Chapter 251 Flying Cloud Tiger's Sparring Partner
The miscellaneous knowledge rankings outside of the martial arts rankings all have simple and straightforward names.
For example, the list of alchemists is called the Sky Alchemist Ranking, the list of talisman masters is called the Sky Talisman Master Ranking, and so on.
Martial arts, plus four miscellaneous disciplines—that's the total of five lists on the Sky Ranking.
If you do the math, there should be five hundred exceptional individuals at each level.
Don't be fooled by the fact that five hundred people may seem like a lot, and it may not sound like a top-tier group... but you have to consider the total number of cultivators on the entire continent!
It's just a small domain, but it contains countless cities, each with at least 30 to 40 million people—and that's just a level 5 city. So, just two or three cities would have a population of over 100 million.
You should know that there are probably more than twenty or thirty cities in this small domain, let alone two or three!
This doesn't even include the vast number of counties and towns with populations in the hundreds of thousands or even millions...
In short, even a very ordinary small domain can often have a population exceeding one billion.
Of these billion, those who make it onto the list must reach level five, numbering in the tens of thousands.
Further extrapolation suggests that if a continent had hundreds of billions of people, it could produce at least several million Fusion cultivators!
There are quite a few such continents on the top continents.
From such a large number of people, only five hundred were selected—not to mention, within the category of miscellaneous studies, there may be those who, despite lacking the required cultivation level, can still surpass higher levels, making the total number of cultivators involved even more terrifying.
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In addition, the Miscellaneous Studies list has something special about it compared to the Martial Arts list.
From level five to level seven, it's the same; each list has hundreds of people on it.
By the time the eighth level is reached, the Martial Arts Ranking still has 100 people, but the Miscellaneous Studies Ranking has a total of 100 people—among which there are only 10 Alchemists, and 30 people each in the three miscellaneous studies of Weaponry, Array, and Talisman.
This is precisely because talent in alchemy is the rarest, most closely related to cultivation, and the most difficult to improve.
Moreover, the number of Nirvana cultivators is approximately dozens of times greater than that of eighth-level alchemists.
Level 8 alchemists are already very rare, and selecting only ten of them makes the Sky Alchemist Ranking truly valuable.
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The rewards bestowed by the continental rules naturally do not belong solely to martial arts cultivators; the levels and distinctions of rewards received by cultivators of miscellaneous skills are almost identical to those of martial arts cultivators.
The only difference is:
For the eighth-level alchemists on the Sky Ranking, the top ten, top five, third, second, and first are divided into five tiers.
For the eight levels of miscellaneous skills on the Sky Ranking, the top thirty, top ten, third, second, and first are divided into five tiers.
The rewards are distributed when the Sky Ranking is refreshed each month.
The month's reward will be stored in a mustard seed bag or a box made of special materials and will automatically be given to the genius on the Sky Ranking.
If the reward is special, a message will be sent directly to the genius's mind.
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Zhong Cai said confidently, "Old Wu will definitely make the list."
Wu Shaogan raised his eyebrows: "A-Cai can definitely do it too."
The two smiled at each other, both having great confidence in one another.
After glancing at a few lines of text, Zhong Cai couldn't help but twitch her lips and said, "It's just that this title is a bit too chuunibyou (a Japanese term for someone with delusions of grandeur).
Wu Shaogan ruffled Zhong Cai's hair and said with a smile, "It should be based on the alchemists' ideas."
Why would Zhong Cai say that?
Because everyone who makes it onto the Sky Ranking is considered a top genius, and one of the best among top geniuses. With such a huge halo surrounding them, they must have a pretty impressive title, right?
Just as many forces have to rank their members as "Ten Talents of XX", "Seven Heroes of XX", or "Three Prides of XX", how can the prodigies on the Sky Ranking simply be called "Sky Ranking Cultivators"?
Therefore, all martial arts cultivators who make the list are directly called "Battle Kings".
The fifth level ranking list is for fifth-level Battle Kings, the sixth and seventh levels are also Battle Kings, and the eighth level is called "Battle Emperor".
Wu Shaogan speculated that it was related to the titles of the alchemists because the alchemists on the list were also called "Danhuanghuang" (丹□□皇) – which should also be the reason why the alchemists on the list could refine top-grade pills.
Originally, there were no kings or emperors in the miscellaneous fields of talisman masters, but after being listed, they all became talisman kings or emperors.
It's a complete copy!
·
As for the Lesser Sky Ranking...
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan didn't care much.
It's not anything else, but because this thing definitely has some degree of exaggeration.
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Although the Lesser Sky List is the most credible under the Sky List, it is mainly based on a comprehensive evaluation of the various deeds of many geniuses, leaving considerable room for manipulation.
Sometimes, the one ranked higher is not necessarily a match for the cultivator ranked lower.
