao patted Lian Chengyu on the shoulders saying, "I think you are smart. Follow me in the future. You must break into the Purple Blood realm early. To not have done so by seventeen, It's a bit slow…"

Tao Yunxiao hit a tender spot; although Lian Chengyu was extremely aggrieved, he could do nothing but say, "Thank you for your appreciation. I will definitely work harder and break through into the Purple Blood realm soon."

Lian Chengyu still did not know the reason why he had failed to break through. The Frost Python desolate bone that was given to him by the Tao tribal clan did not have problems. The strong Frost toxin and the able-bodied men who fell sick after refining the bones had made it clear. So what could be the problem?

Lian Chengyu could never understand it, for he had never eaten a desolate bone essence before, nor did he know what would happen after eating a real desolate bone essence. He lacked experience, so it was not easy to tell what had gone wrong.

"Eh, this kid…" It happened that Tao Yunxiao noticed Yi Yun.

As the children in the vast wilderness suffered from malnutrition, their body development was slower. because of this, Yi Yun's body was still extremely tiny, and he stood out in the crowd.

Tao Yunxiao had originally believed that at the age of fourteen, he would be the youngest person to participate in this kingdom's selection. Unexpectedly, he saw someone even younger in the square, so he paid special attention to Yi Yun.

"He can participate in the kingdom's selection at such a young age?" Tao Yunxiao frowned. He had wanted the honor of being the youngest participant in the kingdom's selection. But from the looks of it, he had no chance to get that honor. At best, he would get the honor of the youngest chosen member of the Jin Long Wei.

"Young Master Yunxiao, that kid is called Yi Yun. He's from my Lian tribal clan and he has some talent for martial arts. He was lucky and had some fortuitous event, giving him some strength. As Young Master Yunxiao knows, our Lian tribal clan is lacking in resources and is unable to groom much talent, so I brought him here to experience the world," said Lian Chengyu when he noticed Tao Yunxiao's gaze.

"I see." After listening to Lian Chengyu's explanation, Tao Yunxiao lost interest for this kid as he was not noteworthy.

He wanted to pay attention to the true heroes of this era, and not the self-proclaimed elites of the vast wilderness.

For example…

Tao Yunxiao turned his head and squinted at a tall tower in the distance.

That tower was about two hundred feet tall with twelve floors. It was colored in dazzling purple gold.

"Young Master Yunxiao, what are you looking at?" Lian Chengyu traced Tao Yunxiao's gaze and looked towards the tower that looked especially special. "What sort of person is in that tower?"

"No ordinary girl!"

Lian Chengyu did not expect those words from Tao Yunxiao. Tao Yunxiao had enjoyed success from a young age and he had grown up in an environment where he was treated as a star. He had never stepped out of the Tao tribal clan and had never undergone tribulations, but he was regarded as one of the top prodigies of the Tao tribal clan. With such life experience, could he not be arrogant?

Besides, he was a fourteen-year-old child and was at the age where he felt highly self-important and dreamed of being a hero.

To say that the girl was no ordinary girl meant that she was extremely dazzling.

"Is she joining the kingdom's selection too?" Lian Chengyu asked. For such an extraordinary girl, he was naturally interested. If he could get to know her and win her favor, she would be able to greatly aid him in his journey.

"The kingdom's selection?" sneered Tao Yunxiao, "I already said she was no ordinary girl. What does it mean to be extraordinary? You have talent that makes people jealous of you, unfathomable strength, and a mysterious background that intimidates anyone! How could such a person participate in the kingdom's selection? Even the Thousand Households of the Jin Long Wei has to be extremely polite to her. You think the Jin Long Wei dares to take her in even if she wants to join the kingdom's selection?"

Tao Yunxiao rebutted with a rhetorical question, shocking Lian Chengyu. Was it that exaggerated?

To Lian Chengyu, the Jin Long Wei was already incredibly powerful; for such a powerful army, it's Thousand Households had to be respectful to this girl, then what sort of identity did she have?

