Amid the bustling waterways of the prefectural city at night, Chu Ge sat comfortably in his carriage, admiring the city's rivers as they passed and taking in the lively sights all around him. Suddenly, he felt the yellow paper at his waist grow hot.
He couldn't help but freeze for a moment, then immediately looked toward the Lady Lantern hanging in the carriage.
He saw several flower-bedecked young ladies hiding their smiles behind round fans, whispering to one another as if sharing secrets.
The moment they noticed Chu Ge looking their way, they all pointed their fans behind him in unison, their eyes sliding sideways.
"So someone's got their eye on me?"
Chu Ge's thoughts stirred. He gave a slight nod, a silent thank-you to the young ladies.
Then he pulled the yellow paper from his waist and saw that two human silhouettes had burned black onto it.
As he pretended to admire the river, he glanced back without drawing attention to himself. Once he spotted the two figures, he looked away.
"How strange! I've only just arrived, and someone's already watching me. Could that crooked-minded constable from earlier have tipped off the local toughs after seeing how much money I had?"
Baffled, Chu Ge noticed a crowd gathered around a shop up ahead. An idea came to him. He deliberately pulled the carriage over to the roadside, then took Xiao Qian by the hand and headed toward the shop.
"Come have a look! Tonight's fresh-off-the-press Blood Ranking! We've just got the latest news—there's a new face rising, and an old hand brought low! Come see!"
In front of the shop, a clerk called out in a clear voice.
Someone shouted, "Why hasn't the Name Ranking come out? The Blood Ranking's been updated again. They're updating it way too fast."
"Hey! The Name Ranking is full of great figures from the Force Condensation Realm. Once they're on it, their positions don't change easily. There are complicated interests involved."
"Exactly! The Blood Ranking only lists formidable martial artists in the Blood Change Realm, so it changes more often."
"I heard that some mysterious guest from a backwater corner of the countryside killed Soul Chasing Old Man, number seventy-three on the Blood Ranking. I bet that mysterious guest will make the list this time!"
"What mysterious guest? What's his name? Say it and let me see if I've heard of him. My ears don't have time for nobodies."
Chu Ge had just squeezed his way over when he heard a loud, bald man nearby talking. He couldn't help feeling a little dazed. The man's words were laced with a local accent, but Chu Ge could still understand him.
The mysterious guest who had killed Soul Chasing Old Man—wasn't that him?
And now he was a backwater country bumpkin.
"Hey, hey! Are you buying or not? If not, move along. Don't stand here spreading nonsense."
At that moment, the shop clerk snapped impatiently.
The shop clearly had some powerful backing. At the clerk's words, the crowd discussing the news scattered a little, not daring to make a fuss.
Chu Ge stepped forward at once and smiled as he asked how much it cost. He wanted to buy a copy and admire his own glory.
One copy of the Blood Ranking cost five taels of silver.
That was certainly not cheap.
Chu Ge was the only one to fork over the money and buy a copy. There were plenty of people around watching and talking, but very few were willing to pay.
"Hey, brother, open it up and have a look. What I just said is definitely true."
Seeing Chu Ge buy a copy of the Blood Ranking, someone beside him immediately sidled over, acting as if they were old friends.
Chu Ge shot a sideways glance at the freeloader and smiled. "Want to read it together? One tael of silver."
"Uh..."
The man who'd come over to cozy up gave an awkward smile, cursed him as a country bumpkin in his heart, and stepped aside.
Chu Ge was tall and powerfully built. Although the man could tell from his accent that he was a rich fellow from the countryside, he didn't dare provoke him lightly.
Chu Ge led Xiao Qian, who was curiously looking this way and that at everything, back to the carriage.
By now, he'd also noticed that one of the two people who had been following him had left. Only one remained, lingering not far away.
Pretending not to have noticed, he casually opened the Blood Ranking booklet and began to read.
"Blood Ranking, first place: Shangguan Dan, title: Flying Cloud Gentleman. Blood Change martial artist, above-average Spiritual Aptitude. Born into the Shangguan Household of Cangyun Prefecture, Linzhou; later joined the Flying Cloud Sword Sect. Skilled in the Thirteen Swords of Flying Cloud and has comprehended sword intent. Around twenty-three years old, handsome.
