True Martial World - Chapter 248: Truth of the Laws

"You want Yi Yun to bet his copy of the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique'? Yang Dingkun, you sure have a big appetite!" Hearing Yang Dingkun's plans, Hu Tou also felt tempted. He too had no chance to cultivate the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique'.

The 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' was too difficult to cultivate. Only one in five people cultivating the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' could master it.

And people like Hu Tou might have the wealth to exchange for the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique', but even after exchanging the precious resources for it, the chances of them failing to learn it was high.

To pay so many glory points and dragon scale runes for such an improbable possibility, Hu Tou could not make the resolute decision as the cost was too high.

"Of course, treasures belong to those who are capable of keeping them! The 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' in Yi Yun's hands is a deliberate waste of a heavenly treasure. I have the royal bloodline, and since the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' was originally the cultivation technique of my royal household, it will be easy for me to cultivate it!"

"Although it has to be returned within six months after you win me the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique', it will be enough. I am confident that I can master the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' in less than six months!"

Yang Dingkun had considerable confidence in himself.

Hu Tou’s mouth twitched when he heard this. This rascal sure could brag, he wants to master it in less than six months? Was he not afraid that the bragging words he said might choke him? No one has mastered the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' within six months in the past decade!

But even if Yang Dingkun could not master the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' in six months, it would allow Yang Dingkun to determine whether he was suitable to learn the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' or not.

If he was not suitable, he could give up on it. As such, it wouldn’t waste his glory points. So no matter what happened, Yang Dingkun would still benefit from it.

"You want to get the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' from Yi Yun, then what do you plan on using as a stake?" Li Hong asked.

Yang Dingkun gave a confident smile and said, "Naturally, I have something that will entice the kid! Besides that, I can lend you 30,000 dragon scale runes, as an additional bet against Yi Yun. This is just a loan, you need to repay it in the future!"

30,000 dragon scale runes were for Li Hong to recoup his losses. If he could win this amount, Li Hong would be able to catch a breather.

Li Hong contemplated it before slowly nodding his head. Yi Yun would not feel the pinch if he were to lose 30,000 dragon scale runes, but if he were to lose the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique', Yi Yun would definitely feel the pinch to the point of dying.

Li Hong wanted to let Yi Yun know the feeling of suffering such a great loss.

He stretched out five fingers and said, "50,000! Lend me 50,000 dragon scale runes!"

Since the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' was already bet, Li Hong did not dare to use glory points as a stake. It would be too ridiculous.

Li Hong's limit was 50,000 dragon scale runes .

Yi Yun might still have hidden strength, hoping to cheat him. But how could Li Hong not have any hidden strength?

It was time to use all the trump cards!

"Yi Yun must think that I have fallen for his trap, but no one knows that I had a great breakthrough in the past month! Neither one of us knows the other's hidden card. What makes you think I will lose to you!"

With this thought in mind, Li Hong became more resolute.

...

After Yi Yun defeated Chu Xiaoran, obtaining first place amongst the rookies, Yi Yun's fame in the Tai Ah Divine City was said to be unrivaled!

Many large family clans' lobbyists began arriving, hoping to rope in Yi Yun as a guest in their faction. Many of these factions had given various favorable terms for Yi Yun. Some even did not need Yi Yun to sign a contract. All they wanted was a verbal commitment from Yi Yun.

But Yi Yun rejected all of them.

Back when Yi Yun was in the Cloud Wilderness, he wanted to join a faction in order to obtain resources. But now, in the Tai Ah Divine City, Yi Yun could earn them using his own efforts. His strength was skyrocketing everyday, so there was no reason to join a faction and allow himself to be controlled by others.

As Yi Yun was having his dinner, before he went to the saber tomb again, he noticed a few pretty and slim girls walk past. They were talking and joking as they held their meal trays. In the middle of these girls was Zhao Qingcheng.

Zhao Qingcheng noticed Yi Yun and she gave him a surprised smile, "Little Brother Yi Yun! You are here too!"

"Oh..." Just as Zhao Qingcheng uttered the last word, she suddenly realized something and stopped herself before saying, "I can't call you that anymore. You are already the number one rookie!"

Thinking of her first meeting with Yi Yun three months back, Zhao Qingcheng had mixed emotions. Who would have expected that the naive-looking little brother could develop into such an outstanding figure!

The girls’ eyes lit up when they heard that Zhao Qingcheng knew Yi Yun. Soon, they surrounded Yi Yun, trying to get Zhao Qingcheng to introduce Yi Yun to them.

These girls did not wait for Yi Yun's reply and they simply sat beside Yi Yun or opposite him with their trays. Immediately, the table was full with an aromatic crowd of young girls.

The girls simply ignored eating and only spoke to Yi Yun. They asked Yi Yun various questions in an excited manner. This feeling was the same feeling that the girls who chased idols around back in Yi Yun's previous life gave off.

In the vast wilderness, warriors carried more weight than idols. But only the peerless geniuses were the real idols of teenagers. They had countless numbers of admirers and suitors.

"Young Master Yi, are you engaged? Do you have someone you like?" A bold girl went straight to the point, which dumbfounded Yi Yun.

She was too direct.

In this world, mortals began considering marriage at fifteen years of age.

But amongst warriors, there were some who did not get married till they were hundreds of years old due to their sole pursuit for martial arts. But there were others who would decide on a partner when they were in their teens.

Martial arts partners could complement each other in their Yin and Yang through intercourse!

If the two were soulmates, their progress was faster compared to a person who cultivated alone in their pursuit of martial arts.

Upon hearing this question, a vague image appeared in Yi Yun’s mind...

Yi Yun was reminded of Jiang Xiaorou. Yi Yun could not explain it himself. He could not define the feelings he had for Jiang Xiaorou, but there was no doubt that Jiang Xiaorou was the most important person in his life. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

They shared weal and woe, which was an eternal promise!

And after Jiang Xiaorou, Yi Yun thought of another white-dressed figure that rode the wind, Lin Xintong.

In Yi Yun's mind, Lin Xintong was the girl, other than Jiang Xiaorou, that left the deepest impression.

Yi Yun still remembered the scene of the night in the Desolate Human Valley when Lin Xintong mentioned her naturally terminated meridians under the moonlight.

At that moment, Yi Yun could see the sadness on Lin Xintong's face. When he heard Lin Xintong's gentle sigh, he had felt an inexplicable sadness come over him.

"Lin Xintong said there was an important family matter she had to attend to. I have no idea what it is or if it was smoothly handled...Her family clan is probably not in the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom..."

Thinking of this, Yi Yun's mind wandered. He did not pay much attention to the girls who continued asking him questions.

At that moment, a very harsh and aggressive voice rang, pulling Yi Yun back to reality.

"F**k, this kid Yi Yun is going to fight our boss tomorrow, and he is still in the mood to flirt with girls!"

When this voice called out, a few girls immediately stared angrily at the person who said it!

There were four youths, who clearly looked like henchmen, that were standing before Yi Yun's dining table. They were clearly jealous when they saw Yi Yun surrounded by beauties!

These people had maidservants, who served them back in their family clans, that they could easily fool around with, but those maidservants could not be compared to the girls who entered the Tai Ah Divine City.

"Yi Yun! Prepare to die tomorrow! Our President has accepted your challenge. But there must be some bonuses in the match. Our President has told us to tell you that you have to bet your 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' in tomorrow's battle! And another 50,000 dragon scale runes on top of that!"

Although they were afraid of Yi Yun, these henchmen did not appear weak because of their connections with the Hongdao Association. They shouted loudly, causing the entire cook house to hear it.

Betting the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique'! And another 50,000 dragon scale runes!?

This bet was...too ridiculous!

Especially the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique'. Many people knew that Yi Yun had obtained the first three volumes of the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' due to a stroke of luck in picking the primordial herb. Now, before it could even become warm in the hands of Yi Yun, Li Hong was targeting it!

How could one agree to such a bet!?

People stopped eating and stared at Yi Yun.

"Are you afraid? If you are afraid, quickly beg for mercy. Our President can't even be bothered with your trashy strength!"

The few guys began to taunt Yi Yun in fear of his reluctance.

Yi Yun could not be bothered with such an immature taunt.

"The 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique'..." Yi Yun stroked his chin. He did not expect Li Hong to make the stakes so high!

Although Yi Yun was confident that he could beat Li Hong, there was no guarantee in a match between experts. Although Yi Yun had his own trump card, he did not know how great Li Hong's strength was.

This was originally a challenge for Yi Yun!

Only a challenge had the motivating factor. The path of martial arts was a winding road fraught with difficulties!

"Li Hong wants me to bet the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique', then what is his bet? It can't be dragon scale runes!?"

"Hmph! Of course not! The person who wants to bet for your 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' is actually the young prince of the Chu royal residence, Yang Dingkun! The stake he will be placing is the Chu royal residence's secret mystic technique, 'Truth of the Laws'!"

