True Martial World - Chapter 164: Sage’s Truth

Yi Yun had only wanted to experiment but it was a success. Even though it was energy from a primordial strain that had been sealed by Great Yan gold, the Purple Crystal could still suck it out!

The process was difficult and the reason was likely because his spiritual energy was weaker.

The energy drawn out from the Great Yan gold was actually an extremely tiny portion of the primordial strain's total energy.

If his spiritual energy was greater, then it would be much easier to absorb the energy from within the Great Yan gold.

Yi Yun had previously used the Purple Crystal to absorb desolate bone energy, which was in the form of densely-packed light dots. But now, the energy absorbed from the primordial strain were light blobs the size of a pigeon egg.

Yi Yun's eyes lit up. Upon careful inspection, he found that within the light blobs were extremely small chimera shadows that tumbled around. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

These mini three-headed beasts looked like puppies with two additional heads. It looked less ferocious than the chimera sculpture. It was even cuter.

Clearly, this was what a chimera looked like as a cub.

"To think that there would be something like that within the primordial strain energy. Is it because its energy is too pure that it forms this? It's incredible!"

Yi Yun knew that certain herbs that reached a certain age, such as the purple jade ginseng, could form into a physical manifestation like a fat baby or a little girl.

It was unbelievable that the energy exuded out by the primordial strain could form such shapes in a tiny light blob!

What would it feel like absorbing this energy?

Yi Yun carefully controlled the mini-beast phantom at himself.

Looking closer, he found the small beast to be extremely exquisite. Although it was the size of a pigeon egg, its wings, tiny claws and even scales could be clearly seen.

Yi Yun opened up his mouth and swallowed the energy blob.

A moment later, a warm energy surged within Yi Yun's body, reaching his mind and his dantian!

This energy was completely different from the energies he had previously absorbed. It not only contained an extremely pure life essence, but it also contained some spiritual energy.

This spiritual energy entered Yi Yun's mind and Yi Yun felt his surroundings turn into a blur.

In the misty white light, he felt like he saw himself flying. He was flying thousands of meters in the sky above the vast wilderness.

Yi Yun felt like he had turned into the primordial strain.

This primordial strain would hunt prey, fly into the air and onto the ground, and battle with other primordial strains. These images intermittently appeared within Yi Yun's mind.

In these fuzzy scenes, Yi Yun felt like he had touched a brand new world. He was perceptive of the surrounding Heaven Earth Yuan Qi. He had never found it so clear!

Yes!

Yi Yun's mind flashed with brilliance. He recalled that he had read the book, "Divine Wilderness" that said that energy from primordial strains not only contained their life essences, but it also contained their nomological insights!

By consuming the primordial strain's relic, one could obtain tiny traces of the primordial strain's nomological insight. It was something all human peerless experts dreamed of!

On the road of martial arts, the higher the level, the more important the nomological insight became.

One could not control the world's Heaven Earth Yuan Qi freely unless they understood the laws well.

If he could understand the primordial strain's nomological insight, how much would his strength improve?

Yi Yun's heart raced. He was full of anticipation for his future!

But now, the single blob of energy contained too little nomological insight. It was severely insufficient.

Yi Yun closed his eyes and concentrated. With his teeth gritted, his spiritual energy entered the Purple Crystal Origins once again. By controlling the Purple Crystal, he drew out the energy from within the Great Yan gold drop by drop.

Although the Purple Crystal could absorb the primordial strain's energy, its pressure was still applied to Yi Yun's body in an overwhelming manner similar to a tidal impact on his blood.

It was not easy to absorb the primordial strain's energy under such a situation.

After taking nearly fifteen minutes, Yi Yun managed to squeeze out a second energy blob from within the Great Yan gold, sending it flying slowly towards him.

Although the primordial strain's energy was strong, a light blob the size of a pigeon egg did not contain much energy. With Yi Yun's foundation, he could completely withstand it.

The second light blob was swallowed by Yi Yun.

Soon, a surge of warmth entered Yi Yun's body again. The primordial strain's memory images also became clearer.

Yi Yun felt that he was the primordial strain itself, and he could sense the laws.

Following that, under great difficulty, Yi Yun managed to absorb the third and fourth light blob…

After swallowing four light blobs, the images in Yi Yun's head began to become complete. Slowly, he saw a scene that made him excited and shocked!

He saw the vast barren plains of the Divine Wilderness. Above the plains, in the vast blue sky, a chimera was flying. It spread open its three big wings and flapped, sending clouds hundreds of kilometers away.

The chimera was battling a long-haired man wearing golden battle armor!

This golden armored man was armed with a spear. With an upstanding and dauntless pose, his long hair blew in the wind!

In his hands, there was a four-meter long spear that danced in the air causing turmoil and he gave off an overwhelming aura!

Yi Yun realized that he was watching from the perspective of the primordial strain as it fought against the golden-armored man!

Yi Yun suddenly realized that the man he was looking at was the first city lord of the Tai Ah Divine City! He was the one who killed the six primordial strain beasts and sealed their bodies within the Wilderness Divine Hall by using Great Yan gold to make them into sculptures.

The scenes he was seeing while the last memories of the chimera.

What did it mean to be Tai Ah Divine City's city lord?

He could enjoy the Tai Ah Divine City's pyramid's 99th level's cultivation ground, and could allocate all the resources within the Tai Ah Divine City!

In the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, there were two giants; one was the divine emperor, and the other was the Tai Ah Divine City's city lord!

The divine emperor had to deal with governance and deal with memorandums, but the Tai Ah Divine City's city lord did not need to. He could cultivate all he wanted.

If strength was to be compared, the Tai Ah Divine City's city lord was definitely stronger!

Yi Yun was watching the first city lord of the Tai Ah Divine City. He was an eternal character that existed in the tens of millions of years of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom!

His strength was in an unimaginable realm for Yi Yun.

When the Tai Ah Divine City city lord cast the six sculptures in the Wilderness Divine Hall, he had also left his own nomological insight within the sculptures.

But now, when Yi Yun absorbed the primordial strain energy, the laws inside the energy had also been absorbed within Yi Yun's body!

Besides that, Yi Yun could watch from the perspective of the primordial strain, experiencing the battle scenes with the first city lord. It was almost as if Yi Yun was exchanging blows with the city lord himself. As such, Yi Yun had a totally immersive experience for understanding the first city lord’s nomological insight.

This two-prong approach of understanding was infinitely more superior to standing before the primordial strain sculpture to understand.

Yi Yun's perceptivity was always good. Having led two lives, Yi Yun's spiritual energy was great. He had even been praised by Lin Xintong for his perceptivity. Even Old Man Su, who had always despised Yi Yun, had to acknowledge Yi Yun's perceptivity.

With his high perceptivity and the immersive experience, Yi Yun slowly understood the essence within the first city lord's moves!

Although he could not understand it, Yi Yun formed a vague concept.

The law's true meaning… Is this the true meaning of the law…

With his own mind, he could induce the Heaven Earth Yuan Qi to use it for himself. Upon reaching a sufficient cultivation realm, one could even transform one's body into a heavenly one in short periods of time, allowing them to control the laws of Heaven and Earth!

Light blob after blob from the primordial strain flew towards Yi Yun. These light blobs opened a mysterious door for Yi Yun. The simple understanding from the door surged over. It made Yi Yun feel like he had touched a magical new field, something he had never heard or seen before.

Yi Yun began consuming all these understandings like a starved person. This was the mysteries of the world. By lifting the veil of mystery, what appeared in front of him made him infatuated!

There was no concept of time when cultivating. Yi Yun was immersed in a magical state for an unknown period of time. However, outside Yi Yun's mind, Zhou Kui was still giving his all competing with Yi Yun.

Zhou Kui's goons could no longer take it. Many of them knelt or laid on the ground, as they felt the oppression from the primordial strain.

There were only a few people still standing within the hall.

Zhou Kui was, of course, one of them.

"Hmph! Being under pressure is my forte. To withstand pressure, if I were to say I was second among the people here, no one will dare claim first. I will roll over everyone here!"

Zhou Kui had this proud thought.

The primordial strain's oppression was great, but so what?

He was strong, like a hill against the wind!

He was free, like a metal chain stopping the river!

