True Martial World - Chapter 309: Yi Yun Coming out of Reclusive Training

The news regarding the alliance of the various large factions against the beast horde and the competition for assembly seats quickly spread. The young disciples of the various large factions were also made aware of this information.

They finally knew why the Tai Ah Divine City's City Lord had organized a birthday banquet and why it was suddenly stopped midway.

The birthday banquet was only an excuse. The real reason was to negotiate an alliance. Initially, this reason was kept confidential, which was why the lie of a birthday banquet was needed.

The matter of competing for seats was of grave importance. Every faction began making their preparations.

"The few of you are the best young people from our Bai Yue mountain family clan. I do not expect you to become the champion of this alliance ranking competition, nor do I even ask you to enter the top 10. As long as anyone of you can win our Bai Yue mountain family clan one seat, then the next Patriarch candidate will be mostly determined!"

Somewhere in the central divine tower, a middle-aged man said to a few young boys and girls in front of him.

The Bai Yue mountain family clan was a reclusive family clan that had its roots in the Bai Yue mountains. It did not belong to any of the three large factions, nor did it have any sages. The head of the house was a peak-Human Lord. If they were to develop according to a prescribed order, it would be very difficult for them to grow.

However, opportunities arise in troubled times!

First, they had to compete for a seat. This was the first step in allowing their family clan to grow.

With this critical one vote, the Bai Yue mountain family clan would be valued by the other factions. During a key moment, people would try to win them over by laying enough chips on the table.

While in another residence in the central divine tower, the fur-cloaked Seven Star Pagoda Owner was looking at the young elites of the Yun Long Divine Kingdom in front of him.

"You are the Yun Long 72 Pagodas's strongest batch in the past 100 years! I suggested the rule of competing in an alliance ranking competition! I dared to suggest it because I have confidence in all of you!"

The Seven Star Pagoda Owner towered from above as he looked at the young boys and girls before him. The shadow behind him seemed to rise infinitely high, giving others great pressure.

"Since the rules were suggested by me, if anyone of you were to perform badly, then I will be the laughing stock of the South's ten countries and the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom. Even the old rivals in our country will mock me!"

"Now, I have nothing much to say to you. I only wish for you to gain at least half the seats in the alliance ranking competition in seven days! That is the bottom line! In fact, only by obtaining 60% of the seats would I be satisfied!"

The Seven Star Pagoda Owner's voice was shocking. The youths of the Yun Long Divine Kingdom half-kneeled with a hand across their chest, "Yes! Pagoda Owner!"

Amongst the crowd, a pale black-clothed youth wrapped a bandage around his hand.

"The alliance ranking competition...I will not be limited by it. Let this beast horde be the first test in my martial life..." The black-clothed youth said this silently in his mind. A cold beam flashed in his eyes.

...

The seven days of preparation was sufficient. There were even some countries who brought the young elites from their country using super long-distance teleportation arrays, so as to join the competition.

As for the Tai Ah Divine City, it also gave out its own rewards.

This large competition was no longer a matter of glory points. The Tai Ah Divine City's City Lord announced personally that whoever were to obtain first place in the alliance ranking competition would be free to use any resources while training in the Tai Ah Divine City. They would also be conferred the title of Count, given a hundred cities as their fiefdom, and enjoy the privileges of the royal household in the future.

For example, even reading the entire set of the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' was not a problem.

This reward was pretty exaggerated, but the appearance of the Shepherd Boy was a matter of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's survival. Giving out rewards like this was understandable.

Of course, to obtain first place in the alliance ranking competition was too difficult for the Tai Ah Divine City's cultivators.

Even the leader figures of the current Tai Ah Divine City, Yao Dao and Yang Qian were experiencing heavy pressure at that moment!

The two of them were old rivals the moment they entered the Tai Ah Divine City. At that moment, they were sitting across each other in a loft.

"You and I have been at odds for four years. Now, we will need to fight hand in hand."

Yang Qian took a deep breath. He was of royalty, so for this matter that involved the country's and his own fate, he had to put in greater effort.

If he could obtain first place in the alliance ranking competition, he could be made a king for sure, even though it was impossible for him to be made Crown Prince.

"I am looking forward to fighting the young elites of the other countries on the same stage." Yao Dao said as he gently wiped his long saber, as his eyes burned with fighting spirit.

At the moment everyone received this piece of information, Luo Huo'er received an invitation to fight.

Luo Huo'er's small face frowned as she faced the invitation.

"Alliance ranking competition..." Luo Huo'er muttered to herself as if she was in a dilemma.

"Miss, why don't you represent the Tai Ah Divine City to fight and beat them all up badly?"

Beside Luo Huo'er was a very excited maidservant, Dong'er, who exclaimed this while waving her small fists, making movements as if she was fighting against an opponent.

Dong'er had often heard Luo Huo'er bragging about how strong she was, such as tearing a king-grade desolate beast with her bare hands, destroying experts from all sorts of places, and so on.

When she mentioned of her 'glorious past', Luo Huo'er would often add one more line at the end, "This is nothing to me, piece of cake!"

To Dong'er, with her mistress' 'tearing a king-grade desolate beast with her bare hands' powers’, she was sure to wipe the floor of all the geniuses from various countries!

As her mistress liked to join in the hubbub and with her show-off nature, it was natural that she would not miss out on this opportunity.

But Dong'er never expected what happened next. After Luo Huo'er seemed to appear to have some intentions, but upon recalling something, she said, "I can't be bothered fighting this bunch of trash! It will only reduce my stature!"

"Uh..." Dong'er choked.

Many times, just before Luo Huo'er fought, she would use various kinds of excuses. "Reducing my stature fighting them" was Luo Huo'er's most common excuse.

"Ai, forget it. I won't bother with the likes of them. Training the Desolate Heaven technique everyday is also boring, but, so be it." Luo Huo'er stretched her back, revealing her great body, "I'm going to sleep. Don't bother me if there's nothing."

"Miss, why?" Dong'er quickly followed as her eyeballs rolled around, as if she had seen something on Luo Huo'er's face.

The Tai Ah Divine City's Heaven and Earth rolls did not have Luo Huo'er's name on them. She only held first place of the Man roll of honors.

It was really weird that her mistress would not show herself off, considering her ability to tear a king-grade desolate beast apart with her bare hands.

Dong'er was anxious but Luo Huo'er appeared to have absolute zero interest. She yawned and ignored Dong'er, as she went back to her room.

Sitting on her bed, Luo Huo'er sat there quietly and lazily. After that, she unbuttoned her clothes gently and took out a talisman charm that hung on her neck, it was a protective charm. She touched the protective charm as she went into a daze.

"Daddy, when will you bring me back? It's too boring here."

"In this sensitive period, if those whatever City Lords or Pagoda Owners discover my identity, they would treat me as a spy and chop me up."

"Ai, what a bother! It's so troubling that I have been suffering from insomnia recently..."

Luo Huo'er grabbed her protective charm, pressing it to her chest as she laid back on the soft bed. Her hair spread out covered the whole bed like a blooming black rose.

Not long after, Luo Huo'er's calm breathing was heard in the room.

...

The days passed one by one. During the seven days preparation time, the South's ten countries transfered people from their country over for the alliance ranking competition.

There were more and more elites gathered in the Tai Ah Divine City.

These proud children of heaven were all extremely arrogant. With the rivalry between the factions they belonged to, how could they live in peace together?

Not long after, all sorts of friction exploded all around the Tai Ah Divine City.

Usually a small matter would escalate, causing the parties involved to make an appointment to fight it out in the arena.

There was always a winning and losing party in a fighting match. If one accidentally attacked too heavily, causing the other to be injured, the hostility would worsen.

Later, there would be people standing up for the injured party, resulting in another battle in the arena.

As such, before the alliance ranking competition even began, there were many fights. Many people were injured and the situation became even more testy!

Soon, the moment the elites from the various large faction met, it would be as if they were as incompatible as fire and water. It was just short of an all-out fight amongst the masses.

The Tai Ah Divine City's people had the most casualties.

The main reason was that the people from the other factions were elites amongst the elites, while the Tai Ah Divine City had many ordinary disciples. The result was obvious for an ordinary disciple clashing with an elite.

The situation was nearly going out of control.

"This kid, why isn't he coming out yet!? He sure makes one worry!"

Tomorrow would be the alliance battle. Cang Yan had been standing outside the sword tomb, tempted to open the door to the sword tomb a few times. However, he was afraid of interrupting Yi Yun's cultivation midway, just as he was about to gain some important insight, by entering.

"In another four hours, I'll go in if the kid still doesn't come out. F**k, this kid has gone in there for so many days. It's nearly burning down outside, while he has it good. I don't even know if he has fallen asleep inside there. What the heck is he doing going in there for 8-9 days!?"

If Yi Yun were to enter the saber tomb or if he were to go into reclusive training to ponder over things such as the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' or totem mystic technique, it would be fine.

But what most exasperating was that he had entered the sword tomb to learn about swords.

Isn't he crazy for a saber user to learn swords!?

If not for Yi Yun giving Cang Yan miracles a time or two, Cang Yan would have long washed his hands of the matter. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

Cang Yan placed an hourglass by the sword tomb's entrance. Once the sand finished flowing, he would call Yi Yun out. As tomorrow was the big battle, he needed Yi Yun to have a good night's rest, so that he would be in an optimal state.

Just as the sand flowed down about halfway, the sword tomb began rumbling as it opened by itself.

