The white clothed woman was lying silently in his embrace, and his hands were holding a pair of softness. He instinctively squished them a few times, and that soft feeling allowed him to realize that this wasn’t a dream but reality.

He looked towards the side in a slightly dazed state. The little fellow was gone, the grey wolf was gone as well, and the sword was standing not too far away from him, and it seemed as if it was considering if it should attack him.

“This is going to be difficult to deal with!” As he looked at the woman in his embrace, this was what Yang Ye thought at this moment.

Right at this moment, the woman opened her eyes, and she stood up from Yang Ye’s embrace. After that, she picked up her clothes from the side and put them on in a composed manner, and then she went over to get her sword. The woman didn’t even spare Yang Ye a glance, nor did she say a single word, and it was as if Yang Ye didn’t exist.

At this moment, Yang Ye had finished wearing his clothes as well, and his eyelids twitched when he saw her get her sword. He took two steps back and said, “I… I think we should deal with this matter peacefully.”

Even though he had the little fellow and the grey wolf, the woman had that sword which had a spirit of its own. So, if they were to enter into battle, he wasn’t confident in his ability to win!

The woman held the sword, and then she turned around to look at Yang Ye before she said with an emotionless expression, “Go ahead, tell me how we should deal with it.”

How else are we supposed to deal with it? Yang Ye took a deep breath and said, “It’s already not important to discuss who’s right and wrong in this matter. I know that if I say that I’m willing to take responsibility, you’d definitely feel disdainful towards it, but I still want to say that I’m willing to take responsibility.”

“At least you’re bold enough to take responsibility, not bad!” The woman said coldly, ‘However, do you know? I’m at the seventh rank of the Spirit Realm, and I’ll become an Exalt Realm expert in another year of time. I’m not even 30 yet this year. What about you?”

There was no ridicule on the woman’s face, nor did she reveal disdain towards Yang Ye, she was extremely calm, and her face didn’t carry any emotions.

I knew this would happen. Yang Ye sighed in his heart, yet he didn’t seem to have suffered a blow from her words. He said, “I heard a saying that love isn’t divided by cultivation or wealth. I… I think these words are extremely well said.” As he finished speaking, his face couldn’t help but flush red.

“It is very well said!” The woman nodded, and a smile had just appeared on Yang Ye’s face when he heard her say. “But, is there love between us?”

Yang Ye’s smile froze. He went silent for a short while, and then he looked at the woman and said, “You’re less than 30 this year, and I’m less than 20 now. Even though I’m only at the Mortal Realm now, but do you dare say that I would definitely be inferior to you at your age?”

The white clothed woman gazed at Yang Ye for a short moment before she said, “Whether your strength is strong or not is meaningless to me. I won’t kill you merely because you’re a disciple of the Sword Sect that might ascend the Ascension Rankings, and it’s only because of that.”

Yang Ye felt slightly uncomfortable in his heart upon hearing this. Of course, anyone would feel uncomfortable from being disregarded. However, he knew that she had the qualifications to disregard him. At the very least, she had those qualifications now.

“Then how do you intend to deal with this matter. Let me tell you beforehand that if you intend to kill me, then I won’t allow you to succeed without putting up a fight. If we were at the outside, then I can’t do anything but take my own life. However, we’re here, and if we fight, then it’ll only be a life and death struggle.” Yang Ye decided to be frank. In any case, it had already happened, and it was best for everyone to just be frank.

The woman glanced at Yang Ye, and then she gazed towards the distance and said, “All the large powers of the southern territory hold a competition every three years, and these powers include the Grand Qin Empire’s Imperial Academy and the six extraordinary powers. This competition is called the Ascension Rankings.”

When she spoke up to here, the woman turned around to look at Yang Ye as she said, “I want you to enter the Ascension Rankings, and you have to obtain the top 30 positions in the competition in order to gain a spot on the rankings.. All those years ago, I obtained the 20th position on the Ascension Rankings, and as for you, you’ll get into the top 10!”

Yang Ye’s eyelids twitched. My god! I haven’t even passed the Outer Court Exam, and I haven’t even completed the battle with Liu Qingyu that’s occurring in around two and a half months. Yet this woman before me wants me to participate in that Ascension Rankings? Moreover, based on what she said, the Ascension Rankings is a place where geniuses converge!

Just thinking about the geniuses in the entire southern territory is terrifying!

Yang Ye wiped off the cold sweat on his forehead and said, “The Ascension Rankings probably has some sort of restrictions, right?”

The woman said indifferently, “Below 20 years of age and below the King Realm. Just these two restrictions!”

“What’s the meaning behind the Ascension Rankings?” asked Yang Ye.

“The meaning?” The woman pondered deeply for a moment and said, “To the geniuses that participate in the competition, it’s an opportunity to become famous, and to the sects, it’s an opportunity to redistribute resources.”

“Redistribute resources?” Yang Ye was puzzled.

