Divine Emperor Demon Emperor

This wasn’t the place to talk. Lin Yun and Wu Tianyuan headed for the mountain forest beside the main road. A small hill there provided a rather pleasant environment. Martial Artists weren’t picky when they were out and about; as long as there was wine and meat, they were content.

Just as Lin Yun and Wu Tianyuan were about to leave, Lin Yun turned to call for the Monk and Daoist. But when he looked, he saw the two of them collecting an "admissions fee."

"You there! Where do you think you’re going? You were so engrossed in the show just now, and you think you can just run off without paying? Believe it or not, I, Lord Buddha, will slap you to death."

"Hurry up! One hundred Low Grade Primordial Stones per person! A battle between two of the Yanhuang List’s top ten geniuses isn’t something you see every day! One hundred Primordial Stones is a steal! You won’t regret it, you won’t get scammed!"

Seeing the duo joyfully collecting Primordial Stones, the crowd, though extremely reluctant, didn’t dare to say a word because of Lin Yun and Wu Tianyuan’s presence. They all obediently handed over one hundred Low Grade Primordial Stones.

At one hundred Low Grade Primordial Stones per person, a thousand people meant a hundred thousand. They’d made a small fortune.

"Your two friends are quite a pair," Wu Tianyuan said with a laugh, watching the Monk and Daoist deposit a steady stream of Primordial Stones into their Space Rings.

Hearing this, Lin Yun immediately replied, "I don’t know them well." Then, he roared at the Monk and Daoist.

"Let’s go, you two money-grubbing fools!"

The group headed into the mountain forest. Along the way, Lin Yun had the Black-striped Tiger hunt down a Demon Beast. After all, if you’re going to drink, you need meat.

Upon reaching the small hill, they found the scenery was indeed lovely. Lin Yun and Wu Tianyuan found a large tree and sat down beneath it. Meanwhile, the Monk and Daoist were busy off to the side, counting the Primordial Stones they had just collected.

"This is the finest vintage from the Nan Feng Kingdom. Try it." Wu Tianyuan took two bottles of wine from his Space Ring, handed one to Lin Yun, and took a large swig himself.

"Ah, that hits the spot!" he said with satisfaction. Seeing the two of them drinking, the Monk and Daoist couldn’t restrain themselves any longer and approached Wu Tianyuan.

"How can you be drinking without sharing with us, the Monk and the Daoist?"

Hearing this, Wu Tianyuan was stunned. ’What the hell? You call yourselves holy men, yet you’re begging for wine?’

"He’s a Monk Jiu Rou, and the other is a Seductive Daoist. They don’t count as clergy," Lin Yun explained.

Far from being embarrassed by Lin Yun’s words, the Monk and Daoist simply crowded in. The four of them formed a circle, and Wu Tianyuan took out two more bottles of wine for them.

Like travelers in a desert, the Monk and Daoist took a huge swig, sighing with heartfelt appreciation, "Ahh, that’s the stuff! It’s been too long since we’ve had the fine wine of the Nan Feng Kingdom!"

The four of them drank and chatted about everything under the sun. The Black-striped Tiger had long since returned with a Tier Two Demon Beast, and they started a fire to roast the Demon Beast Flesh. They were still drinking joyfully as the sky gradually grew dark.

"Lin Shan, do you know the origin of the Yanhuang List?" Wu Tianyuan asked suddenly, once they had drunk their fill.

Lin Yun shook his head. Seeing this, Wu Tianyuan began to explain slowly.

"On the Celestial Spirit Continent, there is a very strange organization. It doesn’t get involved in the struggles between factions, nor does it compete for resources. It’s like a spectator on the continent."

"But despite this, no one on the Celestial Spirit Continent dares to underestimate it. In fact, it enjoys an unrivaled reputation."

"You’re talking about Zhihu Tower, aren’t you?" the Monk interjected.

