Chapter 142 - 114: Entering the City, the City Guard’s Shock

Chapter 142: Chapter 114: Entering the City, the City Guard’s Shock

The sudden kiss caught Jiang Hao completely off guard. It was his first time being kissed by a girl, and it didn’t feel as bad as he had imagined.

Time flew by in a blur, and soon it was the next morning.

On this day, the area outside the Holy City was bustling with extraordinary activity. Countless prodigies flew toward the Holy City. Even before the massive walls, which boasted dozens of towering gates reaching ten thousand feet high, snaking queues had already formed.

"Sir, the entrance fee was only three hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones yesterday. Why is it eight hundred today? Isn’t this just price gouging?" In front of the gates, countless prodigies from the barren lands complained bitterly.

It was for no other reason than the silent, abrupt hike in the entry fee from three hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones yesterday to eight hundred today.

"Yesterday was yesterday, and today is today! Today is the registration day for the Celestial List selection in the Holy City, and also the day the selection begins. If you think it’s too expensive, you don’t have to enter.

"But don’t say I didn’t warn you. Registration for the Celestial List is today only. Miss it, and you’ll have nothing to do with the selection.

"Weigh the options yourself. Decide whether you care more about those extra five hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones or missing the registration entirely."

The Cultivators guarding the city gates were incredibly arrogant. In their eyes, nothing seemed to matter except Spirit Stones. As for the so-called "heavenly prodigies," there were a dime a dozen here. Besides, truly peerless prodigies with status and background wouldn’t bother clashing with the City Guards over such a trifling amount of Spirit Stones.

Seeing the uncompromising attitude of the guards, countless prodigies from the barren lands lamented endlessly but had no choice but to pay up. However, not every prodigy was wealthy. Some even resorted to begging the City Guards over a mere five hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones.

This pathetic sight bred resentment among many of the local Nanling prodigies.

"Hey, you in the front! Are you going in or not? If not, get out of the way! Can’t you see all the people waiting behind you?"

"Exactly! If you delay my registration, I’ll cleave you in two with my sword!"

"If you can’t even bear to part with a few hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones, why even participate in the Celestial List selection? Just offer yourselves up, leave your offspring, and get the hell out of Nanling!"

"You Cultivators from the barren Earth Realms are nothing but trouble. Barely any of you are even worth looking at."

"I’m talking to you! Yeah, you! Stop hogging the spot. Are you going in or not?"

Hurried by the countless local Nanling prodigies, the numerous prodigies from the barren Earth Realms could only painfully hand over their Spirit Stones, take their City Entry Tokens, and step into the city. Yet, even after paying the Spirit Stones, they still faced the mockery of the City Guards.

"It’s just five hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones. How pathetic. Even if such a prodigy manages to register, they’ll just be wasting the thirty thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones required for the fee."

"Heh. There are never many descendants from the barren lands in any iteration of the Celestial List anyway. If Nanling didn’t need fresh blood, they’d never even have the chance to enter the city."

Every time a prodigy from the barren Earth Realms stepped up, they were subjected to this invisible contempt. In stark contrast, when facing the descendants of the Saint Race, these City Guards wore faces full of fawning flattery.

Jiang Hao and his two companions joined one of the snaking lines. However, just as he planted his feet, an incredibly disdainful voice rang out from behind him.

"More trash from the barren Earth Realms. Such bad luck. Why did they have to line up right in front of me?"

Jiang Hao and his companions instinctively looked back toward the sound. They immediately spotted several figures exuding terrifying auras. Both men and women, they were all prodigies whose cultivation levels were nearing the Great Perfection of the Nine Spirit Transformations. The one who had spoken was even at the Great Perfection of the Nine Spirit Transformations. His eyes were filled with unbearable arrogance and domineering hostility, especially when looking at non-local Nanling prodigies like Jiang Hao.

Hearing the man’s words, Jiang Hao instinctively frowned.

"Oho, you dare to frown? What? You got a problem?" The young man who had spoken immediately smirked, his eyes brimming with murderous intent.

He was a heavenly prodigy with a thick, bushy beard. Although he was around the same age as the rest of them, his physique was built like a burly man, radiating a fiery temper. After the bearded prodigy spoke, the group behind him also stared at Jiang Hao with overt disgust.

"Got an issue, kid?"

"Wanna spar if you’re not convinced?"

"You obviously aren’t anyone tough. If we say a few words about you, just swallow it. You actually dare to have an opinion?"

Hearing their blatant and insulting words, Mu Zhen was instantly enraged and stepped forward to argue with them. In his eyes, even though Jiang Hao was a prodigy born in the barren Earth Realms, he belonged to the ranks of peerless freaks of nature. He even had a historical battle record that had shocked the Eastern Domain. Based on that alone, these Little Kalamis standing before them weren’t even qualified to be mentioned in the same breath as Jiang Hao. It wasn’t as if the barren Earth Realms lacked figures capable of holding their own.

However, a split second before Mu Zhen could speak, Jiang Hao—wanting to avoid unnecessary trouble—stopped him. Jiang Hao gave the group a slight nod and an awkward smile, then turned around and ignored them.

"Tch!"

Seeing Jiang Hao "chicken out," the bearded prodigy and his gang jeered relentlessly, rolling their eyes in an even more dismissive manner.

"I thought he might actually be someone important, but he’s just walking around with his tail tucked between his legs like the rest."

"I absolutely loathe this kind of person. They have zero actual skill, yet they insist on coming here to share the Holy City’s resources with us. Even if you give them the resources, it’s a complete waste."

It was plainly obvious. Many shortsighted local prodigies harbored deep-seated resentment toward the decisions made by the countless higher-ups of Nanling. In their minds, if these outsiders didn’t come to the Holy City, all of Nanling’s cultivation resources would be spent solely on them, giving them a much better chance to ascend the Celestial List and enter the Dragon Transformation Pool.

This was one of the reasons why there was constant friction between the local prodigies and those from the barren Earth Realms. Of course, the biggest reason for this friction was that the Cultivators of Nanling looked down on these barren land prodigies from the very marrow of their bones. Their backgrounds simply weren’t on the same level.