Chapter 317 - Elites Gather
Sensing the hostile gaze of Yuan Qingtian, Zhang Ji finally noticed that there was someone else there apart from the loving couple Chen Chen and Xia Xishuang.
Seeing how red Yuan Qingtian's face was, Zhang Ji asked in surprise, "Fellow Daoist, what's the matter with you?"
Yuan Qingtian was speechless. It wasn't his first time meeting Zhang Ji. Yet, the latter didn't know who he was!
'How disrespectful! Atrocious!'
With that thought, he ignored Zhang Ji and humphed coldly before following Chen Chen quietly.
With an innocent look on his face, Chen Chen touched the back of his head. He couldn't figure out just when he had offended this plain-looking cultivator who would easily go unnoticed in a crowd.
...
They stepped onto the Divine Ape Mountain, and the number of people in front of them began to increase, many of whom were Essence Soul realm powerhouses. However, there were more Core Formation realm cultivators.
The Core Formation realm cultivators were all extremely careful.
It couldn't be helped because they had too many elites, and if one were to throw a brick, the chances are, it would hit the head of a genius from a certain large clan.
They were only Core Formation realm cultivators who didn't dare to show off here.
Chen Chen casually glanced at them, but he didn't notice anyone worth noticing. Instead, he discovered the public notice for the recruitment of itinerant cultivators.
The benefits offered were very generous, and indeed, many itinerant cultivators were surrounding them, their eyes full of desire.
Seeing this scene, Chen Chen had a better impression of the Battle of Techniques.
For the human race, the benefits of holding such a Battle of Techniques now definitely outweigh the disadvantages.
...
As the group delved deeper into the Divine Ape Mountain, Chen Chen saw more and more people whom he knew.
There were even cultivators who came from the Boundless Sea. When they saw Chen Chen, they immediately came up to greet him.
A few moments later, a divine sense transmission appeared in Chen Chen's mind.
"Disciple, I've arranged a place of accommodation for you, come over yourself."
Hearing Yu Qiong's message, Chen Chen turned around and prepared to fly in the direction guided by his divine senses.
At this moment, Zhang Ji's expression suddenly froze, and he said, "Big Brother, I have to go to the place where the Seven Lethal Demon Clan members are..."
"Okay, let's go, we'll meet again when the Battle of Techniques begins."
Chen Chen assented and left Zhang Ji.
A few moments later, the group arrived at an extremely luxurious courtyard.
The compound covered an area of 10,000 square feet, yet, there were only a few itinerant cultivators in it, all of whom were from the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan.
When they saw Chen Chen, those cultivators hurriedly came over and saluted him.
After all, Chen Chen was now a famous figure in the entire Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan.
Seeing these cultivators, Chen Chen was speechless.
The true essence of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan lied in their alchemists, and it was impossible that alchemists would join the Battle of Techniques. Hence, the few disciples were the exceptions of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan.
Chen Chen silently scanned with his divine senses. There were eight such luxurious courtyards within the Divine Ape Mountain, which were meant for the four major sects and four great dynasties.
In addition, there were dozens of small courtyards where the cultivators of small vassal states and medium-sized clans lived.
As for the itinerant cultivators and disciples of the smaller clans, they seemed to be at the foot of the mountain.
Chen Chen understood something when he saw the distinct hierarchy.
It was obviously meant for the sake of letting the itinerant cultivators know the superiority of the four great clans and the four great imperial dynasties.
Only then would those itinerant cultivators be motivated to join the four major clans and the four dynasties. Only then would they do their best to make a name for themselves.
Even if they didn't achieve success in the Battle of Techniques this time, they would still want to join the army of cultivators and build a successful career.
'The upper echelons of the human race have really put in so much effort into this.'
...
Chen Chen used his divine senses to survey the situation on the Divine Ape Mountain while Zhou Renlong simply sat down in some corner to cultivate.
Although he did not brag or boast, Chen Chen knew that Zhou Renlong must want to become the best in the Essence Soul realm category.
Although Zhou Renlong was from a small vassal state, he was an arrogant person.
...
After settling down in the courtyard.
Soon, Yuan Qingtian carried a little book in his hand and offered it to Chen Chen like it was a treasure.
