True Martial World - Chapter 201: Divine Fate Bone Charm

"Oh? You want to take a look at the first-ranked top-class rewards?" Elder Jian Ge looked at Yi Yun with surprise and soon smiled.

He did not hand the first-ranked jade scroll to Yi Yun and instead asked with interest, "Little rascal, what are your goals for the future? Or what future level do you want to train to?"

Future level?

Yi Yun was slightly stunned and shook his head subconsciously. He had never thought of his future cultivation goals.

"Oh?" Elder Jian Ge frowned slightly upon seeing this, "No goals?"

Yi Yun thought a bit before answering , "It isn't that I have no goals. It is just that this junior does not know how far he can go. Whatever level this junior sees, he will aim for that level."

Yi Yun knew that in this world, sages were awesome, but sages were not the end of martial arts. Above sages, there were great emperors.

What was above a great emperor? Yi Yun did not know.

The path of martial arts was like mountain-climbing. The higher one went, the further one could see. Of course, a sage was like a legendary level for the current Yi Yun. Yi Yun would not say it as it sounded ridiculous.

The Purple Crystal was an impressive divine item. Yi Yun knew that even with his weak senses, the primordial herb had nowhere of hiding in front of the Purple Crystal. Even a human Sage who used all of his perception on Yi Yun's body could not discover any trace of the Purple Crystal.

The ability shown by the Purple Crystal had exceeded the level of sages.

By possessing such a treasure, how could his goal only be a sage?

Elder Jian Ge still did not know how ambitious Yi Yun was. But what Yi Yun said had made Elder Jian Ge very satisfied.

He knew that Yi Yun's talent was lacking in several aspects, but these were unimportant. A warrior had to have a goal, whether it was achievable or not.

When Elder Jian Ge was still young, he had made his goal to become a sage. Back then, many people were saying he was an idiot with big dreams. How could a sage, that only appeared in the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom once in 500 years, turn out to be him?

Many people had ridiculed him for overestimating himself; however, the people who ridiculed him had all slowly died of old age, turning to bones.

As for Elder Jian Ge, he slowly went from Human Lord to the pinnacle of Human Lords, before becoming a human Sage.

Having an ambitious dream was not laughable; what was laughable were the people who had no dreams but mocked those who had them.

"This is the first-ranked top-class jade scroll. You can look through this. There is a huge gap between you and your dreams!"

Saying this, Elder Jian Ge threw a jade scroll to Yi Yun.

This jade scroll was golden in color and looked much smaller than the previous one.

Yi Yun sank his senses within...

But after seeing one item, his eyes could no longer move away from it.

There was such a divine item in this world?

"Divine Fate Bone Charm, 32 glory points, 50,000 dragon scale runes!"

Just the price made Yi Yun take a gasp of air! It was too expensive!

By handing over the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng, he had only gained 3 glory points. However, Elder Jian Ge had previously said that it was only worth a third of its original price due to the severe damage of the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng.

If so, the glory points obtained from handing over an intact piece of Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng would likely be 9 glory points.

But the Divine Fate Bone Charm's price was nearly four times that of the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng!

Besides that, it also needed 50,000 dragon scale runes!

For such a precious item, it only had one sentence for its description:

"The Divine Fate Bone Charm transforms a person's physical fitness, increasing the person's affinity with Heaven Earth Yuan Qi, improving their martial arts talent."

Improving one’s martial arts talent...

Just the last description made Yi Yun yearn for it!

Yi Yun was surprised that there was such a herb in this world!

Yi Yun's perceptivity was not bad. Having lived two lives, his soul's power was extremely strong. He was not short of elixirs and bone relics for cultivation.

Although he did not have a cultivation technique, he could find them and collect them himself.

The only thing Yi Yun was helpless against was his martial arts talent.

Having tunneled into this world, into a vast wilderness' youth's body, his talent was extremely common.

Yi Yun did not know how much talent the Divine Fate Bone Charm could increase, but he believed that the price quoted by the Tai Ah Divine City was fair. Since it was labeled as 32 glory points and 50,000 dragon scale runes, it was likely worth that much.

"Oh? Has something caught your fancy?"

Elder Jian Ge noticed Yi Yun's change in expression.

"This junior would like to ask the senior. The Divine Fate Bone Charm described in the first-ranked top class jade scroll… is there any cultivation level restrictions?"

"Divine Fate Bone Charm? Haha!" Elder Jian Ge laughed. "So that's what caught your fancy! There is no cultivation level restriction for the Divine Fate Bone Charm. It's sufficient with your Purple Blood realm. This Divine Fate Bone Charm is an impressive item. It is a special desolate bone relic refined from a primordial desolate beast, but… it's not refined from our Tai Ah Divine Kingdom… To be exact, the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's Desolate Heaven Masters cannot refine a bone relic of this level."

"Oh?" Yi Yun felt awed, "Even the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's Desolate Heaven Masters cannot refine it?"

"Yes, the Desolate Heaven technique is extensive and profound. There are only a handful of sage-ranked Desolate Heaven Masters in the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, but they don't have the knowledge for refining the Divine Fate Bone Charm."

When Elder Jian Ge finished saying that, he gave a long sigh, "This world is very large. Outside of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, there are many other Divine Kingdoms too. There are even some deep-heritage sacred-level family clans and sacred-level sects! This Divine Fate Bone Charm was refined from a sacred-level family clan. The connection between the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom and that family clan goes deep.

Elder Jian Ge's brief description was shocking information to Yi Yun.

Sacred-level family clans! Sacred-level sects!

Those super powers which had an unknown years of heritage, what would they look like?

For some unknown reason, Yi Yun suddenly thought of Lin Xintong.

What was the Lin family that Lin Xintong came from like? Was the Lin family within the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom? Or was it outside of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, in the vast lands outside, somewhere on the broad planet?

But there was no point in thinking about all of these vast and ambitious items. His main goal was to obtain one Divine Fate Bone Charm.

"Hehe, kid, you sure don't lack in ambition! The price of an item like the Divine Fate Bone Charm would scare a lot of people! But, taking the Divine Fate Bone Charm once is when it has the most beneficial effect. The more you eat, the lesser the effects. Also, the better talent a person has, the less effective it is."

Hearing Elder Jian Ge's explanation, Yi Yun finally understood.

Those who had amazing talent would not gain much from taking the Divine Fate Bone Charm.

With Yi Yun's current rate of accumulating glory points, it would clearly not be easy to exchange for the Divine Fate Bone Charm. Items like primordial herbs could only be caught once. It was not that he couldn't capture another one, but if he were to capture another one, he did not dare to hand it over.

Then it seemed like the only way to accumulate glory points was to break the records of the ancestors, especially those hard records that were left behind on Sage Avenue!

These records would be Yi Yun's goals!

"Elder Jian Ge, this junior will exchange for the first three volumes of the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique'!"

Yi Yun announced his decision. He had to go one step at a time. To break the records on Sacred Avenue, Yi Yun needed to master the "Tai Ah Sacred Technique" well, allowing his strength to increase.

That afternoon, Yi Yun bade Elder Jian Ge farewell and returned to his residence. He began planning his next 6 months of training.

But at that moment, without Yi Yun knowing about it, the news that he had picked a primordial herb and received glory points had spread in the Tai Ah Divine City like wildfire!

The warriors in the Tai Ah Divine City were all obsessed with cultivation. They were either meditating or fighting, besides that, they would be out hunting desolate beasts.

They seldom followed the gossip on the grapevine as they lacked interest in it.

But for news that were spread, they were huge events! Soon, the news spread even further. Even the top ranking figures on the Tai Ah Divine City's roll of honor got to know about it.

At that moment, in the Tai Ah Divine City's smithy, Zhou Kui was bare to the waist, revealing his strong muscles. With a human-sized forging hammer, he was busy forging metal.

Beside Zhou Kui were a few Xuanwu Army members. Like Zhou Kui, they were all burly. None of them looked like they were thirteen years old.

"Hey! Ha! Hey! Ha!"

They shouted with a rhythm. They took turns hammering a piece of special metal that needed to be hit a million times. It was very rhythmical.

True Martial World - Chapter 200: Yi Yun’s Reward

"Yes."

Yi Yun had returned to normal. His rapid heartbeat and stagnant breathing were naturally perceived by the green-shirted elder. But it was nothing weird, it was rare for a youth to appear composed in front of a Tai Ah Divine City Elder.

"To form Heaven's eyeball before thirteen years of age, you do indeed have exceeding talent in terms of perception!"

