True Martial World - Chapter 231: Sword Scar Palace

A cold breeze blew through the Tai Ah Divine City deep into the night, covering the city in snow once again.

It had snowed twice during the past few days of the rookie ranking competition.

In a city like the Tai Ah Divine City, it had layers upon layers of arrays. Once the arrays were initiated, they would allow the whole city to experience the warmth of spring throughout the entire year. However, this was a great waste of energy and there was no reason to do so. The Yuan Qi gathered within the Tai Ah Divine City arrays were instead supplied to the warriors for cultivation.

Yi Yun walked along the streets. Every time he stepped onto the snow, the compacted snow would tremble and make a crunching sound.

There were rows of houses with unsophisticated ambiances on both sides of the street.

Yi Yun kept on recalling the battles that happened in the day.

There was no doubt that both Chu Xiaoran and Qiuniu possessed outstanding capabilities. Most importantly, each of them had their own characteristics and strengths.

Chu Xiaoran had gained insight into a law, while Qiuniu had his strong body…

Between the two of them, in their own respective aspects, they were so strong that they made others feel helpless to the point of losing confidence!

Of course, Yi Yun was not lacking in confidence. Chu Xiaoran and Qiuniu may be strong, but Yi Yun still had the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique'.

But the problem was…

The 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' could not be considered a strength of Yi Yun.

The 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' was strong and the warriors who mastered the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' could easily beat warriors with average cultivation techniques. They could even battle people who were a few levels above them and it would still be as easy as eating and drinking.

But… the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' could not be considered to be a 'specialty'!

The 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' could suppress others through its absolute power. But if they were to face someone who also cultivated the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique', or someone whose 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' level was higher than their own, such as Qin Haotian, then they would lose all the advantages that the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' gave them. What mattered then would be a competition amongst their other aspects.

The other aspects included competing in terms of strength, laws, speed or battle experience…

What was his competitive advantage? What did he have that allowed him to beat Qin Haotian?

He would most likely lose even at the same level!

Yi Yun suddenly realized that his battle power was far too weak. Besides the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' and the large success stage of Minute Subtlety, he had no other competitive advantages.

Yi Yun had great ambition. If a typical warrior were to master the legendary 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' in a short period of time, they would be so excited that they would lose themselves, but Yi Yun felt that it was still insufficient. He needed to strengthen every aspect of himself. He wanted to be an all-rounded person without any weaknesses!

Such as… saber techniques!

Yi Yun's saber techniques had always been weak. In fact, he had no saber techniques at all.

The saber moves that were derived from the 'Nine Mysterious Swords of Heaven' technique were nothing in front of an expert.

With this thought in mind, Yi Yun started walking towards a new direction. He stopped in front of a palace after walking down the street for fifteen minutes.

He looked up and saw the three-meter-wide plaque that was hanging on top of the palace entrance and on that plaque were three large words—Sword Scar Palace!

These three words were sharply written and they contained an aura. With just a glance, it was obvious that it was written by a master.

Yi Yun had long since heard about the Sword Scar Palace. He always wanted to pay a visit to it. This was the best place for the cultivators of the Tai Ah Divine City to increase their compatibility with their weapons.

It cost 1000 dragon scale runes, just like the Wilderness Divine hall, to enter the Sword Scar Palace for two hours.

To the present Yi Yun, a thousand dragon scale runes were nothing. After paying, Yi Yun entered the palace.

The palace was not large. There were large rectangular stones in it. These large stones were Immutable Ancient Rocks and they were produced in the Divine Wilderness. Whatever was carved on such rocks could not be erased, even if they were to be exposed to the elements of nature for millions of years.

On the walls around the Immutable Ancient Rocks, there was all sort of scar marks. These scars were left behind by the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom’s Sages. There were sword scars, saber scars, claw marks and even fist prints!

No matter what the weapon was, you could find the corresponding mark within the Sword Scar Palace. The assault abstraction* of the attackers were left behind within these scars.

One came to the Sword Scar Palace to gain insight into these concepts.

As Yi Yun was beginning to gain some insights, he caught sight of someone through the corner of his eye.

It was a thin, little old man. His hair and beard were messy, but the most amazing thing about him was the blood-red gem embedded in between his eyebrows. It sparkled under the everlasting lamps in the hall.

The old man was wearing a large gray robe. He was comfortably reclining on a lounge chair and his eyes were half-squinted as if he was almost falling asleep due to the comfort.

There was a plate containing crystal-like grapes on a table beside him.

The little old man would occasionally reach out to pick up a grape lazily and put it in his mouth. He looked like he was enjoying himself a lot.

"Senior, you are here too?" Yi Yun was surprised. He had seen this old man before. The blood-red gem in the middle of the old man's eyebrows had left a deep impression on Yi Yun.

Back when Yi Yun went to the Wilderness Divine Hall to absorb the primordial strain's energy, he had met this old man when he came out of the divine hall. He had attacked Yi Yun without any warning and he had defeated him with one move. He had even reprimanded Yi Yun, telling him how terrible his saber skills were.

Back then, this little old man had recommended Yi Yun to visit the Sword Scar Palace but Yi Yun had never expected that he would run into him when he really made the trip.

The old man opened his eyes and glanced at Yi Yun. He laughed and said, "Kid, you finally thought of my place?"

"Greetings, Senior." Yi Yun cupped his hands and bowed. "I'm here to gain insights from the Sage saber scars."

"Saber scars? Hehe!" The old man plucked another grape and threw it into his mouth. He shook his head and said, "Gaining insight from saber scars… Do you know where the deepest saber scar abstractions are in the Sword Scar Palace?"

Yi Yun shook his head after being questioned by the old man and said, "I do not."

The old man chuckled as if he had predicted Yi Yun's answer. He said, "Let me take you to a good place. I guarantee you that it will be extremely beneficial to you!"

Hearing the old man's words, Yi Yun was overjoyed. It could not get any better with someone giving him pointers.

"Thank you, Senior."

"Heh, it's no big deal!" The old man waved his hand, before suddenly remembering something, "Right…"

The old man stretched his right hand before Yi Yun and pinched his thumb and index finger. He gave a wretched-looking smile, "Did you bring enough dragon scale runes? The place I am taking you to will charge an additional fee."

Yi Yun hesitated for a while before smiling, "I have brought enough."

Charging more dragon scale runes? That was nothing!

Yi Yun had over a 100,000 dragon scale runes. There were not many places that he could not enter in the Tai Ah Divine City.

All Yi Yun cared about was the best cultivation resources. He paid no heed to the price.

"Oh… That's good!" The old man looked relieved and said, "The place I'm taking you to will need an additional 10,000 dragon scale runes, and at the same time… you will need to pay a glory point. You should still have a glory point left, right? By handing over the primordial herb, you must have received plenty of rewards?"

The old man grinned as he asked Yi Yun. When Yi Yun heard this, he froze up.

What!?

10,000 dragon scale runes… and an additional glory point!?

He could not have heard wrongly!

Although he paid no heed to price and only wanted the best, this fee was unreasonable.

This was robbery!

Looking at the old man with his wretched smile, Yi Yun felt a chill. This old bastard looked like an old swindler. Was he cheating him!?

"Senior, did you make a mistake?” Yi Yun asked tactfully, “This junior only needed two glory points to buy the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique'…"

The old man shook his head like a rattle, "How could I make a mistake? This price is because a kid like you knows me and it is charged this price on account of our friendship. If it were anyone else, they might not even enter with that price! That place is not an ordinary place. After entering it, you will definitely have great gains. As for buying the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' with two glory points, that was just the first three volumes. The fourth and fifth volume combined will need five glory points. The prices of the last few volumes even increase at an astonishing rate. Do you think that the entire 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' is cheap? So what about it? Are you going in? You can enter that place and stay there for a whole day. You will regret it if you don't go!"

The little old man began to tempt Yi Yun.

Yi Yun was in a dilemma. The old man looked like an old swindler. But as an administrator of the Tai Ah Divine City, even if he did not have any moral integrity, he still wouldn't cheat a rookie, right?

Was it really worth the price?

10,000 dragon scale runes were not much, but a glory point… That was a precious resource that the top-ranked experts in the Tai Ah Divine City particularly cherished!

By needing to pay a glory point to enter, that meant that 99% of the cultivators in the Tai Ah Divine City had absolutely no chance of entering it once in their six years here!

Even the cultivators who earned a glory point might not be willing to part with the glory point to gain entrance!

Yi Yun only had three glory points left. After breaking the herb-picking record, he had received two glory points and one glory point left from the primordial herb.

"To be able to enter this training ground for a day, that's considered quite long. As for the rookie ranking competition, there is still slightly more than seven days left. In the next two days, no one would challenge me. I won't miss much if I don't watch those matches…"

Yi Yun was tempted. He really wanted to take a look at such a place.

