Great Xia Beauty Rankings

"Don't worry, sir."

Liu Attendant reassured him again. "There will indeed be some danger, but what in this world is ever completely safe? We can't refuse to walk a road just because it holds risks ahead. It's like how you can't stop living today just because you'll die someday."

"When the time comes, there will always be a road to take."

"Besides, there's a high chance that Golden Core experts won't come looking for you. Those dozens of traits of yours exploding at once would be more than even a Golden Core expert could bear. Even if they could kill you, they would definitely be severely injured. Even demonic cultivators wouldn't do something so harmful to themselves and beneficial to no one."

"Alright."

Wang Tiedan looked regretfully toward the west of Windward City. After hearing Liu Attendant's analysis, the secret realm truly was out of reach. Still, this trip's gains had been exceedingly plentiful. Taking so many Spirit Stones back to Fortune City, where he lived several hundred li away, would be enough to accomplish many things.

Seeing that he had soothed his master's mood,

Liu Attendant finally let out a quiet breath. Dressed in a black robe, with one hand behind his back, he gazed westward with a complicated expression. A year ago, he had transmigrated into this unfamiliar world. From nearly starving to death at the start, he had finally begun to gain a little power.

The lineage he had supported was also getting better and better, while his own status rose with the tide.

He had actually approached Wang Tiedan deliberately. Back then, he had secretly considered many factions to join, but in the end, he chose the Fortune City Wang Family. The reason was simple: the Wang Family was a small force built from nothing. In such forces, the first-generation family head often held immense authority, his word final. There was little scheming and infighting within the faction, making things relatively simple.

Secondly, the Wang Family head was somewhat foolish, honest, timid, indecisive, and lacking in boldness.

They all seemed like flaws.

But in his eyes, they were all virtues. A master like that would not slaughter the donkey after it had turned the millstone. At the very least, he would give Liu Attendant the treatment he deserved. Several months ago, he had learned that he was not the only one who had transmigrated into this world. Some predecessors had even arrived years earlier.

They now held high positions in the Capital City.

It was just that—

Who knew whether you earned that official post through honest means? How could you become a high-ranking official after only a few years? Eight times out of ten, you got there by selling your ass. Give him another ten years, and he too could lead the Fortune City Wang Family into becoming a renowned Golden Core force in the Great Xia Kingdom!

As fellow transmigrators, he was no weaker than them!

As the curtain fell, pedestrians within Windward City gradually grew fewer. A great number of cultivators gathered beside a stream three li outside the city. A place usually devoid of people was now packed to the brim.

The Heavenly Dao Blessing had only said that the secret realm would open here today.

It had not given a precise opening time.

Quite a few people had already sat cross-legged where they were, closing their eyes to cultivate and restore their spirits. Yet with a single glance, one could see that there were no shortage of small groups.

There were descendants from the same lineage who had formed teams to venture out and train.

There were disciples from the same sect who had left their sect together.

There were also Rogue Cultivators who had met and joined forces.

Basically, no one had come alone. At minimum, they came in pairs. After all, anyone in the secret realm could become an enemy, and the outnumbered were bound to lose.

Chen Qiu did not sit cross-legged to cultivate. Instead, he leaned against a pine tree and surveyed the cultivators gathered here. His Heavenly Dao Foundation could automatically rotate and cultivate. Although it was not as fast as actively circulating a cultivation method, its cultivation speed was roughly one-third of that.

But he was not short on this bit of time.

This was his first time seeing so many Foundation Establishment cultivators. Listening to their conversations and to their tales of sights and stories from all corners of the world, he gained a fuller understanding of this world. Though many of those tales were embellished, they were still useful.

Under the effects of the "Man with a Missing Heaven" trait,

when he tightly closed his eyes, his hearing doubled. He could vaguely make out many people's whispered conversations.

He was quite confident about this secret realm. He had prepared for this day for a long time.

His Dao Foundation was currently ten thousand li wide, and it was filled to the brim with spiritual energy. It was enough for him to cast four or five hundred Lightning-Channeling Arts. Moreover, under the effects of the Enlightenment Stone, this spell of his had reached the Great Perfection realm.

Every time he cast it, lightning as thick as a century-old dead tree would smash down upon his enemy.

Its power was incomparably great.

Most importantly—

"Trait Name": Overwhelming Spiritual Energy.

"Trait Level": White Trait.

"Trait Effect": Once your Dao Foundation width exceeds one hundred li, every additional li increases your spell power by a trace.

He also had this trait. With it, together with the "Focus Power" trait that could specifically amplify the Lightning-Channeling Art, the power of a single Lightning-Channeling Art was already terrifying. It was only that, after his Dao Foundation width reached ten thousand li, he had yet to use it.

He did not know its exact power.

Once he entered the secret realm, he would first find some fool who did not know his place and use him to test it out.

With such confidence, along with the more than six thousand Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment Wraiths that had chilled his body to the bone, several traits that could self-destruct at any time and unleash Golden Core-level might, and nearly a hundred offensive and defensive talismans,

he had armed himself to the teeth.

So what if they were Sky Prodigies from great lineages and major sects?

As long as they did not carry an old grandpa around with them, he refused to believe that anyone below the Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer could beat him.

Just then—

The scene suddenly grew noisy.

"It's Zhao Yishi of the Heavenward Sect. I heard he broke through to the Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer just days ago. He also ranks highly on the Great Xia Prodigy Rankings—107th place. Who would have thought that even he would be drawn to this secret realm?"

