The heavyweight news hit Ye Tianlong's brain one after another, making him feel like his mind was going to stop working from sheer shock.
How is that possible? How is that possible? Ye Tianlong howled inwardly. He had personally experienced how difficult it was to challenge the limit rooms. Not one of his challenge attempts in the past had been a success. He found it hard to accept the fact that Xiang Shaoyun had done all that. He was not alone as many people found what the palace master said hard to believe.
"Palace master, i-is that t-true?" Qing Xiuhe, the vice palace master, asked.
"Why would I joke about something like that? The Hall of Limits' overseer can be the witness," Yang Gaochuan said.
"That is certainly an excellent accomplishment. He deserves a seat," said Tan Guanghua, the other vice palace master who rarely showed himself among the disciples.
Tan Guanghua was mainly in charge of the Martial Hall Palace's external affairs. Thus, he wasn't as well known as Qing Xiuhe in the palace. In truth, his status was higher than Qing Xiuhe.
"That's right. That is an outstanding achievement that will go down in the history of our Martial Hall Palace."
"If the palace master had not revealed it, we would still be in the dark about this. What a fine Xiang Shaoyun. Looks like he will be an excellent secret weapon of the Martial Hall Palace during the coming Battle of Towns."
"If he can increase his cultivation level by one more stage in the coming few months, he can very well get an even better result for us in the Battle of Towns."
"Yes, if he manages to get a spot in the top 10 for the Martial Hall Palace, we will be able to obtain the rewards offered by the Cloud Margin City. With the rewards, we might be able to nurture yet another King Realm cultivator in addition to a large number of Transformation Realm cultivators."
...
The elders were all looking at Xiang Shaoyun with bright eyes. As of this moment, they had all acknowledged his status in the Martial Hall Palace. As for the youngsters, they were all staring at Xiang Shaoyun in disbelief.
Bah, so what? A day will come when you kneel before me, begging for mercy, thought the graceful girl amid the crowd.
This graceful girl was none other than Gong Qinyin, the person Xiang Shaoyun had accidentally offended previously. After returning to the Martial Hall Palace, she hadn't gone looking for Xiang Shaoyun for revenge. It wasn't that she had forgiven him, but that she had simply witnessed Xiang Shaoyun's fight with Li Tianba. From the duel, she concluded that Xiang Shaoyun was stronger than her. Because of that, she didn’t brashly go looking for Xiang Shaoyun. Instead, she focused her efforts cultivating more.
It had been two months since they last met, and right now, Gong Qinyin was already at the fifth stage of the Astral Realm. Her speed of growth was truly astonishingly fast.
A few other people arrived as well, including Lu Xiaoqing's senior sister, Chen Xin. The mischievous Chen Xin did not forget to stick her tongue out at Xiang Shaoyun when he looked at her.
"Alright, everyone is here, so I will get started," Yang Gaochuan said. "In a few months, the once-every-three-years Battle of Towns will be held. Every Battle of Towns is a grand occasion for the Cloud Margin City, and 130 towns around the Cloud Margin City would be participating in it. There, geniuses will gather to compete for the glory of their towns..."
It did not take everyone long to know what their next task was. The so-called Battle of Towns was a competition between the young cultivators of the various towns. The result of the competition would also determine each town’s placing. The Cloud Margin City would also give rewards to the participants based on the result of the competition.
Apart from the participants of the competition, the organizations whose disciples were in the top 10 would also be greatly rewarded. One could say that this competition was extremely important for the young cultivators and the various towns.
It was worth noting that the type of rewards the Cloud Margin City would give was something the resources available to these towns couldn't compare with. The rewards given would be useful even to those at the King Realm and above.
But it was not easy to get in the top 10 with over a hundred towns participating. The Martial Hall Palace had participated in tens of Battle of Towns, yet their best result was when they had managed to get ninth place that one time.
And that was the only time they had ever gotten into the top 10. Despite their less than ideal results, they would still not miss a single Battle of Towns. That was because participating in the Battle of Towns was in itself a great training process for the disciples. It would help the disciples grow stronger, which was beneficial for the Martial Hall Palace.
But of course, as with everything in life, there were pros and cons to participating in the Battle of Towns. The Battle of Towns was filled with uncertainties, and it had an extremely high mortality rate. Each time it was held, at least 70 percent of the participants would die.
The 10 disciples here wouldn't be the only participants of the town. Each town had 50 slots, and with a mortality rate of 70 percent, the number of deaths was extremely high.
The 10 disciples here were also the most remarkable disciples of the Martial Hall Palace in the recent three years. High hopes were placed on them to bring glory to the Martial Hall Palace.
"You are not only gathered here so we can tell you about the competition. We also wish to remind you all to make use of the final three months you have to advance your cultivation. During this period, all the resources of the Martial Hall Palace will be made available for all of you. Try to improve as much as you can. Do know that there will be many geniuses from other towns participating in the competition, and some of them will be even more talented than you. I even heard that some of them are already in the Transformation Realm," Yang Gaochuan said.
When the disciples heard that there were already Transformation Realm cultivators among the disciples of other towns, their expressions turned solemn.
The 10 people here were the disciples of Martial Hall Palace who were either the strongest or the most talented of their peers. All of them were prideful youths, thinking that they were already the best in their age group. Upon figuring out that some of their peers were already in the Transformation Realm, they started to feel the pressure.
The difference between them and a Transformation Realm cultivator was still too big. Not even 10 peak Astral Realm cultivators could defeat 1 Transformation Realm cultivator. Thus, it wasn't hard to imagine how terrifying their opponents in the competition would be.
"Mo Zhu, you are the eldest senior brother, so the burden on you will be the heaviest. Be sure to look after your juniors. Got it?" Tan Guanghua said.
Mo Zhu was the pride of Tan Guanghua, and he was already a ninth-stage Astral Realm cultivator. He was only 18 years old this year, and he looked very heroic and handsome in his training outfit, with his tall and straight posture and the sword hanging on his back.
Even when speaking, he carried himself in a refined manner. "I, Mo Zhu, will do my best to look after the juniors."
"But if he has to take care of his juniors, wouldn't it rob him of his chance to fight for a better placing? Will it be proper to expect him to babysit his juniors?" Qing Xiuhe asked.
"Not really. I believe Mo Zhu will be able to find a perfect balance between taking care of his juniors and fighting for a good result." Tan Guanghua was filled with confidence toward his disciple.
"Alright. We're done here. Feel free to request anything you need. The Martial Hall Palace will support all of you to the best of our ability," Yang Gaochuan said. He paused slightly and looked at Xiang Shaoyun before saying, "Everyone may leave now. Xiang Shaoyun, you stay."