Even if he could not grasp anything, it was not like he could not afford the loss of this glory point.

So, Yi Yun nodded saying, "Senior, please lead the way!"

"Hehe, swift and decisive!" The old man laughed as he patted Yi Yun's shoulders and gave a thumbs up. "Young man, you are really promising!"

Seeing the old man look as if he had fallen into money, Yi Yun became increasingly skeptical. Did the old man get a cut from promoting this mysterious training ground?

There was no way the Tai Ah Divine City would have such immoral rules, right?

As the old man was about to leave, with a thought, he took the bunch of grapes from the plate and put it in his pocket. As he plucked it to eat, he said to Yi Yun, "Follow me and I guarantee you that you will not regret it!"

*Assault abstraction refers to the concepts behind the original creator’s attack and how he moved when performing it. This is learned by watching and contemplating on the marks left behind

True Martial World - Chapter 230: The one gathering of the elites

Bai Mingwu's face turned red. After all these years, taking part in numerous battles, big and small, he had never encountered such a situation. It was absolutely shameful.

This Qiuniu's methods were unpredictable!

Bai Mingwu grit his teeth. With an abrupt slip of his hands, he moved down the polearm's shaft towards Qiuniu!

By circulating the "Mystic Jade Heart Sutra", all of his Yuan Qi was now concentrated within his feet!

He aimed for Quiniu’s head as he kicked out with his feet!

Bai Mingwu had pretty good leg techniques.

However, all Qiuniu did was sneer before raising his shield.

"Dang!"

Bai Mingwu's feet landed heavily on the shield. The Yuan Qi from the "Mystic Jade Heart Sutra" burst out, causing Bai Mingwu's feet to turn numb. However, it did not affect Qiuniu at all. The thick and heavy shield was like a solid metal wall, warding off all sorts of attacks!

Bai Mingwu felt helpless. He had used his polearm to attack Qiuniu, but it was blocked by Qiuniu's shield. The same happened when he used his feet!

After blocking Bai Mingwu's strike, Qiuniu smiled. With his right hand pulling on the polearm, and his left hand holding his shield, his body suddenly jerked forward.

Shield bash!

"Peng!"

With a loud clang, Bai Mingwu's entire body was sent flying by Qiuniu's shield bash!

His body tumbled a few times in the air before he landed. The great impact had caused him to take more than ten steps backward before he managed to steady his body again. The blood flowing within his body was now in chaos.

He pressed his hand against his chest and looked over at Qiuniu. Qiuniu was still standing in his original spot. In fact, throughout the whole battle, Qiuniu had not moved more than just a few steps.

As Bai Mingwu was sent flying backward, his polearm was still in Qiuniu's hand.

His weapon had been taken away!

There was no way of describing what thoughts were going through Bai Mingwu’s mind. He had only used one move during this battle. After his weapon was grabbed by his opponent, he could not take it back and now he was in this embarrassing situation.

It was too aggravating.

There were still a lot of moves he did not get the chance to use. However, all of these moves required the polearm. Without his weapon, his battle prowess would drop greatly, leaving him with just his leg techniques!

He still had a low quality polearm in his interspatial ring.

But, not only was that polearm unable to bring out his greatest potential, the crux of the matter was that Qiuniu might take that polearm as well!

He did not have any methods of preventing Qiuniu from taking away his weapon. If he lost another one, it would be too embarrassing!

Standing before Qiuniu, Bai Mingwu was now in a dilemma.

Qiuniu was wearing a heavy armor and he had a huge shield. It was impossible for Bai Mingwu to break those apart with just his fists and feet!

"Your polearm… I'm returning it to you!" As Qiuniu said that, he casually weighed the polearm in his hand. Following that, he grabbed the polearm and slightly leaned back, his right foot on the ground, while lifting his left foot.

"Ha!" Qiuniu shouted out, and as his left foot landed, his right arm sent the polearm flying!

"Sou!"

The heavy polearm let out an ear-piercing screech that sounded like an explosion. The polearm flew through the air, flying straight at Bai Mingwu!

With Qiuniu's strength, the polearm’s speed was now completely terrifying!

Bai Mingwu constricted his pupils. Facing his weapon, which was now flying straight at him, he... did not dare to try and grab it!

At the moment the polearm was about to strike Bai Mingwu, he gritted his teeth and used his movement technique to dodge it.

"Dang!"

With a loud metallic clang, the polearm embedded itself into a purple tungsten protective wall beside the Divine Wilderness Stage.

The three foot thick purple tungsten wall tremored from this huge impact. Even the tiles on the ground trembled!

The polearm was also vibrating non stop!

Upon seeing this, many were at loss for words. Qiuniu's strength was too terrifying!

Bai Mingwu stood on the stage with a pale face. He really did not know what to do!

Did he really need to run down the stage to pick up his polearm?

Not only was it embarrassing, but even after retrieving the polearm, he was not confident in his ability of beating Qiuniu. Also, what if Qiuniu attacked him as he retrieved the polearm?

After his deliberating, Bai Mingwu had to admit that he had lost the moment Qiuniu grabbed his polearm.

He was inferior!

Gritting his teeth, Bai Mingwu shook his head and said, "I admit defeat..."

He was not a sore loser. There was no point in resisting on stage when it had already reached such a situation.

"Thank you!" Qiuniu cupped his hands.

Qiuniu won this battle!

People's moods were indescribable seeing Bai Mingwu sadly walking down the stage and him using all his strength to pull out his polearm.

This battle was quite ridiculous. Qiuniu's battle strategy was quite different from others, but it was extremely effective. Bai Mingwu had been defeated by Qiuniu to the point that he conceded the battle on his own accord.

"Bai Mingwu admitted defeat… A person ranked in the 3900s on the Earth roll was defeated by Qiuniu, just like that..."

"There's no other way. The difference in strength was too great. After his weapon was taken away, Bai Mingwu lost his confidence. If that did not happen, Bai Mingwu could have fought another few more rounds. In fact, upon reaching the Yuan Foundation realm, a warrior's connection with his weapon would greatly increase. It wouldn't reach the point of easily having the weapon stolen."

Once a warrior reached the Yuan Foundation, or a realm beyond the Yuan Foundation, they could use their Yuan Qi to grow their weapons. They could even keep their weapon inside of their dantian, slowly nourishing it.

As such, it would not be easy to take away another person's weapon.

But it was not impossible either. If someone was strong enough, they could erase the opponent's soul mark on a weapon and steal it.

"This Qiuniu sure is difficult to handle. Once he grabs your weapon, it's over!"

Seeing Qiuniu's attire, many felt powerless.

Qiuniu's glove was also armored. He could easily grab other weapons as well, such as sabers or swords!

If it was a low quality weapon, he could probably even snap it!

Not only that, Qiuniu's defense was extremely perverse. With his body covered in armor, together with that heavy shield, it was like he had a thick tortoise shell. A weak attack would only be equivalent to scratching an itch for Qiuniu!

As for Qiuniu's attack power, it was irrefutable. When Qiuniu threw the polearm at the end, Bai Mingwu did not even dare to grab it, even though he was its owner. How could Qiuniu's attack power be weak?

How could one handle him, when his defence and attacking power were that strong and he could grab their weapons easily?

He was too difficult to handle!

Many of the veteran cultivators, who had spent 2-3 years in the Tai Ah Divine City, placed themselves in Bai Mingwu’s shoes. If they had fought Qiuniu, they had to admit that they would also lose!

"This batch of rookies sure is crazy… Now, it seems there's an extremely high chance Qiuniu and that Chu Xiaoran can enter the top 1000 within a year!" A veteran cultivator said with mixed emotions.

But another veteran cultivator shook his head, "You are exaggerating by saying there is an extremely high chance. The top 1000 isn't easy to reach. It is basically the world of Yuan Foundation realm cultivators amongst the top 1000. Without being at the Yuan Foundation realm, it will be impossible to hold one's ground! And if a rookie were to rise up there, many veterans would pay close attention to him. Who would wish to be lorded over by a rookie? At that point, there would be numerous challengers wishing to pull you down. To establish yourself in the top 1000? It is difficult!"

Although this veteran cultivator was unwilling to admit that Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran could establish themselves in the top 1000 within a year, he was very well aware of the fact that Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran were absolute monsters amongst monsters. Their potentials were no weaker than Qin Haotian's!

It was extremely rare for two such figures to appear in a single batch of rookies!

...

The fifth day of the rookie rankings ended. Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran performed outstandingly. Soon, the news of it spread throughout the Tai Ah Divine City. Their names became famous, not only with the rookies, even amongst the veteran cultivators circles.

