I can only beat noobs.

Chapter 139 The Number One Restaurant Under Heaven

Chen Ming suddenly felt something was off. This "Sister Hong" seemed to know far too much about Ding Guangsheng's affairs.

He had happened to be in the Six Doors prison by chance, where he met Ding Guangnan and learned of his ordeal. Ding Guangsheng then came to his house to thank him. Only then did he realize the relationship between the two.

"Sister Hong" actually figured out the whole story so quickly, even finding out why the person came from. Her intelligence-gathering ability is just too exaggerated.

Chen Ming immediately became alert. "It seems that she must be the intelligence chief that Lord Honghai placed in Qingfeng City."

These thoughts flashed through his mind, and a look of worry appeared on his face. "If the Four Seas Trading Company also sends out second-rank experts, wouldn't it be very dangerous if a fight broke out in the city?"

Last time, he almost went blind just from catching a glimpse of Zhao Shouchang's sword intent from afar. He gained a profound understanding of the destructive power of a third-grade expert.

If two second-rank officials were to fight in the city, how many people would die?

The woman in red chuckled, "Even if Ding Guangsheng isn't afraid of death, those old fogies from the Sihai Trading Company haven't lived enough yet."

Chen Ming asked curiously, "You mean, experts of this level can't just make a move in the city. Otherwise, they might die?"

The woman in red glanced at him with some surprise. "You're acquainted with the female disciples of the Heavenly Dao Alliance. Don't you know that the Heavenly Dao Alliance loves to meddle in other people's business?"

It turns out that the Heavenly Dao Alliance is truly acting on behalf of Heaven. Moreover, their deterrent power remains quite strong; experts of the third rank and above are extremely wary of them.

Chen Ming became even more curious. What was the Heavenly Dao Alliance after doing such a thankless task? Even if the founder was an idealist, it was somewhat unbelievable that his descendants could still uphold his original ideals after hundreds of years.

"By the way, don't you like to spar with others? I know a place like that."

At this moment, the woman in red suddenly spoke.

"where?"

"Three months from now, the Number One Pavilion Under Heaven will set up a challenge arena in Jiangzhou City to recreate the Azure Cloud Ranking. Anyone under the age of 25 can participate. At that time, all the young talents in Jiangzhou will flock to it. You can meet the best talents in Jiangzhou."

Chen Ming's eyes lit up. "Is that so?"

"This matter will soon reach Qingfeng City. This is a grand event held once every five years, and I'm sure you won't want to miss it." After saying this, the woman in red added, "I should go now."

Then he got up and went out.

Chen Ming had originally wanted to ask her if she wanted to see Zhong Shuyu, but she left in such a hurry.

Just then, he heard footsteps outside. It was Chunxiang bringing Zhuang Xiaotian over. Only then did he realize why she had suddenly wanted to leave—she had heard someone coming.

Seeing him waiting at the door, Zhuang Xiaotian said admiringly, "Brother Chen's skills are becoming more and more profound. You noticed me before I even reached the courtyard."

Chen Ming didn't explain, but smiled and invited him into the house, asking, "Coming so late, is there any progress on that matter?"

"Well, I have an idea, and I'd like to discuss it with you to see if it's feasible..." So, Zhuang Xiaotian laid out his idea in its entirety.

After listening, Chen Ming agreed, "You've thought this through very well. Let's do it this way."

Then, Zhuang Xiaotian brought up another matter, "Today, a major incident occurred at Sihai Trading Company."

He lowered his voice and said, "Do you remember Ding Guangsheng who came here this afternoon?"

"remember."

"He was actually a second-rank expert. In order to avenge his nephew, he demolished the Sihai Trading Company, resulting in the deaths of three fourth-rank retainers. The matter caused a huge uproar."

"Is there such a thing?"

Chen Ming looked "shocked".

Zhuang Xiaotian warned, "Don't let anyone know that Ding Guangsheng came to see you, otherwise, Sihai Trading Company might take their anger out on you."

"I see."

After Chen thanked him, he left in a hurry.

……

"Miss Su, are you still there?"

Chen Ming was left alone in the courtyard again, and he called out.

"What is it?" A response came quickly.

He asked, "Is it true that the Number One Restaurant in the World is going to re-establish the Qingyun Ranking?"

"It's true. The World's Number One Restaurant re-ranks its Qingyun List every five years."

"That's great."

Chen Ming was somewhat excited, as he was worried about not being able to find an opponent to spar with in Qingfeng City.

