Chapter 72

After a moment of silence, Hua Xiajiu smiled bitterly and said, "Senior Sister! As you said, I haven’t received the black robe, identity token, and spirit stone benefits yet."

The woman glanced at Hua Xiajiu’s foolish appearance, finding it somewhat amusing, and smiled again, speaking softly, "Little Uncle in our Ziyao Sect is indeed a bit special, focusing solely on cultivation, so he hasn’t noticed these mundane matters. Yes! It seems that all the spirit stones, pills, and other supplies for Little Uncle are also not available. Alright! We shouldn’t talk more about the elders’ affairs. What are you going to do now? Do you have any questions or need any help from your Senior Sister?"

Hua Xiajiu pondered seriously for a moment and then said, "Senior Sister! According to what you said, where can I go to handle the black robe, identity token, and spirit stone benefits? And can I go there at this time?"

The woman rolled her eyes and said, "Between the seven main peaks, there is a valley called Luo You Valley. Our Ziyao Sect’s affairs office is there. All miscellaneous matters, as well as the procedures for new disciples and the collection of items, are handled there. But you are not wearing the inner sect disciple’s robe and don’t have an identity token. If you leave our Yumen Mountain, you will find it difficult to move around. If you wander around, you might accidentally enter a restricted formation and be in grave danger. Or you might be mistaken for an intruder and killed by the patrolling disciples. Even tomorrow, someone will need to accompany you. Sigh! Since Little Uncle only has you as a disciple, and no senior brother to guide you, you wouldn’t have ended up in such a helpless situation."

"Alright! Since you have nowhere to go tonight, stay here for the night! We’ll talk about it tomorrow. Hmm! I’m going to the inner room to cultivate. You can make yourself at home!" The woman didn’t wait for Hua Xiajiu to say anything and spoke on her own.

After saying this, she didn’t wait for Hua Xiajiu to react and turned to walk into the inner room.

If it were a normal person, they would definitely thank her and then go downstairs to the living room to cultivate for the night. But Hua Xiajiu was clearly not a normal person.

What did Hua Xiajiu do? He watched the woman leave with a somewhat surprised look, bowed and thanked her, but then suddenly remembered something and shouted, "Senior Sister, may I ask your name?"

The woman didn’t stop, her figure already entering the inner room. First, a faint laugh could be heard, followed by three words: "Bai Xiangzhu!"

"Bai Xiangzhu—this name seems a bit—-" Hua Xiajiu was taken aback, thinking of a certain lazy and fat animal, and muttered to himself.

"You idiot, it’s not a pig, it’s bamboo," the senior sister heard Hua Xiajiu’s murmur and stumbled, almost falling, and said angrily.

"Uh—Bai Xiangzhu! Your name sounds very nice, better than mine. Should I change my name to a nicer one?" Hua Xiajiu glanced at the inner room and muttered again.

Bang—A sound of someone bumping into something came from the inner room.

Hua Xiajiu looked at the inner room with some confusion, then his eyes lit up and he looked at the two rows of bookshelves in front of him. He turned and shouted again, "Senior Sister Bai! Can I look at the books in the study?"

Silence from the inner room, and after a moment, a voice came, "Feel free to look, but don’t damage or take them." The tone sounded a bit strange.

Hua Xiajiu responded excitedly, then chuckled and quickly walked to the first row of bookshelves, picking up the first book and reading it. The study, though not large, had quite a few books, about several hundred in total.

These books were casually placed on the shelves with no restrictions, so they naturally didn’t contain any cultivation techniques or secret methods. However, the content covered a wide range, including the distant and recent history of the cultivation world, interesting and unusual events, information about spirit medicines, strange beasts, and the history of other races, as well as the origins and strength of the three major sects and nine major schools. Although most of this was common knowledge for cultivators, it filled a gap for Hua Xiajiu. Especially the detailed introduction about the Tianyun List.

The book said that the Tianyun List is a divine artifact and a ranking list.

The Tianyun List has three rankings: the Heaven List, the Earth List, and the Destiny List.

The Destiny List ranks the sects, changing every five hundred years. The three major sects and nine major schools are the top twelve sects on this list. Although the ranking doesn’t fully represent the sect’s strength, it does include it, as it ranks the ‘destiny’ of the sects.

‘Destiny’ seems intangible and elusive, but it truly exists. It applies to a world, a country, a sect, a family, and even an individual. It is said that in ancient times, there were cultivators who cultivated ‘destiny.’

Fifty years ago, the Destiny List was re-ranked, and the Wuling Sect, which was ranked eighth, fell to fifteenth. Within fifty years of the list’s change, the Wuling Sect indeed declined. The Wuxing Sect, ranked thirteenth, advanced to twelfth, becoming one of the three major sects and nine major schools.

The three major sects, of course, occupy the top three positions and have never fallen in the past tens of thousands of years. The only changes are in the rankings among the three. After a great battle a hundred years ago, the Ziyao Sect’s ranking on the Destiny List fell from fifth to ninth, while the Mohun Palace fell from fourth to eighth.

The Earth List ranks the cultivators, reflecting their strength, and changes every ten years. There are a few million cultivators on the Dao Soul Continent, so it’s impossible to rank all of them. Moreover, the cultivation levels are clear, and there’s no need to rank those with obvious differences.

Therefore, the Earth List is divided into three sub-lists, corresponding to the three realms: the Core Formation Realm, the Soul Out-of-Body Realm, and the Inquiry Realm, named accordingly: the Core Formation List, the Soul Out-of-Body List, and the Inquiry List.

These three lists rank the top 3,000 in the Core Formation Realm, changing every ten years; the top 300 in the Soul Out-of-Body Realm, changing every fifty years; and the top 30 in the Inquiry Realm, changing every hundred years.

Among the people Hua Xiajiu knew, the Yumen Mountain’s sect leader, Yumen Zhenren, was ranked fourth on the Inquiry List with a complete Inquiry Realm cultivation. Yougui, with a mid-Inquiry Realm cultivation, was ranked twenty-first. The two of them were quite famous. The other two disciples of the Yumen lineage, Xue Yue and Chen Dongtian, were ranked seventh and eleventh on the Soul Out-of-Body List.

In the Core Formation List, there were many disciples from the Ziyao Sect, but Hua Xiajiu didn’t know them.

As for the Heaven List, it is extremely mysterious. Only a few people in the cultivation world know what it ranks and how it ranks.

As mentioned earlier, the Tianyun List is not just a ranking list but also a divine artifact. This divine artifact does not belong to the cultivation world but to a secular country—the Great Zhou Empire. However, such a country cannot truly be a secular country.

It is said that fifty thousand years ago, the Tianyun List descended from the sky and stood on the head of the first dragon vein of the Dao Soul Continent.

The Tianyun List is a hundred feet tall, made of an unknown material. Over the years, countless powerful beings from various races, including humans, demons, and aquatic creatures, have tried to take control of the Tianyun List, but none have succeeded. No one can control it, and it’s difficult to leave even the slightest mark on it. Even the emperors of the Great Zhou Empire and the leaders of the three major sects, including many who have transcended the heavenly tribulation and reached the Ascension Realm, cannot control it.

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