Chapter 517: Chapter 299: Yun Province

Xu Yang saw the Yellow Maple Valley genius Lin Jingyu, whom he had fought before, Huang Xiao, who had defeated Zhang Hanzhou, and the unnamed female disciple of the Yellow Maple Valley. Besides these three, there were two very young-looking individuals who were likely also geniuses going to participate in the Secondary Dragon Ascension. In front of these five disciples were two middle-aged men Xu Yang had never seen before; they should be the escort Elders of the Yellow Maple Valley.

Two bursts of battle intent rose beside him. Xu Yang didn’t need to turn his head to know they came from Zhang Hanzhou and Qi Xuancheng. During their previous spar, Qi Xuancheng had lost to Lin Jingyu, while Zhang Hanzhou had lost to Huang Xiao. Clearly, neither was resigned to their past defeats.

Suddenly, a sharp gaze landed on him. Xu Yang looked up and met Lin Jingyu’s eyes. Just like Qi Xuancheng and Zhang Hanzhou beside him, this guy also radiated battle intent. However, Xu Yang had absolutely no reaction. Back then, if they hadn’t been at the Purple Sun Sect and he couldn’t afford to lose the Sect’s face, he wouldn’t have had any interest in fighting Lin Jingyu. Besides, he was just a defeated opponent; there was no way he could arouse Xu Yang’s battle intent, just as Lin Jingyu had no interest in Qi Xuancheng’s battle intent.

"WHOA..."

The galloping steeds came to a halt. Peak Master Yue Zhong waved his hand to scatter the dust and cupped his fists. "To think the Yellow Maple Valley actually had Vice Valley Master Huang You lead the team. It seems you take this matter very seriously."

"Greetings, Senior Huang!" Bai Shaoling also cupped his fists.

Huang You cupped his hands in return. "Greetings, Brother Yue, Young Sect Leader Bai, and young friends of the Purple Sun Sect." Hearing this, Xu Yang and the others didn’t dare to neglect their manners and returned the salute with cupped fists.

"The Purple Sun Sect produces talents in great numbers. To think there are so many geniuses going to participate in the Secondary Dragon Ascension this time." Huang You’s gaze swept over Xu Yang and the rest.

Yue Zhong shook his head. "Only eight disciples are participating in the Dragon Ascension. The other three are not." Despite his words, he still revealed a hint of pride. The Purple Sun Sect had quite a few geniuses this term. Even excluding Lu Ren, there were seven disciples who had broken through to the Celestial Essence Realm. This was the highest number in the past twenty years; previously, there were usually only three to five. Most importantly, the Yellow Maple Valley only had five disciples who obtained tickets for the Secondary Dragon Ascension, so the Purple Sun Sect’s numbers surpassed theirs.

"May I ask which of you is the young friend Xu Yang who once defeated our Yellow Maple Valley’s Lin Jingyu?" Huang You suddenly asked.

"I am Xu Yang. Greetings, Senior Huang," Xu Yang said, cupping his hands.

In an instant, all eyes from the Yellow Maple Valley turned toward Xu Yang. Huang Xiao, Lin Jingyu, and the female disciple, who had seen Xu Yang before, maintained relatively normal expressions, but the rest clearly showed surprise.

"What a young talent. No wonder you could defeat Jingyu," Huang You said with a look of astonishment. Their Yellow Maple Valley’s genius Lin Jingyu wasn’t even twenty-two yet; at twenty-one, he was already young enough. However, looking at Xu Yang, he seemed to be only seventeen or eighteen.

The Purple Sun Sect group had weird expressions. What young talent? Xu Yang was at least twenty-six or twenty-seven. How could he be considered a young talent? They assumed that since Lin Jingyu had lost to Xu Yang, Huang You was deliberately elevating Xu Yang to save face for the defeated Lin Jingyu. They completely failed to notice that Xu Yang hadn’t shown a single sign of aging over the years. Since they saw Xu Yang frequently, they naturally didn’t notice anything. But someone like Huang You, who was seeing Xu Yang for the first time, would feel that he was very young, looking merely seventeen or eighteen.

"Senior praises me too highly!" Xu Yang cupped his hands, fully aware of why Huang You said that.