The green-shirted Elder praised Yi Yun. He had previously heard from the black-cloaked man that Yi Yun was talented at picking herbs. He had picked more than 200 dragon scale runes worth of herbs on his first day.

This perception was extraordinary.

"Thank you for Elder Jian Ge's appreciation," Yi Yun respectfully answered.

The green-shirted elder looked at Yi Yun with a meaningful glance. He guessed that Yi Yun must have had some special opportunity.

In the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, there were countless geniuses. Not having any special opportunities would make becoming a top Human Lord, or even a sage too difficult.

The human Sages that appeared once every 500 years were all filled with talent. Together with great luck, they experienced stunning opportunities.

Many of the geniuses in the Tai Ah Divine City had their own special encounters. For this, the green-shirted elder was in no way surprised.

Of course, the special encounters these young geniuses had were nothing when placed in front of people at the rank of the Tai Ah Divine City's Elders.

Special opportunities Purple Blood realm warriors encountered were meaningless to sages. Even if they were occasionally tempted by it, they would not compete for them. As a Divine City's Elder, they had the basic amount of open-mindedness. If rumors spread of a divine city Elder snatching the special opportunities of a younger junior, the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's reputation would be torn apart.

Previously, the green-shirted elder had used his Heaven's Eye to scan Yi Yun's body. If there was anything special about it, he would have noticed it. But there was nothing. The green-shirted elder guessed with certainty that Yi Yun had swallowed some divine treasure that promoted his spiritual evolution.

Such an explanation was most reasonable.

"This time, by handing over the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng, you did a great achievement. Unfortunately, the Purple Yang Ginseng's main body is damaged, and a lot of the herbal essence was lost. Its soul was also destroyed. Its value is only about a third of a complete Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng. But, this seat (I said in a confident way) will not be petty and will not give you an unfavorable reward."

Hearing the green-shirted elder's words, Yi Yun finally felt greatly relieved.

Ignoring the reward, he had passed!

In front of Elder Jian Ge, Yi Yun was under immense pressure for he was afraid something might go wrong.

This Elder Jian Ge might still have his doubts, but after deeply probing him, he could still not detect anything.

"I'll give you…10,000 dragon scale runes, and three glory points as a reward."

Saying this, Elder Jian Ge took out an unimpressive token. With his mind interfaced with the token, a dense stream of dragon scale runes flew towards Yi Yun.

Yi Yun saw layers of dragon scale runes fly into his identity token.

10,000 dragon scale runes!

With this amount of dragon scale runes, he could stay in the Wilderness Divine Hall for almost a day!

Not only could he absorb the primordial strain's energy, he could also attempt to understand the founding city lord's nomological truths for an entire day. There were too many things he could do.

Of course, Yi Yun knew that the 10,000 dragon scale runes were not that precious. What was most precious were the three glory points…

The glory points were extremely precious to the cultivators in the Tai Ah Divine City.

"May I ask, what can I exchange the glory points for?"

Yi Yun asked unsettlingly.

Elder Jian Ge smiled and took out a jade scroll before throwing it to Yi Yun.

"This is the top-class second rank rewards. All the top-class rewards have to be exchanged using glory points. You can exchange for most of the items within that jade scroll.

Yi Yun caught the jade scroll and injected his consciousness into the jade scroll…

The jade scroll listed treasure after treasure. There were weapons, elixirs, and relics!

Not only was there a textual description of the treasure, there were even figures.

"Deva Flower Sword, 1000 dragon scale runes, 1 glory point!"

Yi Yun looked at the figure of the Deva Flower Sword. It was a full-bodied black longsword wrapped in python skin. Just from looking at the image, he could feel a sharp and murderous feeling.

"The Deva Flower Sword is made from metal that came beyond the heavens. Through the hands of a master in the Sky Sword family clan, the sword was engraved with inscriptions. When the sword was created, it was mixed with the blood essence of a primordial strain."

The first weapon did not interest Yi Yun. A divine weapon made from the primordial strain blood essence was, of course, good, but it was too extravagant for himself.

There were other bows and sabers that were about the same level as the Deva Flower Sword, but Yi Yun just browsed through them before giving them up.

The first task now for Yi Yun was to increase his own strength, and not through the use of foreign objects.

Yi Yun carried on looking. The items became more expensive down the list.

In the beginning, the treasures were valued at 1 glory point and 1000 dragon scale runes.

But nearer to the end, most of them needed 10,000 dragon scale runes or tens of thousands of dragon scale runes; there were even items that cost 100,000 dragon scale runes.

And they needed two glory points.

"Dragon marrow relic, 1000 dragon scale runes, two glory points."

"A dragon marrow relic refined from a king-ranked desolate beast. It can cause marrow cleansing in a person, allowing him to break through a bottleneck."

There were many relics and elixirs listed in the jade scroll that could be exchanged for. However, Yi Yun was uninterested in them. He had the Purple Crystal, so there was no shortage of energy for cultivation.

If he lacked elixirs, Yi Yun would have just completely sucked dry the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng in herbal mountain #60.

By risking to hand the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng over, he received the lacking resources he needed. Why would he use it to exchange for elixirs or relics?

Yi Yun carried on digging deeper. At that moment, he finally saw a treasure that moved him.

"The first three volumes of the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique', 10,000 dragon scale runes, two glory points!"

It's actually the "Tai Ah Sacred Technique"!

Yi Yun's eyelids twitched. The founding emperor of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom had left behind this compendium. The successive monarchs and the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom city lords had even added their own understandings to the "Tai Ah Sacred Technique".

After tens of millions of years, this "Tai Ah Sacred Technique" had become extremely profound. It was the crowning achievement of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's martial arts, and was the core of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's royal family's heritage!

A cultivation technique like the "Dragon Rib Tiger Bone Fist" was low in grade but very useful; hence, the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom had no qualms about making it public.

But for the "Tai Ah Sacred Technique", as a cornerstone of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, the royal family had always strictly controlled it.

"Tai Ah Sacred Technique! As expected, it can be exchanged!"

Yi Yun's eyes lit up.

Cultivation techniques…. were extremely important to Yi Yun!

Having come to the Tai Ah Divine City, Yi Yun had no lack in relics or elixirs, but he had no cultivation techniques.

By turning in the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng, his main goal was to obtain a high-level cultivation technique!

The energy within the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng was indeed precious, but to Yi Yun, if he absorbed too much, the effects would eventually lessen. He did not have the cultivation technique to digest it and manage the energy.

The basic "Dragon Rib Tiger Bone Fist" could not support Yi Yun's cultivation in the future.

A while ago in the school grounds, when Yi Yun lifted the Primal Arrow to insert into the purple tungsten wall, he felt that due to the insufficiency of the cultivation technique, he had trouble managing the surging power.

If he had a high-grade cultivation technique that trained the body or a cultivation technique to control his Yuan Qi, then Yi Yun's strength could go to the next level!

…

After the "Tai Ah Sacred Technique", Yi Yun quickly browsed through the other treasures. Yi Yun paid special attention to other cultivation techniques, but after some deliberation, Yi Yun still decided on practicing the "Tai Ah Sacred Technique".

This "Tai Ah Sacred Technique" may be a cultivation technique, but it included attack moves, nomological truths, and movement techniques. It was a comprehensive martial arts compendium!

Among the top-class second rank jade scroll, it was the most complete and suitable for Yi Yun.

But of course, its price was the most expensive!

Currently, Yi Yun could only exchange for the first three volumes of the "Tai Ah Sacred Technique".

The "Tai Ah Sacred Technique" had a total of nine volumes. The first three volumes needed two glory points, while just the fourth volume alone needed two glory points.

The fifth volume needed three glory points!

Moving on, there was no mention of the sixth volume's price.

As for the "Tai Ah Sacred Technique" 7th to 9th volumes, those were in the realm of sages. A typical warrior had no chance of accessing it in their lives.

In fact, for young heroes, the first three volumes were sufficient. Those who could completely master the first three volumes would have the ability to show disdain for the Tai Ah Divine City!

"Have you decided?" The green-shirted elder asked Yi Yun.

"Yes!" Yi Yun nodded solemnly. "But before I make my decision, this junior has something to ask Elder Jian Ge."

"Oh? Go ahead!"

"It's like this… This junior heard from Elder Jian Ge that this jade scroll… includes only the second ranked prizes. This junior wants to know what's within the first ranked prizes in the top-class jade scroll!"

When Yi Yun said that, his eyes shined.

He wanted to shine in the Tai Ah Divine City. In the next few years, he wanted to challenge all sorts of achievements.

