Martial Conquest of the Nine Desolates
Chapter 157 - 155 The First Guest Elder

Chapter 157: Chapter 155 The First Guest Elder

(Sorry, the plot has taken a turn, and the writing has been difficult, so the update is late.)

A man dressed in green clothes, with narrow eyes shining with cold light, burst through Xiao Ye’s courtyard door quite rudely.

"A pretty boy?" Xiao Ye paused for a moment, puzzled that Wang Lin also has such a nickname. Could it be because of Ji Ruyue?

"Ji Ruyue likes handsome men the most. Be careful that one of these days when she grows bored of you, she’ll kick you aside without a second thought." The green-clothed man’s face was full of sarcasm, his eyes thick with jealousy.

"I guessed right." Xiao Ye thought to himself.

Clearly, this man in green was also a guest elder of the Qingming Commerce, here to ridicule Xiao Ye out of jealousy over the Primordial Stones awarded to Xiao Ye for completing the mission.

"I still have to cultivate. Please leave." Xiao Ye said indifferently.

Currently using the identity of Wang Lin, he was too lazy to argue with the man.

Unexpectedly, the man in green sneered, "Just doll yourself up nicely, and Ji Ruyue will naturally shower you with a heap of Primordial Stones. Why bother with arduous cultivation?"

Xiao Ye’s brow furrowed slightly, his eyes turning icy cold.

He had shown restraint time and again, but the other party was oblivious, continuously dishing out mockery. Even a clay figurine has a three-point temper—what more for Xiao Ye?

"Oh? Angered now? Everyone knows that among all the guest elders of Qingming Commerce, your cultivation, Wang Lin, is the bottom-rung. But if you want to challenge me, I wouldn’t mind. I trust Ji Ruyue wouldn’t blame me, either."

The man in green laughed and stepped forward. A torrent of Innate True Qi surged out, pressing down on Xiao Ye like a massive mountain.

Mid Eighth Level of the Innate Realm!

"Challenge me? You’re not even qualified!"

Xiao Ye retorted coldly, activating the Silent Annihilation Hand. A palm filled with the aura of annihilation struck out towards the man in green, a fierce turbulence sweeping the small courtyard.

With his current level of cultivation, utilizing the Perfect Realm Silent Annihilation Hand, he was more than capable of defeating a Martial Artist at the Early Stage of Ninth Layer.

"What!"

Feeling the ferocious attack, the man in green’s expression turned to shock. Before he could react, he was blasted outside the gate, crashing heavily onto the ground.

Simultaneously, the courtyard door slammed shut, and Xiao Ye’s voice came through.

"Bother me again, and I will not show mercy."

The green-clothed man scrambled up from the ground, his head reeling.

"How has Wang Lin’s strength increased so drastically?"

It was known that prior to Wang Lin leaving for the mission, his cultivation had barely broken through to the Early Stage of Innate Realm Eighth Layer, and his strength was not comparable to what it is now.

"What exactly happened? Wang Lin has changed, as if he’s become a different person altogether. The Wang Lin of before would have taken insults without ever fighting back." The man in green stood there in contemplation for a long time before finally leaving in frustration.

Of course, he wouldn’t know that the Wang Lin of before had been swapped out by Xiao Ye.

Xiao Ye entered the house and looked around, finding the standalone courtyard quite distinctive.

"This place is indeed not bad." Xiao Ye nodded in approval, then sat cross-legged and fell into contemplation.

"There’s less than two years left before the Heavenly Pride Battle of Black Dragon Country. I must break through to the Innate Limit before then!"

"Then, I’ll break through to the Four Cauldrons with my Physical Body Power. At that time, my strength will truly be invincible within the Innate Realm." Xiao Ye’s face showed immense confidence.

Such is the power of the Four Tripod Heavenly Technique!

Since the founding of Black Dragon Country, no one has cultivated the Four Tripod Heavenly Technique to such a level. How strong it would be at that stage is unknown, perhaps even comparable to the Xuanwu Realm.

Moreover, only Martial Artists under thirty could enter the Empress’s Hard Cultivation Land, none older than that stage—just in the Innate Realm.

In other words, as long as Xiao Ye could reach that level, he would sweep through the Empress’s Hard Cultivation Land! After all, Sun and Moon Sect’s Mystic Martial cultivators, being strong as they are, can’t enter, so revealing his identity didn’t matter.

"To quickly advance my cultivation, I need a large number of Primordial Stones. It seems that for the time being, I still need the relationship between Wang Lin and Ji Ruyue." Xiao Ye felt a headache coming on thinking about this.

Then he pushed aside his distractions and took out some Primordial Stones to begin cultivating.

...

"What? Wang Lin reached the Mid Stage of Innate Realm Eighth Layer and defeated Zhou Hai in just one move?" In a room, Ji Ruyue received the report from her subordinate, her red lips parting slightly, her enchanting eyes filled with surprise.

She knew all too well about Wang Lin’s aptitude.

Wang Lin’s cultivation had been built up through various cultivation resources, and his strength was very limited.

"This enemy is indeed making me take another look at him." Suddenly, Ji Ruyue laughed, and said, "Go, leak some information to those guest elders, say I’ve recently fallen out with Wang Lin."

Her subordinate was taken aback.

Because of Ji Ruyue, those guest elders harbored great animosity towards Wang Lin, though they only mocked him at most and didn’t really take action, after all, Ji Ruyue was backing Wang Lin.