"Come over and introduce yourselves to our friends from the Purple Sun Sect," Huang You said to the Yellow Maple Valley disciples behind him.

The disciples from the Yellow Maple Valley stepped forward and began announcing their names one by one. The woman whom he had seen but didn’t know the name of was Luo Ying. Although her appearance wasn’t as exquisite as Ye Qiuling’s, she was still outstanding. She possessed a heroic aura, and her temperament was somewhat similar to Lin Wei’s in the past.

As they introduced themselves, Xu Yang sensed their auras. He noticed that Lin Jingyu, who had originally been inferior to Huang Xiao, now had a stronger aura than him. Lin Jingyu was likely the strongest among the five Yellow Maple Valley disciples, and simultaneously their greatest genius. His vigorous Qi-Blood seemed ready to burst out of his body. His physical Cultivation was worlds apart from when they first fought, indicating he had made immense progress.

On the Purple Sun Sect’s side, everyone also introduced themselves. Soon, the members of the two Sects merged into one group and continued their journey.

RUMBLE!

The horses’ hooves thundered, kicking up clouds of dust. With a curious expression, the woman named Luo Ying rode her horse over to Xu Yang’s side at some unknown point. "Brother Xu is so diligent. You don’t even forget to cultivate while horseback riding."

"Ms. Luo!" Xu Yang acknowledged. He shook his head. "The journey is lonely, so I might as well cultivate to pass the time."

Luo Ying propped up her Hutian Gang Yuan to isolate the dust. Hearing his words, she smiled slightly and said, "Brother Xu, since you were able to defeat my Junior Brother Lin Jingyu back then, I’m afraid your Cultivation has become even more unfathomable now."

As soon as she said this, many pricked up their ears to listen, and Lin Jingyu even began circulating his Cultivation.

Xu Yang glanced at her and said, "Back then, I only relied on a few extra years of cultivation to defeat Brother Lin. Now that times have changed, how could I still be a match for him?"

Jiang Fan and Sun Tao thought, "This guy is hiding his true strength again!" Meaningful looks flashed in their eyes. With Xu Yang’s personality, even if you asked him who was stronger between him and a dog, he would tell you the dog was stronger.

A hint of satisfaction flashed in Luo Ying’s eyes. She smiled. "Brother Xu, you’re too modest. How will we know who’s stronger if you don’t fight? Once we find a suitable place, you should spar with my Junior Brother Lin again to see who has made more progress."

"I’m definitely no match for Brother Lin," Xu Yang refused without a second thought. Luo Ying looked disappointed, and the others shared her sentiment to some extent.

"Why don’t I exchange a few moves with Brother Lin instead?" Qi Xuancheng interjected, eager to fight Lin Jingyu again and reclaim his lost face.

"Our journey is more important, let’s forget it," Lin Jingyu replied, having absolutely no interest in him. Qi Xuancheng hadn’t been his match in the past, and after a year of cultivation, Lin Jingyu’s strength had surged in all aspects. Qi Xuancheng was even less of a match now. The only person he wanted to fight was Xu Yang. As for Jiang Fan and Li Chuyang, no matter how much of a battle maniac he was, he knew these two had extraordinary backgrounds and couldn’t be provoked.

For the next few days, the group traveled during the day and found towns to rest in at night. Lin Jingyu tried to challenge Xu Yang to a spar several times, but Xu Yang rejected him every single time.

He thought, "So this is the so-called prosperous land of the Martial Dao." Xu Yang discovered that the closer they got to Yun Province, the richer the Spiritual Qi in the world became, and the better his cultivation effects were. He pondered, "The Spiritual Qi in Yun Province is probably even denser." Spiritual Qi was essential for the cultivation of a Celestial Essence Strong Person. The denser the Spiritual Qi in a place, the more experts it would inevitably produce, along with an abundance of natural treasures.

Over the course of a few days, the Purple Sun Sect members and the Yellow Maple Valley disciples grew familiar with each other.

One evening, the group arrived at a small town and immediately booked an entire inn. After dinner, Huang You, Yue Zhong, and the other elders went upstairs. The disciples of both Sects, however, did not immediately leave. As they chatted, the topic shifted to the Secondary Dragon Ascension.

