87: Seeking monument, the grave of the dead

During the banquet.

Yu Xiu sat in the main seat, accompanied by Old Master Deng and the Hai Family Head.

Yu Xiu inquired about the Qiusuo Realm and learned that a group of people from Kyoto had been there a week ago.

He also learned about the ranking system of the quest stele.

It was rumored that the higher one's ranking on the quest stele, the greater their future Martial Dao achievements would be.

After many years of experimentation, those who ranked high on the quest stele indeed achieved significant Martial Dao accomplishments, with many reaching the Martial Saint Realm.

"Young Master, my fourth son is intelligent and knowledgeable about the Qiusuo Realm. How about letting him be your guide?"

The banquet ended.

The Hai Family Head immediately spoke.

"Let him follow!"

Yu Xiu nodded. He indeed needed a guide for matters concerning the Qiusuo Realm.

Since Hai Dongqing proposed it, Yu Xiu saw no reason to refuse.

"Please, Sir!"

Upon receiving Yu Xiu's consent, Fourth Master Hai immediately revealed his sycophantic side, looking as fawning as possible.

Leaving the Hai Family Manor, Yu Xiu and his group walked out of Qiusuo Town.

As they passed through the streets, many passersby, seeing Fourth Master Hai's fawning demeanor, couldn't help but become curious.

Yu Xiu had killed a Hai Family lackey in the street, and instead of retaliating against this public humiliation, the Hai Family was now fawning over him.

This clearly indicated that Yu Xiu and his entourage had extraordinary identities, which was the passersby's guess.

Precisely because of this, as Yu Xiu walked by, passersby all made way, fearing they might accidentally offend this esteemed Sir and bring disaster upon themselves.

"Sir, the Qiusuo Realm is ten kilometers southeast of Qiusuo Town."

Fourth Master Hai stepped forward to open the car door for Yu Xiu, then proactively sat in the passenger seat.

It could be said that his work attitude was impeccable, even taking over Qing Shan's duties.

"Let's go!"

Hearing Yu Xiu's words, Qing Shan started the vehicle and drove southeast.

More than ten minutes later.

Yu Xiu and his group drove up to a massive black stele.

According to Fourth Master Hai's introduction, the black stele before them was the quest stele.

As for the entrance to the Qiusuo Realm, it was this quest stele; once someone made it onto the list, the quest stele would reveal the entrance to the Qiusuo Realm.

"These people are the ones from Kyoto you mentioned earlier?"

Yu Xiu got out of the car and saw many tents near the quest stele, with even more people gathered at its base.

"They are indeed them, but there are also some people I don't recognize."

Fourth Master Hai carefully scanned the crowd and noticed many unfamiliar faces.

"Let's go take a look!"

Earlier at the Hai Family, Yu Xiu had also asked the Hai Family Head about the requirements for making it onto the quest stele, or how the ranking assessment worked.

However, the answer he received was that they didn't know.

According to the Hai Family Head, the requirements for making it onto the quest stele varied, and even the assessment methods were different.

It was said that the quest stele would give each person a different assessment to get on the list.

In short.

Making it onto the quest stele was very difficult.

Over so many years, the number of people who had successfully made it onto the quest stele was less than a hundred.

"Eighty-one people?"

Yu Xiu approached and looked at the quest stele, indeed seeing that there weren't many names on the list.

From top to bottom.

At the eighteenth position, he saw the name of Martial Saint Luo, Luo Yangxing.

At the sixty-ninth position, he saw the name of Old Master Chu, Chu Yunzhang.

Yu Xiu knew that Old Master Chu's strength was at the Nine-Star Martial King Realm, just one step away from the Martial Emperor Realm. Now, after so many years, there was still no sign of a Breakthrough. If he didn't encounter a great Opportunity in this life, he would likely stop here.

Yet, with Old Master Chu's Martial Dao achievements, he only ranked sixty-ninth.

Among the eighty-one spots on the quest stele, this was considered very far down the list.

As for the names of some prominent Family Heads from Kyoto that Yu Xiu knew, they did not seem to appear on the quest stele at all.

It now seemed.

There was a reason why Old Master Chu had surpassed his peers in his youth.

In Yu Xiu's opinion.

The main reason Old Master Chu had not broken through to the Martial Emperor Realm over the years.

Was actually the blockade imposed on Old Master Chu by those people in Kyoto.

This caused Old Master Chu to lose the resources needed for a Breakthrough to the Martial Emperor Realm, and now, after many years, Old Master Chu's hope of a Breakthrough was already slim.

"Yu Xiu?"

At this moment, a woman's surprised voice suddenly rang out from the crowd.

Yu Xiu looked over.

He found it was Yang Duling.

"Why are you here?"

He had heard from Chu Tianjiao that Yang Duling had gone to Kyoto with her Family.

But now she appeared before this quest stele.

"I came with my two uncles," Yang Duling explained, "My mother is from the Xu Family of Kyoto."

The Xu Family of Kyoto.

Yu Xiu had heard of them; they were considered a mid-to-upper-tier Family in Kyoto.

"Are you here because you want to enter the Qiusuo Realm?" Yu Xiu asked with a frown.

Yang Duling had indeed improved very quickly during her time in the Training Camp, and was now a Third-Grade Martial Artist, but in Yu Xiu's opinion, her strength was insufficient to enter the Qiusuo Realm, and doing so would be very dangerous.

The death rate in the quest stele assessment was very high; the number of people who had died during the assessment was now inestimable.

"I, I just came to try."

Yang Duling naturally wouldn't tell Yu Xiu that the reason she came to the Qiusuo Realm was because she had accidentally overheard her uncles' conversation.

They were discussing some things about the Qiusuo Realm.

Here, one could obtain all sorts of unexpected surprises: a surge in Talent and Qi, as well as extremely mysterious and strange General Skills and Techniques.

After the Provincial Training Camp ended.

With Yu Xiu's Martial Venerable strength exposed, Yang Duling had long lost her former confidence.

Now, Yu Xiu was too far above her.

So, after pleading with her uncles, she came here, hoping to gain something that could narrow the gap between herself and Yu Xiu.

"You are Yu Xiu?"

Just as the two were talking, two middle-aged men walked over. Although their tone was neither warm nor cold, their gazes were very unfriendly.

"Old Deng is here too!"

The two men glanced at Yu Xiu, then saw Old Master Deng beside him, and their expressions immediately became respectful.

"Uncles!"

Hearing Yang Duling's address, Yu Xiu realized their identities.

"Hello, I am Yu Xiu."

Yu Xiu naturally sensed their hostility, and though curious, he didn't say much due to Yang Duling.

Instead, Old Master Deng beside him looked at Yu Xiu, then at Yang Duling, with a schadenfreude expression.

Old Master Deng had also noticed their hostility, but he merely showed a look of glee.

"Old Deng, we have other matters, so we won't bother you further."

The two said to Old Master Deng, then pulled Yang Duling away.

Even after walking quite a distance.

The older uncle complained, "Duling, this Yu Xiu is no good. He played with your feelings like that. Stay away from him in the future."

The younger uncle next to him chimed in, "Exactly. No matter how strong he is or how great his Talent, playing with a girl's feelings, I just look down on him."

Yang Duling quickly explained, "Uncles, you've misunderstood. Yu Xiu didn't play with my feelings."

"It's just, it's just that I unilaterally liked him, and maybe he doesn't feel the same way about me! It's not Yu Xiu's fault, really."

The two men looked exasperated and said, "You're still defending him?"