"Oh? 'Truth of the Laws'?" Yi Yun thought about it. At that moment, Zhao Qingcheng, who was beside Yi Yun, covered her mouth without thought.

The 'Truth of the Laws' was a valuable compendium.

It was not a cultivation technique, but it explained the nomological truths generally.

For example, warriors like Chu Xiaoran who had extraordinary perceptivity, managed to gain insights on two laws, hard-soft and frost ice, in the Purple Blood realm.

Although gaining insight on the laws mainly relied on one's self, it was not something that one had to arduously figure out by oneself. To gain insight on laws, there was a slow initial process. And this compendium that described the laws was extremely important!

The Chu royal residence's 'Truth of the Laws' was one of the top nomological compendiums in the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom. And this compendium was obtained by the tenth King Chu in a huge fortuitous opportunity. It was a manual that the Tai Ah Divine City did not have!

This reflected the true value of the 'Truth of the Laws'.

Yi Yun was indeed tempted by this. He still had a lot of shortcomings in the understanding of the laws.

True Martial World - Chapter 247: The son of King Chu

Li Hong had been feeling upset for the past few days.

After being tricked by Yi Yun who was a first year rookie, his reputation in the Tai Ah Divine City was ruined. How could he feel happy?

He was a big brother figure in the Tai Ah Divine City, and in the capital, he was the famous Young Master Hong. The most important thing to him was his face.

Now, his face had been tainted by others.

How could Li Hong feel any comfort? Once a warrior's mind was at an unease, their body's Yuan Qi would also turn chaotic like their mind. So, it was easy to become stuck in their cultivation.

Li Hong was at the critical moment of breaking through to the Yuan Foundation realm, but when this happened, he felt as gross as eating shit.

Li Hong kept thinking of ways to save the situation. However, Yi Yun’s strength was rising rapidly. Although Li Hong was conceited, he still had to admit that in about half a year's time, he would not be able to beat Yi Yun anymore.

Once that happened, it would be even harder to save the situation!

He needed an opportunity to deal with Yi Yun, but...where could he find this opportunity?

As Li Hong was thinking, a disturbance erupted outside, "Brother Hong! Brother Hong! Something big has happened! That kid Yi Yun has challenged you, he wants to fight you in the arena tomorrow!"

A few henchmen were charging into Li Hong's courtyard, like a pack of hungry dogs, as they cried out.

When Li Hong heard this, he was stunned.

"Yi Yun is challenging me?" Li Hong was slow to react.

He was just thinking of getting his revenge on Yi Yun to save his face, but now Yi Yun had taken the initiative to knock on his door?

However, this made him feel odd.

Is this kid mad?

Or was there another reason?

Li Hong's face turned sullen. He had some misgivings about the way that Yi Yun challenged him.

Was it a trap?

"Boss, why are you..."

A few of Li Hong’s henchmen expected him to be fuming mad, laughing heartily when he received the news, cursing at Yi Yun's stupidness and his desire to be beaten up.

They did not expect Li Hong to react in such a manner. It was neither anger nor happiness.

"Did you make a video disk array of Yi Yun’s match?" Li Hong suddenly asked. Although he did not want to be present to watch Yi Yun's match, it was a must to watch the video disk array or he would not be able to understand Yi Yun's strength.

"This..."

The henchmen smacked themselves in the forehead. They had forgotten about it and they were single-mindedly rushing here to inform Li Hong!

"We'll go back and get it." A few henchmen rushed back.

In the Tai Ah Divine City, there were many backups of the recordings of the arena's matches. The more intense the battle, the more backups there were. They could be kept for many years, and so as long as one could pay a small amount of dragon scale runes, they could be rented for viewing.

Soon, these brats obtained a disk array and they rushed back to Li Hong’s courtyard breathlessly.

When they returned, they did not expect to see so many people in Li Hong's courtyard. A large number of the people who were present were part of the backbone of the Hongdao Association. A few of them were also veteran cultivators in the Tai Ah Divine City.

"They..."

When the brats saw these people, they were shocked. They vaguely knew that Li Hong had a wide circle of friends and he had many powerful friends amongst the veteran cultivators.

They were all the people near the top of the Heaven and Earth roll of honors. There was even a person ranked in the top 50 and he was nicknamed "Hu Tou'.

"Oh? It's him, right…?"

The brats saw this tall and thin teenager who looked 17-19 years old. This person had a necklace filled with large beads on his neck, and his arm had a Fierce Divine Tiger tattooed on it.

Hu Tou was a veteran cultivator who had been in the Tai Ah Divine City for about four years. He had long broken through to the Yuan Foundation realm. He still had a year and nine months left before he graduated. By ranking in the top 50 on the Earth roll, he was definitely one of the best amongst his class of cultivators.

"Let's watch it and analyze it." Li Hong was naturally suspicious. He erred on the side of caution by calling people over. Hu Tou, who had great foresight, might even be able to tell if Yi Yun had any hidden strength.

A few henchmen took the disk arrays of Yi Yun's match, and left it on a table for a group of people to gather around it to study it.

Li Hong mainly wanted to obtain the opinions of veteran cultivators like Hu Tou. After analyzing it in all sorts of manner for a long time, they...could not figure anything out.

They could only make some general speculations from Yi Yun's battle. But no matter how hard they looked at it, Yi Yun seemed to have went all out during his battle with Chu Xiaoran.

"Li Hong, I think that the possibility of Yi Yun having any more hidden strength is low. If he can still have hidden strength under such circumstances, then his acting is just too good. He might even have targeted you from the beginning! But he's just a little kid. How can he think of all this when the rookie ranking competition began? Don't forget, he had been at odds with the entire Hongdao Association. A huge group of people from the Hongdao Association had challenged Yi Yun, including Liu Yuxing who was considered one of the best amongst the rookies. Together with the best rookies, Chu Xiaoran and Qiuniu, Yi Yun had to face such opponents. Adding the high stakes bets, he would already be worried over all these things. Do you expect him to have planned such a trap, while handling all those, just to let you, Li Hong jump into it?"

Hu Tou was the first person to express his opinion. What he said was reasonable. Yi Yun was, after all, only thirteen years old. A typical child would be confused when they faced all sorts of complicated problems. If he could even plan a trap at this point of time, and lure Li Hong into it, then he was not normal at all.

Li Hong frowned and said, "Probably..."

If this battle had to be fought, then a bet had to be prepared. Even if he did not want to bet, he still had to do so. By being forced into such a situation, if he did not bet anything, then he would lose all his standing amongst the Hongdao Association's members. The other cultivators in the Tai Ah Divine City would even ridicule him.

But Li Hong had still not thought of the item to bet on. The crux of the issue was he did not have many resources he could use.

As Li Hong was thinking about it, a sudden laughter ranged. "Hahaha! Li Hong, you actually opened a huge conference to discuss if you would lose, just because a rookie is challenging you. Do you have no shame!?"

This sudden voice made Li Hong's face livid.

What the other person said was true. To be frightened before the battle after being challenged by a rookie, and holding such a huge analysis conference, he would lose all face if people found this out.

Li Hong turned angry from embarrassment. Just as he was about to flare up, he saw the person who spoke out and immediately shut up.

The person who walked in was dressed in a Qilin robe, with a nine python belt and moccasins. He had a natural air of nobility from top to bottom.

"Yang Dingkun!" The fifteen year old young man who came was the son of King Chu!

King Chu was a noble who had a long history in the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom. His bloodline could be traced all the way back to the first King Chu, who was the younger brother of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's founding emperor, so his family was also part of the royal family.

Later on, he was enfeoffed with the Chu state, so he became the vassal of the Chu state all the way to the present day.

Now, the Chu state's Yang family had already bloomed into a super family clan. Of course, their blood relations with the emperor had grown distant, but they were still part of the royal family.

Yang Dingkun, who was ranked in the tens on both the Heaven and Earth rolls in the Tai Ah Divine City, was considered a prominent figure.

The Li family that Li Hong was part of, was also related to the Chu royal residence, but through marriage. In some sense, Yang Dingkun was a distant cousin of Li Hong.

Today, Yang Dingkun suddenly appeared and immediately ridiculed him, making Li Hong feel upset.

"Cousin, what are you doing here?" Li Hong asked.

"Haha, I'm here to be your strategist, Cousin. I know you are tight on resources recently. If you want to borrow dragon scale runes, I can lend it to you, but...I have one condition..." Yang Dingkun pulled his words.

"What condition?"

"That is...the first three volumes of the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique'. I want you to win it for me!"

When Yang Dingkun said those words, his eyes lit up!

Yang Dingkun knew that there were rules in the Tai Ah Divine City. The top cultivation techniques, like the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique', could be used as stakes, but this was seldom done in the past.