"This kid can actually open the tomb's door himself..."

Cang Yan was thinking about this just as he saw Yi Yun appear by the stone door's entrance...

True Martial World - Chapter 308: Competing for Assembly Seats

According to the original schedule, the City Lord's birthday banquet would have lasted for seven days.

The important figures from the various factions would only attend the first two days. To the juniors, these two days were of extreme importance as it was a stage for them to showcase their skills.

The elites from various large factions were all extremely proud. How could they not flaunt their strength with all of them gathered together?

Under normal circumstances, the demonstrations during the birthday banquet were perfunctory, and there wouldn’t be any real fights on stage. It was just for people to show off their specialty skills as a performance to excite the banquet's atmosphere.

Originally, many of the juniors had prepared their performances, such as sparring, swordplay, etc, and they were eager to get into action, hoping to shine during the banquet and win rewards. But they never expected that the mighty figures all entered a negotiation room on the first day. They did not come out even after six hours.

What is the meaning of this?

Many of the juniors were dumbfounded. The food was already cold, yet not a single soul of that negotiation group was seen.

It was only until midnight that the large door to the side chamber opened.

The mighty figures from the various large factions filed out of the side chamber.

Leading the way was the Tai Ah Divine City's City Lord. He still wore his green gown and he gave off a breezy feeling with his faint smile on his face.

But the sharper people knew that something was amiss. There was a feeling of confrontation amongst the important figures. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

Each party from the various factions was seated according to their respective statures. The atmosphere seemed to turn cold.

The middle-aged scholar stood up and raised a glass of wine, "It is my honor that everyone is here to participate in my birthday banquet. Due to a sudden turn of events today, I have neglected all of you. Please forgive me for being a bad host. Seeing that the Sun has set, please feel free to eat. The banquet will temporarily cease tomorrow and it will be held seven days later. This Splendid Room is a bit too small, thus the venue will be the arena! It is much roomier there!"

The City Lord gave a simple opening speech, which seemed like pleasantries, but all the young elites from the various factions were shocked.

The birthday banquet would be held seven days later? This birthday banquet could still be pushed back?

And, this Splendid Room is small...This Splendid Room was hundreds of feet in radius and it could accommodate more than 1000 people easily, how could it be small? And the middle-aged scholar's mentioning of switching to the arena made many juniors present feel a surge of sharpness.

The legendary figures from the various factions did not speak a single word but they clearly silently accepted it. This birthday banquet's atmosphere was sullen as the juniors present felt the solemn atmosphere.

An elite youth from a small faction had specially prepared a swordplay show. After everyone was eating silently for 15 minutes, he could not endure it any further and jumped out, announcing that he was going to provide some entertainment for the birthday banquet.

The legendary figures from the various large factions lacked any interest. Seeing their elders sullen faces, none of the juniors had the mood to cheer, what more, jumping out to spar with the youth.

Due to the awkward atmosphere, the youth decided to stop demonstrating his swordplay in the end.

As a result, no other junior came forward to get snubbed.

The first day's birthday banquet ended in such a depressing atmosphere.

After the birthday banquet ended, there was a meeting of the Tai Ah Divine City Elders.

Jian Ge, Cang Yan, Grandmaster Yuehua and other divine city Elders were looking at the City Lord.

"How is the situation?"

The Elders did not enter the side chamber for the negotiations, so they did not know the results of the negotiations. They only noticed that the birthday banquet's atmosphere was heavy, so they guessed that the result was not optimistic.

"We did not manage to come to a consensus. The main problem is the commanding rights..."

The middle-aged scholar shook his head gently. With so many countries in an alliance, there was indeed a need for a commander to unite them. If they were not united and fought their own battles, then the battle situation would be terrible. One had to know that it was the Shepherd Boy leading the beast horde, and it was a horde that did not fear death.

The final result of a group of timid and disunited troops against a monolithic beast horde was obvious.

On the battlefield, there would be inevitable results of narrow escapes or even everyone dying on the battlefield. As such, whoever had the right of command was able to save their own strength to a certain extent.

No one wanted to be cannon fodder.

"The Seven Star Pagoda Owner wants to be the alliance leader, but I refused. The ten countries from the south wanted more benefits, which I naturally did not agree to. The final condition set forth by the Seven Star Pagoda Owner was to set up an Elder League during the war, and in the form of a legislative assembly, fight for the commanding rights. And exactly how many seats every faction would receive would depend on each country's strength."

"Strength?" Jian Ge frowned. In the world of warriors, strength was king. The bigger one's fist was, the greater one's voice was. This was not to be disputed, but how was one to compete in strength?

"Our strength is on par with the Yun Long Divine Kingdom's!" Cang Yan said.

"Yes, in terms of national power, we are almost the same. Besides, there is no way to compare national power. We cannot gather the sages and peak Human Lords from every country to fight a match. Therefore, we will compete with the strength of our juniors. Their Yun Long 72 Pagodas is not much different from our Tai Ah Divine City. It too gathers all the best juniors of the Yun Long Divine Kingdom."

"If the Yun Long 72 Pagodas is compared with the Tai Ah Divine City, we can indeed see whose juniors are stronger. A generation of juniors is the future of a Divine Kingdom. This form of competition isn't unreasonable."

"The Yun Long 72 Pagodas against the Tai Ah Divine City? City Lord, you agreed to it?"

"Yes!" The middle-aged scholar nodded.

"This..." Cang Yan was worried. "The geniuses of the Tai Ah Divine City are different every year. The last batch that just left the Tai Ah Divine City was filled with experts. Anyone chosen from Qin Haotian, Li Xiao and the Qiao brothers could fight one against ten, but now with them gone, the new crop has yet to come in to replace the old. Who do we choose?"

This rule was clearly disadvantageous against the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom. Cang Yan knew that the Yun Long Divine Kingdom had come prepared. It was likely that this batch in the Yun Long 72 Pagodas was much stronger than previous years.

For them to go against the Yun Long 72 Pagodas' strong phase while their Tai Ah Divine City was in the weak phase, the outcome was obvious.

The middle-aged scholar said, "You are right. The Seven Star Pagoda Owner knew this and purposely made this request. He is clearly very confident of this Yun Long Divine Kingdom generation."

"As for the ten countries in the south, they have agreed. They have added on a condition for them to have three additional Elder seats. They seem to be very proud of their countries' younger generation." The middle-aged scholar said as the Elders' minds were shrouded in gloom.

They knew that it was a necessary concession for the middle-aged scholar had to agree on.

As the Shepherd Boy had appeared at the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's borders, the ten countries in the south and the Yun Long Divine Kingdom were still a distance away. If a beast horde were to happen, the first one to suffer was the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom.

They could watch on the sidelines as the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom fought against the beast horde first.

Although as the saying goes "when the lips are lost, the teeth will be exposed to the cold", the ten countries in the south and the Yun Long Divine Kingdom would only feel "cold", while the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom would be "lost". The difference was great.

"What are the exact rules? We can't be fighting without anything to reap?" An Elder dressed in a purple shirt said worriedly.

"No, if the younger participants do a good job, we will also win seats, just fewer in numbers."

"And for making it fair, if the difference in ages is too great, then the older one will have to suppress their cultivation level. Even so, the older one would still hold an advantage. As suppressing one's cultivation level is extremely limited. It is just for show as the insight into laws and Aspect Totems will not be suppressed."

"The number of seats in the end will be decided according to the overall performance. In the end, just being first will obtain a once-off 10 seats."

The middle-aged scholar simply introduced the rules. Cang Yan was extremely pissed hearing this as these rules were beneficial to the Yun Long Divine Kingdom.

The current Tai Ah Divine City's achilles' heel was that it lacked strong young adult cultivators.

They were not lacking in teenager experts.

But under these rules, it was impossible for a thirteen-fourteen year-old teenager to beat a seventeen-eighteen year-old young adult.

Hence, the final grand prize would have to be given up.

"Jian Ge, you have been the one in charge of the Tai Ah Divine City these days. Make a list of participants." The middle-aged scholar ordered. "You should know who is most suitable to compete."

The participant list not only needed to take into consideration the Earth roll ranking, but also the age. Even the sixth year cultivators, who were ranked in the top 30 of the Earth roll, could not compete as they were too weak.

But as for Wen Yu and Lu Jie, these rookie experts who were only ranked 3000-4000 on the Earth roll could take part in the competition.

Jian Ge said, "Yi Yun, Chu Xiaoran and Qiuniu are all the best experts. With them, the fourteen-year-old bracket is definitely to our advantage. But there is a lack of fifth and sixth year cultivators. There is only a girl named Luo Huo'er. Her origins are a mystery, and she has never participated in the Earth or Heaven roll tussle, so we do not know how strong she is!"

The strength of Luo Huo'er, who was ranked first on the Man ranking, had always been a mystery. Now, Jian Ge could only rest his hopes on Luo Huo'er to give a pleasant surprise.

True Martial World - Chapter 307: Shepherd Boy

Seeing the middle-aged scholar appear, many of the young men and women in the Tai Ah Divine City pavilions held their breaths.

Wen Yu, Chu Xiaoran, Qiuniu, Yang Qian, Yao Dao… Even the most arrogant geniuses became extremely respectful while facing the Tai Ah Divine City's City Lord as they all had a deep sense of reverence for him.

This was the first time they met the Tai Ah Divine City's City Lord. Not only them, not even Qin Haotian or Li Xiao had ever managed to see the City Lord in the past.