The fifth-rank officials in Qingfeng City are either with the Six Doors or with the Seven Great Merchants. They are all people he cannot afford to offend at the moment.

At this level, it's almost impossible to find independent cultivators. Someone like him, who has reached the fifth rank, has neither a master nor is affiliated with any major power, is extremely rare. That's why, last night, when he saw an opportunity against eleven experts from the Six Doors, he still risked making a move.

Such opportunities don't come often.

Moreover, now that Su Zhining is by his side every step of the way, he can no longer pretend to be in seclusion and change his identity to go to various places to farm experience points.

Su Zhining suddenly said, "Do you really want to make it onto the Qingyun Ranking?"

"Whether I make the list or not doesn't matter. I just want to compete with all the young talents in Jiangzhou."

"Do you know that if you make it onto the Azure Cloud Ranking, it will bring you endless trouble? In the next five years, countless young martial artists who want to become famous will want to defeat you and make a name for themselves by stepping on your corpse."

Chen Ming's eyes lit up. "Such a good thing?"

He could sit at home and have people come to challenge him. He'd be laughing in his sleep.

"..."

Su Zhining seemed to know that she couldn't persuade him, so she stopped talking.

The Number One Restaurant Under Heaven is a mysterious organization. It is neither a sect nor one of the Nine Great Sects. Nor is it a trading company; they do not sell anything.

This organization is keen on ranking other organizations, individuals, and items, and then creating a "number one in the world".

For example, among the nine major sects, the Heavenly Dao Alliance ranks first, a position established by the World's Number One Pavilion.

There's also the number one person in the world, the number one swordsman in the world, the number one saber in the world, and even the number one beauty in the world...

The fact that such an organization, so obsessed with rankings, could exist for over a thousand years speaks volumes about their strength.

Chen Ming's cultivation level was relatively low before, and the number one building under heaven was only a legend to him, seemingly unattainable.

I never expected that our paths would cross so soon.

……

The next day, Chen Ming sent someone to buy a complete list compiled by "The Number One Restaurant in the World".

After receiving the list, I flipped to the back and finally saw the "Qingyun List".

The Qingyun Ranking is based on prefectures, so it can be considered a second-level ranking. Its influence is far less than that of the first-level rankings.

However, its influence remains enormous within a specific state.

If he can rank first, he will be the number one young person in the state. What an honor that would be!

On the list in Chen Ming's hand, the number one ranked person on the Jiangzhou Qingyun List is Ji Baichuan, who comes from the Ji family. Five years ago, he was a fourth-rank official, and now he is a third-rank official.

The second and third place winners also broke through to the third rank, taking that crucial step.

The list only has ten names, all of whom are from prestigious families and sects. Six of them are from Jiangzhou City, which shows how prosperous the martial arts culture is in Jiangzhou City.

As for Qingfeng City, no one has made it onto the Qingyun Ranking for many years.

That's why people in Qingfeng City don't really mention the Azure Cloud Ranking, since it's not exactly a prestigious title.

This thick booklet is very well made; it not only lists the ages and backgrounds of those on the list, but also their life stories.

Like the cultivation level of the people on the list in the year they participated in the competition.

In the previous Jiangzhou Qingyun Ranking, seven of the top ten were at the fourth rank, while only the bottom three were at the fifth rank. And with at least dozens of participants, the competition was incredibly fierce.

These fifth-rank individuals all come from prestigious families and practice at least first-rate martial arts techniques; none of them are weak.

Chen Ming felt that with his current strength, it would be difficult to win a ranking.

Of course, ranking is not important; the key is that he cannot lose, otherwise he will lose experience points.

We must make the most of these three months to improve our strength as much as possible.

Chen Ming also noticed something: three people on this list were not winners from five years ago, but rather those who defeated those on the original list and climbed to the top by stepping on others.

He thought to himself, "If I can make it onto the list, I won't have to worry about people challenging me anymore."

The reason is simple: he has no background, unlike others who come from prestigious families. If he wants to challenge someone, he has to consider whether he can afford to offend them.

He's the only one who's easy prey; anyone can take advantage of him.

Chen Ming had been flipping through the list. In the afternoon, Gu Yuantao and Zhou Weihao arrived. As soon as they entered the courtyard, Zhou Weihao exclaimed, "Have you heard? The Number One Restaurant Under Heaven is going to re-rank the Azure Cloud Ranking..."

As they were talking, they noticed the list of products from the No. 1 Restaurant in the world in Chen Ming's hand. "It seems you already know."

(End of this chapter)