Soul Emperor Martial God

Xiao Yi heard this, and furrowed his brows.

Indeed, to his knowledge, the reputation of Black Cloud Academy was extremely poor.

The reason lies in the fact that many teachers and disciples within the academy already had bad reputations outside.

"Your reputation is poor because of the joint bounty and exaggeration from major cities like Scarlet Moon City."

"The grudges between you and them are, at most, personal vendettas."

"The subdivisions cannot officially issue a bounty."

Xiao Yi said in a deep voice.

"No." Qing Lin chuckled and said, "It's called being the target of public criticism."

"When many forces issue a bounty against me, and when my hands are stained with copious bloodshed from countless killings, I'll be seen as a homicidal maniac."

"Moreover, when some of my enemies are Demon Hunters, Wind Masters, etc., they all end up being killed by me."

"It's not surprising for me to be issued an official bounty."

Xiao Yi nodded, understanding Qing Lin's point.

Someone like Qing Lin, being issued bounties in the name of various hall branches is not unusual.

Of course, once these branches investigate and find out it's merely personal vendetta, they might withdraw the bounty.

But so far, Xiao Yi hasn't seen any notorious disciples of the academy being issued a bounty in any hall's name.

"The reason is simple." Qing Lin said with pride, "The background of that old Vice Dean is not simple."

Before Xiao Yi could ask, Qing Lin continued, "He is one of the Main Hall Masters of Medicine Venerate Hall."

"Moreover, he's one of the halls of the Ten Main Halls, excluding the main hall."

"One of the Ten Great Hall Masters?" Xiao Yi's eyes widened in surprise.

It must be known that within the Central Region, there are many main halls, and plenty of Main Hall Masters.

Any one of these Main Hall Masters would have to at least surpass the Saint King Realm to be considered Martial Arts Great Power.

To be one of the Ten Great Hall Masters...

"Is he the one protecting you?" Xiao Yi probed.

"You could say that." Qing Lin nodded.

"In fact, many people within the academy have been pursued with bounties in the name of hall branches."

"But these bounties either get withdrawn or stop being executed in the end."

"The reason is all due to the Vice Dean."

"Of course, the Vice Dean has paid quite a cost too."

"Those missions, then?" Xiao Yi asked.

"Indeed." Qing Lin nodded, "You are the Chief Steward of Wind Shattering Hall, and also a Sub Hall Master of Asura Hall."

"You should know that among the Ancient Eight Halls, there are friendship halls."

Xiao Yi nodded.

Taking Asura Hall as an example, Wind Shattering Hall is its friendship hall, while the other six halls are not.

They are not enemies, but no longer have the close-knit alliance like the Ancient Times.

Qing Lin continued, "Medicine Venerate Hall may not be a friendship hall with any other hall."

"But Medicine Venerate Hall definitely maintains excellent relations with any hall."

Xiao Yi nodded, acknowledging this point.

Medicine Venerate Hall is one of the Ancient Eight Halls, and nowadays, it's the holy land for alchemists across the world.

Within the Central Region, over ninety-nine percent of first-class alchemists are affiliated with Medicine Venerate Hall.

Even though Medicine Venerate Hall may not have alliance relations with any other of the seven halls,

there must be extremely good relationships among them.

As one of the most prestigious professions on the continent, an alchemist truly lives up to the name.

Who dares to claim they will never get injured and never seek an alchemist for refining medicine?

Every Martial Artist, who wouldn't want to befriend an alchemist, let alone be an enemy.

Naturally, the status and significance of Medicine Venerate Hall among the Eight Halls is not ordinary.

"Of course," Qing Lin continued, "this doesn't mean there is any actual relation between Black Cloud Academy and Medicine Venerate Hall."

"Black Cloud Academy is simply Black Cloud Academy."

"It's just that, thanks to the Vice Dean, we can intervene on bounty missions from various halls."

"Also, that old guy Vice Dean isn't a fool, but rather shrewd."

"We get rewards for helping fulfill bounty missions from branch halls."

"Moreover, the academy just happens to use these missions to train us as well."

Xiao Yi nodded, fully understanding.

"Most of the missions within the academy are tasks that hall branches lack the energy to deal with, right?"

"Almost all of them." Qing Lin replied.

"Tasks like pursuit missions, they consume time and effort. Imagine a single hall division, with so many Law Enforcement Team members and limited time, where would they find the time to execute them?"

"Instead, it's perfect to assign these tasks to our academy's disciples, who travel and train everywhere, each unrestrained with exceptional skills."

"You might as well consider explaining things a bit." Xiao Yi paused and said.

"At least your reputation wouldn't be as it is now."

"After all, it is just personal vendettas, mere mutual killings among Martial Artists, so why the talk of notoriety at all."

"Explain?" Qing Lin sneered, "Why bother?"

"The cold eyes of the world, I do not care."

"If I wanted to explain, I would have done so earlier; even when I was relentlessly pursued back then, I never explained, because it wasn't necessary."

"If they come to hunt me, then I will counter-kill, simple as that."

"Have you tried being treated so coldly, tried being hunted and pursued by everyone? If it were you, would you explain?"

Xiao Yi was taken aback, suddenly reminded of his infamous title as "Xiao Yi Little Thief," and couldn't help but smile wryly.

"Perhaps now I understand why Black Cloud Academy only accepts 'monsters,' not 'heavenly talents.'" Xiao Yi smiled and shook his head.

"Alright, conversation is entirely over."

"You focus on recuperating, I need some peace as well."

Xiao Yi was merely curious about these matters, hence his inquiry.

Of course, he simply wanted to understand these powerful forces a bit further.

Beyond that, there's not much reason.

Time gradually passed.

A day went by in the blink of an eye.

Xiao Yi, who was feigning sleep leaning against the wall, suddenly opened his eyes, a cold gleam shooting out.

"They are here."

Beside him, Qing Lin, sitting cross-legged on the ground, nodded, "Right on time."

"My injuries have healed, now just waiting for those pests to come knocking."

Whoosh... Whoosh... Whoosh...

Outside the cave, at some unknown time, hundreds of surging presences appeared.

The two exchanged a glance and chuckled lightly.

Stepping out of the cave, sure enough, the Scarlet Moon City Lord and others had surrounded the vicinity.

"Qing Lin, impressive indeed." Scarlet Moon City Lord sneered coldly.

"In just half a day, you managed to travel across ten thousand miles."

"Yet, you still can't escape."

Cloud Mountain City Lord sneered playfully, "I wonder how the two of you will escape today."

"With just you lot?" Qing Lin sneered disdainfully.

"No." Lord Qianye shook his head, chuckling playfully, "How about if we add them?"

As Lord Qianye's voice fell, dozens of presences approached breaking through the sky from afar.

Those arriving wore blood-red robes, uniform attire.

They were clearly the martial artists of Asura Hall.

Leading them was an elder.

"Sub Hall Master." The three City Lords simultaneously bowed to the elder.

"These two are the ones who massacred the Asura Warriors of your Scarlet Moon City branch hall."

"Hmm." The elder nodded.

"Qing Lin, you are notorious, but due to your status as an academic disciple of Black Cloud Academy, our hall hasn't formally issued a bounty against you."

"To think you have become more unrestrained, escalating your actions, even daring to massacre my Asura Hall's Chief Steward."

"Today, I personally issue this bounty..."

"Wait." Suddenly, a cold voice interrupted the elder.

"To be precise, they were killed by me."

Xiao Yi stepped forward, facing the elder directly.

...

Second update.