The 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' cultivation technique jade scroll was very precious and there were a limited number of copies. If a cultivator wanted to exchange dragon scale runes and glory points for the cultivation technique, they were actually renting it for ten months.

In this ten months, the cultivator who rented the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' was free to cultivate the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique', but they could not to lend the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' to other cultivators.

Unless it was lost in a gambling match.

To prevent people from deliberately handing over the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' by gambling, the Tai Ah Sacred Technique had strict rules. Once the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' was used as a bet, not losing it was alright, but once it was lost in a bet, the remaining rental period was reduced by 30%!

This is why very few people would use the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' as a stake.

Once 30% of the time was lost, many cultivators could not afford it. It might not be possible for them to learn it in ten months, what’s more having 30% deducted.

"The 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique'!? You are eyeing Yi Yun's Tai Ah Sacred Technique'!?" Realizing Yang Dingkun's outrageous greed, Li Hong jumped. He quickly calculated what his losses would be if he were to agree to Yang Dingkun's condition.

There was no doubt that if Yang Dingkun wanted the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique', then he had to put up something that was equivalent to the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' as a stake!

If that happened, this would be a great gamble!

Yang Dingkun was crazy enough!

But Li Hong was also confident that he could beat Yi Yun!

"Have you not have the chance to cultivate the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique'?" Li Hong asked.

Although Yang Dingkun was from the Chu royal residence, he was not privileged enough to cultivate the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique'. There were too many children in the Chu royal residence. Even if Yang Dingkun was the heir apparent to the Chu royal residence, he would still not have that privilege!

The 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' jade scrolls were too precious. The Divine Kingdom's royal household only had three or four copies and the rest were stored in the Tai Ah Divine City!

Those who had the ability could compete for a chance to cultivate it, but those who lacked the ability could only stand by the side.

Yang Dingkun angrily said, "Tsk! The Divine City's rules are too rigid. Although I have earned enough glory points and dragon scale runes to exchange for the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique', the price is too high. Once I exchange it, I would be absolutely impoverished!"

"But this kid Yi Yun had great luck in picking herbs, he obtained a large sum of dragon scale runes and glory points because of it. He exchange for the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' just like that. It's completely unfair! Who gave him the right to do so!?"

"He wants to cultivate the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique'? He is a bumpkin from the Cloud Wilderness! Hmph! As a descendant of the royal household, I still haven't even managed to cultivate this royal secret technique. How is this fair!? Once this 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' is in my hands, I will make its glory bloom!"

True Martial World - Chapter 246: Let the Boss Prepare

As Yi Yun spoke to the referee, many of the cultivators present were looking at them. Yi Yun was at the center of attention, so it was even more eye-catching when he spoke to the referee.

The spectators suddenly realized that Yi Yun was submitting his challenge for tomorrow.

"Yi Yun is climbing up the Earth roll!" Someone said excitedly. Yi Yun's next match was definitely going to be exciting. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

"That’s for sure! It is not only Yi Yun, but even Chu Xiaoran should carry on climbing up. With their strength already revealed, they can at least enter the top 2000. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow."

The audience was buzzing with activity. Some were looking forward to it, while others were sullen.

Especially the veteran cultivators who were ranked around the top 2000. They did not look forward to it. Their positions had suddenly become very delicate. If they were unlucky, and got challenged by Yi Yun or Chu Xiaoran, it might become a tragedy for them.

Just from today's battle, they knew that Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran's level of strength was very similar. Neither one of them would be an easy opponent. It was definitely not easy for them to win!

The veterans were older and they had a higher cultivation level. They had been around and about for a longer period of time. It was not admirable for them to beat their opponent by a small margin.

That was just being optimistic. But if one was being pessimistic, they could even lose accidentally, and that would be shameful.

There was no benefit in winning, and losing meant that you would lose a lot of face. No one wanted to be picked for a battle like that!

"I wonder who the kid will challenge..."

Many people began to focus their ears on Yi Yun's words. The arena was very quiet. With the hearing abilities of a warrior, unless there was a sound-proof Yuan Qi forcefield like the one Elder Jian Ge used, they would clearly be able to hear what someone was saying.

At that moment, Yi Yun was still smiling. He did not say anything out loud, but he transmitted his voice, using Yuan Qi, to the referee, "There is still a need to prepare. This is so he does not get surprised..."

The referee found Yi Yun's explanation odd. What did it mean by not being surprised? This was not a battle between two armies. There was no need to set up an array or anything. Unless a warrior was injured, they could enter the arena at anytime.

But as if Yi Yun wanted to be considerate towards his opponent, the referee could only nod his head, "Since you insist, alright. I will inform the person you challenge in advance. Who do you plan on challenging?"

The referee thought that since Yi Yun was being this considerate, the opponent was unlikely to be that strong.

Yi Yun was most likely challenging someone who was ranked around 2100-2200 on the Earth roll. Other cultivators were having similar thoughts as well. After all, Yi Yun still had two matches left tomorrow. After fighting someone in the 2100-2200 ranking, he could secure his rank and then, he could attempt to enter the top 2000 in his second match.

Yi Yun handed over the challenge form that he had already filled to the referee.

The referee received it and glanced at it. Immediately his eyelid twitched, "What? You are challenging Li Hong? The one ranked 1028 on the Earth roll, Li Hong!?"

Li Hong!?

The surrounding cultivators were dumbstruck when they learned who Yi Yun’s next opponent was!

The Hongdao Association's President, Li Hong? Yi Yun actually wanted to challenge him?

Originally, they thought that it would be impressive if Yi Yun challenged someone in the top 2000. But he actually challenged Li Hong, who was ranked at 1028!

What was he thinking!?

Li Hong previously had misgivings with Yi Yun. Two months ago, Li Hong wanted Yi Yun's glory points and he tried to cheat them off Yi Yun. But Yi Yun did not buy his scheme, and became an enemy of his. This was something everyone knew.

But misgivings were just misgivings. This was the Earth roll competition that was determined by a person's strength. Was this challenge just a show of emotions?

Li Hong was no pushover. Out of all the second year cultivators, he was the strongest!

Li Hong had already climbed into the top 1000 in the Heaven roll ranking.

And as for the Earth roll ranking, he had reached 1028 last month.

It was especially difficult to rank up as you get closer to the top 1000 as most of the people were nearly approaching the Yuan Foundation realm. It could be said that their strength was at the extreme peak of the Purple Blood realm.

This included Li Hong himself.

It could be said, without any exaggeration, that the strongest Purple Blood realm warriors in the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom were converged around this ranking. There was intense competition for the places around this position!

There were even some Yuan Foundation realm warriors, who had comparatively poorer cultivation techniques or attack moves, that were ranked below Li Hong!

For Yuan Foundation realm warriors to rank below Li Hong, it showed that Li Hong's strength was great.

"The number one rookie is challenging the second year cultivators' number one...Incredible!" Someone said. Both of them were the best in their respective years, and to challenge someone who was a year above you in such a circumstance was extremely rare in the Tai Ah Divine City.

"Li Hong is only around half a month from breaking through to the Yuan Foundation. Once he breaks through into the Yuan Foundation, there is no doubt that he will enter the top 1000! He might even enter the top 700!"

Li Hong did not manage to enter the top 1000 within a year.

But he still managed to earn a Heaven ranking of 1030 in 13 months and an Earth ranking of 1100.

That was quite terrifying!

It was not every year you had perversely strong people like Chu Xiaoran and Yi Yun.

"Yi Yun challenging Li Hong, why do I feel...Yi Yun can't beat him at all..."

Many people were having such thoughts. Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran's battle was interesting, but they were a distance away from someone ranked just beyond the 1000th place on the Earth roll.

People could understand that Yi Yun had challenged Li Hong out of emotion, but if he were to be beaten up by Li Hong, he might get seriously injured. If that happened, would it not be depressing?

"What is Yi Yun thinking? He probably doesn't know what it means to be around the top 1000 on the Earth roll...Or does he have some more hidden strength?"

"More hidden strength? He’s only in the middle stages of Purple Blood, what more is there to hide? Could he have managed to produce the Aspect before Yuan? That's impossible! The moment he came to the Tai Ah Divine City, he has been working. He never went out to hunt desolate beasts!"

People found it incomprehensible. They felt that Yi Yun was asking to be tortured by challenging Li Hong.

Previously Li Hong had oppressed Yi Yun, but he ended up losing a lot of money to Yi Yun. Li Hong was just thinking of causing trouble for Yi Yun! But, Yi Yun came knocking on his door.

There were a few Hongdao Association members sitting at the corner of the arena.

When they heard that Yi Yun was challenging their President, they were instantly furious!

"Who does this kid think he is!?"

"He should piss on a mirror to look at himself. He thinks he is invincible just because he is the best amongst the rookies. He's courting death!"

Seeing that Yi Yun was so arrogant to the point of challenging their boss in public, a few of them became outraged immediately.

