Chapter 295: The News that Shocked the Sky Cloud Martial School
Translator: 3heryl Editor: AntiGod
Luo Xinglie and the rest of the people woke up suddenly from shock, all looking a bit off. Two Astral Reaching Realm warriors were gone instantly, it only had been such a short while. Furthermore, they were both killed by Ye Chen, although the second masked man was mostly wounded by the Thunder Freer.
"Master Thunder Freer, Ye Chen, you guys should get back on the Wind Eagle first." Luo Xinglie knew it was not a place for chitchat, so he suggested.
"Okay!" Thunder Freer did not reject. The zhen yuan he had burnt would not be repaired in a short time, so he would have to have a time out.
Waiting until Thunder Freer and Ye Chen had gotten on, a group of Wind Eagles had carried everyone and flew into the distance.
After a couple of hours, Thunder Freer opened his eyes and let out a breath into the incoming wind. It was so powerful that the incoming wind was shattered instantly.
He then turned his head, laughed and said to Ye Chen, "Little Ye, you always surprise someone when you don’t see them for a while. It is actually me, Old Thunder’s first time admiring someone like this."
In this True Spirit Continent, only power mattered, a rule that was obeyed everywhere. When a warrior was way weaker than the other, they might have a great friendship, but there would still be a little ranking happening within their relationship, since the gap was always going to be there. For someone with a very low cultivation, would one actually be friends with them? Messing around casually? Joking around? It would be obviously not that realistic. Eventually, one of them would take charge in their relationship and it would not be the weak one.
Normally, Thunder Freer would refer himself as "Thunder Freer" when he was with someone who was younger. But this time, he had called himself "Old Thunder". It was simple because Ye Chen’s battling power was already at his level, and the gap was very small. Plus, Ye Chen was the disciple of Sky Cloud Martial School – the martial institution where the Cloud Dreamer was at. Using "Old Thunder" sounded just more friendly, just like he liked to refer the Cloud Dreamer as "old pal".
"Senior Thunder Freer, you are flattering me. I, Ye Chen, am just lucky that I got a secret martial skill that allowed me to increase my battling power so fast." Ye Chen replied with modesty.
"Having a secret skill is also a part of your power. Otherwise, why would the warriors go out of their ways and look for more adventures? Actually, I meant to ask… is that secret martial skill of yours the Minor Blood Demon Body Separating Art?" The Thunder Freer communicated with his zhen yuan.
Ye Chen hesitated for a second, then nodded in affirmation, "Yes!"
"No wonder I thought it looked so familiar – it was the exclusive martial art from the Blood Demon himself." Thunder Freer said again, "You are unlike the Blood Demon. He had the blood demon vessels to supply him with the Qi and blood, which allowed him to perform his Minor Blood Demon Body Separating Art continuously, even sometimes the Major Blood Demon Body Separating Art. But you would have to use your own blood and Qi, which would definitely come with huge side effects. Plus, it would lead to a lot of unnecessary attention. If the Blood Demon himself had noticed it, you, me and the old pal Cloud Dreamer combined would not be able to wound him the slightest."
It was indeed the exclusive martial art from the Blood Demon himself. Ye Chen had been wondering about it actually, since the Minor Blood Demon Body Separating Great Art was just so similar to the vibe of the Major Blood Demon Body Separating Great Art. Now that Thunder Freer had mentioned it, he was finally able to confirm it. As for the power of the Blood Demon himself, Ye Chen would not doubt it for a second. Among the one hundred and eight ghost warriors of the Nine Ghost Cult, the Blood Demon would definitely be regarded as one of the most powerful ones.
"Don’t worry, senior. Until the most critical time, Ye Chen knows what to do." Ye Chen nodded. If it were not because of the fact that their lives were on the line, he would definitely hesitate to use the Minor Blood Demon Body Separating Art.