As the middle-aged scholar, Seven Star Pagoda Owner and the important figures from various large factions entered, all the young elites in the pavilions stood up.

Seeing these legendary figures made them extremely excited and also made them feel a kind of pressure.

They thought that once the important figures were seated, the birthday banquet would begin, but unexpectedly, these people went straight past the "water canal", going straight into one of the side chambers in the Splendid Room.

In the Splendid Room, there were side chambers used for negotiations. The doors to the side chamber closed the moment they entered.

"Eh?"

Seeing the group of important figures disappear into the side chamber, left the juniors hanging and confused.

Wasn't this supposed to be the City Lord's birthday banquet?

The banquet had been laid out, yet these important figures did not take their seats and immediately went into one of the side chambers for negotiations?

At that instant, many of the juniors looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

"What the heck!?"

The yellow-clothed fatty from the Yun Long Divine Kingdom was planning to dig in, but without the important figures seated, he could not eat.

"What's the matter…"

The other young elites from the Yun Long Divine Kingdom were also filled with questions. At that moment, the girl in a palace gown calmly said, "Maybe… this negotiation is the main purpose for this birthday banquet…"

…

At that moment, in the side chamber of the Splendid Room, many important figures from the various factions were seated.

The seats were clearly split into three regions.

One region was led by the middle-aged scholar. Behind him were the various factions affiliated with the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom.

Another region was led by the Seven Star Pagoda Owner. Behind him were the factions affiliated with the Yun Long Divine Kingdom.

The last region was the twelve countries alliance from the South.

These twelve countries were smaller than the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom and the Yun Long Divine Kingdom. However, with the twelve countries in an alliance, they were powerful enough to form a tripartite with the other two Divine Kingdoms.

And between these three regions, there were various reclusive family clans and some scattered smaller countries.

In some sense, they formed the last powerful faction, but they were not united.

This simple negotiation would go according to the clearly distinguished powers.

The Tai Ah Divine Kingdom and the Yun Long Divine Kingdom had been rivals for many years. There was constant friction between these two countries, but they never fought because of the constant fear of the Divine Wilderness.

At that moment, the Tai Ah Divine City's City Lord was sitting in the host's seat, holding a scroll in his hands.

"I am honored by everyone attending my, Yang's birthday banquet. Gathering all of you here is because there is an important thing we need to discuss. I wonder if everyone present has heard the legend of the Shepherd Boy…"

As the middle-aged scholar spoke, he opened up the scroll which contained a picture.

It was a youth, riding on a green cow in the picture. He held a piccolo in his hand and wore a bamboo hat. He dressed simply and looked like a handsome young farmer boy.

"Shepherd Boy?"

Some people frowned, obviously they had never heard this name.

However, there were a few people whose expressions changed the moment they heard the words Shepherd Boy.

"I see. No wonder the City Lord has invited us over. I have heard the legend of the Shepherd Boy. Ten years ago, he appeared in the western regions and stirred up a bloody storm. I never expected him to suddenly appear here…" An elder said with a deep tone.

"Who is the Shepherd Boy?"

Some people frowned as they asked. Everyone present were important figures, so they did not feel good about not knowing something others knew.

"Let me tell you."

The middle-aged scholar lightly threw the Shepherd Boy picture and it flew up to a wall. He then slowly said, "The Shepherd Boy is a mysterious youth. Of course, he just looks young. As for his actual age, I do not know. Shepherd Boy is just a nickname of his. I am unsure of what his real name is."

"The origins of the Shepherd Boy is a mystery. We do not know who he is, but we do know that he is not human."

"Oh!? What?"

A green-clothed elder was alarmed when he heard this. He carefully looked at the painting on the wall. It was clearly a young man, how could he not be human?

"Indeed. The last time the Shepherd Boy appeared, he caused great misery in the western regions. Because, every time he appears, a massive beast horde will accompany him. At first, it will just be small-scaled. Later on, it will become more and more terrifying. There might even be many primordial strains. Some people even suspect that the Shepherd Boy is able to control desolate beasts."

Control desolate beasts?

People were alarmed hearing this. "Could this Shepherd Boy be a desolate beast in human form?" Someone couldn't help but ask.

However, the middle-aged scholar shook his head. "I am afraid not. To date, in the most authoritative ancient records, there has been no records of a desolate beast taking on human form. Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility of a desolate beast cultivating to such an unimaginable realm that it is able to take on a human form."

"Usually, there are beast hordes in the Divine Wilderness, but the scale of them will not be large. And the desolate beasts' intelligence is not high. The beast horde will charge and destroy aimlessly, like loose sand. It can be easily defeated, but… with the Shepherd Boy, it will be different. The beast horde will become very organized and strategic, making it extremely difficult to handle."

"Ten years ago, when the Shepherd Boy first appeared in the western region, he brought a huge disaster to the western regions. Back then, the Shepherd Boy's goal was the ancient family clan in the western regions, the Shentu family clan!"

"The Shentu family clan had an extremely deep heritage, so they were able to withstand that large scale beast horde. However, they suffered great losses!"

"After the Shepherd Boy failed, he conjured up a few beast hordes in several places. Blood flowed like rivers, but these beast hordes were much weaker compared to the one that went against the Shentu family clan. It felt like it was a form of revenge…"

The middle-aged scholar told the story of the Shepherd Boy in a calm tone.

"Shentu family clan?"

When people heard the name of the family clan, many of the important figures present looked at each other. This family clan's heritage was extremely terrifying.

It was much stronger than the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom and the Yun Long Divine Kingdom.

Why did the Shepherd Boy go against a family clan of that power level?

"Everyone, you do not have to worry too much." Seeing the ugly expressions of the principal figures of the various factions, the middle-aged scholar then continued, "The Shentu family clan might have had some feud with the Shepherd Boy, resulting in that huge battle. As for us, we should not have any crossed paths with him. However, since he has appeared in our Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's northern regions, it is still very worrying. And once there is a beast horde, it will not just be the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's matter. Being closely related and having common interests, we all share the same fate, so all of you might be implicated too.

The middle-aged scholar slowly said this as the crowd listened to him with worried expressions. This topic was not something they could ease up on.

"Everyone, the reason for gathering everyone here today is to form an alliance, so that we will be able to combat the possible beast horde."

The middle-aged scholar revealed the main purpose of this birthday banquet.

Everyone had different expressions when they heard this.

Although the Tai Ah Divine City's City Lord was right about the fact that the surrounding countries would be implicated if there was a beast horde, the appearance of the Shepherd Boy was in the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's northern region, not near their countries. So the first one to suffer would be the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom in the event of a beast horde.

After all, the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom had to be destroyed first before it became their turn.

In fact, this beast horde might not be too large in scale and might not even be able to destroy the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom. If so, the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom would be able to withstand the beast horde by suffering losses. If that was the case, it would be none of their business.

Also, there was another point. Although the beast horde would cause huge losses of lives, even to the point of sages dying, it was a great opportunity to train up experts with every beast horde. Warriors had to undergo hardship and killing to mature. Besides, after a beast horde, there would be extremely large amounts of resources. For example, the body of a killed primordial strain was full of treasures!

If one could withstand a beast horde, it was also an opportunity to be reborn from the ashes like a phoenix!

The best outcome would be both the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom and the beast horde suffering great losses. With them joining late in the war, they would reduce the risk of their own sages and geniuses dying, only receiving the benefits…

The Tai Ah Divine City's City Lord was no simple person. How could he not figure out their wishful thinking?

In time, many of the important figures of the various factions were having disparate thoughts.

Facing this possible disaster and the chance of fortuitous opportunities, everyone had their own plans. Everyone wanted to avoid the risks but reap the benefits.

Unless the Shepherd Boy is able to conjure up a beast horde that really is able to destroy more than ten countries, it will be impossible for the various factions to resist the beast horde without any demands.

At that moment, the Yun Long Divine Kingdom's Seven Star Pagoda Owner said, "City Lord Yang, you mentioned an alliance. I wonder, who will be taking on the responsibility of the alliance's leader?"

The crowd's attention was instantly attracted the moment the Seven Star Pagoda Owner said this.

The alliance's leader was not just a problem of dignity, it also involved the commanding powers. After the beast horde was over, there would be unspeakable benefits to the person holding the commanding powers.

This was because each war had to do with deaths and injury, losses and also the victory items!

There might be certain wars where various factions would seek to fight, but there were other wars that no one would want to send their own warriors to their deaths.

The middle-aged scholar smiled upon hearing the Seven Star Pagoda Owner's question. He answered, "There will be no need for a leader for the alliance. All it needs is a council, consisting of all the important figures from the various factions."

"Oh? Council? If the council is in constant debate without a consensus? This is when an alliance leader is necessary!"

The Seven Star Pagoda Owner's tone sounded calm, but it had a hidden sharpness to it!

People knew that the relationship between the Yun Long Divine Kingdom and the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom was not friendly.

Now, with core interests involved, how could a battle be avoided?

True Martial World - Chapter 306: The Birthday Banquet Begins

As people gathered in Tai Ah Divine City, Yi Yun was in the sword tomb trying to gain some understanding of the sword truths without knowing the time of the day.

Originally, Yi Yun thought that having experienced the saber tomb, which came from the same origins as the sword tomb, it would be extremely easy for him to understand the sword truths with his entry into the sword tomb.

However, it was only when Yi Yun entered the sword tomb did he realize that it was completely different from the saber tomb.

In the saber tomb, there were saber scar marks and the Saber Truth's 32 Words. Each word contained a saber truth.

