Chapter 301 – Triumphant Return to the Nation
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As Lin Ming rode atop Little Flame’s back, he could feel a heat wave flowing into himself, supplementing the Fire origin energy within his body. This caused Lin Ming to be secretly surprised. Indeed, Little Flame was worthy of being called a Saint Beast, it could actually absorb the power of fire origin energy from the world and then continuously boost whoever it wished to.
If Mu Qianyu ever engaged in battled, even if Little Flame didn’t attack, it would still be a great assistance to Mu Qianyu.
If Little Flame grew up and reached the Revolving Core boundary, then combined with Mu Qianyu, it would be even more incredible.
The Vermillion Bird soared into the sky, a scorching wind blowing past them. Liu Xuan narrowed his eyes as he watched Lin Ming and Mu Qianyu vanish into the sky. Liu Xuan couldn’t help but whisper in his heart, just what sort of relationship did Mu Qianyu and Lin Ming have?
If it was only an ordinary relationship, then Mu Qianyu would never allow Lin Ming to ride her life’s Vermillion Bird with her…
As Liu Xuan thought this, he had the good grace to not speak his mind. He only secretly regretted not taking advantage of talking to Lin Ming to befriend him.
Mu Qianyu deliberately didn’t reveal her relationship with Lin Ming in front of an audience. In turn, she also didn’t need to hide it.
As they flew on the back of Little Flame, Mu Qianyu said, “That senior lives in seclusion in a distant mountain. Even if we take transmission arrays to reach him, we still have to travel several hundred thousand miles. If we rode Heavenly Wind Eagles, the trip might take two months, but with Little Flame, it will only take a week.
Lin Ming nodded, and then said, “I do not have the materials to forge a spearhead.”
“Mm, I know. But the disciples of Divine Phoenix Island have the right to exchange top quality pills, treasures, or materials with the sect in exchange for some sect contribution points…”
Lin Ming forced a smiled and said, “I don’t have any sect contribution points…”
If Lin Ming could be said to have any contribution towards Divine Phoenix Island, that would be that he helped rescue Mu Qianyu a few months ago. Of course, the truth was that he hadn’t saved her, this was just Lin Ming’s thoughts. Mu Qianyu hadn’t been in a life threatening situation, and had only suffered a tremendous pain. At that time, Mu Qianyu had also helped Lin Ming absorb the Purple Flood Dragon Divine Thunder as exchange. Their debts could be considered paid.
“Yes, you don’t have any, but…” As Mu Qianyu spoke, she turned a crafty and teasing smile towards Lin Ming and blinked her large eyes, “I might allow you to purchase some items on credit, and then you can pay it back later.”
This was the so-called smile that was worth a hundred lives. Seeing this playful rare demeanor of a most beautiful maiden openly displayed in front of him, Lin Ming was frozen in shock for some time.
Exchange items for sect contribution points on credit… although Lin Ming didn’t understand the internal system of Divine Phoenix Island, he was well aware of just how valuable a material the Violet Electricity Spirit Bamboo was, something that the Thunder Flood Dragon held in high regard. A material that would be equal in value to Violet Electricity Spirit Bamboo would be something amazing that would inevitably be able to stir the heart of an extreme Xiantian master.
The amount of sect contribution points that would be needed to exchange for this degree of treasure material could be imagined. He would need to be at least a Xiantian master to obtain these points.
He was only a disciple at the early Pulse Condensation period, where would he ever find the strength to repay this debt?
In his final estimate, Mu Qianyu was helping him from the kindness of her heart. This benevolence was truly sincere.
Lin Ming secretly recorded this kindness in his heart. One day, in the future, he would surely be able to return this favor.
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Several hundred thousand miles away, Sky Fortune Kingdom –
After the Total Faction Martial Meeting concluded, Qin Ziya, Ling Sen, Sun Youdao, Qin Xingxuan, as well as Zhou Yu and Liang Long from the four martial families, rode a group of Heavenly Wind Eagles to return to Sky Fortune Kingdom.
Qin Xingxuan had already been chosen as an inner court disciple. As soon as she turned 16 years old, she could enter the Seven Profound Valleys and become a Sword Faction disciple.
As for Ling Sen, although he had comprehended a Slaughter Domain and his result was in the top 100, he was still limited by the gap in his age and cultivation. He was only chosen as an outer court disciple of the Seven Profound Valleys.
