Chapter Eighty-Four: The Hidden Genius Emerges

Wang Meng, after all, was a disciple of Zhenxian City. As a fellow member of the righteous path, he felt little estrangement from the disciples of Pure Yang Temple. After a brief exchange, he generally understood his situation.

“So, I’m not the only contender who entered the Chosen Relic through an alternate route?” Wang Meng asked.

“Of course not,” replied a Pure Yang disciple enthusiastically. “Besides you, Brother Wang Meng, there are more than a dozen unfamiliar names among the top hundred of the Chosen Ranking. Not only do we not know them, even their own senior brothers and sisters from their sects don’t recognize them!”

“Let me take Brother Wang Meng to the New City to see the Chosen Ranking. Perhaps you might recognize some of those names.”

Several Pure Yang disciples invited Wang Meng into the New City.

Since most experts had entered the Small City for the selection, those left in the New City were mainly waiting for the first stage of the Chosen to conclude. The atmosphere in the city was relaxed.

Wang Meng was somewhat astonished that the Pure Yang disciples could erect such a sizable and well-equipped city amidst the selection. They were here to compete for the ultimate sacred artifact, not to build infrastructure—was a whole city really necessary?

Upon seeing the New City, he wanted to mock the Pure Yang disciples for being overly fastidious, but when he heard this was already the third city they had built, his words stalled in his throat.

Fine, fine, you’re ruthless enough.

Yet, he grew interested in the “Steward Wang” mentioned by these disciples.

In their words, Wang Li was an outstanding elder, the pillar of their sect.

After some pressing, Wang Meng learned much about Wang Li’s circumstances, which left him puzzled.

“Are you saying your Steward Wang is a senior, yet the Chosen requires participants to be under one hundred years of age?”

Wang Meng couldn’t help voicing his doubt.

The disciples glanced at each other, none willing to answer, leaving an awkward silence.

“Wang Li is a reincarnated one, there’s nothing secret about it,” Luo Heng appeared beside them, scrutinizing Wang Meng as he spoke. “It’s not a secret, you don’t need to avoid the subject.”

As one of the talents cultivated by the Pure Yang Temple’s inner sect, Luo Heng knew many things. He had long heard of Wang Li’s artifact for recording cultivation techniques, and knew Pure Yang had invited the heads of various sects to trade for it, indicating Wang Li’s identity was already common knowledge among the other sects. He saw no reason to conceal it from Wang Meng, who would learn it soon enough anyway.

Besides, Wang Li was not present, so he wasn’t worried Wang Meng would have any designs.

Wang Meng did have thoughts, but Luo Heng’s candor made him swallow his words.

“Brother Luo Heng, when do you plan to enter the Small City for the selection?” a Pure Yang disciple asked.

Now, only Luo Heng, Jiang Yu, and Zhou Qian remained among the experts in New City. Luo Heng was concerned the city might have problems once the experts departed, so he stayed to oversee things for a while. After all, the Chosen Ranking didn’t specify when participants had to enter the Small City. He also wished to watch Jiang Yue’s Core Formation tribulation before joining the selection himself. Jiang Yu and Zhou Qian were focused on protecting Jiang Yue, hoping to enter the Small City alongside her after she advanced—since Jiang Yue was the Chosen Ranking’s host, following her might net them some experience.

Luo Heng said, “In a few days, once Sister Jiang Yue succeeds in her tribulation, we’ll leave.”

“So that’s it!” The disciples envied Jiang Yue—her background was strong, her cultivation swift, truly making others jealous…

“This is the fifth on the Chosen Ranking, Brother Wang Meng?”

Wang Meng saluted, “You must be Brother Luo Heng, I’ve long heard of you.”

A smile crept onto Luo Heng’s lips. “Brother Wang Meng has heard of me?”

Wang Meng nodded, “Indeed. While cultivating in Zhenxian City, my master often mentioned Brother Luo Heng, saying you are a rare prodigy in a hundred years, destined to reach Nascent Soul before a century. Meeting you today, I see the reputation is well deserved.”

“Oh? You can discern my cultivation? Have you already shattered your core and formed a Nascent Soul?” Luo Heng asked in surprise.

Few knew of his breakthrough, so with Wang Meng’s words, Luo Heng surmised his realm must be at least equal, if not greater than his own—even though he could not sense Wang Meng’s precise cultivation.

“I’ve just entered Nascent Soul, nothing compared to you,” Wang Meng admitted frankly.

“Haha, your master flatters me. I entered the Chosen Relic at the Golden Core stage, and now I’m only at the first level of Nascent Soul. But you, Brother Wang Meng, leaped from Foundation Establishment straight to Nascent Soul. By comparison, I’m far behind.”

“I heard you just came from the Small City—could you tell us about your experience?”

“Certainly,” Wang Meng recounted his time in the Small City briefly, causing Luo Heng to frown deeply.

“So you’re saying the danger in the city increases with the strength of the participant?”

Wang Meng nodded, “Yes, at least that was my experience. But for a selection, that arrangement is quite reasonable.”

Luo Heng chatted a bit more with Wang Meng before leaving, troubled.

The disciples led Wang Meng to the Chosen Ranking.

When Wang Meng saw Xing Kai’s name, his eyes widened.

“Xing Kai is a disciple of the Five Element Pavilion?”

“Chi Xianzi? A disciple of the Sacred Land of True Yang? That explains why he practices the 'True Yang Infinity Technique.' Hah, claiming to be a rogue cultivator—Sacred Land of True Yang is really regressing, not even daring to reveal their own identity.”

“Hmph… Liu Shifei—is that the effeminate one? Ugh, truly disgusting!”

Wang Meng recalled several cultivators he had encountered in the Small City and matched them to the names on the ranking. Seeing Liu Shifei’s name sent a chill through him.

“Wait, Gou Lichuan from the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons… Well, I always suspected you weren’t human, but I didn’t realize you were literally a dog! Fine, you dared to trick me, we’ll see about that…”

“Way of Freedom… Yes, Hua Ying’s style does fit the Way of Freedom…”

He had seen all these people in the Small City, and even clashed with some. “Thinking back, these are all elite disciples secretly cultivated by their respective sects, just like myself.”

“But who is that woman who crushed everyone in the Small City?”

A trace of wariness flickered in Wang Meng’s eyes.

He memorized the information on the top hundred of the Chosen Ranking, then found a place to meditate and rest.

He was simply too exhausted…

After Wang Meng appeared, more people gradually emerged from the Small City.

Most had mysterious backgrounds—Wang Meng hadn’t seen them in the Small City either—but quite a few Pure Yang disciples who entered earlier had returned.

Compared to those unknown identities, the disciples of Pure Yang seemed much more battered.