All of the major factions began to pay close attention to Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran. However, it was impossible to draw them in. The two of them had their own family clans and they were destined to serve their own families.

The cultivators in the Tai Ah Divine City debated about who amongst the two was the strongest one.

Both of them had their own supporters and they expressed their views based on inferences and conjectures. Their debates became very heated.

As such, some associations even opened up a betting pool, deciding who amongst the two would win first place amongst the rookies.

The odds between the two were very close. However, Chu Xiaoran had slightly more supporters. How could a beautiful girl be less popular than a stout man?

With the betting pools opened, many had also included Yi Yun into them.

Yi Yun was compared to Gu Mu, who had shocked everyone on the fifth day of the competition.

Yi Yun and Gu Mu were of similar backgrounds. They were both strong and were dark horses before appearing on stage. Many were interested to know who was the strongest one amongst the two.

...

"Haha, they are opening another betting pool! Brother Yi, I bought the bet that you would win." Zhou Kui said excitedly. During dinner time, he found Yi Yun at the cook house. He had complete confidence in Yi Yun and he felt that Yi Yun was sure to beat Gu Mu.

Yi Yun smiled without saying anything. He had watched all the matches in the past five days. Gu Mu was indeed a noteworthy opponent, but he was much worse than both Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran.

Yi Yun paid special attention only to Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran. Both of them had their own specialities. Chu Xiaoran had techniques, while Qiuniu had absolute strength. Both of them had powers that were on a completely different level than the other rookies.

"How is it? Brother Yi, did you bet on yourself?" Zhou Kui asked excitedly.

Yi Yun shook his head. He had previously heard about these betting pools. Ever since the Hongdao Association suffered a great loss due to Yi Yun, many of the associations learned their lesson. The bet limit was only up to 500 dragon scale runes.

The odds against him beating Gu Mu was not very high. Together with the high tax on gambling by the Tai Ah Divine City, there was nothing much to be earned. Yi Yun could not be bothered to bet. Only poor rookies like Zhou Kui would find interest in making a small gamble.

"Brother Yi, keep it up. Although the Tai Ah Divine City is only giving away glory points and other cultivation privileges to the person in first place, you will still be well rewarded at third place. Brother Yi, I look up to you!"

True Martial World - Chapter 229: Inborn Divine Strength

Today's ranking matches were destined to reach greater heights.

After Chu Xiaoran, three expert rookies, who were ranked in the top ten, went on stage. They challenged senior cultivators that were ranked around 5000.

The battleground became extremely intense. Although these rookies could not compare with Chu Xiaoran, who had gained insight on a hint of nomological truths, they obtained cheers from the crowd just from their Yuan Qi clashes.

Unfortunately, the three expert rookies failed to beat the veteran cultivators, who had been training for 2-3 years.

Just as other rookies were feeling regretful for these three people, a black horse appeared on stage. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

A rookie named Gu Mu, who was ranked twenty, challenged a senior cultivator who was ranked in the 4900s. Everyone originally thought that Gu Mu was going to lose, but the result surprised everyone. Gu Mu actually defeated his opponent, squeezing into the top 5000!

Gu Mu was an obscure name. As a rookie who was in 20th place amongst the rookies, he did not arouse much attention. But the rookie rankings were estimated based on their performance in the past three months in the Tai Ah Divine City. It could not accurately determine a person's real strength.

Gu Mu was a nobody who managed to quietly rise up to the top 5000, this astonished many people.

What made most people surprised was that Gu Mu did not come from any famous family clans. In terms of familial background, he was better than Yi Yun, but not by much. His paternal grandfather was a Kingdom Knight, but when it reached his father's generation, it deteriorated.

Such a family clan could not be considered a family clan, but it still produced a freak like Gu Mu.

Gu Mu must have had some fortuitous events to reach such a level.

When people thought about this, they sighed. The world was so large with an unknown number of people within it. There were so many elites. It was not surprising to them that some of these elites encountered fortuitous events.

In this batch of rookies, first it was Yi Yun, then it was Gu Mu. There was all sorts of hidden talent.

It became more intense as the battles went on during the fifth day of the competition. The last match pushed the excitement to a climax!

"Divine Wilderness Stage, 3960, Bai Mingwu! Challenger, 10,002, Qiuniu!"

Following the announcement by the referee, all the rookies were excited.

Qiuniu was up!

There was no one who doubted Chu Xiaoran's strength anymore.

As for Qiuniu, he was always placed on par with Chu Xiaoran. Due to Chu Xiaoran's outstanding performance earlier, many suspected if Qiuniu was at the same level as Chu Xiaoran. Now, they could see it for themselves!

"Hehe, finally it's my turn!" Beside Chu Xiaoran, a 1.9m tall man stood up suddenly. It was hard to believe that he was thirteen years old.

Qiuniu looked at his opponent. His opponent was also a tall and well-built person. He was 15 years old and 1.8m tall. He was well-matched with Qiuniu.

"Against this kid, my white metal armor should be enough!" Qiuniu said to himself. Beside him, Chu Xiaoran laughed, "Be careful not to fail such an easy task!"

"Fail? Hehe..." Qiuniu wiped the tip of his nose with his thumb, "Don't worry. Before fighting you, I won't lose!"

Qiuniu had not fought Chu Xiaoran in a long time. After seeing Chu Xiaoran beat Fang Jihai, Qiuniu also felt the pressure.

After not seeing her for so many years, despite being familiar in the past, he could no longer fathom her strength.

Bai Mingwu came on stage. He pulled out his weapon, which was a polearm.

As for Qiuniu’s weapon, it shocked many people when they saw it. Most of his body was covered in thick pale gold armor that included his legs, torso, and arms.

On his right hand, he had a huge glove that was as long as half a person and it was as thick as an adult's waist. This glove was like the barrel of a cannon. It was also pale gold in color. Behind the glove, there were three sharp blades!

Each blade was 1.5m long and they were half a palm's width wide. With the three blades side by side, it was like a giant claw!

On Qiuniu's left hand, there was a pale gold shield that was a meter in diameter!

Seeing Qiuniu in such an attire, many people were stunned. This was too ridiculous!

The armor and weapon made Qiuniu look like a moving castle!

"Boom!"

Qiuniu jumped onto the stage. With a metallic thud, the purple tungsten tiles trembled under Qiuniu's feet!

"Heavens! How heavy is that!?"

People were shocked. The purple tungsten tiles were three meters wide and a foot thick each and they were extremely heavy. With them lined up side by side, they were extremely solid. But Qiuniu could cause them to tremble just by jumping on them...

"This armor..." Bai Mingwu glanced at Qiuniu and raised his polearm. "How are you going to keep up with my speed in such an attire?"

Qiuniu grinned and said, "I'm not good at anything. I just have a bit more strength. Only by wearing this can I accentuate my advantage..."

"Heh!" Bai Mingwu smiled coldly, "Then let's try it!"

A soon as the match started, Bai Mingwu attacked. He used his movement skills to form a series of shadows!

He wanted to defeat Qiuniu using his speed!

In that attire, Qiuniu may have great physical strength, but he was slow.

Bai Mingwu moved like the wind, while Qiuniu stood motionless. Bai Mingwu did not belittle Qiuniu. With Chu Xiaoran defeating Fang Jihai, he had the perfect example. He did not want to follow in Fang Jihai's footsteps by being defeated by a rookie.

It would be too embarrassing!

"Whew!"

A polearm beam flew into the sky and it began moving around like a whip. Bai Mingwu's polarm had been infused with a lot of Yuan Qi, which turned it emerald in color.

"It's the Bai family's 'Mystic Jade Heart Sutra'!" Someone shouted.

In the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, many family clans had their own secret techniques. None of these secret techniques should be underestimated. A family had its own heritage, which allowed them to train up their future generations. Through inter-marriage and obtaining good bloodlines, a family clan would slowly flourish.

A good set of cultivation techniques was the cornerstone of a family clan.

A warrior with a weak cultivation technique compared to a someone with a strong cultivation technique would be crushed if everything else was equal!

The 'Mystic Jade Heart Sutra' was also a cultivation technique with a great reputation. It was not weaker than the Liu family's 'Star Picking Hand'!

And Liu Yuxing who had used the 'Star Picking Hand' was just a rookie. How could he be as well-versed in a cultivation technique compared to a senior cultivator like Bai Mingwu?

"Swish!"

Bai Mingwu instantaneously appeared in front of Qiuniu. With the polearm raised, he slashed at Qiuniu's neck. The pole arm's beam went from top to bottom, it looked like a emerald-green lightning blast was flying towards Qiuniu!

Everyone stared wide. This attack was extremely powerful!

Facing Bai Mingwu's deathblow, Qiuniu shouted out loudly. That tumultuous sound wave spread throughout the stage like thunder spreading across the sky!

