361: Chapter 361 The Monthly Decree, Heroes of the World

The Guanxing Tower outpost was located in an inconspicuous courtyard deep within the East Street of Baicao City.

The courtyard gate was small, and there was no sign hanging above the lintel, making it look like a residence for an ordinary family.

However, Guanxing Tower had outposts spread across the Five Regions, and they could be found in almost every city of any significant size.

When Chu Sheng pushed open the courtyard gate and entered, an old man in grey robes, who was sweeping fallen leaves in the courtyard, looked up at him, his gaze resting on him for only a fleeting moment.

As if confirming something, he put down his broom and gestured for him to go inside.

Passing through the front courtyard, he entered a brightly lit hall.

The hall was sparsely furnished. Several maps hung on the four walls; some depicted the terrain of the entire Central Domain, while others marked the distribution of various Sect forces. The strokes were meticulous, not merely decorative.

A middle-aged man in a dark grey robe sat behind a long table, holding a Jade Slip in his hand, reading something.

He raised his eyes to look at Chu Sheng and, without any pleasantries, asked directly, "Here to sign up?"

Chu Sheng nodded and said, "The Heavenly Ranking."

The middle-aged man's gaze lingered on Chu Sheng for two breaths before he put down the Jade Slip. His tone carried a calmness born of having seen many similar scenes: "Bone age?"

Chu Sheng said, "Less than one hundred."

The middle-aged man's movements paused for an instant, as if that piece of information had deviated slightly from the value he had expected.

He did not show obvious surprise, but his movement to pick up another blank Jade Slip was noticeably faster than before.

"Cultivation?"

"Dao Palace."

The middle-aged man did not pause this time. He recorded the information into the Jade Slip, put down his pen, took a light grey token from under the table, placed it on the table, and pushed it towards Chu Sheng.

The token had a warm texture, and a crescent moon pattern was carved on its surface, shimmering slightly in the light.

"Moon Token," the middle-aged man said. "With this token, you can enter the preliminary round of the Heavenly Ranking."

He paused and added, "Guanxing Tower divides tokens into Sun, Moon, and Star. Sun is the best, Moon is second, and Star is the lowest. You hold the Moon Token."

Chu Sheng took the token, felt its slight warmth, and did not ask why it wasn't a Sun Token. He simply put it away and said, "Many thanks."

The middle-aged man had no intention of keeping him for tea, just adding a casual remark as he turned around.

"The competition for the Heavenly Ranking is much more intense than you imagine. The list you see now is only one-third of those who have already signed up."

Chu Sheng stopped and looked back at him: "How many people?"

"Currently, there are over forty confirmed contestants for the Heavenly Ranking. Most of them are the precious darlings of the Twelve Giants, and there are a few who came from other Domains, not local Cultivators of the Central Domain."

Chu Sheng nodded, asked no more, and turned to leave the hall.

As he passed the old man in the courtyard, who was picking up his broom again, he did not stop, but the old man's gaze seemed to linger on the location of the token at his waist for a moment before shifting away.

Chu Sheng walked out of the courtyard gate. The sunlight spilled onto the street, stretching his shadow, then shortening it.

The competition for the Heavenly Ranking was indeed more crowded than he had initially anticipated.

After returning to the inn where he was staying, Chu Sheng gradually collected some information about the confirmed contestants.

The sources of information were not very formal; most were pieced together from rumors released publicly by Guanxing Tower and gossip circulating in teahouses and taverns.

But even so, it was enough to sketch out a rough outline.

Among the Heavenly Ranking contestants, the Twelve Giants had each sent their direct Disciples, or even Sect Master candidates.

Wendao Palace had sent a young Sword Cultivator named Shen Qing, said to be a young Sect Master candidate with fierce swordsmanship who had once established battle merits in the Central Domain.

The Heavenly Sword Pavilion's contestant was a Sword Cultivator named Liu Changfeng, who kept a low profile and rarely appeared in the outside world, but it was rumored that he had once sparred with a Dao Completion Elder within the Sect for dozens of moves without falling behind.

Wanxiang Sect had sent a young Cultivator named Baili Xi, who was proficient in various Formations and was said to have once trapped three Cultivators of the same rank single-handedly during a mission.

Medicine King Valley had also sent someone, but they were participating in the auxiliary competition as an Alchemist and would not directly participate in the arena battles.

These were just the local contestants from the Central Domain.

Contestants from other Domains added significantly to the depth of this list.

From the Southern Domain came a young Cultivator named Zhu Yi.

There was not much information about this person; it was only known that he came from a relatively secretive Sect in the Southern Domain, and his physical appearance was not much different from the Human Race.

But according to Guanxing Tower's records, he once liked to travel in the Boundless Sea and had single-handedly repelled a Daocheng Realm sea beast on the border of the Southern Domain.

The person from the Eastern Domain was even more eye-catching; it was said to be a young Cultivator with the surname Qu, rumored to be from the Qu family.

Chu Sheng's movements paused slightly when he saw this information, but he showed no obvious reaction. He simply noted it down and then put the intelligence away.

Including these visitors from other domains, the number of contestants for the Heavenly Ranking had already exceeded forty, and it was still increasing.

Every contestant's cultivation was at or above the Daocheng Realm, at least at the Early Stage of Dao Completion.

This meant that on this arena, every opponent he faced would not be much worse than those he had encountered in the Heavenly Pool Underground Palace.

When night fell, Chu Sheng sat by the window, went through the list again, then closed it and placed it on the corner of the table.

Outside the window came the gradually fading sounds of carriages and horses in Baicao City, and the fluttering sounds of night birds flying over the eaves, as if the city were slowly closing its daytime shell.

He did not light a candle, just sat in the dimness, gazing at the outline of the eaves in the distance that had already merged into the night.

He must take one of the top two spots in the Heavenly Ranking.

Although he had the Moon Token in hand, what truly determined whether he could stand on the arena was never the token itself.

He closed his eyes, pressed his fingertips against the token, and felt its slightly warm touch.

In a place he could not see, in that small grey courtyard of Guanxing Tower, the middle-aged man was still sitting behind the long table, lost in thought while facing a list.

The old man who had been sweeping the courtyard during the day had entered the room at some point and placed a pile of withered leaves in the corner.

"The Moon Token was given too early," the old man in grey robes suddenly spoke, his tone loose as if talking to himself.

The middle-aged man did not look up and said, "Not early. The General Tower Master is also observing, so let's wait for him to prove whether he is worthy of this token himself."