But, the sword tomb did not have those things. In there, there was a fascinating stone wall. Closing one's eyes and meditating in front the stone wall would envelope someone in illusions.

In these illusions, there were rushing rivers, cascading waterfalls, the virtual images of mountains of corpses and a sea of blood, and there were also flying sword beams.

It seemed like the person who left behind the sword tomb had cast all the scenes he had seen in his life into the stone wall. As such, people of the future would sense these scenes while meditating in front of the stone wall.

"These are the things that the sword tomb owner saw when comprehending the way of the sword!"

Yi Yun opened the Purple Crystal's energy vision and a light flashed across his mind.

The sword tomb owner had seen all these images that allowed him to comprehend his Sword Intent, hence, he had left his own Sword Intent within those scenes, allowing people of the future to ponder over them.

Yi Yun had spent 10 months in the Pure Yang Sword Palace and he failed to understand the Pure Yang Sword Palace's owner's Sword Intent. However, it still allowed Yi Yun to have a deep understanding of the sword truths.

After trying out the hardest sword truths that were closest to its origins, and then trying to gain insight on a relatively easier sword truth, this was much easier.

If it was said that the Sword Intent left behind in the Pure Yang Sword Palace was a tall mountain that was very difficult to scale, then the sword truths left behind in the sword tomb were like stone steps used to scale that tall mountain.

Yi Yun went up a step at a time...

Time passed. Yi Yun did not know how long had passed as he meditated in the sword tomb. He had entered a completely ethereal state, being one with nature in a spiritual sense.

The shocking sword scars from the Pure Yang Sword Palace kept resonating in Yi Yun's mind.

It was as if those huge sword scars were carved in Yi Yun's mind, slowly overlapping with the images from within the sword tomb...

It was unknown when a rusty broken sword appeared in Yi Yun's hands. The broken sword emitted a cold frosty feeling, making Yi Yun's mind even clearer...

He gently waved the sword slowly, as if he was slashing at invisible spider webs.

Slash after slash seemed to be completely random, but in the illusionary world, Yi Yun seemed to have slashed apart a waterfall, splitting a river, and the fantasy-like saber beam and sword shadows seemed to interweave with each other.

While Yi Yun was in a trance like state of trying to comprehend the sword, the Tai Ah Divine City was already bustling with activity.

In the central divine tower, there was a place for welcoming guests, named Splendid Room. The Tai Ah Divine City's City Lord's birthday banquet was to be held here.

Although the Splendid Room was in the central divine tower's hall, one would see flowers and bamboo upon entering. These plants were treasures, and between the plants, there was emerald-green water that quietly flowed around, as if it was a jade belt.

If any guest wanted to drink in this green bamboo forest, they could simply put wine glasses into the flowing water and drink from it, and it could be described as "drinking water from a winding canal".

Beyond the bamboo forest, there were exquisite little tables. The tables were about one foot tall and they only allowed people to sit kneeling on the ground. There were all sort of exquisite spiritual foods placed on the tables. They were all treasures amongst treasures and extremely expensive. The foods contained rich amounts of Yuan Qi, allowing one's cultivation level to benefit from eating it.

People who were qualified to sit at those tiny tables for the Tai Ah Divine City's City Lord's birthday banquet were all important figures from various large factions.

And for VIPs like the Tai Ah Divine City's City Lord and the Seven Star Pagoda Owner, they were seated near the flowing water at the center of the entire hall.

Around the table, there were pavilions.

Each pavilion had one large table and all the young elites from each country would sit here.

Except for the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, who was the host, all the other factions were only allocated one pavilion.

Those who could sit in the pavilions were the strongest youths from each faction.

And for the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's pavilion, the relatively outstanding Tai Ah Divine City cultivators were selected. For example, the top 30 geniuses from the Heaven, Earth, Man rolls of honor, and the leaders of other age groups.

For example, the third-year cultivators' Li Hong, the second-year cultivators' Chu Xiaoran and Qiuniu and the top three rookies of this year’s batch, Lu Jie, Wen Yu and a short fat youth.

"Oh? Why isn't Yi Yun here?"

The Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's younger generation was split amongst 6 pavilions. Wen Yu, Lu Jie, Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran were sitting together. Lu Jie scanned the surroundings and noticed that Yi Yun was not around. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

This surprised Lu Jie. With Yi Yun's stature, he was definitely qualified to sit here.

"I don't know, maybe he's in reclusive training..." Chu Xiaoran casually said and did not bother about it.

In fact, it was pretty pointless for her to join such a banquet. She was not a person who liked the noise and excitement. She was only here to gain an understanding of the young elites from the various factions.

"Oh? It's the people from the Yun Long Divine Kingdom!"

At that moment, the most important figures from the various factions had not arrived. Only the younger generation of the various factions were in the hall.

Chu Xiaoran saw about a dozen youths walk over. Leading them was a fatty in yellow. His face had a friendly smile, but his eyes contained arrogance.

He scanned over the crowd and skipped over Chu Xiaoran without pausing and looked to the pavilion besides Chu Xiaoran's.

In that pavilion sat two of Tai Ah Divine City's most influential figures, Yao Dao and Yang Qian!

Back when Yi Yun first entered the Tai Ah Divine City, Yao Dao and Yang Qian were fifteen years old. Back then, they were ranked in the top 100 of the Earth roll.

Now, after a year, Yao Dao and Yang Qian had spent 4 years in the Tai Ah Divine City, and they were now fifth year cultivators. Their cultivation level had reached the mid-stages of the Yuan Foundation realm about half a year ago.

With Qin Haotian and his batch completing their training, they had left the Tai Ah Divine City. Hence, Yao Dao and Yang Qian had entered the top 5 of the Earth roll.

Without Qin Haotian, Li Xiao and company, there were not many presentable sixth-year geniuses in the Tai Ah Divine City other than Luo Huo'er.

But Luo Huo'er never challenged the Heaven or Earth rolls. No one knew how strong she was in other aspects other than her Desolate Heaven technique.

Hence, the fifth year's Yao Dao and Yang Qian were now considered the best. People believed that the two of them would replace Qin Haotian and company's position, and they would soon dominate both Heaven and Earth rolls.

As for Yang Haoran, Yang Dingkun and company, although they were outstanding, they were a lot worse than Yao Dao and Yang Qian.

The batches below, the fourth and third year cultivators were even worse.

The third year cultivators only had Li Hong. And he had been defeated by Yi Yun, a person one year younger than him, in the last rookie ranking competition.

This was definitely an embarrassment for the third-year cultivators.

The Yun Long Divine Kingdom's yellow-clothed fatty had a general idea of who were the outstanding ones amongst the Tai Ah Divine City’s cultivators before the birthday banquet began.

Hence, once he entered, he only paid attention to Yao Dao and Yang Qian.

Sensing the yellow-clothed fatty's brazen gaze of sizing them up, Yang Qian's frowned. "This fatty wants to fight!"

Yang Qian was a proud person and he had a bad temper. Feeling the yellow-clothed fatty's animosity, he was enraged.

"This fatty is not simple. He is looking at your strength. His gaze is indeed irritating, as if it is the gaze of a businessman checking out his goods."

Beside Yang Qian, Yao Dao said that calmly. His hand could not help but touch the short saber by the side of his body.

"Yang Qian, there might be some impromptu performances for the City Lord's birthday banquet. It will be the moment for all the young elites from the various factions to compete against each other. Now with Senior Qin gone, those who can handle this scene are probably the two of us. Hence, this fatty is sizing you up!"

Yao Dao quickly guessed the fatty's intentions.

Yang Qian grunted, "I see. That's also good!"

Yang Qian was not afraid of a challenge. Battling against others amongst the younger generation was all he could wish for. He especially looked forward to sparring with young elites from outside of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom!

At that moment, the Splendid Room's door opened, and with some attendants guiding them, the important figures from the various factions arrived.

Amongst them were the two leaders, one of them was a stout man wearing a heavy fur cloak and bone-laced military boots. He was the Yun Long Divine Kingdom's Seven Star Pagoda Owner.

And the other person was a middle-aged men in a green gown. He looked happy, but his sword-like eyebrows revealed an extremely sharp aura.

This person did not seem to give any sense of oppression. In fact, he looked like a scholar from the mortal world. He seemed to read the books of sages, but was thoroughly weak.

He was Tai Ah Divine City's City Lord!

True Martial World - Chapter 305: Gathering of Experts

The news of Yi Yun returning to Tai Ah Divine City quickly spread in less than half a day.

Rookies did not have much concept of the name Yi Yun. However, it meant a lot to many of the second year cultivators, especially his enemies.

This name was unforgettable!

"That rascal actually didn't die!"

A this moment, in a small courtyard, there were a few people gathered with sullen faces.

The three of them, who were sitting on chairs, were Li Hong, Yang Dingkun and Yang Yuefeng.

Yang Dingkun and Yang Yuefeng were brothers and came from the Chu royal residence. Yang Dingkun had taken the opportunity to gamble against Yi Yun in Yi Yun's battle with Li Hong and ended up losing greatly. The 'Truth of the Laws' was lost, causing him to be punished by his family clan.

As for Yang Yuefeng, who had always been proud of his Desolate Heaven technique, he had his face torn off by Yi Yun.

However, the person who hated Yi Yun the most were not amongst these people. In the corner of this courtyard stood a youth, full of scars and a missing arm.

He was Yang Haoran.

