Chapter 31: Preliminaries

As Yi Yun was in deep thought, someone caught his glance.

Ever since breaking into the Meridians realm, his five senses were extremely keen. He spotted Jiang Xiaorou who was looking around while tip-toeing among the tumultuous masses.

“Sis Xiaorou!” Yi Yun let out a cry.

“Yun-er!” Having seen Yi Yun, Jiang Xiaorou was pleased. “Oh, Yun-er you…”

She felt that a difference in Yi Yun today, but she could not put her thumb on it.

If one were to describe the Yi Yun of the past, it would be a submissive harmless child. The present Yi Yun was that of a smart-looking handsome young lad. Even his rag-like clothes could not suppress Yi Yun’s aura of elegance.

A diamond in the rough…

Jiang Xiaorou suddenly recalled this phrase. Every good sword was hidden within a sheath, waiting for the day it would be unsheathed.

The present Yi Yun gave Jiang Xiaorou such a feeling.

However, only Jiang Xiaorou could feel that difference because she was extremely familiar with Yi Yun from their constant interaction. For people not familiar with Yi Yun, they would only find something different and brush it off. After all, Yi Yun was a ill kid who was good for nothing.

“Sis Xiaorou, I’m fine,” Yi Yun laughed. He knew that his aura had changed after breaking through into the Meridians realm. “Let’s see what’s going on.”

He grabbed Jiang Xiaorou’s hand naturally and pushed through the crowd. Having reached the Meridians realm, an invisible force would push the people apart with a stretch of his hand, allowing him easy passage. People who came round to figuring out what happened would only see a kid passing through.

By the time they had a response, they would think that Yi Yun’s body was small, allowing him to squeeze through the masses.

…

At the center of the square, the Lian tribal clan upper echelon were still carefully giving the sword bearer a proper reception.

“Chengyu, give the order. Kill the cows and set up a feast!” The Patriarch waved his hand, although his heart ached.

The tribe reared a few cattle. It was the entire fortune of the Lian tribal clan. Although the cattle looked similar to the cattle on Earth, their strength was much greater.

In the wilderness, rocks littered the ground. Some of the rocks were black ironstone. Opening up a piece of land for agriculture was extremely difficult. Without the cattle, the Lian tribal clan would not be able to produce any food. And when that happens, the Lian tribal clan would totally rely on the Tao tribal clan for food.

Hence, in the Lian tribal clan, each cow’s value was worth more than ten lives. It sounded pathetic, but that was reality.

With the Jin Long Wei arriving in the Lian tribal clan, the tribe had to entertain the guests. However, the tribe had been tightening the belt for the refinement of the desolate bones, so there was no food left. They could only resort to killing the cattle.

The sword bearer naturally knew that the small tribes in the wilderness led tough lives. He said coolly, “You don’t have to kill the cattle. I met several fierce beasts, who attacked me on the way here. I killed them and stored the meat on the Near-horn beast as rations. You just need to get people to take it down and cook it.”

The man may have said it without any flair, but the people of the Lian tribal clan were shocked.

In the Cloud Wilderness, there were three types of beasts that would attack humans. They were the wild beasts, fierce beasts and the desolate beasts!

Wild beasts were the most common kind of beasts. They were similar to tigers and leopards on Earth. An experienced hunter, even if they lacked martial arts would be able to capture one using traps.

As for fierce beasts, they were a power unto itself. They were comparable in strength to a Purple Blood warrior!

There were extremely many fierce beasts in the Cloud Wilderness. In fact, the greatest threat hunters of the tribe who went out to hunt, were these fierce beasts.

Although desolate beasts were strong, but they would lay dormant in areas known as “Desolate Lands” that had dense amounts of Power of Desolates. As long as one avoided the “Desolate Lands”, they would be safe.

However the spread of fierce beasts was too wide, it was unavoidable!

A Purple Blood realm warrior had the ability to hunt, not only because they had the ability to kill many fierce beasts, but because if they couldn’t defeat one, they had no trouble escaping.

This sword bearer had crossed the wilderness and easily killed numerous fierce beasts. Such strength was very enviable!

Lian Chengyu took a deep breath and clenched his fists. The large bulging bag on the Near-horn beast was clearly the meat hunted from the fierce beasts.

“One day, I would eventually have that strength, and would even far exceed that!” Lian Chengyu decided.