However, the rankings were determined only after extensive research and consultation with various stakeholders, and were not arbitrary. While the rankings may be debatable and there may be some hidden gems, there are certainly no particularly poor performers among them.
Especially those prodigies who make it into the top 100 must have undergone countless deliberations and investigations, with almost no margin of error—otherwise, many top geniuses from major powers would not be willing to let those powers put their names on the list.
In order to ensure sufficient preparation, the Little Sky Ranking, which relies entirely on human judgment, cannot be updated monthly. Instead, it will be changed every three months.
Those ranked lower might be dissatisfied, but those who make it into the top 100 can truly be called "prospective candidates for the Sky Ranking".
Therefore, after countless years of development, the Little Sky Ranking has become quite valuable.
The Little Sky Ranking also had titles—initially they were quite varied, but as time went on, some titles became more in line with popular tastes and were eventually adopted.
It's simple and straightforward, just like the difference between the Small Sky Ranking and the Sky Ranking, simply adding the word "Small" in front of it.
Little Fighting King, Little Pill King...
Suddenly, it became kind of cute.
·
The two also looked at some random things, gaining a certain understanding of some major forces across multiple fields on the continent.
They also carefully examined all the information they could find, including that from various counties, major regions, and level-nine forces.
Therefore, the two of them also saw the introduction about the Beast King Tower.
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Just as they had guessed, the Beast King Tower was a force composed of rare beasts, and its location was in the middle of the city. Even though the rare beasts could not transform into human form, their bloodlines held many secrets, and many rare beasts could undergo various transformations to make their lives more convenient.
The seven leaders of the Beast King Tower are in charge of the tower.
Each one is a ninth-tier rare beast, and all of them possess intelligence, capable of handling all matters accurately.
Because the area occupied by beasts is very vast, there are many more rare beasts of this level hidden in deeper places. If seven of them form a force together, they can indeed protect the little rare beasts with intelligence.
Therefore, the Beast King Tower quickly became famous among rare beasts, and over time, it accumulated a huge number of intelligent rare beasts, making the framework of the entire organization more complete.
Over the years, the Beast King Tower has developed mature procedures for the containment, training, and protection of rare beasts.
Those who have registered with the Beast King Tower, like Flying Cloud Tiger, are required to pay protection fees in installments based on their strength, with each installment lasting several years.
The protection fee wasn't much; it was something that ordinary intelligent rare beasts could easily afford.
This way you can get protection, which is really a good deal.
As a result, the Beast King Tower expanded even faster and has become the unshakable number one power among rare beasts!
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Zhong Cai praised Fei Yunhu for being clever, daring to take the initiative to join the Beast King Tower when his strength was still very weak.
Rare animals like these can thrive anywhere.
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Jiao Lu was a thoughtful person.
Although he said that he could be summoned by Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan at any time if needed, he did not forget the business that the two would bring, and news came a few days later.
It turns out that Feiyunhu had already hired all of his cubs for this year.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan could take advantage of this gap to hire Fei Yunhu as their sparring partner.
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Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan discussed it.
"Old Wu, we've gathered enough resources. Let's head towards the Western River Region while Qingyu and Qinghui evolve their bloodlines."
Wu Shao nodded with a dry laugh.
Over the years, Zhong Cai has been stockpiling both the pills he has refined and the bloodline evolution-related resources he has extracted.
In addition, there were some that the Dao soldiers had searched for, and some that had been traded from the academy...
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan would never mistreat the two rare beasts that had accompanied them throughout their lives.
Qingyu and Qinghui were aware of these things and had long been prepared, and there were already signs of their evolution—
But Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan were not in a hurry to urge them.
Because starting this evolution would be very dangerous, in their eyes the two little ones were still cubs, and they had a deep bond with each other, so they were still a little worried about what might happen.
Now that they have arrived on the top continent, their strength is constantly breaking through. Although Qingyu and Qinghui are currently a level higher than them, if the Peng and Lang fail to successfully evolve their bloodlines, they will be forever stuck at the sixth level due to the constraints of their bloodlines.
Therefore, hiring the Flying Cloud Tiger this time is also to further solidify the foundation for the two beasts.
This will give us a greater chance of success.
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Zhong Cai smiled and tossed a mysterious pearl to Jiao Lu, saying, "Then I'll trouble you to lead the way."
Jiao Lu quickly accepted the gift, saying with a pleased expression, "Please, seniors."
Then, he mounted his giant tiger and invited Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan to ride up with him.
Zhong Cai waved his hand and then called out again.
Qinghui suddenly transformed into a giant wolf with magnificent silver fur that shimmered like satin in the sunlight.
Jiao Lu glanced at the silver wolf, then at the giant tiger beneath him—
The giant tiger growled unhappily.
Jiao Lu quickly rubbed the tiger's head a few times, then rubbed it against him vigorously—no matter how beautiful other people's silver wolves were, his favorite was still his ordinary Flying Cloud Tiger, who was his only companion!