10 months ago, inside Meteorite Abyss's frost pool, he was suddenly attacked by a school of weird fishes. His body had consequently been horribly mangled by the fish, pieces of flesh had been ripped off his body!

Just recalling the experience gave him nightmares!

With the rage of being unwilling to die, he had then rushed out of the frost lake with great difficulty and managed to eventually survive.

He barely escaped death with his surface flesh and skin of his body gone. All he was left with was bloody remnant muscles. It was horrible!

One of his arms had been ripped straight off by a large fish.

Losing one arm was Yang Haoran's greatest pain. How could a warrior be left without a limb?

It was not that there were no treasures that could restore a person's arm, but they were extremely expensive. Even his Yang family could hardly obtain one.

And even if it was obtained, the arm which was regrown, would be a normal human arm. One had to train it from the beginning all over again.

It was easy to imagine what sort of hardship and suffering he had to undergo!

Yang Haoran only felt hate. He hated the strange fish and hated everything!

Originally, when Yang Haoran was bitten horribly and the calamity suddenly befell onto him, the pain prevented him from thinking about why he was suddenly attacked by the strange fishes.

However, after recovering, he recalled the terrifying nightmare. He remembered that back then in the water, he had heard an explosion and then saw a Yuan Qi beam.

Within the beam, there was an arrow flying towards him. On the arrowhead, there was something green. It looked like grass.

The arrow was not aimed at him and passed by him a short distance away from him, but accompanying that arrow was that school of terrifying strange fishes!

As Yang Haoran recalled the scenes back then, he became more and more sure of what had happened. That Yuan Qi fluctuation was definitely from a warrior, not a desolate beast.

Yang Haoran also slowly remembered that the grass on the arrowhead was the Beast Luring Grass he had previously used!

All at once, Yang Haoran figured it out.

The strange fish were deliberately being lured away from something and towards him, to purposely cause him harm. As for that arrow...

Amongst that group, only Yi Yun used a bow and arrow!

Yang Haoran's anger reached its peak at that time. He wanted Yi Yun's blood to atone for his!

However, following Yi Yun's disappearance, the point of him possibly dying in Meteorite Abyss appeased Yang Haoran's anger slightly.

He considered it as a consequence Yi Yun deserved.

Although he was unable to avenge himself, which made him unable to accept it, he knew that even if Yi Yun were to actually return, he could do nothing to him.

He did not have proof. Even if he had proof, he could not raise a complaint against Yi Yun because he was the person who initially lured that mutated Three Eyed Spider to them.

In fact, because of this event, Yang Haoran had to endure the immense pressure brought forth by Chu Xiaoran's Defender Duke family clan and Qiuniu's reclusive family clan.

The Yang family may have the royal bloodline, but it was too much for them to face two large family clans. With Yang Haoran's physical disability, there was even a chance of his family clan abandoning him.

This placed Yang Haoran into an excruciating position.

Yang Haoran was too busy with his own affairs for the past few months so he had no energy to decide on how to seek revenge on Yi Yun.

Thankfully, as time passed, the possibility of Yi Yun having died became increasingly more likely.

However… today, Yi Yun returned!

And besides looking a bit pathetic, he had no injuries at all!

Looking back at himself, he was like a dog with a broken leg!

This comparison nearly made Yang Haoran go crazy!

"Haoran, do not be rash..."

Yang Yuefeng patted Yang Haoran's shoulder.

After Yang Haoran became disabled, he became slightly insane and abnormal. Yang Yuefeng was the most senior amongst the group, hence these people all treated him as their leader.

"Everyone, we can all be considered as under one camp. With Yi Yun's return, we have no idea how strong he has become. If he were to mature in the future, then we will really lose our place in Tai Ah Divine City."

The Tai Ah Divine City's genius-rearing strategy was similar to rearing venomous worms. A competition was held to obtain anything here. Many cultivators formed groups and associations to resist the competitive pressure.

They were arch-rivals of Yi Yun, so if Yi Yun were to mature and rank among the top of the Heaven and Earth rolls, their days would no longer be smooth-sailing.

Li Hong said, "Yi Yun has gone to report to the Elders. I heard his description. He had been trapped in a place for ten months, which prevented him from returning..."

"Trapped for ten months? Heh… From his appearance after coming back, he must have experienced some huge disaster. This bastard sure has a strong life. He will definitely challenge the Earth roll. We must first see what rank he is able to achieve before we decide on how to deal with him in the future."

"Earth roll..." Yang Dingkun gritted his teeth. "If only he challenges me. Such a pity..."

After the last batch of cultivators left, Yang Dingkun's ranking on the Earth roll had entered the top 40.

This ranking was extremely far off for second year cultivators. For example, Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran's ranks only ranged from 700-900.

From Yang Dingkun's point of view, Yi Yun was still far from being able to challenging the top 100 on the Earth roll. This meant he was not fated to exchange blows with Yi Yun.

...

"Rotten kid, where did you go to for the past ten months!?"

In the central divine tower, Cang Yan ruffled Yi Yun's hair, "Ah! Kid you grew taller."

Cang Yan was short so now he was shorter than Yi Yun.

Yi Yun felt helpless. He had already listened to old man Cang nag all day.

Regarding the burning hell's explanation, Yi Yun did not dare to tell him that he had entered the deepest level of the burning hell.

That place's pure Yang Qi was too rich. He had used the Purple Crystal to split the pure Yang fire in order to enter the depths of the burning hell. Even sages would need to spend a lot of Yuan Qi to enter.

Yi Yun could only say that he had been sucked into an unknown space. As such, he could explain how his identity token had lost its connection.

This sparked the interest of Cang Yan. He had already decided to form a team with Jian Ge to investigate the burning hell again.

This gave Yi Yun a headache. He felt like he was cheating the old man. This so-called "unknown space" was definitely something that Cang Yan could not find.

Cang Yan asked many questions regarding this "unknown space" and Yi Yun only gave some vague descriptions.

These sort of places tended to be vague and insubstantial and with Yi Yun's cultivation level, it was not something he could understand, so it was normal. Cang Yan would naturally not suspect a thing, nor question him.

"So how about it? When are you challenging the Earth roll? Let's see the fruits of the past ten months of cultivation." Cang Yan was looking forward to seeing Yi Yun's current strength.

"I do not have any plans on challenging the Earth roll for now."

"Not challenging the Earth roll? What are you doing?" Cang Yan pinched his beard, clearly unhappy.

"I plan on going into the sword tomb."

"Sword tomb!?" Cang Yan stared. "Aren't you doing well in the saber tomb? Why are you going to the sword tomb?"

Cang Yan was practically speechless. This Yi Yun really made one worry.

He had not fully understood the saber tomb, yet he kept having his sights on the sword tomb. "Kid, what craziness is this? You cannot be giving up on the saber and picking up the sword, right? Or… do you want to use both saber and sword?"

Thinking of this, Cang Yan really wanted to pry open Yi Yun's brain to see what messy thoughts this kid had.

Warriors who could thoroughly learn everything about one weapon were already amazing.

To master two weapons was something crazy. It was a task with no returns.

Since ancient times, the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom’s sages had never done such a thing. Of course, it was common for people to pick up bows and concealed weapons as a side weapon. Bows and concealed weapons were ancillary weapons used to attack from a distance and could be put to great use during critical times.

"I'm just thinking of taking a look. Maybe I will get some inspiration from the sword tomb." Yi Yun equivocated.

Even with such an explanation, Cang Yan's face turned sullen. "Kid, back then when I let you choose a totem mystic technique, you chose the 'Myriad Beast Totem'. Now, without having completed the 'Myriad Beast Totem', you still aren't even thinking of switching to a more possible totem mystic technique. And now you are even thinking about the sword tomb. You sure are capable!"

Cang Yan was also worried that Yi Yun would end up wasting his time trying to learn too many things, with all of them being extremely profound.

However, no matter what Cang Yan said, Yi Yun did not budge. He wanted to go into the sword tomb to gain greater experience and inspiration from within.

Finally, Cang Yan gave in. He demanded, "Alright! I will let you enter the sword tomb once! However, I will say the unpleasantries first. Once you exit the sword tomb, you are to challenge the Earth roll and enter the top 500. No! Top 400! No! 300! If you cannot enter the top 300, you are to focus on cultivating your saber skills without any other distractions. You are also to choose another totem mystic technique. And stop thinking of this and that for me in the future!"

Cang Yan indignantly said. He could tell that Yi Yun's cultivation level was still at the peak of Purple Blood, a bit worse than Chu Xiaoran and Qiuniu’s.

Even if Yi Yun's talent was greater than Chu Xiaoran and Qiuniu, and had strength that exceeded Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran combined, it would be impossible for him to enter the top 500.

One had to know that all cultivators who ranked in the top 500 of the Earth roll were at the peak of the beginning stages of the Yuan Foundation realm. There was a huge gap between the Purple Blood realm and the Yuan Foundation realm. It was extremely difficult for a person at the peak of the Purple Blood realm to battle against a person at the peak of the beginning stages of the Yuan Foundation realm.

Still, the top 500 was not enough.

Cang Yan was afraid that Yi Yun had some fortuitous opportunities while he was missing, and could now enter the top 400. That would make the kid feel smug once again.

Hence, Cang Yan purposely set the goal to be the top 300. This was to ensure that he could rid Yi Yun of all his unrealistic ideas, preventing him from being overly ambitious.

Cang Yan never expected that Yi Yun would immediately agree with a "Sure!" after setting such a difficult objective.

