The Way to Earn Runes

"Gu cultivation?"

Hearing Qin the Bald's analogy, all the outstanding talents present felt somewhat uncomfortable. They were all exceptional individuals from various regions, yet upon arriving in this Divine Desolation City, they were faced with the prospect of becoming cannon fodder.

The purpose of gathering so many of them together is to make them fight each other, eliminate the weak, and determine the true Gu King!

Qin the Bald said, "Only those who emerge from the circle of the strong are true kings. The circle determines your future achievements, so you are all competitors to each other! The peerless experts of the human race have all climbed to the peak of martial arts step by step, stepping over countless geniuses!"

"A million people can't produce one sage, Tai'a Divine City can produce one. How many young talents will be trampled underfoot? The Tai'a Divine City gives everyone the same conditions. It all depends on yourselves: will you become unparalleled powerhouses, or will you be trampled underfoot and used as stepping stones?"

Qin the Bald made no attempt to conceal his true feelings.

The young talents present were filled with complex emotions upon hearing this.

One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand; no one wants to be a stepping stone used by others to climb up.

Suddenly, a strong sense of crisis gripped many of the teenagers.

Whether it was the allure of the Desolate God Hall, the desire to achieve great things, or this immense sense of crisis, all of these spurred them on to keep climbing higher.

People are never satisfied. Many of the young talents present came from relatively well-off Lineage and had come to this mysterious holy land Tai'a Divine City, to cultivate. They appeared to be incredibly successful.

But only they themselves know the immense pressure they are under.

Some of them faced fierce competition from their Lineage members, while others bore the heavy responsibility of their Lineage's prosperity. How could they be cannon fodder? The pressure they faced was no less than that faced by Lian Chengyu before the Divine Kingdom Grand Selection.

Young talents from all over the divine kingdom pondered the various ways to earn Dragon Scale Rune. It seemed that the only option was to honestly do menial tasks. What they had seen and heard in Tai'a Divine City these past few days had made them realize that there were always people more capable than themselves, and they had no special talents to offer, so they could only start from scratch.

"There are more than ten types of odd jobs, and there's no fixed pay. How much you earn depends entirely on your individual skills! But generally speaking, there are some odd jobs where it's easier to get higher pay. I'll start with the highest and work your way down!"

"The highest level is sparring! Some veteran cultivators will hire sparring partners when they cultivate. You put on your armor and protective gear, serve as their sparring partners, and if you persist for a certain period, you can receive the corresponding Dragon Scale Rune. If you are capable enough to take on some sparring missions from very powerful patrons, the rewards will be quite considerable. Of course, you are also more likely to get injured, and it's entirely possible that you'll be bedridden for ten days or half a month."

Sparring partner? Isn't that just being a sitting duck?

These young talents were mostly proud and arrogant. In the past, they would have found it absolutely unacceptable to experience such a humiliating situation. However, after listening to Qin the Bald and experiencing repeated setbacks during training, they no longer cared. They were so weak, what right did they have to talk about dignity? Besides, being a live target was better than being cannon fodder.

To become strong, you must first endure humiliation and learn to take a beating!

"The second highest is forging! You don't have the skill to forge weapons, but that's alright. Some weapons require forging special metals during the forging process, using a casting hammer to strike them over a million times! If you consider your strength to be exceptional, you can take on such tasks!"

"The third option is patrolling the city walls and maintaining the crossbows on them! This is a more demanding job, requiring knowledge of battle formations."

"The above three types are considered high-paying; the following ones are more ordinary, such as standing guard at the drill ground or city gate."

"For example, looking after the spirit birds Spiritual Beast raised in the animal pen of Tai'a Divine City, going down the mountain to collect herbs, managing and distributing living supplies, etc. -- The latter are generally done by female students."

Qin the Bald explained them one by one, and the teenagers present all felt that the first three were the most reliable.

The first option, being a live target, may not sound appealing, but serving as a sparring partner for a master allows you to learn their offensive techniques. Through constant dodging and taking hits, you can accumulate experience sparring with experts. Moreover, the pay is high, making it undoubtedly the most suitable job.

"I'll apply for the first option!"

"I'll also sign up for the first option, to be a sparring partner!"

The teenagers present all expressed that Qin the Bald had an excellent memory; he remembered immediately who applied for which job.

"I'll choose the second option: blacksmithing! I'm not weak, so after a few hundred thousand hammer blows, I can build up my strength even more! Then, I'll stick forty or fifty of these Primordial Arrow into this Purple Tungsten Steel Wall, and I refuse to believe it!"

Zhou Kui rolled up his sleeves and said in a deep voice that he was also full of energy and wanted to achieve something. This short day had been a huge stimulus for Zhou Kui!

"I'll sign up for the first option... sparring partner." Song Zijun spoke up. He felt the pressure among this group of people. Qin the Bald said they were weak, but compared to Song Zijun, most of them were stronger!

Even doing menial tasks involves fierce competition!

After stating their decision, Song Zijun looked at Yi Yun, and Qin the Bald also looked at Yi Yun.

So far, Yi Yun's performance has been the most outstanding.

