C3 You Sing, I Sing!
My grandson, only ninth!
Xuan Tugu's expression darkened to an extreme.
Members of the Vast Dragon Clan were in utter disbelief, blinking furiously, trying to convince themselves it wasn't true.
The ministers, poised to offer congratulations, stood frozen like geese, their words of praise swallowed back, exchanging awkward glances.
"How can this be?"
"I'm the supreme genius!
"If I'm merely ninth, then who are the eighth, the seventh, or even the first? What caliber of beings are they?"
Qu Jiangxuan's complexion blanched, reeling as if struck by lightning, his fingers clenched until they nearly turned white.
Jealousy flared in his eyes as he glowered at the golden Heaven Ranking spanning the Milky Way, his eyes rimmed with blood.
He couldn't accept it.
He had to keep watching.
He needed to see who else dared to rank above him!
Dong!
The bell tolled, announcing the Heaven Ranking's rewards.
Ninth place reward:
The Ancestral Dragon's Great Dao Bone.
The crowd gasped in awe.
The Ancestral Dragon's Great Dao Bone!
Each era's unparalleled experts had their own "Dao," like the Sword Dao, the Devil Dao, the Killing Dao, and so on.
When a Dao is perfected, it ascends to a Great Dao, granting dominion over the era and a legacy for descendants, who inherit earth-shattering power to forge new glories!
This reward was the Great Dao of the Dragon Clan's progenitor!
Fully assimilating it could unleash unimaginable energy, with a sixty percent chance of evolving into an Ancestral Dragon!
Xuan Tugu's morose expression softened slightly. Despite the low rank, the reward's value nearly overwhelmed her.
Yet, the thought of even more staggering rewards for higher ranks reignited the jealousy on her twisted visage.
Dong!
The bell chimed again.
A higher rank was unveiled!
Eighth place:
Name: Lu Xiuluo
Physique: Tyrant Body of Buddha and Demon
Evaluation: With a devil's fierce glare and a bodhisattva's gentle gaze, he embodies both Buddha and Demon, reigning supreme in the heavens!
"Lu Xiuluo? An unheard-of name!"
"Unheard of because those who've encountered him are no longer among the living!"
"Bearing both Buddha and Demon within, his might is unimaginable!"
"Silence, the video is playing!"
The crowd buzzed as a blood-red hue crept across the Heaven Ranking.
Beneath the ominous clouds, bones piled high, and blood waves churned, their eerie whispers threatening to drag souls into the abyss...
The screen barely contained the chilling aura of slaughter.
It depicted a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood!
Onlookers were petrified, the mere sight of the Heaven Ranking suffocating, as if their souls were scattering.
Above the firmament, the Heaven Ranking shifted, revealing a reward.
Eighth place reward:
The Eternal Devil Dragon Staff.
"Damn!"
"The Eternal Devil Dragon Staff! Forged by the Devil Ancestor from ten thousand devil dragons a million years ago!"
"Its bearers have all been tyrants through the ages!"
...
In the Demon Cave of the Spirit Continent, within the Ten Direction Palace, sat the supreme Demon, clad in blood-stained crimson armor, wielding a million vengeful spirits, his feet upon a land soaked in blood. His face was masked, half showing a compassionate Buddha, the other half a fierce Demon.
The Devil Emperor, Lu Xiuluo!
Beside his skeletal throne, a sphere of reward light materialized.
He reached out, seizing a pitch-black staff from within, its emergence sending a terrifying aura rippling through the Demon Palace.
"The Heaven Ranking is revealed, and I stand at eighth? Amusing, truly amusing..."
Lu Xiuluo's laugh was cold as ice.
His eyes, lifted, were as chilling as the deepest hell.
Vast Dragon Clan.
"The Heaven Ranking's eighth, Devil Emperor Lu Xiuluo!"
"A formidable force that once dominated the Spirit Continent! He once razed eight hundred sects overnight, leaving rivers of blood in his wake, a name that still evokes dread!"
"We assumed he was an ancient demon, but to appear on the young geniuses' list suggests he's quite youthful!"
The ministers were abuzz with commentary.
Qu Jiangxuan seethed with envy, yet recalling the nightmare of corpses and blood, the savage thirst for blood, the might that decimated eight hundred major sects in a single night...
He pondered his odds against Lu Xiuluo.
The answer—
None!
Qu Jiangxuan had to concede.
There was a reason he was outranked. Such was the irrefutable authority of the Heaven Ranking!
