Chapter 484 - 457: The First Human Race Celestial Pride to Match Tushan Keji’s Realm

That day, the entire world was in an uproar.

Lu Bell had shot straight into fourth place on the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List. The waves this created even surpassed the time Song Zhao slew the Twelve Great Demons in succession to claim third place!

Why?

One only needed to look at the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List’s assessment of Lu Bell’s achievements—

Jingzhou, Mirror Platform City.

As the capital of Yu Ling County, Mirror Platform City was a hub of information, with news traveling fast through its thirty-six streets and two hundred forty wards.

Storytellers were especially common by the shores of Mingjing Lake and beneath Baozhuang Bridge.

The students of Mirror Platform Academy also liked to gather at Mingjing Lake. They would stroll and chat, hold literary gatherings, discuss romance and poetry, or debate the state of the world.

In the bustling areas, speakers chattered endlessly while onlookers were captivated with soaring spirits. It was an extraordinarily lively scene!

On this particular day, after a whole winter of snow, Mirror Platform City was suddenly blessed with a bright, clear sky. A gentle spring breeze rustled by Mingjing Lake, coaxing new buds from the willow branches.

Pedestrians treading on the last of the snow in search of spring were walking along the lake’s embankment, chatting about the new year’s prospects, when suddenly, the clanging of a copper gong erupted from a street on the other side of the bridge.

CLANG CLANG CLANG!

Amidst the noise, someone drew out their words in an exaggerated shout: "The Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List! The new edition of the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List is out! There’s a new change in the top ten today! Step right up, don’t miss out, come and buy a copy!"

’A new change in the top ten?’

Woah!

Every pedestrian by the lake turned to look. Someone immediately strode over, hand outstretched, shouting, "Give me one! How much?"

"Heh, just two hundred wen!"

"Two hundred wen? Why don’t you just rob me?"

"Sir, you say that because you don’t know the market. This is the new edition! The *new* edition! First-hand news, and a change in the top ten of the Celestial Pride List, no less! Buy a copy, and you’ll see it’s worth every penny..."

"I’ll take it!"

Before the young hawker could continue exercising his silver tongue, a hand shot out from the side and snatched a copy of the list.

And with that, business was booming.

Pedestrians swarmed forward. Some had even been waiting specifically to buy every new edition of the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List to keep as a collection at home!

Many balked at the price and didn’t buy, but surprisingly, even more were willing to pay.

Seeing the young hawker get swallowed by the crowd until he was completely out of sight, a few students on the outskirts grew anxious.

"Hey, why is it so crowded? Everyone, make way! Can you please make some room?"

"Form a line! Why are you all acting so crazy? The list isn’t going to run away! Do you think you won’t get one if you don’t shove? Oof, ow..."

Before his cry of "ow" could fade, the student who’d shouted it suddenly turned his head. His gaze fell on the side-bridge of Baozhuang Bridge, where a Scholar in green robes was holding a rolled-up list. Pushing off a pier, the Scholar leaped directly off the bridge.

THUD!

The Scholar leaped thirty feet, dropping straight down from the high bridge and landing on the embankment below.

The students on the embankment were stunned, and they all cried out at once, "Brother Zhou!"

"Brother Zhou, be careful!"

"Oof, Brother Zhou, you..."

After all, they were Scholars, not Martial Artists. Unless they managed to draw down Celestial Spiritual Light, a Scholar’s constitution was no stronger than that of an ordinary mortal.

The Scholar who had jumped from the thirty-foot-high bridge rolled as he landed. He paid no mind to his own condition, scrambling back to his feet and running excitedly toward his classmates.

As he ran, he shouted, "Brother Zhang, Brother Li, Brother Wang... everyone! Brother Lu... Brother Lu! Lu Bell, he... he made it onto the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List! Fourth place! Fourth place!"

He practically shrieked the last two words, "Fourth place!"

His classmates didn’t understand at first, seeing him so hoarse and overcome with excitement that he’d completely disregarded his own image.