"We’re probably just here for the ride. In the Purple Sun Sect, only Junior Brother Li Chuyang and Jiang Fan have any certainty of achieving the Dragon Ascension," Qi Xuancheng said, a little tipsy. Although Li Chuyang had promised to help him, it still depended on the Celestial Strategy Academy’s selection rules. If the rules didn’t allow it, Li Chuyang wouldn’t be able to help him even if he was a Spirit Bone Celestial Pride. Relying solely on himself, he wasn’t confident at all.

"Who would dare claim they are certain? The Secondary Dragon Ascension is like Qianjuns and myriad horses crossing a single-log bridge. Aside from Spirit Bone Celestial Prides and geniuses with Root Bone Perfection, everyone else is in danger," Huang Xiao said with a laugh.

"I heard that the Haisa Sect produced a genius who comprehended Martial Dao Imagery even before breaking through to Celestial Essence. Have any of you seen this person? Is this true or false?" Lin Jingyu asked.

They had been chatting casually, as if each was just speaking their own mind. However, when Lin Jingyu’s words came out, everyone revealed shocked expressions. Comprehending Martial Dao Imagery during Marrow Cleansing? This was simply too monstrous. One had to know that this group of geniuses were currently all in the Celestial Essence Realm, and it was still unknown if any of them had comprehended Martial Dao Imagery.

Zhang Hanzhou’s expression turned grave. "This person is named Li Feiyun. Qi Xuancheng and I saw him when we attended the Haisa Sect Leader’s hundredth birthday banquet. His talent is indeed astonishing. Rumor has it that he easily broke through to the Celestial Essence Realm after a mere ten days of secluded cultivation."

"Breaking through to Celestial Essence in ten days?" Lin Jingyu remarked. Xu Yang noticed a fleeting sneer of disdain cross his face as he spoke.

"Huo Xiaochen of the Iron Sword Sect is said to have a Perfect Root Bone. There are quite a few geniuses... I wonder if there are any Spirit Bone Celestial Prides," Lin Jingyu said softly, a trace of battle intent rising from his body.

At the mention of Spirit Bone Celestial Prides, everyone fell silent. Fufeng County was just a small place, and most of them were Lower Class disciples who completely lacked an understanding of the outside world.

"There are, and more than just one or two." Li Chuyang’s voice rang out. As arrogant as he was, his expression was still somewhat solemn. "I’ve heard of three myself. Counting the hidden ones, there should be at least five or six Spirit Bone Celestial Prides in this year’s Secondary Dragon Ascension."

"There are actually that many Spirit Bone Celestial Prides?" Huang Xiao was greatly shocked.

Li Chuyang sneered. "Many? Yun Province’s thirty-six counties have a population of hundreds of millions. How can five or six Spirit Bone Celestial Prides be considered many? If it weren’t for the Secondary Dragon Ascension, you wouldn’t even see a Spirit Bone Celestial Pride once in your entire life."

Indeed, it wasn’t many. Only one Spirit Bone Celestial Pride emerged from a hundred million people; this wasn’t just not a lot, it was shockingly sparse.

The next day, the disciples of the two Sects left the town and continued heading toward Yun Province. As they ventured deeper, the Spiritual Qi in the world grew even richer. They saw more and more powerful Martial Artists and began encountering other groups rushing to Yun Province. The smaller groups had three to five disciples, while the larger ones had over a dozen.

[Wandering Dragon Void Step · Entry Level (2/1000)]

Traveling by day and cultivating by night significantly reduced his time, but ten days after leaving the Purple Sun Sect, he finally reached the Entry Level of the Wandering Dragon Void Step and could now utilize this Celestial Essence Realm Body Technique.

One day, Xu Yang suddenly felt a sharp surge in the ambient Spiritual Qi. He turned to look at the boundary stone by the roadside and saw the two large characters "Yun Province" written on it.

"We’ve entered the borders of Yun Province," someone noted. Everyone’s Spirit was greatly lifted. After days of continuous travel, they were finally about to reach their destination.

After another half day of galloping, a magnificent, massive city appeared at the end of the horizon.

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