The giant tiger was overjoyed. It raised its head and, with Jiao Lu in its arms, ran straight out of the city!
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan rolled over and sat on Qinghui's back.
The blue feather dumpling fluttered up and landed on Qinghui's wolf head.
Qinghui also let out a low roar and charged out closely following the giant tiger.
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Guided by Jiao Lu, Zhong Cai, Wu Shaogan, and the others easily found Fei Yunhu's location.
The two were actually quite familiar with that peak. Although they could have come by themselves, it would have been easier to communicate with Jiao Lu as an intermediary.
Sure enough, after Jiao Lu gave the order, Fei Yunhu slowly walked out of the cave.
The cave entrance was already very large, but when Flying Cloud Tiger emerged, only a huge, furry tiger head could barely poke out first.
Then, the thick tiger fur was pressed down by a layer at the top of the cave entrance, and the huge Flying Cloud Tiger seemed to have no bones, and squeezed out like that.
Its enormous size was revealed.
Although the Flying Tiger tried very hard to show its gentleness and tried to keep its body low, almost lying down, it was still very tall, taller than a person.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan had both seen many giant beasts, so they were naturally not intimidated by the Flying Cloud Tiger.
Jiao Lu had already become familiar with Fei Yunhu and was not afraid at all.
Seeing that Fei Yunhu had already met with the two senior guests, he quickly introduced them to each other and carefully explained what kind of business the two seniors needed.
Zhong Cai glanced at Fei Yunhu.
The giant tiger listened intently, its eyes gleaming as if calculating the potential benefits it could gain.
The resources gained from training with a partner naturally don't need to be shared; they belong exclusively to the partner.
As for the other six-tier rare beasts that it "spars" with, whether it's two of them, what kind of battle mode it will engage in, and how to train them... there are many different opinions, which will also lead to many different prices.
The giant flying tiger opened its mouth and began to speak.
The voice was deep and resonant, like that of a middle-aged human.
“Young human friend, we can discuss this further.” Flying Cloud Tiger glanced at Jiao Lu. “You human brat, go back.”
Jiao Lu agreed with a smile, then bid farewell to the two senior guests and quickly rode away on his giant tiger—he had been helping Senior Fei Yunhu since he was a child, back when he was a human child, and he had always been a human child ever since…
After everyone left, Zhong Cai's expression turned serious.
Flying Cloud Tiger was also prepared, its fur standing on end.
The next moment—
Fei Yunhu said, "Hiring sparring is priced according to the hour, but you have two rare beasts with you. If it is to be one against two in the same hour, the price will be increased by 50%."
Zhong Cai bargained: "No matter how it is one against two, it will only take an hour. Although I should give you a little compensation because you have worked hard, raising the price by 50% is too much. I'll only raise it by 10% at most!"
Fei Yunhu: "One-tenth is too little; it cannot replenish my losses."
Zhong Cai: "Senior, the price you charge per hour is too high. Logically, you should only be a sparring partner, and the cost should be calculated based on time. During this period, the losses should naturally be included."
Feiyun: "Just as you said, it's too hard, we should give them a subsidy."
Zhong Cai: "As I said, a 10% subsidy is enough."
The two of them went back and forth like this, arguing about the price until their lips were practically worn out.
But after arguing for a while, they quickly reached a consensus.
Increase resources by 20% as a subsidy.
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Fei Yunhu was a little annoyed that he had lost, but he quickly and diligently inquired about the specific sparring time.
Zhong Cai waved his hand – Why look for another time? Now is the time!
Feiyunhu had no objection.
As for Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan, these two nouveau riche, once the price for the sparring partners of their contracted children was determined, they didn't even consider the amount of resources provided.
Fei Yunhu discovered that, just as that brat had told him, these were two human cultivators with terrifying strength, no shortage of money, and extremely generous.
One of them, who was at a higher level, emitted an aura that was difficult for him to bear.
Fei Yunhu always felt that even the slightest change in direction would cause trouble.
Therefore, it chooses to cooperate with everything.
Just as the two lively little beast cubs, clearly of the sixth rank but still like children, were about to pounce, the Flying Cloud Tiger swiftly extended its claws!
Flying Tiger is also incredibly fast!
The two little balls immediately reverted to their most comfortable form and began to attack fiercely!
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Zhong Cai watched the chaotic battle in the arena, leaned against Wu Shaogan, and said with a hint of schadenfreude, "Our kids aren't working hard enough. Look at how they're getting beaten up. We'll definitely have to make fun of them when we get back."
Wu Shaogan had no objection and silently took out the recording stone.
The kids should also "feel ashamed and then be brave".
Zhong Cai was even more amused when she saw what her husband, Lao Wu, was doing!
She truly is his soulmate!
Old Wu is amazing!
