by Shian Jeen
Liu Yun and Qi Wen were fuming.
A sharp light glinted in Feng Yang’s eyes as he harrumphed coldly, “You really think your Azure Dragon Institute’s Xiang Mingzhi can enter the top one hundred? This is just the first day, it’s too early to be ecstatic. Who knows, that Xiang Mingzhi might end up dead a few days later.”
Qin Yi’s expression sank, “This is what I should be saying to you. Don't worry, that Huwang Xiao is destined to never return.”
In another location, the twelve Wangu Clan Elders were smiling brightly looking at the ranking list.
On the first place was still Wangu Yanhui.
One day had passed and Wangu Yanhui’s points had reached 66,035.
At second place was Fortune Gate’s Fang Cu with 61,041 points.
In the third place was Mu Qi from the Mu Clan, with 50,649 points.
“The first place of this term’s Highgod Advancement Tournament definitely belongs to our Wangu Clan.” Wangu Changqing laughed softly as he said.
“This Wangu Yanhui kid really didn't disappoint us old men ah, but what a pity, our Wangu Clan only has a single disciple who could enter the top ten.” Wangu Shuo sighed.
“I say, old man, that Wangu Yanhui kid could get the first place, you’re still not satisfied? If all top ten places were monopolized by our Wangu Clan, it would be heaven-defying. Not possible.” Another Wangu Clan Elder, Wangu Yuan laughed. “Still, even though Wangu Zhen that brat and Wangu Ruyi that little girl won’t be able to get a spot within the top ten, top one hundred is not a problem for them.”
In this tournament, their Wangu Clan had more than four hundred disciples participating. Although Wangu Zhen and Wangu Ruyi’s talents couldn't compare to Wangu Yanhui’s, they were still top geniuses, already peak late-Third Order Highgod Realm masters.
Both of them currently ranked within the top one hundred.
Five days went by quickly.
The four galaxies’ masters gathering at the square had dispersed by a large portion. In the first two days, these masters had secretly harbored hope that disciples from their families or sects would be able to rise up in ranking. However, five days later, their disappointment squashed whatever thoughts of luck or hope they had. Little by little, these people lost interest in staring at the ranking list and left the square.
“Master, let’s go back to the Surging Mansion first.” Liu Yun hesitated a little before saying.
Feng Yang sighed heavily in his heart, nodding to Liu Yun, “Alright.”
Five days had passed, yet Huwang Xiao’s name did not appear in the top three thousand. Although Feng Yang couldn't estimate Huwang Xiao’s current ranking, a portion of his confidence had dwindled away. Rather than waiting here and endure that Azure Dragon Institute’s proud smiles and incessant ridicule, it was best they returned to the Surging Waves Mansion and wait for news.
Therefore, Feng Yang’s group also left the Aeon Square.
Qin Yi sneered when he noticed Feng Yang’s group leaving, then he continued observing the ranking list. At this time, Xiang Mingzhi not only entered the top five hundred, he was sitting in the 363rd place. A place in the spotlight.
Ch.849
Looking at Xiang Mingzhi’s name shining on the ranking list, growing increasingly bright in the last five days, the beaming smile on Qin Yi’s face grew increasingly blinding.
At this time, in the Overflowing Lightning World, two streaks of light drilled into the jade token inside Huwang Xiao’s body, immediately increasing his number of points.
46,092 points. These were Huwang Xiao’s points, with current ranking standing at 59, 368.
Although the bottom of top fifty-thousand was a far cry from Xiang Mingzhi’s position, it was still considered a significant improvement. There were First Order Highgod Realm disciples that were below Huwang Xiao in the ranks.
In this tournament, there were more than twenty thousand disciples of late-First Order Highgod Realm and above. Adding on the cultivators of early First Order Highgod Realm, their number exceeded three million.
Therefore, disciples ranked in the top ten thousand were mostly late-First Order Highgod Realm and above, with merely a handful of perfection stage late-Tenth Order God Realm cultivators like Huwang Xiao who managed to climb up to the ranks of fifty thousand.
