"Oh?" Su Chen smiled playfully.
"Do you know the strength comparison among the Four Great Ancient Nations?" Nangong Wu said with a serious tone:
"Northern Sacred Ancient Kingdom possesses the complete North Sacred Swamp left from the Ancient Era, which contains many unimaginable Supreme Treasures. Because of this, the Martial Cultivation Resources of the Northern Sacred Ancient Kingdom are the richest among the Four Great Ancient Nations, making their overall Combat Power extremely strong, much stronger than that of the Nan’e Ancient Country."
"As for the East Crane Ancient Kingdom, it once produced a legendary warrior who was stunning throughout the Eternal Ages. This predecessor, known as Jian Wufa, swept almost everything with one man and one sword during the Later Stage of the Ancient Era; he nearly annihilated the entire Monster Beast Clan by his strength alone. Later on, Jian Wufa ascended to a High-Level Plane. If nothing unexpected happened, Jian Wufa should still be alive. Therefore, even just to please Jian Wufa, the Buddha Domain gives preferential treatment to the East Crane Ancient Kingdom, allocating much more Martial Cultivation Resources to them than to the other three nations." For original chapters go to N()velFire.net
"As for the West Yin Empire, even though it does not have enviable Martial Cultivation Resources like the Northern Sacred Ancient Kingdom or the East Crane Ancient Kingdom, the martial spirit of the West Yin Empire is unparalleled in ferocity and cruelty. This results in the Martial Cultivators of the West Yin Empire being generally powerful, bloodthirsty, and frenzied. Overall, they are stronger than the Nan’e Ancient Country."
Su Chen’s expression became slightly grave: "So, you’re saying that among the Four Great Ancient Nations, the Nan’e Ancient Country is the weakest?"
"If the strength of Nan’e Ancient Country is 10, what about the other three Great Ancient Nations?"
"Northern Sacred 15, East Crane Ancient Kingdom 15, West Yin Empire 14!"
"The gap is that large?" Su Chen’s eyes twitched slightly, somewhat surprised.
"That’s why, in each selection of the Buddha Domain, the geniuses from the Nan’e Ancient Country hardly achieve good results." Nangong Wu said with a faint voice: "The last time, the Nan’e Ancient Country only had one person pass the selection, and that person ranked eighth. Making it into the top ten means passing the selection. But throughout history, whether it’s the top three or even the top five, there has never been someone from the Nan’e Ancient Country."
"It’s fine, maybe I can create a miracle," Su Chen didn’t elaborate further.
"The selection competition is tomorrow, and this year’s selection competition just so happens to take place in the Nan E Ancient Capital. You can just head to the Sky Martial Arena early tomorrow morning." Having said this, Nangong Wu left.
"Young boy Su, in fact, the Emperor of Nan’e and Princess Lingwu haven’t told you one thing..." Li Mingyu, who had been sitting in the hall drinking tea, said.
"This year’s selection is likely the one with the most strong competitors in recent decades!" Li Mingyu said with a serious voice.
"Why?" Su Chen inquired.
"In the past, the age requirement for participants in the Buddha Domain selection was under thirty years old. But this year, it has been raised to under one hundred years old." Li Mingyu’s voice became incredibly grave: "For Martial Cultivators, with lifespans of hundreds of thousands or even millions of years in the long run, both thirty and one hundred years are considered extremely young. However, for you young people in your twenties and thirties, it’s different, isn’t it? After all, how many years have you been cultivating? And how long have those Martial Cultivators in their eighties or nineties been cultivating?"
"Under a hundred years old?" Su Chen was somewhat astonished.
"So, there’s an extreme number of strong competitors in this year’s selection!!! As far as I know, the other three Great Ancient Nations have each sent six or seven powerful fighters to participate in the selection! And as for our Nan’e Ancient Country, aside from the Princess Lingwu, there is only you, with just two people competing!"
"Why are there so few participants from the Nan’e Ancient Country?"
"There are no strong competitors. Rather than embarrassing ourselves by sending more people to be heavily injured or killed, it’s better to just have one or two compete."
"That makes sense." Su Chen nodded, "I will be careful."
"Ping’er, let’s pay a visit to the Xuan Qing Commerce Guild," Su Chen suddenly said.
The two left the Li Family and headed to the Xuan Qing Commerce Guild.
Su Chen went there for a transaction.
Half a month ago, he slaughtered nearly a thousand to two thousand prodigies from the South E Ancient Capital and acquired a mountain of treasures. Most of those treasures were of no use to him, so he wanted to trade them all for Black Xuan Stones.
It wasn’t long before they arrived at the Xuan Qing Commerce Guild.
Su Wanqing must have been informed, for as soon as Su Chen and Li Ping arrived, she knew and came down from the twentieth floor.
"Su Chen." Su Wanqing wore a long green dress today, exuding an air of fresh elegance. Beautiful and dazzling, Su Wanqing felt a hint of longing; she hadn’t seen Su Chen in half a month. She often thought of him, but on one hand, she was busy, and on the other, she was a bit shy, so she never went to the Li Family to ask about him. Now that Su Chen had come out of seclusion, she couldn’t help feeling joyful.
"It’s been a while, Wanqing. You’ve become even more beautiful." Su Chen complimented her sincerely. Su Wanqing was naturally a stunning beauty, and today she looked especially radiant, even causing Su Chen to take a few extra glances.
"Thank you." Su Wanqing’s voice was softer, and a blush tinged her beautiful face.
"Wanqing, I am here to make a trade," Su Chen said.
"Oh!" Su Wanqing was taken aback, followed by a nod. However, for some reason, she felt a tinge of disappointment. In the past, she would have been delighted about business, but now Su Chen came for a transaction, for business, not to see her, which caused her to feel an uncontrollable sense of loss.
Su Chen did not think too much about it.
"Follow me!" Su Wanqing then led Su Chen and Li Ping towards the tenth floor.
In the Medicinal Herb Trading Area, on the first floor, a group of people arrived.
The leader of this group was a young man who looked to be around thirty years old, but his core essence revealed that he was over eighty years old. He smiled, but deep in his eyes lay an extreme arrogance and disdain.
His hands were clasped behind his back, bare-handed, dressed in extravagant clothing. By his side, a beautiful maid respectfully held a Heavy Sword, following beside the young man.
That Heavy Sword was pure black, a Superior Dao Artifact of extremely high rank.
The young man’s aura was like that of a great mountain, immensely solid. With vigorous bloodline pulsating, Su Chen could sense that this eighty-plus-year-old-looking man was in the early stage of the Ninth Layer of the Dome Extreme Realm, but his actual combat power was definitely not less than that of an average pinnacle martial artist of the Ninth Layer.
Following the young man were many others, including two middle-aged men and two elders, as well as someone Su Chen recognized—Du Mo.
Whether it was the two middle-aged men or the two elders, or even Du Mo, they all behaved deferentially.
As this group walked in,
Nearly all the attendants in the Medicinal Herb Trading Area immediately bowed respectfully.
"Greetings to the First, Second, Third, and Fourth House Masters, and also to Young Master Du."
It turned out that these two middle-aged men were Su Ruhui, Zhang Zhaofeng, Zheng Dan, and He Li.
Among them, Su Ruhui was the First House Master of the Xuan Qing Commerce Guild, the largest shareholder and Su Wanqing’s father, owning the majority of the Commerce Guild’s shares and being the actual helmsman of the Xuan Qing Commerce Guild.