A glimpse of Origin Village

Origin Village, by the Teleportation Stele.

"Clan Head Ye, this is Origin Village. It's a little modest, so please don't mind."

Ye Shutong stared in astonishment at the entire village, built from some unknown white bricks. She had visited all sorts of small villages before.

Aside from occupying a smaller area, this place already rivaled Heaven Dou City in the splendor of its buildings.

"What are those green creatures?" Ye Shutong asked, looking at the Creepers wandering everywhere.

Liu Liujiao followed the direction she pointed and explained, "Those are special soul beasts created by the Venerable Lord. Their official name is Creeper, though we usually call them Creepers. These soul beasts have one and only one ability: self-destruction."

"Self-destruction? You just keep them in the village like this? Aren't you afraid something will happen?" Ye Shutong's brow twitched slightly.

"There's no need to worry." Without explaining further, Liu Liujiao continued leading her into the village and found Brown Robe, the village chief responsible for managing the place.

"This is Brown Robe, the chief of Origin Village. He currently manages the entire village." After introducing Brown Robe, Liu Liujiao added, "This is Ye Shutong, head of the Ye clan of the Nine Heart Begonia."

The Ye clan could hardly be called a great clan, but it still had nearly a hundred members. Without the Teleportation Stele, relocating them would have been rather difficult; the move alone would have taken at least several months.

"Clan Head Ye, construction of Sky City will still take some time. I'm afraid you'll have to put up with staying in the Communal Sleeping Quarters for now."

"The Communal Sleeping Quarters are fine. What hardship hasn't the Ye clan endured over the years?" Ye Shutong did not mind the arrangement. "What is this Sky City you mentioned? A city built in the sky?"

Brown Robe smiled and nodded. "At first, the Venerable Lord only planned to build a floating Inner Court for Cloudtop Academy in the sky. But as the expansion continued, it was simply changed into Sky City, with one main island and six secondary islands."

Ye Shutong froze for a moment. She glanced at the clear sky outside the window, then withdrew her gaze. "Building a city that floats in the sky? How is that possible?"

"Clan Head Ye, don't underestimate the Venerable Lord's abilities."

Ye Shutong thought about it. Li Chen could resolve the curse that had plagued her clan for generations with a casual flick of his fingers, and he could withstand terrifying heavenly lightning without a scratch. Building a floating city in the sky did not seem impossible after all.

She fell silent for a moment, then finally nodded. "All right, then. I'll wait and see what that city looks like."

Brown Robe smiled and continued, "Once it's finished, your Ye clan will certainly qualify to move in." As he spoke, he headed toward the door. "Come on, let's look at your accommodations first. We shouldn't just stand here chatting."

"Village Chief Brown Robe, what are those white stone bricks in your village?" Ye Shutong asked curiously. She had never seen such pure white stone before.

"Clan Head Ye, just call me Brown Robe or Village Chief. We'll all be on the same side from now on." Brown Robe turned his head toward her as he walked. "As for these, they're called quartz blocks, mined in the Nether."

"The Nether? What sort of place is that? Why have I never heard of it before?"

As though he had expected her question, Brown Robe explained, "The place we're in now is called the Overworld. The Nether lies in another dimension."

He pointed to the Obsidian Frame nearby and continued, "That's the portal leading to the Nether. It requires energy to sustain it, and it's currently inactive."

"The one beside it is a portal to the dimension called The End. But The End is far more dangerous than the Nether. Over the years, we've kept sending people inside to gather information, but so far, not one has returned alive."

"This is an Iron Golem, the backbone of Heaven Beyond Heaven's forces. Every Iron Golem is at least equivalent to a level 64 Soul Emperor, while the stronger ones can match a level 72 Soul Saint."

"This is a Monster Spawner. Those Green-Robed Villagers, along with the Iron Golems and Creepers you saw earlier, are all produced endlessly through this."

Ye Shutong followed Brown Robe on a circuit through the village. After hearing all his explanations, she stood in silence for a while.

She realized she had asked "What is this?" more times today than she had in the entire previous year.

The esteemed head of the Ye clan had taken a walk around this little place, only to end up looking like a country bumpkin visiting the city for the first time.

Meanwhile, inside Cloudtop Academy, Li Chen began considering a new problem.

Apart from the name Heaven Beyond Heaven, the organization he intended to establish still had no framework in place.

Previously, aside from the Villagers and Dugu Bo, his Guest Elder, there had hardly been anyone in the organization, so he had not needed to concern himself with such things.

But now that he had recruited the Ye clan, things could not continue that way. With that thought, he took out a blank sheet of paper and began writing and sketching on it.

Li Chen considered how to rank the organization's members. When inspiration failed him, he opened the Transmutation Table and took a look.

The mineral column suddenly gave him an idea. He could use the hierarchy of minerals to determine the ranks. From highest to lowest, they would be: netherite, diamond, gold ingot, iron ingot, and copper ingot.

He then filled in the corresponding positions and requirements for the five ranks. Naturally, the netherite rank belonged to him alone.

The diamond rank would consist of elders and enshrined experts.

The gold ingot rank would consist of hall masters and guardians.

The iron ingot rank would consist of stewards.

The copper ingot rank would consist of ordinary members.

These five ranks would suffice for now. As for the requirements, he decided to assess contribution points, level, and ability separately. Only those with enough contribution points would qualify.

Among graduates of the academy's Inner Court, those graduating from Class A could directly become gold ingot-rank guardians, while graduates of the other classes could directly become iron ingot-rank stewards.

Finally, anyone who reached a given rank would receive a corresponding set of armor and weapons, which would also serve as a symbol of their status.

"These ranks will do for now."

Li Chen put the sheet away, then took out a fresh one and began listing the clans, organizations, and individuals on the Douluo Continent whom he could recruit.

The Breaking Clan: martial soul, Soul Breaking Spear; an extreme single attribute; skilled in medicine-making. In the original story, they had been recruited into the Tang Sect through a wagered duel and aromatic silk beauty.

The Defense Clan and Speed Clan could tentatively go on the list of those worth winning over. The Strength Clan were utterly Tang Hao's dogs, so they could be ruled out.

Lou Gao, one of the divine craftsmen of the current age, dreamed of changing the status of blacksmiths. He might even be able to recruit the entire Blacksmith Association.

Shi Nian, a bit player who died after a single appearance, was also worth considering. In the original story, the so-called Grandmaster had been able to research the Seven-in-One Fusion Skill thanks to his manuscript, so he counted as a research talent.

Skywater Academy, Blazing Fire Academy, and Godwind Academy were worth a round of recruitment. They could simply be merged into Cloudtop Academy.

Li Chen then sorted them by importance, deciding which warranted a personal visit from him or Wine Fox, and which could be approached by sending someone else.

Still, there was no need to rush any of this. The soul master tournament would begin soon, and that would also be an excellent opportunity to uncover talented individuals.

After all, the true purpose of the soul master tournament was for young soul masters to showcase themselves, and for the various powers to select talent.