He wanted to see what treasures there were in the Tai Ah Divine City that he could use as a goal to pursue!

True Martial World - Chapter 199: Elder Jian Ge

"Yi Yun? He’s looking for Yi Yun!?"

Upon hearing the black cloaked man asking for Yi Yun, the youths were shocked. Why was such an important person looking for Yi Yun for?

Although Yi Yun was outstanding, he was just a rookie that would not attract the attention of such important people.

"I am." Yi Yun stepped forward. He gave a Tai Ah Divine Kingdom military salute to the law-enforcer.

The black-cloaked middle-aged man sized up Yi Yun as if he was trying to figure out what was so special about this youth.

This little fellow was really surprising for a mid-stage Purple Blood thirteen-year-old.

The black-cloaked man smiled and said lightly, "Follow us, the Elder wants to see you."

With that said, the black-cloaked man turned to leave.

Behind him, Zhou Kui and the other bunch of youths were stunned upon hearing this!

What did that black-cloaked guy say?

Elder!?

What Elder?

Many of them had not recovered from the shock. They looked at each other. It seems… in the entire Tai Ah Divine City, the people who were qualified to be referred to as Elders were only a handful of people. Each of them was a pillar of support for the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom and they were an exceptional existence that could battle a primordial strain.

They were Sages!

A human Sage wanted to see Yi Yun!?

They were shocked. Not even the youths, but even Baldy Qin was baffled.

The divine city's elder wanted to see Yi Yun? This was really… unbelievable…

In the history of the Tai Ah Divine City, there may not be a single human Sage in 500 years!

Baldy Qin obviously knew that the reason the Elder wanted see Yi Yun was definitely not because he could insert a few Primal Arrows into the purple tungsten wall.

Yi Yun's three Primal Arrows were indeed not bad, but it was definitely not worthy of the Elder's concern.

Ignoring people like Qin Haotian, even new recruits like Qiuniu could match Yi Yun's standard.

This achievement, in the eyes of a Human Sage, was like a passing cloud, it was absolutely negligible.

Then… why did the Elder want to see Yi Yun?

"Instructor Qin, I’m leaving for a bit. For that reward, sorry for bothering you." Yi Yun bade farewell to Baldy Qin and followed the black-cloaked man.

Baldy Qin was still stunned and did not react, nor did he make a sound.

Behind Baldy Qin, Zhou Kui and the other youths were already dumbfounded. Their agape mouths did not close even when Yi Yun disappeared from their sight.

Zhou Kui suddenly recalled that before Yi Yun lifted the Primal Arrow, Yi Yun had mentioned that he was in a rush because someone might want to see him in a while.

At that time, Zhou Kui thought that it was some medicine child that Yi Yun picked herbs with. But now he realized that the person who wanted to meet him was the Tai Ah Divine City Elder!

The person Yi Yun casually said he was meeting was actually the Tai Ah Divine City's Elder!

Zhou Kui began wondering if he had a mental problem.

"Instructor Qin, What… the hell is going on?" Someone asked Baldy Qin, but Baldy Qin shook his head. He had no idea too.

"Dismissed!" Baldy Qin waved his hand.

For Yi Yun to be summoned by the Elder, this was definitely a huge matter in the recruit camp. Baldy Qin did not know what Yi Yun did that could involve the Elder.

He was prepared to ask Wang in a moment.

…

And at that moment, Yi Yun had already followed the law-enforcer to the central divine tower.

Despite seeing the huge and majestic central divine tower several times, Yi Yun was still shocked by its majesty.

It was like a majestic mountain. The huge airships that flew in and out of the central divine tower were as small as flying bugs compared to it.

The black-cloaked man said, "The Tai Ah Divine City has five Elders. The one meeting you later is Elder Jian Ge! Elder Jian Ge is currently in the central divine tower's Earth Fire Alchemy Lab."

As the black-cloaked man spoke, he took Yi Yun into the central divine tower. The hall's passageway was five floors high, it gave the people who walked through it a feeling like they were tiny.

There were huge mural paintings and sculptures lining up along the two sides of the passage and the floor was made of flat tiles.

These tiles were black and they were so bright that you could use them as a mirror. When Yi Yun stepped on the tiles, he could feel his blood circulation speed up. There was a faint feeling that his body's blood was connected to the floor tiles.

These tiles…

Yi Yun suddenly recalled the description of the central divine tower from the "Divine Wilderness" book. The tiles used in the central divine tower were specially made.

These tiles were three feet and three inches in length and three feet and three-sixteenth inches wide. The tiles were smooth and they were as hard as steel. They had a special name, Beast Blood Midnight Tiles.

Midnight was used to describe the blackness of the tiles, while the Beast Blood was used because each tile was sprayed with desolate beast blood before being placed into the furnace.

It was hard to imagine how much desolate beast blood was used to build this central divine tower.

Tiles baked in a furnace with beast blood would absorb the blood's strength. With the array master's elaborate setup, the central divine tower became a huge treasure, allowing it to gather all the Heaven Earth Yuan Qi within 500,000 kilometers of it.

It could be said that the central divine tower was built using an extreme amount of wealth and materials when the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom was extremely strong. This was the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's symbol!

The black-robed man pushed a heavy stone door, which revealed a spiraling staircase that led downwards behind it.

"Follow me." The black-cloaked man said and started walking down the spiral staircase. The spiral staircase was not wide and it could only allow four to five people to walk up or down it at the same time. Yi Yun guessed that this was a small path that led underground.

However, because Elder Jian Ge lived underground in the divine tower and not at the central divine tower's peak, Yi Yun was disappointed.

Yi Yun really wanted to take a look at the levels above the ninetieth floor of the central divine tower. He wanted to see the legendary top-class rooms!

The top-class rooms were mysterious and they were of the utmost grandeur among cultivators in the Tai Ah Divine City.

Ignoring normal cultivators, even a person like Qin Haotian, who had cultivated in the Tai Ah Divine City for six years, might not be eligible to stay in one of those top-class rooms!

The spiral staircase, which did not seem to have an ending, had lit lamps on both sides of the wall. Yi Yun estimated that he had descended a few hundred meters before they arrived in front of a metal door.

This metal door was engraved with all sorts of complex patterns. The black-cloaked man stood in front of the door and bowed, "Elder Jian Ge, I have brought Yi Yun."

"Alright…" A muffled voice transmitted from the big door. It lacked any might, but the sound did not dissipate and kept echoing.

Yi Yun held his breath. He was worried about meeting the Elder.

Without anyone pushing the door, the door opened by itself.

A stream of hot gas rushed forward.

Hot!

This was Yi Yun's first feeling. In front of him was the Earth Fire Alchemy Lab. A furnace made of brass stood in the middle of the hall.

The furnace was the height of a person, and on the surface were carvings of flowers, birds, insects, and fish.

Below the furnace, a green flame burned. This flame was silent. The flame was steady and it did not jump. This was the so-called "Earth Fire".

In the basement of the central divine tower, there was an Earth Fire array that gathered the Divine Wilderness's fire for the Elder to be used in refining elixirs!

And in front of the furnace stood a green-shirted elder. He had very ordinary looks and he was slightly thin. As such, his green alchemist robes looked baggy.

Behind the green-shirted elder was a sword. The sword was wrapped up in cloth, only revealing an unsophisticated hilt. It made it hard to imagine what the sword looked like.

This elder looked like he had spent a long time in the Earth Fire Alchemy Lab. His eyes even looked tired, making him look listless.

It was difficult to imagine that this groggy-looking old man, who did not look like anyone special, was one of the strongest experts in the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom!

"Elder Jian Ge, I have brought Yi Yun here." After the black-cloaked man bowed, he silently backed out and closed the door.

Suddenly, there was only Yi Yun and the green-shirted elder left in the alchemy lab.

Yi Yun held his breath!

He told himself to remain calm, but still, his heart beat even faster.

He had seen many strong desolate beasts in the past, but when facing them, Yi Yun had no fear. However, in front of this elder, even though the elder did not do anything and looked listless, Yi Yun still felt a tremendous pressure. He felt like a mortal trapped in a cage with a fierce tiger.

"You are Yi Yun?" The green-shirted elder lightly asked. The eyes that were originally half-closed suddenly opened, reflecting Yi Yun's figure in his black pupils.

As if he was looking at a mirror, Yi Yun could clearly see himself through the elder's pupils.

Yi Yun tightened up immediately!

He felt that the eyes were looking through him.

