Chapter 47: The Coveted Ninth-Level Qualification That Everyone Fought For

  "What? After several years, the rare 9th-grade talent has appeared in Qili Gou Medicine Washing? And it's Lin Heng?" The village elders heard this news for the first time and couldn't help but take a deep breath. They had seen Lin Heng's incredible talent in the observation room before, but they never expected this to happen next.

  "Qili Gou will rise! Alas, I previously predicted that in the future, our Chen Jia Village would be the only leader. But with Lin Heng's emergence, it's probably not easy to achieve this wish." Chen Jia Village's patriarch, Chen Weihu, felt a slight sense of disappointment in his heart. As someone who had led Chen Jia Village for many years and finally saw a promising future, he woke up one morning to find that there was another powerful force ahead of them, which was truly an ominous sign.

  In an instant, his eyes regained their confident gaze: "Lin Heng is a decent ninth-level cultivator, but compared to Chen Que, there's still a huge gap. At roughly the same age, one has only just become a martial artist through medicine refinement, while the other has already broken through what ordinary people can achieve in thirty or forty years, advancing to second-grade. Most importantly, Chen Que currently enjoys the favor of the Guest King behind the Cang Yu Sect, so his cultivation progress is doubly effective; how could Lin Heng's wild genius compare?"

  "Even if Qi Gou has a ninth-grade divine core, what's the big deal? He still wants to compete with our Chen family village, but he's far too inferior! As for Lin Kuang, if he encounters Chen Que, it will be a complete mismatch!" He tried to comfort himself, but somehow felt like there was a thorn stuck in his heart, extremely uncomfortable.

  He said to the villagers who were waiting in front of him: "You keep in touch with the person sent to Qi Li Gou, let him pay close attention to Lin Heng's situation. I'd like to see if he can hold on for three days at Yao Xian Chi! Humph!"

  He had been the head of the clan for thirty years, and his character had long been tempered to be calm and introverted. However, after competing with various large villages for decades, he had a belly full of pent-up anger. In recent years, Chen Jia Village produced a Chen Que, and Chen Jia Village as well as his status rose sharply, the courtesy he received was like a rebirth.

  A challenge has emerged in Chenjiacun, threatening his and the village's interests. The dark undercurrents he had been suppressing finally surfaced.

  "Tribe leader." Just then, a faint call broke his deep thought.

  His gaze fell on the young man in a green robe standing at the door, with a handsome face and slightly dark skin. The displeasure on his face immediately disappeared, replaced by a beaming smile.

  "Chen Que, come in quickly." He waved his hand and warmly pulled the young man at the door.

  At present, this young man is the most popular in Qingniu Town and is known as the top genius of the younger generation, the hope of Chenjia Village. Although Chen Weihu is the head of the clan, he has great hopes for this young man's future and does not have the airs of a clan leader at all.

  "I heard that a 9th-grade divine core appeared in Qili Gou Medicine Washing, and it's actually that trash named Lin Heng."

  "Hmm." Chen Weihu nodded slightly as he spoke of this: "Lin Heng previously failed to verify five times, and was always called a waste. But in this generation of warriors' verification, he inexplicably rose to fame out of nowhere. Chen Que, don't underestimate Lin Heng, I watched his performance at the Verification Heaven and Earth yesterday, and he still has some depth. In the future when you encounter him, don't be careless or lax."

  He seemed to be afraid that he would praise Lin Huan too much, and thus undermine his own prestige, so he immediately said: "Of course, at his current level, he is far from being your opponent. With such a monstrous talent like yours, you will be able to break through the first rank in just a few years and enter the second rank, which is an anomaly that ordinary people can't match. Even if Lin Huan's talent is good, it would take him at least ten years to advance to the second rank after becoming a martial artist. That means he won't be able to pose a threat to our Chen family village for at least ten years. And this is assuming you don't make any progress, which is impossible, since you are now favored by Cang Hua Men and your cultivation speed will only increase."

  What he said is not bad, Lin's anxiety towards him does not come from his current strength, but from the huge momentum that his ninth-level divine core will bring about, as well as its boundless potential. The benefits brought by this momentum are something Chen Que has experienced firsthand, and with his appearance, Chenjiacun rose from the bottom to become one of the top two powers in just a few years, which is the greatest proof.

  No matter how displeased he was, he could only watch helplessly and had no power to stop it.

  "Five times the proof failed, nine-grade divine core, this Lin Tang is really interesting." Chen Que spent little time in Chenjia Village and focused on his cultivation. Although he had heard of Lin Tang's name before, he didn't pay much attention to it. Upon hearing the clan leader's words, he felt curious and a certain emotion towards Lin Tang.

  The first Cao family in Qingniu Town, the grand mansion was quiet and peaceful, even the footsteps of the maidservants and attendants were light and cautious.

  "The one who has just arrived at Qili Gou Medicine Washing has a nine-level qualification comparable to Chen Que?" When the host Cao Guan heard this news, he was stunned for a while.

  A ninth-grade qualification is hard to come by in a hundred years. It's not easy for a Chen Que to appear, and now another one pops up right before my eyes?

  He put down the light yellow covered book in his hand and took the note handed over by the eunuch in front of him.

  As the first family of Qingniu Town, he naturally had to pay attention to the village of "Wuzhe Yinzheng" below. After all, the Cao family was flourishing, but its roots were still in Qingniu Town, and it could only maintain its advantage by constantly recruiting talent. In the past, these trivial matters did not require his intervention, but in recent years, the new generation of the Cao family had been performing poorly. Therefore, he personally asked about it this year.

