Two minutes later, Tang Rao met Ye Xiaobai.

This guy still looked like a total numbskull, sharply dressed and dazzlingly handsome, holding a bottle of his ever-unchanging favorite pearl milk tea in hand.

Upon seeing Tang Rao, Ye Xiaobai stretched out his hand.

"What?" asked Tang Rao.

"Nonsense, obviously it's for compensation. Tang Rao, have you no shame? I've been running around like a headless chicken getting various herbs for you, and what do you do? Just messing around. Anyway, I don't care, you've got to get me a few hundred bottles of that elixir made from the Dragon Blood Tree branches," Ye Xiaobai demanded.

"Yeah, at least two hundred bottles of this kind of milk tea bottle," Ye Xiaobai added.

Tang Rao: "..."

"Here, take it or leave it." Tang Rao took out a small porcelain bottle from his bosom and tossed it to Ye Xiaobai.

"Fine, since you're being so cooperative, we're still friends." Ye Xiaobai immediately smiled. All that talk about two hundred bottles of Dragon Blood Tree elixir was just nonsense.

Even if Tang Rao had agreed, the Ye Family wouldn't have been able to produce that many Dragon Blood Tree branches for the elixir.

Tang Rao was giving him a small bottle, and Ye Xiaobai was already quite satisfied.

Because with Tang Rao being such a beast, there was nothing he could do about it if he refused.

"You didn't come to see me just for this nonsense, did you?" Tang Rao gave Ye Xiaobai a look and asked.

"Of course not, I just came to ask you when you're going to participate in the selection exam. Call me when you go, and I'll come along," Ye Xiaobai said.

Selection exam? Selection exam? What selection exam?

Tang Rao looked bewildered. Why didn't I know I was participating in a selection exam?

The Voice of Yan Kingdom? Super Girls? He really couldn't figure it out.

"Holy shit, did you forget? It's about the Sects recruiting disciples, we're going to participate in the selection exam!" Ye Xiaobai spoke while rolling his eyes.

Tang Rao: "..."

Sects recruiting disciples…

"I think I'll pass." Tang Rao shook his head. Why would someone who can beat a Foundation Establishment pinnacle cultivator until they're blowing bubbles out of their mouth go participate in a Sect selection exam?

I tend to go overboard; what if I accidentally beat up the elder responsible for recruiting disciples? That would look bad for them.

"Ah? Why?" Ye Xiaobai was astounded.

Tang Rao, you have strong abilities and high talent, but wouldn't it be better to continue to learn and improve in a Sect?

"Um... I am the Chief Instructor of the Special Ninth Department. I am born for the country and will die as its soul. So, I can't join any Sects," Tang Rao babbled, using it as a pretty good excuse.

Ye Xiaobai was taken aback as well; he had forgotten that Tang Rao was collaborating with the Special Ninth Department.

But Ye Xiaobai didn't understand, even if Tang Rao would choose some second-rate Sect, wouldn't it be better than the Special Ninth Department?

The Special Ninth Department has nothing to offer, unable to take you further.

"But... this is a grand event in the Cultivation World. Besides selecting disciples, there's also the Heavenly Ladder competition. Do you know where our Cultivation Families get their Blood Spirit Pills from? They're all won in the Heavenly Ladder competition. Are you really not going?" Ye Xiaobai felt a bit dejected. Why on earth did Tang Rao join the Special Ninth Department?

"Heavenly Ladder competition? Can someone who's not from the Sects also participate?" Tang Rao asked.

"Uh, yeah. But, at least a Foundation Establishment Cultivator can enter," Ye Xiaobai nodded, "The Heavenly Ladder has a total of one hundred layers, and the rewards get richer the higher you go," he said.

"What's the reward for the hundredth layer?" Tang Rao inquired.

Ye Xiaobai: "..."

"Holy moly, how would I know that? We Cultivation Families, at most, can reach around the tenth layer. I've heard from my dad that the reward for the tenth layer is five hundred Blood Spirit Pills," Ye Xiaobai pondered and said.