His every inch of flesh and blood, his dantian, his organs, his three hundred and sixty acupuncture points, the twelve regular meridians and the eight special meridians were all being scanned by the elder!

Heaven's Eye…

Yi Yun felt a tremor in his heart. He wished he could stop his beating heart.

But reality went contrary to his wishes, and Yi Yun's heart began beating even faster.

Within his heart, the Purple Crystal throbbed along with his heart and pulsated along. Yi Yun's palms began to ooze sweat.

The Purple Crystal did not react to the green-shirted elder's scan.

But, when the green-shirted elder's scan swept past the Purple Crystal, he did not stop.

The green-shirted elder carefully sized up Yi Yun a feel times and he looked through Yi Yun inside out. But even after sweeping past Yi Yun's heart a few times, he still did not detect the presence of the Purple Crystal.

Finally, the green-shirted elder withdrew his sensing.

The short few seconds made Yi Yun feel like he was in a great war. It was extremely exhausting, it was much more tiring than capturing the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng!

The green-shirted elder looked at Yi Yun with a surprise, "You have formed Heaven's eyeball?"

Since the green-shirted elder's senses were sharp, the fact that Yi Yun had formed Heaven's eyeball naturally could not escape his eyes.

True Martial World - Chapter 198: The increase in strength

"Report it to the Elder?" Yi Yun hesitated as he was counting the time in his mind. "How long would it take to report to the Elder?"

"Oh? Why are you asking?"

Wang was surprised for a moment. The Divine City's Elders all lived within the central divine tower and many of them were in closed-door training. At Wang's level, she had to go through the bureaucracy, which would definitely take some time.

"Oh… It's this. I said earlier that I had something to deal with. Can I take off for now?"

Yi Yun did not want to wait here for nothing. He still remembered Baldy Qin's assessment that was set a month ago. Originally, Yi Yun was fully focused on the preparations needed for picking the primordial herb in order to be in time for the lunar Yin day. As a result, he applied for seven days of continuous herb-picking and he had planned on giving up the assessment.

However, his capture and absorption of the primordial herb went surprisingly smooth and he came back three and a half days early.

Hence, Yi Yun figured that he could make it in time for the assessment.

The two hours of cultivation time in the Wilderness Divine Hall was worth 1000 dragon scale runes.

A hundred or two dragon scale runes was alright, but to lose out on a thousand dragon scale runes, Yi Yun would feel the loss.

Although he would receive a hefty reward for handing over the primordial herb, but in the Tai Ah Divine City, every resource was bought with dragon scale runes, so he had to save every rune.

"What's the matter?" Wang asked Yi Yun. At that moment, what was more important than the primordial herb?

Yi Yun explained the assessment to Wang.

Upon hearing this, Wang snapped unhappily, "It's just two hours of cultivation time. I too can reward you. The Elder might even want to meet you this time!"

When Yi Yun heard this, he was overjoyed. "Thank you, Sis Wang. Originally, I heard rumors that Sis Wang was petty, but it's now clear those rumors were untrue. See, since Sis Wang is rewarding me with two hours of cultivation time, it would be a waste not to receive Instructor Qin's reward too. If the Elder wants to see me, then regardless of what I'm doing, I'll stop everything immediately and rush to the central divine tower. Nothing will be delayed, right?"

Yi Yun was good at exploiting people. He accepted Wang's offer and he did not want to waste Instructor Qin's. He had managed to get four hours of cultivation time in one go, which was worth 2000 dragon scale runes.

Wang was speechless. In the past, she did not think that this kid was that crafty. But upon further thought, if the Elder were to summon him, whether he came from the office or from the school grounds, the distance was about the same and there would not be much a delay.

As for the reward, since Wang had said so, she could not retract it. After all, Yi Yun had brought back a primordial herb. Wasn't such a large contribution worth more than a bonus reward of two hours cultivation time in the Wilderness Divine Hall?

"I'll give you fifteen minutes. Get everything done quickly!" Wang said stiffly, but the way she looked at Yi Yun, she had an undisguised sense of appreciation for him. Yi Yun's account may seem like it was all luck, but from his judgment at that point in time and the arrow he shot using his perception, it could not simply be explained with luck.

If it wasn't Yi Yun and it was someone else, that person would have been turned into a retard by the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng, which made it an empty harvest and also a great waste of a golden opportunity. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

"Thank you, Sis Wang!" Yi Yun smiled and turned around, running towards the school grounds.

...

At that moment, in the school grounds five kilometers away, Instructor Qin's group of youths were undergoing their assessment.

"Insert it! Insert it!" A group of energetic youths shouted like they were in heat. A stout youth was holding on to a Primal Arrow. His forehead's vein popped out and with a loud shout, he inserted the Primal Arrow into the purple tungsten wall with great difficulty.

"Dang!"

With a loud metallic sound, the Primal Arrow's arrowhead was barely inserted into the purple tungsten wall.

Although it was a bit shaky, it was still inserted.

In today's assessment, about half of the hundred members could insert one Primal Arrow into the purple tungsten wall.

This result was completely different from the one a month ago.

The first reason was that after a month, these people had matured a lot.

The second reason was, a month ago, these youths had just entered the Wilderness Divine Hall and had frog-jumped five kilometers with weights, which made them exhausted.

But today, they were all in tip-top condition.

"Brother Kui, well done. It's the second arrow!" Someone shouted. The stout youth who inserted the Primal Arrow was none other than Zhou Kui. He was the person with the strongest strength among the hundred people. It was fairly easy for Zhou Kui to insert the first Primal Arrow, but the second arrow was proving to be more difficult.

Next, it was the third arrow, which was the most critical arrow!

By inserting it, he would obtain two hours of cultivation time. If he couldn't insert it, then it would all be thrown out the window.

Zhou Kui pumped himself up. In this past month, he had been in the smithy, forging metal tens of thousands of times. His palms had been roughed up uncountable times. All of that was to prove himself!

Today, regardless if he could insert the third Primal Arrow, Zhou Kui felt that he was a winner, because he had beaten his previous self.

Just as Zhou Kui was taking several deep breaths and preparing to pick up the third Primal Arrow, someone let out a cry.

"Isn't that Yi Yun?!" Hearing that voice, everyone turned around. Not far from the school ground, a youth in linen clothes was walking over.

This youth's hair was messy and his clothes were ripped. He looked very pathetic.

This was of course a result of picking the primordial herb. When the Divine Helion Bead exploded, its shock wave had also inflicted Yi Yun. After he finished absorbing the primordial herb's essence, he had rushed back to the Tai Ah Divine City and he had no time to tidy up.

This herb-picking kid only just came back!

"Oh?" Seeing Yi Yun, Instructor Qin frowned slightly. But he noticed that Yi Yun's cultivation level had increased.

A month ago, he was in the early stages of the Purple Blood realm, but now, he was in the middle stages of the Purple Blood realm.

"Instructor Qin, Recruit Yi Yun reporting in!" Yi Yun gave Baldy Qin a standard Tai Ah Divine Kingdom military salute.

"You are an hour late!" Instructor Qin looked sternly at Yi Yun. Just this gaze made many recruits soft on their feet.

"Sorry Instructor. Previously, when I went to pick herbs, I didn't have time..." Yi Yun tried to explain.

When the crowd heard this, they could not help but laugh.

To be delayed by herb-picking. This Yi Yun had devoted his youth and life to picking herbs. This was probably his life's pursuit.

They could not understand. This herb-picking job was done by women, why was Yi Yun so enthusiastic about it?

"Hehe, Yi Yun, you came just in time! Let's compete again today. I've already inserted two Primal Arrows. This will be my third arrow!"

Seeing Yi Yun appear, Zhou Kui licked his lips. Zhou Kui had been disappointed not to see Yi Yun today. His strength had increased and his abilities had improved. All this was to prove himself.

And Yi Yun was the best opponent!

A month ago, he had been undermined by Yi Yun. Today, he wanted to exceed Yi Yun and regain his face. Without Yi Yun, he felt like he had punched cotton.

"That… Instructor Qin, I just arrived now. Can I still take part in the assessment?" Yi Yun asked weakly, awaiting Baldy Qin's instructions.

Since he was so late, Baldy Qin had all the right to disqualify him from the assessment.

Baldy Qin snorted back coldly, "Go on up. Don't forget what you came to the Tai Ah Divine City for!"

Baldy Qin reminded Yi Yun again not to undermine his cultivation for a pointless job. He really did not understand why Yi Yun loved picking herbs that much.

