My Beasts Grind Proficiency For Me

Chapter 624: Chapter 138: Hundred Phases

The Central Continent was populous and prosperous, a place where strange and wondrous events occurred so frequently that its people had long since become jaded.

News of a Cultivator achieving Core Formation or reaching the Nascent Soul realm would only be the talk of the town for a few days.

Even earth-shattering news, like a Divine Being slaying a Celestial Demon in a battle that raged from the heavens to the earth, would only cause a stir for half a year before fading into obscurity. They didn’t even pay much mind to the calamities caused by the Demon Court and Demon Sects of the Western and Northern Continents.

In the eyes of the Central Continent people, their own Sects and Noble Families were titans with legacies stretching back tens of thousands of years. With them standing guard, the Central Continent was as stable as Mount Tai. The Demon Sects and Demon Court were nothing but jumping clowns, easily crushed with a flick of a finger.

However, a major event that had unfolded over the past two days had truly filled the people of the Central Continent with anticipation.

A Nascent Soul Cultivator from the Western Continent, dissatisfied with the Noble Families of his sect being stationed on two separate continents, was establishing a new branch in the Central Continent and preparing to engage these families in a sword fight to the death.

The news spread like wildfire throughout the entire Central Continent almost instantly.

Even though some perceptive individuals realized that the news couldn’t have spread so quickly without the Major Sects and Noble Families fanning the flames from behind the scenes, they still wanted to go and watch the spectacle.

In the Central Continent, the risks of waging war over conflicts of interest were simply too great. Thus, when conflicts arose, Sects and families usually chose to resolve them through Sword Fighting, limiting the potential losses to an acceptable level. As a result, the people of the Central Continent had witnessed their fair share of such duels.

But this Sword Fighting duel was completely different.

First, the disparity in Power was enormous. One side had merely two Nascent Soul Cultivators, while the other comprised twenty-four Noble Families with nearly twenty-seven Nascent Soul Cultivators. Although anyone with a bit of sense might sympathize with the Western Continent Cultivator’s integrity, when it came time to place bets, they would still unhesitatingly choose the side of the Noble Families.

Second, the stakes were immense—both sides were betting their entire family fortunes.

The combined fortunes of twenty-four Immortally Cultivation Noble Families—it was a sum large enough to drive one mad.

Although the Sword Fighting duel was still forty-nine days away, countless Cultivators in the Central Continent were already rushing toward the designated location, fearing they might miss this once-in-a-ten-thousand-year grand event.

Some Sects and Noble Families even had their eyes on the assets of those Western Continent Noble Families.

This Nascent Soul Cultivator from the Western Continent wouldn’t have dared to propose a Sword Fighting duel if his Power was weak; he should be able to win a match or two with ease. But he was from the Western Continent. Even if he luckily survived the duels, he could at most take away their portable assets. The Spirit Veins and ore veins were impossible to move.

If they played their cards right, their gains might even surpass those of the Nascent Soul Cultivator from the Western Continent.

While the entire Central Continent was caught up in a frenzy, the Ruan Family was deathly silent. They clearly had no connection to the events, yet they too were being forced to participate in the Sword Fighting duel.

The one forcing them was the local hegemon, the Red Sun Sect, leaving the Ruan Family with no way to refuse.

The Ruan Family’s Elder, Ruan Shengqian, sat on the main seat in the ancestral hall, his hands trembling ceaselessly. He had always been known for his shrewdness, so of course he could guess why his family had been added to the list.

’That’s a Nascent Soul Sword Cultivator who has mastered the Instant Sword Technique! He probably wouldn’t even need a second strike to kill me.’

Below him, the Golden Core and Foundation Establishment clansmen were kneeling on the floor. Their entire livelihood depended on the Ruan Family. If the family’s fortune was lost, what would distinguish them from Independent Cultivators, aside from having an orderly inheritance of techniques?

Having grown accustomed to a life of ease within the Ruan Family, what difference was there between suddenly being demoted to an Independent Cultivator and death itself?

"Unfilial descendants, we kneel and beg our ancestor to consider the Ruan Family’s future! Please go to the Sword Fighting Platform and preserve our foundation!"