But upon further thinking, this was not necessarily a bad thing. Since Yi Yun was dumb enough to come knocking on their boss' door, they should take this opportunity to beat Yi Yun up seriously and also make him suffer a great monetary loss!

Yes, make him suffer a great monetary loss!

Previously, they had suffered greatly due to Yi Yun. A bunch of brats had lined up just to be knocked down by Yi Yun's brick. Not only did they get bricked, they even gave Yi Yun a large sum of dragon scale runes. Just thinking about the dragon scale runes made their hearts bleed.

"Let's report this to the boss immediately!" A few of Li Hong’s henchmen suddenly thought it through.

Li Hong was not present. He had been absent for the past few days. He was not interested in seeing other people steal the show. Especially this afternoon, when Yi Yun appeared and shocked everyone. Even if Li Hong was present, he would leave prematurely. He would feel terrible if he saw Yi Yun being that outstanding.

"Brothers, we should take this opportunity to make sure Yi Yun suffers greatly. We must let the boss prepare in advance," said a thirteen year old youth who lost a great sum of dragon scales to Yi Yun.

Those who had lost monetarily would usually hope to win it back through gambling.

This was the mentality of a gambler. It was not desirable, but very few people could rein themselves in before it was too late.

"That's right. Even the boss is tight on money. He still needs to prepare for tomorrow. We will make sure that Yi Yun vomits out the dragon scale runes when the boss beats him!"

The Hongdao Association had lost a great deal of runes in the betting pool, so Li Hong was currently penniless. This henchmen thought that if Li Hong were to bet against Yi Yun, he could win it all back in one go. And the so-called "preparation" was to gather sufficient funds for the bet.

This was the reason why Yi Yun announced his opponent in advance. If he were to suddenly announce that he wanted to challenge Li Hong tomorrow, due to the lack of time and that Li Hong was poor, what sort of decent bet could he offer?

But if it was mentioned today, Li Hong would have the time to prepare. With his connections, he should still be able to gather a tidy sum of dragon scale runes.

Yi Yun had been keeping his trump card from the beginning. This trump card was specifically prepared to cheat Li Hong.

A few henchmen stood up. With either an outraged look or a smile, they glanced at Yi Yun. This expression seemed to say, "Kid, just you wait!"

They quietly left the arena and rushed straight to Li Hong to inform him so he could prepare for the battle tomorrow.

Unfortunately, when Yi Yun said to the referee "give the person some time to prepare", he had used Yuan Qi to transmit his voice. Those henchmen did not hear it; if they did, these youths would probably have figured out something was amiss...

True Martial World - Chapter 245: Rushing Up the Earth Roll

Hearing this voice, Yi Yun turned his head. He saw Cang Yan waving at him from the seats of honor. At that moment, the old man was smiling happily, revealing a row of bright white teeth.

This old man.

Yi Yun groaned in his mind. However, he was still very grateful towards Cang Yan. Although Cang Yan did not have any real intentions of grooming him and it was all the result of an unintentional fluke, it was still a significant event for Yi Yun.

It could be said that Cang Yan had pointed out a new path on the road of martial arts for Yi Yun!

The path of martial arts was extensive and profound, abstruse and complicated. There were too many things a martial artist could chose between. If one had the skill, one could choose everything!

But without skill, focusing on a single aspect and doing well in it, would be the best choice.

Yi Yun’s contact with martials arts had so far been very short. There were many things he did not know. Things like the Saber Truth's 32 Words, Aspect Totems and nomological truths, were all realms that Yi Yun had no previous contact with.

He was like a dried up sponge that had been thrown into an ocean of martial arts. Now, he was greedily absorbing all of it.

Yi Yun walked towards Cang Yan and Jian Ge.

At that moment, the vast majority of the audience had yet to stand up to show respect for the Elders, so when they saw Yi Yun walking towards the Elders, they were shocked.

"The Elder called Yi Yun over!"

Everyone saw Cang Yan waving his hand. Many turned envious when they saw that an Elder of the Tai Ah Divine City was calling over a newcomer with such a friendly expression.

"Yi Yun greets Elder Jian Ge, and greets senior."

Yi Yun still did not know Cang Yan's name.

"What you just used was a saber technique learned from the Saber Truth's 32 Words, correct?" Elder Jian Ge asked as he looked at Yi Yun.

"Yes!"

Yi Yun nodded. Just as he said this, he felt his heart go cold. Once again, Yi Yun felt that his body was being seen through! He felt that Elder Jian Ge's eyes were seeing through every inch of his flesh and blood, all the way into his bones! Even the Heaven's eyeball he had formed was now being carefully examined by Elder Jian Ge.

Of course… Jian Ge did not find anything in particular. The Purple Crystal in Yi Yun's chest carried on pulsating within Yi Yun's heart. It did not deliberately hide itself, as if it completely ignored Jian Ge’s action. It was as if it was a god that treated mortal beings with indifference.

"Old man Jian, what are you checking? Could it be that you think this junior has had a fortuitous chance that has caught your interest?"

Cang Yan noticed Jian Ge's actions and teased him with a Yuan Qi voice transmission.

Jian Ge slightly frowned and replied with a Yuan Qi transmission, "Don't frivolously joke around. How can I covet what belongs to a junior? I am merely curious. But it seems that he does not possess some amazing chance. His constitution is average. Maybe he ate some treasure, opening up his meridians, allowing him to complete the beginning steps of martial arts. As for his perceptivity, it should be inborn..."

Yi Yun's constitution was average. As a sage, that much was obvious at a glance. Besides, Yi Yun's cultivation level was not too ridiculous. It had not even reached the late stages of Purple Blood yet. Relative to other aspects of him, this Purple Blood cultivation level was not much.

"Did you read any top saber manuals before you entered the saber tomb?"

Jian Ge asked again. If Yi Yun had some fortuitous event by being able to read some saber truth mystic techniques, then Jian Ge could comprehend this situation better. Of course, this was very unlikely.

However, Yi Yun shook his head.

Elder Jian Ge nodded slightly, "I understand. In the future, if you want to enter the saber tomb again, you can just go through me or Cang Yan. We will not require you to pay anything. As for other resources, if you want to use those, you will still have to pay the usual price. That is the rule of the Tai Ah Divine City."

Nothing could be accomplished without rules. Naturally, the survival of the fittest rules that the Tai Ah Divine City enforced on the cultivators had to be followed.

The saber tomb was not used by anyone, so there was no point in leaving it idle. There was no problem in letting Yi Yun freely use it.

But other resources were not the same. Many of them were vied for by other cultivators, risking their lives for them. If the Elders practiced favoritism, and directly gave them to Yi Yun, it would be hard to placate the masses.

Upon hearing this, Yi Yun was overjoyed. He really wanted to enter the saber tomb again. But one glory point a day was far too expensive. He could not afford to enter it even if he was rich.

"Kid, you lucked out." Cang Yan chuckled. "Practice well. It is unknown which amazing person passed down the Saber Truth's 32 Words. Even sages who entered the tomb were unable to gain a lot of insight from those words..."

"What? Even sages were unable to understand it!?"

Hearing Cang Yan's words shocked Yi Yun. Sages were omnipotent figures to Yi Yun, but now Cang Yan said that even sages were helpless against the Saber Truth's 32 Words.

"There is little common ground for understanding between people of differing principles. The saber and sword tomb have been sleeping underneath the Tai Ah Divine City for tens of millions of years. Sages can enter them freely, but not every sage is proficient with saber or sword truths. Even those accomplished in the way of the sword or saber may not be able to adapt to the laws hidden within the saber and sword tomb." Cang Yan said and glanced at Jian Ge. "Old man Jian uses a sword. He has the most authority on this."

Elder Jian Ge was famous for his sword. His sword was always held behind his back. He never kept it within an interspatial ring. This was to allow him to subtly transform, to slowly become one with the sword.

The Tai Ah Divine City's cultivators had never seen Elder Jian Ge's swordplay. But just from his title, "The sage famous for his sword", that was more than sufficient to explain Jian Ge's achievement in the way of the sword.

Hearing Cang Yan mention his experience in learning from the sword tomb, Jian Ge filled with mixed emotions. He said, "When I was young, I indeed entered the sword tomb. After trying to gain insights for several months, I finally got some results. But after I learned a few of the sword moves, I slowly reached a bottleneck. I was stumped by some of the sword truths. I could not understand them… or grasp them. Later on, I continued to constantly make new attempts. These attempts took me a thousand years. Within this period, I tried many different methods which I thought was the correct path to take, but I was still unable to go any further..."

"A thousand years!?"

Yi Yun was alarmed. In this alternate world, it seemed like a thousand years was nothing. Being a person who had lived for about two decades in his previous life, he clearly knew the concept of a thousand years. A mortal dynasty would last for just about 300 years.