"Haha, come on!" The most excited person was Zhou Kui. "How about it? You must have gotten quite a lot from picking a month's worth of herbs! I heard you even applied for seven days of continuous herb-picking. Why did you come back early?"

Zhou Kui smiled at Yi Yun. His arms were crossed across his chest and he casually leaned on a Primal Arrow. This Primal Arrow was one of the two he had inserted in.

He had inserted two Primal Arrows. One was firmly inserted into the purple tungsten wall, but the other was not as firm. The other end of the arrow's shaft was slowly sagging downwards.

Even so, this was a result to be proud of. Zhou Kui was the only person among the hundred people who was able to insert a second Primal Arrow.

"Because of obtaining a pretty good harvest, I came back early." Yi Yun said simply.

"Harvest? You got a plentiful harvest while picking herbs? Hehe." Zhou Kui found it amusing. Could picking a few herbs be considered "pretty good"? What was there to be happy about?

"Yi Yun, you picked herbs for a month. So it's not fair competing against you. But since it's your choice, you can't blame anyone else. Today, I'll show you what a real harvest is!"

Zhou Kui shook his fists. In this past month, he had burst numerous blisters on his hands. His blood had been mixed with sweat. Holding the hot forging hammer through some cloth, the pain was excruciating. Despite it being memorable to Zhou Kui, it also made him surge with pride.

This was the life of a man, was it not?

How could the herb-picking lifestyle of a woman compare with his?

But Yi Yun said, "You don't have to. I'll do it with you. I'm in a hurry and someone might be looking for me in a while."

As Yi Yun said this, he stood in front of the large metal box that contained the Primal Arrows. His tone was casual, but this tone made Zhou Kui frown. He was unhappy. It seemed like Yi Yun did not even care much about this assessment.

This kid! Who do you think you are? And there was someone else who wants to meet him, who was it? Another medicine kid he picks herb with?

He sure had turned into a celebrity and he was busy enough!

Zhou Kui rubbed his wrists. He took a deep breath and bent his back. He hugged the third Primal Arrow.

Today, I'll show you the results of the grueling demon-like training I endured through from forging metal!

Zhou Kui got into a firm horse-riding stance. Both his feet was planted firmly on the ground. With his lower body stable, he passed his strength from his spine to his shoulders then to his arms!

His muscles swelled up, with vein after vein popping out. Just as he was about to shout out to lift up the third Primal Arrow, he heard a deafening "Dang" sound. He nearly let out his breath!

What's the matter?

Zhou Kui turned around and his eyes widened.

Behind him, a Primal Arrow was firmly embedded into the purple tungsten wall. The end of the arrow shaft was still vibrating. It was not because it was unstable, but because the power at which it was inserted with was too large. It had nowhere to dissipate the energy and so it could only vibrate to get rid of it!

This vibration could hurt anyone who came too close!

The Primal Arrow had been inserted at least three feet deep!

Wh… What?

Zhou Kui was dumbfounded. This arrow was inserted by Yi Yun?

How did he do it so quickly!?

He took at least ten seconds or more to insert an arrow. The time needed to pick up the arrow was especially time consuming as he had to gather his strength.

But just now, he had just bent his back and he had not even lifted the arrow, yet Yi Yun had already finished inserting an arrow!?

Yi Yun was already beginning to move the second Primal Arrow within the large metal box.

And surrounding Yi Yun were a bunch of youths, with their mouths agape, in a lifeless state. They had just seen with their own eyes how Yi Yun, using his two hands, lifted the first Primal Arrow as if he was lifting wooden logs. It looked completely effortless.

Then, holding the Primal Arrow arrow, he charged at the purple tungsten wall and like skewing kebabs, he inserted the arrow deeply into the wall!

From beginning to end, Yi Yun did not shake once while holding the arrow!

Stable! Quick! Forceful!

The people were still stunned and before they could recover, Yi Yun had already picked up the second Primal Arrow.

Yi Yun's energy was circulating in his body. The warm flow of energy that came from absorbing the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng surged through his body!

Because he already had broken through to the mid-stages of Purple Blood, using all his strength to insert a Primal Arrow did not make him exhausted. It even gave him a delightful feeling!

But as he was holding on to the second Primal Arrow, Yi Yun suddenly paused. "Oh? It seems there's some disharmonious flow of energy..."

When he was using his all his body's energy, Yi Yun had a feeling that although the strength given to him by the primordial herb was great, it was like a horse without reins that made him find it hard to control.

He had always been using the cultivation technique, "Dragon Rib Tiger Bone Fist" to control his body's energy, but he slowly found that "Dragon Rib Tiger Bone Fist" had some shortcomings.

The primordial herb's energy was too strong. As the "Dragon Rib Tiger Bone Fist" was a cultivation technique before the Purple Blood realm, it was becoming more inadequate.

When Yi Yun stopped, it made the crowd more speechless.

It was difficult to lift the Primal Arrow. Due to the Primal Arrow's weight, their arms would feel like breaking. As such, once they lifted it, they would rush to insert the arrow to save energy.

None of them would be like Yi Yun, who held the arrow while in a pause, it was as if he was contemplating the meaning of life.

This is way too overbearing!

Just as the people were thinking about this, it was as if Yi Yun was suddenly enlightened. Without any hesitation, he held the second Primal Arrow and charged at the purple tungsten wall.

"Dang!"

With a second loud sound, the second Primal Arrow was firmly inserted!

Again, the arrow head was inserted more than three feet deep and the tail was vibrating violently.

Not far away, even Baldy Qin was quite dumbfounded by this scene.

What is this kid… doing?

He had clearly been picking herbs for a month, how did his strength increase so much? Although it had something to do with him breaking through to the mid-stages of Purple Blood, but there was a tiny difference between the early-stage and the mid-stage. It could not result in such a great increase in strength...

Baldy Qin had the cultivation level of a Human Lord, but looking at Yi Yun, he had no clue.

"Second arrow! It's still easy."

The people's hearts trembled. Yi Yun's strength had opened a gap between them, a eighteen-street wide gap!

Yi Yun licked his lips and was overjoyed. These 1000 dragon scale runes sure were easy to earn!

Yi Yun casually rubbed his wrists. He bent down and touched the third Primal Arrow.

He did not take a break and he was doing it all at one go!

"Again!"

With a clear shout, Yi Yun's hands stably lifted up the Primal Arrow!

By feeling the energy flow within his body, he could still sense that inharmonious feeling. Nevertheless, it did not affect Yi Yun's explosive power.

Third arrow, in!

With a shout, Yi Yun's blood boiled within his veins. The primordial herb's energy gushed out like an erupting volcano!

At this point, Yi Yun could feel his energy reach a climax. He could not wait to vent it out!

With the Primal Arrow in his hands, he sent his whole body's strength into the Primal Arrow and stabbed it with all his strength!

"Dang!"

The tumultuous sound tore apart the heavens!

Even the purple tungsten wall slightly trembled!

This third Primal Arrow was forcefully nailed into the wall. The arrow's tail was vibrating so quickly that it formed shadows.

This arrow went in more than four feet deep!

Compared to the previous two arrows, this was more than two times stronger!

The surrounding youths were dumbfounded. What… is this kind of strength…?

How could that be?

Yi Yun, who was in front of them, was a humanoid desolate beast!

Zhou Kui was in a daze. The lofty sentiments that had previously surged in his heart had disappeared. The masculine declaration he had prepared when he won was now a joke.

Didn't… Yi Yun pick herbs?

One can improve that much just by picking herbs?

Among this group, some forged metal while others were sparring partners. They went through an arduous month. They either suffered from muscle aches from repeatedly swinging the forging hammer, resulting in blisters and blood on their palms, or those who were sparring partners, who were beaten up seriously. After they put on some medicine, they had to stand up to be beaten again...

Through their hard work, they managed to save some dragon scale runes. They used it to exchange for relics and elixirs in the Ten Thousand Pagoda. It had to be said that the Tai Ah Divine City's relics and elixirs were much better than the ones they ate back home.

Their progress had been obvious; but compared to Yi Yun, it was completely inferior.

It was a torture to compare; trash thrown out upon comparison!

"How… How did your strength increase so much…? How is that possible…?" Zhou Kui could not believe it. In the past month, he had not slacked off at all, yet he could not compare with Yi Yun who went to the mountains to pick herbs?

Yi Yun smiled. In this past month, didn't every second count?

Besides picking herbs, he was wearing 200 cauldrons in the Flowing Mercury Gown daily. He climbed up and down the herb mountain, training his strength and movement.

