Chapter 524 - 306: Stepping Up

Chapter 524: Chapter 306: Stepping Up

In front of the stele pavilion, Lin Jingyu revealed a faint smile. He glanced at Xu Yang and said, "I didn’t lose on purpose. When we fought back then, I truly was inferior to Brother Xu. I was wholeheartedly convinced of my defeat."

Everyone turned pale with shock. Had Xu Yang’s talent been underestimated? Even Lin Jingyu admitted utter defeat.

"How could you possibly lose to him? If he could beat you, how could he only be ranked ninety-eighth?" someone asked in disbelief.

Even Huo Xiaochen looked at Xu Yang with a mix of doubt and surprise. Someone who could make Lin Jingyu admit total defeat couldn’t possibly be weak.

Suddenly, a scoff broke the surrounding silence. Luo Ying laughed and said, "You people are so stupid. Didn’t you read what’s written on it? My Junior Brother Lin Jingyu is only twenty-one years old now, and his fight with Xu Yang was over a year ago.

"At that time, Junior Brother Lin had just broken through to Marrow Cleansing Great Success and hadn’t yet comprehended Martial Dao Imagery.

"Xu Yang only defeated him because he had cultivated for a few more years, possessed some Body Refining Talent, and relied on his age advantage and powerful physical body.

"If they were to fight again now, Junior Brother Lin would defeat him in less than twenty moves."

Everyone suddenly realized the truth, finally noticing that they had completely overlooked the age gap between Xu Yang and Lin Jingyu. Over a year ago, even they could have defeated this genius ranked eleventh.

"Twenty moves? I bet he wouldn’t even last ten!"

"Lin Jingyu has Martial Dao Imagery. What can Xu Yang possibly use to block him?"

The surrounding crowd shook their heads. Having Martial Dao Imagery versus not having it meant two completely different levels of Combat Power. If the Martial Dao Imagery Lin Jingyu comprehended was of the highest tier, he might even defeat Xu Yang in just two or three moves.

"Defeating Lin Jingyu, regardless of when it happened, is enough for you to brag about for the rest of your life, Xu Yang!" Zhang Hanzhou said in a mocking, sarcastic tone.

He thought to himself that if he had known Lin Jingyu was such a genius, he would have fought him back then too. Perhaps, with the battle record of defeating Lin Jingyu, he could have also squeezed into the Lingyun List.

"It really is enough to brag about for a lifetime. When Junior Brother Lin becomes a regional overlord, Xu Yang will leave his name in Martial Dao history just because of this incident," Luo Ying nodded with a smile.

The bystanders all nodded in agreement.

Only Sun Tao secretly shook his head. Xu Yang hid his abilities extremely well and never exposed his true strength to the outside world. When he defeated Lin Jingyu back then, he had likely held back significantly.

If they hadn’t rushed to Qingyuan County for a mission, where Li Qiang and Gu Haoming tried to kill them, he never would have known how terrifying Xu Yang’s true talent was. To outsiders, it seemed he had merely won against Li Chuyang once by pure dumb luck, but Sun Tao knew that ever since they were Outer Disciples, Xu Yang’s Cultivation had always been ahead of Li Chuyang’s.

Breaking through to the Celestial Essence Realm at the Purple Sun Sect was very likely intentional on Xu Yang’s part as well. His true Cultivation might have long since surpassed the Celestial Essence Realm.

"Xu Yang isn’t as bad as everyone says," Lin Jingyu laughed. It was unclear whether he said this to save face or if he genuinely believed Xu Yang’s strength went beyond what was shown.

Xu Yang paid no mind to these comments and continued to read the rankings. By the time he finished reviewing the entire list, he realized that what the Lingyun List valued most wasn’t Root Bone, but Comprehension.

Of course, the few Spirit Bone Celestial Prides were exceptions. As for those ranked ahead of Lin Jingyu who weren’t Spirit Bone Celestial Prides, they essentially all had better Comprehension than him and had comprehended Martial Dao Imagery earlier than he did.

"Six Spirit Bone Celestial Prides!"

The crowd was stunned when they saw this number. In the massive Yun Province, with a population of hundreds of millions, there were actually only six Spirit Bone Celestial Prides.

