815 Wherever the Xu Faction Passes, Not a Single Blade of Grass Will Grow!

"This is the cloud bead?"

A large group of 70 odd people was waiting for the trial at the back. Xu Xiaoshou was alone in front, leading the way.

He looked at the head-sized crystal bead in his hand with curiosity.

The cloud bead was milky white, and there were traces of clouds and mist in it. Each of them contained an extremely primitive interpretation of the Great Path. Just by looking at it, one could understand it.

The crystal ball's carrier was made up of extremely pure energy. It was believed that as long as one absorbed it, one's cultivation level would improve greatly.

"Order of Dao realization, spiritual source augmentation... the two-pronged approach is indeed a good thing that everyone dreams of."

Xu Xiaoshou sighed and no longer hesitated. He put on his spiritual senses and sucked on the Breathing Technique. The cloud beads turned into pure spiritual and Dao energy and then flowed into his mouth and nose.

The people behind him were all looking enviously.

After absorbing the cloud bead, Young Master Xu sat cross-legged on the ground. The spiritual source vibrated around his body, and he seemed to have the power of a Master (stage) vaguely.

The Order of Dao realization surrounding him was many times stronger than that of an ordinary Master (stage).

Some people even speculated that some weaker Sovereign (stage) could not compare to Young Master Xu's Order of Dao realization.

"As expected of the Sovereign (stage) the Way of the Sword!"

Zhu Dong, Zhao Xiu, and others were envious. Such a genius was indeed worthy of being a Demi-Saint descendant.

Not long after, Xu Xiaoshou had finished absorbing the energy of the cloud bead. He opened his eyes, and a bright light flashed through them.

"Good stuff!"

"Just a cloud bead can bring such a great benefit to my Heavenly Image State. I have underestimated the world of Cloud Realm. It seems that Cheng Ji really wants to obtain many benefits for the trial takers of the Imperial City Trial.

"Not only that. Not only the energy reserve of cultivation has increased, but the realization of the Master (stage) of the Heavenly Image State has also deepened quite a bit."

Xu Xiaoshou's expression turned subtle.

He had broken through to the Master (stage) using the Way of the Sword. There was no bottleneck at all.

But it was after all a technique of the Ancient Swordsman. In this world where spiritual cultivators were considered orthodox, Xu Xiaoshou did not want to suffer big losses because of a small benefit...

In other words, 'Suffer big loses because of a small benefit' might not be an accurate description.

However, Xu Xiaoshou did not want to give up on the Path of Spiritual Cultivation. It was like he wanted the best of both worlds.

"Master (stage) Heavenly Image State is in contact with the Way of the Sword. Although it is only a partial understanding of the order, compared to the Way of the Sword...

"The World Order includes the Way of the Sword, but the Way of the Sword can also evolve into a world.

"However, the world of the Sword has its limitations. After all, it is trapped by the Sword. The World Source that the Spiritual Cultivator has comprehended is the fundamental power of the Great Path.

"The power of the Order may not be as powerful as the benefits brought by the Way of the Sword when one is a Master or a Sovereign, but after a long period of realization, one's achievements in the future may not be much weaker than the Ancient Swordsman who specializes in the Way of the Sword!"

Xu Xiaoshou vaguely understood why the Ancient Swordsman was so powerful, yet it was still declining in this era.

It was because the threshold for the entry of the Swordsman was too high. Even after the entry, the mid-stage (Master or Sovereign) was extremely powerful and invincible among those of the same stage.

But the spiritual cultivator cultivated the orthodox way. At the mid-late stage (Cutting Path), many people would basically be on par with the Swordsman.

As for the later stage of the Cutting Path, the Nine Death Thunder Realm, the Higher Void (level), and so on, if a spiritual cultivator had an in-depth understanding of the orders of the World Source, then an ordinary Ancient Swordsman of the same realm wouldn't be able to do anything to him!

"No wonder there are so many Demi-Saint Spiritual Cultivators in this world, but there are so few Swordsmen."

Xu Xiaoshou was amazed.

The power of the Order of the World Source was very strong, and he couldn't let it go.

He wanted the Way of the Sword.

He also wanted the Way of Spiritual Cultivation!

...

He opened the point board.

After a battle, the ranking was updated again.

"First, Chong Yuan, 25,300 points."

"Second, Duo Er, 13,200 points."

"Third, Jiang Xian, 10,250 points."

"Fourth, Luo Yin, 2,425 points."

"Fifth, Rong Dahao, 1,950 points."

"..."

What the heck!

Xu Xiaoshou was shocked when he saw the top five.

In just a short while, Su Qianqian had been pushed out.

Moreover, the top three of the list had already exceeded 10,000. Did they all hunt cloud beasts?

"No one is idle either..."

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly realized that this kind of trial environment could truly highlight the ultimate foundation of the descendant of a large faction.

He was familiar with the few top five on the list.

Jiang Xian, who was ranked third, was the owner of the Three Loathsome Eyes" previously. However, he was then robbed of his eyes by a 'Yama' person.

