Chapter 522 - 304: Release

Chapter 522: Chapter 304: Release

"Did you memorize that guy? If you get a chance during the Secondary Dragon Ascension, cripple him for me," Fang Xinghai said, his voice ice-cold.

Hearing this, Li Yunzhou looked astonished. Earlier, he had seen Fang Xinghai and Xu Yang engaging in a lively conversation and assumed they had a good relationship. He hadn’t expected Fang Xinghai to suddenly ask him to cripple Xu Yang at the first opportunity.

"Does Steward Fang have a grudge against him?" Li Yunzhou asked carefully.

After all, Xu Yang was a disciple of the Purple Sun Sect. If he really crippled the boy, it wouldn’t be without consequences. These were Sects with hundreds of years of history, and they also had several senior disciples within the Celestial Strategy Academy. If those seniors decided to stand up for Xu Yang, Li Yunzhou would be in trouble. Although his Cold Water Sect also had seniors in the Academy, it was best to avoid such troubles if possible.

Even Huo Xiaochen had only threatened to intercept Xu Yang and prevent him from completing his Dragon Ascension, not to cripple him. Failing the Dragon Ascension and being outright crippled were two entirely different matters.

Fang Xinghai narrowed his eyes slightly. "A grudge? I suppose you could call it that. He is a Purple Sun Sect disciple from Fufeng County. Originally, a Shopkeeper from my Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion saw his potential and wanted to recruit him as an Honored Guest Elder. However, when we investigated his background, we found that he had a feud with Li Lingdu’s son, Li Chuyang. Because of this, I canceled his Dragon Ascension sponsorship.

"I thought that without the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion’s sponsorship, given his talent, it would be impossible for him to break through to the Celestial Essence Realm at this time. I didn’t expect this brat to exceed my expectations..."

He didn’t finish his sentence, but Li Yunzhou understood.

If Xu Yang couldn’t make it out of Fufeng County, then the past incident wouldn’t matter. But now that Xu Yang had the potential to leave Fufeng County and enter the Celestial Strategy Academy, that past incident was no longer a trivial matter. Fang Xinghai couldn’t guarantee that Xu Yang wouldn’t seek revenge for the past once he grew stronger. Therefore, the best solution was to cripple Xu Yang first, denying him any chance to grow.

"Just for such a small matter? He wouldn’t go as far as to take revenge on you and the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion," Li Yunzhou said with a frown. In his eyes, this wasn’t a big deal. It was just a failed negotiation; someone’s mind shouldn’t be that narrow.

"The human heart is unpredictable, and I’ve heard this person is incredibly petty!" Fang Xinghai sighed.

Naturally, he couldn’t admit that he had acted like a snob back then and said harsh things. Originally, it was Li Chuyang bullying Xu Yang, but Fang Xinghai had used his authority to force Xu Yang to bow his head and apologize to Li Chuyang. It wasn’t just a simple failed partnership.

Li Yunzhou pondered for a moment before replying, "If the opportunity arises, I will help you intercept him. But as for crippling him, forgive me, I cannot do that."

He didn’t refuse entirely, but he had no intention of doing exactly what Fang Xinghai demanded. After all, Fang Xinghai had no authority to order him around. He could do Fang Xinghai a favor, but he wouldn’t forge a blood feud with the Purple Sun Sect over it.

To put it simply, the incentives weren’t enough. It was the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion sponsoring him, not Fang Xinghai; Fang Xinghai was merely the liaison. Expecting him to forge a blood feud with a centuries-old Martial Arts Sect based on nothing but empty words meant Fang Xinghai clearly overestimated the value of his own pride.

"One Spiritual Essence Pill!" Fang Xinghai said through gritted teeth. He obviously knew that Li Yunzhou wouldn’t cripple Xu Yang and make a deadly enemy of the Purple Sun Sect just because of his words, so he immediately promised a reward.

"Not enough. It’s not like you don’t know Zhang Jingyuan. Would you offend Zhang Jingyuan to the death for a single Spiritual Essence Pill? I think you know better than I do what kind of person he is," Li Yunzhou shook his head.

For just one Spiritual Essence Pill, he had no interest in offending the Purple Sun Sect. Zhang Jingyuan was a renowned expert in the vast Yun Province. Although Li Yunzhou’s own talent wasn’t bad, he had yet to fully mature.

