Yang Ye returned to Cloudfall Gorge once more. Because the little fellow was too conspicuous, so he’d hidden the violet mink in his Vortex Dantian.

As he hid in the shadows, Yang Ye’s expression changed when he saw the situation within Cloudfall Gorge. At this moment, Cloudfall Gorge was covered in a dense expanse of corpses. There were Darkbeasts amongst these Corpses, but even more belonged to humans. Without any exception, all the Darkbeasts had been slit open and had their Inner Cores removed, whereas, the heads of the human profounders had been chopped off….

This time, Yang Ye could be considered to have witnessed how brutal the Ascension Rankings was. Of course, he didn’t care about those dead Darkbeasts or humans, and it was especially so for the humans because they wanted him dead just a little while ago!

The battle continued until nighttime, and then it dragged on until dawn arrived. The number of human corpses on the ground grew higher and higher. On the other hand, even though a huge number of Darkbeasts had perished as well, because the number of Darkbeasts was much higher since the beginning, the little bit of Darkbeasts that had perished were unable to affect the army of Darkbeasts at all.

As he watched a human fight intensely with a Darkbeast in the gorge, Qin Youran who stood by Yuan Tong’s side said with a low voice, “Yuan Tong, this can’t be allowed to continue, otherwise, the profounders of our human race will be completely annihilated by the Darkbeasts!”

Yuan Tong glanced at the decreasing group of human profounders behind him, and then a wisp of a cold glow flashed in his eyes. Indeed, it’s just as Qin Youran said, this can’t be allowed to continue. Because if it does, then all the profounders of my human race will probably perish here. But if it’s a group battle, then these profounders would perish even more quickly!In short, these independent cultivators are just too weak! If all the disciples of the six great powers and the Imperial Academy were here, then how could we have fallen into such a situation?

After a short moment of silence, Yuan Tong made his decision.

He lightly tapped the ground with the tip of his foot and flashed over to the center of Cloudfall Gorge. He gazed at the young man in luxurious clothes who led the Darkbeasts and said, “There’s no need to continue. Take it as a loss of my human race!”

The young man in luxurious clothes nodded lightly, and then he said, “Alright. But the loser must pay a price. What sort of price do all of you intend to pay?”

“What do you desire?” asked Yuan Tong in a low voice.

“Hand over that human who possesses a King Rank Darkbeast. Or else, I guarantee that all of you’ll be unable to leave the Grand Myriad Mountains!” said the young man in luxurious clothes.

Yuan Tong’s brows raised as he said, “Are you threatening me?”

The young man shook his head and chuckled lightly. He said, “I know that it’s definitely not a problem for you to leave the Grand Myriad Mountains with the strength you possess, and this includes the other disciples of the six great powers and the Imperial Academy. But what about the independent cultivators? What about your path to becoming the Martial God?”

Yuan Tong’s pupils constricted when he heard this, and then he said, “Who exactly are you? Why are you aware of the path of the Martial God!?”

“Who I am isn’t important!” The young man smiled as he said, “In the beginning, I was wondering why you, Yuan Tong, would participate in the Ascension Rankings. Earlier, I finally figured it out. According to rumor, the Martial God doesn’t just have to be undefeated, he has to obtain the submission and acknowledgment of his peers. You came to participate in the Ascension Rankings and summoned all of them to go against my Darkbeast Empire precisely for these two reasons, right?”

Yuan Tong gazed at the young man for a short while, and then he said, “How about we have a fight?”

The young man shook his head and said, “The time for that hasn’t come. I’ll fight you once you’ve become the Martial God. A fight with the Martial God, that would be much more meaningful, don’t you think?”

“I hope you don’t disappoint me when the time comes!” said Yuan Tong.

The young man smiled as he said, “I won’t!

Yuan Tong turned around and returned to the humans. As he gazed at the less than 40,000 humans that remained, he said in a deep voice, “The reason the Darkbeasts of the Darkbeast Empire have united is that they are looking for a King Rank Darkbeast, and it’s the one that the disciple of the Sword Sect, Yang Ye, possesses. So long as Yang Ye is found and that King Rank Darkbeast is handed to them, then the humans and Darkbeasts can stop fighting and make peace, and we can leave the Grand Myriad Mountains and return to the Grand Qin Empire!”

The profounders in the surroundings immediately heaved sighs of relief when they heard Yuan Tong. Fighting one on one battles with Darkbeasts was undoubtedly unfair to them because the strengths of Darkbeasts were practically always superior to humans of the same cultivation realm. So, if these battles were to continue, then besides those especially top-rate profounders, practically all the other profounders would perish here!

But now, so long as they handed Yang Ye and that King Rank Darkbeast over, then they could return to the Grand Qin Empire, and once they did that, there would only be glory and opportunity that awaited them!

When they thought up to here, all of them were unable to maintain their calm!

In next to no time, countless profounders looked towards the Sword Sect’s members, and their gazes were slightly hostile.

The expressions of those members from the Sword Sect changed when they saw this. Situ Rong was even infuriated to the extreme, and he turned around to glare at Murong Yao before he said furiously, “You were still trying to protect Yang Ye just now? Look! He made our Sword Sect become targeted by everyone. He’s just a source of disaster, a great source of disaster and misfortune that makes enemies for my Sword Sect!”