Jian Ge said, "It might be that the understandings of the sword truths I gained at the very beginning may have already been leading me astray, without my knowledge. Although I might have gone astray, the things I gained from the tomb were still useful."

"The sword tomb's way of the sword is a large path. It's realm is extremely high, so high that I cannot fathom it. It is like a gigantic maze. By being in it, I did not know which path would be the correct one. I could only walk through it haphazardly. Maybe when I eventually reach the exit, will I finally know that I was walking on the correct path, but… that is too far away for me..."

"Large path?"

Yi Yun was slightly stunned. A large path that even made a sage feel despair, and even to the point of going astray. Furthermore, he could not even verify if he had done so...

"Yes, it is a large path. In the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, people have always weighed cultivation techniques over attack moves. This is understandable. After all, a cultivation technique can allow a person to breakthrough to different realms, while attack moves cannot. But in fact, attack moves and paths are two different things. Saber moves are saber moves, while the saber truths are the way of the saber. They are fundamentally different. If you can understand the essence of the way of the saber, then it will be the same as understanding nomological truths. It can assist you in becoming a peak-sage, and maybe even reach a higher realm, but that is too difficult..."

Elder Jian Ge sighed. He had only said this casually. Although he appreciated Yi Yun, he had never thought of the possibility that Yi Yun would one day be able to reach such a point.

Peak-sage was a realm reached by the founding emperor of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom and the first City Lord of the Tai Ah Divine City. As for exceeding a sage, this was not worth mentioning. In the entire history, ever since the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom was founded, there had never been a person who exceeded a sage.

Due to the arduous path of martial arts, the words casually spoken by Elder Jian Ge's might have been due to some regrets he felt, but this greatly benefited Yi Yun.

Saber moves… Saber truths...

Since the words in the saber tomb were something Jian Ge described as a large path, then it was certain that it would allow him to go far in the future.

Yi Yun had the Purple Crystal Origins. The vision the Purple Crystal Origins gave Yi Yun allowed him to see the origins of energy. With this qualification, and him being able to freely enter the saber tomb, he had everything aligned in his favor. If he still could not gain something out of it, Yi Yun’s inability to comprehend it could no longer be justified.

Let's understand it. Let's see how far I can walk on this path!

Jian Ge and Cang Yan left, leaving behind Yi Yun, who was still ruminating over the words spoken to him by the two Elders. As for the others there, they were looking enviously at Yi Yun.

As the two Elders had isolated their voices by generating an invisible Yuan Qi forcefield, all the other cultivators present did not know the contents of the conversation between Yi Yun and the two Elders. But from the pleasant expression the Elder had, it was obvious that they appreciated Yi Yun.

If they could be called over by an Elder to receive guidance.. it was something worth losing a decade of their lives over.

As people were admiring Yi Yun, they saw Yi Yun walking down from the seats of honor, towards the referee.

"Oh? What's the matter?"

The referee made the initiative to ask as he saw Yi Yun walking over. Previously, this referee had seen Yi Yun talking to the two Elders.

For a junior to be paid attention to by Elders, it was insufficient from being the number one rookie. The referee also thought highly of Yi Yun because of the Elders' appreciation.

"Oh… It's this. I want to declare the opponent I want to challenge tomorrow."

After Yi Yun against won Chu Xiaoran, he had clinched the title of being number one amongst the rookies. It created a premature end to the rookie ranking competition. But, he could still battle to rush up the Earth roll tomorrow.

"Oh? Tomorrow’s opponents? You can tell me tomorrow. There's no hurry." The referee looked at Yi Yun in an amiable manner. It was good that Yi Yun wanted to carry on rushing upwards.

"I think it's best to say it now, so that the person has some time to prepare." Yi Yun grinned with a bright smile.

For some unknown reason, the referee hesitated for a moment when he saw Yi Yun's smile. It felt like there was something malevolence hidden within that smile.

"Prepare?" The referee was curious. It was just a match, not a training excursion outside. What was there to prepare?

True Martial World - Chapter 244: Victory and Defeat

Those who watched the match between Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran were at a loss for words on how to describe it.

The arena, that could hold thousands of people, had become so silent that one could hear a pin drop.

Although they were also elites, when they compared themselves with Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran, they felt that there was a huge gap between them and this duo. In front of this duo, they did not dare to refer to themselves as elites. They felt more like they were ordinary people.

"Chu Xiaoran is frightening. It is a surprise that she hid so much of her power. Not only does she have extraordinary perceptivity, she has even formed Aspect before Yuan. Even her battle tactics were well-planned. She almost managed to corner Yi Yun!"

"That Yi Yun is also ridiculously strong. After receiving such a combo attack, he was still able to handle Chu Xiaoran's final attack, though he did receive injuries..."

Yi Yun was now in the middle of the stage, his body covered with plenty of bloody wounds. One could see that Yi Yun's blood was in chaos, it was most likely due to Chu Xiaoran's frost Qi entering his body!

In contrast, besides some messy hair and a bit of damage to her clothes, Chu Xiaoran was not injured at all. Yi Yun’s final attack, Killing At Its Core, had been suppressed by Chu Xiaoran's "Azure Blue Frost Sea, Ephemeral Beauty"!

Chu Xiaoran held the absolute upper hand in the final blow!

The Saber Truth's 32 Words were profound, allowing Yi Yun to touch the genius of the saber truths, but… Yi Yun did not have enough time to gain further insights into the saber truths.

No matter how heaven-defying the Saber Truth's 32 Words were, Yi Yun had gained far too little insight in them until now. His saber attack was not as powerful as Chu Xiaoran's final sword attack. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

"Will Yi Yun… lose to Chu Xiaoran?"

Seeing this situation, Chu Xiaoran clearly had the advantage. Yi Yun was already injured and he was still standing inside Chu Xiaoran's ice array!

People looked forward to seeing either Chu Xiaoran's unstoppable stance, where she would use her advantage to defeat Yi Yun or Yi Yun reversing the situation and obtaining victory with a counterattack.

As for what people were hoping for, no one expected what was to happen next. Chu Xiaoran suddenly turned to the referee and sighed, "I admit defeat!"

What!?

When Chu Xiaoran said this, the entire audience became stupefied.

Chu Xiaoran admitted defeat!?

She clearly had the upper hand. She had completely overwhelmed Yi Yun with her final blow. Why did she admit defeat?!

Chu Xiaoran did not bother to explain and merely began walking off the stage. Just as she was about to step off the stage, she turned around and looked at Yi Yun.

"My loss to you today was due to my unrefined skills. In the future… when I have consolidated my Aspect Totem, and when I am able to fully control the ice forest array, I will battle you once more!" After having said that, Chu Xiaoran walked straight to the arena's exit.

She was leaving just like that!

People were shocked. What was going on? In what aspect did Chu Xiaoran lose? Why did she admit defeat?

Was there something in the last move that they did not understand? For example, did Yi Yun have the opportunity to take Chu Xiaoran's life, but because of the no killing rule, or because he had tender feelings for women, he deliberately stayed his blade?

People began speculating.

Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran's strengths were stronger than a vast majority of them. It was normal for them not to understand certain aspects of the battle.

But amongst these speculations, someone disagreed.

The person who disagreed was a veteran cultivator, who was ranked in the top 1000 of the Earth roll.

"It is none of those..." The person shook his head, "It's stamina! Chu Xiaoran had injected all of her Yuan Qi into her final attack. It was her killing blow and her only attack. By not defeating her opponent, she lost! The attack's power may have been very strong, and it had great understanding of the laws contained within it, but… as a Purple Blood realm warrior, she had used the Aspect Totem that Yuan Foundation realm warriors use. This had already caused a great strain on her Yuan Qi consumption. Not only that, she also formed the ice forest array, which further increased her strength, but it also used more of her Yuan Qi."

"After using those techniques, it was already a miracle that Chu Xiaoran could attack twice. But that was her limit. Chu Xiaoran must have learned this move recently, so there would be many limitations to using it..." Hearing the person's explanation, people were dumbfounded.

Stamina! So that was it!

It made sense. That type of terrifying attack was definitely not one that someone could use again and again.

"But… Yi Yun should also have been greatly drained! Chu Xiaoran spent so much of her stamina, so there's no reason why Yi Yun should have that much more left..."

"Actually, there is a reason." The person looked at Yi Yun and, after some thought, he explained, "From the beginning of the match, Yi Yun had been dodging most of the time. Thus, his energy consumption was far less than Chu Xiaoran's. Furthermore, Yi Yun did not use any moves that greatly increased his battle power, so he would have more Yuan Qi than Chu Xiaoran. Chu Xiaoran must have seen through this and felt that she could no longer win if it dragged on, so she admitted defeat..."

Hearing this person's explanation, everyone felt enlightened.

It was stamina that allowed Yi Yun to win!

He may have lost the final clash, but he had won in terms of stamina!

After all, stamina was a part of one’s strength. But compared to the understanding of laws and concepts, as well as the cultivation techniques one learned, stamina was secondary.