"Two pills at most. If you’re unwilling, then pretend I never brought it up," Fang Xinghai said in a deep voice. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn’t have suppressed Xu Yang just to curry favor with Li Lingdu. He gained nothing from it, and now it was going to cost him two Spiritual Essence Pills.

"Deal!" Li Yunzhou smiled. "However, if we don’t get the chance to cross paths, don’t blame me."

Regardless, they needed to cross paths for him to make a move.

"Naturally," Fang Xinghai nodded.

***

Xu Yang strode into the Purple Sun Sect’s station and noticed that Sun Tao had already returned and was sitting in the courtyard, drinking.

"What’s troubling you, Senior Brother Sun?" Xu Yang walked over.

"Have a drink with me first!" Sun Tao handed over his wine flask.

Xu Yang took it and took a heavy gulp. Instantly, a spicy, burning sensation exploded in his mouth. It felt as if he had swallowed a mouthful of razor blades, searing all the way down his throat into his stomach.

"Good liquor!" he praised.

Sun Tao rolled his eyes. "This isn’t good liquor at all. It’s just a few coins’ worth of cheap booze from the roadside to satisfy my craving."

"Now you can tell me what’s on your mind, Senior Brother Sun," Xu Yang smiled, handing the flask back.

This cheap rotgut was indeed not good liquor; it was what the common folk at the bottom of society drank to ward off the cold.

Sun Tao sighed. "I’ve spent all the silver I brought with me. I went out today planning to find some work to earn a few silver coins, but I ran around all day without finding anything suitable."

There was no exact start time for the Secondary Dragon Ascension, so they could only wait here. However, the few jobs he had inquired about all required leaving Yunzhou City.

If he couldn’t earn some money soon, he’d be going hungry in a few days. Even though a Celestial Essence Martial Artist could absorb Spiritual Qi, they hadn’t reached the level where they could completely forgo food.

"This is just a small matter. Why would you drink in frustration over this? You only had to ask," Xu Yang said, suddenly realizing the situation.

In Qingyuan County, Sun Tao’s family background was decent, but only within the confines of Qingyuan County. After supporting Sun Tao for so many years, his family had little wealth left. Additionally, Sun Tao’s rise had been too rapid. Having reached this stage in such a short time, he simply hadn’t had the time to earn money. Thus, despite becoming a Celestial Essence Strong Person, he had absolutely no savings and was now at the point where he couldn’t even afford meals.

Taking out a money pouch from his robes, Xu Yang handed a thousand taels of silver to Sun Tao. This amount of money wasn’t much, but it was enough to sustain Sun Tao until he entered the Celestial Strategy Academy. He had planned to give him more, but since money was of little use to Xu Yang now, he had left most of his silver with Xu Qing before coming here.

"This... I didn’t mean to borrow silver from you," Sun Tao shook his head, knowing that Xu Yang wasn’t wealthy either.

"Take it. You can’t let anything delay your Dragon Ascension. Besides, I still have some left on me," Xu Yang said with a smile.

Earning money wasn’t difficult for him; he could just buy some herbs and refine a batch of elixirs. Sun Tao, on the other hand, couldn’t do that. Aside from risking his life for someone else, his only other option would be becoming a highwayman.

"I’ll pay you back when I have it!"

At Xu Yang’s insistence, Sun Tao accepted the money.

It wasn’t that a Celestial Essence Martial Artist couldn’t earn money; rather, the moment people heard he was a disciple here for the Dragon Ascension, they would attach all sorts of strings, trying to recruit him under their command.

Returning to his room, Xu Yang continued his cultivation.

The next day, while he was still in his room absorbing Spiritual Qi for Body Refining and cultivating his Vajra Glazed Body, Sun Tao’s voice suddenly rang out, "Junior Brother Xu, come quick! The Lingyun List has been announced! Do you want to go take a look together?"

The Lingyun List had been announced? After waiting for so long, it was finally out.

Xu Yang took a step and was instantly off his bed and by the door. Opening it, he saw Sun Tao looking incredibly impatient.

"Let’s go, Senior Brother Sun!"

The two strode out. Zhang Hanzhou, Ye Qiuling, and Qi Xuancheng were already waiting in the courtyard. Without a word, the group quickly left the Purple Sun Sect’s station.

When they reached the street, they saw disciples from various sects living nearby all hurrying toward a single location, their faces full of anticipation.

Zhang Hanzhou wondered, "Will I be able to make the list?"