One of them was still in Xu Xiaoshou's hands.

"But this guy doesn't seem to be at the cultivation level of the Innate (stage), right?"

Xu Xiaoshou remembered that when he met Jiang Xian in the Heaven Prayer Forest, the power he displayed was already beyond that of the Innate (stage).

"Could it be that the Three Loathsome Eyes were stolen and his cultivation level has regressed? Is he trying to enter the Yunlun Mountain Range to look for opportunities?"

"Or is it a stowaway?"

"But why would the stowaway use his real name? Is he not afraid of death... Oh, he is also a Demi-Saint descendant. Perhaps he is not afraid of death."

Xu Xiaoshou had a headache.

What background did these trial takers have for the Imperial City Trial?

He also had an impression of Luo Yin, who was ranked fourth on the list. He was from the Zhaoluo Heavenly Palace of the Grand Yuan Mansion. He was the sacred physique that Xu Xiaoshou had experienced in the heaven geomantic battle.

He had thought that he was weak, but he did not expect that he would be able to shine in the Yunlun Mountain Range.

As for the others...

Staring at the first and second rankings, Xu Xiaoshou could not help but frown.

He turned around and waved at the 70 odd people waiting for the trial behind him. "A few of you, come over."

The 70 odd people looked at each other and didn't dare to go forward.

Xu Xiaoshou fixed his gaze. The few people in the lead couldn't help but walk out.

"Tell me your names."

Five people came up.

Xu Xiaoshou could see that these were the five strongest people in the group with the strongest cultivation level. Each of them had the ability of a Master (stage). Obviously, they had suppressed their cultivation level for a long time.

Zhao Xiu was among them.

Other than that, there was only one woman and three young men among the four.

"Mystic Heavenly Mansion's Tai Xing, Three Lives Sect's Mo Beibei, Virtuous Palace's Xi Guanghan, Eastern Pavilion's Zhu Dong, a wanderer, Zhao Xiu... good to meet Young Master Xu!" the five of them said in unison.

"All of you are from Central Region?" Xu Xiaoshou raised his eyebrows. He had heard the discussions of the people in the surroundings. The first four of these five people had quite a strong background.

"Yes," five of them nodded.

Xu Xiaoshou lamented that the people from the Central Region had indeed stolen the show in Dongtianwang City Trial.

Mo Beibei was the only female among the five of them. She looked pretty.

The other four people each had extraordinary looks, except for Zhao Xiu.

Xu Xiaoshou asked about their background but not the situation in Central Region. It would be useless to ask about the situation in Central Region.

He pointed at the point board and asked, "Do you know the persons in the first and second rankings?"

"Of course."

Zhu Dong of the Eastern Pavilion had been following the point board for a long time. He stepped forward and said, "Chong Yuan in the first place is a dark horse in the young generation of the Central Region. The Chong family is not big, he's not even from the Higher Void family. However, he is talented and has great luck. Understandably, he has temporarily taken the first place on the point board."

"The person in the second place has a strong background," Zhu Dong said with confidence. "She is a Demi-Saint descendant in the Southern Region, a practitioner of the Black Heart Fruit clan. Miss Duo Er has made a great name for herself when she was traveling in the Central Region."

Demi-Saint descendant?

Xu Xiaoshou was taken aback.

There was really something big going on in Abyss Island. Another Demi-Saint descendant?

"As for the others of the top five..."

Zhu Dong's expression was somewhat mocking when he said helplessly, "They are all descendants of great families! Jiang Xian is a Demi-Saint descendant. Young Master Xu should know about him during this time in Dongtianwang City. Luo Ying and Rong Dahao are both descendants of the Higher Void family. The former is from the Zhaoluo Heavenly Palace of the Grand Yuan Mansion, while the latter is rumored to be the current leader of the clan from Great Void."

All of them had backgrounds... Xu Xiaoshou sighed and asked, "What about you guys? Compared to these people, what about your respective factions?"

The four of them looked at each other and said bitterly, "We can't compare with them at all. Let alone the Higher Void family, our factions can only compete with the Chong family at best."

Zhao Xiu covered her mouth and laughed, "Chong family has Chong Yuan. You guys, don't try to raise your status!"

"Shut up!" Xi Guanghan glared at him. He was also a tall and sturdy man. The murderous aura emanating from his body wasn't any weaker than Zhao Xiu's.

"He," Zhao Xiu shrugged his shoulders and didn't say anything else. He was a wanderer, and he normally wouldn't provoke people from the sects. He couldn't afford to provoke them.

After a round of conversation, Xu Xiaoshou had a deeper understanding of these people.

The power of the four big families was about a level higher than that of Dongtianwang City's Guiyin Pavilion and Great Xuantian Sect. There might be Higher Void families in the faction, but they couldn't compare to the true Higher Void family.

It didn't matter!

Xu Xiaoshou didn't care about these things.

The trials in the Yunlun Mountain Range didn't take background into consideration.

