Hundred Strong Ranking

Hundred Strong Ranking

Hearing the elder's encouraging words, Ye Yun said, "You flatter me, Elder."

"Remember this: a genius who has yet to grow will forever only be a genius. Only those who walk to the very end are the strong. This old man has seen too many exceptionally gifted people appear like an epiphyllum in bloom, only to either fade into the crowd or perish with their Dao extinguished." Looking at Ye Yun before him, the assessment elder seemed to recall many old memories.

"I will engrave Elder's words upon my heart. Thank you for your guidance." After speaking, Ye Yun bowed to the elder.

"Alright, when one gets old, one tends to talk too much. Let the assessment continue," the elder said with a sigh.

An hour later, the assessment was completely over. In the end, only three people passed: Ye Yun, He Yue, and Ling Chen.

"Follow me. I'll take you to receive your inner sect disciple identity tokens and robes." With that, the assessment elder led the three away.

After leaving the assessment hall, they arrived at a side hall nearby. The moment they entered, they saw many cabinets filled with the dark azure robes exclusive to inner sect disciples, in all kinds of sizes. A purple great sun was embroidered upon the collars, the symbol of the Purple Extreme Sect. When people of the martial world saw this emblem, they would know that someone from the Purple Extreme Sect had arrived.

"You may choose three sets of clothes here. After one year, you can come collect more if needed. Pick for yourselves; I'll be back shortly." After giving Ye Yun and the other two these instructions, the assessment elder temporarily departed.

It did not take the three long to choose their clothes. As they waited boredly for the assessment elder to return, Ling Chen walked over to Ye Yun. "Junior Brother Ye, entering the inner sect together is a kind of fate. Let's be friends. Let me introduce myself again—I'm Ling Chen. The Myriad Treasures Pavilion is my family's business. If Junior Brother Ye needs to buy or sell anything in the future, you can come find me."

Ye Yun was somewhat surprised. He had never expected the Myriad Treasures Pavilion to be owned by this Senior Brother Ling's family. The Myriad Treasures Pavilion was one of the foremost merchant associations in the entire Great Chu Dynasty. If it had to be described in four words, they would be: wealthy enough to rival a nation. It was said that the Great Chu imperial family stood behind the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, though whether that was true could not be confirmed.

"Then this junior brother thanks Senior Brother Ling," Ye Yun said gratefully.

Ling Chen turned to He Yue. "The same goes for you, Junior Sister He. Don't stand on ceremony with me."

He Yue nodded after hearing this, still wearing her icy expression.

"Junior Brother, Junior Sister, do you want to know what the Hundred Strong Ranking the assessment elder mentioned earlier is?" Ling Chen asked mysteriously.

The moment he heard the words "Hundred Strong Ranking," Ye Yun was instantly interested. Even the usually icy He Yue looked over.

"Please enlighten us, Senior Brother," Ye Yun said to Ling Chen.

"Alright, then this senior brother will explain it to you. Speaking of the Hundred Strong Ranking, we have to mention one of the eight great geniuses of our Great Chu Dynasty: the Martial Madman, Xiang Wentian. Xiang Wentian is the top-ranked person on our Purple Extreme Sect's Hundred Strong Ranking, as well as the eldest senior brother among the inner sect disciples. The Hundred Strong Ranking was established by the sect elders to spur inner sect disciples to cultivate. The strongest hundred inner sect disciples are selected and then ranked through combat. The higher the rank, the richer the rewards. As for what those rewards are, I'm not too sure myself. As for Senior Brother Xiang Wentian, he has occupied the top spot on the Hundred Strong Ranking ever since entering the inner sect, and has held it for five full years." After hearing Ling Chen explain the rules of the Hundred Strong Ranking, the flames of battle in Ye Yun's heart had already begun to burn. A martial artist either grew stronger in battle or died in battle.

"Senior Brother Ling, how does one get onto the Hundred Strong Ranking?" Ye Yun asked.