"Eh?" Cang Yan had expected Yi Yun to go in a rage, he never expected him to immediately agree to it.

He was that confident?

Cang Yan was a bit dumbfounded. He clicked his tongue twice as a malicious smile formed on his lips.

This kid must still not know how strong the top 300 of the Earth roll is. Even plenty of mid-stage Yuan Foundation realm cultivators are unable to enter the top 300. Underestimating it will only lead to misery!

Upon thinking of this, Cang Yan felt assured. It was good to let Yi Yun suffer some setbacks, to prevent him from thinking he can do everything everyday.

...

The day of the Tai Ah Divine City's City Lord's birthday banquet was quickly approaching.

That afternoon, a huge airship flew above the Tai Ah Divine City. This airship was about 2000 feet long and was completely covered in black scales. It was like a huge flying monster.

When it passed by Tai Ah Divine City, it cast a huge shadow.

This is...

The Tai Ah Divine City's cultivators looked up at the airship and were stunned. This airship was different from the Tai Ah Divine City airships and it was much larger.

Seeing this flying monster, many people could not help but feel a sense of awe and a feeling of being small.

Some people noticed that there was a strange symbol on the side of the huge airship. It was a blob of dark clouds, with a Black Dragon flying within the clouds.

"Yun Long (Cloud Dragon) Divine Kingdom!"

Some more knowledgeable people said after seeing this symbol.

The Yun Long Divine Kingdom shared a border with the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom. The Tai Ah Divine Kingdom was in the east while the Yun Long Divine Kingdom was in the west. To the north of both countries' northern borders was the vast Divine Wilderness.

Be it comparing the countries' power, their heritage, areas or population, the Yun Long Divine Kingdom was almost on par with the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom.

With two great nations together, there was bound to be some conflict over resources, land and other reasons. However, with the threat of the Divine Wilderness, the two countries had to maintain the peace. They could not have any large scale wars or they wouldn’t be able to resist the occasional large-scale beast hordes coming from the Divine Wilderness.

Hence the Yun Long Divine Kingdom and the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom could be said to coexist in a cooperative and competitive state.

No one expected that the Yun Long Divine Kingdom's large airship would fly to the Tai Ah Divine City.

This airship was definitely a royal airship of the Yun Long Divine Kingdom. The appearance of the ambassadors of the Yun Long Divine Kingdom arriving in the Tai Ah Divine City in such an airship was a show of their country's strength. At the same time, it also meant that whoever was riding the airship was a great figure in the Yun Long Divine Kingdom!

"The distance between the Yun Long Divine Kingdom and Tai Ah Divine City is not short. Why would their ambassadors come to the Tai Ah Divine City?" Someone asked subconsciously.

"Oh? Could it be that they are here for the City Lord's birthday banquet!?"

Someone had a flash of brilliance. Everyone felt it was possible upon hearing it.

It had to be so. The only big matter in recent times in the Tai Ah Divine City was the City Lord's birthday banquet.

"Strange, the ties our Tai Ah Divine Kingdom has with the Yun Long Divine Kingdom isn't that great. Why would they especially send an ambassador to send their birthday wishes for our City Lord's birthday banquet?"

Some more thoughtful people felt something amiss...

At that moment, within the large airship, in a luxurious hall.

A fat man in a yellow clothes was holding a meter-long roasted desolate beast leg. He was tearing off the meat with his mouth. The thin leg was not completely roasted to well-done, so it still contained some blood.

As the fat man in yellow ate the meat, he stood high above, looking condescendingly down at the Tai Ah Divine City cultivators through his airship window.

From his angle, the throngs of people below him were no different from ants that he could crush with his feet.

"These are the Tai Ah Divine City cultivators!? They don't seem like anything special to me."

As the fatty in yellow laughed, he licked the desolate beast blood from around his mouth with his excessively long tongue. A sardonic look of contempt flashed in his eyes.

Behind the fatty in yellow was a princess-like girl, dressed in a purple palace gown.

She held a wine glass in her hand as she tasted the red liquid inside it. She emitted a charming smile, "His Highness had previously said that the Tai Ah Divine City's place in the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom is equivalent to our Yun Long Divine Kingdom's Yun Long 72 Pagodas. Do not look down on them."

"Haha, whatever. We are here to give our birthday wishes, not here to fight. Of course, if necessary, it is basic courtesy to see what they are capable of."

The yellow-robed fatty casually said as the girl in the gown shook her head gently. "It is not an ordinary celebration. This time, Lord Seven Star Pagoda Owner wanted to come personally and discuss something with the Tai Ah Divine City's City Lord. Reports say that it has something to do with the mysterious person who suddenly appeared..."

"Haha, those are matters for the higher ups. I cannot care less. I'll just eat all the meat I want at this birthday banquet. Of course, if there's a fight, call on me!"

As the fatty said that, he tore off another piece of meat the size of a chicken and swallowed it down after a few chews. A meter long beast leg was quickly completely finished. He casually wiped his oily hands on his clothes and glanced at the corner of the hall. "What say you, Bai?"

In the corner of the hall sat a black-clothed youth with a pale face. His legs were opened up with his knees bent. Both his hands were resting on his knees and a black sword leaned diagonally by his legs.

His head was slightly bowed. His hanging hair covering his eyes, preventing others from seeing his face.

In the hall, he was strangely quiet. It was so quiet that it made people oblivious to his existence.

"Uh..." Facing the quiet black-clothed youth, the yellow-robed fatty gulped a mouthful of saliva and nearly choked. It was really asking to be rebuffed trying to speak to this rascal...

At that moment, the door to the hall was pushed open. A stout man walked in with a deadpan expression. He was wearing a thick fur cloak, with the collar standing up. His feet was covered in long rigid boots with desolate bones as their base. His steps emitted the bone ringing sounds of "Pa Da, Pa Da".

"We are here. Let's go down!"

Facing this male, the yellow-robed fatty and the girl in the gown became respectful.

"Yes, Lord Pagoda Owner."

The pale youth sitting by the corner also slowly stood up.

With the airship's door opened, the four of them flew towards the central divine tower in a light beam.

"Someone flew out!"

Many from the Tai Ah Divine City were straining their eyes, they did not know who the people were, but guessed that they were mighty figures of the Yun Long Divine Kingdom...

With these thoughts in mind, they never expected that a few days later, there would be airships from unknown factions flying to the Tai Ah Divine City. A large number of people disembarked and entered the central divine tower over the passing days.

These factions hung their own symbols, some were easily recognized by others. Other than the Yun Long Divine Kingdom, there was also the Tian Guang Royal Dynasty. It was a country about half the size of the Yun Long Divine Kingdom, but it was not to be underestimated.

Besides them, there were also ambassadors from other independent family clans.

These independent family clans did not belong to any country, but they had great heritage. A family clan was able to compare with a country!

The existence of some of these family clans was not shorter than the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's. They controlled terrifying powers that could not to be ignored.

There were more and more people coming. It was really like an assembly of heroes!

This made the Tai Ah Divine City cultivators shocked. How resounding was this City Lord birthday banquet?

A day later, another mighty figure appeared. This person's identity made many of the Tai Ah Divine City cultivators hold their breaths.

He was the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's Crown Prince!

There were countless numbers of children from the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's royal family. Just in the Tai Ah Divine City, there were plenty of cultivators with the surname Yang.

These elites, who had Yang as a surname, would have blood relations with the royal household if their bloodline was traced.

However, compared to the current Crown Prince, they were nothing.

Not only in status and identity, but also in strength!

The Crown Prince was about 3000 years old. He was chosen amongst the thousands of children from the royal household and possessed extraordinary talent. With the royal household's efforts to nurture him, he was now just a step away from being labeled a human Sage.

Once he became a sage, the current Divine Emperor would hand over the throne to him.

Hence, the Crown Prince's position in the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom was obvious!

"The Crown Prince is here. This celebration is going to be amazing!"

People knew that this celebration would be the greatest celebration they would ever experience in their lives!

True Martial World - Chapter 304: The new crop has yet to come in to replace the old

The highly anticipated rookie-ranking competition had come to an end. At the end, Lu Jie had a slight edge and defeated Wen Yu, becoming the champion amongst the rookies.

As the crowd in the rookie ranking competition dispersed, everyone discussed the final battle with great excitement. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

The arena was connected to all the major residences, so it was extremely crowded.

It was at that moment that Yi Yun returned to the Tai Ah Divine City. On the way through, he noticed throngs of people and became slightly stunned, "Oh? Why are there so many people?"

As Yi Yun looked at the rookies with a dumbfounded expression, the rookies were also stunned upon seeing Yi Yun.

This was because Yi Yun's appearance was too extreme.

The rookie ranking competition was a significant occasion, thus many people were very well-dressed. In contrast, Yi Yun was wearing ragged clothes that were obviously one size too small. Not only was he unkempt, his saber was even half-broken, all of this made him look like a beggar. It was severely out of place within the Tai Ah Divine City.

Who is this person?

This thought appeared in many people's minds. If the Tai Ah Divine City did not forbid unauthorized people from entering, there might have been people throwing money at Yi Yun.

At that moment, not far away, a group with Wen Yu, Lu Jie, Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran amongst them were walking over.

The world of warriors respected those who were strong, so the four of them were treated like idols as they came over.

Chu Xiaoran and Qiuniu were especially respected. No matter how crowded the streets were, everyone would make way for them.

Seeing Yi Yun suddenly appear, Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran became stunned.