This was because, as a warrior’s cultivation level became higher, their Yuan Qi would grow thicker, which would naturally increase their stamina.

As for cultivation levels, those were just a matter of time for the elites present.

But the understanding of laws and concepts, as well as the cultivation techniques one learned, they were all different. This was a person's foundation. They determined a person's martial arts attainment in the future.

The degree of a person's talent was comprehensively determined by these factors!

The talent Chu Xiaoran had with laws and totems, was the reason why many found her terrifying.

"Chu Xiaoran, having just learned this move, was at a disadvantage for not having it well-honed. In the future, when Chu Xiaoran ranks up, solidifying her foundations and improving her understanding of the laws, the result will be completely different when she then battles Yi Yun again..." Someone said.

"It is possible. But Yi Yun is also not bad himself. Although he does not have much in the understandings of laws, and cannot form an Aspect before Yuan, his saber is still really terrifying! Just with that saber, he could slash through anything!"

In this rookie ranking competition, Yi Yun had only slashed his saber a few times. But each slash he produced shocked the hearts of many!

When the saber beam flared, even at tens of meters away, they would feel as if the beam was close by!

Everyone agreed to what was said. But someone still shook his head, "Saber truths are just killing moves. It may be strong, and it could kill someone mercilessly, but just killing moves aren’t much compared to a person's cultivation techniques and concepts! It is not the foundation of a warrior!"

"If Yi Yun is not impressive in other aspects, many cultivators will slowly catch up with him! Just his saber moves alone will not allow him to last long in the Tai Ah Divine City. "

"Amongst the veteran cultivators, Qin Haotian, who is excellent in the way of the sword, doesn't fully rely on his sword alone." The person who said this was a veteran cultivator. In the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, people had always weighed cultivation techniques over attack moves.

This was because a person's cultivation technique could allow one to go far. Attack moves however, just allowed one to shine amongst people of the same level. If one could not raise one’s level in the future and then not become a sage, then no matter how strong their attack moves were, their lifespan would be shorter than others. So what was the point to it then?

This was something that most people present understood.

Yi Yun's saber moves were strong, while Chu Xiaoran was good at laws and aspects. But, relatively speaking, people were more optimistic about Chu Xiaoran's future.

Perhaps, in four years time, the number one person on the Heaven and Earth rolls would be Chu Xiaoran.

Even in her last battle against Yi Yun, many people felt that Chu Xiaoran did not deserve to lose. After all, in the final attack, Chu Xiaoran held the absolute advantage. Also, Chu Xiaoran's combo attack and the ice forest array were stunning. She had only lost due to her lack of stamina.

...

The second last day of the rookie ranking competition had ended. Many people were prepared to leave, but seeing the two Elders present, they felt that it would be more polite to let the Elders leave first.

But on the seats of honor, Jian Ge and Cang Yan had no intentions of leaving.

Jian Ge had his head slightly bowed as if deep in thought, while Cang Yan was stroking his beard. His eyes were moving around, with no way of guessing what he was thinking about.

Although the last move Yi Yun made had been suppressed by Chu Xiaoran's sword, it still shocked them greatly.

The rookies and veteran cultivators in the arena did not know the significance of this attack. Even some of the law-enforcers only had a vague understanding.

But the two old men, Jian Ge and Cang Yan, knew it well. In no exaggerating terms, that one move had opened up the path of Yi Yun's martial arts!

The law-enforcers beside Cang Yan and Jian Ge did not move and stood still as they saw that the Elders had no intentions of leaving.

Many cultivators glanced at the seats of honor. They did not know why the two Elders were still sitting there. Would they review the battle?

But even after waiting for a long while, the two Elders still did nothing. They could only decide whether they should leave or not.

"It is unexpected that the rookie ranking competition would end prematurely. This year's rookie ranking competition sure was exciting!"

"It may have ended, but there is still tomorrow. Do you plan on watching?"

"I don't think so. Chu Xiaoran and Yi Yun have already fought, and there is no more suspense left in the rankings. But… Chu Xiaoran and Yi Yun might carry on challenging the higher ranking veteran cultivators?"

According to the rules of the rookie ranking competition, once the rookies competed against one another, as long as one beat the other, the winner would be ranked ahead of the loser. Even if Chu Xiaoran were to exceed Yi Yun's ranking on the Earth roll tomorrow, Yi Yun would still be ranked first amongst the rookies.

There was no more suspense.

"Challenging veteran cultivators? It should also be an exciting match, but… I can probably guess. As Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran have similar strengths, they should both rank somewhere around the top 2000!"

"2000? Probably. They might even enter 1900. I plan on watching tomorrow’s matches. I want to see if they can enter the top 2000!"

People began discussing, they were secretly horrified. It was terrifying to think that people could enter the top 2000 from the rookie ranking competition alone!

After all, the people ranked there were already trying to form their Yuan Foundation.

People began to stand up as they planned to leave the arena. Yi Yun had sheathed his Thousand Army Saber and he was also prepared to leave. He had a lot to digest after today's battle.

Chu Xiaoran may have lost to him, but she had still given him a lesson.

Chu Xiaoran taught Yi Yun that a battle could be fought in such a way. The path of martial arts could be trained in this manner!

As Yi Yun was preparing to leave, he suddenly heard a familiar, but wretched, Yuan Qi voice transmission, "Rotten rascal, aren't you going to say hello before you leave? Don't you know courtesy, or how to show your elders respect!?"

True Martial World - Chapter 243: Emperor Saber, Sovereign Sword

After Chu Xiaoran summoned her Aspect Totem, her aura was completely different. A pure chill now covered her entire body.

Seeing Chu Xiaoran in this state, the audience became secretly horrified. It was as if the person on stage was a snow lotus, growing on an icy divine mountain. The Glacier Snow Wolf behind her boosted this strong visual impact!

Chu Xiaoran's blade faced the ground. What was once a soft ‘like water’ sword was now suddenly turning hard and sharp. This cold blade then stabbed into the purple tungsten stage.

Phew~

A cold wind blew out from the stage! frost Qi began to emanate, with Chu Xiaoran's sword as its center.

Ka-cha! Ka-cha!

Column after column of ice pillars formed on the stage's platform. The entire Divine Wilderness Stage had now turned into a forest of ice, with Chu Xiaoran at the center.

Yi Yun stood inside the the ice forest, facing Chu Xiaoran's sword, experiencing the bone-chilling coldness around him.

Seeing this scene, the audience became shocked. These ice pillars were formed from Chu Xiaoran's Yuan Qi. A Purple Blood realm warrior could actually form a ice forest using her body's Yuan Qi? How much Yuan Qi was that!?

A Purple Blood warrior's body had limited amount of Yuan Qi. If typical warriors were to do the same as Chu Xiaoran, they would be drained of all their body's Yuan Qi, making them unable to battle anymore.

"Oh… This ice forest..."

Yi Yun looked around and frowned slightly. He could feel that each ice column had a spiritual connection with Chu Xiaoran.

Interfacing with his Purple Crystal, he opened his energy vision. Now, Yi Yun could see that each ice column contained extremely pure energy. And this energy had thousands of connections with Chu Xiaoran.

The ice column's energies came from Chu Xiaoran's body, but at the same time, these ice columns also gathered Yuan Qi from the surroundings to supply Chu Xiaoran.

"This is an array technique!"Yi Yun suddenly realized.

The ice forest may seem to consume a great portion of Chu Xiaoran's energy, but once it was set up, Chu Xiaoran would be supplied with energy from this array technique, while fighting within the ice forest’s boundary. As a result, she would have an absolute advantage in it.

"Is this how the ice laws are used...?"

Yi Yun knew that by controlling ice elemental energy, one could only use frost Qi to attack enemies. It could definitely not be used to create such an exquisite array setup with magical effects.

Laws are the fundamental principles behind energy. By grasping the understanding of laws, one would be able to wield their methods for using energy.

The higher the realm of laws, then the application of energy would be closer to perfection!

At that moment, Chu Xiaoran attacked!

When she stabbed out, if was as if all the frost Qi on the stage was drawn out. The energy within the ice column array was driven by Chu Xiaoran's attack, now sweeping towards Yi Yun!

"Peak Frost Lotus!"

Chu Xiaoran twisted her blade and the surge of frost Qi formed a huge ice lotus in the air which shot towards Yi Yun.

This unrestrained sword Qi did not break through the ice columns when it entered the ice column inside the array, instead it moved through it unimpeded.

Just from this move alone, one could see the level Chu Xiaoran had attained in her ice laws.

Facing this attack, Yi Yun charged forward with pure Yang Yuan Qi injected into the Thousand Army Saber. With a slash of his blade, the saber Qi laws appeared once again

"Cha!"

The saber beam shot into the sky, and Yi Yun's saber Qi had a fierce collision with Chu Xiaoran's sword Qi.

