Chapter 376 - 219: Li Xingtuo’s Shock

Chapter 376: Chapter 219: Li Xingtuo’s Shock

The new Hidden Dragon List had just been released. It stirred Xie Yuan into setting a martial vow, and the surrounding discussions grew ever more intense.

Normally, the release of each new list would spark fierce debate among Martial Artists, and the disciples on Cloud Mountain were naturally no exception.

This time, it was even more so.

Their beloved and respected Senior Brother’s ranking hadn’t changed, but the person in seventy-second place truly had the disciples excited for a good while.

Perhaps most Martial Artists from other provinces were hearing this name for the first time—aside from the few high-level Grandmasters and their superiors who had participated in the conflict at the Slaughter Tower ruins.

But many disciples of the Cloud Mountain Sword Sect already knew a thing or two about Xie Yuan.

After all, this was the villain who had committed the heinous crime of killing an official right in the streets of Yunzhou. He was a fugitive that even Divine Catcher Su Xing of the Spring Rain Building had failed to apprehend, a ruffian rumored to be capable of injuring a Grandmaster. Naturally, he had caught the attention of the Sword Sect’s members long ago.

Some disciples had even gone down the mountain to pursue this infamous fugitive, but of course, they failed. After all, if Su Xing couldn’t catch him, how could they?

Besides... going down the mountain to look for him was completely heading in the wrong direction.

After some time, this villain, dubbed the "Peerless Ruffian," had vanished without a trace, and the Sword Sect disciples had stopped paying him any mind.

But then, not long ago, Xie Yuan had reappeared at the Wu River. The County Magistrate was slain directly in the Yu County Magistrate’s Office, and Xie Yuan had once again vanished, his whereabouts unknown.

This triggered a political earthquake in Yunzhou’s officialdom, the inside story of which was unknown to the public. Even the disciples on Cloud Mountain could vaguely sense the tremors, but that was all.

But when this new Hidden Dragon List came out, the disciples truly went into an uproar.

The same Xie Yuan who was said to still be in the External Training phase when he made a name for himself last year was now directly on the Hidden Dragon List?

Even a true prodigy soaring to the heavens couldn’t have risen this fast, could they?

Even Ning Zi, the prodigy of the Cloud Mountain Sword Sect’s Second Transformation Realm, hadn’t made it onto the list yet.

As a result, wherever Xie Yuan went these past few days while cultivating in the Inner Sect—be it the great platform at the summit, the disciples’ dining hall, or even the mountain paths and courtyards—he could hear the other disciples discussing it.

The content of everyone’s greetings had also changed from "Have you eaten?" or "Have you broken through?" to "Hey, have you heard about the new Hidden Dragon List?"...

’The love of gossip is truly universal. It doesn’t matter if you’re a commoner in the market or a disciple on an immortal mountain.’

Xie Yuan pursed his lips.

’This move of Su Xing’s is effective, in a way. Even here in the Sword Sect, I’ve lost count of how many senior brothers I’ve heard vowing to challenge this "Xie Yuan" who is unworthy of his rank...’

Even a Martial Artist who had built a solid foundation, first making a name for themselves locally before climbing onto the Hidden Dragon List, would face numerous doubts and challenges, let alone someone like Xie Yuan who had appeared on it overnight.

Besides, the Hidden Dragon List had a few unwritten rules.

The list generally didn’t include experts of unorthodox paths or villainous prodigies. For one, seventy-two spots might not be enough to rank them all. For another, it would risk fanning the flames of the wicked, which ran counter to the Spring Rain Building’s purpose.

But occasionally, a villain would make the list, usually because their strength was simply undeniable, or because they had shone so brightly in a public setting that they couldn’t be ignored.

However, such villains who spent some time on the list often met a bad end. They were simply too conspicuous.

And this time, Xie Yuan, a wanted criminal, had appeared at the bottom of the list, which naturally had the self-proclaimed righteous Martial Artists rubbing their hands in anticipation.

They could punish evil, eliminate a villain, and make a name for themselves all at once. What was not to like?

Defeating Xie Yuan was a win-win—a double win for the disciples of the righteous path.

But besides this unwritten rule, there was another: experts from the imperial family were also generally left off the list, unless they too were too conspicuous to ignore—like Xue Ming River, who had taken first place in the East Sea Sword Conference back in the day.

The reason the Spring Rain Building gave was, of course, to show deference to the venerable. In reality, it was to allow the imperial family to hide its true strength and maintain a balance of power against the great families.

The publicly known experts of the major families were almost all recorded on the lists. But as for how many Grandmasters and other high-level experts the imperial family truly had, no one could say for sure. Even the members of the great families within the Spring Rain Building, who could view the real lists and intelligence, only had a partial understanding.

But it was certain that the imperial family currently had no Grandmasters.

When a Grandmaster was born into the world, most of the top Martial Dao experts would sense it in some way.

And while not every one of the eight great families had a Grandmaster, there were still two of them among them.

In the past few decades, the one from the imperial family who had come closest to the Grandmaster Realm was Xue Ming River.

It was a pity his brilliance was too dazzling. Even while he lay low in the Capital City, he was constantly watched by the eight great families.

Sensing that this peerless commander was about to obtain peerless martial power as well, the eight great families were on pins and needles. They ultimately decided to join forces, holding the world hostage to assassinate the King of Pingxi on the eve of his invincibility.

No matter how corrupt, dark, or bloated the great families were, in the face of a true crisis, they would always reveal the true strength and decisiveness they had cultivated for a thousand years.

This high-stakes gamble, with the chaos of the world and the collapse of the Central Plains as their bargaining chip, was ultimately won by the great families. The victory, however, came at a terrible price. Nearly twenty years had passed, and the Qian family of Jinling still hadn’t recovered. Many of the other families had also suffered losses and were now recuperating.

The Martial Dao lists were, from their inception, naturally a tool for the imperial court to control the Martial Artists of the Jianghu. But now, they had become increasingly recognized, to the point that even the Spring Rain Building, aside from a few minor manipulations, didn’t dare to rank them randomly. At the very least, the order on the list was absolutely correct at the time of publication.

Anyone on the list was a true expert.

Xie Yuan, humbly occupying the last spot, had to fend off countless fists reaching up from below, while everyone above him was a target.

Perhaps one day, the Spring Rain Building would come to realize that putting Xie Yuan on the list had been a terrible mistake.