Chapter 226

: Xu Qingyun
Song Zijun could not tell what the real killing move of the ‘Star Picking Hand’ was. Many of the youths present couldn’t tell either.
This made Song Zijun feel like a failure. There was a saying that a bystander sees through everything, but him being a bystander could not understand what happened. If Liu Yuxing had used the ‘Star Picking Hand’ against him, the outcome was obvious.
He wouldn’t even know how he died.
Yi Yun said,
The ‘Star Picking Hand’ is a finger technique that is hidden within the sword technique… The sword technique was just a farce to cover it up.

The essence of the ‘Star Picking Hand’ was to condense Yuan Qi. This Yuan Qi would then be able to move objects, and could also be used to kill an enemy.
The two words ‘Star Picking’ described the result of cultivating the ‘Star Picking Hand’ to an extreme. One could use this Yuan Qi to pick the stars from the sky.
Of course, this was just an exaggeration.
Under unexpected conditions, the ‘Star Picking Hand’ indeed did wonders. But if the other opponent was prepared against it, its effectiveness would be greatly reduced.
That was why the Liu family tried so hard to hide the effects of the ‘Star Picking Hand’ attack. This made many inexperienced young warriors unclear on how the ‘Star Picking Hand’ worked.
Liu Yuxing’s sneak attack on Yi Yun was well done in all aspects. Unfortunately, Yi Yun had not only formed the Heaven’s eyeball, he also had the Purple Crystal within his body. He was extremely sensitive to energy.
Liu Yuxing’s intangible force attack was invisible to the naked eye; but in Yi Yun’s vision, this intangible force attack was practically like a flame in the night sky. How could such an obvious attack catch Yi Yun by surprise?
This was why Liu Yuxing was doomed to fail.

So that’s the reason…
After hearing Yi Yun’s words and thinking back to the scenes when Yi Yun fought against the ‘Star Picking Hand’, Song Zijun finally understood the principles behind the ‘Star Picking Hand’.
In fact, cultivation techniques that employed sneak attacks were not the best. When it reached the levels of sages, with their Heaven’s Eye fully opened, their senses would be so sensitive that it would not be easy to attack them in a sneaky fashion.
Yi Yun sat in his own seat. In the following matches, no one dared to challenge Yi Yun.
Even Liu Yuxing was beaten to a pulp by Yi Yun with his one brick. What was there for them to fight? Going on stage with Yi Yun was just asking to be beaten.
Having spent a large sum of dragon scale runes to make themselves unhappy, those who had previously challenged Yi Yun were too deep in tears.
Yi Yun sat in his seat, and every time it came to his turn, he did not need to stand up because the other party would immediately throw in the towel.
Having beaten Liu Yuxing, Yi Yun won 15 matches in a row.
Following that, it was 18 matches, 19 matches, 20 matches…
Without any doubt, Yi Yun won 20 consecutive matches, winning him the bet with the Hongdao Association.
Li Hong’s face had already frozen up.
What else could he say at this point?
Among the rookies, Yi Yun had already reached the top. The only people who could compete with Yi Yun was probably Chu Xiaoran or Qiuniu!
Li Hong could only admit his failure.

Brother Hong, we sure lost miserably this time…

A Hongdao Association member said to Liu Yuxing with a gloomy expression. He had lost 1200 dragon scale runes. These dragon scale runes were obtained from pawning his items and borrowing from his friends.
Now that the match results were set, those friends came to press for payment. After all, the Tai Ah Divine City did not protect any loans between cultivators.
Thinking of that sum of dragon scale runes, the Hongdao Association member felt bitter. How was he to return it?
Li Hong stayed silent. He estimated that in the next few matches, Yi Yun’s wealth would accumulate to more than 100,000 dragon scale runes.
A rookie managed to earn 100,000 dragon scale runes in the Tai Ah Divine City within a few months. It was a heaven defying feat!
Li Hong was correct in his estimations. After the third day’s matches ended, the dragon scale runes Yi Yun accumulated had officially exceeded 100,000.
Adding the dragon scale runes he had previously spent, Yi Yun’s total of dragon scale runes reached 120,000.
This amount of dragon scale runes allowed him to enter the Man roll of honor!
The Man roll of honor’s method of calculating was to add up a person’s present dragon scale runes amount and all the expenditures they’d previously made in the Ten Thousand Pagoda and the various cultivation grounds in the Tai Ah Divine City. With the total amount, one was ranked on the Man roll of honor.
Glory points were not included in the Man roll of honor. This was because the Man roll of honor assessed the cultivator’s ability to earn wealth in the future. As for glory points, most of it was awarded to cultivators after they completed an achievement. It did not embody the ability to earn wealth, so it was not included.
Since the Man roll of honor calculated the total accumulation of wealth, it was more advantageous the longer someone stayed in the Tai Ah Divine City.
Typically, a cultivator who had lasted in the Tai Ah Divine City for 2-3 years with reasonable strength would earn about 100-200 dragon scale runes a day. This added up to about 40,000-50,000 dragon scale runes a year.
Yi Yun’s 120,000 dragon scale runes was no doubt number one amongst the rookies. Even among the second and third year cultivators, Yi Yun exceeded a vast majority of them.
Now, Yi Yun’s ranking on the Man roll of honor was around 6000, somewhere in the middle!
It was a first to reach a ranking of 6000 in three months for the past few centuries in the Tai Ah Divine City.
In time, Yi Yun’s reputation in the Tai Ah Divine City became even more prominent. Many of the powerful senior cultivators began to pay attention to Yi Yun.
Initially, they thought Yi Yun had only good luck, but now, by using his Heaven Upheaval Seal to put down Liu Yuxing, it proved his terrifying potential.
Such a person was bound to skyrocket in the future!