With all his body's strength circulating, he lifted his left arm!

"Dang!"

A deafening rumble sounded out. Qiuniu's shield had blocked Bai Mingwu's attack!

With a deafening bang, the emerald-green beam exploded. The purple tungsten tiles under Qiuniu's feet trembled. The huge impact had caused two craters to form in the purple tungsten around Qiuniu’s feet!

But Qiuniu did not retreat even one step!

"This strength!"

Seeing Qiuniu use the shield on his left hand to block Bai Mingwu's strike, everyone was shocked and their jaws almost fell apart. Bai Mingwu had used both hands to move the polearm and together with the "Mystic Jade Heart Sutra", the power of the blow was imaginable.

Yet, Qiuniu managed to block it with his single left hand and he did not retreat once. What sort of strange strength was this?

If it was an average person, just using an arm shield to block a polearm infused with the "Mystic Jade Heart Sutra" would have broken the bones in his arm!

"You..."

Bai Mingwu contracted his pupils. The impact had caused his palm to feel numb from the tremor.

A polearm was a heavy weapon and it was very hard. He could not endure this for long, "This kid, I don't believe his arm is totally fine..."

Just as he was thinking this, Bai Mingwu suddenly realized that Qiuniu had grabbed his polearm.

After blocking the polearm with his left hand, Qiuniu had used his right hand to grab the polearm. He had lodged himself in position with the polearm's shaft.

"This weapon is now mine..." Qiuniu grinned. "If I grab any weapon, you can’t take them out of my hands!"

What!?

Hearing Qiuniu's words, a vein popped out on Bai Mingwu's forehead.

"You are too arrogant!" Bai Mingwu shouted and then he began circulating the "Mystic Jade Heart Sutra", which caused his Yuan Qi to burst out. With his hands on the polearm, he pulled back with force!

Peng!

The "Mystic Jade Heart Sutra"'s Yuan Qi burst out, but...the polearm was still in Qiuniu's hand. It was like the polearm was stuck in Qiuniu’s hand.

"You..." Bai Mingwu stared with widened eyes. Qiuniu’s strength was too terrifying!

He did not believe in heresy. As he madly powered up his "Mystic Jade Heart Sutra", his Yuan Qi roared out like a tsunami, but Qiuniu's hands were like a black iron casted vice. It refused to release its grapple on the polearm. No matter how much the polearm resisted, it was like a snake that was stuck in a hole, it was unable to move.

This...What happened?

Beads of sweat began forming on Bai Mingwu’s forehead.

It was the first time he could not pull his weapon back after it had been grabbed. It was also the first time he faced an opponent who had used such a technique!

Using his enormous strength, he grabbed the weapons of others! How was one to fight that?

At this point, Bai Mingwu suddenly felt a surge of strength flow through the polearm. The polearm was raised up high. Bai Mingwu, who held on to the polearm, suddenly felt his legs lift up.

His entire body had been lifted by Qiuniu!

Everyone was shocked when they saw this scene. They were speechless. They never expected that this match would end up this way.

From afar, all one could see was Qiuniu wearing heavy armor, with his body as immovable as a mountain. He had inclined his arm upwards, lifting Bai Mingwu and the polearm up. It was like he was holding a lollipop.

True Martial World - Chapter 228: Hard-Soft

The entire Divine Wilderness Stage, that was a hundred feet in radius, was engulfed by a thick fiery serpent. The fire serpent whipped around the stage with a tumultuous burning sound and it surrounded Chu Xiaoran.

Fang Jihai thrust his spear towards Chu Xiaoran's shoulder!

Fang Jihai's spear was nine foot long and it was made of black iron. On the other hand, Chu Xiaoran was using a sword. Using a sword, which is considered a light weapon, against a spear's strike, it is inevitably inferior in strength!

At that moment, many broke out into a cold sweat for Chu Xiaoran.

However, Chu Xiaoran remained nonchalant within the fiery storm. As Fang Jihai thrust his spear downwards, the thrust threatened to swallow Chu Xiaoran within the flames. Only then, did she make her move!

The four foot long sword had a long yet soft blade. Like a tumbling leaf, it clashed with Fang Jihai's spear.

Oh!?

Using a soft sword to parry a heavy black iron spear!?

People were shocked. How could this happen? Wouldn't this strike from the spear deform Chu Xiaoran's sword, which in turn would break her arm?

Before they could even gasp, they saw a sword beam rise up into the heavens!

Cha!

The engulfing flames were sliced apart by Chu Xiaoran's sword!

Furthermore, Chu Xiaoran had broken Fang Jihai's fire Yuan Qi with her sword. The sword tip came into contact with the black iron spear's shaft.

Suddenly, space seemed to freeze. Fang Jihai's spear was apparently stuck in a mud pool. It was restrained by a sword that was as soft as water. The heavy black iron spear could only bend the sword's blade slightly and it could not go any further!

Chu Xiaoran suddenly pulled out the sword, separating from the spear with ease.

"Boom!"

Fang Jihai's spear slammed into the purple tungsten ground, causing a huge dent.

But at that moment, Chu Xiaoran struck with her sword again!

Her sword reached an extreme speed as it stabbed towards Fang Jihai's heart!

What happened?

Fang Jihai was struck dumb with astonishment. When he crossed weapons with Chu Xiaoran earlier, he felt a very odd feeling. It was as if all his strength had been restrained by Chu Xiaoran.

And he couldn't figure out what method Chu Xiaoran had used.

Now, Fang Jihai had no time to ponder over it. Chu Xiaoran's blade beam was right in front of him!

"Fiery Shield!"

Fang Jihai swept with his spear and a fiery vortex formed in front of him. In that split second, a thick crimson fiery shield was formed!

"Whew!"

Chu Xiaoran's sword sent out a ear-piercing screeching sound and it struck the flame shield!

"Peng!"

Even after the energy impact, Chu Xiaoran's blade beam carried on flying forward. It had broken through the flame shield completely!

The fiery explosion caused a rain of fire to spread out indiscriminately. In it, there was a girl wearing a yellow swan dress, this made the scene look extremely beautiful.

Fang Jihai retreated again and again. He was amazed that his Reckless Fire attack had been blocked by Chu Xiaoran, and then his Fiery Shield had been completely broken by Chu Xiaoran.

How could this girl be this strong!?

Chu Xiaoran began sending a flurry of sword attacks. Fang Jihai rapidly retreated as he tried to use his spear to break through Chu Xiaoran's blade beams.

However, Chu Xiaoran's sword seemed to possess an incredible resilience within it. No matter how strong Fang Jihai's spear beams were, Chu Xiaoran's sword was pervasive. A thin sword Qi pierced through Fang Jihai's Yuan Qi protection, making his whole body feel numb as if he was electrocuted.

"How is this possible...?"

Fang Jihai clearly felt that Chu Xiaoran's Yuan Qi was not better than his, yet he was restrained again and again. He felt that he could not use all of his strength at all.

In the audience when everyone saw this scene, a person suddenly realized, "It's a nomological truth! Didn't you hear? Chu Xiaoran has already gained insight on the 'hard-soft' truth!"

The hard-soft truth was a combination of hardness and softness. Chu Xiaoran's weapon may look like a soft sword, but after Chu Xiaoran gained insight on the hard-soft truth, this soft sword gained incredible strength!

"Swish!"

With the blade beams rising up, Chu Xiaoran forced Fang Jihai into a corner of the ring. Then, an attack came from above, flying directly towards Fang Jihai's head!

Fang Jihai raised his spear to block it.

"Puah!"

Fang Jihai's fiery Yuan Qi was split apart. This sword slashed down on Fang Jihai's spear shaft. The blade carried on with its momentum and it bent the shaft as it carried on towards Fang Jihai like a whip!

Oh!?

Fang Jihai constricted his pupils. He had no way of dodging because it was too close!

The sharp blade beam had broken through Fang Jihai's protective Yuan Qi and it opened a wound across Fang Jihai's chest.

This wound allowed Chu Xiaoran's Qi to rush into Fang Jihai's meridians. With the sword Qi entering his body, Fang Jihai's body trembled as a stream of blood gushed out of his mouth.

Before he could counter, Chu Xiaoran had struck again.

"Peng!"

Chu Xiaoran’s attack completely split Fang Jihai’s protective Yuan Qi apart. He flew back before slamming heavily onto the ground.

Chu Xiaoran wins this battle!

When the referee announced the result, Fang Jihai was dazed. He lost? He lost to a rookie girl, who was 2-3 years younger than him?

He had been training in the Tai Ah Divine City for 2 years, yet he could not compete with someone who just arrived in the Tai Ah Divine City!

Many rookies in the audience, looked at each other. They were all supporters of Chu Xiaoran and they believed she could win. But they never expected Chu Xiaoran to win so cleanly. And it seemed like she did not use all of her energy.