When he returned at night, he would meditate till morning. He had never laid down in bed to sleep.

In the Tai Ah Divine City, sleep was too extravagant. By replacing it with meditation, he could also slowly increase his cultivation level while resting.

And because of capturing the primordial herb, Yi Yun had to use all his tricks and he underwent great danger. Under extreme danger and various difficulties, he seized that one-in-a-thousand chance and he grabbed the opportunity that no one thought possible!

Could this be compared to simply wielding a forging hammer or taking a beating while sparring?

Of course, Yi Yun did not say any of this.

He grinned and said to Zhou Kui, "This is all because..."

Yi Yun dragged out his words to whet the people's appetite, before finally saying the three words.

"Of good luck..."

Zhou Kui nearly vomited blood due to anger!

He felt that Yi Yun was teasing him. The hard work they had put in this whole month had been upended by Yi Yun's mention of good luck.

Zhou Kui was really angry. He ignored the strength gap between him and Yi Yun and said bluntly, "Stop brushing me off! What do you mean by good luck? You have just been picking herbs, it is a job meant for women. By goofing off all day, how can you grow in strength? Or grow in cultivation level? What did you..."

Before Zhou Kui finished his words, a group of men dressed in black cloaks suddenly walked over from the edge of the school ground.

These men were dressed oddly. They had a mysterious feel to them. Their casual steps seemed slow, but the space between their feet seemed to contract. In a few steps, they had reached the center of the school ground.

Among them was the herb-picking office's Wang. She impressively followed behind these men. Wang, who never showed any respect to anyone, was now respectful. Clearly, these people in front of them were important.

Upon seeing these men, even Instructor Qin turned serious. The arms he held behind his back now hanged downwards.

"Lord Law-enforcer!" Baldy Qin slightly bowed. His position in the Tai Ah Divine City was lower than these people.

Law-enforcer?

The youths present were shocked. What position was a law-enforcer?

Although they did not know the cultivation levels of these men in black, they could feel an oppressive feeling from their auras.

And Instructor Qin's attitude clearly showed that these "law-enforcers" were important people.

Many of the youths immediately stood at attention. Baldy Qin was also confused. Why would the law-enforcers from the central divine tower come to a recruit school ground?

A middle-age man who was the leader of the black-cloaked men unveiled his face hood, revealing a wizened face. On his face, there were three parallel lines that formed a astonishing scar. It was as if he had been scratched by a desolate beast's claws.

His gaze swept the crowd of youths and calmly asked, "Who is Yi Yun?"

True Martial World - Chapter 197: Yi Yun’s Reason

"To be able to pick this herb, it was really the luck of this junior. It was like this..." Yi Yun stretched out his words. He made sure that there was nothing left out in the story he had fabricated.

"In the past few days, this junior had been diligently picking herbs in the herb mountain #60. Late last night, this junior was near the peak of a mountain. I saw a flash of lightning a few hundred kilometers away. It seemed like it was raining over there."

"But… the lightning that occurs when it rains is usually bluish purple. But this lightning was blood-red in color. But because it was too far, I couldn't see it well. Even so, I felt that I was not mistaken."

"From young, I have an inexplicable sense and intuition for strange phenomena. I found this lightning strange, as if something abnormal was happening. As such, I rushed over there to investigate."

"I ran at my top speed, but by the time I reached there, the lightning had stopped. From the soil and plants, I saw obvious signs of lightning having struck the area."

"I perceived the surroundings carefully and I found an unusual Yin-Yang Qi in the surroundings. I did not know what happened. I just recalled in some books that when treasures appear, it will create some phenomena. With this thought in mind, and seeing this phenomena, I felt that maybe this had something to do with a treasure!"

"Hence, I carefully searched the surroundings. I dug three feet in the ground and did not miss a single leaf. After that, I found this Blood Yang Flower..."

"It was deeply buried in, and it was already damaged. Its juices were mixed with mud, but even then, I could still recognize it."

"I was overjoyed when I found the Heaven-ranked herb. I took out the jade box and I was thinking of sealing the Blood Yang Flower to prevent it from losing its herbal essence. But suddenly, I found that my surroundings had changed. It was like I had traveled through a space-time tunnel. I was suddenly in the middle of the Divine Wilderness. There was thunder and lightning in the sky and there were a large numbers of desolate beasts charging at me from all directions!"

"I panicked and I took out my Thousand Army Saber to engage in battle. However, I felt something was amiss. How could the scenery suddenly change?"

"My perception has been different from others, even when I was younger. I quickly calmed down and perceived the surroundings. I suddenly felt that the beasts charging towards me did not exist. Everything was just an illusion."

"I realized that something was trying to harm me! I could not find it, but I could guess that it was a magnificent existence."

"At that moment, I felt my head ache terribly. It was as if something had entered my head. I nearly went mad, but I suddenly realized that if I couldn't endure through it, I was doomed. With all my might, I maintained the last bit of clarity within my mind and, with my Tai Cang Bow, shot out a desperate arrow."

"This arrow had been specially modified by me. I had embedded the arrowhead with a Divine Hellion Bead, that I bought earlier, in it."

"Divine Hellion Bead?" Upon hearing this, Wang suddenly interjected. Of course, she knew the weakness of the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng. This was too much of a coincidence. The arrow prepared Yi Yun had prepared earlier was the bane of the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng!

"Yes..." Yi Yun scratched his head with shame. "I heard that the Divine Wilderness camp has a high death rate. As this junior is afraid of death, so with the first amount of dragon scale runes I earned, I exchanged them for something defensive. I did not expect it to be used so early on. I'm really lucky."

Seeing Yi Yun with his boy-next-door look, and the continuous mention of the word 'luck', Wang could not stop her eyelids from twitching. The reason he bought the Divine Hellion Bead was because he was afraid to die...

As a mid-stage Purple Blood kid, you actually exchanged a Divine Hellion Bead for defense!

Absolutely… speechless!

What was more outrageous was that this Divine Hellion Bead had really come in handy. This luck was too ridiculous!

Yi Yun was not afraid of mentioning the Divine Hellion Bead. As for the lunar Yin array and the cicada array, he did not mention them.

Even Zhao Qingcheng did not know what items he had bought in the Ten Thousand Pagoda.

Even if people were to investigate it in the future, the Ten Thousand Pagoda was not like a cashier machine like in his previous life. It did not have any storage system, so who would know what was bought by who amongst those millions of items.

"And you actually shot this herb just like that?" Wang asked.

"That is how it was. Back then, my mind's hint of clarity was like a tiny boat in the huge ocean. It could disappear at any time. I shot that arrow with all I got. As for the direction I shot, I followed my feelings. I did not know what I was shooting at. I just felt that if I didn't shoot, I was likely to die."

"Following that, there was a large explosion. I was violently pushed by that explosive wave and I nearly fainted."

"After struggling to not lose consciousness, I began searching my surroundings. I guessed that something formidable had attacked me, so I wanted to find out what it was."

"My surroundings had turned into a scorched piece of land. The Blood Yang Flower was buried by the soil again and it was damaged even more. With my perception, I searched carefully and turned over every rock and finally I found a carrot-looking thing three feet deep. It didn't look eye-catching, but I knew it was something spectacular!"

Yi Yun's story was cooked up with a mixture of truth and falsehood. But everything within it was based on some factual foundation.

Wang listened carefully to the story. When Yi Yun finished, she gave Yi Yun an odd look.

According to the way Yi Yun said it, Yi Yun's luck was really ridiculous!

The lightning Yi Yun said he saw from a few hundred kilometers away was likely a heaven calamity.

A large number of primordial herbs would slowly evolve, but there were some primordial herbs that through a variety of exotic lucky chances and they would create a small heaven calamity with a tiny probability.

This heaven calamity was unpredictable and it would usually catch the primordial herb off-guard.

Such a heaven calamity would make its evolution more thorough, but if it were to fail in surviving through the crisis, it would be destroyed.

According to ancient books, the blood-red lightning that Yi Yun saw was a specific feature of the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng's heaven calamity.

By surviving through a calamity, it was the point at which the primordial herb was at its weakest!

At this point, a primordial herb's concealment abilities, attack power and its escaping abilities would all greatly decrease.

After surviving a calamity, a primordial herb would hide itself to slowly recover.

This Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng would likely do so, but Yi Yun had to appear at that moment and found the Blood Yang Flower it was nurturing.

Hearing Yi Yun's description, Wang felt that this calamity came too suddenly. This Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng must have responded in a panic, which resulted in it to be greatly weakened.

