Chapter 2105 (Raw 2210): Jumping Ranks
“City Lord, of Peach Blossom City’s followers, Yun Fei has the best results. He is currently ranked five-thousandth in Secret Realm 98. Lei Hao’s performance is a little poorer, ranking seven thousand-odd. As for Xiao Chen, he is ranked nine thousand seven hundred-odd. He does not seem to have collected many Faux God Spirit Jades.”
“There’s no rush. It has only been three days. Not much can be made out yet. However, I am very hopeful for Yun Fei. Although this stage is cruel, I believe he can pass it. His Thirteen Wind Controlling Swords will give him some advantages over these Sovereign Personages.”
“Right, Xiao Chen is still too young. This time, most of the participants taking the tests are mainly three-hundred- to four-hundred-year-old Great Perfection Sovereign Personages. Few are under one hundred years old.”
“There is no rush for Xiao Chen. He is not even fifty years old yet. He will get a second chance.”
Three days after the start of the first stage, the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor and Old Cui softly discussed the three people they thought the most highly off.
However, three days was insufficient to make out much. Many experts were still familiarizing themselves with the environment and would not rush to make a move.
There was no need to pay too much attention to the current rankings, as these would change very quickly.
Before they knew it, ten days had passed since the start of the first stage. Of course, ten days were just the blink of an eye to the Sovereign Emperors seated on the thrones in the Starry Heavens. With their long lifespans, they had already nurtured remarkable patience.
One-third of the time for the stage had passed. The Sovereign Emperors watching could make out the situation somewhat.
The top-ranking cultivators of the various secret realms had already firmly established their rankings.
Many of the experts who stood out left deep impressions on the watching Sovereign Emperors.
“Secret Realm 8’s Wu Meng is really strong! He is like a nightmare for the participants who meet him. So far, no one has lasted more than ten moves against him; the weaker ones could not even last three moves. He is also really murderous. He defeated some people so quickly that the Realm Spirit nearly failed to save some of them.”
“Secret Realm 50’s Shi Mingxuan is also incredible. There are many good seeds this time. Unfortunately, only one hundred can qualify from each secret realm.”
“Everyone, don’t come to a conclusion so quickly. It has only been ten days.”
While the Sovereign Emperors discussed with each other, the purple-haired old man showed an unsightly expression, as he had discovered that practically no participants from the Desolate City zone were among the top ranks.
Shangguan Yun could not help thinking and worrying. This test was the largest scale ever. Desolate City would be significantly embarrassed if it could not compare to the outer regions.
Furthermore, Desolate City ranked within the top ten out of the one hundred test zones.
Fortunately, some of Xing Ge’s followers stood out. One of them even firmly secured the top third rank in Secret Realm 6, even showing the potential to reach the top rank.
“City Lord, Yun Fei is starting his push. He now ranks in the top one thousand!” Old Cui was monitoring the secret realms the three were in and reported any change in ranks to the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor.
“Lei Hao charged into the top three thousand. However, Xiao Chen...”
“What’s wrong with Xiao Chen?” the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor asked, feeling something strange was going on.
Old Cui hesitated as he said, “Despite Xiao Chen’s strength, his rank is decreasing instead of increasing...”
The Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor could not help saying, “Decreasing instead of increasing? He was already at the nine thousandth-odd rank; how is it decreasing? Let me see.”
The Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor shifted his gaze to the light screen for Secret Realm 97. When he started looking from the bottom, he immediately found Xiao Chen’s name.
Ranked first from the bottom, in nine-thousand-eight-hundred seventy-third place, Peach Blossom City’s Xiao Chen.
Due to one hundred-odd people having been eliminated, only nine thousand eight hundred seventy-three participants remained in Secret Realm 97.
“Haha! Brother Peach Blossom, what’s going on? Even if you did not put in any effort, there is no need for you to put on such a show. To think that your follower is ranked last. This is the Heavenly Alliance’s test. All the powerhouses of the Heavenly Alliance are watching.”