She had defeated a senior cultivator ranked 3780 without using all of her energy...

Terrifying!

"Amazing...The strength Chu Xiaoran that showed was on a different level compared to those on the rookie rankings! Previously someone ranked 7th on the rookie rankings challenged a senior cultivator ranked in the 5000s and they still lost...but Chu Xiaoran beat someone in the 3700s easily! This gap is too great!"

"And it's said that Qiuniu is on par with Chu Xiaoran, could Qiuniu also have similar strength?"

Many rookies were shocked. They had already heard that while they were doing their miscellaneous jobs, Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran had already entered the Divine Wilderness to hunt desolate beasts. The danger involved was obvious.

Back then, they were just impressed, but they did not know to what extent these two's strength was. But now, it seems that there was a big difference in strength between those ranked third, fourth or fifth on the rookie rankings, even though there is only a very small difference in their rankings!

The other rookies ranked in the top 10 like Liu Yuxing can be ignored. Only Yi Yun had an impressive battle. But he did not have the stunning result like how Chu Xiaoran easily defeated Fang Jihai.

Within the hearts of many, Liu Yuxing could not compare to a senior cultivator like Fang Jihai.

And the rule set by the divine city for the rookie rankings was that fights had to carry on till a winner amongst the rookies was decided!

The divine city had prepared rich rewards to the number one rookie!

Now Chu Xiaoran might seem the strongest, and the only person that could compete with Chu Xiaoran was Qiuniu and possibly Yi Yun...

"Chu Xiaoran has understood the hard-soft truths. This is the foundation of the Defender Duke's family. From a young age, Chu Xiaoran was under the tutelage of good teachers in the Defender Duke's residence. The resources she received were also extraordinary. Compared to us, she's on a completely different level." Someone sighed with emotion. After all, no one could compare with a descendant from a family with great accumulative heritage.

"We might not be able to, but Yi Yun might be able to barely compete. I am really looking forward to Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran's battle. Yi Yun has even weaker roots than us. Although his chances of winning are slim, he can still fight an exhilarating battle. If he can force Chu Xiaoran to use all her strength, then it would be something to be proud of."

Although many were jealous of Yi Yun, some cultivators were impressed with Yi Yun's origins. Those who came from small family clans knew the difficulty of climbing up.

"How is it? Any thoughts?" Baldy Qin asked while stroking his chin as he stood beside Yi Yun. He had always been hypercritical, but he could not help but praise Chu Xiaoran's performance.

Yi Yun smiled and nodded, "She is indeed strong..."

In the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, there were all sorts of hidden monsters. If this was three months ago, when he just arrived in the Tai Ah Divine City, Yi Yun would feel like he could do nothing against a person like Chu Xiaoran.

They were of a completely different level!

Chu Xiaoran had great sword play, cultivation techniques and had gained insight on a nomological truth. As for states like the Tempered Body, Dragon Pulse, even a pea-sized brain could figure out that Chu Xiaoran had reached them earlier on.

Back then, Yi Yun with only his large success stage of Minute Subtlety would have no advantage against Chu Xiaoran. They were from completely different realms.

But now, everything was different. With the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique', it had filled the gap in Yi Yun's many shortcomings.

Now, Yi Yun deeply understood the importance of cultivation techniques and nomology. It could increase a person's strength to an entirely new level.

Without a good cultivation technique and without understanding any nomologies, any amount of energy that his body absorbed would be useless. It was like a group of strong soldiers without a general commanding them. The battle prowess would be greatly reduced.

True Martial World - Chapter 227: Lixiao Association

"Thank you, Brother Xu." Yi Yun cupped his hands at Xu Qingyun.

Xu Qingyun shook his head and said, "It’s a small matter. I just can not stand seeing the Chu royal residence doing such despicable acts!"

Xu Qingyun's carefree attitude gave Yi Yun a pleasant impression.

"What is a soul contract?" Yi Yun asked. It was best to be wary of others, so knowing an additional tidbit of information would always be better.

Xu Qingyun explained, "In some ancient family clans, they have many types of contracts. Once the contract is signed, it will be a soul-binding one. There is no way of removing it. Some of the high-handed contracts can even make you a slave. You would completely lose your own will. Lan Bai, the person from before, wanted you to sign a contract that wasn't that terrible. If it was, the Tai Ah Divine City would not sit idly by, but… once the contract had been signed, you would have to become a servant in the Chu royal residence for several years. There were many unfair terms included within it."

"The Chu royal residence has eyed your potential. The benefits they offered to you may look good now, but once your strength reaches an extraordinary level, the Chu royal residence could trap you for centuries with this contract. They would make you do a lot of things for them."

"Thanks to Brother Xu's tip, I have broadened my horizons."

Besides Yi Yun, Zhou Kui and Song Zijun also felt that they had benefited greatly too. They had to be extremely careful when signing any contract in the future, otherwise, they would suffer the consequences.

"Little Brother Yi, I am also from the Jin Long Wei and I can be considered your senior. In the future, if you have any problems , just come look for me. Also… this old brother wants to give you a heads up. Your future is limitless. Do not sell yourself cheaply for some immediate benefits! Do not frivolously sign contracts, especially those from the large family clans."

Amongst the rookies, Yi Yun was at the top. This implied that in the next five years in the Tai Ah Divine City, Yi Yun would likely reach the Heaven roll’s top five.

Typical cultivators in the Tai Ah Divine City, who attained a position in the Heaven roll’s top five, had a great possibility of being one of the best Human Lords if they did not falter in the future.

Upon reaching this stage, they would receive attention from all of the various large factions in the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom. Wealth and noble titles would be at their fingertips.

Of course, such talents were impossible to rope in with mere wealth and titles of nobility. To rope them in, the factions would have to use cultivation techniques or other treasures.

Xu Qingyun said, "If you wish to join a faction, you can consider joining an association. There is much more freedom in this. This older brother is from the Linxiao Association. If you are interested, I can introduce you."

Xu Qingyun casually said this. But by the side, Zhou Kui and Song Zijun were secretly alarmed.

The Linxiao Association… it was the true number one association in the Tai Ah Divine City. Its influential power was even larger than the Luohuo Association’s power.

The Luohuo Association had many people, but its quality in talent was lacking.

It was allegedly set up by Luo Huo'er on a whim. Due to Luo Huo'er's extreme popularity, many young elites rushed to join the association because of her name. Later on, Luo Huo'er gave up control over the association and she began researching the Desolate Heaven technique by herself. The Luohuo Association was run by key personnel after that.

As for the true elites, most of them chose to go to the Linxiao Association, this included Li Xiao and the Tai Ah Twin Heroes' Qiao brothers.

The Linxiao Association had few people, because they only accepted the best elites!

Zhou Kui felt that it would be difficult for Yi Yun to join the Linxiao Association in his present position. He still lacked the qualifications!

Therefore, he was surprised to find Xu Qingyun appreciating Yi Yun that much.

"Thank you for Brother Xu's appreciation." Yi Yun cupped his hands. In fact, joining an association wasn't too bad. There were no obligations. Also, with people backing him, it would prevent other associations from bullying him.

...

It was the fifth day of the rookie ranking competitions. By this day, all the rookie-rookie battles had been completed. The rookies had a certain understanding of their own strength and their corresponding ranking.

Many rookies were now ranked beyond 10,000. They knew where they stood, so they were not dissatisfied with it.

Having just recently arrived in the Tai Ah Divine City, the people they were competing against were elites. The rookies had a much shorter cultivation time than the others, and they were younger than the others. What did the rookies have that would make them overcome this difference?

They could only take it step by step in a slow fashion.

However, there were some monstrous figures amongst the rookies who had outstanding talent. These people would not stick to their own spot. To them, the fifth day of the rookie competition was when the real fight began!

On this day, they could challenge the senior cultivators that were ranked higher than them!

Those who had been in the Tai Ah Divine City for two to three years were their targets.

To the rookies, these matches were much more exciting than the rookie-rookie battles!

They wanted to see what strength the senior cultivators possessed.

As such, the challenge battles against the senior cultivators began. The grade of the matches were completely different from the ones in the past few days.

Those rookies who ranked in the top 100 to the top 20 came forward to challenge senior cultivators who were in the top 8000, and even in the top 6000.

The battles were in full swing!

However, although the experts amongst the rookies fought beautifully, there were many who lost!

As the saying goes, 'ginger is hottest when it's old', the senior cultivators, especially those ranked in the top 6000 almost never lost when they were challenged.

Rookie after rookie was defeated.

"Hmph, this bunch of rookies, they think that they are marvelous. They have just arrived in the Tai Ah Divine City, they have only been here for a few months and they think they can rise above us? So naive." A senior cultivator said disdainfully.

