Bloodwind ranks.

Yao Jun himself didn't know the meaning of receiving a title on the Multiverse Bloodwind list, didn't know the horror and honour it brought. It was the same when he received his final title in his own universe, Nine Heavens Demon God, he didn't care much but it made the truth apparent to others. He had been acknowledged, his strength and terror had been officially recognized by the universe, all the blood and sweat he had shed to move forward had been acknowledged for all to see.

And the first people cursed with the right to bear witness to the new Prince of Greed's strength were the three people who were surrounded on all sides by an uncountable number of swords and glaives. The three Heavenly Deities felt so grand when they first made their way here, but looking at the handsome youth standing at the centre of the weapon-filled world, the only thing they felt was fear.

He had known they would come, and he had prepared, allowing him to kill one of them in a single swift exchange. And if he could do it to one of them then he could do it to them as well, this was a fact that they were keenly aware of. Yao Jun didn't have the countless weapons launch any attacks, his gaze drifting away from Lin Tsai and landing on the two others.

"Shisui Juan Hai, Fa Ong, if the two of you swear oaths that neither you or anyone affiliated with you will ever attack me or anyone close to me again then I can let you leave. If you feel that you're above swearing oaths, then trust me, you will wish that I had killed you before the next hour has passed."

It was a barefaced threat that didn't give the two people the slightest amount of face, both of them wanting to gnash their teeth as a result. There had never been a time where a mere Earthly Deity had dared to talk to them like that, normally they would kill Earthly Deities just for looking at them like Yao Jun was right now.

But now the roles were completely reversed, they would be the ones to die if they said something wrong here. Their reputation would be ruined if word got out that an Earthly Deity had forced them into such dire straits that they could only leave by his approval. But they didn't need too much thought to arrive at their conclusion, a ruined reputation was miles better than losing their lives.

"I, Shisui Juan Hai, swear that I'll never make a move against Yao Jun or his group, nor will anyone I am associated with make a move against you."

"I, Fa Ong, hereby swear a solemn vow that I will not try to assault or hamper Yao Jun and those affiliated with him, nor will anyone I have ties to do so."

The two were a touch unwilling but still swore the oath, Yao Jun giving them a dismissive wave that caused them to grit their teeth even further. But they could only suck in a deep breath and quickly fly away, their odds of dying were simply too high if they did anything else. Yao Jun's gaze lingered on the two as they flew away, some of the weapons hanging in the air grazing their bodies and leaving very shallow cuts, one final threat to make sure they understood the situation.

Yao Jun lowered his gaze back onto Lin Tsai when Shisui Juan Hai and Fa Ong left, his cold gaze piercing directly into Lin Tsai's soul. He was the weakest of the four that had come, even the patriarch of his clan had died in one exchange, it would be even easier for Yao Jun to kill him. As such, Lin Tsai quickly dropped the glaive he had snatched and started bargaining for his life.

"Ple... Please wait, Yao Jun! I can swear an oath that the Lin clan won't move against you! We'll forgive everything and go our own way, we'll make sure to steer clear of you! I can maybe even talk to th...GH!"

Lin Tsai's begging was cut off by a flick of Yao Jun's finger, a dozen of the weapons around Lin Tsai shooting at him and forcing him to hurriedly block. Yao Jun started to slowly walk forward, each step causing dozens to hundreds of the weapons around him to launch at Lin Tsai, sealing his movements by forcing him to continuously block.

"Did I say that you had the option of swearing an oath? They were allowed to leave because I don't have any real enmity with them, but you, you and your entire clan have already forfeited your lives."

Ethereal chains manifested around Lin Tsai and started to coil around him, drastically slowing and hampering his movements as Yao Jun aimed the surrounding array at him. Chains bogging him down and thousands of weapons assaulting him from all sides, these conditions made it so that Lin Tsai couldn't even move and could only stand there as Yao Jun arrived in front of him.

With Yao Jun standing directly in front of him and looking down at him, Lin Tsai felt an unprecedented amount of pressure crush down upon both his body and soul. Fear, that was the emotion swirling around within him, an overwhelming sense of fear and terror. It was like he was a mortal again and was looking upon the first Demonic beast he had ever encountered, a being he could even fully understand or reason with, an incarnation of death.

Lin Tsai suddenly lurched forward, his panic-stricken eyes landing on his own chest. A transparent sword had pierced straight through him from behind, but it didn't actually spill a single drop of blood after piercing through him. The sword dissipated, Lin Tsai's consciousness growing heavy and dim as a result of the attack, which had targeted his very soul.

The thousands of physical attacks constantly assaulting him had drawn his entire focus, he hadn't even toyed with the notion that Yao Jun might also be a soul cultivator. As such, his soul had been completely unguarded and could easily be pierced by Yao Jun's Anima Essence.

But the attack hadn't destroyed his soul and killed him, nor did the countless weapons around him continue to assault him. The weapons all vanished, dissipating into silver motes of light that fluttered through the air around Yao Jun. But Lin Tsai didn't have the chance to even admire the sight, Yao Jun's hand reaching forward and covering his face while assaulting his soul with even more energy.

Lin Tsai struggled for a split second before his entire body relaxed, Yao Jun pulling his arm back again. Lin Tsai knelt down the moment Yao Jun let go of him, lowering his head as deeply as he could.