Tang Rao was utterly amazed; such a good deal, why didn't anyone tell me?

Ten layers for five hundred pills, and a hundred layers - that would mean at least five thousand pills!

Five thousand Blood Spirit Pills; just thinking about it gets Tang Rao pumped up.

He feels like the Opening Light phase is waving at him.

"When does it start?" Tang Rao immediately asks.

"Uh... it has already started, that's why I'm asking you when you're going. It should last about a month," Ye Xiaobai replies with a curl of his lip.

"It's already started and you're only telling me now? What are you waiting for, let's go, go, go!" Tang Rao hustles Ye Xiaobai into the car, then jumps into the driver's seat himself.

"Where is it?" Tang Rao asks.

Ye Xiaobai is somewhat confused, didn't you say you weren't going?

"Tiandu's suburbs, at Wanqing Mountain." Still, Ye Xiaobai gives him an answer.

As soon as those words fall, the engine roars to life, and the mighty Mercedes-Benz G63 growls fiercely as it speeds away.

Ye Xiaobai almost curses out loud thinking, you big pile of trash who can't stick to your words, can't you be more decisive?

Around one in the afternoon, Tang Rao arrives near Wanqing Mountain.

Wanqing Mountain isn't tall, but its footprint is quite vast. Before even getting close to the foot of the mountain, the car is stopped.

"Sorry, Wanqing Mountain is closed to the public this month," two staff members tell Tang Rao, then gesture for him to turn around and leave.

"I'm here to participate in the Sect disciples' selection." Tang Rao states flatly.

Both staff members are taken aback.

"Oh, is that so? Then please park the car and you can walk up the mountain, here's a map," one of them quickly says and hands over a simple map.

Tang Rao doesn't waste any words, parks the car, and heads up the mountain, dragging Ye Xiaobai with him.

They haven't walked far when Ye Xiaobai forcibly stops.

"Come on!" Tang Rao looks at Ye Xiaobai, puzzled.

"Tang Rao, I... I just remembered something very serious," Ye Xiaobai stammers, his face turning a bit pale.

"What? Is it that the Heavenly Ladder competition has already ended?" Tang Rao is a bit nervous. Damn it, what an opportunity.

"No, no, when I went to the Special Ninth Department, I... actually brought Ye Xin with me. We had agreed to bring her along to Wanqing Mountain, but it seems... we forgot her." Ye Xiaobai's words get tangled as his face goes even paler.

Oh god, he feels like the world is ending.

To think they'd actually left Ye Xin behind...

Tang Rao gets a chill and then immediately prepares to disassociate himself from Ye Xiaobai.

"I didn't know anything, you didn't mention it when I was driving. This isn't my issue, it's all on you." Tang Rao speaks quickly; Ye Xin is definitely not someone to be trifled with.

Though she's not a Cultivator, there's no telling what crazy things she might do.

"If you hadn't been slamming on the gas, would I have forgotten?" Ye Xiaobai gives Tang Rao a resentful look, deciding regardless that he will definitely drag Tang Rao into sharing the blame with him.

...

It takes the two of them about half an hour to find the place according to the map.

It's a large hollow in the mountain, very spacious with plenty of buildings on flat terrain.

There are many people around, coming and going, laughing and talking; of course, there are also shouts of encouragement and cheers.

However, Tang Rao's eyes are drawn to a spire, which is over thirty meters tall, pitch-black, and radiates faint Spiritual Energy and Soul Power.

"Tang Rao, that's the Heavenly Ladder," Ye Xiaobai points to the spire, "Don't be fooled by its thirty meters; this thing is incredibly mystical, containing as many as a hundred levels inside."

Tang Rao nods, his eyes flashing with keen interest. You bunch of blind folks, that's not any Heavenly Ladder, that's the tail of a Heavenly Demon from another realm.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.