Although it wasn't quite enough to amaze Qin the Bald believed that after six years of training, Yi Yun would definitely shine. While it was practically impossible for Yi Yun to break into the top 1,000 within a year, there was still a good chance that he would be within the top 1,000 within three years.

Qin the Bald also hoped that he could cultivate a talent.

Yi Yun thought for a moment, smiled slightly, and said, "I'll apply... um, I'll apply to gather herbs..."

Yi Yun's casual remark stunned all the young talents present.

Gathering herbs?

Qin the Bald also frowned slightly. In the years he had been welcoming new students, very few people had signed up to collect herbs, and those who had were mostly girls.

After all, girls can only be sparring partners for other girls. If boys can't get sparring jobs because there are too many sparring partners, they can go blacksmithing. But blacksmithing is not suitable for girls. Patrolling the city walls and maintaining the crossbows is not something that ordinary girls can do.

So the girls who couldn't be sparring partners could only do jobs like gathering herbs, taking care of Spiritual Beast, and distributing supplies.

But Yi Yun, whom Qin the Bald sees as having a promising future, why would he choose to do something like gathering herbs?

As for the other young talents, they looked at Yi Yun with even stranger expressions.

This guy, isn't he supposed to be pretty good?

With his skills, he'd be excellent whether as a sparring partner or a blacksmith, so why would he bother gathering herbs?

Could it be that he met some girls while gathering herbs, slept with them, or even pushed them down on the herb mountain and had sex with them there?

Many people maliciously thought, otherwise why would he hang out with girls?

"Gather herbs? Are you sure?" Qin the Bald gave Yi Yun a deep look, hoping that Yi Yun would change his mind.

"Yes! I'm sure." Yi Yun nodded.

Qin the Bald narrowed his eyes slightly, as if trying to discern something from Yi Yun.

"I'll submit the list tonight. Once it's noted, it can't be changed for three months. Gathering herbs not only earns you Dragon Scale Rune slowly, but it also doesn't help you train your strength. I'm asking you one last time, are you sure you want to gather herbs?"

"I'm sure!" Yi Yun answered calmly and firmly.

The people around were speechless. Qin the Bald was obviously saying so much because he admired Yi Yun, but Yi Yun still didn't appreciate it.

Instructor Qin frowned, but in the end, he shook his head. The decision was in the hands of the trainees, and he would not interfere. Since Yi Yun had made this decision, there was nothing he could do.

"Alright! I'll apply for the herb-gathering job for you. I just want to give you a piece of advice: in this Tai'a Divine City, even slightly outstanding people are nothing special. If you're not careful, you'll be lost in the vast sea of people and never be found again."

"Among the more than two thousand newcomers who have come this time, there are quite a few promising talents. The hundred of you I brought are all from Jingzhou and several small prefectures in the southeast of Jingzhou. Compared to those from Zhongzhou, the Imperial City, and those directly recommended by reclusive powerful Lineage, you are still far from being as good as they seem."

"You probably don't know, but just a day ago, in this very training ground, a newcomer nicknamed 'Qiu Niu') managed to stick seven Primordial Arrow into the Purple Tungsten Steel Wall in one go. He comes from a reclusive Lineage!"

"Two days ago, in the Desolate God Hall, a young girl from the Imperial City comprehended a trace of the True Meaning of Laws while facing the Ancient Remnant Species sculpture! This girl is named Chu Xiaoran, the beloved daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo of the current Tai'a Dynasty!"

Everyone's eyelids twitched slightly at Instructor Qin's words.

The apple of the eye of the Duke of Zhenguo...

A genius boy from a reclusive Lineage...

The Duke of Zhenguo is a duke of the Tai'a Divine Kingdom. A duke, especially one whose title includes the characters "Zhenguo" (镇国), is truly a man of immense power and influence!

As for reclusive Lineage, they are even more terrifying.

In the Tai'a Divine Kingdom, there are some powerful Lineage with unimaginable depth and influence, even comparable to the royal family.

Some of these Lineage have a history even longer than that of the Tai'a Divine Kingdom, having been established and passed down from the previous dynasty of the Tai'a Divine Kingdom, or even the dynasty before that.

There were also some Lineage who assisted the founding god of the Tai'a Divine Kingdom in conquering the land of Tai'a. Afterwards, the Founding Divine Emperor bestowed upon them the territories of the divine kingdom in nine major states as their permanent fiefdoms.

These Lineage have been intermarried with the royal family of the Tai'a Divine Kingdom for generations, and there is an inseparable relationship between them. It can be said that these Lineage are the foundation upon which the Tai'a Royal Family has been able to stand for so many years!

Because these Lineage are so extraordinary that ordinary people have no contact with them, they are called reclusive Lineage, not because they are actually reclusive.

As for Zhou Kui and the others, they also came from large Lineage. Their Lineage came from Jingzhou and a few smaller nearby states, but Lineage of that size usually only occupied one county in a state.

A county-level Lineage is utterly incomparable to these reclusive Lineage at the level of divine kingdoms.

[The group I mentioned before (group number: 340130704) is a regular group; some readers misread it. As for the official VIP group, because the current fan value requirement exceeds that of a full subscription to "True Martial Arts," it will only be mentioned in the book review section and will not be announced in the book itself for the time being.]

...(To be continued~^~)