Chapter 37 – Ascension Rankings (2/2)

“Redistribute resources?” Yang Ye was puzzled.

The woman explained. “There are nine states in the Grand Qin Empire, and there are over a million cities in every single state. We sects and the Grand Qin Empire require a continuous flow of new blood to join our forces because this is the only way to maintain the continuity of the sect. In the past, the large sects and the Grand Qin Empire frequently fought amongst each other for the sake of obtaining talented recruits. In the end, because of certain reasons, everyone couldn’t fight amongst ourselves any longer. So, the Ascension Rankings was created, and the higher the rankings obtained by a sect’s disciples were, the more cities would be distributed to that sect. For example, during the last Ascension Rankings compet.i.tion, the Origin School obtained the first, third, and sixth positions, so they obtained three states and over 500,000 cities. On the other hand, because no one from our Sword Sect entered the Ascension Rankings, our Sword Sect only obtained a few small cities around our Sword Sect.”

“Is the Sword Sect that weak?” Yang Ye blurted out, and then he felt slightly regretful as soon as he finished speaking. This woman before me obviously has a great deal of affection to the Sword Sect, so she’ll definitely be infuriated by what I said.

The woman didn’t get angry, and she just sighed and said, “The Sword Sect is very weak now. It only possesses less than 6,000 Outer Court Disciples, and around 2,000 Inner Court Disciples, whereas, there are only a little over 1,000 Elite Disciples. If the Sword Sect didn’t possess the support of its ancestors, then it couldn’t even be considered a second-rate power.”

“Those geniuses on the Sword Sect’s Outer Court Rankings and Inner Court Rankings are unable to enter the Ascension Rankings as well?” Yang Ye frowned as he asked this question.

The woman shook her head and said, “A genius in a mountain village is a genius in the eyes of all. But if this genius head to a town, then he would be not bad at most. If he arrived at a city, then he would probably only be ordinary, and if he arrived at a state, then he might not even be considered as ordinary. If that genius was compared to the entire southern territory, then perhaps he would be a piece of trash. The geniuses of the Sword Sect can be said to be geniuses within the Sword Sect, yet if they were placed at the Ascension Rankings, then they can at most be considered to be pieces of trash.”

“Then why did you ask me to enter the top 10? After all, I’m not even an Outer Court Disciple now!” Yang Ye spoke in a light voice.

The woman gazed at Yang Ye when she heard this, and then her brows raised as she said, “What? You aren’t confident in your ability?”

“I need motivation!” Yang Ye looked directly at her and spoke.

“What motivation?” The woman frowned.

Yang Ye took a deep breath and said, “If I enter the Ascension Rankings, then I want you to give me a chance to pursue you.”

Did he like the woman before him? Yang Ye didn’t know the answer to that. All he did know was that this woman already belonged to him. Since she belonged to him, then they should be together. It was just that simple.

“What?” The corners of the woman’s mouth rose slightly, and she revealed a trace of disdain and said, “You think that just because that happened between us, then I ought to be together with you? I’m not that type of woman that will fall into a man’s arms just because I lost my purity. In my opinion, the Sword Dao and the Sword Sect is everything to me!”

“Do you really hate me?” asked Yang Ye.

“Not really!” The woman said indifferently, “Besides possessing a slightly weak strength and being slightly chauvinistic, your character and disposition isn’t bad.”

“I don’t hate you as well!” Yang Ye hurriedly said, “Besides your slightly cold and proud disposition, you’re still alright in every other aspect. Since you don’t hate me, and I don’t hate you, then why don’t you give me a chance? If it’s because my strength is a bit weak, I’m still young, aren’t I? What do you think?”

The woman gazed at Yang Ye, and she just gazed at him like that. Yang Ye wasn’t willing to show weakness, and he met her gaze. At any rate, it was already like this, and both of them were frank with each other. This was for the best.

After a long time, the woman said, “Fifth on the Ascension Rankings and I’ll give you a chance.”

“Deal!” Yang Ye spoke hastily. At this moment, he seemed to have forgotten that the Ascension Rankings was where monstrous geniuses converged.

When she saw Yang Ye’s slightly excited appearance, a trace of an unusual feeling flashed in the woman’s heart, but it vanished in the blink of an eye. For the sake of the Sword Sect’s future, she’d cultivated in the sword throughout her life, and her life belonged solely to the sword. Not to mention falling in love, she rarely even came into contact with someone of the opposite s.e.x. Earlier, when that had suddenly happened between her and Yang Ye, her first thought was to kill Yang Ye. However, she didn’t do that because just as she’d said, Yang Ye might be able to bring a trace of vitality to the Sword Sect.

However, when Yang Ye raised this request, a type of strange feeling had arisen in her heart for some unknown reason. She didn’t know what this feeling was because she’d never felt this feeling in the past.

“My heart is in disorder!” The woman gazed towards the distance as she muttered in a low voice.

1. TL Note: It’s how people from years ago think. Please observe an old-fas.h.i.+oned mindset when reading this paragraph.