Chapter 459: True and False Yang Zun, Strength and Trial, A Small Interlude of Forming a Team

"Alright, you go down and practice first!"

Xia Hong waved his hand to dismiss Su Xing'er, then looked down at the Heavenly Ranking book in his hand and shook his head slightly.

Since arriving in Changqing Valley through the Bone-Eroding Path in August last year, he had been in Cai Qiu for more than a year. During this period, he lived in Qinghuacheng for four months, saw the sights along the way for a month, and lived in Linchu County City for another four months. His understanding of Cai Qiu and even the entire Four Feudal Lands was no longer small.

The number of Manifestation Realm experts in Cai Qiu is conservatively estimated to be over 100. Considering that he hasn't been to the core town of Cai Qiu, even if he makes a bolder speculation, even if it doubles, it will not exceed 300.

According to this deduction, no matter how many Manifestation Realm experts there are in the Four Feudal Lands, it is impossible to exceed three digits.

According to Xia Hong's field observations, the population of Cai Qiu is definitely over 20 million. Even if the total population of the Four Feudal Lands does not exceed 100 million, it is estimated that it is not much different.

With a population of over 100 million, there are less than 1,000 Manifestation Realm experts. Such an astonishing proportion naturally determines that the status of Manifestation Realm experts in the Four Feudal Lands, even if not as supreme as in the Jiuzhen territory, is basically at the top level.

Among such a group of people, picking the 100 strongest, except for the official Four Feudal Lands, no second force can find the qualification and ability to rank them.

Now that he is on the list, it undoubtedly directly corroborates this point.

Looking at his brief information on the list page, Xia Hong shook his head.

The process of his battle with Cai Yunzhou was indeed seen by many people, but at that time, the only person in the entire Qinghuacheng who could see that he won was Cai Yunzhou himself. So, without thinking, he could be on the Heavenly Ranking, which must be the news leaked by Cai Yunzhou.

Just as Su Xing'er said, his appearance on the list completely turned him into a big celebrity in Mo'ao River. The name Hong Yu was probably known to everyone in the Four Feudal Lands.

Xia Hong himself is not a person who likes to be in the limelight. Not to mention that his purpose for coming to the Mo'ao River territory is not very pure. But now that the wood is already a boat, blaming Cai Yunzhou is useless.

He shook his head first, and then continued to read with curiosity.

This list, since it is officially compiled, must have a certain reference value. What is the strength of the top Manifestation Realm experts in the Four Feudal Lands?

Xia Hong didn't waste time and read directly from the first page:

【Heavenly Ranking No. 1: Heavenly Absolute Demon Blade Li Dingyang, Cangyang County, Wei Bo, fifth-generation descendant of the Fangbo lineage, Manifestation Realm peak cultivation. In the 289th year of the Cai Qiu calendar, at the age of 58, he beheaded the Five-Element Water-type Beast Emperor Bi-Demon Dragon on the shore of Hanbo Lake in northern Wei Bo. A battle to seal the god, recognized as the first person under the Tribulation Body in the Four Feudal Lands.】

Crossing a major realm to kill a Beast Emperor one level higher than his own cultivation?

"This Li Dingyang, so perverted?"

After reading the first page, Xia Hong instantly couldn't hold it, his face full of horror.

He can also do cross-realm confrontation.

But he crosses small realms, and that's in the case of humans.

The cultivation realm of humans can correspond to the level of cold beasts, and the universal rule of the Ice Abyss is that the strength of cold beasts at the same level basically crushes humans.

For example, low-level cold beasts crush the Woodcutting Realm; middle-level crush the Earth-Digging Realm; high-level crush the Cold-Resistant Realm; Beast Kings crush the Manifestation Realm.

Humans initially broke this rule during the Cold-Resistant Realm, continuing to improve strength through battle body qualifications to make up for the gap with high-level cold beasts. If the battle body qualification is not good, they can also rely on pills.

And then to the Manifestation Realm, it returns to normal.