The woman explained. “There are nine states in the Grand Qin Empire, and there are over a million cities in every single state. We sects and the Grand Qin Empire require a continuous flow of new blood to join our forces because this is the only way to maintain the continuity of the sect. In the past, the large sects and the Grand Qin Empire frequently fought amongst each other for the sake of obtaining talented recruits. In the end, because of certain reasons, everyone couldn’t fight amongst ourselves any longer. So, the Ascension Rankings was created, and the higher the rankings obtained by a sect’s disciples were, the more cities would be distributed to that sect. For example, during the last Ascension Rankings competition, the Origin School obtained the first, third, and sixth positions, so they obtained three states and over 500,000 cities. On the other hand, because no one from our Sword Sect entered the Ascension Rankings, our Sword Sect only obtained a few small cities around our Sword Sect.”

“Is the Sword Sect that weak?” Yang Ye blurted out, and then he felt slightly regretful as soon as he finished speaking. This woman before me obviously has a great deal of affection to the Sword Sect, so she’ll definitely be infuriated by what I said.

The woman didn’t get angry, and she just sighed and said, “The Sword Sect is very weak now. It only possesses less than 6,000 Outer Court Disciples, and around 2,000 Inner Court Disciples, whereas, there are only a little over 1,000 Elite Disciples. If the Sword Sect didn’t possess the support of its ancestors, then it couldn’t even be considered a second-rate power.”

“Those geniuses on the Sword Sect’s Outer Court Rankings and Inner Court Rankings are unable to enter the Ascension Rankings as well?” Yang Ye frowned as he asked this question.

The woman shook her head and said, “A genius in a mountain village is a genius in the eyes of all. But if this genius head to a town, then he would be not bad at most. If he arrived at a city, then he would probably only be ordinary, and if he arrived at a state, then he might not even be considered as ordinary. If that genius was compared to the entire southern territory, then perhaps he would be a piece of trash. The geniuses of the Sword Sect can be said to be geniuses within the Sword Sect, yet if they were placed at the Ascension Rankings, then they can at most be considered to be pieces of trash.”

“Then why did you ask me to enter the top 10? After all, I’m not even an Outer Court Disciple now!” Yang Ye spoke in a light voice.

The woman gazed at Yang Ye when she heard this, and then her brows raised as she said, “What? You aren’t confident in your ability?”

“I need motivation!” Yang Ye looked directly at her and spoke.

“What motivation?” The woman frowned.

Yang Ye took a deep breath and said, “If I enter the Ascension Rankings, then I want you to give me a chance to pursue you.”

Did he like the woman before him? Yang Ye didn’t know the answer to that. All he did know was that this woman already belonged to him. Since she belonged to him, then they should be together. It was just that simple. [1]

“What?” The corners of the woman’s mouth rose slightly, and she revealed a trace of disdain and said, “You think that just because that happened between us, then I ought to be together with you? I’m not that type of woman that will fall into a man’s arms just because I lost my purity. In my opinion, the Sword Dao and the Sword Sect is everything to me!”

“Do you really hate me?” asked Yang Ye.

“Not really!” The woman said indifferently, “Besides possessing a slightly weak strength and being slightly chauvinistic, your character and disposition isn’t bad.”

“I don’t hate you as well!” Yang Ye hurriedly said, “Besides your slightly cold and proud disposition, you’re still alright in every other aspect. Since you don’t hate me, and I don’t hate you, then why don’t you give me a chance? If it’s because my strength is a bit weak, I’m still young, aren’t I? What do you think?”

The woman gazed at Yang Ye, and she just gazed at him like that. Yang Ye wasn’t willing to show weakness, and he met her gaze. At any rate, it was already like this, and both of them were frank with each other. This was for the best.

After a long time, the woman said, “Fifth on the Ascension Rankings and I’ll give you a chance.”

“Deal!” Yang Ye spoke hastily. At this moment, he seemed to have forgotten that the Ascension Rankings was where monstrous geniuses converged.

When she saw Yang Ye’s slightly excited appearance, a trace of an unusual feeling flashed in the woman’s heart, but it vanished in the blink of an eye. For the sake of the Sword Sect’s future, she’d cultivated in the sword throughout her life, and her life belonged solely to the sword. Not to mention falling in love, she rarely even came into contact with someone of the opposite sex. Earlier, when that had suddenly happened between her and Yang Ye, her first thought was to kill Yang Ye. However, she didn’t do that because just as she’d said, Yang Ye might be able to bring a trace of vitality to the Sword Sect.

However, when Yang Ye raised this request, a type of strange feeling had arisen in her heart for some unknown reason. She didn’t know what this feeling was because she’d never felt this feeling in the past.

“My heart is in disorder!” The woman gazed towards the distance as she muttered in a low voice.

1. TL Note: It’s how people from years ago think. Please observe an old-fashioned mindset when reading this paragraph.