All-Nations Prodigy Ranking!

Dazed, chaotic, painful, clamorous...

In the flickering fragments of his consciousness, Li Xi felt as though his entire body had been broken apart.

"Ha!"

"Hah!"

"Look at him..."

"Haha, how humiliating..."

"He had it coming!"

The clamor kept drilling into Li Xi's muddled mind, gradually pulling his consciousness back.

As the breeze swept past, its chill woke him bit by bit.

"Why does my body... hurt... so badly!"

He struggled to open his eyes, and what he saw instantly cleared his pig-head-swollen mind.

With his eyes wide open, he found himself hanging upside down in midair above the Martial Arts Arena!

His once splendid clothes had been stripped away completely, leaving him naked as a pig awaiting slaughter before all the gang's disciples.

The moment he realized what was happening, a shrill scream burst from his mouth.

"AAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!"

"Let me down! Put me down!"

Amid his screams, roars and commands poured continuously from his mouth.

Since Ye Li had crushed his teeth beneath his foot, Li Xi's words leaked air and came out indistinct.

As a direct descendant of the Li Family, he had been raised in fine clothes and rich food, valuing his reputation above his life.

Now, Ye Li's savage humiliation made him wish he could die. His body swung through the air on the rope like a pendulum, yet he could not break free no matter what he did.

Below him, everyone listened to Li Xi's cries with expressions of utter indifference.

Ye Li was still in the gang. Who would dare offend a core disciple?

Not long ago, even the disciplinary squad had been drawn over.

Yet after taking one look at Li Xi hanging there, they could not hold back their laughter.

After watching the spectacle, they left whistling.

Within the gang, the strong were revered. Ye Li had broken through to the Body Tempering Realm and automatically been promoted to a core disciple.

An official rank higher could crush a man to death, let alone when Li Xi had hired thugs to provoke him first.

Weak and shameless, breaking the rules! Having his head stepped on was entirely deserved!

What Li Xi did not know at all was this.

On his back, Ye Li was vigorously writing with sweeping strokes: [Shameless Villain]!

Remembering that familiar voice from before he had passed out, Li Xi cried out miserably, "Ye Li!!! I know you did this! Get out here!"

At that moment, Li Xi's heart died completely!

The dream of returning to the direct line of the family shattered then and there.

The Li Family elders would never place importance on someone who had been stripped naked and hung upside down like a dead pig!

What brilliant future? What Guangming Grand Tournament five months from now!

Countless hopes vanished like clouds passing before the eyes.

For a moment, intense grief and fury congealed within Li Xi's chest.

The cruelty of reality, compounded by his recent frustration and severe injuries, made him suddenly spit out a mouthful of blood. He fainted once more.

Before his consciousness broke apart, one thought circled stubbornly through his mind.

"Even if I die, I'll make Ye Li pay a painful price!"

Elsewhere, after handling his miscellaneous affairs, Ye Li sought out Feng Yue again.

"You've tempered your body too?" Feng Yue stared at Ye Li in shock.

Once one reached the Body Tempering Realm, a Qi-Blood Network condensed over the surface of the body. In the eyes of another Body Tempering martial artist, it looked like a pillar of flame, impossible to fake.

Of course, because the muscles and tendons within were wrapped in the Qi-Blood Network.

A martial artist's exact realm—whether early or late Body Tempering—could only be determined after exchanging blows.

Feng Yue had just finished processing the paperwork for another disciple who had broken through to the Body Tempering Realm, only for another one to arrive.

If he had not known that Ye Li's trait was [Exceptional Agility], he might have suspected Ye Li possessed some high-level trait that boosted cultivation!

"Too?" Ye Li was puzzled by his instructor's wording.

Feng Yue did not answer directly. Instead, he asked, "How many Body Tempering Pills did you take?"

"Thirteen. Wang Xian sponsored ten of them!" Ye Li answered honestly.

When someone became a core disciple, the gang investigated how many Body Tempering Pills they had consumed during cultivation.

After all, one Body Tempering Pill could save three days of training.

