Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
On the following day, the rules for the Ranking Battle were released.
It was a simple and straightforward challenge.
If one wanted to take the place of one of the 36 clans, they would have to challenge the successor of that clan.
If they won, they would be able to replace that clan.
A clan could only be challenged once every half a day, and likewise, each clan could only challenge another clan once.
The Ranking Battle would last for three days, after which the top 36 would become the new 36 Clans of the State of Jin.
After the rules were released, the successors of the clans became increasingly nervous.
There was too much the clans could do with the rules and hence, strength and competency wouldn’t guarantee them a spot.
At this moment, a woman dressed in fire-red clothes stood still silently in front of the Yiran Inn.
She looked like a burning flame and no one dared to stare at her even once.
“I’m Xiao Huang of the Vermilion Bird Clan and I’d like to see the successor of the Tianyun Clan.”
Hearing this voice, a group of girls from the Yiran Inn popped their heads out.
How rare was it for the strongest female successor of the State of Jin to show up at their door.
However, when they thought of the fact that the fourth elite of the State of Jin had checked into their brothel, it didn’t seem that rare.
Actually, to be precise, the successor who lived in their brothel was now the seventh elite but regardless of their rank, they were all impressive.
“What do you want to see me for?”
Chen Chen walked to the door, the treasures on his body shining bright like a sun. When he stood in front of Xiao Huang, the light on his body seemed to have eclipsed the red light from Xiao Huang’s body.
When Xiao Huang saw Chen Chen, she couldn’t help but squint her narrow eyes due to the strong glare.
“Junior Brother Chen, the Ranking Battle this time is just one of the Wuxin Clan’s conspiracies. We have to unite in order to pull through this ordeal. Junior Brother, don’t you agree?”
“Yes.” Chen Chen said faintly.
Xiao Huang smiled after hearing his words and continued, “So I would like to ask Junior Brother Chen to move to the Purple Qi Pavilion where we can discuss the important matters together.”
Hearing this, Chen Chen raised his eyebrows. The other successors had finally thought of him.
They had even sent the best successor, Xiao Huang, to invite him to the Purple Qi Pavilion. Hearing this, Chen Chen became filled with appreciation.
In such a case, he had no reason to refuse.
He knew very well how important this trip to the capital was, and it was not the time to be spontaneous.
Having been reminded of that, Chen Chen nodded a little and answered, “Senior Sister, wait a moment. I’ll go get changed and be right back.”
After he spoke, Chen Chen returned to Yiran Inn and by the time he returned outside, the light of treasures had already vanished.
However, Xiao Huang was even more bewildered.
The value of the treasures that Chen Chen was wearing now was even higher than his previous set.
What is the matter with this successor of the Tianyun Clan? Is he that rich?
After getting a grip on her emotions, Xiao Huang gestured for him to follow her and then led the way in front.
At her level, of course she wouldn’t be traveling in a carriage, and flying was prohibited in the capital too. Hence, she chose to walk.
However, as soon as she took a step, she covered a distance of dozens of meters.
Chen Chen saw this and followed behind her with a smile.
“Junior Brother Chen, how long have you been cultivating for?” Xiao Huang asked, seeing that Chen Chen was lagging far behind her.
“I don’t remember.” Chen Chen replied. He could not tell her that he had only been cultivating for two months.
No one would believe him if he said that.
“Oh, Junior Brother Chen, you don’t trust me.”
The two chatted along the way and before they knew it, they had arrived in front of a giant restaurant.
It was the Purple Qi Pavilion!
It was the largest restaurant in the capital of the nation! It was as high as ten floors and the height of the building was second only to the royal palace. Rumor had it that they had the support of a certain prince of the royal family.
Needless to say, the interior was lavishly decorated and there were even many spiritual objects and ingredients that were mixed with several heavenly treasures.
In Chen Chen’s opinion, the standard of the ingredients within the building had reached the level that he was at before he entered the Tianyun Clan.
It was terrifying!
It was also the place where Lin Jin, the successor of the Green Dragon Clan, stayed.
When he entered the Purple Qi Pavilion, Chen Chen felt numerous people staring at him.
One of which was extremely sharp and shrewd. He was a domineering and muscular man who was also big and at least two meters tall!
“Xuan Hong, the successor of the Xuanwu Clan? What are you ogling at? Have you never seen a hunk before?”
Chen Chen muttered in his heart before scanning the crowd and taking a seat beside You Lanxin.
There were 16 people present, the weakest of whom were at the late stage of foundation building. Chen Chen, You Lanxin, and Ye Wusheng were the only successors from the 18 clans of the North who were present.
While sitting in the room, Xiao Huang said to a thin young man who was far away from the group, “Senior Brother Lin Jin, I’ve invited Senior Brother Chen Chen over.”
Lin Jin took a glance at the group before nodding as his expression gradually became grave.
“Since everyone is here, I’ll get straight to the point. Everyone, we are all leaders of the 36 clans and I guess no one is willing to let their clan be labeled as part of the Wuxin Clan, right?”
“Of course not.” Many successors answered.
Those who were present were all future clan masters, and so no one was willing to become an elder of the Wuxin Clan.
“Since we have the same goal, the problem is simple.”
Lin Jin smiled and began to come up with a strategy.
