Chapter 208: Chapter 208: Kuchen’s Request
"By the way, has anyone been looking for me recently?"
"Of course." Leng Yingying nodded. "The Celestial Cauldron Commerce Association came looking for you the most. After them, Master Kuchen, Master Hua Luoxuan, Luo Zhan, and the Eighth Prince have all looked for you. His Majesty even sent people to the academy."
"Besides them, Lord Chu Yunfei, the current number one expert of the Liuyun Kingdom, also looked for you."
After being rescued, Ye Xuan had gone directly into seclusion for over a month without leaving any instructions, so it was only natural that many people were looking for him.
"What does he want with me?"
Ye Xuan shook his head. He knew why the Celestial Cauldron Commerce Association was looking for him, but he couldn’t be bothered with them. However, if Kuchen and the others needed something, he couldn’t refuse.
Besides, he really ought to thank them properly for what happened that day.
"Look, that’s Ye Xuan."
"What, that’s him? The most famous person in our academy? He doesn’t look like much."
"I heard that His Majesty beheaded a whole bunch of marquises and nobles for his sake. It’s caused a huge panic these past few days."
"Tsk, tsk. This is the guy who dared to challenge the Crown Prince Alliance right after joining the Profound Spirit Academy. A lot of people wanted to see him make a fool of himself, but now they’re the ones who look like fools."
"I heard he’s only been at the academy for a year and he’s already a Martial Master Third Layer expert. If he wanted to, he could graduate at any time."
"Sigh, if only I had half his talent."
As Ye Xuan left the academy, the students who saw him all broke into discussion, their faces filled with a mixture of envy, jealousy, and awe.
Ye Xuan, of course, couldn’t be bothered with the gossip. Soon, he arrived at the Soul Master Tower.
Hearing of Ye Xuan’s arrival, Kuchen enthusiastically welcomed him into his refining room.
"Master Kuchen, thank you for what happened the other day."
"Ah, don’t mention it. If it weren’t for you, I’m afraid I never would have successfully forged this Ten Directions Soul Guarding Array. I’d still just be a Third Grade Soul Refiner. Really, I’m the one who should be thanking you."
Although the two hadn’t met many times, they were already quite familiar with each other.
After some conversation, Kuchen suddenly looked as if he had something to say but was hesitating.
Ye Xuan smiled. "Master Kuchen, if you need my help with something, please just ask."
"Haha, my young friend, I really can’t hide anything from you. To be honest, I do have one thing I need your help with."
"Oh? And what might that be?"
"It’s like this. As you know, I’m now the vice president of the Liuyun Kingdom’s Soul Master Tower. I was wondering if you, my young friend, would be interested in representing our Soul Master Tower at the Thirteen Nations Alliance’s Floating Light Assembly?"
"The Floating Light Assembly?" Ye Xuan was taken aback.
"You haven’t heard of the Floating Light Assembly?"
This time, it was Kuchen’s turn to be surprised.
Ye Xuan shook his head. He really hadn’t heard of this so-called Floating Light Assembly.
Kuchen’s eyes widened. The Floating Light Assembly was an extremely important gathering for the Thirteen Nations Alliance, held specifically for Soul Refiners. Basically, there wasn’t a single Soul Refiner in the entire Thirteen Nations Alliance who didn’t know about it.
And as a Soul Refiner, Ye Xuan should have heard of it.
But judging by Ye Xuan’s expression, he didn’t seem to be faking it.
Kuchen could only attribute it to Ye Xuan being too young and not knowing about many things.
"Actually, the Floating Light Assembly is a competition between all the Soul Refiners from the Thirteen Nations Alliance," Kuchen explained. "The assembly is held once every ten years. At that time, all the Soul Refiners of the Thirteen Nations Alliance, both young and old, will gather in the Floating Light Territory for a grand competition and be ranked."
’So it’s a Soul Refiner competition!’ After hearing this, Ye Xuan couldn’t help but shake his head. To him, this kind of contest held no attraction at all.
Seeing Ye Xuan’s expression, Kuchen couldn’t help but laugh. "Don’t underestimate this Floating Light Assembly. In order to win, the major kingdoms of the Thirteen Nations Alliance will give it their all, even at any cost. That’s because the winners of the Floating Light Assembly will have the chance to enter the Floating Light Secret Realm within the Thirteen Nations Alliance’s territory for a trial."
"The Floating Light Secret Realm?"
Ye Xuan’s gaze sharpened.
He was all too familiar with these so-called secret realms. They were basically small dimensions left behind from ancient or primordial times by powerful experts or even entire sects.
Their formation remains a mystery to this day.
Secret realms were also graded, but regardless of the grade, they usually contained large quantities of rare spiritual materials, cultivation techniques, and treasures. Thus, they were extremely attractive to any Martial Artist.
Of course, some secret realms were also extremely dangerous. In the Profound Domain, the most preeminent region of the Celestial Profound Continent, there were secret realms where even a Nine Heavens Martial Emperor could perish.
Despite this, every secret realm was a prize that all major powers wanted to contend for. Sometimes, wars would even break out between great sects and empires over a single secret realm, which showed just how alluring they were.
However, Ye Xuan knew very well that the Thirteen Nations Alliance was located in a very remote part of the continent. Therefore, the secret realms here were usually of a very low grade.