The Scholar in green sprinted toward them. Within a few breaths, he was closer, and they could see him more clearly. His hair was a mess, his face was flushed red, and the veins at the corners of his eyes were bulging with agitation.

His classmate, Brother Zhang, tried to calm him down, confused. "Brother Zhou, slow down. Why are you..."

"It’s Lu Bell! It’s Lu Bell!" The Scholar in green ran up, grabbed Brother Zhang by the arm, and shouted, "It’s Lu Bell! Have you all forgotten?"

Finally, that question struck them like a bolt from the blue, piercing their hearts and clearing the fog from their minds.

They finally remembered. They understood what the Scholar in green was saying.

He was saying that Lu Bell had claimed fourth place on the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List!

Brother Zhang grabbed the green-robed Scholar’s wrist and asked excitedly, "Brother Zhou, the Lu Bell you’re talking about... is he the same Lu Bell we met before?"

The Scholar in green nodded hastily. "It’s him! It’s really him! Look, quick, look! Lu Bell, fourth on the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List, a Body Refining Cultivator at the Fourth Realm, an Innate Third Transformation Martial Artist, a Blade Master..."

As he spoke, he unfurled the copy of the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List in his hand.

As it turned out, this Scholar in green was none other than Zhou Zhongqiu, the Prefect’s son, whom Song Ciwan had met while wandering through Mirror Platform City.

At the time, Zhou Zhongqiu had been telling his classmates about the thousand-year-old feud between Immortal Venerable Mo and the Dragon Maiden Ao Yun. Song Ciwan, disguised as Lu Bell, had even crashed the lesson to listen in on Zhou Zhongqiu’s captivating tale.

Though they were strangers who met by chance, one could say it was fate.

They had even exchanged names and called each other ’Brother’.

Zhou Zhongqiu pointed to the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List and read: "Lu Bell. A youth who carries a blade. Mysterious origins, background unknown.

Primary Magical Treasure: Unknown.

Body Refining Technique: Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique.

Primary Martial Techniques: Life-taking Finger, Xuanwu Mountain Observation Seal.

Accomplishments: Slew a veteran Cultivator with Celestial Pride-level combat strength; destroyed a county-level City Defense Array; defeated a Celestial Pride Level Golden Core Stage Immortal Seeker who wielded the power of an Ancient God’s Word Spirit; dug out a Golden Core to summon Celestial Thunder; devoured a bolt of otherworldly Celestial Thunder to break through to the Body Refining Fourth Layer; absorbed all the lightning within the three-thousand-li Thunder Strike Ridge. Worthy of fourth place on the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List."

He read the entire entry in one breath, and after finishing, his heart surged with an indescribable excitement.

He couldn’t put his current emotions into words, so he could only repeat, "The Body Refining Fourth Layer... that’s a realm equivalent to the Divine Refining Stage! Everyone, that means Brother Lu... no, Lu Celestial Pride’s actual realm is already on par with the number one Celestial Pride, Tushan Jing!"

His classmates crowded around him, immediately chiming in excitedly, "Exactly! On the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List, the top ten Celestial Prides are either at the Divinity Transformation Stage, Innate Third Transformation, or the Righteous Qi Realm. Before this, only Tushan Jing was at the Demon King Stage, which is equivalent to our Human Race’s Refining Spirit. But we Humans didn’t have a single person at the same realm as Tushan Jing!"

"The Body Refining Fourth Layer is equivalent to a Cultivator’s Divine Refining Stage, a Martial Artist’s Innate Fourth Transformation Acupoint Fusion Realm, and a Scholar’s Vast Realm!"

"Brother Lu... Lu Celestial Pride is the first! The first Human Race Celestial Pride to match Tushan Jing in terms of realm!"

"With accomplishments like these, Lu Celestial Pride still didn’t take the top spot on the Celestial Pride List. I refuse to believe he’s weaker than Tushan Jing! It’s probably just because they haven’t fought head-to-head. That must be why Brother Lu’s rank on the Celestial Pride List couldn’t go any higher!"