If one looked down with a bird’s eye view at Sky Fortune City’s Seven Profound Martial House, one could see that the entire Seven Profound Marital House was packed to the brim with festive decorations, it was just like a new year’s celebration. A bustling and happy crowd had gathered in the square, waiting to greet Qin Ziya and his group.
All the disciples off the Seven Profound Martial House had gathered here, including the important nobles of Sky Fortune City and other martial arts masters.
Everyone in Sky Fortune City who was at least at the Pulse Condensation period had come today. Even Marshal Qin Xiao had personally arrived, and three of the ten Great Generals of Sky Fortune Kingdom had arrived. As for the others, they were preoccupied with military affairs so they could not attend.
Crown Prince Yang Lin naturally wasn’t absent. He wore a thick purple gold cloak, and a gold crown was resting atop his head. He had a very fierce appearance as he sat on a tiger fur chair, his eyes closed in thought.
The truth was, although Yang Lin appeared tranquil, he was far from calm. During this half month, he had practically lived at the Seven Profound Martial House, not even stepping out once.
He had been waiting for news. Waiting, waiting, waiting until he had difficulty sleeping during the night or the day.
During this time period, the Seven Profound Martial House had only used the long-distance sound transmission array once. Afterwards, it did not shine again. This was because the activation cost of the array formation was too great. It wasn’t just about the cost of true essence stones, but more so the longevity of the array formation. No one within the Seven Profound Martial House was qualified or had the ability to construct a long-distance sound transmission array that could span several hundred thousand miles. Once the sound transmission array was worn out, they would have to invite a master from the Seven Profound Valleys’ Array Faction, and pay a great price and favor in order to repair it. This was simply a very troublesome task.
Therefore, even though the Total Faction Martial Meeting had finished and the results were complete, there was no necessity to send news through the transmission array. They only needed to wait for Qin Ziya to return and personally announce the news.
Snow floated in the sky, fluttering down. The winter was particularly cold, and the snow didn’t melt, layer upon layer of white snow blankets stacking upon each other.
The clouds were thick, even the sunlight didn’t peek through. The cold wind was chilling to the bone. Everyone had been waiting in the snow for almost an hour, but there was not a single one who dared to show an ounce of impatience. To martial artists, especially those in the army like the generals, the disparity of strength was what decided disparity in status. Qin Ziya’s strength was enough for them all to respectfully wait here, without uttering a single complaint.
As for the nobles, they had to stay for Crown Prince Yang Lin. Everyone knew just what the results for this year’s Total Faction Martial Meeting meant for Yang Lin. The Crown Prince’s chances of ascending the throne smoothly increased with every day, and these suckling sycophants had to take this golden opportunity to sidle up to him whenever they had the chance.
The maids brought in a large brazier, and as Yang Lin looked at the glowing charcoal within, his eyes glazed over as he lost himself in thought. “What position does Lin Ming have?” If he can reach the top 50, that should be enough for him to be a Seven Profound Valleys inner court disciple. If he becomes an inner court disciple, then his status would be no less than a Seven Profound Envoy or the Seven Profound Martial House’s Martial House Master!”
As the Crown Prince of Sky Fortune Kingdom, Yang Ling’s fate was closely intertwined with the Total Faction Martial Meeting. He had an approximate understand of what was happening at the Total Faction Martial Meeting. For all these years, the top 20 of the Total Faction Martial Meeting had basically been dominated by the core disciples of the Seven Profound Valleys. Occasionally, there would be some individuals who passed through, especially those from the 16 martial families.
As for the 36 countries, it was a fabulous and honorable result if one could reach the top 50. Not only that, but this sort of character would usually appear without exception in Huoluo Nation or Grace Venerate Nation.
In these past 30 years, Sky Fortune Kingdom didn’t have a single disciple who had advanced into the top 100 rankings. Well, there had been Mu Yinzhou from the four martial families, but he was a foreign martial artist who didn’t share the same surname as the family he represented.
This wait continued for another half hour. As evening approached, small black dots suddenly appeared in the distant cloudy sky. Yang Lin immediately shot up, even his cloak fell down from his shoulders.