  According to his previous estimate, it was already extremely difficult for these small villages to produce a Seventh-Grade Divine Core. To think that miracles like Chen Qi's weren't something that could be created at will, yet unexpectedly, another Ninth-Grade appeared before him.

  This small Qingniu Town is indeed a place of good fortune, in just ten short years, it has produced two 9th-grade qualifications!

  He sighed and glanced at the paper with a furrowed brow, saying: "Hearing the name, this Lin Heng seems very familiar?"

  The inner attendant couldn't help but chuckle: "Master, this Lin Heng is that same good-for-nothing from Qingniu Town who everyone knows and has failed the Five Confirmations five times. Ah, also the younger brother-in-law of Guardian A Wei Zhou Ze."

  "Oh, is it him?" After being reminded by the person below, the master of Cao's house only then remembered that this name was actually that of the "red man" from Qingniu Town. As for Lin Huan, although he had never met him before, Lin Huan's deeds had long been "shaking with fear" in all directions, and even Jinquan City had also heard rumors about it, how could he not know? He had stayed as a guest in Jinquan City several times, and those gossiping ladies and young misses had curiously asked him about it, making him extremely embarrassed. It can be said that Lin Huan was the shame of Qili Gou, or even Qingniu Town.

  "What a waste, yet he's a 9th-grade qualification?" Cao Guan felt a strong sense of drama. His gaze lingered on the paper for a moment before asking: "Which Zhou Ze is this? Which armor does he belong to?"

  "Zhou Ze is the guard who sacrificed himself to save Miss three months ago. At that time, Master awarded him a set of first-class martial skills and 300 taels of gold. He seems to belong to the sixth guard squad."

  Cao's master, Ho Ran, suddenly remembered this matter and nodded slightly: "You go inform the internal affairs' White General Manager to promote Zhou Ze as the sixth A's leader, with a treatment more than double that of other leaders. Just say he has great merit in saving Miss, and his seniority is not shallow, so he should be promoted."

  "Yes." The eunuch bowed his head respectfully, but in his heart he was envious: "This Zhou Ze is really lucky, like a blind cat bumping into a dead mouse. Which of the imperial guards isn't a high-ranking official? Just because his younger brother-in-law rose to power, his sister's humble middle-ranking title has risen to this level!"

  The master of the house had almost forgotten about Zhou Ze, how could it be because he saved the young lady and promoted him. He's not stupid enough to know that the master wants to capture Zhou Ze's heart, with the intention of Lin Tang.

  The Cao Mansion is the first family in Qingniu Town, with a large and prosperous business. The entire Cao Mansion has a total of 1,200 guards. Ten people form a team, ten teams form a battalion, except for the highest-ranking guard captain and deputy captain, followed by the twelve battalion commanders. With high status and great power, their treatment is naturally astonishing. Not to mention other things, just that they can receive one "Small Return Dan" every quarter, which makes other warriors jealous.

  Zhou Ze's mid-term evaluation was unexpectedly excellent, able to break through the ranks and be reused. Practicing martial arts is not as good as having a good younger brother-in-law! The inner attendant secretly sighed in admiration.

  "Wait a minute, the medicine washing in Qili Gou has not been completed yet. From now on, let every other hour send back reports, and you will be specifically responsible for this. If the medicine washing is completed within two days, report the results to me. If it's not completed within two days, personally report to me every half day."

  "Yes." The eunuch was about to leave when he suddenly thought of something and asked, "What if it doesn't end in five days?"

  This eunuch was not ignorant, knowing that most martial artists found it difficult to achieve a record of five days.

  "Hmm?" If it were in the past, Cao Guan would have definitely punished him for speaking out of turn, but at this moment, he didn't seem to care and smiled: "The head of the Qi Li Gou tribe spent five whole days washing medicine back then, more than 50 years ago. This record has never been broken by anyone in Qi Li Gou. Do you think he can break this record?"

  The palace attendants all fell silent.

  "Hmm, based on the Nine-Grade's extraordinary talent, breaking the five-day record is still possible. However, I don't look good. In this case, if Lin can maintain it for more than five days, no matter what important matters I am dealing with, you must report to me once every hour."

  Watching the inner courtyard from afar, Cao's master felt a faint sense of melancholy.

  Ninth-grade divine core! A few years ago, a ninth-grade divine core had just brushed past him. Today, that ninth-grade divine core was only twenty years old and had broken through to the second rank, and had also gained the favor of the Cangyu Sect's guest elder. Even the powerful Cao family, which had a strong foundation for hundreds of years, did not dare to provoke him. It can be seen that having a ninth-grade talent is like being a rare treasure, even among the major powers and sects, it is still a scarce resource.

  Nowadays, Qingniu Town has emerged a second time, and the Cao family cannot miss this opportunity again. Gold and silk are easy to obtain, but genius is hard to find!

  Don't say that Zhou Ze was promoted to a small Jia Chang, if not for fear that Lin Huan would think he had ulterior motives and develop a resistant psychology. He immediately approved, promoting Zhou Ze to the position of Protector General, heavily rewarding him with several sets of first-class martial skills and high-grade elixirs.

  His eyes showed a determined color, --- The Cao family would definitely recruit this ninth-level genius and cultivate him with heavy gold.