Reputation is generally considered better the greater it is.
If your reputation is big enough, your prospects are relatively bigger too.
After all, no one is willing to bother with some nobody who popped out of nowhere.
Although it's possible for a nobody to become somebody, it's more likely they'll suddenly die halfway there.
Chen Xia was on the road to fame.
He didn't tell Xuan Li his real name, not to mention his title.
Xuan Li could only make up a title for Chen Xia himself.
Co-Master of Thunder Sword.
This title didn't fully describe Chen Xia's capabilities, but Xuan Li wanted something short and pleasant-sounding, so he went with this for the time being.
On the day Chen Xia returned heavily injured with Ma Xiaohong, some cultivators went specially to use their divining abilities to calculate the location of the Flood of Million Dead Souls.
They discovered to their surprise that the location of the Flood of Million Dead Souls actually appeared right in front of them, and moreover it was on Chen Xia's body.
This represented that Chen Xia had single-handedly killed all one million dead souls in just half a month.
The cultivators were only left shocked and speechless.
This was indeed something they didn't even dare imagine, and just being able to avoid the Flood of Million Dead Souls would have made them very happy already.
They didn't expect there to be such a ferocious existence that charged and killed the million dead souls where even a Saint-level dead soul was stationed!
Most heaven-defying was that he had actually killed them all!
And so Chen Xia's title of Co-Master of Thunder Sword spread extremely quickly, and with the battle achievement of killing a million dead souls, he successfully entered the forefront among the cultivators of the Great Death Realm, even directly into the top hundred, as he was specially recorded in the ranking ledger by the Recorder.
There were four ranking lists in the ledger.
The first three were the Heaven Ranking, Earth Ranking, and Human Ranking.
The Heaven Ranking contained the top hundred cultivators, representing the peak battle power in this battle in the Great Death Realm, and there was no restriction that they must be heaven's pride.
Even if you were an old guy in the Heaven Mending Realm, as long as your battle power was high enough, you could still enter the top hundred.
The Earth Ranking then contained the top thousand cultivators. This batch of cultivators could be considered the mainstay in this battle in the Great Death Realm. Because there were a thousand ranked, the disparity between them could also be quite big.
For example, the cultivator ranked 101st could definitely annihilate the one ranked 1000th.
The Human Ranking contained the top three thousand cultivators. They might not be considered mainstays, but they weren't too weak either, each having their own particular strength.
Of the four ranking lists, the first three were considered normal, and only the last one was not very friendly. It was called...
Livestock Ranking.
All cultivators outside of the top three thousand in Heaven, Earth, and Human were classified into the Livestock Ranking cultivators.
The implication was that they weren't regarded as human, and could be casually killed as one wished.
And the fact was indeed so, and nobody could refute it either.
Chen Xia was written by the Recorders of the various interfaces into the Heaven Ranking, but he was only a provisional Heaven Ranking for now without a determined ranking.
If he were to truly enter the Heaven Ranking, he would need to demonstrate his strength in a grand occasion, and if it was truly as the rumors said, they could then begin ranking him.
This was the origin of reputation in the Great Death Realm, mainly relying on the various interfaces' Recorders to record it.
Chen Xia didn't care too much about his own reputation. Although he was currently the so-called orthodox lineage of the interface, he didn't have the slightest intention to make a name for the interface.
Ma Xiaohong even less possibly had such an intention. She wished she could hide far, far away and not get involved in anything.
The Flood of Million Dead Souls had indeed frightened her badly.
Some people would grow in adversity, becoming increasingly tough and fearless.
Others would shrink back in adversity, fleeing more and more.
Both situations were normal, differing by individual.
For example Ma Xiaohong had fled to an extreme degree.
It was likely the shadow left on her that day was too big.
Especially Chen Xia's heavy injury. Although Ma Xiaohong later nursed him back to health, Ma Xiaohong always felt it was her responsibility, remaining silently unhappy all along, possibly blaming herself.
Regarding this, although Chen Xia had given consolation and spoken heavily, he still said:
"To speak fairly, it indeed was your responsibility, but it was also my carelessness, taking out half the immortal sword which gave the dead souls a chance.
Additionally, although it was your responsibility, it truly wasn't a heavy injury, and you later even treated me, so that makes up for it. You don't need to worry."
His consolation was very effective.
Tears had already appeared at the corners of Ma Xiaohong's eyes. She sniffed and looked at him with her delicate, feeble countenance, tearful eyes flickering as she softly asked:
"Am I very useless?"
Chen Xia frowned, somewhat unbelieving.
He hadn't expected Ma Xiaohong to actually have such self-awareness!
But the truth still couldn't be casually spoken.
He shook his head and switched to another aspect with a smile: "In terms of medicinal treatment, you're extremely good."
"R-really?" Ma Xiaohong blinked her teary eyes, in which hope flickered. She had likely selectively ignored the mention of medicinal treatment and only heard that "extremely good" part.
"Yes." Chen Xia nodded. His body quivered slightly, not going mad again, but rather his body truly feeling uncomfortable.
The million dead souls had in fact not completely died.
Strictly speaking, the million dead souls had only entered his sea of consciousness where they were suppressed by the three million flying swords.
Most important was that quasi-Saint level dead soul. Although it didn't have Saint level strength, it was extremely difficult to deal with, controlling the million dead souls to form arrays, extract souls, control stars, and more.
Chen Xia later became so anxious his eyes turned red. He directly revealed his entire will of the Celestial Dragon, appearing within the celestial spheres as if entering an ocean, thunder accompanying his body, and the three million flying swords crying out together!
He discovered the million dead souls had formed a grand array that he couldn't kill completely nor wipe out. As long as a shred of aura existed, the dead souls could be reborn.
This forced Chen Xia to have an inspired idea to directly swallow the dead souls into his sea of consciousness and use one flying sword to suppress each dead soul.
Despite it being called the Flood of Million Dead Souls, his flying swords numbered more, with one flying sword even left to suppress each dead soul.
Afterward was his battle with the quasi-Saint level dead soul, their strengths extremely evenly matched as they battled fiercely for seven days, emptying out an entire celestial region. Chen Xia finally prevailed by devouring the quasi-Saint level dead soul.
And now the million dead souls were all within his sea of consciousness, with the various flying swords suppressing dead souls of different levels and the Bronze Sword suppressing the quasi-Saint level dead soul.
The two sides were not exactly peaceful, still clashing here and there as the million dead souls tried to break through the restrictions of his sea of consciousness.
At such times, Chen Xia's body would feel uncomfortable, spiritual power fluctuating, even slightly affecting his consciousness.
Chen Xia's eyes narrowed as he sat steadily.
These million dead souls could only stir up trouble for now. It wouldn't be long before they each became nourishment for his million flying swords one by one.
Causing the million flying swords whose grades had not changed for a long time to level up one by one.
It was a carnival for the flying swords.
It was also the gradual...
digestion occurring in Chen Xia's body!