So far, the Beast King-level cold beasts he has dealt with have a minimum strength of over 9 jun. According to his experience of breaking through at that time, if he only broke through with the degree of normal iron bones, his final strength would only be 3 jun. Even he was like this, let alone others.

When speculating on the strength of the realm, Xia Hong generally does not take himself as a reference. His situation is too special, and it is difficult to find a second case.

With talent as high as his, once he broke through the Manifestation Realm, his strength was only 10 jun, slightly able to compare with the weakest Beast King-level. And so far, he hasn't met anyone with talent stronger than his own.

Therefore, like the Cold-Resistant Realm period, normal people breaking through the Manifestation Realm will inevitably be crushed by Beast King-level cold beasts. To shorten the strength gap, they can only rely on pills to cultivate and continue to improve their cultivation.

Following this rule to continue to deduce, the strength of the Beast Emperor will inevitably be able to crush ordinary Tribulation Body Realm experts.

And this Li Dingyang, he doesn't even have Tribulation Body Realm cultivation yet.

He is only at the peak of Manifestation Realm cultivation!

This is equivalent to him killing a Beast King-level cold beast when he was at the peak of the Cold-Resistant Realm. This simply has no possibility at all.

Xia Hong's pupils were full of horror. He continued to look at Li Dingyang's information and found that except for killing the Beast Emperor, there was no other description of his strength. He hurriedly calmed his mind and continued to flip down.

【Heavenly Ranking No. 2: River-Shuo Sword God Li Wuji, Heshuo County, Wei Bo, fourth-generation descendant of the Fangbo lineage, Li Dingyang's uncle, Manifestation Realm peak cultivation. In the 287th year of the Cai Qiu calendar, at the age of 68, he was hunted by three Wood-type Beast Emperor-level Snow Luan around Qinghuacheng, Bai Shui County, Cai Qiu, and finally escaped.】

Another one who has fought with a Beast Emperor, and it was at Snow Luan Mountain!

Xia Hong had just been to Snow Luan Mountain when he was in Qinghuacheng. The five-colored magic zither in Su Xing'er's hand was obtained by him in the White Phoenix Forest under Snow Luan Mountain.

Being hunted by three Beast Emperor-level Snow Luan and successfully escaping, Li Wuji's record is clearly not as good-looking as Li Dingyang's, but Xia Hong has personally hunted high-level Snow Luan. He knows very well that the most powerful thing about Snow Luan is speed.

The speed of high-level Snow Luan can already be compared with ordinary Manifestation Realm experts, let alone Beast King-level, and even higher Beast Emperor-level Snow Luan...

Hunted by three Beast Emperor-level Snow Luan who are good at speed, and escaped!

Recalling the feeling of being stared at by those sharp eyes on the top of the mountain when he stood on the top of the Ice Sword Tree in the White Phoenix Forest eight months ago, and then looking at Li Wuji's record, Xia Hong not only didn't think it was ugly, but felt that its gold content was even fuller than Li Dingyang's, who was ranked first.

But there is still no description of Li Wuji's specific strength. Xia Hong frowned and continued to read patiently:

【Heavenly Ranking No. 3: Heavenly Cyan Divine Sword Li Baobao, Qingmu County, Wei Bo, fifth-generation descendant of the Fangbo lineage, known as the Wei Bo Twin Pride with Li Dingyang, Manifestation Realm peak cultivation. In the 291st year of the Cai Qiu calendar, at the age of 39, he defeated Fu Qianming at Hezang Zhencheng. At that time, Fu Qianming was at the first-turn Tribulation Body Realm cultivation, with a strength of about 105 jun.】

Finally there is...

First-turn Tribulation Body Realm, 105 jun strength!

Finally there is a reference for the Tribulation Body Realm. Xia Hong's eyes rose with a trace of excitement. After carefully reading the information of the third place, he couldn't help but show surprise:

"He is only 45 years old this year, with Manifestation Realm peak cultivation. This Li Baobao's talent is on par with mine and Ying Xuan Ling's. It is indeed a feudal town, really hiding dragons and crouching tigers!

However, this Wei Bo..."