This was Zhou Kui's current mental state.

Zhou Kui could already feel the pressure. Although he was dog-tired and his body was near its limits, but under this self-hypnosis, Zhou Kui entered a euphoric state. He subconsciously told himself that he was the strongest. Hence, his resistance against the pressure increased another level!

Zhou Kui's head was covered in sweat as his body's bones crackled. He turned with difficulty to look at Yi Yun.

But he saw Yi Yun's face pale with his eyes closed. And Yi Yun's eyelashes were constantly trembling as if he was having a nightmare.

"His mental state is unstable. He is at his limit." Those were Zhou Kui's thoughts. Of course, at this point, he was not finding it easy himself.

Zhou Kui wanted to see the scene of Yi Yun collapsing; however, he was fated never to see it.

"Gong!"

Suddenly, a loud gong rang in everyone's ears!

"Two hours is up. All the cultivators are to leave the Wilderness Divine Hall!" An authoritative voice echoed within the six rooms. This was the same voice that had introduced the sculptures within the Wilderness Divine Hall.

"Time's up? Such a pity!" Yi Yun's spirit was still in a trance. He slowly opened his eyes as he gradually returned from the world within his mind.

True Martial World - Chapter 163: Primordial Strain Sculpture

Yi Yun swept his eyes across the six stone doors. The stone doors looked nearly identical and the only difference was the engravings on the doors. There were three-headed beasts, large serpents, fierce birds and a large shark…

To choose any of the six stone doors.

Yi Yun thought for a moment before walking towards the three-headed beast door.

At that moment, Yi Yun realized that Zhou Kui had also walked towards the three-headed beast door.

"Heh! The chimera stone door is considered the most difficult stone door in the Wilderness Divine Hall!" Zhou Kui knew some things about the Wilderness Divine Hall. His words stirred Yi Yun.

Difficult?

It seems this cultivation ground is not a simple place.

"How about it? Do you have the guts to compete with me? This Wilderness Divine Hall is a place that tests your true ability. Sneak attacks are useless here." Zhou Kui tossed his head over and said it sarcastically. It was clear he was still holding a grudge because of Yi Yun's sneak attack from yesterday.

Zhou Kui found it disgraceful to suffer losses under Yi Yun. He found himself wronged to have lost to a sneak attack. He wanted to regain his pride with this entry into the Wilderness Divine Hall.

Many Xuanwu Army warriors followed Zhou Kui. They were his followers and brother-in-arms.

Quickly, they took the other sixteen places for the three-headed beast door.

Those who entered the three-headed beast were all from the Xuanwu Army, except Yi Yun!

These strong youths from the Xuanwu Army gave contemplative looks at Yi Yun. It felt like a pack of wolves looking at a little sheep that had fallen into their lair.

"Fighting is prohibited in the Wilderness Divine Hall, or there will be serious consequences!" Noticing the tension in the air, the bald man exhorted them without much ado.

Battles were common in the Tai Ah Divine City. As long as they did not fight in places that prohibited fighting, then it was alright to fight elsewhere in the event there were no deaths or serious injuries.

Hence, the bald man did not interfere the battles between the trainees, and in fact, he condoned it.

If the team he led fought with others, they would be rewarded if they won, and punished if they lost.

"These guys are like a bunch of flies having their eyes on you!" Xu Zheng transmitted this from behind Yi Yun.

Yi Yun shrugged and said casually, "Whatever!"

While saying that, Yi Yun headed towards the three-headed beast door.

Zhou Kui laughed and followed.

The other members of the Xuanwu Army also piled in.

"Whew!"

A white light flashed and before the stone door was fully opened, it sucked Yi Yun in.

"Oh?

Yi Yun's vision blurred and turned clear the next moment. Before he could figure out what was happening, he felt his scalp burning. It was as if something terrifying had its eyes on him. He could feel the existence of an overpowering pressure that was pressing against him as if he was immersed in a mercury pool.

What's the matter?

Yi Yun looked towards the strange overwhelming pressure and was surprised to see a huge desolate beast sculpture standing in front of him!

This sculpture was completely black. It had a black golden luster, and its body was hard to be described as a lion or a roc. It had three animal heads, and it had unkempt fur. Each head's eyes flashed with purple lightning. On its back were three thirty feet wings, as if it was ready to take off at any time.

Its body gave off a sense of immense pressure, making Yi Yun inevitably feel a sense of smallness.

Boom!

Suddenly, by looking at the divine beast, Yi Yun felt a tumultuous thunder within his mind. Yi Yun could not help but shake a few times. His whole body felt an oppressive feeling.

At that moment, a voice entered Yi Yun's ear, "Before the Tai Ah Divine City was completely built, the three-headed chimera sculpture was created by the Tai Ah Divine City's first city lord. It was a real primordial strain and the sculpture was created by injecting large amounts of molten Great Yan gold into it before casting! This sculpture contains within it the primordial strain's oppression and the true spirit of the first city lord of the Tai Ah Divine City! How much you can comprehend depends on yourself."

The primordial strain's real body was injected with molten Great Yan gold before making into a sculpture?

The sculpture's origin startled Yi Yun. This was actually a real primordial strain. No wonder it had such a terrific pressure!

In front of the chimera, Yi Yun found it hard to breathe. The immense pressure nearly made him kneel on the ground!

Yi Yun gritted his teeth and lowered the Flowing Mercury Gown's weight to its lowest before being barely able to withstand it.

At that moment, many beams of white light flashed beside Yi Yun. One after another, the men from the Xuanwu Army were sent in.

The first was naturally Zhou Kui. It had to be said that Zhou Kui had some ability. In front of the chimera's immense pressure, he just trembled before standing firm.

As for the others, they were worse. Their ability was inferior. Although they were mentally prepared, to suddenly experience such overwhelming pressure made their blood turbulent. They found it hard to endure it. One by one, they faltered and fell to the ground!

They had been bragging a lot outside, but when the true test of their abilities and worth came, it wasn't enough to just move their lips!

"Trash! Don't be a f**king pussy!" Zhou Kui still had the strength to curse. Indeed, he had strong foundations. In fact, being under pressure was his forte!

He grinned at Yi Yun, "Come on, let's compete to see who is more manly!"

Zhou Kui laughed with a pride that seemed to surge to the sky.

Yi Yun only glanced at Zhou Kui and did not respond. He was pondering about everything within the Wilderness Divine Hall.

The Wilderness Divine Hall wasn't a place just to withstand the primordial strain's pressure. The most valuable item in this cultivation ground was to understand the Sage's true spirit within the primordial strain sculpture.

One had to endure the primordial strain's pressure and understand the true spirit of a Sage at the same time!

The sage's true spirit wasn't easy to realize. Besides, these cultivators were rookies. They did not have much strength; hence it was not easy to endure the pressure, what’s more, it was not easy to calm themselves down to ponder over the true spirit.

Even Yi Yun did not find it easy. In just a while, his forehead was sweating.

As for Zhou Kui, he looked stronger than Yi Yun. A vein appeared on his forehead as his joints started to crackle. This aura was extremely amazing.

Zhou Kui looked at Yi Yun and thought to himself, "This kid is stronger than I thought. He actually has some skill, and not just good at sneak attacks."

Zhou Kui gathered his all to compete with Yi Yun, so it was natural that he was watching Yi Yun. Zhou Kui was very confident with his endurance and resilience. Even if he could not keep up with Yi Yun at the beginning, he believed he could beat Yi Yun near the end. Furthermore, he was much stronger than Yi Yun from the beginning, so he was sure to win in the end.

Zhou Kui expected his victory, so he would not rejoice. Instead, he wanted to see what Yi Yun's limits were.

What Zhou Kui did not know was that Yi Yun wasn't concentrating on competing with him. In fact, Yi Yun had treated Zhou Kui as air from the beginning to the end.

Yi Yun was single-mindedly examining the chimera's sculpture.

"Primordial strains. This is the pressure left behind by a primordial strain. Its strength exceeds that of a Human Lord. Even the Elders of the Tai Ah Divine City might not be able to handle it. Obtaining a primordial strain's body to make into a relic could cause a bloody storm if it reaches the mortal world! Even human Sages would want it to nourish their bodies, and understand the laws embedded within the primordial strain relic.