These people were very strong. If they were placed in the outside world, they would be able to sweep through a large group of people.

"Let me think for a while..."

He lowered his head and pondered.

The 70 odd people behind him all felt apprehensive knowing that Young Master Xu was about to announce their sentence.

After a short while...

Xu Xiaoshou raised his head and looked at the people.

"I believe that everyone is also following the point board. Too many people have just got on the board. Some of them have reached thousands or tens of thousands of points in a short time. You are not stupid. You should know that this is not something that can be achieved by one person.

"Everyone on the point board has a large number of followers behind them. Very soon, fighting alone will be eliminated in the Yunlun Mountain Range.

"If we don't group up together, we will definitely die!"

This was true.

Everyone nodded and fell into deep thought.

At this moment, the number of people on the point board was about to exceed 10,000. Every time the point board was refreshed, the top scorers' points would increase by hundreds or thousands of points.

If 10,000 points were added each time, one might have killed a cloud beast.

But adding hundreds or thousands of points...

In this situation, other than killing people, the only possibility was everyone searching for the cloud bead together and channeling the points to the leader.

The other regions had already started to group up.

But the Eastern Region was so quiet.

If the situation continued as it was, the 70 odd people would fight to the death for a mere cloud bead.

In the end, even if they managed to reach the core region, the Nine Dragon Range, most of the people in the Eastern Region would have already died.

And when the time came, there were only two outcomes when fighting alone.

Either they would be used for database brushing by the major factions and gangs in the other regions...

Or they would be forced to join them.

Young Master Xu's words made everyone think of the ending.

The current situation was nothing more than Young Master Xu wanting to form his own group and compete with the people at the top of the point board.

"Young Master Xu wants to break through the ranking?" No one was stupid. Someone in the crowd immediately asked.

"No," Xu Xiaoshou smiled and shook his head. "I want to gather everyone and use the greatest strength to excavate the most treasures in this Yunlun Mountain Range and distribute them in the most reasonable way."

These words made everyone frown.

It was too idealistic!

Everyone was a genius with pride. How could they accept the life of being controlled and distributed as slaves?

"Listen to me..."

Xu Xiaoshou smiled and pulled out Hidden Bitter. He then said coldly.

"What I am thinking is that there are so many treasures in the Yunlun Mountain Range waiting for us to explore. We don't have to limit ourselves to cloud bead.

"As long as everyone listens to my orders, it will definitely not just for half a day. Even a cloud bead has to be given to 70 people.

"We can use the maximum range of our senses and search the mountain. Wherever in the Yunlun Mountain Range that we pass, nothing will be left behind.

"At that time, not to mention spiritual herbs and spiritual medicine, there will be all kinds of spiritual weapons, spiritual beasts, spiritual treasures. And even the cloud beads and cloud beasts will not be spared.

"If we bump into people from other factions, I will appear. They will either give up their points, and we will split them, or we will send them out directly.

"Everyone, what do you think?"

Xu Xiaoshou raised Hidden Bitter and let the Sword Will indulge in the air, causing everyone to tremble.

What did you think?

What could we do?

Other than saying 'Yes', did they have the right to say 'No'?

Many people actually resisted in their hearts. They did not want to be controlled by others but there was nothing they could do.

Young Master Xu with a sword could slash 10 times the number of people in this place. As long as those present wanted to continue participating in the Imperial City Trial and complete the journey, they had no choice but to agree.

After agreeing in unison, everyone's mentality began to transform.

If the other factions were to form a group, we would have no choice but to form a group as well. Then, the final battle would be on the leaders of the various factions.

And the might of Young Master Xu's sword was so terrifying.

So if they managed to reach the end, they might still be able to fight against the others.

When the time came, as the founding elder who first joined the Xu Clan, would he still worry about not getting any points?

"Resisted, Passive Points +26."

"Expected, Passive Points +13."

"Obeyed, Passive Points +54."

Xu Xiaoshou finished commanding the heroes with a sword strike and smiled in satisfaction.

He did not bother to adopt any 'soft' policies towards these new recruits. There was not much time for the Imperial City Tria, to begin with. Since he could slash them with a sword strike, why would he need to be soft?

"Next, you will be divided into five groups."

Xu Xiaoshou used his sword energy to divide the 70 people into five groups. Then, he pointed at the tip of his sword. "Each group will be led by Tai Xing, Mo Beibei, Xi Guanghan, Zhu Dong, and Zhao Xiu."

"As for the five of you..."

Xu Xiaoshou thought for a while and stopped thinking about it anymore. "For now, I will call you the Five Tiger Generals. The Five Tiger Generals will each lead their people and spread out the treasure search net. It can be as big as it can be. If you bump into anyone, call me. We will do our best to develop our members."

"Hmm, with more members, we'll be like a qualified organization... In that case, our organization should have a name too. We'll call it the 'Xu Faction'!"

"What I want is that wherever the Xu Faction passes, not a single blade of grass will grow!"