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Aside from the first day, for the next few days, the two little ones would carry their mustard seed bags and go to spar with Flying Cloud Tiger on their own.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan continued their research—trying to read as much as possible and learn as much as they could.
The mainland is so vast, and there are so many books to read and buy in this entire library.
But the two of them have a lot of mysterious stones.
Even now, they still bought them all without hesitation and categorized them, stuffing them into bookshelves in the ancient city.
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Every day when Qingyu and Qinghui return, their auras become even stronger.
Of course, at first they looked quite disheveled—which shows that Flying Tiger really put in a lot of effort and was indeed a very skilled tiger.
However, Qinghui and Qingyu improved too quickly, and soon they were no longer in a sorry state. Together, they could suppress Feiyunhu.
After that, the rare beasts can engage in one-on-one battles.
Feiyunhu is very professional. After realizing that his cubs had almost exhausted his combat experience and he could no longer further hone them, he took the initiative to suggest that the sparring session could end.
Qingyu and Qinghui simply returned to Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan's side.
Zhong Cai raised her eyebrows, and together with her husband, they gave the two boys a good rub and a squeeze.
After settling their bill at the inn, the two rode Qinghui and, with Qingyu in tow, left Feiyun City.
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Cities on the top continents are often very far apart, and sometimes there isn't even a smooth road unless some cities have close ties with each other—of course, this doesn't apply to all situations.
After Qinghui carried the two out of the city, they arrived at a relatively secluded wilderness, where Zhong Cai took out an eighth-level flying boat.
The two people and two beasts boarded the boat together, then piloted the flying boat towards the West River Region.
There will definitely be times when we have to take detours for various reasons, and the journey will take some time due to the distance.
But it doesn't matter.
When Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan are together, they usually don't feel like "time is dragging on" and they have no desire to cause trouble.
Wu Shaogan put his arm around Zhong Cai and said gently, "When we encounter some cities, we can occasionally go down to buy some food for A Cai."
Zhong Cai said with a grin, "That's exactly what I wanted!"
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This day.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan were dozing off when suddenly, they both felt a jolt, as if they had abruptly realized something was about to happen in the world, making their hearts pound with fear—
The two walked to the window and looked outside.
At this moment, a huge light screen was projected into the sky and spread out directly!
Those were five huge, golden lists!
Zhong Cai suddenly understood, held her breath, and blurted out, "It's the Heavenly Ranking!"
After a moment's thought, Wu Shaogan said, "It is indeed the beginning of the month."
Zhong Cai gasped – he was so leisurely, spending his time cuddling with Lao Wu and occasionally reading, that he had completely forgotten what day it was!
But at that moment, Zhong Cai suddenly remembered something, excitedly grabbed her husband's hand, and looked directly at the list in the very center!
That is indeed the Sky Martial Arts Ranking!
Zhong Cai raised her eyes and quickly searched from top to bottom.
And this search...
He was shocked to discover that, in the top third position, was a familiar name!
[Third place: Wu Shaogan!]
Zhong Cai was overjoyed and couldn't help but grab Wu Shaogan's hand, excitedly saying, "Old Wu! You're third! You're third!"
His heart was beating very fast.
I always thought Lao Wu would definitely be on the list, but he ranked third on his first appearance on the list, which is really amazing!
His husband, Mr. Wu, is just that amazing!
It's powerful on intermediate continents, and it's also powerful on top-tier continents!
Old Wu has this ability to rank high on any list he makes!
So many martial arts cultivators at the Fusion Realm were almost all defeated by Old Wu!
Hahaha!
Zhong Cai's smile was so bright it was almost arrogant!
·
Wu Shaogan looked thoughtfully at the Sky Alchemist Ranking.
A-Cai's name is not on it.
Wu Shaogan frowned deeply.
Although alchemists, regardless of their talent, need to accumulate a great deal of experience in alchemy...
If A Cai is ranked low on the list, it makes sense. After all, A Cai is still very young. Even if she is incredibly talented, she certainly can't compare to those alchemists who have been on the list for decades or even centuries in terms of experience. Everyone has outstanding talent in alchemy, so unless there are some very special circumstances, the older ones usually have an advantage because they have more experience!
However, it shouldn't be nameless either.
With a young alchemist like A Cai who can create his own pill formulas and poison formulas and refine dozens of top-grade fifth-level pills, he shouldn't be left out of the list no matter what. Wu Shaogan asked himself, his martial arts talent is not higher than A Cai's alchemy talent, and even if his martial arts accumulation is not as exaggerated as that of an alchemist, since he is on the list, A Cai should be on it too!
So, what's going on?
Wu Shaogan paused for a moment.
Could it be... that it's because A-Cai hasn't refined any pills on the top continent yet?
If A-Cai wants the rules of the mainland to recognize his abilities, does he have to refine all the pills?
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