This was because, in nearly a year's time, Yi Yun had undergone too many changes. They were unable to recognize him with just a single glance.

After staring at Yi Yun's face for a long while, Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran looked at each other in the eye with an incredulous look.

It's really him!

"Haha! Yi Yun! " Qiuniu laughed boisterously. Qiuniu and Yi Yun had only been ordinary friends, but they could be considered as having experienced life and death together in Meteorite Abyss. Besides, Yi Yun had also saved Qiuniu’s life.

Their friendship naturally was no longer the same.

Qiuniu squeezed out of the crowd and quickly strode towards Yi Yun, slapping him heavily on his shoulders.

"I knew you wouldn't die so easily. Haha!"

Yi Yun coming back alive was something that made Qiuniu happy from the bottom of his heart.

Yi Yun also gave a hearty laugh and said, "I was lucky...I went in a cursory circle around death's gate."

After experiencing a year of loneliness, Yi Yun was overcome with emotion upon seeing a familiar face again. He had indeed nearly lost his life after being chased by the Golden Crow species.

"Yi Yun, you have finally returned!" Chu Xiaoran also moved towards Yi Yun. When they bade farewell 10 months ago, Chu Xiaoran was a tiny bit taller than Yi Yun. Now however, she had to slightly look up at him.

She felt that Yi Yun had undergone a complete change in the time they were separated. It was not only his physical appearance, but other aspects as well. As for what was different, Chu Xiaoran was unable to tell.

"Yi Yun, you have been out training for so long. What is your cultivation level?" Qiuniu asked casually.

"Peak of Purple Blood!" Yi Yun did not conceal it.

"Haha, then you are slower than us. Xiaoran and I have already begun to condense the initial shape of the Yuan Foundation. You can think of us as being one foot through the door of the Yuan Foundation realm. In two months, we will definitely break through into the Yuan Foundation realm!"

Qiuniu's eyes lit up and he was eager to try it out just by talking about cultivation levels. In these 10 months, he had made significant progress. The huge leap from the peak of Purple Blood to a half-step within the Yuan Foundation made Qiuniu's "Divine Strength Ox King Skill" progress one more level.

There was a significant jump with every "Divine Strength Ox King Skill" level.

Qiuniu was now filled with confidence and he wanted to fight anyone he saw.

"Brother Yi, when will we train in the arena!?"

Qiuniu knew that Yi Yun was definitely strong, but he still brimmed with confidence. He couldn't help himself after seeing Yi Yun, a strong warrior peer. He felt that even if he was not Yi Yun's match, the difference would not be as great as the gap between them a year ago.

The surrounding rookies turned dumbfounded upon seeing Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran speak so happily with Yi Yun.

They never expected that this beggar-like person would be Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran's good friend.

"Yi Yun… Isn't he the champion of last year’s rookie ranking competition...?"

A portion of the rookies had heard of Yi Yun. They had some impressions of this name which was now nearly forgotten by Tai Ah Divine City cultivators.

"It should be him, but this person… actually defeated Chu Xiaoran in the last rookie ranking competition? Is that really true?"

When everyone heard this, they were dumbfounded. This guy was completely different from the preconceived expert in their minds!

He did not have the air of an expert, yet, he was actually stronger than Chu Xiaoran and Qiuniu?

Many rookies looked at Yi Yun with puzzlement and doubt. Chu Xiaoran and Qiuniu's strength had been witnessed by many of them, and it was terrifying.

However, the person in front of them looked like he came out from a refugee camp, he didn't look like he made the mark. They found it hard to believe that this person was a super expert. Even if he was very strong a year ago, he had disappeared for too long, and no one knew what he had experienced during this period. Could he really lead Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran?

Many of them couldn't help but have thoughts like that.

At that moment, Yi Yun decided to bid Chu Xiaoran and Qiuniu farewell.

"Brother Yi, when you have time, come to the arena! When you do so, inform me!"

Qiuniu still did not forget the matter of sparring with Yi Yun. In his opinion, Yi Yun's return was definitely to challenge the rankings.

Yi Yun smiled and said, "Sure!"

"Haha, don't be perfunctory with me. You may not know this but Qin Haotian, Li Xiao and the Qiao brothers have already left the Tai Ah Divine City. Now the first few spots have opened up in the area and everyone is eyeing them! Some of the senior cultivators who have hope in being first are all in an intense battle for it. Especially because of the ongoing City Lord's birthday celebrations, the arena rewards have increased by a lot!"

As Qiuniu said so, he pointed to the crowd behind him, "The arena was in a hiatus because of the rookie ranking competition. If not, there would be countless numbers of people fighting, more people than usual!"

"Oh? Qin Haotian, Li Xiao and the others have left?" Yi Yun was stunned upon hearing that. Indeed, they had stayed in the Tai Ah Divine City for a full six years, and it was time for them to leave.

A pity!

Yi Yun had known the famous names of Qin Haotian, Li Xiao and company ever since he entered the Tai Ah Divine City.

Yi Yun had always wanted to spar with Qin Haotian.

However, Yi Yun was now only at the peak of Purple Blood, and due to the difference in cultivation level, he would not be Qin Haotian's match. Only Yi Yun himself knew the difference between him and Qin Haotian.

And now, they had left Tai Ah Divine City, leaving him with no opportunity to challenge them.

This could only be described as a pity.

"Yes, with them here, it would be very difficult for us to challenge the Earth roll." Qiuniu laughed. He did not pay any attention to Yi Yun's thoughts. From his point of view, anyone who wanted to challenge Qin Haotian from their year, was wishfully thinking.

"Now, the arena's overall strength has decreased. Many of the fifth year cultivators are far weaker than Qin Haotian. Maybe in a year or two, we will be able to challenge the top 5 of the Heaven and Earth rolls!"

Qiuniu was very excited. If he could enter the Tai Ah Divine City's top 5 in his fourth year, it would be a glorious achievement to be proud of.

Yi Yun sighed. Indeed,, the Tai Ah Divine City did not give rise to extremely talented elites every year. The current Tai Ah Divine City was a bit lacking.

Yi Yun still liked to battle the peerless geniuses. With Qin Haotian gone, there was only Luo Huo'er left. However, she seldom appeared in the arena, nor did she challenge the Heaven or Earth rolls. Her strength was a question mark.

"Brother Yi, it could not have been easy for you to return. Let us go to the Divine Moon Restaurant and drink two cups!"

Qiuniu wanted to take Yi Yun drinking.

However, Yi Yun shook his head, "Let's have it at another time. I have been gone for far too long. Now that I am back in Tai Ah Divine City, I first need to greet Grandmaster Yuehua and Elder Cang Yan."

Amongst these two people, one was his quasi-master, and the other may not be his master but had taught him plenty. It was only right for Yi Yun to greet the seniors.

...

About one hour later in the central divine tower's 69th floor.

"Miss! Miss!" Dong'er ran to Luo Huo'er's training ground on her short legs.

"What's the matter this time?" Luo Huo'er said impatiently. This maidservant of hers liked to be surprised at the slightest things.

Dong'er puffed heavily as she hurriedly said, "That… That person you especially hate, he is back!"

When Luo Huo'er heard this, her mouth curled. She said without paying attention, "There are many people this missus hates! I cannot even remember all of them them. Which (not typo, she refers to them as animals) one are you talking about?"

"It's… It's that Yi Yun!" Dong'er used her chubby hands to wipe the sweat off her forehead as she panted.

"Yi Yun?"

Luo Huo'er was surprised. She subconsciously stopped practicing her family's heart sutras.

Her facial expression changed as she remained silent for ten seconds.

The rascal who had disappeared nearly a year ago had actually returned.

After thinking for a while, Luo Huo'er grunted, "Good people die young, but disasters leave a mark for a thousand years. I knew he wouldn't die so easily!"

"That's right, that's right!" Dong'er nodded her head strongly. "Miss, do you want to go meet him? He's currently greeting Grandmaster Yuehua."

Luo Huo'er's mouth twitched, "What do I need to meet him for? In a few days, that toad will move back beside us. In the future, we will meet frequently. What a pain!"

Saying this, Luo Huo'er began practicing her martial arts again.

However, she couldn't help herself from thinking about it. As she thought about it, her lips couldn't help but curl up as she revealed a sinister smile.

Although she always found Yi Yun to be a pain, she never wished for the rascal to just die like that.

"Miss, why are you smiling?" Dong'er asked curiously.

"Am I smiling?" Luo Huo'er paused for a while and then grunted, "I'm laughing because the rascal is back. I have something fun to play with again. See how I will make a fool out of him now, hur hur hur!"

Luo Huo'er began laughing happily. Dong'er cocked her head and tried to think hard. It seems that… Miss never succeeded in making a fool out of him?

Of course, she would never dare to say this out loud.

True Martial World - Chapter 303: City Lord’s Birthday Banquet

In early winter, the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom had its first snow. Ten months had passed since Yi Yun had left the Tai Ah Divine City.

The batch of cultivators that entered the Tai Ah Divine City with Yi Yun were now second years.

And the new batch of Tai Ah Divine City cultivators had entered the Tai Ah Divine City three months ago and they all had finished their initial jobs.

Now, it was time for these rookies to participate in the rookie ranking competition.

The rewards for this rookie ranking competition was 100% better than the last one!

The main reason was that the Tai Ah Divine City city lord's birthday was coming!

For a figure at the level of the Tai Ah Divine City city lord, they had one birthday banquet every one hundred years. And on the day of the birthday banquet, he may be in reclusive training or out exploring ruins. Due to a multitude of reasons, a birthday banquet would not be held.