"Didn't you go to the nearby Heaven-Question Market? He arrived there days ago."

"Exactly. The Heavenward Sect was only ranked seventy-ninth on the Great Xia Sect Rankings to begin with. No Sky Prodigies had emerged from it in recent decades, so its ranking dropped a little every year. In recent years, I heard the sect poured vast resources into him. As long as they find him a trait that suits him perfectly, the Heavenward Sect's sect ranking will surely soar next year!"

"After all, with the Pink Trait 'Sky-Piercing Giant,' he is worth the Heavenward Sect supporting with all its strength."

They saw a middle-aged man more than forty zhang tall in the sky, carrying a broadsword over thirty zhang long on his shoulder. With lotus flowers blooming beneath every step, he descended from the heavens in an exceptionally eye-catching fashion.

Chen Qiu opened his eyes and calmly looked at the conspicuous middle-aged man who had landed among the crowd without saying anything.

In this world, a Seven-Foot Man was equivalent to one meter seventy in his previous life.

One chi equaled twenty-four centimeters, while one zhang equaled ten chi. This man was over four hundred chi tall—ninety-six meters. A man of such height standing among a crowd was no longer merely a crane standing among chickens.

He was far too conspicuous. The instant he appeared, he drew the eyes of everyone present.

Quite a few people looked at him with envy. Sometimes, luck truly was important.

But it was not over yet—

Just as everyone was marveling, plum blossoms suddenly filled the horizon. Then, a delicate young woman in a pink gown, her expression cold and aloof, slowly descended upon the plum blossoms.

Four or five young men in different attire followed beside her, each looking at the surrounding crowd with hostility.

"This lady... this lady is Ma Yinxue, ranked seventy-eighth on the Great Xia Beauty Rankings?"

"That's right, it's her. I've seen her portrait before, but this is my first time seeing her in person. She truly seems as though she stepped out of an immortal realm. Ordinary mortal women cannot compare to her at all."

"What kind of man could ever touch such a woman? To marry her as one's wife would be a blessing accumulated over three lifetimes!"

"The men beside her should be her followers, right?"

"Definitely. What woman on the Great Xia Beauty Rankings doesn't have a few followers behind her? I heard that the top ten beauties each have over a hundred permanent followers around them. Every time they move, they make a huge commotion."

"Hm?"

Chen Qiu looked strangely at the woman who had descended into the crowd. He had heard Fat Dragon mention that this world had something called the Beauty Rankings, but this was still his first time personally seeing a true person ranked upon it.

Honestly, she was quite beautiful.

She possessed an indescribable charm, fresh and delicate as flowing water. Her cold and aloof temperament in particular could stir the desire for conquest in many men's hearts. No matter the price, they wanted to witness the contrast she would show in bed.

There was just one thing he did not understand.

"Fat Dragon, these rankings are all automatically arranged through Heavenly Dao perception, right? I can understand the Sect Rankings and Prodigy Rankings, since they have clear criteria. But everyone has different tastes. What does the Beauty Rankings rely on?"

"..."

For some reason, Fat Dragon was not as animated as usual. After remaining expressionless and silent for a long while, he finally said softly, "Brother Qiu, the Beauty Rankings are arranged by the Heavenly Dao itself."

"Who rises and who falls depends entirely on Heavenly Dao perception."

"There are one hundred beauties on the Great Xia Beauty Rankings. These hundred beauties are not merely pretty faces and piles of bones. They possess special effects, and every beauty has a different one."

"Some can increase their husband's pill-refining success rate. Some can speed up their husband's cultivation. Some can even allow their husband to break through without bottlenecks."

"But the premise is that you must win a beauty's heart. Only when she genuinely falls for you can you possess that effect."

"And beauties are creations favored by the Heavenly Dao. Anyone who dares use force, coercion, or imprisonment to make them give their hearts or bodies will incur the Heavenly Dao's disgust."

"In the Great Xia Kingdom, these Heavenly Dao Beauties are an extremely special existence. The descendants of every great lineage or major faction have dreamed of marrying a Heavenly Dao Beauty."

"Whether in practical benefits or in terms of face, they far surpass ordinary women."

"Mhm."

Chen Qiu chuckled. "Your methods of gathering information are as impressive as ever. You even know so much about the Beauty Rankings."

"..."

After being silent for a while, Fat Dragon continued, "The Heavenly Dao Beauty you're looking at was my ex-girlfriend. We transmigrated here during the same period. After arriving, I gathered some information and worked as a laborer, worried that she would awaken a demonic cultivator trait at the government office and be executed."

"So I saved money for over ten days and bought a potion that could allow someone to break through to the First Level of the Qi Refining Realm."

"I gave it to her."

"After she broke through to the First Level of the Qi Refining Realm, she became a Heavenly Dao Beauty and entered the Great Xia Beauty Rankings."

"Many Foundation Establishment cultivators came to pursue her. There were even biological sons of Golden Core experts among them. Later... later, she left. After being despondent for a while, I saved up again and bought a potion for myself, awakening the 'Strength of Nine Oxen' trait."

"Not long after, I was captured by the Flower-Offering Sect and used as a supplement."

"After escaping to Windward City, I met you, Brother Qiu."

"..."

The smile on Chen Qiu's face slowly froze. He looked once more at the beauty amid the crowd, his lips opening and closing for a long while before he finally fell silent.