Chapter 644: Country Bumpkins
Old Feng did not blame them for their curiosity. He merely smiled gently and led the three past the guards to speak to the head of the golden-armored guards.
After he handed over the medallion and official documents that proved his identity, the guards of the south gate immediately allowed the group to skip the queue entirely.
“Purple Gold Vine! This is at least a thousand-year-old Purple Gold Vine. Unexpectedly, it is just planted at the roadside. Its fruits are all ripe.”
“There is also the Fire Dragon Tree! It is also at least a thousand years old.”
“White Profound Flower!”
After entering, the group saw spiritual trees and Spirit Herbs casually planted along the roadsides. They could not help but exclaim in surprise.
All around, spiritual trees and Spirit Herbs highly prized in the Sky Dome Realm filled the vast Martial God Palace, growing like weeds.
Xiao Chen did not feel too much astonishment. Spiritual trees or Spirit Herbs strewn along the road like this would definitely not be anything precious or rare here. Since they were in the Kunlun Realm, they could not judge things here by the measure of the Sky Dome Realm.
Old Feng familiarly led the three through the roads of the Martial God Palace. Soon, they arrived before a large hall. The words “Proud Son of Heaven Pavilion” hung above the doors.
After entering the large hall, Old Feng got the three to wait there first. Then, he left to arrange for identity medallions to be made for the three.
The few of them started to chat idly. There were also several cultivators of similar ages waiting excitedly around them as well.
“Are you cultivators from the lower realm?”
Three cultivators came over from the side. They felt curious, so they asked the three. The person who asked was a girl with delicate facial features.
This girl was about twenty-four or twenty-five years old. She was already an Inferior Grade Martial Monarch, and her aura was very stable. Clearly, she had advanced to Inferior Grade Martial Monarch long ago.
The three exchanged glances, and then Yue Chenxi performed the introductions. “Yes, we are from the Sky Dome Realm. I am Yue Chenxi, he is Xiao Chen, and he is Gong Yangyu.”
“I am Bai Xi. These two are my junior brothers, Bai He and Bai Yu. We are from a Qiong Prefecture’s Rank 8 sect, the Beiming Palace.” The girl maintained her smile and warmheartedly introduced her group of three.
When the two male disciples behind her heard that Xiao Chen’s group was from the Sky Dome Realm, their gazes turned disdainful.
“And there I was thinking they were geniuses from one of the ten great battle realms. It turns out they are from the last-ranked Sky Dome Realm. Senior Sister Bai, let’s go. There is no point speaking to them,” the Beiming Palace disciple called Bai Yu said indifferently.
Bai He chimed in. “To think the people of the Sky Dome Realm want to enter the Proud Son of Heaven Ranking. That is something impossible. You will just be wasting an opportunity.”
Bai Xi said unhappily, “How can you two say this? This is rude.”
“Ha ha! In that case, Senior Sister, you can continue to waste your time here. We will go and make our preparations. When Senior Brother brings back the Sage Sky Lanterns, we will attempt to enter the Proud Son of Heaven Ranking.”
The two of them did not even bother to give Xiao Chen and his group a second glance before turning to leave.
When Xiao Chen chatted with Ao Jiao, he had learned some things about the ten great battle realms. Of the six hundred great realms that the Martial God Palace controlled, the ten great battle realms were the top ten great realms.
These realms produced countless experts, many of whom were born geniuses at combat. Every year, the experts of the battle realms would enter the Kunlun Realm. They had gained considerable fame in the Tianwu Domain, where there was intense competition.
The battle realms already had an excellent reputation. Everyone acknowledged that cultivators from the battle realms were not mediocre. Even the natives of the Tianwu Domain wanted to befriend them.
“Sorry, my junior brothers are a little too prideful. However, they are not bad people,” Bai Xi said apologetically.
This was not the first time Xiao Chen had seen such people. With his mentality, these two people would not have any effect on him. He merely smiled and did not say anything.
Yue Chenxi felt a little dissatisfied, but seeing Bai Xi’s sincere attitude, she did not say anything. Instead, she changed the topic. “Let’s not talk about this. What is this Proud Son of Heaven Ranking? Elder Sister Bai, would you tell us more about it?”
Bai Xi was quite an amiable person. She smiled and said, “Of course. The Proud Son of Heaven Ranking is the most authoritative ranking on the strength of the Tianwu Domain’s youths.
“In the Tianwu Domain, as long as one’s age does not exceed forty, they have a chance to attempt to rank themselves on the Proud Son of Heaven Ranking once every year. After one gets ranked, not only will one become famous in the Tianwu Domain, they will obtain many benefits.
“The first benefit is that the Martial God Palace would give a monthly remuneration of Spirit Gathering Pearls and Medicinal Pills according to the ranking on the Proud Son of Heaven Ranking.
“The second benefit is that once one enters the ranking, they will obtain the will of an ancient Sage. The ancient Sages were stronger than the modern Martial Emperors. This strand of will goes into your sea of consciousness. At a critical moment, it can save your life.
“The third benefit has the most impact on you. If you get into the Proud Son of Heaven Ranking, after you enter your sect, they will pay more attention to you and focus resources on you.”
When the three heard Bai Xi’s explanation, they could not help feeling excited about this Proud Son of Heaven Ranking.
“Senior Brother is back. Come, let’s go quickly. After cultivating so bitterly for three years, I must get on the Proud Son of Heaven Ranking this time!”
Just at this moment, Bai Yu and Bai He ran over quickly. Bai Xi said with a smile, “My First Senior Brother is here. I will take my leave first.”
