True Martial World
chapter-227

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Thanks to Brother Xu’s tip, I have broadened my horizons.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They wanted to see what strength the senior cultivators possessed.

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

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

The battles were in full swing!

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

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

Rookie after rookie was defeated.

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

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

But most of the time, these people would fail.

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

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

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

But at this moment, the referee shouted loudly; “Divine Wilderness Stage, 3780, Fang Jihai, come on stage!”

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

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

Fang Jihai…

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

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

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

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

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

“Challenger: 10,001 – Chu Xiaoran!”

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

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

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

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

Many rookies cheered for Chu Xiaoran!

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

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

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

“So you are Chu Xiaoran…”

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

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

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

Flame control?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Phew–”

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

“Reckless Fire!”

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