"Tsk!" Tao Yunxiao showed some disdain upon seeing Lian Chengyu's dazed expression. "So what if she's of noble birth, it does not mean anything! There were many ancient emperors who were commoners before they eventually thrived! Today's kingdom's selection is just my first step. In the future when my strength grows, I'll leave the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, and become famous all over the world. When that happens, I would be noticed by the power behind that extraordinary girl. Eventually, she will be betrothed to me, then wedding her would be no wonder!"

Tao Yunxiao expressed his monolog with confidence. Lian Chengyu was stunned. He had already believed his ambition was great. By being able to get a named rank in the Jin Long Wei, he would be knighted in the kingdom, and thrive.

But Tao Yunxiao was planning to leave the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom. The huge Tai Ah Divine Kingdom could not hold him in!

Whether it meant to be young and crazy, or that newborn calves were not afraid of tigers, it was the best way to describe the fourteen-year-old Tao Yunxiao!

Yi Yun had taken this all in from the side. There was no such thing as the most arrogant, but only someone more arrogant. Tao Yunxiao, does your mother know about your arrogance?

As for the extraordinary girl in the tower, the one that the Jin Long Wei's Thousand Households had to be respectful to…

Yi Yun squinted his eyes and looked towards the purple gold tower.

And he did not know that at that moment, someone was looking right back at him from the tower.

Lin Xintong was standing by the tower's window, and her eyes could distinguish Yi Yun through the crowds in the busy street.

Her eyesight was extremely good, and even at such a distance, she was able to see Yi Yun's face clearly.

"Master, he really came," said Lin Xintong with a smile. Old Man Su had said that they would likely not meet Yi Yun again after going their separate ways at the Lian tribal clan's back mountain.

But the youth had given Lin Xintong's Yin Meridians a magical feeling.

Although it was like grasping at shadows, to think that that special feeling could heal her of her Yin meridians was a crazy thought. However, Old Man Su did not want to leave anything to chance, so he had stayed in the Tao tribal clan to wait for the kid to come knocking.

A young child who reached the Meridians realm was definitely a first-rate genius in the vast wilderness. How could such a genius miss the kingdom's selection?

"Let's see how this kid performs at the selection."

True Martial World - Chapter 81: Third Young Master

The behemoth’s running speed was fast; in a short while, the Lian village and the people sending them off had disappeared into the distance. Yi Yun could only shake his head with regret. The people of the vast wilderness were easily cheated.

They were simple but not kind, on the contrary, they exhibited all the evils and ugliness; maybe, that was human nature…

Yi Yun stopped thinking about it as he looked at the scenery hurling past him. Feeling the wind from the behemoths galloping forward, Yi Yun could not help but say, "Vast wilderness, here I come!"

This was the first time that Yi Yun stepped out of the Lian tribal clan and into the large vast wilderness. He would learn what the real vast wilderness was like outside the Lian tribal clan's protection!

The fast behemoth left a huge footprint with each step and could travel a few thousand kilometers each day. They felt violent tremors while sitting on the behemoth's back, so without a certain strength, it was unbearable. A person's bones could break just by sitting on it for a day.

Even the warrior preparation camp's members were finding it hard to endure.

As for Yi Yun, he was standing on the behemoth, holding onto the reins, and enjoying the scenery.

As the behemoth ran out of the protective area of the Lian tribal clan, Yi Yun could finally see the real vast wilderness!

The Cloud Wilderness was extremely vast, without any traces of humans. There were forests everywhere and the landscape looked primal.

Actually, Yi Yun did not know if they were called forests. These forests were different from the primal forests on Earth.

The primal forests on Earth were hot and humid, and the forest floors were covered with dead leaves and twigs. The forests were dense, and under the trees were shrubs. Such a forest would be extremely difficult for a person to walk through, what more a huge behemoth.

But in the vast wilderness, the trees were far apart from each other, allowing the behemoth to run through the woods at full speed. The trees were ridiculously tall, reaching a hundred meters, or even hundreds of meters, to the point of exceeding the clouds!