"It deserves the name of a primordial strain!"

This was Yi Yun's first encounter with a primordial strain. Although it was sealed within gold.

Then could it possibly…

Ever since Yi Yun entered the Wilderness Divine Hall and saw the chimera sculpture, he had a thought he couldn't suppress. This thought made him speed up his breathing.

He closed his eyes and concentrated. He let his consciousness enter an ethereal state and interfaced his spiritual energy with the Purple Crystal Origins within its heart. With that, Yi Yun suddenly opened his eyes!

Yi Yun's vision turned white. In front of Yi Yun, the three-headed beast sculpture lit up with white light.

Yi Yun felt that his spiritual energy, when attached with the Purple Crystal, had managed to interface with the primordial strain sculpture in front of him.

However, the gold used to seal the primordial strain was preventing Yi Yun's spirit energy from penetrating it.

This Great Yan gold was a wonderful metal. It had a natural property that absorbed Heaven Earth Yuan Qi. Using it to seal the primordial strain's body, after tens of millions of years, the primordial strain's energy within would not decrease but even increase constantly, making it purer!

The body of the chimera had actually more energy contained within it than when the Tai Ah Divine City was first built. Its cost was even greater.

The six primordial strain sculptures within the Divine Wilderness were the cornerstone treasures of the Tai Ah Divine City!

This was all thanks to the Great Yan gold. Its special property made energy easy to enter, but difficult to exit. It could be said to be one-way.

Unfortunately, although the Great Yan gold had the ability to nourish the primordial strain's body, it took too long.

Every hundred thousand years or million years, human Sages would have died of old age and could not wait for the nourishment process to finish. Only a superpower like the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom could be handed down generation after generation. Together with the impressive fortress of the Tai Ah Divine City, it could protect the primordial strain's real body, preventing it from being robbed!

Yi Yun was now reversing the polarity of the Great Yan gold.

After he regulated his breathing, with full concentration, he used the Purple Crystal's ability to control energy to draw out the energy from within the Great Yan gold drop by drop!

Slowly, the three-headed beast's middle head shined a light that grew brighter as more energy gathered. Energy from all corners of the three-headed sculpture began to gather in the middle head of the three-headed beast as if it were breaking out of a shell.

When the energy was condensed to its extremes, a light blob the size of a pigeon egg was squeezed out from the Great Yan gold with great difficulty. It slowly floated over and under the Purple Crystal's guidance flew towards Yi Yun.

Seeing this light blob, Yi Yun was overjoyed!

I've succeeded!

True Martial World - Chapter 162: Heaven, Earth, Man Rolls of Honor

Yi Yun and company waited for about fifteen minutes before a door opened and about a dozen people walked out.

A thin youth led them. This youth wore a simple and loose training suit, with a saber behind his back.

Each step the thin youth made was exactly four feet as if they were measured by a ruler.

The thin youth gave people the impression of being an unsheathed saber with an oppressing blade.

The moment the thin youth appeared, many eyes focused on him.

Yi Yun only felt his eyes contract as his eyebrows felt a chill. The pressure from the youth was too great.

Not far away, Zhou Kui was alarmed at this youth.

This thin youth's aura was greater than Yang Qian!

Yang Qian stood up and they exchanged glances that sparked.

"Broken through?" Yang Qian looked at the thin youth as his pupils contracted almost to that of a needle.

"A lucky breakthrough and I obtained some glory points. I can now do some things…" The thin youth said indifferently.

"Some glory points… Heh! A great result, congratulations!" Yang Qian's eyebrows moved as his eyes flashed strangely. Although he was congratulating him, everyone could tell the competitiveness between the two.

Yang Qian and the thin youth were rivals!

This was not surprising. In the Tai Ah Divine City, all the young warriors were in a competitive relationship.

Just like Yi Yun who had formed competitive relationships with others. There were many things that no one else could obtain if you took it.

In such circumstances, how could there be amiable relationships?

Eventually, the thin youth walked past Yang Qian and left. Just as he was about to step out, he turned around and said to Yang Qian, "I'm waiting for your challenge!"

This words made all the rookies to the Tai Ah Divine City look at each other. Who was this thin youth? Why was he so arrogant as to wait for Yang Qian's challenge?

Seeing Yang Qian's reaction, it was clear that Yang Qian had secretly admitted that the thin youth's strength was greater than his!

Heavens! Yang Qian was already so powerful. He was a fifteen-year-old Viscount, yet there was someone suppressing him!

Many people paused and swallowed a mouthful of saliva before saying, "This place is indeed filled with experts…"

After the youth with the saber left, many could not help but ask, "Who's that thin swordsman? What's his cultivation level?"

The leader, Baldy Qin answered, "His name is Yao Dao (Demon Saber). It is his nickname and also his name. He has been in the Tai Ah Divine City for three years. He is fifteen years old this year."

"He and Yang Qian has been the best out of the batch from three years ago. They are each other's greatest rival. But Yao Dao has always been surpassing Yang Qian!"

"As for his cultivation level, he is the same as Yang Qian. They are both above the peak of the Purple Blood realm—the early stages of the Yuan Foundation realm!"

Yuan Foundation realm!

Everyone drew a cold breath.

"Yuan" had the meaning of beginning. "Yuan year" was the first year. "Yuan general" was the highest commander in the military, "Yuan Scholar" was the person who scored first in the exams.

Yuan Foundation was a warrior's beginning and the original root.

After a warrior reached the peak of the Purple Blood realm, their body's essence would converge after being nourished. It resulted in a qualitative change. The Qi and blood would condense into an energy fountain, and once the energy fountain was solidified, it became a solid foundation!

That was the Yuan Foundation!

If one were to call Purple Blood the beginning steps of martial arts, then the Yuan Foundation realm was the first step for a warrior to attain divinity.

Yuan Foundation realm warriors were very prestigious in the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom.

Besides, Yao Dao and Yang Qian were only fifteen!

It turned out that hey had already entered the Yuan Foundation realm!

Many rookies turned speechless. They were all at the Purple Blood realm, but someone else was already at the Yuan Foundation realm. Yang Qian was already impressive, but in reality, Yang Qian was suppressed by Yao Dao.

No matter how strong you are, there is always someone stronger!

"Your path ahead is still long. They have already been in the Tai Ah Divine City for three years. You have just arrived, what's the rush?" The bald man said upon seeing the rookies' downed spirits.

"Alright, it's our turn to enter now." As he said that, the bald man led them through the hall's door.

The hall was dimly lit and the most prominent thing in it was the three statues in the middle of the hall.

Each statue was carved into the shape of a big and tall man.

They were the most famous divine emperors in the history of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom.

The middle was the founding divine emperor. The divine emperors on the side had previously extended the territory. They were wise rulers, exceptional both in politics and martial arts.

These three wise rulers left behind a great name for themselves and obtained the admiration of people.

But Yi Yun was no longer paying attention to the three sculptures.

He saw that in front of the sculptures, there were three metal tablets. Each tablet had names engraved on it.

These were the three rolls of honor!

"These are the Heaven, Earth and Man rolls of honor!" The bald man said.

Each list's top ten people had their names written in bigger font, almost to the point of a foot. Hence, it was very striking!

Yi Yun noticed that the names at the top of the Heaven and the Earth lists were the same, Qin Haotian.

As for the Man list's top person, that was another person, Luo Huo'er.

"Oh? Luo Huo'er? A girl?"

Yi Yun quickly found Yao Dao and Yang Qian's names. Yao Dao's name appeared both on the Heaven and Earth list at fifty-two.

Yang Qian also appeared on the Heaven and Earth list at sixty-eight.

Both of them did not enter the Man list.

"See this? This is the roll of honor. If you were to leave the Tai Ah Divine City after six years and are able to enter the top 1000 of any of the lists, then you have performed well."

"I know all of you are very proud. To be able to come here proves your excellence. But your excellence is only compared to the areas you came from. No one who came here is any worse than you! As for those who have been training in the Tai Ah Divine City for three to four years, it is normal for them to be stronger than you!"

"If anyone of you were to enter the top 1000 of any of those lists within one year, and not when you leave the Tai Ah Divine City, then you will attract the attention of all the large factions in the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom. They will scramble to attract you!"

The bald man's words were very provocative.