The Lingyun List was a talent and potential ranking compiled by the Celestial Strategy Academy. Utilizing their vast intelligence network, they comprehensively evaluated all registered disciples based on their cultivation time, Realm, battle records, Root Bone, and Comprehension.

Those who could make the list were truly one in a million, the cream of the crop among the younger generation in Yun Province. There wasn’t a single person who didn’t long to be on it. Of course, according to past conventions, this initial list had discrepancies and wasn’t entirely accurate. Some hidden dark horses would only reveal themselves during the selection process.

Those currently on the list were ones who had already made quite a name for themselves. No matter how formidable the Celestial Strategy Academy’s intelligence network was, they couldn’t dig up the truly hidden dark horses.

Following the crowd, the group soon arrived before a massive stele pavilion. This was one of the locations where the Celestial Strategy Academy announced the Lingyun List.

On the giant stele pavilion, which stood nearly two zhang tall, dense rows of names were carved. The characters were methodical and exceptionally neat. Some entries consisted of merely a name, while others were followed by several lines detailing the person’s battle records, Cultivation Techniques, and other information.

"Junior Brother Xu, you made the list!" Sun Tao said, his tone somewhat excited.

Xu Yang also saw his own name; he was ranked ninety-eighth.

Lingyun List Rank 98: Xu Yang. Cultivation: Celestial Essence First Layer.

Purple Sun Sect disciple. Born into a farming family. Cultivated for eight years to date. Defeated Li Chuyang and the genius disciple of Yellow Maple Valley, Lin Jingyu, at the same tier. Cultivates the Golden Gang Skill at the Great Success stage. Possesses remarkable Body Refining Talent.

Xu Yang’s pupils shrank slightly. To think that the Celestial Strategy Academy had actually posted the fact that he cultivated the Golden Gang Skill! If the Flying Centipede saw this, he would immediately know that Xu Yang was the one who killed the Jade Butterfly.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother Xu!" Sun Tao beamed.

Ranked ninety-eighth might seem like he was trailing at the bottom, but this was a ranking of all the geniuses under the age of twenty-eight in the entirety of Yun Province. This placement was already incredibly high and more than enough to make a name for oneself.

Xu Yang was also somewhat astounded by the sheer weight of the Lingyun List. After all, the talent he had publicly displayed was unmatched among this generation of Purple Sun Sect disciples, yet he was only ranked ninety-eighth on this list—barely scraping by with the qualifications to make it on at all.

"Congratulations to you as well!" Xu Yang smiled.

Sun Tao had also made the list, sitting exactly one spot behind him at rank ninety-nine. However, unlike Xu Yang, who had numerous verifiable battle records resulting in a lengthy introduction, Sun Tao had nothing more than a name and his affiliation as a Purple Sun Sect disciple listed. This was because he had absolutely no verifiable battle records.

Even during the Purple Sun Sect’s Ten Outstanding Disciples Challenge, the people he had defeated were merely those like Han Feng, who hadn’t secured admission tickets for the Secondary Dragon Ascension. If it weren’t for the extremely short time it took him to go from Marrow Cleansing to breaking through to Celestial Essence—a mere year or so—he likely wouldn’t have been qualified to make the list.

However, Xu Yang felt that Sun Tao’s true ranking should be higher than this. Sun Tao was only ranked behind him due to his lack of verifiable battle records. He knew that Sun Tao had been able to advance by leaps and bounds because he consumed a bizarre Spirit Medicine, but the Celestial Strategy Academy didn’t know that.

"Congratulations to the both of you!"

Zhang Hanzhou, Qi Xuancheng, and Ye Qiuling cupped their fists in congratulations with smiles on their faces, but their tone was slightly sour. They hadn’t expected both Xu Yang and Sun Tao to make the list.

"There seems to be a lack of geniuses in this batch!"

Zhang Hanzhou spoke mockingly, attributing Sun Tao and Xu Yang’s placement on the list to a shortage of geniuses rather than their own talent. He wouldn’t argue against Xu Yang making the list, as the latter had verifiable battle records. After all, Xu Yang had once clashed head-on with and subdued the Yellow Maple Valley’s genius Lin Jingyu, who was renowned for his Fist Techniques.

But Sun Tao had just suddenly emerged. Aside from breaking through to the Celestial Essence Realm a little earlier than Xu Yang, Li Chuyang, and the others, he had no brilliant battle records to speak of—yet he still managed to make the list.