And such trees grew on the extremely barren land. Everywhere in the vast wilderness was boulders, hills, and deserts!

There were even trees that rooted themselves into black ironstone!

A huge boulder growing a divine tree that went up hundreds of meters was a grand sight!

But this was not a rare sight because this was found everywhere! There was little soil in the vast wilderness and its surface was littered with rocks. 90% of the trees had no choice to but to grow in these rocks.

These rocks were rough all around, and there were steep cliffs everywhere, making it hard for even monkeys to climb!

The mountain peaks, protruded isolated peaks or the mountain ranges that were thousands of meters high, were considered short. It was common to see ten thousand meter tall mountains which had snow-covered peaks that never melted in thousands of years, making them as strong as steel!

In between the mountain peaks, it was full of lofty cliffs that had bottomless canyons…

This was the vast wilderness which hid fearsome desolate beasts that could swallow a warrior in one gulp. Even without them or fierce beasts, any typical warrior would not be able to cross the vast wilderness because the path was too difficult to take.

Climbing cliffs, leaping across chasms and facing the blizzards, avalanches and the invisible ice caverns on the tall mountains…

Even a Purple Blood warrior would find it difficult to get past these lands.

The Jin Long Wei's behemoths were huge. They could easily run on such rugged paths as if they were plains. The behemoth followed a chasm path, which was the passage used to travel between the Tao tribal clan and Lian tribal clan.

Halfway through the journey, the behemoth passed two large mountains, and Yi Yun finally saw the Tao tribal clan he had heard so much about.

The buildings were lined up like fish scales. The streets were filled with people and they were lined with bustling stores.

In the middle of the Tao tribal clan, there stood a tall building and a tower.

In the Tao tribal clan, those who could stay in the tower were all Purple Blood warriors, for they were the protectors of the tribe.

"You will stay here."

The Tao tribal clan had prepared accommodations for the participants from the small tribes.

Around the Tao tribal clan was dozens of small tribes. Ten people came from each tribe, as for the Tao tribal clan, their young promising candidates numbered more than all the small tribes' participants put together. There were over a thousand people taking part in the selection.

The prepared accommodations for the participants were divided into three large areas.

It was obvious the construction quality differed greatly among the three areas. The first area was made up of individual small buildings. Each small building was exquisitely built. It resembled the villas from Yi Yun's previous life.

The second area was made up of neat rows of large houses. Although less luxurious than the small buildings, they were still made with brick and looked extremely comfortable.

Then there was the third area which was made up of makeshift wooden huts. The wooden huts were shaky and the furnishing was simple. There were only a table and four beds in each hut. With four to a room, it resembled the college dormitories from Yi Yun's past life.

The first area was prepared for the offspring of the Tao tribal clan, where they could each enjoy a small building.

The second area was prepared for leaders of the small tribal clans like Lian Chengyu. Each person stayed in one of those spacious tile-roofed houses.

The third area had the most people and was the place where the "followers" like Yi Yun and the members of the warrior preparation camp would stay. Each leader of the small tribes would participate in the kingdom's selection, so they would bring their men along since there were ten spots.

To others, these followers were not different from slaves. Although they too were here to participate in the kingdom's selection, the difference between slaves and their master were huge. How could they stay in the same place?

In this different world, there was a rigid concept of hierarchy, which was similar to ancient China.

When Yi Yun came to his own residence, he saw his three other roommates. They were about fourteen years old, not much older than him.

They too wore linen clothes but the clothes looked new. They must have prepared new clothes for the kingdom's selection.

In the vast wilderness, there were plenty of suffering people!

"Time to go out and see how the geniuses of the vast wilderness are like."

With this thought, Yi Yun left the wooden hut.

The Tao tribal clan was large. This area was originally used to gather the tribe. For the Tai Ah Divine kingdom's selection, it was not a simple arena match for the examiners would set up all sorts of hurdles to test the participants on various aspects. As for the specific topic, it was still unknown.

In front of the residential area, Yi Yun saw a familiar face: Lian Chengyu.

