Chapter 3124: External Help?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Previously, during their journey to the Profound Nether Mansion from the Simplicity Celestial Sect, Duan Ling Tian had already heard from Qi Tian Ming that the Profound Nether Mansion had cultivated some powerful Ten Directions Celestial Dukes to represent them in the middle realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm. There were a few who had comprehended six profundities from a law, but there was only one person who had comprehended seven profundities from the law of wood.

‘Zhou Hong Jie.’ Duan Ling Tian committed the name to his memory. Based on the conversation he had overheard earlier, it seemed like Zhou Hong Jie, the Ten Directions Celestial Duke who had comprehended seven profundities from the law of wood, had not broken into the top twenty for almost a year now.

‘He has comprehended seven profundities from the law of wood, and yet, he can’t even rank in the top twenty… It seems like the Ten Directions Celestial Dukes from other grade-six Celestial Mansions are incredibly strong…’ It was not difficult for Duan Ling Tian to figure out that the Celestial Dukes from other grade-six Celestial Mansions were incredibly strong. These grade-six Celestial Mansions should all have Ten Directions Celestial Dukes under the age of 1,000 who had comprehended at least seven profundities from a law. Otherwise, it would not be difficult for Zhou Hong Jue to rank in the top twenty with his strength.

Apart from that, Duan Ling Tian was not surprised when Qi Tian Ming said Zhou Hong Jie was a core disciple in the Profound Nether Mansion. In the Profound Nether Mansion, those weaker than Celestial Kings, with the exception of a few powerful Ten Directions Celestial Dukes, were all outer court disciples. The test to become an inner court disciple in the Profound Nether Mansion was rather difficult. Usually, only extraordinarily strong Ten Directions Celestial Dukes and Celestial Kings were able to pass the test. As for core disciples, they were mostly those who became Celestial Kings before reaching the age of 1,000. Strength was not the only thing that was important, the Profound Nether Mansion placed much importance on talent as well.

Although Zhou Hong Jie was just a Ten Directions Celestial Duke, his comprehension skills and the number of profundities he had comprehended surpassed most inner court disciples and a few core disciples in the Profound Nether Mansion. Moreover, the reason Zhou Hong Jie had not broken through and become a Celestial King was probably due to the Profound Nether Mansion’s wish to suppress his cultivation base.

For all these reasons, Duan Ling Tian was not surprised to learn that Zhou Hong Jie was a core disciple of the Profound Nether Mansion.

“The screen in the yard, as you can guess, is the current scoreboard for the middle realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm… If you want to see the rankings from previous months, you’ll have to go inside,” Qi Tian Ming said as he led Duan Ling Tian to the back.

The Profound Nether Mansion disciples in the front yard were extremely curious when they saw Qi Tian Ming leading Duan Ling Tian around. They were naturally curious about his identity. After all, for an inspector of the Profound Nether Mansion to bring him around, he could not be an ordinary person.

“Who’s he? I don’t think I’ve seen him before…”

“He must be outstanding if Inspector Qi is personally bringing him around…”

“Inspector Qi is next to him so I don’t dare to probe him with my Divine Consciousness. However, my Divine Consciousness was close enough to detect he’s not even 100 years old!”

“He’s not even 100 years old?”

“Oh, I thought Inspector Qi found external help to raise the Profound Nether Mansion’s ranking in the middle realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm… It seems like I was overthinking things.”

“External help? They’re not easy to find… Put aside the fact that there are very few sectless Ten Directions Celestial Dukes under the age of 1,000 who are powerful, even if there’s one, the other grade-six Celestial Mansions would have found him first. The Profound Nether Mansion has never been particularly successful in recruiting external help.”

‘External help?’ Duan Ling Tian was stunned when he overheard the conversations in his surroundings just as he was about to enter the building. He sent a Voice Transmission to Qi Tian Ming who was walking in front of him. “Elder Qi, are we allowed to seek external help?”

“Yes.” Qi Tian Ming nodded. “The rules in the middle realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm don’t prohibit us from seeking external help. However, it’s incredibly difficult to find capable help. It’s extremely rare for a sectless Ten Directions Celestial Duke under the age of 1,000 to comprehend six profundities from a law, let alone seven profundities. Those who have such qualifications are naturally outstanding and have long been recruited into one of the Ten Major Clans and the Top Five Sects. One isn’t allowed to seek help from members of the Ten Major Clans and Top Five Sects. Even if you somehow manage to get one of the members to help you, you’d definitely have to pay a high price for it. Most, if not all, grade-six Celestial Mansions wouldn’t be able to afford the price. Therefore, grade-six Celestial Mansions could only look for sectless cultivators if they want to seek external help.”