When Sovereign Emperor Xing Ge casually looked over and noticed the ranking situation of Secret Realm 97, he immediately criticized hypocritically.
After Sovereign Emperor Xing Ge said that, all the surrounding Sovereign Emperors immediately focused on Secret Realm 97.
“Xiao Chen? This person seems to be only forty-seven years old. He is quite young. Even in a Rank 7 sect, a forty-seven-year-old Small Perfection Sovereign Personage would be an elite among elites.”
“However, he is still too young. He is still too far from matching experienced Sovereign Personages.”
“Indeed. Most people coming to participate in this Heavenly Alliance’s test are three-hundred- or four-hundred-year-old Great Perfection Sovereign Personages. This is truly difficult for him.”
historical
“He is a good seed. He should have waited until he passed one hundred years in age before participating in the Heavenly Alliance’s test. After all, he is too young. Who knows whether he can hold out or not?”
“Right. Any accomplishments before one hundred years old are too ostentatious, like the moon’s reflection in water. We can only truly make out his abilities after he reaches one hundred years old.”
“Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor rushed it.”
In fear of the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor, because of his prestige, the surrounding Sovereign Emperors discussed in whispers. Even so, they did not say anything nasty.
The evaluations were rather objective.
If they discussed another Sovereign Emperor, it would be hard to say whether any harsh words would not be spoken, especially given Sovereign Emperor Xing Ge’s attempts to stir things up.
Nonetheless, the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor was a cold and proud person. Even though these evaluations were rather objective, they still felt uncomfortable to hear.
However, the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor was a rather indifferent person. While he was uncomfortable, he did not care too much.
“Old Cui, do you think that I rushed this, reevaluating Xiao Chen? Did I harm Xiao Chen by doing this?”
The Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor ignored Sovereign Emperor Xing Ge and the other Sovereign Emperors. Instead, he worried about whether Xiao Chen could withstand this setback.
After all, Xiao Chen was young. He had not seen any true grand scene on his path from the outer regions to now.
Now, the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor suddenly threw him into the Heavenly Alliance’s test, a competition against Sovereign Personages from all over the Great Thousand Realms. If he could not adjust to this and lost his confidence, if his mental state could not withstand this setback, it would be a problem.
Old Cui did not know what to say. He could only console the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor. “Xiao Chen is a pretty good kid. His mental state is much better than that of other youths. It should not be a big problem. City Lord, there is no need to worry too much.”
“I hope so.”
—
At this moment, in Secret Realm 97:
Xiao Chen remained seated cross-legged in that dilapidated city, pondering the Ten Thousand Dragons Picture.
He had not moved at all in the past ten days, remaining in this abandoned city all the while.
This dilapidated ancient city was incredibly isolated, and there were no Faux God Spirit Jades nearby.
In the past days, figures continuously flew across the sky, but no one paid any attention to Xiao Chen.
In fact, there was nothing worth paying attention to.
“Whoosh!”
A scarlet figure arrived quickly from the sky. It was Xiao Chen’s demonic pet, the Demon Blood Vulture.
The Demon Blood Vulture circled around before landing. When Xiao Chen opened his eyes, the Demon Blood Vulture appeared before him. Then, it opened its mouth and spat out a few Spirit Jades glowing with a divine light.
Although Xiao Chen had not moved in the past ten days, he had relied on the Demon Blood Vulture to explore the secret realm.
As he had expected, the places with Faux God Spirit Jades hidden had ferocious beasts.
In fact, some of the Faux God Spirit Jades had been inserted into the ferocious beasts’ bodies. One could obtain large numbers of Faux God Spirit Jades after killing the ferocious beasts.
Now, nearly all the hidden Faux God Spirit Jades on the map had already been found.
There was only one way to obtain Faux God Spirit Jades in the remaining twenty days—snatching them from others.
The true intense fighting would formally begin now.
“After resting and honing my strength for ten days, I have already waited too long.”
