Rumors were mightier than a tiger, but the level of gossip in the Star Sect was a little out of hand.
Though Lu Yun had spent the past ten years in closed door cultivation, heâd occasionally walked around outside and picked up many outrageous stories that were the subject of fascinated conversation after meals.
Heâd turned into their main character at some point, and a love triangle was about to become a love square.
Su He teased him delightedly while those around them stared at him, occasionally roaring with laughter and filling the Hall of Soul Dominion with a cheerful mood.
âAhem!â Lu Yun suddenly coughed and interrupted solemnly, âSenior sister Su He cares so much about this matter, can it beâŚâ He paused and swiftly continued before the girl had a chance to respond. âItâs said that when senior sister Xing Lan was still senior brother Xing Lang, she was a genteel and charming young man. She bewitched quite a few lovestruck girls, I take it that senior sister Su He was one of them!
âI heard that when senior sister Xing Lan hung senior brother Xing Lingkong up for a beating, it wasnât originally for the seat of head disciple of the Star Sect. She did it for you!â
Instead of refuting Su Heâs words, he made her another female lead of the story and sounded incredibly convincing at that.
Su Heâs jaw dropped and the other disciples in the hall perked up their ears. This was fresh fodder! While gossip was a cherished hobby in the Star Sect, the stories werenât completely groundless. They addressed inconsequential topics, but were always rooted in the tiniest bit of truth.
Now that those present heard Lu Yunâs words and thought of Xing Lan and Xing Lingkong, their eyes gleamed. The addition of Su He didnât seem like hearsay!
âWhat, what are you babbling about?!â Su He blushed furiously, but didnât know how to deny Lu Yunâs words. Her reaction lended that much more credibility to the latest twist in the story.
âSo itâs a love triangle⌠Do you like senior brother Xing Lingkong, or senior sister Xing Lan?â Lu Yun turned her previous question back on her.
âYouâre awful!â Su He glared furiously at Lu Yun and frantically ran off.
The young man chuckled merrily. People like her had to be handled with a taste of their own medicine. He was the best beneath the heavens when it came to being shameless!
With that, Lu Yun put the situation out of his mind and sat down on the nearest cushion.
A noise sounded the moment he took his seat; both person and cushion vanished at the same time. When his vision cleared, there was a vast world in front of him and he was still sitting cross legged on a seat cushion.
âEh?â He raised his head and noted that his surroundings were the same as the Hall of Soul Dominion. However, he could clearly tell that he was no longer in the hall. âSo my bodyâs in another patch of unknown spaceâŚâ
He stood up and stretched his limbs out.
âThis is a body made purely from soul force, like a soul force replica.â
It contained all of Lu Yunâs thoughts and consciousness, but could also communicate with the primary body. If he wanted to go back to his body, all he needed to do was to sit back down on the cushion.
âThis soul force replica is at the major World Manifest level and its soul force is initial grandmaster.â Lu Yun briefly assessed his condition. âSoul Dominion is marvelous indeed. Apart from soul weapons, anything else unrelated to soul force cannot enter.â
Argent Snow appeared when he flipped his hand over. A tremendous amount of information flowed out from it and entered his mind.
âThere are eight testing realms in Soul DominionâProfound, Divine, Serene, Mountain and Rivers, Lunar Pivot, Aureate Wind, Argent Snow, and Azure Fog. I should be going to the Argent Snow one.â
He walked out of the hall and entered a massive clearing that heâd seen from the building. Eight enormous stone tablets rose in different directions like divine mountains. A dense collection of names were scrawled over them, and five characters of dark gold floated over them.
âThe Hero Rankings of the Soul DominionâŚâ Lu Yun almost fell over when he read them. âFine, as tacky as the name is, itâs very appropriate. Those who can make it onto the tablets probably count as true heroes.â
There were three thousand names on each of the tabletsâthe top three thousand of the eight testing realms. They included all soul weapon cultivators from the Hongmeng worlds and stars of the Boundless Planes.
Lu Yun studied the names. Anyone listed here would be a major personage of the fourth realm. He couldnât afford to offend them yet.
âXing Chen!â He suddenly saw a familiar name. Ninth of the Serene RankingâXing Chen of the Star Sect!
Lu Yun blinked with astonishment. âNo wonder sheâs so renowned throughout the fourth realm and half of the sectâs reputation can be attributed to her!â
Ninth on the ranking! That meant she was ranked number nine out of all supplemental grandmasters in the known and unknown expanses that trained in the Serene Annex!
However, the main caveat of these rankings was that they assessed mastery and comprehension of soul weapons. They didnât indicate anything about actual battle strength. It was possible that number one of the rankings was just a World Manifest supplemental grandmaster.
A Nihil World Sovereign could crush ten of them with a single hand.
Lu Yun quickly recovered his composure. Grandmasters bustled to and fro in the training realms. Training and trials were a way to verify their cultivation and another locale to proceed further in their cultivation.
Soul Dominion seemed so endless that no one knew how many cultivators it could hold at a given time, but thereâd never been a time when it stopped operating.
Dismissing extraneous thoughts from his mind, Lu Yun arrived in front of the Argent Snow tablet.
âThe Argent Snow Hero Ranking⌠ranked first is Jian Zhuxian of Ingress Sword Island!â Lu Yunâs eyes widened. Jian Zhuxian⌠sword condemn immortal⌠The Immortalâs Condemnation Sword!
This Jian Zhuxian was likely the same as Jian Juexian, someone born understanding one of the sword daos of the island. He was the master of the immortal condemnation path. What set him apart from Jian Juexian was that he was a supplemental grandmaster and specialized in the Argent Snow soul weapon.
Lu Yun didnât know which was more important to Ingress Sword Islandâsoul weapons or the four swords.
âRanked second is Sword First of the Sword Clan. No wonder Xing Chen wanted me to visit the island or clan to search for Argent Snowâs heritage.â Lu Yun finally understood the seniorâs good intentions. âThe Snowsword Sect probably doesnât have Argent Snowâs heritage. Xing Chen wouldnât have been able to raze it otherwise.
âBut if sheâd told me before that the sect doesnât have it, I wouldnât have believed her and would only think she doesnât want me to die in the ruins.â
Lu Yun took a deep breath and set foot into the stone tablet in front of him.