To enter the top 1000 in a year! Winning the attraction of all the large factions in the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom!

This was very exciting!

Zhou Kui grabbed his wrists as his eyes lit up with fighting spirit. As a man, he had to accomplish this. This was Zhou Kui's dream, and also the dreams of many of the young warriors present.

Yi Yun quietly memorized the names on the list. On the Heaven, Earth, Man rolls of honor, even an early stage Yuan Foundation elite was ranked in the top hundred.

Then for those that ranked in the top ten or top three, what were their cultivation levels?

Middle of the Yuan Foundation realm? Or perhaps even the late stages of the Yuan Foundation realm?

It was hard to imagine!

This Tai Ah Divine City was indeed the place where all the elites of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom gathered.

Even the Jin Long Wei was nothing when compared with the many large family clans, the royal family, the four military regiments, the Qing Luan Wei, the Royal Guards and other elite groups formed from the various factions. Furthermore, the Jing state's Divine Capital's Jin Long Wei branch was just one of the hundred Jin Long Wei branches in the entire Tai Ah Divine Kingdom.

This roll of honor was indeed a great challenge!

Yi Yun felt a surge of hot blood.

"I wonder what the current me would rank? It's impossible for me to be in the top 1000. I heard that there are 12,000 cultivators in the Tai Ah Divine City. Every year there would be about 2000 rookies. And the rookies tend to be ranked last. Song Zijun who came with me is definitely beyond 10,000!"

"Among the rookies, my strength should be pretty good. That Zhou Kui, even if I didn't attack him by surprise, I could still beat him! But… there are about 2000 people in this batch. Zhou Kui can at most be considered above average in the 2000 rookies. What would my rank be? In this 2000 rookies, are there many who are stronger than me?"

Yi Yun did not undervalue himself, but he knew that his Purple Blood realm strength was just the beginning.

In the entire Jing state, Yi Yun was considered among the best.

But there were 107 other states, and there was the biggest Zhong state—the imperial city!

It would be no surprise that there were others stronger than him among the rookies.

If he were to count the older warriors from the Tai Ah Divine City, Yi Yun estimated his overall ranking to be somewhere above 10,000. Was it 8000? 9000? Or could he be way beyond 10,000, he had no idea…

Entering the top 1000 in one year's time was considered exceptional. And it would attract the attention of various large factions in the country, then what about me? How far would I go in a year?

Yi Yun was looking forward to it. Thinking it through, he had come from the vast wilderness. Be it his cultivation techniques or resources, he could not be compared to the youths from the royal family or the powerful family clans. Although he had led two lives, with high perceptivity and a heaven-defying Purple Crystal's help, his contact with martial arts was short. To be able to enter the top 10,000 among the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's young warriors was already pretty good.

"Alright, there's no point saying all this nonsense. Now, you have to begin cultivating! See those stone doors?" The bald man pointed to somewhere nearby. There were six huge stone doors erected in front of them. The stone doors were engraved with primordial desolate beasts and they looked ancient and mysterious.

The bald man said, "The six stone doors in front of you is the heart of the Wilderness Divine Hall! The Wilderness Divine Hall is a cultivation place. As rookies, all of you will get two hours of free cultivation time. Now, you can all enter! As for which door, choose freely! Each door only lets in 18 people!"

"Oh? 'Free' cultivation time?" Yi Yun paused, it seemed like entering this place in the future would require payment with dragon scale runes.

At that moment, the bald man stood by the side with his hands crossed across his chest. Beside him was a large hourglass. The bald man had just flipped the hourglass and the sand quietly flowed down. When it finished, two hours would have passed.

This was the first time all the young warriors present were in the Tai Ah Divine City. They did not know that many rules, but they could tell that the time in the Wilderness Divine Hall was extremely valuable. Naturally, it was not something to be wasted.

True Martial World - Chapter 161: Wilderness Divine Hall

Yi Yun walked to the stone table and saw a new set of clothes and a book placed on top of it.

The clothes were made of linen cloth, rough to the touch but different from the linen clothes worn by commoners. These linen clothes were made with silver threads. It was invulnerable and resistant to the elements and it could even be used as a soft armor. If it were ordinary linen clothes, from the intensity of training a Tai Ah Divine City warrior underwent, it would turn into rags in just a few days time.

As for the book, it was the thickness of a fingernail. Its pages were thin and it was written "Divine Wilderness" on the cover.

Flipping through the book, Yi Yun noticed that the book had another world within it. Each page was blank with no written text. But upon injecting one's spiritual energy into it, one could read the vast amount of information within.

Actually, every page was like a book itself that introduced a particular aspect of the Divine Wilderness.

Yi Yun flipped through the first dozen pages, and within, it introduced:

"Tai Ah Divine City!"

"Divine Wilderness region!"

"Ancient desolate beasts!"

"Treasures!"

"Rumors of mystical realms!"

…

The "Divine Wilderness" book had about ninety pages. Each page was an eye-opener for Yi Yun!

The first page introduced the Tai Ah Divine City. It began with its history and then the warrior training rules within the Tai Ah Divine City.

The Tai Ah Divine City had many cultivation resources. And more than 90% of them could be exchanged for with dragon scale runes.

The last 10% of cultivation resources not only needed dragon scale runes, but they also needed glory points.

For example, breaking a previous record was a great honor. But, that was too difficult.

The book broadened Yi Yun's horizons as he engrossed himself in reading while he flipped through page after page. After the Tai Ah Divine City was introduced in the beginning, the later parts introduced the desolate beasts within the Divine Wilderness and the herbs within the Divine Wilderness. It was a survival guide to the Divine Wilderness.

This knowledge was very important.

It had to be known that there were many elite desolate beasts in the Divine Wilderness that looked normal, or even harmless. If one could not recognize them, and treated them as normal beasts, provoking them would be courting death.

There were also poisonous weeds that looked like precious herbs. If one picked it carelessly and used it, they would experience an unjust death. If a hero of a generation, that could become a lord within the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, were to die from eating some herbs, would there be anything more humiliating?

The book not only indicated the dangers of the Divine Wilderness, it also indicated the great values that those desolate beasts had.

Especially those desolate beasts with a small amount of primordial blood within them, even if they were inferior to the primordial strain. they were still a hundred times more valuable than a normal desolate beast!

As for the real primordial strain, their value was immeasurable!

Of course, even if 10,000 Yi Yun’s were sent against these kinds of desolate beasts, they would all be killed. Only people like the Divine City's Elders could fight one!

The primordial strains were natural darlings of the world. They had an affinity with the Heaven Earth Yuan Qi that was beyond human comparison.

If a primordial strain desolate beast could be killed, a desolate bone relic made from its bones would definitely set off a bloody storm!

Eating a relic from a primordial strain would not only give great energy, it would also give small insights into the world's natural laws. This was something even human peerless warriors would envy!

Yi Yun read the "Divine Wilderness" book late into the night. Just before dawn, Yi Yun meditated for about two hours. For a warrior at Yi Yun's level, as long as there wasn't a great depletion of power, two hours of meditation was sufficient to restore one back to one's optimal state.

"Gather!" Just after dawn, someone shouted outside of the residential area.

Yi Yun quickly washed up and dressed up before leaving his room.

On the empty grounds outside of the houses, there were already a few dozen people gathered. They had woken up like Yi Yun, and that naturally included Zhou Kui.

Zhou Kui was still carrying his signature battle blade and cranium crusher behind his back, giving off an aggressive feeling.

Zhou Kui looked at Yi Yun and Yi Yun returned the stare, but they did not speak.

Baldy Qin stroked his chin and smiled playfully. The young warriors, who had come to the Tai Ah Divine City, were all competing against each other. With limited resources, they had to grab it from each other, so it was normal for them to have some animosity.

It was inevitable.

"Today, I'll bring you to the Wilderness Divine Hall! Let's go!" The bald man was terse with his words, and led them into the Divine City's center.

The Wilderness Divine Temple Hall was a grand hall right in front of the central divine tower. It was enormous, making it the biggest building in the Tai Ah Divine City after the central divine tower. Upon reaching it, many young warriors felt like tiny ants crawling into an emperor's grand hall.