All the nobles, martial artists, generals, and so forth all stood up at the same time. There were those with a deeper cultivation that were able to clearly see that these small black spots were actually Qin Ziya and his group returning on Heavenly Wind Eagles.
“They’ve arrived!”
Everyone left their seats, and the young palace ladies rubbed their frozen legs, ready to toss out fresh flowers. The reporters who worked for the Sky Fortune City gazette were ready and waiting, pulling out pen and paper in order to record every detail that would happen. Recently, under Yang Lin’s behest, the national gazette had launched complete coverage of the Total Faction Martial Meeting that was like a nationwide propaganda campaign.
There had been so many notes, papers, gazettes, and fliers passed out that even the old aunty who managed the closest tea shop and sold boiled eggs would know just what the Total Faction Martial Meeting was, and could tell anyone who cared to listen just how important the Total Faction Martial Meeting was to the martial artists of Sky Fortune Kingdom.
Flap flap flap
Six Heavenly Wind Eagles flew down one after another, landing on the open square and kicking up enormous gusts of snow beneath them. As Qin Ziya dismounted the Heavenly Wind Eagle, he had a wide smile on his face. Seeing this smile, the anxiety in Yang Lin’s heart eased by about half. It seemed as if Lin Ming had successfully reached the top 50.
He walked up with Marshal Qin Xiao, welcoming their arrival. Qin Xiao heartily laughed, saying, “I congratulate Martial House Master Qin on his triumphant return. Everyone, it’s been tough on you all, but good job!”
Qin Ziya cupped his fists together in greetings and said, “I’ve troubled Your Highness the Crown Prince and Marshall Qin Xiao. Thankfully, good fortune was with us this time. During this Total Faction Martial Meeting, we had very good results.”
Hearing this great news from Qin Ziya, Yang Lin’s heart beat sped up. He glanced around the six people, but there was no shadow of Lin Ming.
Where was Lin Ming?
He was about to ask where Lin Ming was, when Qin Xiao exuberantly laughed, and then tugged on his favorite granddaughter’s hands, “Xingxuan, how did you do?”
“Rank 169.” Qin Xingxuan hugged onto Qin Xiao’s arm, somewhat embarrassed. She had just managed to pass the mountain gate trial, and was still eliminated in the first group stage.
But even so, to have such a ranking at her age was still a very splendid result. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been chosen as a Seven Profound Valleys inner court disciple.
Sun Youdao stroked his beard, and said with a smile, “Marshal Qin, You have a fantastic granddaughter. Xingxuan has already been chosen by Elder Wen Hui of the Sword Faction, and will be a Sword Faction inner court disciple. Elder Wen Hui has been in the Xiantian realm for many years now, he has an unfathomable strength.”
“Xiantian!?”
Qin Xiao’s eyes flashed with awe. He didn’t know what it meant to rank 169th in the Total Faction Martial Meeting, but the shock of hearing about a Xiantian elder was just too great.
Qin Xiao had already stayed at the Houtian realm for many years, and had a deep understand of what the Xiantian realm was. To him, the Xiantian realm bottleneck was an impassable ravine. For the 80 years since Sky Fortune Kingdom was established, a Xiantian master had never appeared.
If Qin Xingxuan could become the disciple of a Xiantian master, then her future could be imagined.
“Hahaha! Good! Good! Very good!” Qin Xiao was overjoyed and surprise. He had worried that after he died, his Qin Family would decline. However, now that there was Qin Xingxuan, the fortunes of his family would continue for centuries.
At this moment, Yang Lin impatiently asked, “Martial House Master Qin, what about Lin Ming? What is his ranking?”
At this time, Yang Lin was even more excited than Qin Xiao. If Qin Xingxuan could become an inner court disciple with a ranking of 160, then Lin Ming was at least that.
Qin Ziya took a deep breath, his smile gradually spreading wider and wider. A full five breaths of time passed, and then Qin Ziya slowly spoke, stressing each and every syllable in an earnest manner, “Lin Ming, is the champion!”
“What!?” Yang Lin was stunned. For a time, he couldn’t even react. He almost wanted to ask what rank the champion was. He just couldn’t believe this – he didn’t dare to believe this!
Sun Youdao spoke up, sighing as he said, “Lin Ming became the champion of the Total Faction Martial Meeting, taking first place. He has already become one of the direct disciples of the Seven Profound Valleys…”