If some useless fool smashed pots and sold iron just to swallow massive quantities of Body Tempering Pills and break through within half a year, then became a core disciple and received the same treatment, would that not be wasting resources for nothing?

The further martial cultivation progressed, the more terrifying the resources it consumed. Even if resources were to be thrown in, they had to be thrown at geniuses.

"Thirteen pills, saving over a month of hard work." Feng Yue calculated it and quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Breaking through to the Body Tempering Realm in two and a half months was barely understandable.

"Fine. Next, I'll report this to the Elder-Reader Realm. Tomorrow, you'll officially become a core disciple, and your slave registration will be erased."

Feng Yue said, "As for the benefits of becoming a core disciple, I told you about them before, didn't I?"

Ye Li nodded to show he understood, but Feng Yue repeated them anyway.

"From today onward, your monthly allowance will rise from three taels to ten taels of silver, and you may also collect two Body Tempering Pills."

"At the same time, you'll be assigned to oversee ten shops. You may take fifty percent of those shops' protection fees each month."

"Later, you'll receive a residence on the outskirts of the East District for you and your family to live in."

"And from now on, you won't need to pay when you visit Spring Return Alley. The gang will also provide you with an unlimited daily quota of [Dragon Tiger Pills]."

Feng Yue rambled on and on, stirring Ye Li's emotions.

Compared to the benefits below, the ten-tael monthly allowance was actually the most ordinary one.

A single Body Tempering Pill could sell for the exorbitant price of ten taels on the market.

Not to mention the profits from ten shops, which would bring in at least fifty taels each month—equivalent to a monthly income of around fifty thousand in modern terms!

In the Azure Dragon Gang, ordinary disciples could barely even fill their stomachs, while core disciples enjoyed countless benefits.

"You can officially graduate today."

Looking at the best batch of students he had ever taught, Feng Yue could not help shaking his head with a sigh. "You brat really didn't disappoint me!"

"It's all thanks to your excellent teaching, Instructor." Ye Li raised his hand and offered a few flattering words, only for Feng Yue to cut him off with a raised hand.

"Enough, brat. Stop buttering me up."

"When you become a gang Elder-Reader Realm in a few years, just be willing to accept my gift then, genius."

With that, Feng Yue curled his lips. "Although you haven't officially become a core disciple yet, it's only a matter of filling in your name. I'll take you to collect this month's ten taels of allowance and two Body-Tempering Pills in a moment."

"Oh, you also ranked first among the newcomers this month, so you can take one extra pill. After that, I'll take you to East City District to see your residence."

After saying that, he turned and waved for Ye Li to follow.

Following behind Feng Yue, Ye Li collected ten taels of monthly allowance and three Body Tempering Pills from the gang.

Feeling his coffers grow full again, Ye Li immersed himself in the joy of his new status.

Stepping out of the Azure Dragon Gang, Ye Li looked back at the gang's plaque, its characters dancing like dragons and soaring like phoenixes, before heading with Feng Yue toward the East District.

The moment he entered Guangming's eastern city, Ye Li could feel its clamor.

Unlike South City, peaceful yet tinged with desolation, the entire East District was incomparably prosperous.

Everything before his eyes made Ye Li feel this city's vitality for the first time since awakening his memories.

Whether in status, wealth, location, or public safety!

The East District surpassed the old South City by far more than a single level.

When he was young, before awakening his memories, Ye Li had come here with his uncle and aunt during festivals such as the Lantern Festival.

But now that he had entered the Body Tempering Realm, Ye Li examined this place anew and could keenly sense its different splendor.

As far as the eye could see, every resident of the East District was brimming with qi and blood.

Looking around, Ye Li could spot one or two martial artists on the street whose qi and blood did not pale beside his own.

Just as Ye Li was marveling at the prosperity of the place, a youth waved a booklet through the street and shouted:

"The All-Nations Prodigy Ranking has changed! Ji Xun defeated Du You and took first place! Don't miss it as you pass by!"

"The Heavenly Pride Ranking?" Curiosity appeared in Ye Li's eyes.