All the columns by the hall's entrance were meticulously polished. They were a few hundred feet tall and thick to the point of needing ten people to wrap around it. It was a fascinating sight!

The rocks used to build the temple were extremely heavy and in large pieces. They were like pieces of rock shaved off a small mountain and then pieced together. Molten iron was injected within the gaps and under the light, the iron gave off a cold metallic sparkle.

The hall was significantly spacious. With a glance, Yi Yun saw that there were many people gathered in it.

There were both men and women. Women accounted for about a third. The Jin Long Wei were all men, but there was no shortage of female cultivators in the Tai Ah Divine City. These females mostly came from family clans or the royal family. Some even came from counterparts of the Jin Long Wei; for example, the Qing Luan Wei was the female regiment.

The people within the hall were mostly dressed in style. Some of them were in their noble clothes. Besides flying fish robes, there were even python robes!

Python robes were worn by Barons!

The noble titles of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom were not inheritable and was not a title held for life. If a warrior were to lose his strength for some reason, his title and treatment would be reduced. Of course, being wounded because of fighting for the country was not included.

Yi Yun looked at the youth wearing the python robe. He was about fourteen-years-old. For him to be made a Baron at such an age meant that he had superior talent!

"A fourteen-year-old Baron…I wonder how strong is he?" Yi Yun muttered to himself. Suddenly he contracted his pupils and looked in another direction.

There was a youth in embroidered clothing wearing a Qiuniu robe and sitting gallantly on a chair.

A Qiuniu robe meant a Viscount!

A sixteen-year-old youth had been made a Viscount?

What was a Viscount? Even the Divine Capital's Jin Long Wei's general Yan Menglong was only a Viscount.

A youth had the same Viscount title as a general!

Yi Yun was really surprised.

He realized that many people in the hall avoided the youth in embroidered clothes.

About 99% of the people present stood. Yet, this youth sat there indifferently as if he were a king.

The youth's eyes glanced everywhere with the corner of his eyes. He had a purple long sword in his hand and a red ring on his finger.

"Interspatial ring…" Yi Yun recognized the ring. This interspatial ring's price was extremely high. Yi Yun still did not have an interspatial ring. He carried an animal hide bag, half the size of a person, on his journey to the Divine Wilderness.

"Do you know him?" Yi Yun asked Song Zijun who was beside him. Yi Yun only used his eyes to point out the youth, but Yi Yun did not expect that just this gesture was noticed by the other party!

The youth swept his gaze towards Yi Yun and Song Zijun. After a very short time, he ignored Yi Yun and looked elsewhere.

But in that instant, it made Song Zijun gasp.

"Sword Intent! His eyes have already learned how to use Sword Intent to form…"

When the youth had looked over, Song Zijun had felt as if a sword had reached in between his brows. That cold touch made his pores contract.

A swordsman could train their arms, palms, and legs into swords. A palm strike was similar to a strike from a sword. At the final stages, even a glance could be made into a sword, killing people with a glance!

This youth had not reached the stage of making his glance like a sword, but he had already managed to form it.

"Who is he?" Yi Yun asked once again.

But Song Zijun shook his head, "No idea…"

Song Zijun was from the Song family in the Jing state's Nanjun province. And the Nanjun province of the Jing state was just a small place and nothing against the vast Tai Ah Divine Kingdom. Hence, Song Zijun did not know many outstanding people.

At that moment, a person beside Song Zijun said, "His name is Yang Qian, and he is from the Tai Ah royal family. He entered the Tai Ah Divine City at twelve and he has been training here for three years. Now, Yang Qian has broken within the top hundred of the Heaven and Earth rolls. This year, he might even enter the top ten!"

"Tai Ah royal family!" Yi Yun took a deep breath. In the entire Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, there were influential clans and family clans, but none of them could compare with the royal family!

As for the Jing state's various provincial family clans, they were like ants in front of the royal family.

Ever since the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom was established, the royal family's bloodline had lasted for tens of million years.

In these tens of millions of years, the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's royal family had strict rules for marriage. Every member of the royal house had their marriage decided by elders. There were no private marriages or they would have to give up their royal status.

The marriage choice of the royal family were powerful family clans with deep heritages or some superior bloodline from some ancient mystical tribes. If not, they had to have individual talents that overshadowed many.

In short, every talented, elite and proud child of heaven was absorbed by the royal family. The reason was to ensure that their offspring's bloodline would grow stronger. Only then was a genius more likely to be born.

It was this unreasonable system that ensured that the Tai Ah royal family was to prosper and ensure their power.

The royal family's heritage was impossibly deep. In the royal family, there was no shortage of treasures. But it did not mean that one could enjoy all these resources by being of royal descent. There were too many people of royalty, hence only the exceptional ones within the royalty were eligible for the nurturing by the royal family.

Under such circumstances, it was not surprising that Yang Qian had obtained the title of Viscount at the age of fifteen.

True Martial World - Chapter 160: Thousand Army Saber’s First Battle

Yi Yun knitted his eyebrows as the youth said, "Let me introduce myself. I'm Zhou Kui from the Xuanwu (Black Turtle) Army!"

The entire Tai Ah Divine Kingdom did not only have the Jin Long Wei as its only military division. The Xuanwu Army was one of the other best military divisions of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom.

A normal Xuanwu Army soldier was on average, inferior to a normal Jin Long Wei warrior. But the size of the Xuanwu Army was ten times that of the Jin Long Wei.

Besides that, the Xuanwu Army also specially nurtured an elite corps. The people from this elite corps were not weaker than the Jin Long Wei elites.

The Xuanwu Army was stationed in the north of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom and there were branches in the Jing state. Hence, accompanying Yi Yun and Song Zijun were a large number of Xuanwu Army personnel.

When Yi Yun was stopped by Zhou Kui, the other Jin Long Wei personnel came over.

The military was a cohesive entity. Whenever there was a conflict, people of similar backgrounds would help one another unanimously against external threats. If a fight was to occur, it was a fight to fight together!

"Brother Yi, what's the matter?!" Xu Zheng, who Yi Yun had gotten to know, came over. He too was from the Jin Long Wei.

Yi Yun sent a signal with his eyes and the people immediately understood what was going on. "Hehe, with five rooms, we should allocate them accordingly, but the Xuanwu Army wants them all?"

"That's too high-handed! Who do you think you are!?" said someone behind Yi Yun.

Immediately, all the Xuanwu Army personnel stood behind Zhou Kui.

The soldiers' bodies from the Xuanwu Army were generally bigger than the Jin Long Wei members.

In contrast, the Jin Long Wei soldiers only numbered a dozen, a lot less.

A dozen against three dozen.

Yi Yun took a look at the stout Zhou Kui. He knew the intentions of the Tai Ah Divine City. By arranging there to be a few middle-class rooms mixed in with the lower-class rooms, without any allocation, it was to put the warriors who came into the Tai Ah Divine City into a competitive state from the very beginning.

Competition, battling, elimination. This was the purpose of the Divine Wilderness campground's deadly goalpost!

A simple competition for residence spots reflected this.

Zhou Kui clearly understood the rules too. He said without fear, "In the Tai Ah Divine City, strength is king. The five middle-class rooms placed here are obviously for us to compete over! Hehe, I like to compete! The Jin Long Wei wants to take a spot for themselves? Sure! We can have a competition here today. Whoever wins gets to stay in it!"

The Xuanwu Army had a daunting presence, and they had the advantage in numbers. As Yan Menglong said, none of the young heroes who could stand here were weaklings. The Jin Long Wei's dozen people against the Xuanwu Army's three dozen people had a predictable outcome.

Even Yi Yun, who was confident in his own strength, could not fight one against many.

"I know Zhou Kui. His cultivation level is in the middle stages of Purple Blood, nearly entering the late stages!" Xu Zheng said beside Yi Yun.

The situation meant that they would definitely suffer if they went to battle. But if they did not fight, the Jin Long Wei would be disgruntled to just hand over all the middle-class rooms.

The Xuanwu Army had encircled the rooms. Zhou Kui laughed as he cracked his knuckles, giving off a provocative feeling.

His muscles tightened up and became similar to granite. It was hard to imagine that he was actually a fourteen-year-old teenager.

"Today, I'll stand here and represent the Xuanwu Army. Who wants to come up and fight me? If you beat me, you will have the right to take one room."