The Sky Cloud Martial School in the Windy Nation was way too far from the Hidden Dragon Ancient City, and it took them almost two months to reach there on the Wind Eagles.
"Our leader has returned!"
"And brother Ye!"
"Brother Ye had traveled for more than a year now. I wonder how powerful he has become?"
There were a lot of disciples going up and down in the Sky Cloud Martial School. They lifted up their heads and saw that a group of Wind Eagles had carried everyone flying towards the main mountain.
On the plaza of the main peak, a lot of inner masters had heard the news and ran out to congratulate. On the side, there were many outer masters and core disciples and inner disciples waiting as well.
"Welcome back, leader. Welcome back, Master Thunder Freer."
Luo Xinglie landed on the ground first. He waved his hands and said, "Everyone, go to the palace. I have something to announce."
In that humongous palace, a lot of people waited with excitement.
Luo Xinelie sat on the main seat while Ye Chen stood right next to him. As for the Thunder Freer, he had gone to search for Cloud Dreamer; he was never interested in such things.
Clearing his throat, Luo Xinglie started to talk, "Gathering everyone to the palace was because I have something to say about the Hidden Dragon Rank competition."
"Brother Ye Chen has definitely gotten into the rank. Otherwise, the leader would definitely not make it such a big deal."
"Yeah, definitely. Brother Ye was already the first warrior among the young generation in the whole nine nations. After more than a year, his power has certainly made a huge progress. But I wonder how far ahead in the rank did he make though?"
Inside the palace, everyone was discussing while looking at Ye Chen, who was standing right next to Luo Xinglie.
"This time, there are two disciples from the Sky Cloud Martial School that have made into the Hidden Dragon Rank. One of them is the core disciple Xu Jing, and the other one was indeed Ye Chen." The palace had quieted down a bit, so Luo Xinglie started to announce the result.
Most of the people were not surprised with the result. They all knew about Xu Jing’s power. The two core disciples Luo Hanshan and Zhu Mei were not even slightly as powerful as her. And Ye Chen was even more powerful than Xu Jing, so it would be a surprise if they did not make it into the rank.
"Xu Jing was ranked nineteen." Everyone started to look surprised. Luo Xinglie chuckled a bit as he continued to speak, "Ye Chen was ranked… Number…one!"
"What?! Brother Ye got the champion place?!"
"Although Brother Ye was very powerful, I remember that Sikong Sheng was last Hidden Dragon Rank’s champion, Yan Chihuo being the second, while the fourth was Li Daoxuan. All those three had already gotten the power to compete with a peak-level Late Clasping Yuan Realm warrior three years ago. After three years, it would be hard for them to meet a deserving competition among the peak-level Late Clasping Yuan Realm warriors. No matter how much progress Ye Chen made, it would be almost impossible for him to beat them all! Perhaps, they were not in the competition?"
Everyone was shocked, they could not believe what they had just heard.
One of the inner masters asked out of curiosity: "Leader, were there some kind of changes in this year’s Hidden Dragon Rank competition?" What he meant to ask was if Sikong Sheng and the others had not made it to the competition. Otherwise, there seemed to be no explanation for Ye Chen to be the champion.
Luo Xinglie smiled and said, "Yes, there had been some changes. It was in fact that Ye Chen had beaten all of the top young warriors from the last Hidden Dragon Rank, including Lin Yun, Li Daoxuan, Yan Chihuo and Sikong Sheng. He had won the first place of the Hidden Dragon Rank fair and square. Not only that, he also opened the Hidden Dragon Secret Realm which had not happened for more than one thousand years… It had indeed broken the record."
People could not help but gasp. Ye Chen had beaten every top young warrior in the Hidden Dragon Rank. In other words, he was already at the peak of the Clasping Yuan Realm, which made it right below the Great Master in the Sky Cloud Martial School. As for that Hidden Dragon Secret Realm, the crowd had not really heard about it before. But, the one-thousand-year record had shocked them once again, knowing that a record was not that easy to break. Once reaching the level of the whole South Rudra Region, even one-hundred-year records were already hard to break, not to mention the one-thousand-year records.
