Chapter 995: South Peace State Trial Tablet
Ye Mo sighed; relying on others proved unreliable. Even with a referral, could he abandon Song Yangzhu and the others? He needed to find a way to go himself, to avoid perpetual dependence. He knew no other masters.
Yet, the thought of Luo Ying and Ning Qingxue warmed his hands. He yearned to reunite with them. Song Yangzhu felt the warmth and looked at him, her grip tightening as if fearing his departure for South Peace State.
Ye Mo understood. He squeezed her hand reassuringly. Even if he went, he'd return quickly. If not, he'd find a way to bring them. He realized the selection criteria implied a search for North Far State's most gifted disciples, a significant effort for some unknown reason. Regardless, increasing his own power remained paramount.
He distributed pills. Giving Ye Ling and Song Yangzhu high-grade cultivation-enhancing pills to aid their core formations. Li Jingwen, upon receiving a Cao Huan pill, nearly wept with joy, his loyalty to Ye Mo reaffirmed.
Song Yangzhu, somewhat reassured by Ye Mo's actions, spent the night with him before preparing her core formation. Ye Mo left Li Yuqian to assist Song Yangzhu and Ye Ling, dedicating himself to pill refinement to bolster his strength. Though possessing the Dihua beast core, concocting the Heaven Glory Pill remained uncertain. He was also curious about the contents of Mo Qianli and Ao Qilong's storage rings.
Upon his return, Mo Yue adopted a low profile, scaling back business and expansion. Zhen Xiaoshan and Yu Qiyang largely managed its affairs, while Li Jingwen prepared for his nascent soul breakthrough. Ye Mo, after a single night with Song Yangzhu, retreated into solitary cultivation.
The Yang Hai Merchant Association, learning of Ji Ling's return to South Peace State, began strategizing regarding Mo Yue. Unfettered expansion left no room for them. While challenging a power backed by a Disaster Transformation cultivator was risky, Yang Youkang, the association's leader, voiced a reasoned assessment. Mo Yue's support stemmed from the formation master's appreciation of their defensive formations. With the master's return to South Peace State, their support was tenuous; the master might not return, or even remember Mo Yue. Lacking a Hollow Spirit cultivator, Mo Yue couldn't easily follow. The Yang Hai Merchant Association felt no immediate threat.
However, news arrived of Mo Yue's business retraction.
"Their self-awareness suggests they're not utterly foolish," Yang Youkang declared. "We'll adapt our tactics. A slow burn; we'll supplant them within a year or two."
In South Peace State's bustling South Peace City, the Trial Tablet Square held prominence. Five stone tablets stood, corresponding to the Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Hollow Spirit, Body Condensation, and Cauldron Filling stages. Chi Gathering and Foundation Establishment stages lacked tablets; Disaster Transformation and Truth Realization cultivators were few, their achievements legendary, their names remembered without need for inscription. However, all Disaster Transformation and above had once graced these tablets.
Each tablet reached towards the heavens. Cultivators sought the tablet matching their cultivation level to record their names. The tablet ranked power based on the inscription, assessing cultivation, attack methods, and even willpower. It served as a hall of fame.
Typically, inscriptions prompted brief excitement, quickly fading. But recently, the square buzzed. South Peace State's elite disciples flocked there, coinciding with the city's social gathering. Sects' elite disciples converged, discussing cultivation and trade. Competition, however, found its primary outlet in the Trial Tablets. Life-or-death duels remained rare, reserved for unresolvable conflicts.
This gathering centered on Golden Core and some Nascent Soul cultivators.
Before a Golden Core tablet, a blue-shirted youth, his robes rippling without wind, stood proudly. Silence fell as onlookers awaited his inscription.
A group of women watched. A youthful girl exclaimed, "Sister Rong, that blue-shirted Fang Zhongshi, the Golden Core hall of fame's number one, do you think he'll crack the top ten on the Trial Tablet?"
Sister Rong smirked. "Fang Zhongshi is good, but top ten is unlikely. Top twenty might be attainable."
"Sister Rong, you're third in the Golden Core hall of fame. Could you beat him?" the girl asked eagerly.
Sister Rong frowned, considering before shaking her head. "Not yet, but perhaps in six months."
A green-clad woman inquired, "Sister Rong, who are the top ten? Why can't even the Golden Core hall of fame's top cultivator surpass them?"
Sister Rong smiled. "Martial Sister Beiwei, powerful Golden Core cultivators often leave their names here. Reaching Nascent Soul, they inscribe the Nascent Soul tablet, their Golden Core inscription vanishing. Some disappear after their Golden Core inscription, their names remaining."
Tang Beiwei asked, "So, if you leave your name and never inscribe the Nascent Soul tablet, it remains forever?"
Sister Rong shook her head. "No, after three hundred years, it disappears."
"Except for the top rank. Regardless of the tablet, the top name remains until surpassed. The top ten you see are from the past three centuries, but they disappeared without inscribing the Nascent Soul tablet."
Turning to a pale yellow-clad woman, she asked, "Martial Sister Susu, is something troubling you?"
Before an answer, the blue-shirted youth ascended in a blue light.