Zhou Kui knew that with such an arrangement by the Tai Ah Divine City, it was alright to have private matches as long as the opponent was not maimed.

Yi Yun looked at Zhou Kui. Zhou Kui had two weapons, a war blade and a warhammer. They were both hanging along his back.

It was rare to see a hammer as a weapon. Only people with great strength used hammers as their attack speed was slow, and they were incomparable to swords and sabers.

As for the war blade Zhou Kui had, it was an extremely heavy war blade with a thick handle. It was completely different from Yi Yun's Thousand Army Saber.

The Thousand Army Saber's blade was long and narrow and had a tiny curvature, making it look more like a sword.

Compared to Zhou Kui's war blade, they were two completely different weapons.

Yi Yun muttered slightly as his eyes flashed strangely.

The Tai Ah Divine City was a place with cut-throat competition. Since he was here, Yi Yun decided to accept the rule that the weak were the prey of the strong. There were too many geniuses in the Tai Ah Divine City; if you did not suppress others, others would suppress you.

In fact, not only in the Tai Ah Divine City, on the long martial path, if one wanted to carry walking down that path, one would continuously face competition. To mature and become stronger meant one had to fight for what belonged to them!

Yi Yun did not say a word and slowly unbuttoned his collar buttons. He took out a light chiffon and handed it casually to Xu Zheng.

"Help me hold it," Yi Yun said. He had handed Xu Zheng his Flowing Mercury Gown.

Xu Zheng paused because he could not tell what Yi Yun had handed him.

Zhou Kui did not react either. His arms were still held by his chest as he stood there boldly waiting for a challenger. His eyes swept the surroundings without much care. Even Yi Yun's action of taking off the Flowing Mercury Gown was not given much attention. It was at most a short glance. His attention was not on Yi Yun specifically as he did not think Yi Yun was anyone special amongst the dozen Jin Long Wei people.

At that moment, Yi Yun moved! Without any warning or words, his body shot out like lightning.

His speed was extremely fast!

"Cha!"

The Thousand Army Saber was unsheathed!

Ever since he grasped at the threshold of the large success stage of Minute Subtlety, his speed could only be described as terrifying.

"Twang!"

The Thousand Army Saber slashed through the air generating a sharp sound. But this sound could not follow the Thousand Army Saber's speed!

"Huh!?" Zhou Kui's pupils constricted. His reaction was extremely fast as he retreated quickly. At the same time, he released the arms across his chest and was about to take out the war blade and war hammer from his back.

But just as he touched the blade's and hammer's handle and retreated three steps, Yi Yun's Thousand Army Saber blade had reached Zhou Kui's throat!

The cold blade had a murderous chill!

Zhou Kui's neck started to bleed. If Yi Yun had not withdrawn the Thousand Army Saber in that hundredth of a second, Zhou Kui's neck would have been sliced apart!

This long saber was not any ordinary short saber. Just the blade was almost the same height as Yi Yun. When held by Yi Yun, he had an awesome aura!

Zhou Kui stood motionless as his forehead was sweating. In that moment, he had sensed death.

The people standing around were silent as they looked at this scene with appalled looks.

"You… attacked sneakily!!!" Zhou Kui's eyes stared at Yi Yun's blade. He said it while holding his breath. If he breathed too vigorously, he could not guarantee that the blade would not cut through his throat.

Zhou Kui was nursing a grievance. He had been crossing his hands in front of chest, with his blade behind him. He had just announced the match, and Yi Yun had suddenly attacked him!

He had not even revealed any of his abilities and had nearly been instantly killed by a kid half a head shorter than him!

After hunting hawks for his entire life, to be pecked in the eye by a sparrow was a great humiliation.

"On the battlefield, will an enemy ask you if you are ready before killing you?" Yi Yun did not withdraw his saber. The blade tip was still against Zhou Kui's neck, making it difficult for him to speak.

Zhou Kui shut his mouth because the ultra-long battle saber in Yi Yun's hand gave him too much pressure.

At that moment, the Xuanwu Army exploded. They were disgruntled and began shouting, "Too despicable. It was a sneak attack, and yet he made it sound so high and mighty."

"If you have any ability, withdraw your saber and fight a decent match with Brother Kui!"

Zhou Kui's strength was one of the highest among them. Due to his exceptional strength, when Zhou Kui used the war blade and the war hammer, there was no one who could face him.

As for Zhou Kui's speed, it was relatively weaker.

But Yi Yun was noted for his speed. Together with his sneak attack, it made Zhou Kui not even have the chance to pull out his blade, hence putting him in a situation where he lost in a single strike.

But Yi Yun could not be bothered with their words.

If anything was to blame, it was on Zhou Kui's arrogance. His hands were still crossed around his chest when he announced the match.

"If this was a battlefield, you would already be dead," Yi Yun said lightly.

Zhou Kui's face turned red. He was resentful, but, he knew that what Yi Yun said was the truth.

He was someone flexible. Whether it was Yi Yun's sneak attack or not, or whether his strength was greater than Yi Yun, the truth of the matter was that he had lost to Yi Yun.

"You sure are ruthless!" Zhou Kui gnashed his teeth saying. "One of the middle-class rooms is yours!"

Zhou Kui conceded and Yi Yun sheathed his saber.

Zhou Kui looked angrily at Yi Yun, "What's your name?"

"Yi Yun."

"Yi Yun? Good! I was defeated by you today, but I'll remember you. I will take back the pride you took today. I will let you know the taste of my Ghost King Blade and the Cranium Crusher!"

Yi Yun did not take Zhou Kui's word of resentment to heart. He carried his Thousand Army Saber and walked into his room.

The five rooms would definitely not all fall in the hands of the Jin Long Wei. Similarly, the Xuanwu Army had no way of taking them all. It all depended on who had the ability and the strength.

Yi Yun could not help the weak.

Yi Yun sized up the room. It was a plain stone house with extremely simple furnishings.

A beam made from desolate bones, a stone bed, a stone desk, a chair and a spirit gathering array.

The desolate bones were nothing special; and with age, there was extremely limited energy left within it.

As for the stone bed, it did not even have any bedding. It was empty and hard. This bed would cause a normal person's body to hurt after a night's sleep. The reason why there was no bedding in the Tai Ah Divine City's rooms was to tell the warriors coming here to train that they should replace sleep with meditation.

Coming to the Tai Ah Divine City was not to enjoy life. If they wanted to enjoy life, they should stay in their fiefs. In their six years in the Tai Ah Divine City, one had to train hard and strive to move forward!

True Martial World - Chapter 159: Sage Avenue

The street went straight into the heart of the city. This was Tai Ah Divine City's main road that went from the southern gate to the city's center. Whoever entered from the southern entrance had to pass by this road. Hence, to place the sculptures here meant immense glory!

The bald man said, "This road is known as Sage Avenue! Whenever a warrior in the Divine Wilderness campground breaks a record in the divine city, his name will be left here on Sage Avenue. A master sculptor will carve a sculpture to be placed on the Sage platforms!"

"To be able to have your bust and name left in the divine city is a great honor. There is no lack of people dreaming of this!"

"But, it's too hard. In the past 200 years, there have been no new names or busts. If anyone has the ability, they would have that tiny chance to become a human Sage!"

"And because of this, this road is known as Sage Avenue."

"To become a Sage!?" Hearing these words, the young heroes were extremely excited. A human Sage was a person who could summon the rain with a flick of his hand!

Back then, the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's founding emperor was a Sage! Of course, among the Sages in the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, he was one of the best.

They did not need to be one of the best amongst the Sages. Even the lowest Sage rank was an extreme figure. No matter where they went, they would be given the utmost respect. Even the ancient family clans would be respectful!

How could any one of the youths that came to the Divine Wilderness campground not want to become a top warrior? Sage Avenue had stirred their excitement.

Many people stopped moving forward as they began reading the words written on the metal platforms.

The bald man did not stop them and permitted them to carry on looking. After all, these busts were placed here to honor the ancient heroes and to inspire the future generations. It was a good thing to let these young people peruse them.

"Oh? Qingfeng Year 634. Zhou Tianping entered the top 1000 spots within the three rolls of honor simultaneously. He had broken the records of the ancestors. This record is to encourage future generations!"