The two aimed to better the other. Boom!

When the aftershock of the immense explosion approached, both Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran were pushed back. When Yi Yun was retreating, his eyes suddenly focused and he abruptly lifted his head. Just above him, the huge Glacier Snow Wolf was attacking him!

Its white killer fangs flashed. Although it was a phantom image formed from the Power of Desolates, it could still fight like a real beast!

The Glacier Snow Wolf attacked downwards with both claws!

Its seven meters long body possessed claws that were like a row of sharp swords. These swords slashed at him, right at Yi Yun's throat!

At that moment, Yi Yun had just finished his move, and having used up his energy, he could not muster any more at that moment. Facing the Glacier Snow Wolf's attack, Yi Yun forcefully twisted his body in midair.

Minute Subtlety!

Although Yi Yun could not fly, he could use his Minute Subtlety movement technique to be in one with his surroundings. He did not need to touch anything to control his movements!

His body moved to the side and at the same time, he slashed out with his saber!

"Dang!"

The Thousand Army Saber clashed with the wolf's claws. Yi Yun felt his chest go numb. Having received this strong blow, he retreated backward. With his feet on the ground, he used the Thousand Army Saber to cut through the ground. Due to the strong impact, Yi Yun had slid backward a distance of seven meters. The Thousand Army Saber had caused a series of sparks on the purple tungsten metal!

Before Yi Yun could recover his breath, he suddenly had a change in expression.

He realized that he had landed in the middle of six ice columns!

And in his energy vision, he could clearly see that these six ice columns were brighter than other ice columns. They had gathered a lot of energy and seemed like a volcano about to erupt.

That's bad!

Without any further thought, Yi Yun leaped upwards. And just before he leaped up, the six ice columns exploded simultaneously!

The flying ice fragments, which were like tiny ice swords, charged towards Yi Yun!

"Cha! Cha! Cha!"

Yi Yun waved his Thousand Army Saber and covered his entire body with saber beams. Each icicle was destroyed by the Thousand Army Saber, but there were still some tiny icicles that pierced Yi Yun's protective Qi, cutting open Yi Yun's flesh!

Suddenly, blood started to fly everywhere!

Yi Yun had been injured!

The audience were shocked. This was the first time Yi Yun was injured in the competition!

Chu Xiaoran's attack was too terrifying. Her continuous attacks were dazzling!

Previously, Chu Xiaoran did not reveal her real strength. Against Long Li, she had achieved victory with her weakest abilities. This was not because Chu Xiaoran wanted to appear weak on purpose. The reason was that if she was to use her ice laws and Aspect Totem, her attacks would be like a storm! A person like Long Li would have no way of handling it!

At that moment, before people could react, they saw Chu Xiaoran flying through the air like a snow spirit.

Chu Xiaoran was now making her second move!

Without stopping, she sent out attack after attack. Even the audience, who were watching the battle from the sidelines, had no chance to take a break, Yi Yun even less so as he was on stage!

Chu Xiaoran slashed her sword, making sword beams appear like a torrential ocean!

At that moment, the color of Chu Xiaoran's eyes turned icy-blue. It was as if her pupils contained endless glaciers within them!

Chu Xiaoran slashed with her sword, behind her, another six ice columns simultaneously exploded. The fragmented ice crystals were then guided by Chu Xiaoran's sword, flying towards Yi Yun!

At the same time, the Glacier Snow Wolf behind Chu Xiaoran howled. It then entered the sword and became the sword’s soul! This, together with the fragmented ice crystals, was Chu Xiaoran’s strongest attack! This was the extreme power of her attack!

"Azure Blue Frost Sea, Ephemeral Beauty!" Chu Xiaoran softly said those words, as if they were a poem with a picturesque sword beam!

If Chu Xiaoran was said to be a snow lotus, then the beauty she had been accumulating for a millennium was now being released in an instant!

This attack seemed to stop time. Everyone's expression seemed to have frozen.

Chu Xiaoran's strength was too terrifying, and it was deeply profound. It was heaven-shaking once it was revealed!

How could one block such an attack!?

Seeing this torrential tide of blue sword beams shooting towards him, Yi Yun constricted his pupils. His irises reflected the approaching sword beams. The cold frost Qi and killing intent was going to destroy everything!

At that moment, Yi Yun's mind was as still as water.

With his right hand gripping the Thousand Army Saber's hilt, he injected all of his spirit energy into the saber's blade.

Saber Truth's 32 Words – Killing At Its Core!

In a split second, a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood seemed to appeared behind Yi Yun. Shura Hell!

The color of blood started to spread as cold killing intent sealed their surroundings!

Back when the saber tomb's owner gained his insight into the saber truths, he had gone through numerous battles and killed a countless amounts of people!

The real saber truths were not something one could write in any book, it was something that had to be forged in the Shura Hell's sea of blood!

The way of the saber was to press forward with indomitable will to kill everything!

This attack was the strongest saber move Yi Yun learned in the saber tomb!

When he slashed his saber, it was as if everything in the world disappeared, leaving only a blood-red blade beam. It looked as if it would slice through the arena!

What? This is!?

At the moment Yi Yun slashed out, Cang Yan and Jian Ge became deeply shocked. Cang Yan even stood up from his seat.

This kid!

Cang Yan's eyes lit up. Previously when Chu Xiaoran condensed the Aspect before Yuan phenomenon and displayed her ice laws, Cang Yan and Jian Ge were only appreciative. They were not as shocked as they were now!

Yi Yun's saber and Chu Xiaoran's sword collided once again!

The saber was like an emperor!

The sword was like a sovereign!

Boom!

The ice crystals shattered, the white wolf howled and the sea of blood swelled!

There was a terrifying explosion, which caused a shockwave to materialise and spread throughout the arena

Cha! Cha! Cha!

Pieces of ice crystals pierced Yi Yun's protective Yuan Qi!

The Power of Desolates, which formed the Glacier Snow Wolf, also surged through Yi Yun's body and meridians in a rampant manner.

Yi Yun even felt his blood momentarily freeze. Although he quickly circulated his Pure Yang Qi to melt the frost Qi, it still left Yi Yun pale, and his blood flow chaotic.

He was once again injured. He could deeply feel the scariness of Chu Xiaoran. She was strong, not only in her strength, but also in her battle tactics, techniques and in her understanding of the laws!

When Yi Yun gained insight into the killer moves of the Saber Truth's 32 Words, he was in no way weaker than Chu Xiaoran in terms of attack power. But with her techniques, she managed to overwhelm him with her attacks. Chu Xiaoran had even estimated where he would land after blocking the Glacier Snow Wolf's attack. She had gathered the energy within the six ice columns ahead of time to explode the moment Yi Yun landed on the ground!

From the first attack and the Glacier Snow Wolf's attack combo, followed up by the ice columns' explosion, these three attacks were the foundation of Chu Xiaoran's final attack. This attack was Chu Xiaoran's real deathblow!

These type of calculations for this one attack was unbelievable, and Chu Xiaoran was just a thirteen year old girl!

True Martial World - Chapter 242: Aspect Totem

On stage, Yi Yun's Yuan Qi was circulating. His aura continued to rise, while his Thousand Army Saber began to emit a light sound as his saber truth screamed out.

Yi Yun's strength was constantly condensing like a surging tidal wave!

Seeing Yi Yun in such a state, Chu Xiaoran wiped away the hair that was cut by the saber Qi and took a light breath.

"Your saber is very strong… but I will defeat you!" Chu Xiaoran said seriously.

She held her soft sword in both of her hands and she stretched it out. A bluish-white glow circulated on the sword's edges.

Her Yuan Qi condensed and very soon, a layer of frost formed on her sword which grew exceedingly thicker. Soon, it covered her sword, hand, and it eventually spread throughout her entire body.

A chill that penetrated into one’s bones had permeated in all directions. Even the audience, who were far away, could feel this bone-chilling coldness.

"Is this frost Qi? She has ice-elemental Yuan Qi!?"

Many people in the audience hesitated for a moment. A warrior's Yuan Qi could have many types of elemental properties. It was not odd for some of them to have ice-elemental Yuan Qi. This was not enough to be Chu Xiaoran's hidden strength, as Yuan Qi with elemental properties were not that much stronger…

Ice-elemental Yuan Qi was no sensation. Fang Jihai, who Chu Xiaoran had previously defeated, was a fire-elemental warrior.

Yuan Qi with an elemental property was easier to convert into an attack than non-elemental Yuan Qi, but it was not that much stronger!

Just as the audience was in a confused state, Heaven Earth Yuan Qi slowly began to condense behind Chu Xiaoran, forming a phantom image. It was the phantom image of a white wolf.

It was large in size, about 4 meters in height and seven meters long. It stood majestically behind Chu Xiaoran and it gave a strong visual impact.

"Glacier Snow Wolf! An ice elemental desolate beast… This is… the manifestation of Yuan Qi?"

