“Help me ask around for Soul Returning Grass, Paramita Flower, and Three Life Stone. If you can buy them directly, I will take them no matter the price. If you can’t, then tell me where I can get them.”

Ying Qiong frowned and asked, “What are they? I have been at the Flourishing Heaven Pavilion for a long time, but I never heard of them before.”

Xiao Chen’s heart sank. He had not expected Ying Qiong to be incognizant of them. It looked like these three items would not be easy to find.

“But you can rest assured. The Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, the Flourishing Heaven Pavilion’s information gathering division, should be able to make some inquiries. After I find out, I will let you know,” Ying Qiong consoled Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen relaxed slightly. He said, “One last question. How much do you know about the Saber School Ranking? Tell me more in detail.”

Ying Qiong gave Xiao Chen a peculiar look and countered, “Since you are here at Heavenly Cauldron City, aren’t you here to take part in the tea party? How come you don’t even know about this?”

The flurry of questions made Xiao Chen feel slightly awkward. “This… I got lost; then I casually selected Heavenly Cauldron City. As for the tea party, I did not even receive an invitation.”

Ying Qiong burst out in laughter and could not stop laughing at Xiao Chen’s explanation. To think that Xiao Chen’s reason for choosing Heavenly Cauldron City was because he was lost!

After Ying Qiong explained, Xiao Chen finally understood the Saber School Ranking better.

It was generally what Situ Leihong had said but more detailed. The Saber School Ranking and the Sword School Ranking were famous in the Profound Domain.

The ranking only recorded fifty names. Those who managed to get on the ranking were, on the whole, extremely strong grandmaster-level Martial Sage experts.

Because the ranking did not bar the older generations from participating, it was not an overstatement to say that its standard was very high. Since ancient times, the young bladesmen who could get on the ranking all ended up very famous, their names spread everywhere.

In other words, it was no exaggeration that this ranking represented the strongest bladesmen under quasi-Emperor.

The Saber School Ranking and the Sword School Ranking refreshed every decade. Now, it happened to be ten years since the previous one.

As for the tea party, both sides held one, organized by the inheritors of the Saber Sovereign and the Sword Sovereign. Firstly, it would boost their fame as they drank tea and discussed the Dao. Secondly, it would allow them to take a look to see who among the younger generation had the potential to make it into the top ten of the respective rankings.

Throughout history, there had been many youths who managed to get into the Saber School Ranking, standing out from the group of older-generation bladesmen, becoming known to thousands.

However, very rarely would a youth enter the top ten. It was practically impossible unless there were less than ten great grandmaster-level Martial Sages.

The people who dominated the top ten were great grandmaster-level Martial Sages. However, the more difficult it was, the more impossible it was, the more a youth’s strength would stand out when one made it into the top ten.

The fame that youth would obtain would be unprecedented, becoming the true leader of the younger-generation bladesmen of the Kunlun Realm.

After Xiao Chen heard that, his expression could not help but turn grave. It turned out that it was so difficult to get into the top ten. One had to be able to challenge great grandmaster-level Martial Sages.

No wonder Situ Lei revealed a mocking smile when he heard Xiao Chen immediately agree. Someone at the level of great grandmaster-level Martial Sage was not an easy opponent.

At the very least, the current Xiao Chen’s chances of victory were slim.

“What’s wrong? From your face, it looks like you intend to get into the top ten.”

Ying Qiong smiled and said, “Hehe! That is not easy. For most of the Saber School Rankings, no youth has made it into the top ten. However, it might be possible this time. There is hope for Wen Ziran, that mysterious disciple of the Saber Sovereign.”

“Wen Ziran?”

“That’s right. The main reason this tea party is so well received is that Bai Lang invited this mysterious bladesman over. Of course, this is just a rumor. Whether this person will come or not is still in question.”

Xiao Chen poured himself another cup of wine. He smiled and said, “Whether he comes or not has nothing to do with me. Since I did not receive an invitation, I won’t be going, either.”

“Actually, if you want an invitation, I can help you get one. However, you must promise me something.”

He raised his eyebrows. He felt excited and was about to agree. However, when he remembered the shrewdness of this girl, he swallowed his words, not knowing what she would ask.

“Save it. Just help me with what I asked. I’ll wait for your news.”

Xiao Chen put down his wine cup and turned to leave.

Ying Qiong said through clenched teeth, “Ass, would it kill you to seriously beg someone?”

It would be a pity if Xiao Chen could not participate in the tea party. However, this event had not reached the level of being a must-attend.

After he returned to his room and found some free time, he took out the final Heavenly Soul Pearl—the highest grade that he had.

Shortly after he got this Heavenly Soul Pearl, Xiao Chen had been preparing to consume it. However, he never found the time to do so. Then, when he had time, he had already forgotten about it.

Coincidentally, receiving news from Ying Qiong would take some time. This was a good opportunity to consume the Heavenly Soul Pearl to strengthen himself.

Xiao Chen sat cross-legged and placed his palms on top of each other. The Heavenly Soul Pearl floated above his hands, and he quietly circulated the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation, slowly consuming the energy in there.

The light of the jade-white Heavenly Soul Pearl slowly dimmed. However, the Magic Energy in his sea of consciousness was like a raging volcano. The Magic Energy was spreading at a visible rate throughout his sea of consciousness.

Xiao Chen felt somewhat excited. The growth of the Magic Energy in his sea of consciousness surpassed his expectations. If this continued, Magic Energy would soon fill his entire sea of consciousness.

With the limitation of his cultivation realm, his Magic Energy would not be able to continue growing.

