"Also, why did you make me join the new disciple ranking contest? Do you want me to lose inside of the Abandoned Sword Villa, so that my sister won’t be able to kill me? That’s a pretty good idea!" Chu Huoluo thought aloud and clapped her hands. She wanted a peaceful ending where they all got along.

 

Shen Zhenyi looked at her again. "Chu Zhu Xi would never leave herself potential future threats. If she inherited the Liyang Palace, how could you, a hidden danger, remain alive?"

 

Shen Zhenyi saw through the thoughts of both sisters.

 

Chu Huoluo was a kind-hearted person with better martial arts talent than Chu Zhu Xi. Therefore, Chu Zhu Xi was afraid of her and despised her. If Huoluo wasn’t dead, Chu Zhu Xi would never be able to rest peacefully.

 

Shen Zhenyi had seen many such people before who eliminated all potential risks.

 

"Yes..." Chu Huoluo didn't understand either. She said bitterly, "You're right. If I knew, I would have run away earlier."

 

"So -"

 

Shen Zhenyi gently shook his wheelchair, making a grinding sound across the rocky gravel path. He looked up at the clouds in the sky. "If you want to live, you must surpass her. And you’ll also have to be far stronger than her."

 

"Humans only thirst and hate what is near, but if you stand high above the clouds, all she can do is look up to you. From today on, I will officially teach you martial arts."

 

"Ah, you’ll do this for me?" Chu Huoluo never thought she would encounter such a fantastic solution. "But the competition is in three months."

 

Shen Zhenyi also mentioned to Chu Huoluo that he didn’t accept apprentices. It was only when she bribed him with food that he gave her one or two pointers.

 

As for the competition being so soon, why did he seem so assured that Huoluo would be able to surpass Chu Zhu Xi?

 

The ranking of new disciples at the Abandoned Sword Villa was based on both their own martial arts realm and their preliminary test results. Because Chu Huoluo had never participated in the preliminary test, she was ranked around the bottom part of the top 100 disciples, while Chu Zhu Xi ranked in the middle.

 

For young people, the barrier between the fifth realm of wisdom and the sixth realm of tranquility divided who the first and second-rate martial artists were. Most of the new disciples were concentrated in the fifth realm, but some of them had already crossed the threshold and entered the sixth realm of cultivation.

 

After all, the age limit for entering the Abandoned Sword Villa was 30 years old. Many people had been cultivating for a long time already. They only joined the Abandoned Sword Villa to increase their knowledge of martial arts.

 

Chu Huoluo informed Zhenyi, "The number one disciple of the Abandoned Sword Villa’s Mystique Rankings, cultivators who are of the first realm to the sixth realm, is called Zhou Wenzi. He came from a strong family and was originally a disciple of the Shangqing Palace. He also broke two martial arts records. Once known as the Fourth Prince of Wulin, he is at the peak of the sixth realm of cultivation. There’s only half a step until he breaks through to the seventh realm..." (TL Blue: “Wulin” directly translates to "martial forest")

 

Because his father pretty much owned the Abandoned Sword Villa, all of this data was available to Chen Zhenyi, but he never really cared about it and Chu Huoluo had to explain everything.

 

The eldest son mentioned by Chu Huoluo was Shen Baihe, Shen Zhenyi's elder brother. He was ten years older than Shen Zhenyi and became famous as a teenager. He and the Fourth Prince of Wulin were rising stars and would almost certainly rank in the top ten masters of the world in the future.

 

However, after the rise of Shen Zhenyi, the Third Prince, their lights quickly dimmed, and nowadays no one mentioned their names.

 

In front of Shen Sangong, normally talented people weren’t anything.

 

Zhou Wenzi devoted himself to the Abandoned Sword Villa, but it was probably because he wanted to learn the Ten Thousand Sword Sutra. He was always disrespectful to Shen Baihe, but could never be rude towards the Third Prince Shen.

 

"So Zhou Wenzi will be competing too." Shen Zhenyi was slightly impressed by this person and nodded, "When next year comes, he’ll probably be on the Terrestrial Rankings."

 

The Mystique, Terrestrial, and Heavenly rankings were just systems devised by the Abandoned Sword Villa for their disciples.

 

The Top Ten Rankings, however, were the supreme glory in the Nine Hells Realm. Last year, the first person on the list was Mino of the Devil Sect, and the second was Shen Zhenyi.

 

However, this year, they both fell off the list. Mino had died and Shen Zhenyi was "crippled." Today, the first in the world was the abbot of Lanke Temple, Master Liu Ru Zen.

 

The three lists ranked the top cultivators in the Abandoned Sword Villa. Over the past hundred years, the strength of the Abandoned Sword Villa attracted the world's most talented children from generation to generation. The entire senior generation made up about half of the power of the Nine Hells.

 

The Mystique ranking judged new disciples. Naturally, Zhou Wenzi wouldn’t stay on the Mystique Ranking for more than a year with his status and talent.

 

"Unfortunately, he won’t be in the limelight. He will soon be overtaken by another person. Such a proud and arrogant person like him will definitely not be too happy when this happens.” Shen Zhenyi recalled Zhou Wenzi's appearance and sighed.

 

Chu Huoluo was confused and asked, "He is going to be surpassed? By who? "

 

Shen Zhenyi looked at her and sighed once more, "You, of course."

 

"Me?"

 

Chu Huoluo pointed to her nose and was surprised. "I can't do it! Passing through the boundary of the sixth cultivation realm is super challenging. How can I possibly move past it when I am only fourteen? Grandma said that I would have to cultivate for at least five years."

 

"When I was your age, I was the already at the eighth realm of martial arts." Shen Zhenyi calmly interrupted her.

 

Chu Huoluo closed her mouth. Who could compare with his demon-like talent?

 

"If you can't step onto the seventh realm of cultivation how will you ever leave Chu Zhu Xi in the dust?" Shen Zhenyi's said very casually.

 

"That's what I'm trying to tell you..." Chu Huoluo thought Sangong's words made sense, but then she immediately responded and exclaimed, "Wait a minute! You just said the seventh realm of martial arts, don’t you mean the sixth realm?”

 

The promotion to each realm was a major breakthrough in the path of martial arts. The difference between each level’s ability and battle performance was immense.

 

The masters of the seventh realm of martial arts can basically be listed in the heavens. That is to say, they are a part of the strongest hundred people in the Nine Hells Realm.

 

For Chu Huoluo, even if she successfully defeated Chu Zhu Xi and inherited the Liyang Mansion, her ultimate life goal was to be at the peak of the seventh realm. After all, breaking through to the eighth realm required insight. Someone like Grandma Chihuo wasn’t very common in the history of the Liyang Mansion. There were countless masters who weren’t able to break through despite spending their entire life cultivating.

​

Now what Shen Zhenyi was telling Chi Huoluo, was that her life goal was in actuality just a simple three-month small-stage goal.

 

"Moving up a realm is hard, but not impossible if a miracle happens. However, no matter how I look at it, I don’t see how I can break through two entire realms.” Three months to become a seventh realm cultivator. If Grandma Chihuo heard about this, she would probably check to see if Chu Huoluo had suffered from any brain damage.

 

But coming out of Shen Zhenyi’s mouth, Chu Huoluo felt that it wasn’t entirely impossible. And so, the special training began.

 

Comments from Blue: The below terms are the same things

Realm of Cultivation = Realm of Martial Arts

Nine Hells = Nine Hells Realm

Third Prince Shen = Shen Zhenyi = Shen Sangong

Liyang Mansion = Liyang Palace

Killing Intent = Killing Aura = Sword Qi