But Lian Chengyu was together with several young elites. They surrounded a youth who had red lips and gleaming teeth. He was dressed in white and was about fourteen years old. He was fair-skinned and looked just like a girl. He was extraordinarily handsome.

Lian Chengyu, who was always arrogant, displayed a humble smile on his face. He stood together with the young masters of the other tribes, discussing the kingdom's selection.

"Lian Chengyu, the people you mentioned are not even worth mentioning." The fourteen-year-old child was extremely overbearing as he said, "This kingdom's selection has about a thousand participants, but in reality, about 90% of them are followers or slaves pulled here to fill the spots. Removing these slaves, how many are there left? If you wanted to count properly, there isn't more than a hundred people!"

"These hundred people would only seem strong to commoners, but to me, even the specially cultivated heir of a small tribe is nothing to me! As for you, you barely make it. This selection is actually pointless!" The child who said those words was absolutely overbearing.

Yi Yun was shocked upon hearing those words. Who the hell was that person?

The person had even said those overbearing words loudly, making it be heard by people all around!

A large number of them were also included in his reprobation. These people as described by the child were either slaves or poultry.

"F**k, who the hell is the kid?"

A large man could no longer hold it in and was about to rush to the youth in white to beat him up, but he was stopped by the people around him.

"Do you want to lose your life! He's the Tao tribal clan's third young master, Tao Yunxiao!"

True Martial World - Chapter 80: Departure

Ever since dawn, the people of Lian tribal clan had already come out of their houses, and stood by the village entrance, waiting to send off Lian Chengyu and company.

Lian Chengyu's departure symbolized the harvest of a seed they had painstakingly cultivated; hence, there were extremely high expectations by the tribe.

"Young Master is sure to win! Triumphant return! Young Master is sure to win! Triumphant return!" The members of the warrior preparation camp began to shout their slogans once more.

Hearing the chants, Yi Yun felt ashamed. He was speechless at the retardedness of the warrior preparation camp's members.

The people also began to shout a few words.

"Young Master Lian, the entire tribe will be depending on you!"

There were old men kowtowing on the ground. Also, the only witch in the village was dancing in her epileptic manner again.

"My people, don't worry. I will not let you down." Lian Chengyu stood up from his spacious spot and clasped his hands, first to the left, then to the right, in an amiable manner.

It had to be said that Lian Chengyu was charming, together with his long white robe, he looked extremely elegant. He had the bearing of a large tribe's young master. Combined with his self-confidence and friendliness, it was extremely charming to young girls.

Many young girls in the tribe were awe-struck by Lian Chengyu. Blushing, they shouted, "Young Master Lian, we will wait for your return!"

"Don't worry, when I can enter the city to build my own ground, and establish my family clan, you can all accompany me, and become the first batch of citizens of my Lian family clan." Lian Chengyu's confidence words made the villagers flush from excitement as if they had just drunk a bottle of wine. As for those girls, they were red from dreaming of being a personal maidservant of Lian Chengyu, or even a servant in the bed.

To be able to follow Young Master Lian was a great joy.

Many young girls had such thoughts as they were smitten. Yi Yun was apathetically watching by the side, for he knew he would not receive any sending offs. Suddenly, he heard a timid voice, "Brother Yi..Yi Yun, you must work hard, Xiaoke…Xiaoke will wait for your return…"

Hearing this voice, Yi Yun was stunned. He looked over and saw a little girl dressed in old clothes looking at him nervously. That watery pair of eyes exuded a million words of meaning. She was Aunt Wang's daughter, Zhou Xiaoke.

Among all the young girls sending off Lian Chengyu, to shout Yi Yun's name by herself took a lot of courage.

"Xiaoke."

Yi Yun beckoned Xiaoke over. Seeing how this little girl's face glowed, he found her adorable. "Don't worry, I'll return safely."

"Okay." Zhou Xiaoke nodded her head forcefully.

"Kiddo Yun, it's alright if you don't pass the selection. Don't be discouraged for you are still young. You are just twelve!"