"Divine Emperor Qingfeng… That's a divine emperor from 100,000 years ago. And he entered the top 1000 spots within the three rolls of honor? What're the three rolls of honor?

The Tai Ah Divine City had always been mysterious. Even the youths from some smaller family clans did not know the rules of the Tai Ah Divine City.

"The three rolls of honor are the Heaven, Earth and Man rolls! These three rolls are extremely important in the Tai Ah Divine City. You will see it in the future!" The bald man said before proceeding forward.

The hundred young warriors walked along the street with their eyes focused on the metal platforms that lined both sides of the street.

The outstanding figures that had their names engraved on the metal platforms filled them with sincere admiration.

"Oh? Jing state's Overlord Li Xiao. Isn't he one of the four presiding army commanders! Back then General Li had come to the Divine Wilderness campground for training, and even left his name on the Sage platform." A youth discovered it and immediately attracted a lot of attention from the others.

The Jing state's Overlord Li Xiao was an idol of many young warriors. To see their idol's name here excited them greatly.

If… they could leave their name here, it would be great.

These were the thoughts of many people. Of course, they knew that it was an incredibly difficult achievement.

The bald man eventually led them into a rustic building in the rear of the city and gave everyone a token.

"Mark an imprint within the token with your spiritual energy. In the next six years, this token will be your symbol of identity!"

Yi Yun took a token and it felt heavy in the hand. The token was palm-sized and it weighed about a few dozen pounds.

The front of the token was filled with inscriptions and on the back were the words "Divine Wilderness" in ancient script.

When Yi Yun imprinted his spiritual energy into the token, the token sparkled as golden runes lit up.

"Oh? This is…" The golden runes were like scales. It surprised Yi Yun.

"These dragon scales runes are the most basic item for warriors here. Without dragon scale runes, they can't do anything."

"Every expense within the Tai Ah Divine City for warriors, including resources, cultivation techniques, relics, training grounds need to be bought with dragon scale runes! Slowly, you will understand the importance of dragon scale runes." The bald man explained by the side.

"I see, so dragon scale runes are the currency of the Tai Ah Divine City…" Yi Yun counted the number of dragon scale runes he had within his token. There were only ten.

The bald man said, "From today, this will be where you will be staying. The stone houses behind you are where you will live. These stone houses are the lowest class houses in the Tai Ah Divine City. It is provided free-of-charge. The food here is also provided free-of-charge, but of course, it's the most inferior."

The lowest class houses and the most inferior food?

All these young warriors were unordinary people. Hence the words "lowest class" and "inferior" were extremely harsh to the ears.

A youth could not help but ask, "What about the superior residences? What are the benefits? If we want to change to those places, what requirements do we need to meet?"

The bald man said, "The Tai Ah Divine City's residences are divided into lower class, middle class, upper class, and the central divine tower! The lower class residences are free. The middle-class residences charge two dragon scale runes a day. Upper-class residences charge five dragon scale runes a day. As for the residences within the central divine tower, they charge at least fifty dragon scale runes a day.

"The central divine tower's residences?"

All the young heroes consciously looked towards the city center. That mountain-like pyramid made them feel extremely minute.

Out of the four types of residences in the Tai Ah Divine City, the lower, middle and upper class had similar prices.

But once it reached the central divine tower, the price jumped ten times, and began at fifty dragon scale runes!

It was obvious that there were plenty of advantages living in the central divine tower.

The bald man said, "The Tai Ah Divine City's central divine tower is a huge array that gathers Heaven Earth Yuan Qi! The Tai Ah Divine City is itself built on a wonderland vein and is thick in Heaven Earth Yuan Qi. Together with the central divine tower's array, all the Heaven Earth Yuan Qi in a 500,000-kilometer radius gathers towards the Tai Ah Divine City. Hence, the central divine tower is the place which has the densest Heaven Earth Yuan Qi!"

"The higher you go in the central divine tower, the thicker the Heaven Earth Yuan Qi is. The density in the top level reaches an inconceivable point!

"Fifty dragon scale runes is to stay within the lowest levels of the central divine tower. The higher one goes, the more expensive it becomes!"

"The Tai Ah Divine Tower has 99 levels. From level 50 onwards, the prices become extremely exaggerated. From level 70 onwards, the price becomes astronomical. The young warriors that come to the Tai Ah Divine City have no way of affording it!"

"Affording it? Then who stays in the rooms above level 70?" Someone could not help but ask.

The bald man said, "In the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, there are many fathomless people like dukes, grand dukes, and some reclusive old human freaks. Typically, these people can stay above level 70…"

So that's it!

The young warriors looked at each other. Those people had power beyond their comprehension.

Indeed, for the Tai Ah Divine City to be the number one city in the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, and as a city for warriors, it was a place for these young warriors from all around the country to train. But it did not only belong to them.

The best cultivation grounds above level 70 were of course given priority to these super experts. For a teenage kid to go up and use it?

Difficult!

The bald man continued, "Above level 95, there are top class rooms. In the Tai Ah Divine City, there are only 20 such rooms. Even with vast amounts of dragon scale runes, one is not qualified to stay within. Unless you have the absolute value or have obtained stunning results giving you enough glory points, then can you enter!"

Hearing the bald man's words, everyone felt depressed. This central divine tower was good, but its requirements were too high, especially those rooms on the higher levels. They were not prepared for kids like them.

From the bald man's words, they could tell that he meant that it was already extremely good if they could stay in the lower levels of the central divine tower.

It would be amazing if a few outstanding people could live at a dozen stories.

"Stay here first. I'll bring you to the cultivation grounds tomorrow. That cultivation is a great opportunity, so take good advantage of it!" As he said those words, the bald man turned and left. The youths sighed before walking to their dormitory.

These low-class residences were at the edge of the Tai Ah Divine City and the rows of houses numbered a hundred. Yi Yun looked through a few rooms and realized something.

"Oh? The same free room, but the living conditions are so different?'

Some of the rooms had spirit gathering arrays, resulting in the Yuan Qi in the room to be thicker. But other rooms had nothing and was the same as outside the house. To cultivate in such houses would be naturally difficult.

Yi Yun sensed the area carefully and quickly found the houses with the thickest Heaven Earth Yuan Qi.

On the wall of this house wrote–

House rating: Middle class.

Required dragon scale runes: None.

"Oh? Middle-class room?" Yi Yun was surprised that mixed in this low-class residence were five middle-class rooms and they were free.

Then who wouldn't want to live in the middle-class house?

But…the bald man did not assign any room numbers to them. Hence, anyone was eligible to stay in these middle-class rooms.

Yi Yun could faintly guess the reason for such an arrangement by the Tai Ah Divine City.

Yi Yun pondered for a while and walked towards the room. Just as he crossed the door, a cold voice came from behind him suddenly, "Sorry, these five houses are ours!"

Yi Yun turned his head and saw a majestic-looking youth. His arms were crossed in front of his chest as he sneered at Yi Yun.

The youths that came to the Tai Ah Divine City were about the same age. But the man in front of him was very much like an adult be it his height or build.

When this youth matured, he would probably grow to be as strong as a tower.

True Martial World - Chapter 158: Central Divine Tower

"What is that huge flame-colored bird?" Yi Yun asked the person behind him. He had gained a few friends in the past few days.

"It's a Ferocious Fire Bird. It has the bloodline of the primordial desolate beast Vermilion Bird. It and the Crackling Fire Beast are both fire-elemental desolate beasts. Consuming another fire elemental beast will help its development. Although they are both desolate beasts, the difference in their strengths is tremendous!" said a slightly plump youth beside Yi Yun.

This youth's name was Xu Zheng. He was one of Yi Yun’s newfound friends that he gained while traveling. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

Xu Zheng touched his plump chin and licked his lips, "Desolate beasts with primordial bloodlines, tsk tsk. They give great benefits to one’s body. If you can capture and refine a Ferocious Fire Bird into a desolate bone relic, it would be priceless on the market. There will be no shortage of people rushing to buy it."

These days, Yi Yun had learned the different strength classifications of desolate beasts.

The weakest were normal desolate beasts. The only difference from fierce beasts was their ability to manipulate Heaven Earth Yuan Qi. It was similar to the Mortal Blood warriors before the Qi Gatherer realm and those who had broken through to the Qi Gatherer and above.