Wu Tianyuan smiled faintly. "That’s right. No one knows how many years Zhihu Tower has been around. All people know is that at Zhihu Tower, there’s no information you can’t obtain. As long as you have Primordial Stones, you can find out anything."

’An organization that sells information?’ Lin Yun thought. "But what does that have to do with the Yanhuang List?" he asked.

"Besides providing information, the ranking lists established by Zhihu Tower are the most authoritative on the Celestial Spirit Continent. Any Martial Artist who makes it onto a list is either a regional overlord or a peerless Demon Fiend."

"Zhihu Tower has established two ranking lists. One is the Strongest Venerable List, which exclusively records a number of old monsters who are unrivaled in the world. Without exception, anyone on that list is a regional overlord."

"The other list is the Green Hero Venerable List, which records the most talented and most fiendish figures of the current generation’s Green Talent."

"The Yanhuang List, in turn, was established by Yanhuang Country based on the Green Hero Venerable List. It’s not just Yanhuang Country, either. The Nan Feng Kingdom has its Wind Forest List, and the Southeast Domain has its Green Talent List, for example."

As he listened to Wu Tianyuan speak about Zhihu Tower, Lin Yun gradually began to understand this organization. It was a mysterious and unfathomable power that didn’t participate in any conflicts, yet no one dared to underestimate it. This was because any faction that had ever entertained ill intentions toward Zhihu Tower had long since vanished into the river of history.

According to Wu Tianyuan, every Martial Artist dreamed of getting onto one of Zhihu Tower’s two lists. Once your name was on a list, the benefits—or perhaps, privileges—you could obtain were extremely enticing.

For example, if you manage to get on the Green Hero Venerable List, Zhihu Tower will provide you with any intelligence you want, free of charge. Just think how tempting that is.

Zhihu Tower, which claims to know everything, will provide you with any intelligence you want for free, for life—as long as you remain on the Green Hero Venerable List.

The geniuses of the younger generation would fight tooth and nail for a spot on the Green Hero Venerable List. However, with only fifty spots available, even the most exceptional geniuses could only gaze at it from afar, unable to reach it.

Every single person who managed to get on the Green Hero Venerable List was, without exception, a Demon Fiend.

Among the Eastern Domain’s Five Great Demon Fiends, who were considered the supreme overlords of the younger generation, only two had made it onto the list, and their rankings were extremely low.

According to Wu Tianyuan, the Eastern Domain was the most backward region of the Celestial Spirit Continent, completely incomparable to the Martial Arts Sacred Land of the Central Domain. Half of the Green Hero Venerable List was composed of Demon Fiends from the Central Domain.

The Central Domain even accounted for half the names on the Strongest Venerable List, which just went to show how powerful its Martial Artists were.

After finishing his explanation about Zhihu Tower, Wu Tianyuan took a sip of wine and said in the tone of a senior, "Lin Shan, I’m telling you all this so you understand that the Yanhuang List is nothing special. It might be the top list in Yanhuang Country, but in the outside world, it carries no weight at all. No one will acknowledge it. You need to broaden your horizons. The path of Martial Arts is endless, you understand?"

Lin Yun understood everything Wu Tianyuan was saying. Having lived two lives, his perspective was broader than anyone’s. Not even Zhihu Tower was his goal. From the very beginning, Lin Yun had only one objective: revenge.

Now that he knew about Zhihu Tower, Lin Yun became extremely interested in the Green Hero Venerable List. According to Wu Tianyuan, receiving free intelligence was just one of the list’s perks. He wasn’t sure what the other benefits were, but he imagined they wouldn’t be insignificant.

Now slightly drunk, Wu Tianyuan looked at Lin Yun with hazy eyes and slurred, "Lin Shan, you’re only at the Third Layer of Qi Sea Realm, but you already have such Combat Power. You absolutely cannot become arrogant or complacent. You’re the only person I’ve seen in the Academy who has a chance to reach the level of a Demon Fiend. You have to keep it up!"

With that, Wu Tianyuan fell into a deep sleep.

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