"This slave greets you, Master, please give me your orders!"

Just like he had done with Lucia in the past, Yao Jun had used the power of the Human God's Gate to hijack Lin Tsai's mind, turning him into the most loyal of pawns. Yao Jun didn't bother wasting any time with Lin Tsai, waving him away while giving him his mission.

"Run back to the Lin clan as if you're fleeing, once you've returned you are to inform this spider of everything that happens. At the same time, you are to do your best to destroy the array surrounding the Lin clan mansion, you must also get into contact with as many clans and sects as possible, spread the spiders as far as possible."

Lin Tsai immediately knocked his forehead against the ground in acknowledgement, Yao Jun depositing several thousand spiders into his shadow. He then watched as Lin Tsai scurried away, quietly waiting for what he guessed was to follow. And his guess was proven correct after five more minutes, a feminine voice once again sounding out within his head.

"Is it over now? Can I not get cut off this time?"

The feminine voice had sounded out in his head earlier as well, when he first merged with the Bloodwind Code. But back then she had been cut off by the more mechanical voice that announced that he was acknowledged by the Bloodwind Code and had received a title. There was a short silence from the feminine voice before she figured that she wasn't going to get cut off again, her voice gaining a bit of strength as she carried on as if nothing had happened.

"Hear me, I am the Fourth Disciple of the Arbiter of Death, the creator of the Bloodwind Codes. I am Bo Chern and I will be the one to explain to you how the Bloodwind Code works and what its purpose is."

The female voice, Bo Chern, quieted down as if she was drawing in a breath, but Yao Jun spoke up before she could start her explanation, seemingly leaving her somewhat vexed.

"No point, I really don't care. Just tell me what I need to do to have the creator of the Bloodwind Codes revive someone."

"Tch, I hate it when I get the impatient ones. Fine, reach the King rank on the Multiverse list and abandon your five questions to ask for that favour. Easy peasy and simple, happy yet?"

Bo Chern's response was exceedingly snappy and exasperated, as if she was already tired of dealing with Yao Jun after hearing his first sentence. She sucked in another breath, speaking up again without giving Yao Jun any chance to talk.

"Hah~ don't bother, I already know what you're going to say next, all you impatient people are the same in that regard. 'what's a king rank`' what questions?' 'how do I reach the king rank?' Gee, if only there was some explanation we could give out to answer these questions. It's simple, the rewards for progressing up the rankings is that you get to ask us questions that we'll answer for you."

Getting questions answered as a reward might sound a bit strange and even stingy to some people, but Yao Jun could easily see the worth in it. Information was exceedingly important, having the right information could mean the difference between defeat and victory.

"You get one question for acquiring a code, one for killing a Ruler, one for each time you increase your rank by 10 000 spots, one for acquiring a Ruler rank in your universe, one for increasing your ruler rank, five questions for acquiring a Ruler rank on the multiverse list, and five questions each time you increase your ruler rank on the multiverse list. The Ruler ranks are divided into the Sin or Virtue category, and it is the Bloodwind Code itself that decides when you are worthy of receiving a Ruler rank. The ranks are Lord, Prince, King, Emperor, God, and Empyrean, so since you got the Prince title you only need to increase it one more time if you want to revive someone. You've acquired a Ruler rank on the multiverse list and acquired a code so you've got six questions to spare, if you've got any then just spit them out now or tell me to contact you later."

For someone complaining that he was impatient, Bo Chern herself seemed to be rather impatient. But Yao Jun couldn't be bothered to state that, rolling his eyes for a short second as he checked if there were any questions he wanted to be answered. And he did indeed come up with one, his gaze sharpening slightly.

"I want to know if there are any tiger-type Divine Beasts with the lightning element in this universe. If not, I want to know if there are any lightning-type Divine Beasts with a blood-relation to the cat family. As for the other questions, you can just check up on me later or give me a way to contact you."

The Lin clan had ended up being a bust so this was good timing to get his hands on new information about lightning-type Divine Beasts that could be used as the base for Little Thunder's revival. Bo Chern was silent for a few minutes after Yao Jun stated his question, but her voice sounded out again just as he was starting to wonder if she had elected to ignore him.

"Done, you can head to the nearest Heaven's Secrets Company and state that you've come to pick up the package left by Bo Chern, they'll hand you a file containing information about all the Divine Beasts in this universe that fit your criteria. They'll also hand you a small crystal, you can use that to send your question directly to me, I'll respond when I've got time so don't whine if you have to wait."

Bo Chern's voice didn't sound out again after she left her last snappy remark, silence returning to the inside of Yao Jun's head. The corners of his lips curved up slightly as he stood there, it had definitely been the correct idea to pick up a Bloodwind Code, he had just managed to drastically shave down on time he would likely have wasted searching for Divine Beasts fitting his criteria.

His God Gate appeared at his side and swung open, Yao Jun stepping into it to meet up with his family. First, he would spend a bit more time with Guo Luo and Yao Xuelian, just relaxing to make up for the time he had been gone. Afterwards, they could start travelling again to pick up the information and see if there were any suitable targets, he was also starting to play around with an idea for the last five questions, but that would have to wait a little.