Xiao Chen was not a proper Immortal Cultivator. However, he already formed a Nascent Dragon Soul. He estimated that he was equivalent to a Yuanying Stage cultivator.

After that, there were still Nascent Transformation, Soul Transformation, Great Multiplication, Void Training, and then tribulations to advance to the three great cultivation realms.

In reality, there were only four more cultivation realms—Nascent Transformation, Soul Transformation, Great Multiplication, and Void Training. Since it was no longer the Immortal Epoch, Immortal Cultivators could not undergo tribulations. So it was impossible to produce an Immortal Lord.

Immortal Lords were the legendary Immortals, beings that lived as long as the heavens. Any Immortal Lord would be as strong as the Thunder Sovereign. The most important thing was that they were truly immortal, escaping the cycle of reincarnation and never dying.

There had been three thousand Immortal Lords during the Immortal Epoch. Such a glorious legendary period was unimaginable.

Above Immortal Lord were Immortal Ancestor and Immortal King. With such strength, no one in the Martial Epoch could rival them. Perhaps only the legendary Martial Gods could match them.

However, there was no point speaking about it. The laws of the Heavenly Dao changed. This was now the Martial Epoch.

Even if one had the right fate and a lot of Luck, it was very difficult to walk the path of Immortals, what more truly becoming an Immortal? Reaching Void Training was the end; there were no exceptions.

After Xiao Chen finished absorbing the jade-white Heavenly Soul Pearl, his sea of consciousness was saturated. His Magic Energy reached the limits, hitting the bottleneck of the Yuanying Stage.

He opened his eyes and felt the abundant Magic Energy. On one hand, he was incomparably overjoyed. On the other hand, he felt somewhat frustrated. How to enter Nascent Transformation was a conundrum for him.

With a thought, the well-fed little Azure Dragon in his dantian flew out. When the little Azure Dragon landed on his palm, it was like a clone. Xiao Chen could control its every move.

The Azure Dragon Yuanying had its own senses. Xiao Chen could see everything it saw, feel everything it felt.

This matched the characteristics of a Yuanying. However, if Xiao Chen called this Azure Dragon his Yuanying, the Immortal Cultivators of the Penglai Sea would laugh themselves to death.

He had no idea how to make this little fellow transform, allowing himself to reach the Nascent Transformation realm.

Xiao Chen recalled the Yuanying into his body and stopped pondering about this problem. After all, there was more than enough Magic Energy in his sea of consciousness for him to use.

When it was needed, it would supplement his insufficiency of Law Energy. Naturally, he would have one more trump card compared to others. Even against a cultivator with higher cultivation, he would not have to fear a battle of attrition.

------

Three days later, the waiter brought a letter to Xiao Chen in his room. The letter contained news from Ying Qiong.

After Xiao Chen read it, his expression turned extremely grave. It was as he had guessed: the Soul Returning Grass, Paramita Flower, and Three Life Stone were indeed in the Ghost Domain’s Nine Layers of Purgatory.

Even though the market did not have these three items on sale, the letter did note down where they could be found. However, Ying Qiong strongly suggested he not go.

Xiao Chen carefully put away the letter and looked at the Lunar Shadow Saber in his hand. He appeared to be lost in thought. Even the Ghost Race did not dare to stroll into the Nine Layers of Purgatory. However, could he afford not to go?

There was also an invitation included with the letter. After he opened it, he discovered it was an invitation to the saber Dao tea party.

Xiao Chen could not help but laugh hoarsely. “At least this woman remembered how nice I was to her.”

Getting into the top ten of the Saber School Ranking was Situ Leihong’s condition for helping.

Naturally, if it was possible, Xiao Chen would want to attend the saber Dao tea party. This way, he could understand the strength of his opponents from the same generation, gaining more information. This would be of great help to him making it into the top ten.

The location of the tea party was the spacious Heavenly Cauldron Plaza in Heavenly Cauldron City. Normally, many bladesmen gathered there; it was an extraordinarily bustling place.

Only someone like the Young City Lord, Bai Lang, could make such a grand move, booking the entire Heavenly Cauldron Plaza just to host the tea party.

Xiao Chen held the invitation as he walked out of the inn. Then, someone called out to him. He looked back and saw that the person who hailed him was someone familiar from the Tianwu Domain.

It was Feng Xingsheng, who was once the top bladesman of the younger generation in the eighteen southern provinces of the Tianwu Domain. Of course, Xiao Chen had since deprived him of this title.

Afterwards, Feng Xingsheng had built up quite a lot of prestige as a bladesman in the Tianwu Domain, so it was not strange to meet him here.

Feng Xingfeng quickly walked over and said with a big smile, “I just knew that Brother Xiao would come. Others said that you are not a bladesman. I knew that you would definitely come to prove yourself.”

Xiao Chen could not make head or tail of these words, finding them strange. He asked with a dubious expression, “Brother Feng, can you explain? Why must I prove myself?”

This question startled Feng Xingsheng. “Could it be that Brother Xiao Chen did not hear about what the Heavenly Cauldron City’s Young Master said?”

“What did he say?”

“Someone asked him whether he would be inviting Brother Xiao Chen. He directly answered with no. He said that you are now famous, but you don’t seem to be using the saber anymore, that the White Robed Bladesman is just an empty title. Without a saber, how can one call oneself a bladesman? Since you are not a bladesman, naturally, you would not be invited.”

Xiao Chen felt stunned. It turned out that there was such a reason behind him not receiving an invitation. From the looks of things, Ying Qiong must have spent a lot of effort to get him this invitation.

Bai Lang…I should check this person out. He might be somewhat interesting.

When Xiao Chen heard this explanation, he was not angry. Instead, he was filled with some anticipation for this tea party.

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