How scary is this!
"Is this for real?" Someone still would not believe it as he mumbled to himself.
Luo Xinglie was not happy about it, "Why would I make it up and lie to you?!"
Knowing that it was, in fact, the truth, everyone had changed the way they looked at Ye Chen. Their gazes were full of respect and admiration now, which was indeed expected. Ye Chen’s status had changed drastically. He was no longer just a martial disciple in the Sky Cloud Martial School, he was someone ranking right below the Great Master, the No.1 martial genius. With all those titles in one, it would be weird if they did not respect him.
"Congratulations! Brother Ye!"
In the palace, all of the core and inner disciples held their fists and greeted Ye Chen, which included Zhang Haoran and Wu Ming, who were core disciple and inner disciple respectively. They had both made some huge progress, but it was still nothing compared to Ye Chen. Especially Zhao Haoran, his expression had changed a couple of times, and only now did it finally calmed. However, he would not give up. Continuing to set Ye Chen as a target would not be that great a motivation for him anymore. Ye Chen was already a couple of cultivation levels higher, while Zhang Haoran was still an inner disciple fighting to be stronger. Ye Chen was already the No.1 warrior among the whole young generation; now that he was already a core disciple, Ye Chen was already the No.1 warrior among the young generation in the whole South Rudra Region. He would not dare to imagine what Ye Chen would grow into by the time he managed to reach the Clasping Yuan Realm.
Ye Chen lifted up his hand and said emotionally, "Oh, come on now, Don’t be so official. I am still a disciple of the Sky Cloud Martial School. It will not change now, and it will not change in the future."
Luo Xinglie smiled and glanced at Ye Chen, then said to the rest of the people in the palace, "Alright, now that you all have caught up with the situation, let’s call it a day!"
After a while, after everyone had left, Luo Xinglie said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, let me bring you to the base of the Sky Cloud Martial School."
"Yes, leader."
Within a day, everyone in the whole Sky Cloud Martial School had learned about the news. Their mouths were all widened, as they could not believe what they had just heard.
"I didn’t believe it either. But since the leader said it, it should be true. But seriously, I cannot believe it. Our Sky Cloud Martial School would be the one having the first genius in the whole South Rudra Region. The good thing is that I am also a disciple of the Sky Cloud Marital School. Otherwise, I would be not related to the luck or the pride at all."
"I also heard that the ranking of the Hidden Dragon Rank affects the luck. And since Brother Ye was the champion, does that mean we will also get luck?"
"Indeed. As long as we try our best, we will also make huge progress."
"My cousin was wondering which martial school to go to. But now that brother Ye has won the Hidden Dragon Rank, he would definitely push his way in."
"Ask him to do it as soon as possible. Within a few days, the whole Windy Nation would find out about it. Then, countless people would want to join the Sky Cloud Martial School. He might miss the opportunity once it is too late."
"Thanks for the heads up. I will take the day off and go tell my family."
"My uncle is going to join the Emerald Martial School and become an outer master. I have to hurry to stop him. How great would it be for him to join the Sky Cloud Martial School, now that luck is involved?"
In this day, countless people had requested to take the day off, which had definitely increased the workload for the master in charge. But of course, he was glad to be busy for that reason.
In front of the counter in the Martial Pavilion, the pavilion master had learned about the news. He touched his mustache and forced a laugh, "What kind of monster is he?"
He could still vaguely remember Ye Chen being fourteen or fifteen when he first arrived to borrow a manual. He was so young and boyish. Ye Chen was borrowing the Lone Peak Thirteen Swords when he thought that he would never be able to succeed, but somehow he still did.
As the time went by, the boyish boy was no longer a boy. He had grown up into a young man, with an increased social status. He had become the first genius among the young generation in the whole South Rudra Region, looking down on the others.