Murong Yao’s eyes narrowed slightly while a cold glow flashed within them. However, she didn’t say anything because she was unable to change or control the current situation.

Situ Rong took a step forward, and then he said loudly, “Everyone, I, Situ Rong, announce right here and right now that my Sword Sect isn’t related to Yang Ye at all. If all of you encounter him, and he’s unwilling to hand that King Rank Darkbeast over, then feel free to make a move against him. My Sword Sect will absolutely not take revenge for him!”

Yuan Tong glanced at Situ Rong, and then he said, “As expected of the most outstanding disciple of the Sword Sect’s younger generation, Brother Situ is clearly aware of the right thing to do. But if Brother Situ encounters Yang Ye, then I hope that Brother Situ wouldn’t let him go because he’s a disciple of your sect. After all, it’s related to the lives of countless people!”

“If I encounter Yang Ye, then I will definitely not hold back!” Situ Rong hurriedly made his stand clear, and he spoke with a resolute tone! The other disciples of the Sword Sect who stood behind him had hurriedly made their stands clear as well.

“Good!” Yuan Tong nodded lightly, and then he gazed at everyone and said, “Form groups of five and search for Yang Ye throughout the mountain range. Remember to be careful of that King Rank Darkbeast! If anyone is able to find Yang Ye and capture him alive or bring that King Rank Darkbeast back, then the reward from me will be 100 King Rank Inner Cores. Moreover, I’ll give that person a spot as an outer court disciple of the Origin School!”

All of them were unable to maintain their calm when they heard this. 100 King Rank Inner Cores and the opportunity to become an outer court disciple of the Origin School! That was an extraordinary opportunity! In next to no time, all of them hurriedly formed numerous small groups and dispersed towards the surroundings.

After he watched them leave, Yuan Tong gazed at the member of the other five great powers and the Imperial Academy. He said, “Everyone, this matter is related to the lives of countless geniuses from our southern territory. All of you wouldn’t just stand idly by and do nothing, right?”

Qin Youran sneered and said, “Yuan Tong, I don’t know why you’ve done all of this, but I want to tell you that I refuse to accompany you. We’ll meet again during the second round of the competition!” As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Youran led the members of the Imperial Academy away. He would naturally not fear the Darkbeasts of the Grand Myriad Mountains because so long as he trod carefully, then how could those Darkbeasts possibly stop him?

As soon as Qin Youran left, Leng Xinran from the Snow Palace made her stand clear as well. She didn’t say anything, and she just led the members of Snow Palace towards another direction. Obviously, she refused to participate in this matter as well!

When he saw the members of the Imperial Academy and Snow Palace leave, a cold light flashed in Yuan Tong’s eyes, and then he looked at the Ghost Sect and Flower Palace as he said, “What about the two of you? Will you be leaving as well?”

Li Xianjun from the Ghost Sect said coldly, “Of course. My junior brother, Xiu Luo, perished in battle, and only I remain from the Ghost Sect. I naturally have to take good care of my life!” As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and left.

Wenren Yue glanced at Yuan Tong, and then she said, “Yuan Tong, you made two mistakes. The first was to send your junior brother alone to pursue Yang Ye. The second was to make those independent cultivators form groups of five. If I was you, I would ask them to form groups of 10!” As soon as she finished speaking, she led the members of the Flower Palace away!

Yuan Tong frowned slightly. What did she mean by that? Could it be that the strength of that disciple from the Sword Sect, Yang Ye, is very formidable?

In next to no time, Yuan Tong shook his head. How strong could a fellow that couldn’t even withstand a single punch from me be?

Yuan Tong glanced at Situ Rong and said, “Yang Ye is a disciple of the Sword Sect, so Brother Situ wouldn’t stand by idly, right?”

“Of course!” Situ Rong spoke in a cold voice. “As an inner court disciple, I, Situ Rong, naturally have the duty to rid my Sword Sect from such a disciple!”

What a joke, how could Situ Rong allow Yang Ye to return to the Sword Sect? When he witnessed the battle between Yang Ye and Qin Youran just now, he’d already decided that he would absolutely not allow Yang Ye to return to the Sword Sect. Because Yang Ye’s potential and strength were truly too terrifying, and it was utterly not difficult for Yang Ye to surpass him, Situ Rong, in the future.

So, if he didn’t eliminate Yang Ye now, then when?

Yuan Tong grinned, and then he looked at the black robed young man from the Brightmoon Sect that had been constantly overlooked by everyone. He said, “What about the Brightmoon Sect?”

The black robed young man smiled and said, “Brother Yuan, stop joking around. Only I alone remain from the Brightmoon Sect. If I die, then my Brightmoon Sect would truly lose face this time. Moreover, my strength is inferior to Yang Ye. Not to mention that he has a King Rank Darkbeast by his side. So, looking for him would be like courting death for me! Thus, I’ve chosen to return to the Grand Qin Empire. I hope everyone will show some understanding!”

Yuan Tong grinned and said, “I understand!”

Just like that, the profounders that participated in the Ascension Rankings had stopped killing Darkbeasts, and they’d started searching for Yang Ye instead!