The announcements continued.
Seventh place:
Name: Daoist Zhi Wu
Physique: World Cleansing Dao Body
Evaluation: Master of natural Dao laws, controller of karma's cycle, wielder of merit's reincarnation!
Sixth place:
Name: Qii Wuyan
Physique: Spirit Heaven Calculation
Evaluation: In the blink of an eye, the matters of a thousand autumns are forgotten; the storms of eternity are but a moment's gesture!
Fifth Place
Name: Ye Yuan
Physique: Supreme Divine Pupils
Evaluation: The path of the dual pupils is one of invincibility, daring to transform the world with a mere opening and closing!
Golden light flashed, revealing one astonishing name after another, each accompanied by a scene of unparalleled brilliance.
"The Purifying Dao Body? The Taoist's most powerful and defiant physique! It's the grand merit left by the Heavenly Sovereign at the dawn of chaos!"
"Qii Wuyan of the Heavenly Secret Building, a legendary figure rumored to dwell above the clouds, can divine the fate and challenge the heavens, always one step ahead!"
"Who is this Ye Yuan to possess the talent of the dual pupils?"
"The Dual Pupils are invincible!"
"Seeing this, Qu Jiangxuan really doesn't amount to much!"
"My curiosity for the top rank grows! What kind of extraordinary individual deserves to be at the pinnacle of the Heaven Ranking?!"
The Heaven Ranking's latest update sent shockwaves through the world. The subsequent rewards descended in a cascade of white light, each more dazzling than the last: legendary armors, divine cultivation methods, ancient treasures... all fabled artifacts that widened eyes and stirred hearts.
Envy, jealousy, and secret plans abounded as some committed to memory the trajectory of the descending radiance, hoping to seek out the rewards later.
In the Azure Cloud Holy Land, Ye Yuan, ranked fifth, wore a stoic expression, tinged with gravity.
The placements of Qu Jiangxuan and Mu Shuangling were anticipated, but his own fifth place was a shock.
The Dual Pupils, a legacy from the twilight of the ancients, were born of a primordial Great Dao!
How could any physique surpass that of the Dual Pupils? Could the heavens have erred?
A frown creased Ye Yuan's brow.
Then, a white orb descended from the sky, a reward from the Great Dao.
Fifth Place Reward:
The Thousand Chess
The Thousand Chess: A divine-grade secret treasure, playing the game with heaven and earth, with all beings as its pieces, mastering life and death—the Thousand Chess acknowledges only one master.
The emergence of the reward sent tremors through the earth, a powerful spiritual melody that uplifted all who felt its presence.
Ye Yuan's enigmatic gaze lingered on the prize, his hands trembling slightly, betraying his inner turmoil.
He slowly looked up at the Heaven Ranking, his pride unable to mask his burgeoning curiosity.
In the Eastern Continent, within the Azure Phoenix Clan, a woman stood serenely atop a peak graced by pine and crane.
Her delicate brows swept lightly over a face of gentle beauty. She was clad in a pristine white shirt, its top buttons strained, threatening to burst forth. Her lower half was adorned with a sharp, neatly pleated dark blue skirt, and her long, lustrous legs were sheathed in white stockings, edged with intricate lace.
She was Qiuye, the Heavenly Lady of the Azure Phoenix Clan.
"To think the Heaven Ranking would be so unforgiving. Even Qu Jiangxuan of the Vast Dragon Clan is but ninth!
"The list is more than halfway revealed, yet my name has not appeared. Would it not be a disgrace to be absent from the ranks?
"Oh, how vexing..."
Qiuye's hands cupped her face, her almond eyes shimmering with a mix of tension and anticipation. She then let her hands fall, her mood a complex dance as she fidgeted.
"Alas, I had hoped to reveal my status when the time was ripe, but the Heaven Ranking has preempted me. I wonder how the old crone of the Vast Dragon Clan will take the news.
"Heh, she's battled with me for half a lifetime, and though now aged, she shows no sign of yielding.
"Qiuye, you've just awakened the perfect inheritance of the Ancestral Progenitor's strongest physique. With your talent, you're destined to stand out for the next hundred millennia!
"On the Heaven Ranking, you should be no less than fourth!"
Gu Chen approached with confident strides, his thoughts on Xuan Tugu cooling his gaze with disdain.
He was the king of the Azure Phoenix Clan!
As they spoke, the Heaven Ranking updated once more.
