Chapter Seventy: The Title of White Jade Capital

The morning breeze gently brushed past, causing the cherry blossoms on the branches to sway and scatter a faint, delicate fragrance throughout the area.

Fang Long stood at the foot of the steps, instinctively straightening his back. No matter what people said online about Bai Yujing’s supposed bravado, if they saw him in person, even the most cynical netizens would surely put on their most polite and respectful faces. That was the difference between the virtual and the real world.

He bowed and said, “Hello, I am Fang Long, editor-in-chief of the Heroes Website. I apologize for the unannounced visit, but I would like to discuss your title with you.”

With that, Fang Long straightened up, quickly opened his briefcase, took out a document, and handed it over with both hands.

Bai Yujing accepted the document. He was familiar with the Heroes Website Fang Long had mentioned. The idea of giving powerful spiritual masters formal titles first became popular in America, under the grand name of “superheroes,” which gave rise to movies and TV shows that once swept the globe. Later, as the Internet spread throughout Xia Country, the Americans’ creativity was borrowed, and spiritual masters here began to receive their own titles as well.

Spiritual masters like Bai Yujing, who had achieved great feats, would inevitably be approached to discuss a suitable title. There was even a running joke online: the first thing the editor-in-chief of the Heroes Website would say to a spiritual master was, “Sir, surely you don’t want internet users to come up with a weird nickname for you, do you?”

Though humorous, the joke revealed how much weight the Heroes Website carried among spiritual masters. For if titles were left to the whims of netizens, an endless tide of strange and fanciful names would surely follow.

Bai Yujing glanced over the list of proposed titles: “The Sole Sage of the Cosmos,” “The Mystic Emperor,” “The Martial Exterminator of Ten Directions,” “The Threefold Supreme One”—each title accompanied by a majestic, poetic epigraph, attesting to the website’s professionalism and care.

His gaze settled on one title in particular.

“Lord of Celestial Judgment. Epigraph: At a single thought, eras and stars collapse; with five fingers, I grasp the fate of all beings. Why plead for a pardon from the heavens? Where I stand is the execution ground!”

Bai Yujing felt this epigraph captured his power perfectly and said, “I’ll take this title.”

Fang Long smiled. “Very well, I’ll take my leave.”

“Come in for a cup of tea.”

“Thank you, but I have other matters to attend to,” Fang Long replied with a courteous smile.

In this profession, he had seen all manner of spiritual masters. Most of these powerful figures were unpredictable—amiable one moment, icy the next. He dared not risk overstaying his welcome.

…

Autumn sunlight spilled across the roof of the Qingyun Sect’s main hall, gilding the ridge with a warm golden halo. Bai Yujing sat atop the roof, opening the Heroes Website app.

At the top of the homepage, the newest title displayed was his own: Lord of Celestial Judgment, accompanied by the poetic epigraph and a record of his defeat of Yamata-no-Orochi. The update had earned him a new wave of attention.

The once quieted buzz online had flared to life again.

“Lord of Celestial Judgment—tsk tsk, in my experience, the more imposing the title, the weaker the fighter.” “I think it suits his personality.” “Go for it, Lord of Celestial Judgment! Looking forward to the day you topple the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors!”

“Nonsense! The Azure Emperor is unmatched!” “You must be joking—the Crimson Emperor is the strongest spiritual master!” “And what about the Human Emperor who sealed the Seven-Tailed Beast?”

The comment section was ablaze. The debate over which of the Three Sovereigns or Five Emperors reigned supreme was evergreen, but netizens never tired of throwing themselves into these passionate arguments, each defending the honor of their chosen idol.

Bai Yujing joined in as well, crossing swords in the comment section and staunchly supporting his own claim to supremacy.

As the conversation went on, he glanced at the time in the upper right corner of his screen and suddenly remembered he had more pressing matters to attend to—he could not linger chatting with netizens.

By then, the comments under his new title had already surpassed a thousand.

He closed the app and called down toward the training grounds below, “Training is over. Time to take on a commission.”

…

Inside the martial arts training chamber, Zhu Ying’s figure flashed like lightning, deftly evading the encirclement of the training dummies. She gathered her spiritual pressure in her palm; seven acupoints lit up in succession, forming the pattern of the Big Dipper. With a low shout, she called, “Heaven-Shattering Palm!”

In the next moment, a torrent of spiritual pressure erupted from her palm, surging forward like a tidal wave, devastating everything in its path.

Over a hundred dummies were poised to charge, but in an instant, they were swallowed by the oncoming force. Their forms disintegrated in the blast, dissolving into silvery, mercury-like liquid that splashed through the air, vanishing before it could hit the ground.

With that strike, only twenty dummies remained in the chamber.

Fine beads of sweat, clear as grains of rice, broke out across Zhu Ying’s forehead and traced down her fair cheeks. The slight bulge of her horn on her forehead, charming as a crisp snack, lent her an irresistible allure.

She took a deep breath, ready to eliminate the last twenty dummies, when Bai Yujing’s voice sounded from afar, interrupting her thoughts.

“Training is over. Time to take on a commission!”

Zhu Ying stopped, turned, and left the chamber. The twenty remaining dummies, seeing she no longer intended to attack, melted back into the gleaming white floor.

She entered the room opposite, turned on the faucet, scooped up cool water to splash on her face, and dried off with a towel.

She pulled open the collar of her plain white T-shirt, slipped the towel inside to wipe away the sticky sweat from her chest. The clammy feeling disappeared, and a look of comfort flickered across her cool, elegant face. After wringing out the towel and hanging it up, she stepped outside.

Sunlight poured over the flagstones in the courtyard, where white plum blossoms trembled gently in the breeze, their fragrance mingling with the air.

She had only taken a few steps when two figures appeared, one after the other, at her side.

“Junior sister, how’s your training going?”

Zhu Ying had long since grown accustomed to her two senior sisters always checking on her progress. She answered calmly, “I can now use the third form of the Big Dipper Sacred Fist to defeat eighty opponents in a single strike. I’m nearly finished mastering it.”

“And what about you, second sister?” Liu Shuangling asked with a smile, turning to Tiya.

Supporting her ample curves with both hands so that the leopard print beneath her white T-shirt seemed about to surface, Tiya replied, “I’ve reached ninety percent mastery of my chant. How about your Absolute Barrier, senior sister?”

“I can only cover my body and deflect some attacks,” Liu Shuangling admitted, sharing her own progress.

Discussing their training each day did wonders to spur their motivation.

As they chatted, Bai Yujing appeared, sunlight making his sky-blue crane robe shimmer brilliantly.

With an easy smile, he said, “Heroes Website has given me a new title—Lord of Celestial Judgment. What do you think?”

“Not bad.” “It’s fine.” “Very good.”

The three reacted calmly. With Bai Yujing’s strength, earning a title was only to be expected.

He stroked his chin, thinking that their sect still lacked a mascot to spice things up.

Just then, his phone chimed with a crisp notification. Bai Yujing glanced at the screen—a Grade B commission from the system had appeared: “Protect the martial arts tournament’s seeded contestant, Du Yu, until tonight’s tournament concludes.”

The reward: three million.

Without hesitation, he accepted the commission. “I’m off. Keep up the good work today!”