The manifestation of Yuan Qi was the phenomenon of coalescing the Yuan Qi emitted by one's body into a physical form. This was something almost any Purple Blood warrior in the Tai Ah Divine City could do.

Qiuniu's final attack, Sky Ox Tyrannous Blood, also used the manifestation of Yuan Qi. It had unleashed the phantom image of an ox, but it was still slashed through by Yi Yun.

It was not rare to have a manifestation of Yuan Qi in the Tai Ah Divine City.

But… some rookies realized that the white wolf behind Chu Xiaoran was different. It had an inexplicable spirit to it. It appeared to have a telepathic connection with Chu Xiaoran, it was as if it was formed from Chu Xiaoran's soul, containing a part of Chu Xiaoran's life force.

Besides, this huge white wolf contained a surging Power of Desolates within it. This was the strength only desolate beasts could have, but it was present in the Yuan Qi phantom image behind Chu Xiaoran. What was even more surprising was that the white wolf did not seem to be formed from Chu Xiaoran's Yuan Qi, but seemed as if it was a real desolate beast!

Could it be…

The rookies were uncertain, but the veteran cultivators had long since identified it. It was not the manifestation of Yuan Qi, it was something of a higher level. It was something that only Yuan Foundation realm warriors could do, Aspect Totem!

"Is it really an Aspect Totem? How is this possible!?" People were astonished.

In the Divine Wilderness, humans and desolate beasts were enemies. Desolate beasts would often eat humans and there would be beasts horde from time to time. A large city of a million households could be destroyed in a beast horde, which would lead to utter misery.

Even so, there were times when human warriors could not separate themselves from desolate beasts, as they could borrow the powers of the desolate beasts. This could be explained, starting with an Aspect Totem.

Aspect Totem was the symbol of a Yuan Foundation realm warrior.

When a warrior was at the peak of the Purple Blood realm, they would condense all of their blood essences into their dantian, forging their Qi and their blood foundation. This was the beginning of the Yuan Foundation!

To build a lofty tower, one had to build a stable foundation. The Yuan Foundation was the foundation of the path of martial arts and it was an extremely important step.

After condensing one’s Yuan Foundation, a warrior could absorb the energies of Heaven Earth Yuan Qi and rank up. It was something that no Purple Blood warrior could match.

Just from this ability to gather energy, a warrior could gather the souls and Power of Desolates that escaped from a dead desolate beast that they had hunted in the wilderness. In the Yuan Foundation, they would be able to gather and condense a summon entity that belonged only to them.

When in a battle with others, they could then summon it, which would create a huge phantom image to strengthen their powers.

This summon entity was known as the Aspect Totem.

Once the Aspect Totem was formed, it would always accompany the warrior. As a trademark, it was an important part of a warrior's fighting ability.

Everyone's Aspect Totem had a difference. They could grow continually, evolve and even morph.

Warriors above the Yuan Foundation realm would often have to resort to using the Aspect Totem when in a deathmatch with a difficult opponent, to increase their strength. This was the mark of a Yuan Foundation realm warrior going all out in battle.

In the Tai Ah Divine City, there was a Heaven roll of honor which was more important than the Earth roll of honor. The way that the Heaven roll was ranked depended on the number of desolate beasts one kills. The Heaven roll's rewards were also the highest amongst the three rolls.

The warriors who charged up the Heaven roll would spend large amounts of time in the Divine Wilderness killing desolate beasts. One of the reasons was to gain glory points, the second reason was to condense and strengthen their Aspect Totem.

The Aspect Totem could only be done by absorbing a desolate beast that one killed with their own hands. And it had to be done in a short timespan after the death of the desolate beast because the desolate beast's Power of Desolates and lifeblood would dissipate if they were not absorbed.

Before the Aspect Totem reached a bottleneck, one could form and strengthen their Aspect Totem by killing more desolate beasts!

Hence, the cultivation method of the veteran cultivators of the Tai Ah Divine City was to continuously hunt desolate beasts. It could increase their strength and also, it would earn them resources. It was like killing two birds with one stone.

As for Chu Xiaoran, having arrived in the Tai Ah Divine City three months ago, she never took part in the rookie jobs due to her outstanding strength. She only went into the Divine Wilderness to hunt desolate beasts!

This meant that she had a head start on all the other rookies.

People originally thought Chu Xiaoran would, at most, earn more dragon scale runes; no one expected that she would condense an Aspect Totem!

"She… can't be a Yuan Foundation realm warrior, right?"

"Impossible! Even many of the cultivators who have been in the Tai Ah Divine City for 3-4 years have yet to break through to the Yuan Foundation realm. Chu Xiaoran may be extremely gifted, but it can not be to the point where she can break through so early. Besides, if you reach the Yuan Foundation realm too early, you might not be able to accumulate enough energy. And this is actually not beneficial."

Many people discussed this. In the seats of honor, Elder Jian Ge stroked his beard and looked at Chu Xiaoran with surprise. "This is 'Aspect before Yuan'… The Tai Ah Divine City has not had a junior like this in a long time…"

An Aspect Totem was something that warriors in the Yuan Foundation realm could perform. But in this world, there were always some exceptions. Some people had a close affinity with Heaven Earth Yuan Qi or Power of Desolates. With excellent perceptivity, they could coalesce an Aspect Totem that belonged to them in the Purple Blood realm!

This sort of Aspect Totem was known as Aspect nefore Yuan.

By being able to demonstrate a small portion of the strength of a Yuan Foundation realm warrior, without being a Yuan Foundation realm warrior, it was obvious how strong their battle power would be.

There were all sorts of specializations. Many geniuses had their own forte, but it was not easy to be good at everything. For example, Qin Haotian was an extraordinary swordsman, but even he could not form Aspect Before Yuan!

This meant that Chu Xiaoran had an extraordinary talent in using Aspect Totem!

The Aspect Totem was an important part of a Divine Wilderness warrior’s battle power, it was really important for those of the Yuan Foundation realm or above.

Obviously, the Aspect Totem had different strengths. The same Aspect Totem formed from the same type of desolate beast might have different powers, depending on the different warriors' absorption of the Power of Desolates. This was related to a person's talent and intelligence.

And there was no doubt that Chu Xiaoran was one of the best.

In the future, when she reached a higher realm, she would hold the upper hand against warriors of the same level. It was equivalent to her using a higher level Aspect Totem against others.

Cang Yan said, "To be precise, it is not a complete Aspect before Yuan. It is just Embryonic Aspect, but that is still pretty impressive! I think there is a need to take this little maiden to the sword tomb."

Cang Yan's eyes glowed with excitement. His expression looked like a grave robber who had just seen a rare treasure.

Elder Jian Ge simply gave a deep sigh. Surprisingly, he did not oppose it. That was because none of the people who were able to create an Aspect before Yuan lacked perceptivity. Indeed, she should enter the sword tomb once.

Jian Ge said, "This little maiden is also very sensitive to frost laws. Her Aspect Totem is also an ice elemental… She must have gained some insight into a portion of the ice elemental nomological truths. If not, it would not be that easy to form the embryonic form of Aspect Totem in the Purple Blood realm."

The Aspect Totem could increase the strength of warriors, but it wasn’t just a mere increase in a warrior’s energy intensity.

Another very important point was that it allowed warriors to gain further insight into laws related to energy.

For example, Chu Xiaoran had a deep understanding of the hard-soft and frost ice laws.

The Aspect Totem she chose was ice-elemental in nature.

She had been continuously hunting ice elemental desolate beasts. The Power of Desolates that escaped from these ice elemental desolate beasts was also ice-elemental in nature.

After Chu Xiaoran absorbed all of these ice-elemental Power of Desolates, she merged them together into her Aspect Totem. Hence, her Aspect Totem was also ice-elemental.

As a result, when Chu Xiaoran enters a battle, just from the help from the Aspect Totem, she would gain bonus effects when she used ice-elemental Yuan Qi.

It could be imagined as if Chu Xiaoran had brought a real ice-elemental desolate beast, which had a telepathic connection with her, into battle against Yi Yun.

It was equivalent to fighting two against one.

"Is this Aspect Totem…? This is my first time seeing this… So that's what it looks like…"

Yi Yun had no systematic study of martial arts. Even before leaving the Lian tribal clan, Yi Yun did not know what the realm above the Purple Blood realm was.

Although he later learned about the Yuan Foundation, he did not know the hallmark of the Yuan Foundation realm warriors, nor what special abilities they possessed. Yi Yun did not even know how to go from the Purple Blood realm to the Yuan Foundation realm.

Yi Yun had not seen many Yuan Foundation realm warriors before coming to the Tai Ah Divine City. Besides Lin Xintong, Yi Yun had never seen them fight.

And when he sparred with Lin Xintong, due to the great difference in ability, Lin Xintong naturally did not need to use her Aspect Totem.

…