The recruits that gathered in Tai Ah Divine City every year would have their egos inflated after doing well in the rookie ranking competitions. They wanted to rise up high by battling the veterans.

But most of the time, these people would fail.

Very few veterans in the Tai Ah Divine City were weaklings.

"There are some pretty good ones in this batch of rookies, such as that brat named Yi Yun. He has some talent, but he's still too young. If he dares challenge me, I'll teach him a good lesson." A cultivator, who had spent two years and three months in the Tai Ah Divine City, wiped his long sword and proudly smiled.

His position on the Earth roll of honor hovered around 4000. Amongst the cultivators who had spent more than 2 years in the Tai Ah Divine City, he was considered one of the better ones. It was obvious that he was better than the rookies.

But at that moment, the referee shouted loudly; "Divine Wilderness Stage, 3780, Fang Jihai, come on stage!"

With this shout from the referee, the cultivator wiping his sword was surprised. What? 3780!?

Isn't that someone ranked around 3700 in the Earth roll?

Fang Jihai...

The name flashed within the sword-wiping cultivator's mind. He knew Fang Jihai. They had arrived in the same batch and have spent more than two years in the Tai Ah Divine City. However, Fang Jihai’s strength was higher than his!

Amongst the third year’s, Fang Jihai was considered one of the stronger ones. This name was quite a famous one!

Someone actually dared to challenge Fang Jihai? Someone is courting death?

The youth, who was wiping his sword, looked over to see who was so naive as to court death.

At that moment, he saw a girl in a yellow swan dress appear on the Divine Wilderness Stage like a gust of wind.

"Challenger: 10,001 – Chu Xiaoran!"

Chu Xiaoran! Isn't she one of the two strongest people amongst the rookies?

Hearing Chu Xiaoran's name, the sword-wiping youth froze. So it was Chu Xiaoran who had challenged Fang Jihai. But so what if it was Chu Xiaoran? Did she think that the senior cultivators, who had spent 2-3 years in the Tai Ah Divine City, were here just to enjoy the meals?

Did she think that they, as veterans, could be so easily stepped on?

Chu Xiaoran’s popularity was high amongst the rookies. The moment she appeared on stage, the arena heated up!

Many rookies cheered for Chu Xiaoran!

There were few females in the Tai Ah Divine City, so females were relatively more welcomed. For a person of Chu Xiaoran's stature, and with her great strength, it was pretty much obvious why she was popular.

"Chu Xiaoran is sure to win!" Wave after waves of shouts made many excited in this high level competition.

And right in the middle of the stage, a youth in blue was unmoved hearing these cheers.

"So you are Chu Xiaoran..."

Chu Xiaoran's opponent was Fang Jihai. He looked 15-16 and he held a spear in hand. He stood upright and had an imposing aura.

"Amongst the rookies, you are indeed not bad. In five years time, you will definitely have the opportunity to enter the top 3 of the Heaven and Earth rolls. You might even be number one! But now, it's still too early. I will go all out to defeat you!" Fang Jihai said this before pulling out his spear. Hu!

A heatwave exploded like a tsunami. A flame began burning on the spear! It made it difficult for one to approach it.

Flame control?

People were surprised seeing this. Even Yi Yun stared attentively.

In this world, there were all sorts of cultivation techniques. It was not surprising for a cultivation technique to be able to generate a flame.

For example, in the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique', the Yuan Qi that was condensed was named 'Radiant Sun Qi'. It was also a form of Qi, but its elemental property was not fire, it was pure Yang!

In terms of energy grade, pure Yang was greater than fire!

"This Fang Jihai is quite strong. With his Purple Blood realm level, he can condense a flame with his Yuan Qi. That's pretty amazing. Who do you think will win?" Just this display of Fang Jihai's powers was an eye-opening experience for many rookies. Indeed, none of the senior cultivators were weaklings.

"Of course it’s Miss Chu! But… to win against Fang Jihai, she will probably need to put in some effort..."

Rookies were biased towards Chu Xiaoran; however with Fang Jihai's strength displayed, this battle was probably not going to be easy.

"Junior Chu, the battlefield is heartless. Watch out now!" Fang Jihai raised his spear and charged forward. He raised the long spear above his head and slashed downwards!

"Phew–"

The flame flared up, sending waves of flames that indiscriminately swept the area.

"Reckless Fire!"

Facing Chu Xiaoran, Fang Jihai did not go easy. He used one of his signature moves from the start, so that he could beat Chu Xiaoran as quickly as possible. If he were to take a long time to battle a rookie, and actually end up failing miserably at such an easy task, it would be extremely embarrassing.

True Martial World - Chapter 226: Xu Qingyun

Song Zijun could not tell what the real killing move of the 'Star Picking Hand' was. Many of the youths present couldn’t tell either.

This made Song Zijun feel like a failure. There was a saying that a bystander sees through everything, but him being a bystander could not understand what happened. If Liu Yuxing had used the 'Star Picking Hand' against him, the outcome was obvious.

He wouldn't even know how he died.

Yi Yun said, "The 'Star Picking Hand' is a finger technique that is hidden within the sword technique… The sword technique was just a farce to cover it up."

The essence of the 'Star Picking Hand' was to condense Yuan Qi. This Yuan Qi would then be able to move objects, and could also be used to kill an enemy.

The two words 'Star Picking' described the result of cultivating the 'Star Picking Hand' to an extreme. One could use this Yuan Qi to pick the stars from the sky.

Of course, this was just an exaggeration.

Under unexpected conditions, the 'Star Picking Hand' indeed did wonders. But if the other opponent was prepared against it, its effectiveness would be greatly reduced.

That was why the Liu family tried so hard to hide the effects of the 'Star Picking Hand' attack. This made many inexperienced young warriors unclear on how the 'Star Picking Hand' worked.

Liu Yuxing's sneak attack on Yi Yun was well done in all aspects. Unfortunately, Yi Yun had not only formed the Heaven's eyeball, he also had the Purple Crystal within his body. He was extremely sensitive to energy.

Liu Yuxing's intangible force attack was invisible to the naked eye; but in Yi Yun's vision, this intangible force attack was practically like a flame in the night sky. How could such an obvious attack catch Yi Yun by surprise?

This was why Liu Yuxing was doomed to fail.

"So that's the reason..." After hearing Yi Yun's words and thinking back to the scenes when Yi Yun fought against the 'Star Picking Hand', Song Zijun finally understood the principles behind the 'Star Picking Hand'.

In fact, cultivation techniques that employed sneak attacks were not the best. When it reached the levels of sages, with their Heaven's Eye fully opened, their senses would be so sensitive that it would not be easy to attack them in a sneaky fashion.

Yi Yun sat in his own seat. In the following matches, no one dared to challenge Yi Yun.

Even Liu Yuxing was beaten to a pulp by Yi Yun with his one brick. What was there for them to fight? Going on stage with Yi Yun was just asking to be beaten.

Having spent a large sum of dragon scale runes to make themselves unhappy, those who had previously challenged Yi Yun were too deep in tears.

Yi Yun sat in his seat, and every time it came to his turn, he did not need to stand up because the other party would immediately throw in the towel.

Having beaten Liu Yuxing, Yi Yun won 15 matches in a row.

Following that, it was 18 matches, 19 matches, 20 matches...

Without any doubt, Yi Yun won 20 consecutive matches, winning him the bet with the Hongdao Association.

Li Hong's face had already frozen up.

What else could he say at this point?

Among the rookies, Yi Yun had already reached the top. The only people who could compete with Yi Yun was probably Chu Xiaoran or Qiuniu!

Li Hong could only admit his failure.

"Brother Hong, we sure lost miserably this time..."

A Hongdao Association member said to Liu Yuxing with a gloomy expression. He had lost 1200 dragon scale runes. These dragon scale runes were obtained from pawning his items and borrowing from his friends.

Now that the match results were set, those friends came to press for payment. After all, the Tai Ah Divine City did not protect any loans between cultivators.

Thinking of that sum of dragon scale runes, the Hongdao Association member felt bitter. How was he to return it?

Li Hong stayed silent. He estimated that in the next few matches, Yi Yun's wealth would accumulate to more than 100,000 dragon scale runes.

A rookie managed to earn 100,000 dragon scale runes in the Tai Ah Divine City within a few months. It was a heaven defying feat!

Li Hong was correct in his estimations. After the third day's matches ended, the dragon scale runes Yi Yun accumulated had officially exceeded 100,000.

Adding the dragon scale runes he had previously spent, Yi Yun's total of dragon scale runes reached 120,000.

This amount of dragon scale runes allowed him to enter the Man roll of honor!