At that moment, the Blood Yang Flower, which could help it quickly recover, was too important to the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng.

How could it let Yi Yun steal the Blood Yang Flower? As such, it ignored its serious injuries and attacked Yi Yun.

By right, it wouldn't have been a problem. Yi Yun was still young and he had a low cultivation level. Even if the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng was greatly weakened, it was no surprise that it could handle Yi Yun.

But Yi Yun had extraordinary mental fortitude. At a young age and with his mere mid-stage Purple Blood cultivation level, he could actually escape from the illusion. This gave the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng no choice but to increase its psychic attack on Yi Yun, causing it overdraft on its pure Yang Qi.

But what made Wang most puzzled and alarmed was that Yi Yun was able to use his intuition to guide him under the illusion attack. By using the Divine Hellion Bead arrow he had prepared well in advance, he killed the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng!

This was too ridiculous!

But... upon further thinking, with a Divine Hellion Bead made by a master, a full-strength shot from Yi Yun's Tai Cang Bow and a seriously injured and overdrafted Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng made it possible for Yi Yun to turn the tide!

Wang was stunned for a while. What Yi Yun said may sound strange, but there was nothing unreasonable with the story if one gave it further thought.

And besides that, there was no other way in explaining how Yi Yun had managed to capture the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng.

Is that possible?

A less than thirteen-year-old kid managed to capture a primordial herb!

This was absolutely preposterous. How could all those long-bearded alchemists accept this?

The only mysterious thing was Yi Yun's intuition.

But this was not surprising. In this world, there are some people who are born with naturally keen senses. In extreme conditions, they could have a magical sixth sense, which leads them to good fortune and allows them to avoid disaster.

This intuition was often life-saving.

Wang gawked at Yi Yun before moving her dried lips, "Do you know… what it is that you have dug up?"

Yi Yun thought and said, "It should be a primordial herb. Actually, this junior had some speculations. This junior has seen some Divine Wilderness books. One of those herbs described within was very similar to the herb I picked. As this junior knew it was a matter of great importance, I came back earlier..."

Hearing Yi Yun's words, Wang's jaw dropped. She really did not know what to say. She had previously heard Yi Yun say, "Because I managed to obtain some extra bonus. I was worried about the loss of the herbal essence, so I came back early."

At that time, she felt that Yi Yun was merely fabricating some story. But she never expected that Yi Yun was actually saying the truth and he had actually brought back a Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng!

This was the so-called "some extra bonus"?

This was "some extra"!?

What sort of worldly joke is this!

"You… You wait for me here. I… I'll report to the Elder!"

Wang had trouble saying those words. It was almost like she had lost her ability to speak. To Wang, a cultivator picking a primordial herb was an absolutely important event!

It has been very long ever since the Tai Ah Divine City was built. But this was likely the first time that it happened!

She was completely at a loss how to handle it. The manuals in the office did not label the rewards for a primordial herb because there was no need to!

Upon thinking of this, Wang suddenly remembered that when Yi Yun came to the office, he had asked what the reward was for picking a primordial herb.

At that time, she had thought that this youth was crazy and he was somewhat like a retard.

But now, she suddenly felt that she was the retard.

This world had really gone mad!

True Martial World - Chapter 196: Handing Over the Herbs

"Hello, Sis Wang!" Yi Yun entered the office with the herb basket on his back. A silly smile plastered over his face.

Wang looked unfriendly, but Yi Yun was already accustomed to it.

"Sis Wang, I see you are reading a book..." Yi Yun tried to make small talk, but Wang's mean look made people swallow their words.

Wang stayed silent. She threw the book in her hand on the table and looked coldly at Yi Yun.

"Uh..." Yi Yun did not know what to say. He took down the herb basket and placed it on the counter. The two jade boxes that contained the Blood Yang Flower and the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng were of course within the herb basket.

"You sure came back early!" Wang glanced at the light herb basket and said with a cynical voice. Her sharp voice was ear-splitting.

"Yes… It’s because I managed to obtain some extra bonus. I was worried about the loss of the herbal essence, so I came back early. Besides… I have something else to deal with."

Yi Yun's words were the truth, but of course it sounded like excuses.

"Hmph!" Wang could not be bothered to expose Yi Yun. She felt that it would be a waste of her breath to say anything to this lazy and self-deprecating youth.

"You applied for seven days of continuous herb-picking. Each day is 35 dragon scale runes. Even if you came back early, I will still deduct all the dragon scale runes, not one less!"

By applying to pick herbs continuously, the rent was even more. This was because typically herb-picking was done in the day, but picking herbs continuously allowed one to pick through the night.

Typical cultivators would spend the night cultivating in the Divine City, so very few cultivators applied for this.

"That is expected." Yi Yun was not bothered about a mere 200 or so dragon scale runes.

Seeing Yi Yun's indifferent attitude, Wang felt that he was really hopeless.

By lifting Yi Yun's herb basket, it was as Wang expected. The herb basket was mostly empty.

Wang randomly grabbed some herbs, she was planning to dry them before weighing them. But as her fingers went in to the basket, they brushed against a hard object.

Herb box?

With her sharp instincts as an alchemist, Wang immediately identified what the hard object was. She was slightly stunned, and using her slender fingers, she opened the box with a snap.

When the herb box opened, there was a red object. This object was seriously damaged and looked like a bloody pulp.

This is...

A trace of uncertainty flashed in Wang's eyes, but it disappeared in the next second.

As an alchemist, she may not be able to identify the herb immediately, but her instincts told her that this was at least a Heaven-ranked rare herb.

The feeling she got from the herb couldn't be wrong!

Wang picked up the red object and tried to discern it. It was likely the fruit a size of a fist. It was most likely due to the damage that the red fruit's juices had leaked out.

"Could this be..."

Wang's face flashed a look a disbelief. With her finger, she dabbed a tiny bit of the pulp before tasting it.

That strong Yang Qi and the taste of blood confirmed Wang's own guess.

Blood Yang Flower!

And it was a Blood Yang Flower that had born fruit!

Middle-grade Heaven-ranked herb!

Wang looked up with disbelief at Yi Yun, "You… you actually picked a Blood Yang Flower?"

Ever since Wang took over the office for decades, this was the first time a cultivator had brought back a Heaven-ranked herb. And it was even a middle-grade Heaven-ranked herb. This was astonishing!

"Yes, my luck was good..." Yi Yun scratched his head. As a Heaven-ranked herb, the Blood Yang Flower was extremely difficult to find. But in the long history of the Tai Ah Divine City, there were quite a few cultivators with keen senses who managed to pick Heaven-ranked herbs.

Only those among the best, like Zhong Yi, had gathered more than one.

Hence, for this Blood Yang Flower, Yi Yun did not need to do much explanation.

Luck?

Hearing Yi Yun say that, Wang's eyelids twitched. Even if she had gone personally, it was not easy to find a Heaven-ranked herb. And Yi Yun had just used an understatement like luck to explain it away.

This Blood Yang Flower was one of the more hidden kinds among the Heaven-ranked herbs. How could one find it just from luck?

Wang stared deeply at Yi Yun. She was unhappy. This kid had been lacking in perseverance and diligence, yet he managed to pick a Blood Yang Flower. How was this fair to those cultivators who were diligently picking herbs?

It was not fair!

"You sure have good luck to find such a herb!" Wang said it unhappily. It was impossible for a typical person to pick a Blood Yang Flower just with luck. But for someone with keen senses like Yi Yun, with luck, it was normal for him to pick a Blood Yang Flower.

"Don't be too happy yet. This luck doesn't happen often! Also, this Blood Yang Flower is seriously damaged. Don't you know how to pick a herb? You actually picked it in such a sorry state! I will, at most, give you a third of its price!" Wang said coldly and was constantly suppressing Yi Yun.

She had a great amount of authority on deciding a herb's price, but she did not wish to give even more dragon scale runes to Yi Yun. It would be better off giving them to those who lacked talent but worked hard.

As Wang said that, she reached to open the second jade box.

Pa!

With a soft sound, the green cover opened. It revealed a dried and cracked item that resembled a carrot.

"Yet another damaged herb!" Wang became angry. Yi Yun's herb-picking methods were destroying heavenly treasures!

So many good herbs had been destroyed by him!

"Are you blind? Can't you be more careful when picking herbs? Don't you know that once it's damaged, it will..."

Just as Wang was beginning to reprimand Yi Yun, she stopped. Her words got stuck in her throat.

She was like a clucking chicken hen which was suddenly being strangled.