The shock was quickly followed by silence. Even Lin Jingyu and Huo Xiaochen fell silent.

Spirit Bone Celestial Prides were the true favored children of heaven, the blazing suns of the Martial Dao. The rest were nothing but mere foils, even the geniuses with Root Bone Perfection. These individuals were the true movers and shakers, the future titans of the Martial Dao.

On the Lingyun List, there was basically no background information on the Spirit Bone Celestial Prides. Aside from a name and the title "Spirit Bone Celestial Pride," details like Cultivation and age were entirely omitted. But those four words alone were more than enough. Just this title made the crowd feel a wave of oppression in their hearts, as if an insurmountable, towering mountain range lay ahead of them.

"Spirit Bone Celestial Prides..." Huo Xiaochen felt a sense of disheartened weariness.

He thought that even if he could compete with the likes of Lin Jingyu, it still wouldn’t matter. He would never be able to surmount the towering peaks that were the Spirit Bone Celestial Prides. In the end, he couldn’t reach the summit.

"Spirit Bone Celestial Prides just have good Root Bones. In the later stages of the Martial Dao, it all comes down to Comprehension," Lin Jingyu muttered, quietly clenching his fists.

He figured that if only Spirit Bone Celestial Prides could reach the apex of the Martial Dao, then everyone else might as well stop cultivating. After all, none of them were Spirit Bone Celestial Prides. Looking throughout history at the many peerless experts of the Martial Dao, there were indeed those with ordinary Root Bones.

Ye Qiuling’s beautiful eyes shone with a strange brilliance as she committed the names of the six Spirit Bone Celestial Prides to memory one by one.

Xu Yang’s expression remained calm. He had no intention of competing with these people. "Spirit Bone Celestial Pride—it won’t be long before I am one too!" he thought. He only needed to cultivate steadily and gain points; becoming a Spirit Bone Celestial Pride was just a matter of time.

"Senior Brother Sun, let’s go!"

Having seen enough, he turned and strode away. Sun Tao nodded and followed after him.

The people who had gathered to view the Lingyun List also began to disperse.

"Junior Sister Ye, now that the Lingyun List is out, it’s time we decide who we want to team up with. If we wait too long and others find partners first, it’ll be troublesome." Zhang Hanzhou glanced at the departing figures of Xu Yang and Sun Tao, then smiled at Ye Qiuling.

"Let’s find a quiet place to talk!" Ye Qiuling took the lead and walked away.

She hadn’t liked Zhang Hanzhou initially and had no intention of teaming up with him. Recently, however, he had been accompanying her to various social engagements and performed quite well. She needed someone to help shield her from those with ulterior motives.

Meanwhile, the major families and factions in Yunzhou City had also received the Lingyun List.

At the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion headquarters.

"To think Li Yunzhou ranked fifty-second on the Lingyun List! Very impressive. He is the greatest genius we’ve recruited in the last twenty years. The steward of the Northern Branch, Fang Xinghai, deserves a reward."

The Pavilion Master of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, Shen Qianshan, held the newly released Lingyun List, a bright smile blooming on his face.

A rank of fifty-second on the Lingyun List was arguably the highest-ranking genius the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion had recruited in twenty years. For the pavilion, this was absolutely a joyous occasion. Recruiting someone before the Lingyun List was published cost significantly less. If they tried to recruit Li Yunzhou now, they might not succeed even if they doubled their offer.

Most of these geniuses highly valued their own worth, often waiting for the Lingyun List to be released before even considering cooperating with major factions. Only geniuses from small, obscure places lacking experience would agree to be recruited by major factions in advance.

"He truly does deserve a reward. Fang Xinghai has rendered a great service to the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion. I didn’t expect him to be capable of recruiting such a genius." Tao Xiancai laughed and said, "He has always wanted to return to a post in Yun Province. As it happens, there’s a vacant steward position here at the headquarters recently. We could let him return."

He was an Elder of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, and his Tao Family also held a share in the pavilion. Naturally, he was delighted and immediately proposed how to reward Fang Xinghai.