A different color rose in Xia Hong's eyes. After pondering for a moment, he continued to flip through quickly, and soon finished reading the top 20.

"The top three are all Wei Bo people, and they occupy 13 of the top 20. I don't know the overall strength of Wei Bo, but in terms of top geniuses, whether it is quality or quantity, compared with other feudal towns, it is almost a cliff-like lead. Is it really more disasters and difficulties, so it can temper people?"

Xia Hong's last sigh was not without reason.

In the past five days, among the many books he read in the library, there happened to be a book called "Hundred Years of the Four Feudal Lands," which roughly recorded some major events that happened in the Four Feudal Lands of Mo'ao River in the past hundred years.

The one that left the deepest impression on Xia Hong was the two disaster-level strange monster invasions, which were the "Zhenshan Nightmare" more than 80 years ago and the "Beekeeper" more than 30 years ago. The former caused most of the territory of the Hezang feudal town to fall, killing more than 7 million people, and the latter caused the Wei Bo feudal town to die no less than 5 million people. Both feudal towns were severely injured, and it is rumored that they have not fully recovered to this day.

Comparing the two, it seems that Hezang is more miserable, but it is not. Because Wei Bo is close to the largest water system in Mo'ao River, the White Tiger River, in addition to the Beekeeper's Rebellion more than 30 years ago, in the past hundred years, floods, plagues, cold currents, beast tides, etc., have occurred almost uninterruptedly in the entire feudal town, coming once every three to five years. Saying that there are many disasters and difficulties is not an exaggeration at all.

"Such an environment has instead given birth to more top geniuses. Disasters can temper the resilience of an ethnic group. The ancestors were indeed right!"

Xia Hong shook his head slightly, then looked down at the Heavenly Ranking book in his hand, and a trace of understanding rose in his eyes.

"In the top 20, the one with the most reference value should be Wan Qinghe of the Hezang feudal town, ranked 18th, with Manifestation Realm peak cultivation. The last time he made a move was two years ago, with a strength of 51 jun!"

Combined with the old man in cyan he saw in the library, Xia Hong could basically deduce that the strength of the weakest Tribulation Body Realm is over 100 jun, and the strength span of the peak Manifestation Realm is relatively large. The weakest is unknown, and the stronger ones are all over 50 jun.

"Continue to finish reading, the data should be more accurate..."

Xia Hong pondered for a moment and continued to flip down, but at this flip, he was instantly stunned.

【Heavenly Ranking No. 21: Southern Wilderness Spear Demon Yang Zun, Yan Ling County, Chen Cang, Staff Officer of the County Governor's Mansion, Manifestation Realm peak cultivation. Born in the Southern Wilderness but with amazing talent, and his spear talent was once personally praised by the Fangbo of Chen Cang. In the 295th year of the Cai Qiu calendar, he fought six Beast Kings alone with one spear and one person, and finally beheaded four, with a strength of 41 jun.】

Southern Wilderness Spear Demon, Yang Zun, Manifestation Peak, 41 jun strength...

Didn't read it wrong, right?

Xia Hong confirmed the name again, then looked at the sentence "Born in the Southern Wilderness but with amazing talent," and his eyebrows were instantly locked.

"Southern Wilderness is the name of the Four Feudal Lands for the southern foothills of Mo'ao River, so this Yang Zun is likely the one in Beishuo. 41 jun strength, fighting six Beast Kings alone, when did he have this strength?"

Absolutely impossible!

If Yang Zun had this strength, it would not have been so easy for him to win the Battle of Hong Sect two years ago.

"No, no, the 295th year of the Cai Qiu calendar, it happened to be the year of the Battle of Hong Sect. It is absolutely impossible, so there are two Yang Zuns..."

Xia Hong's expression was stunned, and he suddenly remembered a piece of news that Lu Yang brought back when he sneaked into Beishuo early in the year. The Yang family started with three brothers, namely the eldest Yang Zun, the second Yang Fa, and the third Yang Jian. But in these years, the third Yang Jian almost never appeared in the Jiuzhen. There is news that he is almost 100 years old and has not broken through the Manifestation Realm, so he is likely dead.