The Man roll of honor's method of calculating was to add up a person's present dragon scale runes amount and all the expenditures they’d previously made in the Ten Thousand Pagoda and the various cultivation grounds in the Tai Ah Divine City. With the total amount, one was ranked on the Man roll of honor.

Glory points were not included in the Man roll of honor. This was because the Man roll of honor assessed the cultivator's ability to earn wealth in the future. As for glory points, most of it was awarded to cultivators after they completed an achievement. It did not embody the ability to earn wealth, so it was not included.

Since the Man roll of honor calculated the total accumulation of wealth, it was more advantageous the longer someone stayed in the Tai Ah Divine City.

Typically, a cultivator who had lasted in the Tai Ah Divine City for 2-3 years with reasonable strength would earn about 100-200 dragon scale runes a day. This added up to about 40,000-50,000 dragon scale runes a year.

Yi Yun's 120,000 dragon scale runes was no doubt number one amongst the rookies. Even among the second and third year cultivators, Yi Yun exceeded a vast majority of them.

Now, Yi Yun's ranking on the Man roll of honor was around 6000, somewhere in the middle!

It was a first to reach a ranking of 6000 in three months for the past few centuries in the Tai Ah Divine City.

In time, Yi Yun's reputation in the Tai Ah Divine City became even more prominent. Many of the powerful senior cultivators began to pay attention to Yi Yun.

Initially, they thought Yi Yun had only good luck, but now, by using his Heaven Upheaval Seal to put down Liu Yuxing, it proved his terrifying potential.

Such a person was bound to skyrocket in the future!

"Are you Yi Yun?"

On the third night, after the arena's competition finished, Yi Yun, Zhou Kui, Song Zijun and company went to have dinner. A youth with curly hair appeared before Yi Yun.

"Oh?" Yi Yun glanced at the youth. He saw a faint smile on the other party's face. He looked extremely friendly.

"It's me." Yi Yun said.

"Ha! Nice to meet you!" The curled hair youth cupped his hands at Yi Yun. "My name is Lan Bai. I'm from the Chu royal residence. I had previously reported Brother Yi's news to my family. Our elder is very interested in Brother Yi. In a few more months, there will be a short vacation for the rookies. I wonder if Brother Yi would have the interest to come to our Chu royal residence for a visit?"

While saying that, the curled hair youth handed Yi Yun a jade scroll.

Yi Yun was stunned for a moment. He interfaced his spiritual energy within the jade scroll and scanned through the jade scroll's contents. He immediately understood the curled hair youth's purpose. He was representing the Chu royal residence to pull him in. The letter promised many benefits to Yi Yun.

A mid-sized city fiefdom under the jurisdiction of the Chu royal residence, a large tract of arable land, a luxurious mansion and nearly a thousand servants.

Every year, the Chu royal residence would provide Yi Yun with a considerable amount of elixirs, relics, a variety of armor, weapons and magical items.

As for the last line, the Chu royal residence even promised to give seven stunning beauties to Yi Yun after his fifteenth birthday as his concubines.

And the condition was for Yi Yun to be a guest of the Chu royal residence.

Yi Yun was stunned. He had been roped in!

This was really the first time he had encountered such a thing.

Although Zhou Kui and Song Zijun, who were standing beside Yi Yun, did not know the contents of Yi Yun's jade scroll, they could easily guess that the other party was roping Yi Yun in. Their hearts were filled with envy.

This was the difference between a top genius and an average genius...

Yi Yun was being snatched up after being in the Tai Ah Divine City for three months.

"How is it? Are you satisfied?" The curled hair youth rubbed his hands, awaiting Yi Yun's reply. However, at that moment, a pleasant male voice rang out. It gave the feeling of a fresh Spring breeze.

"Lan Bai, it's been awhile since I've seen you. Why haven't you improved at all. Here you are cheating rookies again!"

Yi Yun turned around in shock. All he saw was a green-shirted youth walking over. This youth looked eighteen years old. His eyebrows looked sharp, his teeth were white and he had a heroic aura.

Seeing the green-shirted youth, Lan Bai's face immediately turned ugly. He opened his mouth and said with a dry tone.

"Xu… Xu Qingyun..."

Oh? Xu Qingyun!?

Upon hearing this name, Yi Yun was shocked.

Fourth on the Heaven roll of honor, Xu Qingyun was him!?

Yi Yun had a strong impression on Xu Qingyu. He was ranked top five in both the Heaven and Earth rankings!

Xu Qingyun was already in the Tai Ah Divine City for five years, and this year was his last year.

He was a senior cultivator to the very core!

Song Zijun and Zhou Kui were stunned. To rookies like them, Xu Qingyun's stature was too high. They had no chance of interacting with him.

The recent rookie ranking competition, which was filled with shocking events had many events that made the headlines, attracted many to the arena to take a look no matter who was competing.

But to those who ranked in the top hundred of the Heaven and Earth rolls of honor, such a competition was nothing. There was no reason for them to pay heed. This was because the difference between their strength and the rookies were too great!

The curled-hair youth laughed without any humor and smiled saying, "Brother Xu must be joking. I'm not cheating any rookies."

"Ah." Xu Qingyun swept the jade scroll in Yi Yun's hands. In a blink of an eye, he finished reading the contents within. He shook his head with disgust and said, "This again. Giving such small benefits to cheat rookies into signing a soul contract with your Chu royal residence. You guys sure calculated it well..."

"Oh? Soul contract?" Yi Yun quickly thought. Just from the name, he could roughly guess what it was.

It appeared that the benefits offered by the curled-hair youth was on condition of signing a soul contract.

This curled-hair youth may not have explained the soul contract clearly, but Yi Yun was better. He was mature in his thinking, and he had ambitious goals, so he was not easily fooled. Other rookies, who were just thirteen or fourteen years old, would have poor discernment. Together with supreme beauty sex cultivation slaves and all sorts of possible temptations, it was not impossible to be conned.

"In the Tai Ah Divine City, besides fighting, other things can also be sinister..."

Yi Yun shook his head in his mind. When the curled-hair youth came forward with a friendly smile, Yi Yun could not completely tell what the other party was up to.

"You better leave this place immediately, or else..." Before Xu Qingyun finished his words, the curled-hair youth laughed without any humor and said, "Brother Xu, Brother Xu, my bad. I'll disappear right now!"

After saying this, the curled-hair youth bowed and retreated.

Yi Yun glanced at Xu Qingyun with surprise. This Xu Qingyun didn't seem to have the airs of an expert.

Dual Sword God - Chapter 68: Soul Eater Ghost Fiends!

The heavens shook, as massive ripples of energies pulsated throughout the sky. A massive golden door that gave off an ancient noble aura was currently being bombarded by rays of green ominous energies that beamed from a mass of dark clouds that surrounded the entirety of the sky.

As these beams and the golden energy pulsations collided with each other, the world below began to fall into turmoil, as ripples of fragmented Dao Truths began to lay waste to this region of the world.

The Rogue Practitioners and Major Influences that were gathered on their floating platforms were tossed in a state of confusion, as the weaker practitioners that were affected by the nefariously cold energies that lingered in the vicinity couldn't properly maneuver an avoid the Dao Truth ripples, thus creating a calamity.

"Argh!" a scream rang out as a lower tier expert was bombarded by straying green ominous energies that scattered from their collisions with the door, within a very short moment his body was corroded as corpse qi soon began to shroud his form his soul dissipating into nothingness.

The surrounding experts who barely managed to avoid these attacks seeing this scene were stunned as fear began to fill their hearts.

"Quickly, run away!" one individual said as he recovered his composure running further away from the beams and door fluctuations. A pity, however, the platform they stood on was too high in the air as was closely located at the edges of the Chosen Battle Platform.

"What the hell is going on? Who dares to interfere in the Golden Dragon Empires affairs?" Xun Yanshan said as he channeled his powers creating a barrier that covered the entirety of his group members. The other powerful Major figures quickly followed and did the same which after a short moment caused the casualties within the area to fall.

A few powerful Rogue Cultivators quickly grouped together creating a massive barrier that covered all practitioners on their platforms. amirjianva.blogspot.com

As he saw that the casualties had lessened a sneer could be seen on Xiang Shu's face as he glanced towards the crowd and spoke once more. "Foolish humans! You think by placing up barriers you will be able to survive today's purging. Naive, not only will your struggled to prove futile, each of you will be offered as a sacrifice to rising of my Soul Eater Ghostfiend Clan. Jie Jie Jie Jie! I must have a look to see who will survive today!"

The moment he finished his statement, a few individuals who were observing the ancient door finally focused their gazes towards him in shock.

"Soul Eater Ghostfiend Clan! It's actually that clan, how can they still exist?!" exclaimed an aged practitioner with both surprise and fear in his eyes.