Perhaps for others in the Thirteen Nations Alliance, entering this so-called Floating Light Secret Realm was a dream come true, but for Ye Xuan, the appeal wasn’t necessarily that strong.
Kuchen didn’t notice Ye Xuan’s feelings and continued, "This Floating Light Secret Realm appeared in the Thirteen Nations Alliance’s territory over a hundred years ago. When it first appeared, it caused a great stir throughout the alliance, and many experts went to investigate. They later discovered that this secret realm is very peculiar. Only Soul Refiners who have cultivated Soul Power can enter, and their Soul Power must be at least First Grade."
"Back then, the major kingdoms of the Thirteen Nations Alliance fought endlessly over ownership of the Floating Light Secret Realm. They came up with many proposals, but in the end, they could never settle the issue of ownership. So, its ownership has remained unresolved. However, the vast resources inside made all the major kingdoms of the Thirteen Nations Alliance drool with greed."
"In order to fight for the resources inside, every opening of the Floating Light Secret Realm used to trigger wars between the major kingdoms, resulting in countless deaths and injuries. In the end, all the kingdoms realized this couldn’t continue, so they made an agreement to hold the Floating Light Assembly every ten years, timed with the opening of the secret realm. The results of the assembly would be used to allocate the number of spots for each kingdom to enter the secret realm."
Kuchen paused before continuing, "This year’s Floating Light Assembly will be held in half a year. It’s divided into two brackets: the expert bracket and the genius bracket. Our Liuyun Kingdom is considered middle-tier in the Thirteen Nations Alliance, so we have a total of ten competition spots—five for the genius bracket and five for the expert bracket. The genius bracket requires participants to be under the age of twenty-five, which is why I want you to participate."
Ye Xuan gave a wry smile. "Master Kuchen, if I remember correctly, I’m only a First Grade Soul Refiner. These spots for the Floating Light Assembly are so coveted, won’t this make other people unhappy?"
Kuchen laughed. "You little rascal, you might be able to fool others, but you can’t fool me. Although you’re only registered as a First Grade Soul Refiner at our Soul Master Tower, your attainments in the art of Soul Refining are no weaker than any Second Grade Soul Refiner, and you could even compare to some Third Grade Soul Refiners. Besides, the genius bracket requires participants to be under twenty-five. In our Liuyun Kingdom’s Soul Master Tower, we only have two Second Grade Soul Refiners under twenty-five, and not a single Third Grade one."
"With your strength, getting a spot won’t be difficult. Besides, I’m the vice president of the Liuyun Kingdom’s Soul Master Tower. The spots for the Floating Light Assembly are decided by me, the president, and a few elders. If I want to give you one, no one can say a thing."
"And don’t be in a hurry to refuse."
Kuchen waved his hand. By now, he could also see that Ye Xuan was truly reluctant. He persuaded, "Why don’t you go back and think about it first? Regardless of whether you want to participate, I’ll save a spot for you."
"Alright, I’ll think about it."
Ye Xuan could only nod. The reason he was so unwilling was that, in his view, this Floating Light Secret Realm of the Thirteen Nations Alliance was probably very low-grade. On top of that, he had no need for any cultivation techniques or inheritances, so he wasn’t very interested.
And while the secret realm might have plenty of resources and materials, if it was too low-grade, many of those resources wouldn’t be that important to him.
So, with that time, he’d be better off refining some more Pills to trade for resources. That would be more reliable.
But since Kuchen had put it that way, Ye Xuan couldn’t just refuse him outright.
After leaving Elder Kuchen, Ye Xuan went straight to the Alchemist Association.
"Ye Xuan, you’re finally out of seclusion."
Seeing Ye Xuan arrive, Hua Luoxuan couldn’t have been happier.
"Come, I’ll take you to the palace."
When Ye Xuan had just been released from the Iron Blood Guard over a month ago, Hua Luoxuan had already told him that he had informed His Majesty about the Spirit Suppressing Pills.
In the past few days, His Majesty had sought out Hua Luoxuan several times, telling him to do everything in his power to get Ye Xuan to the palace as soon as he came out of seclusion.
Hua Luoxuan had naturally taken Zhao Jing’s command to heart.
Ye Xuan had also heard what happened afterward. When he learned that Zhao Jing had executed Marquis Tianqi, Marquis Zhenjun, Commander Xuu, Commander Long, and everyone else involved in the incident, he himself was shocked.
So, this was a meeting with Zhao Jing that had to happen, as Ye Xuan knew very well.
"Haha, Master Ye Xuan, you are most welcome."
The two entered the palace unimpeded, facing no obstacles whatsoever. Just as they arrived in front of the main hall where Zhao Jing was, the emperor, dressed in dragon robes, had already hurried out with a smile on his face.
Behind him followed two people: Chu Yunfei and Yang An.
The surrounding palace maids and guards were all dumbfounded when they saw this scene, and they stared at Ye Xuan with curiosity.
They had heard quite a bit about Ye Xuan’s deeds these past few days, as rumors had been swirling around the palace. Some of them hadn’t believed the rumors at first, but now, seeing Zhao Jing, the ruler of a kingdom, personally come out to welcome Ye Xuan, every single one of them believed.