Wang stared with her eyes wide open. Again, she looked carefully at the dry and cracked ugly carrot-looking herb within the jade box...

After looking carefully for about ten seconds, her body slowly froze. Her eyes became rigid and her mind went blank.

This… This is...

Wang felt like her heart had been mercilessly pinched. Her breathing turned irregular as her bloodstream turned turbulent as she stared with a daze!

An absolutely ridiculous and unbelievable conclusion appeared in her mind.

Pri… Primordial herb!!?

The dry looking herb that a twelve-year-old child turned in, was actually a.... primordial herb!?

How could this be?!

Wang reached out with trembling hands. Picking up the jade box, she carefully looked at the herb within. She looked at every tiny root carefully.

No matter how much she looked, she was more and more convinced of her earlier conclusions.

This was a primordial herb. Comparing it to the books, it had to be a Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng!

A kid had managed to pick a Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng!?

Wang's neck seemed to rust. Her actions became slow. With difficulty, she turned her gaze from the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng inch by inch towards Yi Yun.

This must be a dream...

This thought appeared in Wang's mind. But how could this a dream feel so real?

As a Human Lord warrior, how could she be confused between fantasy and reality?

She opened her dry mouth, asking Yi Yun, "This herb… was picked… by you?"

Yi Yun nodded, "Yes…!"

"How… How did you pick it?"

"Uh… Good luck..."

When Wang heard Yi Yun's soft explanation, she nearly vomited blood.

To explain it like that, was this a game?

"You think I'm an idiot?" Wang gnashed her teeth and stared at Yi Yun with burning eyes. At the same time, she quickly closed the jade box to prevent the herbal essence of the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng from leaking.

Of course, Yi Yun was not expecting to fool Wang with such ease.

As for how he picked the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng, he had already prepared a tale.

For this, Yi Yun had spent the past few days to search through the library for every detail on the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng. Even some alchemists, who have never seen a Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng, could not beat Yi Yun in his knowledge of the Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng.

After all, there were too few primordial herbs. Some alchemists might have seen other primordial herbs, but not seeing a Heaven Purple Yang Ginseng was very normal.

True Martial World - Chapter 195: Returning to the City

Upon being questioned by Baldy Qin, Song Zijun became nervous. He had no idea how to explain where Yi Yun was.

For today's assessment, Song Zijun had looked for Yi Yun so they could go to the school ground together, but Yi Yun was not in his room. When he found out where Yi Yun was, he turned speechless.

The Xuanwu Army members around Song Zijun began to show schadenfreude when they noticed Yi Yun was absent.

They knew very well that Baldy Qin was stern. Whoever went against Baldy Qin's commands would have to bear all the consequences. Yi Yun was going to be in trouble.

Yi Yun had previously outshone all of them, so they were glad to see Yi Yun get in trouble.

"This Yi Yun sure is interesting. When choosing jobs, everyone chose either sparring or forging, but only he chose herb-picking, which is done only by girls. He even dared to miss Instructor Qin's examination..." A Xuanwu Army member privately transmitted his voice with his peers.

"Hehe, he's only courting death. I don't know what Yi Yun is thinking. It's clear he has a great foundation. If he works hard, he will obtain good results, but he had to self-degrade himself! How much strength could he gain from a month of picking herbs? Back then, he couldn't insert a Primal Arrow, I doubt he is capable this time."

A flurry of discussion erupted amongst the members of the Xuanwu Army. They were unable to insert the three Primal Arrows as required by Baldy Qin, but they were barely able to insert one. It was only possible for their strongest few to manage three.

In the past month, they had been tortured by their seniors. This living death cultivation had made them grow so much!

"I was asking you. Where is Yi Yun?" Baldy Qin looked at Song Zijun's hesitation and slowly began to frown. He was like a lion about to burst into a rage.

Song Zijun helplessly told the truth, "Instructor, three days ago, Yi Yun had applied for a seven-day period of consecutive herb-picking with the herb-picking job office, now… Uh… he should still be on the herb mountain."

When Song Zijun said those words, it made everyone dumbfounded.

Applied for a seven-day period of consecutive herb-picking?

Yi Yun had simply ignored the assessment day Baldy Qin had decided on a month ago and he was still on the herb mountain picking herbs!

Picking herbs on the herb mountain...

The people were at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

How much did Yi Yun love that job!?

He ignored everything else just to pick herbs for seven days!

Was herb-picking that addictive?

Many of them did not know what to say. According to what Yi Yun said, he had been picking herbs since young. Even when he came to the Divine Wilderness campgrounds, he carried on picking herbs. They had previously ridiculed Yi Yun saying that it was a habit of being a bumpkin.

Those words were originally a joke; but now, it seems like Yi Yun was really thinking so!

A talent came to the Tai Ah Divine City to be a farmer!

Hearing Song Zijun's words, Baldy Qin's forehead, which had a scar, popped a hideous vein.

Baldy Qin still appreciated Yi Yun. He felt that Yi Yun was the most outstanding person among his recruits. Although he was inferior to Qiuniu or Chu Xiaoran, it was not impossible for him to enter the top 1000 of the Heaven or Earth rankings within the next three years.

Although this achievement was not amazing, it was considered pretty good.

Previously when Yi Yun wanted to pick herbs, Baldy Qin had not interfered. But now, he had promised that whoever succeeded in this assessment of inserting three Primal Arrows into the purple tungsten wall would be given two hours to enter the Wilderness Divine Hall!

This reward was a tidy sum!

Yi Yun had chosen herb-picking; for that, Baldy Qin felt that he may have his reasons. But for him to not grab the opportunity to enter the Wilderness Divine Hall, what was the point of him staying here in the Tai Ah Divine City?

Baldy Qin ignored the matter with Yi Yun. To him, Yi Yun was just a good recruit and that was it. There were many talents better than Yi Yun in the Tai Ah Divine City. Losing one Yi Yun was nothing.

"Everyone, listen up! I said a month ago, that in this one month if anyone can insert three Primal Arrows into the purple tungsten wall, I will reward them with two hours of cultivation time in the Wilderness Divine Hall. I mean what I say! In today's assessment, let me see the results of your cultivation for this past month!"

Baldy Qin's words made the youths gear up!

The past month's experience in the Tai Ah Divine City was too unusual for them.

A month ago, many of these youths were young masters from rich and large family clans. They were all extremely proud, but having arrived in the Divine Wilderness camp, their lives were only constantly filled with beatings after beatings. They were beaten till their bones fractured and their tendons tore, they vomited blood from their serious injuries!

After being beaten up, they would eat some healing medicine, and once they recovered, they would stand up to continue to be beaten!

As sparring partners, they could counter-attack. In the beginning, they were indignant about it, and tried to counter-attack against the senior cultivators they were sparring with. The result was them being beaten up even worse!

After continuous beatings, they matured and honed their cultivation levels. At the same, in this one-month ordeal, they had trimmed their pride.

It could be said that they had really matured. Today was the day to test the fruits of their labor.

Just as this bunch of hot-blooded youths was rearing to step up, Yi Yun had been transported back to the Tai Ah Divine City through the teleportation array.

According to the Tai Ah Divine City's herb-picking rules, cultivators had to hand in the herbs immediately upon returning to the city.

This was to prevent the cultivators from privately trading herbs, which falsified their harvests.

As such, Yi Yun naturally went to the job office.

It was about noon. Typically, cultivators would only hand in herbs at night. After all, there was a 25 dragon scale runes rent that was fixed. The same amount was deducted whether the herbs were handed in at night or at noon. An additional hour of herb-picking was an additional hour of revenue.

It was usually extremely deserted here in the herb-picking job office. It being noon meant there was nobody around.

Wang was reclining lazily in a chair. She was flipping through a pharmacological text.

Wang was actually an alchemist. Back when she was cultivating in the Tai Ah Divine City, she had obtained a good ranking in the Man roll rankings.

Hearing footsteps by the door, Wang peeped over the book and looked towards the door. What she saw made her frown.

Yi Yun was the one who had entered.

"Didn't you apply for a seven-day herb-picking period? It's only been three and a half days, why are you back early?" Wang now found Yi Yun irritating.

This kid obviously had keen senses and he had extraordinary talent, but he had been lacking in perseverance towards herb-picking. The herbs he handed in was getting less and less each day.

When Yi Yun applied for seven days of continue herb-picking, she had guessed that Yi Yun would only show up for work, but not exert himself.

But she did not expect that Yi Yun was worse than she expected. He could not endure the boredom and he actually came back three and a half days early!

He was hopeless!