Aunt Wang was shouting by the side too. As she shouted, she took out a vegetable dumpling from a basket, "Kiddo Yun, I made this vegetable dumpling. Have it along the road."

Seeing the vegetable dumpling that was made with little grain, Yi Yun was touched. He came down from his seat and accepted the vegetable dumpling. In return, he stuffed a cloth bag into Aunt Wang's hands, "Auntie, open it up only when you are back home."

After saying that, Yi Yun jumped back onto the behemoth's back without waiting for Aunt Wang's response. And at that moment, the Jin Long Wei ambassador began to lead the beast forward.

Seeing Yi Yun's figure grow smaller into the distance, Zhou Xiaoke continued to wave.

A few women surnamed Lian looked disdainfully at Aunt Wang's family saying, "You sure have a good relationship with that kid!"

"It’s none of your business!" said Zhou Xiaoke as she puckered her small mouth.

The women let out an unbridled laughter, "This little lass sure got smitten! That kid Yi Yun thinks he's one of the main participants, to think he followed Young Master Lian to participate in the kingdom's selection. Did he even consider his own strength? Young Master Lian is just too nice a person."

"So what if he takes the kid with him? Young Master Lian is just taking him to experience life, and use him for his own purposes. In the future, he will just be another henchman. Do you really think the kid will pass the selection?" These Lian women completed each others' sentences with ease and delight.

They shared the Lian surname and was part of the same family as Lian Chengyu. They also had the same bloodline as the Lian tribal clan. As long as Lian Chengyu struck it big, they would receive great benefits.

With the end of their suffering beckoning, how could they not be happy!

As the Lian women ridiculed Zhou Xiaoke, Aunt Wang was shocked as she touched the cloth bag Yi Yun had passed to her.

After freezing for a moment, she swallowed a mouthful of saliva before carefully putting the cloth bag away, while keeping it close to her body.

She ignored those mean women and quietly pulled Zhou Xiaoke home. Only after latching the door did Aunt Wang take the cloth bag out. She placed it carefully on the table in the main room.

"Mom, what did Brother Yi Yun give?" Zhou Xiaoke asked curiously.

Aunt Wang's hands were trembling. At that moment when she touched the bag, there were many people, hence, she was afraid to open it up. But while holding it, she could feel the texture and smell the aroma of something she thought impossible to obtain… She took in a deep breath and unwrapped the cloth bag layer by layer…

Moments later, Zhou Xiaoke was stunned. As for Aunt Wang, even after being mentally prepared, her heart still skipped a few beats.

What appeared in front of both of them was a roasted chicken. It was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. It was golden glazed and fragrant!

"This… This is…" Zhou Xiaoke began to swallow mouthfuls of saliva. "Brother Yi Yun gave this?"

"Yes… Kiddo Yun gave us this…" Aunt Wang was gawking at the chicken in disbelief. How did Yi Yun manage to get this roasted chicken? Also looking at this roasted chicken, it was cooked with exquisite culinary skills. The smell of the skin was familiar with Aunt Wang. It was honey, she had picked some in the back mountains by chance a long time ago!

Honey roasted chicken, how did Kiddo Yun get this?

Aunt Wang was in disbelief, but at that moment, Zhou Xiaoke's saliva was dripping down to the table. She eagerly looked at the roasted chicken asking, "Mom… Can I eat it?"

Aunt Wang laughed and touched Zhou Xiaoke's head, "Kiddo Yun's chicken was given to you for eating."

With that said, Aunt Wang tore a chicken leg and stuffed it into Zhou Xiaoke's tiny hands, "Quickly eat it. We can eat the rest when your dad returns."

"Yes!" Zhou Xiaoke hurriedly took a bite. The moment the chicken flesh entered her mouth, Zhou Xiaoke felt like she was floating in the sky. The chicken flesh was delicious. She had never eaten something that tasty…

Brother Yi Yun is so good.

Thinking of this, Zhou Xiaoke's heart was filled with happiness.