"No, it is likely that the one in Beishuo is Yang Jian, and the one who stayed in Chen Cang is the real Yang Zun. This is a bit interesting!"

After Xia Hong figured it out, his expression was strange, and his precaution against Beishuo instantly increased a bit.

Yang Zun has always stayed in the Four Feudal Lands, and he has also become a staff officer of the Yan Ling County Governor's Mansion in Chen Cang. Then the relationship between Beishuo and Chen Cang is too deep.

"Yan Ling County Staff Officer, can command troops, must be guarded against!"

Unexpectedly, looking at the Heavenly Ranking could have such a magical discovery.

Xia Hong shook his head and didn't think much about it, and continued to finish reading the list.

The entire Heavenly Ranking has 100 people, and after the 30th place, they are all Manifestation Late-stage cultivation.

"Cai Yunzhou can burst out 24 jun combat power at the strongest, which is also the cultivation of the late stage. That proves that the strength improvement in the Manifestation Realm stage is much more difficult than I imagined. So speaking, the fake Yang Zun in the Jiuzhen can burst out the strongest 20 jun strength in the middle stage, and his talent is also amazing. It is estimated that it is not much different from this Yang Zun in Chen Cang."

Xia Hong's heart moved slightly, and he carefully compared the list again.

This comparison really had a new discovery.

Ranked 30th, Chu Renfeng of Chen Cang, Manifestation Realm peak cultivation, has 40 jun strength, and then down to 31st place, Ning Yuqiu of Hezang, although he has Manifestation Realm late-stage cultivation, his strength is only 29 jun.

That is to say, Manifestation Late-stage cultivation, strength basically cannot exceed 30 jun. Once breaking through to the peak, the strength will rush to over 40 jun.

Therefore, for most people, the late stage 30 jun is a threshold!

"Then there is basically an answer. Those on the list are basically the best batch of Manifestation Realm experts in the Four Feudal Lands. Most of them broke through with gold bone qualifications, and they had 5 jun strength as soon as they broke through. Ignoring the subtle strength improved by other means, the middle stage is over 10 jun, the late stage is over 20 jun, and then once breaking through the peak, it is over 40 jun strength, so it will form such a list effect!"

Case solved!

After Xia Hong figured it out, his heart was instantly relieved.

Nothing else, compared to these people, he still has a cliff-like advantage.

"In the four months of the County Governor's Mansion, I only went out seven times in the middle, all to hunt with the eldest prince Cai Yunlan. The rest of the time, although I was cultivating with the Divine Lotus, the improvement speed has slowed down, only 47 jun."

In Qinghuacheng, he first came into contact with the Bone-Washing Pill, combined with the Twelve Blood Sutras, and Xia Hong increased his strength by 4 jun in four months, from 41 jun to 45 jun. But in the four months since he came to Linchu County, he only mentioned 2 jun.

The effect of the pill will diminish, and the potential of the meridians will become lower and lower as they are released. The speed of strength improvement will naturally slow down one after another, which is not a strange thing.

It will definitely get slower and slower in the future.

Xia Hong quietly adjusted the lotus platform. After sitting cross-legged on it, he took out two pills from his arms, which were the Bone-Washing Pill and the Bone-Transforming Pill.

These two were deliberately left by him to be brought back to Great Xia and handed over to Cheng Feng and the pharmacists to develop the formula.

"Breaking through the late stage is definitely not that fast. I can only find a way from the pills. High-grade Bone-Transforming Pills and Bone-Washing Pills have fixed quotas. It is impossible to buy them through normal channels anymore."

If you still want to get pills, there are only two ways. One is to hope for that invitation letter for the Yang City, and the other is to go to Chen Cang...

The two methods don't seem to be very stable!

"Finding a way to get pills, investigating the situation of the Blood Miasma Plain, the next most important thing is these two things. If there is a chance, it would be even better to see the strength of the Tribulation Body Realm and the Five-Element Beast Emperor-level cold beasts!"