After normal desolate beasts, there were the elite-ranked desolate beasts, general-ranked desolate beasts, king-ranked desolate beasts…

Further up, there were rumors of primal-ranked desolate beasts and primordial-ranked desolate beasts. Those were beyond Yi Yun's comprehension.

For a desolate beast to be strong, its bloodline played a most important role. Typically, a desolate beast with a primordial bloodline tended to be stronger.

If one could kill a primordial strain and obtain its bones and blood, one could refine them into relics and elixirs and their value would be immeasurable.

Of course, this was too far away for Yi Yun. He found it difficult to beat normal desolate beasts, not to even mention how he would do against primordial types.

As it started to turn dark, a commotion aroused within the airship. Upon hearing this, Yi Yun looked out into the distance. What he saw completely shocked him.

He had previously heard that the Divine Wilderness campground was located within a city. This city stood within the Divine Wilderness and it was known as the divine city of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom!

Words are but wind, but seeing is believing. Now, after seeing the city, Yi Yun knew why it was called "Divine City"!

After traversing millions of kilometers of endless gray plains, they arrived at an area where a city stood. It was built on the peak of a gigantic outcrop!

The city was a black citadel that stood above foundation stone pillars. It was a shaved-off summit, a few dozen kilometers in radius and more than ten thousand meters high!

A city built on top of a rock pillar, which was more than ten thousand meters high, made it look like a black dragon from afar!

It was hard to imagine that the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom had built such a city in the Divine Wilderness. Even the most capable human would sigh with emotion when seeing this!

As the airship approached, Yi Yun slowly saw the city's silhouette come into view. The sight made him feel a majestic aura as if an empyrean lord was attacking him, both mentally and physically.

Yi Yun's chest started to fill with an unknown vigor as if his blood was set on fire.

To use magnificence to describe a city such as this would be insufficient.

The city's base was already about ten thousand meters tall. Inside the city, there were tall buildings, some of them even pierced through the clouds themselves.

The walls around the city seemed to be connected to the sky as if they were endless.

There was a huge, dark brown colored square in front of the city that looked like it had been covered in blood, revealing an endless amount of killing and sanguinity.

Beside the square, there were thick and tall old trees, which resembled green giants.

The entire city was situated on a sharp cliff with walls smooth like mirrors. There were no roads, only water-bucket-sized black metal chains that linked the jagged parts of the cliff to the plains ten thousand meters below.

Looking at it from below, the chains were huge and lofty at the bottom, while the other end looked thin in the distance, as they eventually disappeared into the clouds. It made one shudder in fear.

These chains were bridges that hung in the void and they were the only entrances into the city from the Divine Wilderness plains.

Such a system made it difficult for people to enter and exit the city. But it had a great advantage, it was easy to defend.

The Divine Wilderness would occasionally have beast hordes. In these beast hordes, there was no lack of king-ranked desolate beasts. If it were an ordinary city, it would long since have wiped out by a beast horde!

Having a city built on an outcrop tens of thousands meters high, standing all alone at the pinnacle, reduced the number of ways normal desolate beasts could attack once the chains were withdrawn.

The airship landed on a square in front of the city.

There were dozens of vessels, the same size as the large airship they were on, parked in the square.

There were many mighty-looking guards standing in the square.

Yi Yun, Song Zijun and the hundred other people from the airship followed the thin bald man in disembarking.

The moment he disembarked the airship, Yi Yun felt an extremely dense and oppressive Heaven Earth Yuan Qi.

The Heaven Earth Yuan Qi here was more than ten times denser than in the Cloud Wilderness. The density of Heaven Earth Yuan Qi was very important for a warrior's cultivation; hence, the Divine Wilderness was considered by many warriors to be a sacred cultivation ground.

Finally standing in the square, Yi Yun felt the majestic aura of the city.

The Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's number one city–Tai Ah Divine City!

The Zhong state royal capital was the central city of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, it was magnificent and had a grandiose atmosphere. However, to the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's warriors, this city that stood in the distant Divine Wilderness was the true number one city of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom!

Over the tens of millions of years, the Tai Ah Divine City had nurtured numerous warriors for the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom. They cultivated, killed and grew here!

"How does it feel?" The bald leader spoke with pride. The Tai Ah Divine City was the pride of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom.

When standing on the ten-thousand-meter-tall city walls, looking at the endless plains of the Divine Wilderness below, pride would inevitably rise up in every divine kingdom warrior!

"Let's enter the city!" The bald man led them with a wave of his arm, bringing all these young heroes into the city.

The sky was already turning dark at this point.

The city walls were dimly glowing with inscriptions before they lit up one by one. It made Yi Yun clearly feel a mighty energy fluctuation.

These were inscription arrays made by the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's array masters over hundreds of millions of years. Heaven Earth Yuan Qi was injected within, allowing every inch of the city wall to be impregnable.

On the city wall’s crenels, there were ballistae with exquisite inscriptions on them. Their muzzles pointed outwards in every direction. The ballistae's cold arrowheads would shimmer with purple energy. Together with the entire city wall's array, it gave off a subtle trill.

These ballistae were like beasts in the night. Although they were not pointing at Yi Yun, they gave him a thin layer of goosebumps.

When a beast horde would appear, the greatest threat came from the attacks of flying desolate beasts. These ballistae were the nemesis of those flying desolate beasts!

Hence, this city was the amalgamation of uncountable numbers of Tai Ah Divine Kingdom warriors' wisdom as well as their flesh-and-blood.

At that moment, the city gates opened. Yi Yun followed the bald man into the Tai Ah Divine City, to which looked empty as there were not many people in the streets.

Upon entering the city, the most prominent building was a large tower in the city’s center. The tower was a square pyramid in shape and half of its height had broken through the clouds. Its spire, blurred within the clouds.

It looked like a huge pyramid.

Yi Yun compared it to the surrounding buildings and found out that, all the buildings around it made the pyramid's size become even more exaggerated, it was like a huge mountain by itself.

Layer after layer of the pyramid was filled with exits, which made it look like a beehive. Flying beasts and airship could be seen shuttling through these exits. In the face of this huge pyramid, those huge beasts and airships were as small as mosquitoes.

"That is the Central Divine Tower. The top level is the residence of the Divine Wilderness city's city lord and its three elders. The Tai Ah Divine City's elites live in the lower levels." The bald man casually introduced it tersely before taking them deeper into the city.

The deeper Yi Yun entered the city, the more shocked he became.

The various buildings within the city were not exquisite. But their ruggedness and magnificence emitted a sturdy and solid aura. Its steadfastness was breathtaking.

Some of the building materials used even had several primordial type desolate bones. Yi Yun could feel the undulating souls of the beasts.

Such buildings were solid and grand in construction. Even if a desolate beast were to enter the city, it would find it extremely difficult to destroy these buildings.

Even the ordinary houses on the streets were covered with protective arrays. They looked ancient and simple. Some of the commoner's houses had beams made out of the shin bones of unknown beasts.

It was amazing to use bones as beams.

"Oh? "What's that?" A young warrior found that there were black round metal platforms by both sides of the street. These round platforms were lined neatly and above each one there was a stone sculpture in the shape of a human bust.

Below the stone sculptures were some text.

One of the round platforms read: "In 2164 W.D., Gao Zhi stood on the Heaven-Earth stage and lasted for 3 min 24 seconds. He had broken the records of the ancestors. This record is to encourage future generations!"

Heaven-Earth stage? What's that?

Yi Yun was puzzled. "Gao Zhi" was naturally a person's name. If he wasn't wrong, the bust was Gao Zhi.

This half-man sculpture was that of a teenager with a daring sense.

As for 2164 W.D, it was the year that marked the beginning of the Divine Emperor of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, Wan De. He was a Divine Emperor from 50,000 years ago.

That was to say that this metal round platform and the bust had stood there for 50,000 years. This Gao Zhi person had most likely passed away!

"Are these the records left behind by warriors training in the Divine Wilderness?" Yi Yun understood that this street lined with metal platforms and sculptures recorded all the geniuses that appear in this Divine City. They had accomplished splendid achievements in the divine city and their records gave them a permanent place in history.