"How else could you get on the Hundred Strong Ranking? Of course you fight your way up. But even the weakest person at rank one hundred has cultivation at the Fifth Heaven of Qi Refining. So if you want to get onto the Hundred Strong Ranking, you should raise your cultivation first." Ling Chen rolled his eyes at Ye Yun.

Ye Yun felt somewhat embarrassed. Ling Chen's words had stirred his blood so fiercely that he had absentmindedly asked such a question.

"Even the lowest rank requires the Fifth Heaven of Qi Refining. Then how high is Xiang Wentian's cultivation, as the top-ranked person?" Just thinking of this filled Ye Yun with fighting spirit. He wished he could leave at once and begin cultivating.

Not long afterward, the assessment elder returned carrying a small box.

"Come here. These are your identity tokens. You must keep them safe and never lose them. When traveling the martial world, they may even save your lives." The assessment elder called Ye Yun and the other two before him, opened the box, and took out three purple tokens as he spoke.

Then, before their eyes, the assessment elder forcibly inscribed their names onto the tokens with his fingers before handing each of them their own token.

Ye Yun took his identity token and examined it in his hand. It was forged from some material he did not recognize, dark purple throughout. One side bore Ye Yun's name, while the other was engraved with the great sun, the symbol of the Purple Extreme Sect.

Ye Yun tried pressing down on the token with force, wanting to test its hardness, but it did not change in the slightest.

Thinking of how easily the elder had carved their names into them, Ye Yun could not help but marvel inwardly. An elder truly was an elder—his cultivation was indeed profound. Within the Purple Extreme Sect, anyone bearing the title of elder was at the very least a True Essence Realm expert.

"Alright, you may leave now. As for where you will live, there are many empty cave dwellings on Great Sun Peak. Make your own choice. Once you have chosen one, simply report it to the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall."

After saying that, the assessment elder turned and left.

Once the elder had departed, Ye Yun and the other two also headed toward the area of Great Sun Peak where the disciples lived. The Purple Extreme Sect's inner sect followed an elite path, so there were only a little over five hundred inner sect disciples, while the number of outer sect disciples exceeded ten thousand.

They circled Great Sun Peak once before finally settling on their cave dwellings. Ling Chen chose a place halfway up the mountain where there were more disciples, while He Yue chose a quiet spot at the foot of the mountain beside a secluded bamboo grove.

Ye Yun chose his cave dwelling in a valley on the shaded side of Great Sun Peak. Afterward, they went to the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall to register.

"Junior Brother Ye, why did you choose your cave dwelling there? Deep within that valley is a cold spring. Every full-moon night, it erupts with frigid energy—it's cold enough to freeze one to death. No one has lived there for a long time. You should choose another place," said the senior brother handling registrations at the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall.

Hearing this, Ye Yun thought for a moment before replying, "Thank you for your kind intentions, Senior Brother, but this junior brother prefers quiet. I won't change it."

"Alright, then. If Junior Brother finds it unbearable, you can come change it anytime." Seeing Ye Yun's firm attitude, the senior brother did not try to persuade him further.

After registering, the three went their separate ways. Ye Yun descended Great Sun Peak and headed toward Sunrise Peak. He intended to return and pack his things, and also bid Wang Chen farewell.

The moment Ye Yun returned to the courtyard, he saw Wang Chen practicing his fists there again. His Brute Bull Art had broken through to the major mastery stage half a month ago.

Ye Yun spoke up, interrupting Wang Chen's practice. "I passed the inner sect assessment today, and I'll be moving to Great Sun Peak soon. If you need anything in the future, you can come find me at Great Sun Peak. And I wish you an early breakthrough into the Qi Refining Realm. I'll be waiting for you in the inner sect."

After hearing Ye Yun out, Wang Chen sincerely congratulated him. "Congratulations on becoming an inner sect disciple. Don't worry, I'll cultivate even harder and break through to the Qi Refining Realm as soon as possible."

After a brief farewell with Wang Chen, Ye Yun packed his belongings and hurried toward his new residence. He was filled with anticipation for the life of an inner sect disciple that lay ahead.

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