In fact, the current Tai Ah Divine City city lord was a bit mysterious. In the last few centuries, he seldom appeared, not to mention holding any form of birthday banquets.

The people in charge of the Tai Ah Divine City were mainly the two elders, Jian Ge and Cang Yan.

When he suddenly announced his birthday banquet, it surprised many. Some people speculated that there were some special reasons.

Of course, these were just things that the upper echelons considered. For the rest of the Tai Ah Divine City cultivators, it was definitely good news.

Being able to attend the birthday banquet of such a legendary person and witnessing such an event was a great privilege.

And during the birthday celebrations, many of the resources within Tai Ah Divine City were discounted and many of the rewards were increased. These were the most practical benefits!

Of course, the rookies that ranked high in the rookie ranking competition would gain the most from the city lord's birthday celebrations.

In order to become first amongst the rookies, all of them used the moves all they had, showcasing their best skills.

Now, it was the battle to decide who the best rookie was!

The final battle was between a young man and a young girl.

The young man's name was Lu Jie. He did not come from a prominent background, and he could only be considered to be an above-average noble. As for the young girl, Wen Yu, she came from a prominent family and she was indeed a proud daughter of heaven.

Both of them were thirteen years old. It could be said that many paid attention to their battle, so many senior cultivators came to watch.

Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran were amongst the crowd.

They were recognized the moment they entered the arena.

Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran had both entered the top 1000 of the Heaven roll within a year!

Especially Chu Xiaoran, who had reached the ranking of 890 on the Earth ranking at the end of her first year. Her Heaven ranking was more ridiculous, at 860!

To enter the top 1000 of the Heaven and Earth rolls in the first year as a Tai Ah Divine City rookie was impressive. It was enough to stir up a storm in the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom.

And Chu Xiaoran entered the top 900 of both rolls. It was even more astonishing!

To this batch of Tai Ah Divine City rookies, their senior sister, Chu Xiaoran was a legendary person. She had condensed an Aspect Totem before the Yuan Foundation realm, and her comprehension of the laws far exceeded warriors her own age. With so many rings of light surrounding Chu Xiaoran, this made many rookies become loyal fans of Chu Xiaoran.

The appearance of Chu Xiaoran and Qiuniu stirred up quite a frenzy. Rookies quickly made way for the two of them.

Lu Jie and Wen Yu also admired the two of them. Although they were geniuses, they knew that compared to Qiuniu and Chu Xiaoran, they were a distance away.

They had even heard that in the last rookie ranking competition, Chu Xiaoran was not the champion. It was a youth named Yi Yun. But Yi Yun was too rash as teenager, and he went alone into the forbidden lands of Meteorite Abyss–Fallen Star Gate to train.

After that, he disappeared. It was said that Tai Ah Divine City's Elder Cang Yan even went into Fallen Star Gate to look for Yi Yun but he found nothing.

Up to now, Yi Yun had disappeared for ten months.

Originally, the cultivator's identity token not only recorded the person's identity, dragon scale runes and the points gained from killing desolate beasts, but it also provided their location.

But even by searching the spot, Yi Yun was still not to be found.

As such, it was most likely that Yi Yun's identity token had been destroyed in Fallen Star Gate.

This identity token was considered an average magical item, and it was not that strong. In the chaotic environment within Fallen Star Gate, it was not surprising for it to be destroyed by the pure Yang flames.

As such, Yi Yun's situation was not optimistic.

Some people believed that Yi Yun had died. According to the Tai Ah Divine City's regulations, people who disappeared for a year was considered dead.

Historically, there were super crazy people who trained in the Divine Wilderness for nearly a year.

Some people were originally thought to be dead, but they returned safely.

But such events were rare.

Even so, they were not like Yi Yun.

According to the news brought back by Chu Xiaoran and Qiuniu, Yi Yun had gone into Fallen Star Gate to train. Even the most awesome people did not dare train there for so long!

Hence, many people felt that the odds were greatly against Yi Yun.

In the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, only geniuses who were nurtured were paid attention to. As for geniuses who disappeared or died, they would quickly be forgotten.

As such, only Chu Xiaoran, Qiuniu and the second year cultivators deeply remembered of Yi Yun's past glories.

As for the new batch of cultivators, they did not know Yi Yun's name. Even if they had heard it, it would only be a story of novel interest.

The match had begun .

Wen Yu and Lu Jie showcased all their skills and they fought impressively.

The two of them had entered the top 4000 of the Earth roll. This match was their final battle to decide who was the champion amongst the rookies.

The battle quickly entered the most intense stage. And amongst the crowd, Chu Xiaoran was drifting off. Her mind was clearly not focused on the match.

"What's the matter Xiaoran? Thinking about Yi Yun?" Qiuniu, who was beside Chu Xiaoran, asked.

"Yes..." Chu Xiaoran nodded. She came to watch this rookie ranking competition not to focus on Wen Yu and Lu Jie. The both of them would not pose a threat to Chu Xiaoran in the future.

Chu Xiaoran came to this match to reminiscence about the battle she had with Yi Yun last year. Although she had lost in that battle, it was the battle that left the deepest impression in her life thus far. As such, she felt extremely strongly about it.

"Back then when we were training in Meteorite Abyss, if not for Yi Yun, we would have died when our path was blocked by the Blue Blood Ape in the valley, and then later besieged by the weird fish in the deep pool. It can be said that Yi Yun had saved us twice."

"Who would have thought that we returned safely, but only Yi Yun disappeared. Even though Elder Cang Yan also thinks that something happened to Yi Yun, I still think that Yi Yun would not die so easily. He has not returned because of some reason..." Chu Xiaoran said faintly.

Qiuniu nodded and said, "Yi Yun is a person with fate supporting him. He definitely won't die so easily, but...people are worried because the connection to his identity token has been lost. We can only pray that our ancestors will bless him..."

...

In a swamp about 50 kilometers away from the Tai Ah Divine City.

This swamp was not the Blackwater Swamp. It was an area very close to Tai Ah Divine City, so the desolate beasts in the swamp were very weak. Typically, only rookies would train here.

It may be training, they were only out here to really see the world. They needed to familiarize themselves on how to work in a small team to kill desolate beasts. This was to lay a foundation for them to traverse the Divine Wilderness in the future.

In the swamp, at that moment, there was a team of rookies killing desolate beasts.

As this was their first time out of the city, they were extremely tense as if they were fighting the greatest of enemies, even though it was just 50 kilometers from Tai Ah Divine City.

"Leader, look there. There's a person!" A team member in charge of alerting the team noticed that there was a youth at the end of the swamp walking over with a saber in hand.

This youth seemed to dress very specially.

He had a slender body, but the clothes on his body were clearly one size smaller. They were also greatly worn out, they could be described as rags.

It seemed as if his hair had not been cut for a very long time. It reached down to his shoulders like they were wild grass.

The saber in his hand was also halved. He seemed to have gone through a great crisis and then be robbed by someone after that.

The team members were not even sure if this person was a Tai Ah Divine City cultivator. Could he be a Divine Wilderness barbarian?

As the youth approached, the team became more alert.

"What are you?" The seven people asked with their weapons in hand.

The youth smiled and exposed his two rows of white teeth.

He had finally met some people after a long time!

Loneliness was an emotion not to be dismissed. Even Yi Yun felt extremely lonely after cultivating alone for an extended period of time.

Now when he suddenly saw people, he felt a warm feeling surging over him.

"Hello there, I want to ask, what year and month is it now?"

Upon hearing Yi Yun's question, the youths were shocked. Was this really a barbarian? The first thing he asked was the year and month...

"It's Qingfeng Year 68, 7th day of the winter month."

Qingfeng was the present divine emperor's reigning title. The Tai Ah Divine Kingdom used the reigning title as a marker through the years. Typically, people would only say the last two digits as the numbers in front were too long. So they were often omitted.

"Seventh day of the winter month. That means it's 7 November. I actually spent so long cultivating in Pure Yang Sword Palace..." Yi Yun sighed. Time really did not mean anything while cultivating.

"Hey, you haven't told us what sort of person are you?" The team leader asked again.

"Me?" Yi Yun laughed. Seeing the youth that looked even younger than him, he said, "I'm a Tai Ah Divine City cultivator."

"Cultivator?" A few of the cultivators were shocked. They looked strangely at Yi Yun.

This fellow was also a cultivator? He sure was in a sorry state!

As rookies, they were already in quite a tragic state. But now seeing this youth, they were nothing. He was no different from a beggar.

"Bro, were you surrounded by desolate beasts? Even your saber is broken, and your clothes are torn. Quickly return to the city. Prepare better in the future. Bring more disk arrays, array charms, lightning beads, etc. These one-time magical items may seem to be a waste, but they can save your life at the critical moment. You should not stinge on those dragon scale runes!"

The rookie team leader seemed to looked extremely enthusiastic. He advised Yi Yun with his recently gained experience.

Yi Yun chuckled and did not mind. He said, "Thanks! I'm indeed returning to the city. See you later!"

Since he was returning to Tai Ah Divine City, Yi Yun was in a good mood.

He had been in reclusive training in the Pure Yang Sword Palace for nearly 10 months. On his way back, he had killed desolate beasts, consolidating his Aspect Totem.

Now, Yi Yun's cultivation level had officially entered the peak of the Purple Blood realm.

The next step was to begin forming the Yuan Foundation.