Shen Qianshan shook his head. "There’s no rush. Let’s wait until the dust settles. This Lingyun List is just the preliminary ranking. If Li Yunzhou manages to advance a few more spots by the end and the reward we give isn’t enough, wouldn’t that chill the hearts of our subordinates?"

As he spoke, his gaze fell back onto the Lingyun List in his hand. "And this Xu Yang actually made it onto the Lingyun List as well. Even though he’s at the very bottom, he still made it.

"If I recall correctly, he was recruited by that young fellow from your Tao Family.

"I didn’t expect our Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion to have such good luck this time, managing to recruit two Lingyun List geniuses at once."

Shen Qianshan’s face was brimming with smiles. There were far too many factions in Yun Province; a mere hundred geniuses simply weren’t enough to go around. For the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion to recruit two Lingyun List geniuses at once was absolutely an unprecedented event in recent years.

Tao Xiancai paused in surprise, then shook his head. "As for Xu Yang, our Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion didn’t succeed in recruiting him."

"What happened?" Shen Qianshan asked, his tone darkening.

Rank ninety-eighth on the Lingyun List might seem low, but one had to remember that these were the top one hundred geniuses selected from hundreds of millions of people across all of Yun Province. Being ranked ninety-eighth absolutely meant he was a true genius.

"Pavilion Master, have you forgotten? During the background check back then, it was discovered that Xu Yang had a grudge against Li Lingdu’s son, and you told Fang Xinghai to go mediate. In the end, Fang Xinghai reported back that Xu Yang refused to reconcile with Li Lingdu’s son, so the recruitment was dropped," Tao Xiancai explained.

Xu Yang was a genius discovered by Tao Huaijin, a disciple of his Tao Family, so Tao Xiancai had a very deep impression of him.

Shen Qianshan frowned slightly. "Is he really that unappreciative of favors? Just how deep is his grudge with Li Chuyang that he refuses to reconcile?"

"It was merely a verbal conflict, nothing major. However, according to a letter I received from Tao Huaijin, it seems Fang Xinghai looked down on Xu Yang somewhat. Rather than mediating, he simply ordered Xu Yang to bow his head and apologize to Li Chuyang. Xu Yang didn’t agree, and the matter fell through," Tao Xiancai chuckled.

As a member of the Tao Family, he was naturally aware of the discord between Tao Huaijin and Fang Xinghai’s disciple, Meng Xiangdong. When Xu Yang was just a nobody, Fang Xinghai’s method of handling things was naturally flawless. No one could find fault with it, nor would anyone dare accuse Fang Xinghai of suppressing Tao Huaijin for the sake of his own disciple. But now that Xu Yang had leaped to become a genius ranked ninety-eighth on the Lingyun List, things were completely different.

Although Tao Xiancai rarely interfered in the disputes between the younger generation, that was only because he hadn’t had the opportunity. Now that the chance presented itself, he naturally wanted to stand up for his family’s junior.

"That bastard! Is that how he mediated?" Shen Qianshan grew slightly angry.

If Xu Yang had been trash, it would have been one thing. But now he was a genius ranked ninety-eighth on the Lingyun List—one of the absolute best among the hundreds of millions of people in Yun Province. The Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion did have a good relationship with Li Lingdu, but it wasn’t good enough to abandon a top-one-hundred genius for the Li Family’s sake. Furthermore, it was only a minor issue like a verbal conflict, something that could have easily been resolved over a banquet.

Yet Fang Xinghai had actually ordered Xu Yang to bow his head and apologize. How could such a genius accept that kind of humiliation?

A faint, almost imperceptible smile played at the corners of Tao Xiancai’s mouth. Even with the merit of recruiting Li Yunzhou, Fang Xinghai was bound to be punished. He might receive some rewards, but his chances of being transferred back to Yunzhou City were basically non-existent now.

Yunzhou City was a convergence point for various factions. Not only were there local Yun Province overlords, but there were also powerful inter-provincial forces. With Fang Xinghai’s level of competence in handling affairs, there was no way Shen Qianshan would feel at ease letting him work in Yunzhou City. Someone with his capabilities might very well bring a massive disaster down upon the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion one day.