"Damn! How could a force like this be here? Remnants of that terrifying Pre-Calamity Race?!" said Xun Yanshan as he looked at Xiang Shu with shock.

The Midnight Temple man, Southern Revolution Factioner strange elder, Xuan Lie, Xin Zhu, Tang Lie, and all other Major Influential characters became solemn as the tension in the air became so thick it began to congeal into visible energies.

On the side of the Feng Clan, was a fiery looking red barrier that covered all members of the clan, Feng Yunlong, Feng Junling, Feng Xingyu and all core members and elders looked at the scene with knitted brows.

Miren Fei who was at the side looked at Feng Junling and asked. "Senior, what is this Soul Eater Ghostfiend Clan?"

Hearing her question Feng Junling responded calmly. "This is a clan from ancient times, said to have been one of the few high-class Fiend Races from the Pre-Calamity Era. It is said that in order to cultivate they would eat the souls of any living creatures the stronger the souls the faster their growth, but this isn't the most terrifying thing about this clan. Their bodies are elusive and have no real form enabling most attacks incapable of affecting them, because of this, it is said that they are capable of seizing bodies. Thus, enabling themselves to continuously incarnate into new forms over and over again giving them an almost inexhaustible lifespan."

As Miren Fei and Lang Kuang heard this they became stunned as they looked at the floating form of Xiang Shu with fear.

"This Xiang Shu is he..." as Lang Kuang was inquiring about Xiang Shu, Feng Junling responded.

"Yes, he is precisely a newly incarnated ghost clan expert, the thing that worries me now though is which class expert he is?" said Feng Junling as he looked at Xiang Shu with deep eyes.

"Junling, protect the others, I will be retrieving Yu'er from the formation the moment he lets his guard down," said Feng Yunlong as he silently channeled his energy.

As the woman in white stood on her platform, she couldn't help but frown as the scene with WhiteMask appeared once more within her thoughts. The words that WhiteMask said soon quickly resounded within her mind once more.

"What say you, speaker? Shall you only continue to speak?" as these words ended, a bright light shone instantly changing the scene to that of another, there was a divine place, a place that was shrouded with pure holy energies. There were bright golden clouds that blanketed the world as far as one could see, as a brilliant star shone an apex of heavens towering above the world. It was an unusual star, filled with energies gathered from a myriad of places, streams of runic symbols lit up brightly in this star as if it was constantly calculating all things.

A pillar stood at the center of this world within this sea of clouds, it extended out passing through the heavens reaching the apex of the sky. A woman with a unique aura stood calmly on this pillar with her back turned as she spoke softly.

"Destiny is what you make it..." as she said this, ripples of energies rang out which covered the woman white's vision as she quickly awakened from her dazed stated and looked towards the door with a firm light in her eyes.

"Jing Yi, Jing Er, it is time for us to make our moves, we cannot let the fruit of our ancestors fall into hands of outer races." said the woman in white as she turned into a stream of white light that beamed towards the door.

"Yes, Young Lady Mingyun!" replied the two individuals in white that stood beside her, quickly they followed her into the air by using artifacts to soar through the air as they flew towards the ancient door in the sky.

Xiang Shu who had now moved his gaze back towards Feng Yu and Zang Xu was about to take action.

Bang!

A terrifying cloudly aura spread out from his form as it pressured both Feng Yu and Zang Xu causing them grit their teeth and struggle to remain standing.

"Shit! He is far too powerful, what kind of strength is this?" said Feng Yu as he felt the bones within his body on the verge of being broken, quickly circulated his Nirvana Flame Cultivation Technique to the max as he drew on the power of his bloodline to resist the pressure.

Zang Xu revolved his secret technique causing a dominating spear aura to cover his form enabling him to resist the pressure.

"Well!... You two are more powerful than I'd originally thought, capable of resisting my energies. A pity, in front of true strength all, is use----" Xiang Shu said in surprise as he looked at both Feng Yu and Zang Xu. He was about to continue his statement but was soon distracted as he furrowed his brows, looking towards the 3 light beams soaring towards the ancient door that was being bombarded.

"Eh? It's this woman again, a True Soul Realm expert in this area. Who is she?" Xiang Shu said in shock as he saw her flying along with her guards, the surrounding practitioners and major characters looked at her in surprise.

"She was this powerful!" said Xun Yanshan as he looked at her in shock, Xuan Lie and the others also revealed similar reactions.

"Damn! No matter who you are I will not allow for any hindrances to my plan, Gui Sheng, Guǐ Mei, Gui Zi. Attack! Stop that woman and kill the humans immediately!" said Xiang Shu as his voice sounded throughout the world.

As he saw they saw this opportunity, a light flash in both Feng Yu and Zang Xu's eyes as they both turned into a streak of golden red light and silver light separately instantly appearing in front of the distracted Xiang Shu.

"Extremity Dual Path - Thunder Flash Blazing Swords! " Feng Yu roared as his sword turned into streaks of blazing lightning that slashed towards Xiang Shu's form.

"Absolute Monarch Spear!" Zang Yu roared as his aura congealed into a giant spear that shot towards Xiang Shu at incredible speeds.

Xiang Shu who now noticed their attacks was surprised as he responded. "You dare!" as he realized he didn't have enough time to place up a more powerful defensive measure, he waved his hands to quickly create a barrier of dark wind essence-energies.

BOOM! a loud explosion occurred within battle platform which instantly generated shockwaves that send all three forms flying into the air at opposite directions, however, as each of them powerful they quickly recovered by maneuvering through the air.

Sou! Sou! Sou!

Like a ghostly shade, Xiang Shu transported from the few meters in the distant reappearing at his previous location along with Feng Yu and Zang Xu who appeared shortly after. If one were to look closely, they would see that while Xiang Shu's body was severely injured his wounds began to heal itself at an alarming rate. However, the area where Feng Yu's attack collided was unable to properly heal as fogs of nefarious power was slowly being corroded by the lingering lightning and flame essence-energies.

Zang Xu looked at Xiang Shu with a deep gaze as he spoke. "Such a powerful self-recovery ability, the Soul Eater Ghostfiend Clan is as terrifying as the rumors say indeed."

Feng Yu who stood beside Zang Xu nodded his head, he looked at the hard to heal chest area of Xiang Shu and send a voice transmission to Zang Xu. "Em. However, It looks like he is weak to sacred fire, and lightning elemental attacks. Do you have any attacks of this nature in your spear legacy?"

"I have one more attack, but it is of a holy power. I will have to try it and see if it is capable of hindering his healing abilities along with your techniques," replied Zang Xu as he once more hoisted his spear with a sharp gleam in his eyes.

"Good! Let's go don't give him any more time to recover," said Feng Yu as he quickly channeled his sacred flame energies once more and shot towards Xiang Sh, not wasting any time Zang Xu also turning into a beam of silver light shooting towards Xiang Shu as well.

"Damn! This weak mortal body, why didn't I take a more powerful body. Its resistance to sacred power and lightning is too low. Shit! If I leave this body to restore to my corporeal form I will lose the chance to seize this token," as he saw his injuries Xiang Shu was filled with regret, he looked at the two approaching him at full speeds and a wave anger instantly overcame him as he shouted.

"You damn humanities! How dare you injure me! Prepare to die! "as Xiang Shu said this, his body began to emit a powerful ghostly energy quickly he vanished appeared in front of the approaching Feng Yu and Zang Xu as he launched a series of ghostly attacks.

Massive 'booms' rang out as they battled within the battle arena laying waste to wherever they appeared. However, as they fought amongst themselves the situation outside of the battle arena began to change.

As Feng Yunlong was about to rush towards the battle arena, and the woman in white with her group was about to reach the ancient door. A powerful ghostly aura that could shake world filled the area as three individuals appeared above the chosen battle arena.

A handsome looking man with blond hair dressed in decorated clothing, with two women that stood by his side one with bride purple hair and a curvaceous body and another with a slender petite form with long black hair. Looking closely, each of their eyes glowed with eerie green light as a dark nefarious smile was worn on each of their faces.

The woman in white seeing the individuals before her frowned as she thought. "How troublesome! A True Soul Expert and two late-stage Warrior realm Soul Eater Ghostfiends."

"He He! The leader has been careless, to have your mortal form be injured by baby humans!" the purple haired woman named Gui Zi as she giggled while looking towards the injured form of Xiang Shu in the battle arena that was battling fiercely against Feng Yu and Zang Xu. The handsome man named Gui Sheng hearing his spoke.

"This is no time for bantering, wait until after the mission." as he said this he moved his vision towards the woman in white and everyone who stood below them and spoke once more. "Jie Jie! Humans, you should be honored to die within to our Master Gui Shifu's Ten Thousand Cloudy Corpse Formation. Activate!..."

The world shook, as terrifying darkness descended once again...