He had no choice but to admit that he had a natural sophisticated aura and sounded extremely influential.
Soon, the successors within the group began to nod one after another.
You Lanxin, who was seated beside Chen Chen, could not help but whisper to him, “Senior Brother Chen, you have to save our Youshui Clan!”
Upon hearing this, Chen Chen drank a cup of tea and laughed. “How do I save you? Do what Lin Jin said?”
You Lanxin nodded repeatedly. Her nervousness and tension in the past few days had completely exposed her nature, and she could no longer act like a cold and aloof person.
In fact, the strategy Lin Jin had formulated was very simple, which was to work around the rules and support each other.
For example, the Tianyun Clan and the Youshui Clan could cooperate.
If the Youshui Clan was challenged and they lost, they would be avenged by the Tianyun Clan, after which the Youshui Clan would challenge the Tianyun Clan. The Tianyun Clan would then simply admit defeat, allowing the Youshui Clan to gain a place.
Being supported came with benefits too.
If the Tianyun Clan experienced a great battle and was unable to continue fighting, the Youshui Clan would challenge the Tianyun Clan instead and let the other clans be unable to take advantage, so as to buy time for the Tianyun Clan to recuperate.
In short, the more people who joined the team, the more room they had to work around the rules. By then, they would be able to achieve a win-win situation.
“Yes, yes, yes! Senior Brother Chen, beat up whoever challenges the Youshui Clan!”
You Lanxin waved her small fist nervously.
It could not be helped that the weak cultivators would be defected to the Wuxin Clan. The stronger cultivators had their own strength as a guarantee, and the ones who were most likely to be defeated were those who were at the late stages of foundation building.
You Lanxin felt that if she didn’t do something, the Youshui Clan would probably be kicked out of the 36 clans.
Looking at You Lanxin’s appearance, Chen Chen couldn’t help but grow amused. As such, he decided to tease her.
“Actually, I think it’s good for the Youshui Clan to break away from the 36 clans, and then join our Tianyun Clan, so that my master and your master can be together rightfully. What’s the harm?”
Hearing these words, You Lanxin’s face turned sullen, and her eyes full of pity.
“They are lovers who will finally get to be together but I’ll definitely be beaten to death! Senior Brother Chen, you can’t leave me in the lurch! I’m willing to slog my guts out to repay you, Senior Brother!”
As the two chatted, the sounds of footsteps echoed from the stairwell.
Immediately afterward, a group of people went up the stairs and appeared in front of the crowd.
Seeing this group of people, Lin Jin’s expression changed slightly.
Xiao Huang also could not help but gain a scornful gaze.
They were none other than the successors of the 18 clans, of which ten were at the peak of foundation building while eight were at the late stages of foundation building!
The leader of the group was Qi Bufan, the successor of the Luoyou Clan who had surpassed Ye Wusheng on the Elite Ranking for third place!
“Oh? Senior Brother Lin? What a coincidence. Are you all gathering here to discuss how to deal with us?”
Qi Bufan was dressed in white and waving a paper fan in his hand with a look of contempt on his handsome face.
Lin Jin kept a straight face as he answered coldly, “Don’t read too much into things, and don’t call me Senior Brother. Disciples of small clans outside the top 36 clans are not qualified to do that.”
Hearing these words, the expressions on the faces of the 18 successors changed drastically.
Chen Chen saw this and marveled in his heart, ‘Lin Jin is really impressive at garnering haters for himself!’
Qi Bufan’s expression twisted slightly as he sneered, “36 clans? Sounds mighty. You people are taking up so many resources, only to groom a bunch of garbage. Hah, there are 16 of you but only six are at the peak of foundation building. You guys should’ve been replaced sooner. Lin Jin, perhaps in two days, I’ll be saying to you, the same thing that you just said to me.”
Qi Bufan offended the others very easily. As soon as he said the word “garbage”, a powerful spiritual pressure burst out from each of the successors, besides Chen Chen.
The tallest one, Xuan Hong, even took a step forward and shattered the ground!
“Qi Bufan! What did you say!? Say it again if you have the guts!”
“Oh, a foolish person with brawn but no brains is also worthy of being called a successor. What a joke.”
Qi Bufan sneered as a person got up behind him.
The person’s body was filled with a dense earthly ethereality, which surprisingly restrained Xuan Hong’s water ethereality.
Their spiritual pressure collided and it didn’t take long for Xuan Hong to be defeated.
Seeing this scene, the eyes of the successors of the 36 clans became filled with shock.
Next, a terrifying thought appeared in their minds.
‘Could it be that the techniques practiced by the successors of the 18 small clans are all specifically restraining them?’
At that thought, Ye Huo, who was full of fire ethereality, stepped forward.
As expected, another woman covered in frost stepped out and her chilly aura caused the temperature across the entire floor to plunge by seven or eight degrees, thus suppressing her.
“It’s the long-lost Mysterious Frost Technique!”
Ye Huo couldn’t help but take two steps backward with a stunned expression.
Seeing this expression on his face, Qi Bufan burst into laughter.
Pointing at the 16 successors, he yelled coldly, “All of you, watch out! Just you wait and see, in two days’ time, you will know how ridiculous you guys are by calling yourself successors!”