Hearing that they did not need to kill the cattle, the Patriarch was delighted. Still he politely said, “How can that do? We can’t let a guest prepare the food. Our Lian tribal clan may be poor but…”

“Enough, you don’t have to carry on. My trip here is on official business,” said the sword bearer with an authoritative voice. He was not interested in the fake niceties the Lian tribal clan displayed.

“High Ambassador, please speak! Although my Lian tribal clan is nothing, but it has thousands of people. If the High Ambassador has any requests that would need us, please speak your mind!” The Patriarch spoke humbly without any vexation from having his words cut off. He knew that a member of the Jin Long Wei would not come to such a worthless place like the Lian tribal clan.

The man said, “Recently, the Cloud Wilderness had a huge event. And the location of the Lian tribal clan happens to be within the area of the event! The Jin Long Wei is here for that reason.”

As the man’s voice tapered off, the Patriarch’s expression changed. Something happened in the Cloud Wilderness?

Furthermore, from the tone of his words, he was just one of the many Jin Long Wei members who came.

An event that could be considered great by the Jin Long Wei was something the Lian tribal clan could not even fathom. He did not know if it was a blessing or curse for the Lian tribal clan to be within the event’s area of influence.

If they got engulfed by such a big matter, the ant-like existence of the Lian tribal clan would be extinguished without a sound.

Seeing the Patriarch’s expression, the man said coolly, “This matter shouldn’t involve you. However, there will be plenty of people passing the vicinities of your tribe. There may be many big shots among them. It’s best not to offend them.”

“Yes, old me will bear what High Ambassador says in mind,” nodded the Patriarch.

The man carried on, “My visit to the Lian tribal clan was a matter of convenience. My superiors have ordered me to give you some pointers in preparation for the soon-to-be Kingdom’s selection!”

Having said that, the man turned towards the tribe. His voice was loud and clear even ten miles away.

Momentarily, the rambunctious crowd was silenced.

“My name is Zhang Yuxian. Remember well. My visit here to the Lian tribal clan is to choose thirty youngsters below the age of twenty-eight as my temporary disciples. I will give pointers on your stances and techniques!”

“I will only be here for about three to five days. You will need to work hard. If you understand the content I teach, you will definitely pass the Kingdom’s selection!”

The Lian tribal clan held their breath the moment Zhang Yuxian said those words.

The Kingdom’s selection!

It was tied to their future. The entire tribe had burnt their bridges to ensure that Lian Chengyu passed the warrior selection!

The members of the warrior preparation camp were especially excited. They were so excited that they had trouble breathing.

An expert from the Jin Long Wei actually came to their Lian tribal clan to give them pointers on their skills and techniques. This was such a good thing!

They did not harbor any hope at passing the Kingdom’s selection, but if they received Zhang Yuxian’s pointers, and learned an advanced skill from the Jin Long Wei, it would aid them in their future growth!

When Lian Chengyu eventually passed the Kingdom’s selection and entered the city, those who were stronger could win themselves riches!

“The thirty people will be chosen by me. The participants of the Kingdom’s selection will also be chosen from those thirty! In other words, those not chosen by me will not be qualified to participate in the Kingdom’s selection!” After hearing Zhang Yuxian’s words, Yi Yun suddenly understood. This Zhang Yuxian was the Kingdom selection’s first examiner.

The Kingdom’s selection was rarely held in the Cloud Wilderness. There was a lack of resources in the Cloud Wilderness, so the warriors’ average strength was low. Since the distribution was wide, it was hard to hold an examination. To ensure that all the tribes could participate in an examination would involve large amounts of manpower and resources.

So having an experienced elite Jin Long Wei like Zhang Yuxian do a preliminary selection would save a lot of time!

“Now, all those who wish to become a temporary disciple of mine by participating in a three day training period, and wish to participate in the Kingdom’s selection, step forward. I will choose thirty!” A commotion arose the moment Zhang Yuxian finished his sentence.

The members of the warrior preparation camp were the first to lunge forward with all their might.

Those who knew how to read the attitudes like Zhao Tiezhu first looked at Lian Chengyu for approval before they squeezed forward to be before Zhang Yuxian.

In a short moment, the entire warrior preparation camp’s members had stood forward.

There were about sixty people in the warrior preparation camp, and those who matched the age requirement numbered about forty.

Zhang Yuxian was only going to choose thirty, which meant there would be about a dozen people who would be eliminated!

The weaker members of the warrior preparation camp became nervous, afraid they would be brushed off by Zhang Yuxian.