When Xiao Chen and the others turned their heads to look, they saw a youthful swordsman with an extraordinary air about him and an unfathomable cultivation. Three lanterns floated in front of him as he slowly walked over.
Xiao Chen’s group also saw Old Feng behind that swordsman. Likewise, Old Feng had three lanterns floating in front of him.
Old Feng came over to the three and said, “Come, follow me to the Sage Wall and attempt to enter the Proud Son of Heaven Ranking.”
Following Old Feng, the three of them arrived before a wall in the hall. The wall had many drawings of Sages on it, giving off ancient and drawn-out auras. Everyone felt an intense pressure that prevented them from breathing deeply.
A thousand lanterns arranged at the top of the wall illuminated the illustrations, further enhancing the ancient Sages’ auras.
The flames in the lanterns were a great eye-opener for the three. Unexpectedly, they were miniature human figures of flames.
Although the flame person was small, if one focused on that, the people they depicted immediately became larger and more distinct in the mind—it was like seeing the real person.
The first row only had one lantern, the second row had two, the third row had four…the one thousand lanterns were arranged in such a manner.
The flames of the top three lanterns were golden, their glow also the brightest. It seemed like these three overwhelmed the light from all the other lanterns.
Each lantern represented an outstanding talent in the Tianwu Domain. Given the amount of light these three lanterns gave off and their positions, it would be hard for people not to notice them.
Old Feng sighed softly and said, “You should have heard of the masters of the three lanterns above. They are the Holy Son and Holy Daughters of the Three Holy Lands.
“The topmost one is the Divine Martial Gate’s Feng Wuji. The two below it are the Phoenix’s Passion Palace’s Nuan Muyun and the White Emperor City’s Xia Houjue.”
Old Feng continued, “The Three Holy Lands are King Grade sects in the Tianwu Domain that are even stronger than Rank 9 sects. They are also the only three King Grade sects in the Tianwu Domain.”
Xiao Chen raised his eyebrows slightly. He thought about his Azure Dragon Martial Spirit and could not help but sink into deep thought. The Three Holy Lands were probably even more formidable and scarier in this Tianwu Domain.
“However, most people would not compare themselves to the people from the Three Holy Lands. The seven giants of the Tianwu Domain’s younger generation do not include the three of them. It is also very difficult to see these three people.”
Old Feng pointed at seven lamps positioned lower and said, “These seven people are from either Rank 9 sects or Rank 9 clans. They are all very strong; the weakest of them is a Superior Grade Martial Monarch.
“The strongest of them can hold their own against a Martial Sage for many moves. They would be able to flee easily if they wanted.”
When Xiao Chen heard this, he could not help being alarmed. Raising one’s cultivation in the Kunlun Realm was clearly harder than doing so in the Sky Dome Realm. The quality of a Martial Monarch was much higher as well.
The difficulty of defeating someone of a higher cultivation here was not something that could be compared with that in the Sky Dome Realm. There was almost no possibility.
Given Xiao Chen’s strength now, if he met with a Medial Grade Martial Monarch of the Kunlun Realm, he would have to use a lot of effort in order to gain victory.
If the other party was also a genius cultivator and was a cultivation grade higher than Xiao Chen’s, it would be hard for Xiao Chen to defeat him.
These seven people were all Superior Grade Martial Monarchs. They had powerful Rank 9 sects or clans behind them and were genius cultivators as well. These people would be able to kill Xiao Chen easily.
“Aside from them, there are also several proud sons of heaven that are second only to the seven giants. They are extremely strong. If they were placed in the Sky Dome Realm, they would not be afraid of an ordinary Martial Sage.”
Yue Chenxi and Gong Yangyu both listened carefully to Old Feng’s words. They felt an intense pressure coming from these thousand lanterns, and some dismay appeared in their hearts.
In contrast to Yue Chenxi and Gong Yangyu, Xiao Chen did not feel any dismay, even though he felt the pressure as well. His expression remained unchanging.
When Old Feng saw Yue Chenxi’s and Gong Yangyu’s expressions, he smiled faintly and said, “You don’t have to overthink this. The average lifespan of Kunlun Realm cultivators is two hundred years. Thus, anyone under forty can be considered part of the younger generation.
“The average age of the one thousand people on this Proud Son of Heaven Ranking is thirty years old. Compared to them, you are still very young. This first attempt is just for you to broaden your horizons. There is no expectation on you for any results.”
While Old Feng spoke, the other cultivators from the Sky Dome Realm also arrived at this wall under the lead of their sect elders.
Everyone wore a new identity medallion with the words “Sky Dome” on it, which allowed others to know their origins. Thus, many people stopped to watch them make their attempts.
Beiming Palace’s Bai Yu smiled and said, “There is a lot of people from the Sky Dome Realm. However, there is not a single Medial Grade Martial Monarch. No wonder they have always been ranked last.”
Bai He added, “If they are unable to break through to Medial Grade Martial Monarch, it proves that their talent is not any good. Senior Sister Bai, despite all that, you still chatted with them. You are simply lowering yourself.”
“Bai He is not wrong. With their talent, even if they entered a Rank 9 sect, they would just be outer disciples. At best, they would rise to inner disciples.
“Our Beiming Palace may be just a Rank 8 sect, but you are all true inheritors. There is no need to befriend the small characters of these big sects.”
The young swordsman behind the three slowly added, “It is better to befriend experts of similar strength to yours. By exchanging moves with each other and discussing them, you will be able to improve together.”
When Bai He and Bai Yu heard the young swordsman’s words, their smiles grew wider. Seeing her First Senior Brother lecturing her, Bai Xi lowered her head and did not say anything.