Ruan Shengqian flicked his sleeve, and a wave of Magical Power sent the kneeling clansmen in the ancestral hall tumbling into a heap.

"All you have to do is kneel here, but I’m the one who actually has to go and get myself killed!"

He didn’t believe for a second that the Sword Cultivator had gone to such lengths to force him onto the Sword Fighting Platform just to teach him a lesson. Given the unfathomable nature of the Instant Sword Technique, he probably wouldn’t even have a chance to beg for mercy.

And today, these beasts were actually trying to force him, their ancestor, to his death for a minuscule chance of victory. Their intentions were truly unforgivable!

Fifteen days later, a friend from another Noble Family went to visit the Ruan Family, only to find their Grand Array sealed shut. Even the Illusion Array had been activated, shrouding the entire clan’s territory.

He shared this as an amusing anecdote, but it caught the attention of the local Red Sun Sect. As one of the few Sects aware of Yang Jing’s true Power, the Red Sun Sect naturally sensed that something was wrong.

They first tried sending a Talisman, but when the Ruan Family’s Grand Array showed no response, the Red Sun Sect gathered several Nascent Soul Cultivators and directly smashed it open.

A heaven-scorching stench of decay billowed out from within the Grand Array.

The Cultivators who entered were shocked to find that nearly seventy percent of the Ruan Family’s Cultivators were dead in the ancestral hall. The few who had luckily survived were mostly scared out of their wits.

Because the bodies had not been dealt with for some time, a plague had broken out in the Ruan Family’s territory, infecting most of their mortal members.

The Red Sun Sect interrogated several people before piecing together what had happened. It turned out that the Ruan Family clansmen had tried to force Nascent Soul True Monarch Ruan Shengqian to participate in the Sword Fighting duel.

Unwilling to go to his death, Ruan Shengqian had slaughtered the clansmen who pressured him, looted the clan’s secret treasury, and fled. Before leaving, to prevent the news from leaking, he had used his authority to seal the Grand Array, leading to this tragedy.

The Ruan Family had produced Nascent Soul Cultivators for generations. Though they weren’t famous in the Central Continent, they were at the height of their power under the Red Sun Sect’s rule. The Ruan clansmen were often lawless, bullying not only Independent Cultivators but also other, smaller clans.

For such a large clan to be annihilated overnight, the Cultivators who had been oppressed by them in the past naturally clapped their hands in glee. But it also left some people wondering.

Just how powerful was that Nascent Soul Cultivator from the Western Continent to make Ruan Shengqian, a Middle Stage Nascent Soul Cultivator, slaughter his own kin and flee rather than step onto the Sword Fighting Platform?

Normally, the fall of a family like the Ruans would be a trivial matter in the Central Continent, but at this critical juncture, it immediately sparked intense discussion among the populace.

Those Western Continent Noble Families, who had originally been certain of their victory, now began to feel uneasy. They started using their connections, trying to investigate Yang Jing’s background.

"Damn it! That bastard Ruan Shengqian ruined my plans!"

Nine Marvels slapped his thigh repeatedly, already hating Ruan Shengqian to the core.

"I never should have put the Ruan Family on the list! They’ve seen you in action before! Now look, those Great Trading Houses aren’t fools. They’ve shortened the odds on you."

After Refining the Earth Puppet, Nine Marvels was now dirt poor. He had set his sights on this Sword Fighting duel, planning to make a fortune by exploiting the information gap.

He never expected Ruan Shengqian to be so decisive and ruin his grand plan.

Yang Jing’s hands formed a Spell, constantly adjusting the heat of the Celestial Spirit Eight Trigrams Furnace, where a batch of Golden Core Pills was being refined. Even with his skill in Alchemy, refining Golden Core Pills required his full concentration.

"Senior Nine Marvels, with the current odds, it’s just a matter of how much we’ll earn. Why get so worked up? I’m the one who’s truly taken a loss."

What he was truly heartbroken about was the Ruan Family’s secret treasury, which Ruan Shengqian had made off with. That was supposed to be his prize.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!