Based on Qi Tian Ming’s words, it seemed like many members from the Ten Major Clans and Top Five Sects who met the requirements to enter the middle realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm could easily rank at the top of the scoreboard. He was not too surprised. After all, the Ten Major Clans and Top Five Sects were the top forces in the Southern Heaven Territory. The Blood Skull Gang was nothing in front of such forces.

When Qi Tian Ming finished speaking, they had already entered the building. As soon as they entered, they were in a spacious hall. Both sides of the hall were lined with more than ten counters. At the back of the hall, there was a stone platform with elaborate carvings.

“You can claim your Accumulative Point Jade from any of the counters at the sides. You can also check previous rankings there.”

The stone platform at the back was where the Transporting Formation to the middle realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm was located. As long as one was younger than 1,000 years old and possessed both the Profound Nether Mansion’s identity token and the Accumulative Point Jade, one could use the Transporting Formation.

“You’ll be given only one Accumulative Point Jade every month. Apart from that, once your ten days in the middle realm are up, the Formation in the Accumulative Point Jade would automatically activate and bring you out of the middle realm. At that time, your score on the scoreboard would be the final score for the month,” Qi Tian Ming explained to Duan Ling Tian.

Similar to when they were outside, people who recognized Qi Tian Ming began to greet him one after another.

“Lord Inspector!”

“Lord Inspector!”

After that, they shifted their eyes to Duan Ling Tian and looked at him curiously. Like the people outside, they were curious about his identity. What kind of background did he have that an inspector of the Profound Nether Mansion was showing him around?

“External help?”

Their guesses were similar to the people outside, and upon discovering Duan Ling Tian’s age, most of them dismissed him as a young master from a prominent family.

“Give him an Accumulative Point Jade please,” Qi Tian Ming said to a middle-aged man seated behind the counter.

The middle-aged man was just an ordinary elder in the Profound Nether Mansion. He was stunned when he heard Qi Tian Ming’s words. ‘Give the young man next to him an Accumulative Point Jade?’

At the same time, Duan Ling Tian took out his identity token that proved his status as an outer court disciple of the Profound Nether Mansion before placing it on the counter.

“This is my identity token, I would like an Accumulative Point Jade so I can enter the middle realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm.”

Although it was just an outer court disciple’s identity token, it caused quite a commotion when those in the surroundings saw it.

“He even has an identity token from the Profound Nether Mansion… It seems like this purple-clad young man really comes from a prominent family.”

“He’s not even 100 years old? Is he going sightseeing in the middle realm?”

“Not only is Inspector Qi showing him around, but he also has an identity token from the mansion… Although it’s just an outer court disciple’s identity token, we all know how difficult it is to obtain one.”

“That’s right! Even the Inspectors and Vice Mansion Masters of the Profound Nether Mansion don’t have the authority to issue identity tokens. Only the Mansion Master and the Pavilion Masters of the Profound Nether Mansion have the authority to issue identity tokens.”

“Is there a possibility that this purple-clad young man is related to the mansion master or one of the nine pavilion masters?”

“Wow! This purple-clad young man is really amazing!”

Although the conversations in the surroundings were not loud, they did not escape Duan Ling Tian and Qi Tian Ming’s ears. Qi Ming Tian did not care about the conversations while Duan Ling Tian felt that these people had overactive imaginations.

Naturally, Duan Ling Tian knew these people arrived at that kind of conclusion all due to his young age. After all, what could someone who was not even 100 years old do in the middle realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm apart from sightseeing?

The middle-aged elder seated behind the counter handed an Accumulative Point Jade to Duan Ling Tian and said, “You can inscribe your name on it. Once I confirm the name is the same as the one on your identity token, you can drip a drop of blood on it to claim ownership.”

As soon as Duan Ling Tian picked up the Accumulative Point Jade, he could feel it was special. Even without using his Divine Consciousness or sending his Celestial Origin Energy into it, he could feel the energy fluctuations from it.