"Senior Brother, I bought this for 500 Spirit Stones! There are detailed introductions of all elite cultivators of the Core Formation realm, Nascent Soul realm, and Essence Soul realm that are worthy of paying attention too!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Renlong frowned, but he didn't come over to take a look.
Chen Chen smiled and took the small book and started flipping through it.
There were a hundred Core Formation realm cultivators in total, all of whom were at the peak of the realm. Ninety percent of them were from the four great dynasties and the four major clans. There were also two who had innate spirit bodies that were from the Great Xia Dynasty and Great Jing Dynasty respectively.
However, having an innate spirit body didn't necessarily mean that they were the strongest. There were some who were more than a hundred years old and were at the peak of the Core Formation realm. Although they had poor talent in cultivation, they had been stuck at this level for hundreds of years and couldn't be compared to ordinary Core Formation realm cultivators
Chen Chen did not pay too much attention to these peak Core Formation realm cultivators. After all, the Core Formation realm was too far away from him now.
He flipped to the introductions of the Nascent Soul realm cultivators.
There were only ten people in that category and Zhang Ji was among them.
In addition, there were also two who had innate spirit bodies, and they were from the Void Spirit Clan and Great Chu Dynasty respectively.
However, the most attention-grabbing one was Yuan Qingtian's profile.
There were hundreds of words that were all full of praises for him. They said that he was invincible in the Essence Soul realm and below and that he was the strongest killer in the world. There were all sorts of compliments.
Chen Chen could not help but doubt life. 'When did Yuan Qingtian become so famous in the human race?'
He subconsciously raised his head to look at Yuan Qingtian who seemed austere and serious, as if he didn't know that the evaluation was about him.
Chen Chen silently lowered his head and used his divine senses to investigate, only to realize that the paragraph about Yuan Qingtian was added later on.
Although the pen and ink had dried, there were still some traces.
"This kid! He must be bored out of his wits!"
Chen Chen smirked a little and shook his head helplessly before continuing to flip through it.
When they reached the Essence Soul realm stage, only three people were listed.
The first person was Xiao Liang, the Chancellor of the Great Jing Dynasty, who had an innate earth spirit body and had reached the half-step Void Refinement realm. He was the strongest powerhouse under the Void Refinement realm to be recognized by the human race.
The second person was naturally Qiu Wuyan, the Saintess of the Haoran Sword Clan and Chen Chen's mother-in-law.
It was his first time finding out his mother-in-law's real name because no one had told him about it before.
He had a clear understanding of her strength and abilities.
She had an innate wood spirit body, and her cultivation level was close to the half-step Void Refinement realm.
The third person was a cultivator of the four great dynasties. Although he did not have an innate spirit body, he had strong secret techniques and was famous in the human race.
Looking at the name list, Chen Chen shook his head and chuckled.
'These four great dynasties have really chosen good timing. The top elites of every realm are from the four great dynasties.'
If it was held half a year ago, Xia Xishuang should be able to emerge as the top of the Nascent Soul realm category.
The strongest Essence Soul realm cultivator was definitely the Seven-Slaughtering Demon Lord of the Seven Lethal Demon Clan.
However, now that the elites of the four major clans had broken through, it gave the cultivators of the imperial dynasty the chance to take advantage.
When he was settling on the rules, the four great dynasties had long taken all of that into consideration.
After flipping through this small book, Chen Chen noticed that Zhou Renlong was still glancing at him from time to time. He immediately laughed and said, "Old Zhou, your name is not in this! Maybe you're not strong enough yet."
Zhou Renlong's face turned sullen when he heard that. He then turned around and stopped looking at Chen Chen, as if he wasn't the curious one just now.
Hearing this, Yuan Qingtian hurriedly inched closer and said calmly, "Senior Brother, was I mentioned in it?"
Chen Chen raised his head with a look of puzzlement and glanced at Yuan Qingtian who was waiting to be praised with his eyes closed.
'Why haven't I noticed how thick-skinned this kid is? He's the opposite of me!'
'You were the one who added that description yourself. Shouldn't you be aware if you were mentioned in it or not?'
Despite being disdainful, Chen Chen smiled and said, "Yes, Qingtian, you're really awesome!"