But if this news spread, those guest elders might very well start troubling Wang Lin.

"Ah, the heart of a woman, as mysterious as a needle in the sea." The subordinate sighed inwardly and hurriedly went off to arrange things.

"Hmph, my nemesis, since you ignore me, I’ll let you suffer a bit now and then wait for you to come begging to me," said Ji Ruyue with a crafty gleam in her alluring eyes.

...

In the following days, Xiao Ye’s courtyard became lively as almost every day trade association guest elders came to his door, ostensibly for sparring but actually aiming for the primordial stones in his possession.

"Wang Lin, since I’ve taken on your identity, I might as well help you shed the ’pretty boy’ label," Xiao Ye muttered to himself, forcefully taking action. Even a guest elder who had reached the early stage of Innate Realm Ninth Layer was blasted out looking disheveled.

All of a sudden, the entire Qingming Commerce was shaken.

It was because Wang Lin lacked strength and his ambiguous relationship with Ji Ruyue that he had earned the moniker of ’pretty boy’, a title that seemed somewhat ill-fitting now.

"Don’t worry, our Qingming Commerce’s number one guest elder is soon returning from a mission, and he will naturally be the one to teach Wang Lin a lesson," someone said with a sneer.

Of course, Xiao Ye wasn’t aware of all this, as he was at the critical point of making a breakthrough.

Boom boom boom!

Xiao Ye grasped a primordial stone, fully absorbing the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi contained within, with his powerful physical body withstanding repeated assaults without being shaken in the slightest.

"Break through for me!"

Xiao Ye shouted, and immediately the primordial crystal in his Dantian burst into dazzling light, entering a new realm. Powerful waves of strength surged turbulently, spreading out in all directions like a tide.

"Holy shit, did that guy Wang Lin break through again?"

"How did he become so fierce after coming back from the mission!"

The guest elders residing in other courtyards were utterly astounded.

They became guest elders of the commerce to obtain cultivation resources, as they weren’t particularly talented themselves. Therefore, the speed of Xiao Ye’s cultivation was putting a lot of pressure on them.

"I’ve reached the late stage of Innate Realm Eighth Level!" Xiao Ye opened his eyes, his gaze sharp and bright.

Even before he came to Qingming Commerce, he had already made deep preparations. This breakthrough was an accumulation and release, naturally as time and tide.

With his current cultivation level combined with the Perfect Realm’s Great Collapse Palm, defeating a martial artist of Ninth Layer Middle Stage of the Innate Realm was not a problem.

"Next, break through to the Innate Realm Ninth Layer in one go, then use the Bodhi Leaf," Xiao Ye secretly thought.

He still had forty-eight primordial stones in his hand, more than enough for breaking through.

As Xiao Ye was immersed in intensive cultivation, a man in a tight-fitting suit with a scar on his face entered Qingming Commerce.

His presence, reeking of blood and ice-cold, instantly quieted down the overly noisy commerce.

"Kuang Wu, the guest elder, you’re back!" At this moment, a staff member hurried over, all smiles.

The man before him was the commerce’s top guest elder, with his cultivation reaching the Ninth Layer Middle Stage of the Innate Realm, and valued highly by the commerce.

Kuang Wu gave a faint nod and went on to fulfill his duties with the staff member’s guidance, then returned to his quarters for guest elders.

"Kuang Wu, you’ve finally returned." Upon seeing Kuang Wu’s return, a crowd of guest elders crowded into his residence.

Kuang Wu was known for his aloofness, but because of his superior strength, many guest elders respected him.

"Kuang Wu, please take action quickly and teach that Wang Lin a lesson. He’s been way too arrogant recently," a guest elder said, his eyes filled with intense hatred.

He had previously gone to provoke Xiao Ye and had been kicked out; even now, his chest still ached.

"That pretty boy Wang Lin, is he even worthy of my time?" Kuang Wu snorted with disdain.

Among the many guest elders, he despised Wang Lin the most. And with his status in the commerce, even if he punished Wang Lin, he believed Ji Ruyue wouldn’t dare blame him.

After all, no matter how large a commerce is, it still needs the support of the strong.

"Guest elder Kuang Wu, you may not be aware, but Wang Lin is not like before," chimed the many guest elders, each eagerly narrating the recent events.

"What? Wang Lin made a breakthrough, and none of you is his match?" Hearing this, Kuang Wu was somewhat surprised.

"Well, then I must see him for myself." A cold light flashed in Kuang Wu’s eyes, and he stood up tall, pushing the door open and walking out.

Kuang Wu, true to his name, was very combative and among the loose cultivators, he was quite talented.

The many guest elders immediately became excited, hastily following him, "Ha ha, with Kuang Wu taking action, he’s sure to defeat Wang Lin. That guy has been way too arrogant lately!"

The commotion from the guest elders’ quarters was passed on to Ji Ruyue by the servants.

"What, Kuang Wu is already back, and he’s going to take action against Wang Lin!" Ji Ruyue’s face went pale.

She had only spread the rumor to make Xiao Ye suffer a bit and then bow down in defeat to her, not expecting things to escalate to this point.

It must be known that Kuang Wu, being the top guest elder, hardly gave her face, let alone if he seriously injured Xiao Ye, the commerce, for the sake of profit, would not blame Kuang Wu.

"Quick, hurry and fetch my father!" Ji Ruyue ordered, and then hurried toward the guest elders’ quarters with her servants in tow.