"Recent whereabouts: Near Mount Guanlan, Cangyun Prefecture, Linzhou.
"Record: Defeated Mao Junmo, formerly first on the Blood Ranking and now second, in ten moves; went alone into the Western Mountain Demon Cave and slew the Exotic Demon Red Snake; challenged Xiang Lihong, a true disciple of the Force Condensation Realm from Broken Saber Sect, and held out for the time it takes an incense stick to burn without losing."
"Blood Ranking, second place: Mao Junmo, title: Thousand Miles Lone Shadow Blade. Blood Change martial artist, above-average Spiritual Aptitude, origins unknown, core disciple of Shadowy Fortress."
"Blood Ranking, third place: Zhen Pixu, title: Formless Needle Lord. Blood Change martial artist, above-average Spiritual Aptitude."
As he looked through the list, he found that the top thirty were almost all experts from major sects, with only a few from prominent lineages.
As for unaffiliated martial artists who trained alone, there wasn't a single one.
It was enough to show just how hard it was for a lone practitioner to make a name for himself in this martial world, where resources were scarce.
Turning to the middle of the Blood Ranking, he found more experts from prominent lineages and small sects. Near the end, Chu Ge spotted the entry for himself, the cart-pulling old-timer.
"Name unknown: Blood Change martial artist, Spiritual Aptitude unknown, origins unknown, sect unknown, martial arts unknown. Approximately sixty years old, face weathered and covered in wrinkles. It is uncertain whether he is disguised; suspected to be a demon or monster martial artist.
"Recent whereabouts: Linyuan City, Jiangcheng Prefecture, Hengzhou.
"Record: According to the Linyuan City Guard Captain, he single-handedly killed Soul Chasing Old Man and the Flying Head Zombie, saving Linyuan City from disaster.
"Current Blood Ranking position: seventy-ninth."
"Name unknown."
Seeing his entry, Chu Ge nearly laughed.
There were several other people with similar nameless entries on the Blood Ranking.
However, like him, they were all ranked near the bottom.
Soul Chasing Old Man's entry was gone from this new Blood Ranking.
He'd originally been ranked seventy-third. Since Chu Ge had killed him, he should have taken his place at seventy-three.
But perhaps because Chu Ge's origins were so mysterious, and no one had witnessed the entire fight between him and Soul Chasing Old Man, the updated Blood Ranking had put him at seventy-nine instead.
That was reasonably fair.
In truth, without the strange wine that had poisoned him, Chu Ge wouldn't have stood a chance against Soul Chasing Old Man in his prime. He might even have lost his life. After all, the Flying Head Zombie was far too powerful.
By comparison, Dark Poison Child, who was ranked one hundred on the Blood Ranking, was certainly formidable, but Chu Ge could still beat him.
So his position at seventy-nine was still a little inflated.
Chu Ge flipped to the end and found that the person ranked one hundred on the Blood Ranking had also changed. The new name was some Brute Liu Ye.
It seemed the organization compiling the Blood Ranking had incredibly powerful intelligence networks.
Dark Poison Child had been dead for less than two days, yet the updated list had already included the news. That was truly impressive.
The people or faction behind the updated rankings might even possess one of those legendary, extraordinarily powerful detection-type divine weapons.
"The Blood Ranking, huh? Anyone who makes the list is a dragon among men. What martial artist wouldn't want to get on it?"
A voice came from nearby. It was the very man who had been following Chu Ge, whom he'd spotted earlier.
He shook his head as he spoke. "After all, for most people, even getting onto the prefectural city's Name Ranking is difficult. You need very high Spiritual Aptitude.
"As for the Name Ranking for all of Great Zhou, you'd have to reach the Force Condensation Realm. Ordinary people still have some hope of making the Blood Ranking.
"If you make it onto the Blood Ranking, the great lineages will immediately treat you as an honored guest, all scrambling to recruit you."
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