After pondering for a moment, Xia Hong sighed slightly. Seeing the sky outside gradually darkening, he didn't think much about it, took a Bone-Gathering Pill, and closed his eyes into a cultivation state.

There are no high-grade Bone-Transforming Pills, but he is not short of Bone-Gathering Pills. Cultivation is naturally impossible to stop. If he doesn't break through the Manifestation Late-stage, it will be even more indefinitely distant.

Xia Hong's cultivation this time only lasted for twenty days.

The 297th year of the Cai Qiu calendar, the first day of the eleventh month.

Before dawn, the four siblings, Su Xing'er, who had been dressed early, waited excitedly outside the guest room where Xia Hong was in seclusion.

"Xing'er, how many bristles of strength do you have now?"

The third brother, Su Zhi, who arrived last, couldn't help but ask about the fourth sister's strength as soon as he arrived. Su Jing and Su Xu also turned their heads to look, their faces full of curiosity.

13 bristles, 12 bristles, 12 bristles...

Su Xing'er saw the strength of the three brothers, her face full of joy. Hearing the third brother ask about her strength, she couldn't help but show a trace of pride: "I already have 17 bristles."

17 bristles!

Hearing this, Su Jing and the three were shocked. While feeling happy for their sister, the three looked at each other and saw a trace of helplessness in each other's eyes.

Setting off from Qinghuacheng on the 20th of the fourth month, whether it was on the road to Linchu County or in the nearly five months of living in the County Mansion, they almost didn't slack off for a moment, almost cultivating all the time.

The reason for such a crazy cultivation drive was first, not wanting to live up to Master Hong Yu's expectations, and second, they knew that their battle body qualifications were much worse than Su Xing'er's. If they slack off a little, they would be pulled away by their sister immediately.

They are brothers after all, and they don't want to need their sister Su Xing'er to protect them one day in the future.

But unexpectedly, even with such efforts, the gap is getting bigger and bigger.

When setting off from Qinghuacheng, the gap between them and Su Xing'er was only 2 bristles. Now it's good, it's directly doubled.

"Brother, you don't have to worry. Sister Shiqin told me that the Blood Miasma Plain trial lasts for two months. In previous years, many people's battle body qualifications have improved to varying degrees after participating in the trial. You are all superior battle bodies. Maybe after this trial, you can also be promoted to supreme battle body qualifications!"

Hearing his sister's words, Su Jing and the three were slightly shocked, and strong fighting spirit burst out in their pupils.

The third brother, Su Zhi, said excitedly: "I asked the servants a few days ago, and they told me that the cold beasts in the Blood Miasma Plain are different from other places. Their flesh and bones are highly poisonous and cannot be used normally, but the blood jade beads growing on their eyebrows are different. Not only can they be used to improve cultivation, but Cold-Resistant Realm experts can also use them to reshape skin membranes and continue to improve battle body qualifications!"

"I also inquired. Because of this, the quota for the Blood Miasma Plain trial is extremely precious. In the past, there were at most 200, but since last year, the situation has been different. It is said that Cai Qiu sent a large number of troops there the year before last to clear out a large safety zone. The quota increased to 500 last year, and this year there are even more, a full 1,000. The four major County Governor's Mansions, together with the descendants of the five major cities below, all came."

Clearly, it was not just Su Zhi who put effort into inquiring, but also the second brother, Su Xu.

Su Xing'er was a little confused about the safety zone mentioned by Su Xu, so she hurriedly asked: "Second brother, what does safety zone mean?"

Su Xu showed a trace of solemnity upon hearing this and was about to answer, but the door of the main guest room was quietly pushed open at this moment.

"When I came out of the Bone-Eroding Path, you were all present when I interrogated those soldiers, right? How could you forget what kind of place the Blood Miasma Plain is so quickly?"

"Greetings, Master!"

The four siblings, Su Jing, hurriedly saluted Xia Hong first. After pondering for a moment, they soon remembered what the soldiers in Changqing Valley had said. ===== CHAPTER 460 =====