Are you Yi Yun?

On the third night, after the arena’s competition finished, Yi Yun, Zhou Kui, Song Zijun and company went to have dinner. A youth with curly hair appeared before Yi Yun.

Oh?
Yi Yun glanced at the youth. He saw a faint smile on the other party’s face. He looked extremely friendly.

It’s me.
Yi Yun said.

Ha! Nice to meet you!
The curled hair youth cupped his hands at Yi Yun.
My name is Lan Bai. I’m from the Chu royal residence. I had previously reported Brother Yi’s news to my family. Our elder is very interested in Brother Yi. In a few more months, there will be a short vacation for the rookies. I wonder if Brother Yi would have the interest to come to our Chu royal residence for a visit?

While saying that, the curled hair youth handed Yi Yun a jade scroll.
Yi Yun was stunned for a moment. He interfaced his spiritual energy within the jade scroll and scanned through the jade scroll’s contents. He immediately understood the curled hair youth’s purpose. He was representing the Chu royal residence to pull him in. The letter promised many benefits to Yi Yun.
A mid-sized city fiefdom under the jurisdiction of the Chu royal residence, a large tract of arable land, a luxurious mansion and nearly a thousand servants.
Every year, the Chu royal residence would provide Yi Yun with a considerable amount of elixirs, relics, a variety of armor, weapons and magical items.
As for the last line, the Chu royal residence even promised to give seven stunning beauties to Yi Yun after his fifteenth birthday as his concubines.
And the condition was for Yi Yun to be a guest of the Chu royal residence.
Yi Yun was stunned. He had been roped in!
This was really the first time he had encountered such a thing.
Although Zhou Kui and Song Zijun, who were standing beside Yi Yun, did not know the contents of Yi Yun’s jade scroll, they could easily guess that the other party was roping Yi Yun in. Their hearts were filled with envy.
This was the difference between a top genius and an average genius…
Yi Yun was being snatched up after being in the Tai Ah Divine City for three months.

How is it? Are you satisfied?
The curled hair youth rubbed his hands, awaiting Yi Yun’s reply. However, at this moment, a pleasant male voice rang out. It gave the feeling of a fresh Spring breeze.

Lan Bai, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen you. Why haven’t you improved at all. Here you are cheating rookies again!

Yi Yun turned around in shock. All he saw was a green-shirted youth walking over. This youth looked eighteen years old. His eyebrows looked sharp, his teeth were white and he had a heroic aura.
Seeing the green-shirted youth, Lan Bai’s face immediately turned ugly. He opened his mouth and said with a dry tone.

Xu… Xu Qingyun…

Oh? Xu Qingyun!?
Upon hearing this name, Yi Yun was shocked.
Fourth on the Heaven roll of honor, Xu Qingyun was him!?
Yi Yun had a strong impression on Xu Qingyu. He was ranked top five in both the Heaven and Earth rankings!
Xu Qingyun was already in the Tai Ah Divine City for five years, and this year was his last year.
He was a senior cultivator to the very core!
Song Zijun and Zhou Kui were stunned. To rookies like them, Xu Qingyun’s stature was too high. They had no chance of interacting with him.
The recent rookie ranking competition, which was filled with shocking events had many events that made the headlines, attracted many to the arena to take a look no matter who was competing.
But to those who ranked in the top hundred of the Heaven and Earth rolls of honor, such a competition was nothing. There was no reason for them to pay heed. This was because the difference between their strength and the rookies were too great!
The curled-hair youth laughed without any humor and smiled saying,
Brother Xu must be joking. I’m not cheating any rookies.


Ah.
Xu Qingyun swept the jade scroll in Yi Yun’s hands. In a blink of an eye, he finished reading the contents within. He shook his head with disgust and said,
This again. Giving such small benefits to cheat rookies into signing a soul contract with your Chu royal residence. You guys sure calculated it well…


Oh? Soul contract?
Yi Yun quickly thought. Just from the name, he could roughly guess what it was.
It appeared that the benefits offered by the curled-hair youth was on condition of signing a soul contract.
This curled-hair youth may not have explained the soul contract clearly, but Yi Yun was better. He was mature in his thinking, and he had ambitious goals, so he was not easily fooled. Other rookies, who were just thirteen or fourteen years old, would have poor discernment. Together with supreme beauty sx cultivation slaves and all sorts of possible temptations, it was not impossible to be conned.

In the Tai Ah Divine City, besides fighting, other things can also be sinister…

Yi Yun shook his head in his mind. When the curled-hair youth came forward with a friendly smile, Yi Yun could not completely tell what the other party was up to.

You better leave this place immediately, or else…
Before Xu Qingyun finished his words, the curled-hair youth laughed without any humor and said,
Brother Xu, Brother Xu, my bad. I’ll disappear right now!

After saying this, the curled-hair youth bowed and retreated.
Yi Yun glanced at Xu Qingyun with surprise. This Xu Qingyun didn’t seem to have the airs of an expert.