A bright light flashed in Xiao Chen’s eyes. He fiddled with the Faux God Spirit Jades that the Demon Blood Vulture handed over as he muttered, “It is time to get moving.”
He cast his Spiritual Sense over the surrounding fifty thousand kilometers and detected cultivators around.
Those who held more Faux God Spirit Jades gave off correspondingly more intense light. As long as one held a Faux God Spirit Jade, one could forget about hiding in this secret realm.
“You, then!”
The light from a particular person within fifty thousand kilometers stood out. Xiao Chen estimated that this person had at least three thousand Faux God Spirit Jades.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
Xiao Chen’s figure flashed. After about seven to eight minutes, he found his target on top of a mound.
That person was a black-clad male at the Great Perfection Sovereign Stage. He leaned leisurely against a rock with his sword stabbed into the ground. However, his sword lay within casual reach.
This person was not in a rush to take the initiative to attack. The Faux God Spirit Jades on him would attract the other participants over.
He had already lost track of how many reckless people had charged over, wanting to snatch his Faux God Spirit Jades. In the end, he killed them instead, increasing his haul of Faux God Spirit Jades.
The black-clad man glanced around and saw Xiao Chen on the mound. He could not help smiling. “Interesting, you are just a Small Perfection Sovereign Personage, and you are actually targeting me. Scram far away. I have no interest in playing with a poor person like you.”
This person’s Soul Energy perception did not detect any light from Xiao Chen. With one glance, he concluded that someone else had already robbed Xiao Chen clean.
Such trash had no value. The black-clad man could not even be bothered to give Xiao Chen another look.
This Great Perfection Sovereign Personage comprehended the Sword Great Dao. He boasted a very strong sword intent but was still far from comprehending a Dao Domain.
Compared to Yun Fei, this person was at least fifty percent weaker. Given this person’s carelessness, Xiao Chen should be able to finish him off in two moves.
Xiao Chen’s expression did not change on the mound as he quickly evaluated the other party’s strength.
Eye Technique, Candle Dragon Eyes!
A Candle Dragon image immediately appeared behind Xiao Chen. In the next moment, a boundlessly cold candle flame started burning the black-clad man without any prior warning.
“Ka ca!”
Xiao Chen leaped up nearly at the same time as he executed the Eye Technique. Before the other party could cry out, resplendent saber light appeared on the other party’s neck, and blood spurted out like a fountain.
“You...you...you!”
The black-clad man looked at Xiao Chen in horror. Even in his dreams, he would not have imagined that the seemingly incredibly weak Xiao Chen could instantly erupt with such formidable combat prowess.
However, it was already too late. The black-clad man’s body slowly immaterialized, sent out by the Realm Spirit.
When the black-clad man was gone, he left behind a large pile of Faux God Spirit Jades flickering with divine nature in the air. There was a total of three thousand eight hundred Faux God Spirit Jades.
Xiao Chen sheathed his saber and beckoned gently.
Then, he unceremoniously stored all the Faux God Spirit Jades in his storage ring as he searched calmly for his next target.
—
In the Starry Heavens above the Dao Platform:
The expression of the somewhat listless Old Cui suddenly changed. He rubbed his eyes and checked three times before he dared to be sure of it.
“City Lord! City Lord! It’s incredible.”
“What’s wrong? Why are you kicking up a fuss?”
“Xiao Chen, he...”
“Was eliminated?”
“No, I just saw his name jump up by eight hundred ranks. Look, it jumped again, by one thousand ranks this time. He is now within the top three thousand.”
The Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor felt startled on hearing this. Half a day ago, Xiao Chen was still ranked last. How could there be such a drastic change in such a short time?
When the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor shifted his gaze to the light screen for Secret Realm 97, he was horrified to discover Xiao Chen’s rank jumping up again.
Xiao Chen moved from the top three thousand into the top two thousand five hundred.
“Am I seeing wrong? Or is the Realm Spirit’s ranking faulty?” The jumps in rank were simply too drastic. The Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor did not dare to believe his eyes.