Shortly after consuming a Spring Autumn Hundred Life Divine Pellet, Huwang Xiao flew out from a valley, continuing to fly in a certain direction. The lightning beasts he met on the way were all killed using just a soul force sword.
Day after day passed. In the blink of an eye, the participants had spent a month in the Overflowing Lightning World.
In this one month’s time, Huwang Xiao did not stop to rest, persistently flying in a single direction. Whenever he felt that his god battle qi and soul force were close to exhaustion, he would consume a Spring Autumn Hundred Life Divine Pellet and employ Instant Recovery to return to his peak condition.
Along the way, he came across a few groups of disciples. Some were alone like Huwang Xiao, and there were also disciples from different backgrounds who came together to form a group, as well as groups purely consisting of disciples from the same force.
Each of these people was strong and had great confidence in their own strength. Hence, there were a few who had the intention of killing Huwang Xiao and rob his points when they saw a measly perfection stage late-Tenth Order God Realm disciple on his own. Naturally, one could imagine the ending of these people who acted on their desire.
After killing a few groups, there were twenty more spatial rings inside Huwang Xiao’s Asura Ring.
Disciples eligible to participate in the tournament were all top geniuses of their galaxies, their spatial rings surely contained quite a lot of good stuff. They might not be useful to Huwang Xiao, but he could use them to reward his Martial Spirit World’s subordinates when he returned.
After the first month passed, Huwang Xiao’s ranking had risen again from his previous bottom of fifty-thousand to the upper half of twenty-thousand, at 23,645.
In the few groups of disciples he killed, the strongest one was a peak late-First Order Highgod Realm, but their accumulated points were only that many, otherwise Huwang Xiao would have already shot up into the top twenty-thousand.
Then again, Huwang Xiao wasn’t too concerned with his current performance. During this time, he was still focused on finding Xiang Mingzhi, or else, based on his strength, he could easily rush up into top one hundred by now.
“132nd place.” Huwang Xiao was checking the jade token for Xiang Mingzhi’s progress with a self-deprecating smile. Judging from the results, Xiang Mingzhi went all out in this one month. Following this trend, in another month or two, he would enter top one hundred.
Although he failed to find Xiang Mingzhi in this one month, Huwang Xiao was in no rush. He looked forward to finding Xiang Mingzhi right after he entered the top hundred.
On the other side, in Aeon City’s square, the members of the Azure Dragon Institute group were staring intently at the ranking board, observing Xiang Mingzhi’s ranking that was slowly but steadily inching up toward the top one hundred. Their faces bloomed like a flower in spring.
Recalling the fact that there were more than 17 million disciples from close to a hundred thousand galaxies participating in this Highgod Advancement Tournament, all of them geniuses among geniuses, it was a great glory for one of their disciples to obtain a spot in the top one hundred!
Qin Yi could already imagine the scene where his disciple Xiang Mingzhi was one of the top one hundred winners, shocking the four galaxies, the uproar it would cause!
Thanks to this, their Azure Dragon Institute’s reputation would spread far and wide.
“I wonder what ranking that Huwang Xiao has.” An Azure Dragon Institute Grand Elder casually mentioned.
Ceng Chu issued a cold laugh, “What kind of good ranking can a mere God Realm achieve? If it were up to me, I say that Huwang Xiao is still struggling below the ten million.”
“That’s right. Who knows, maybe that Huwang Xiao has already died in the Overflowing Lightning World.” Another Azure Dragon Institute Grand Elder chimed, his tone filled with ridicule.
“Junior Brother rose another two spots!” Ceng Chu suddenly shouted in excitement.
All of the Azure Dragon Institute members turned to look at the ranking list, and indeed, in that brief moment they exchanged a few words, Xiang Mingzhi had risen two places up the list, taking the 130th position. All of them were laughing widely.
In the blink of an eye, another two months passed. The tournament was about to enter its fourth month.
During the first month, the changes on the ranking list were frequent due to the rapid changes in the disciples’ accumulated points, whereas now, at the end of the third month, things seemed to have settled down.
Xiang Mingzhi did not disappoint the Azure Dragon Institute members, finally breaking into top one hundred. Furthermore, he shot all the way up to the 89th place.
Since the higher a participant’s points were, the brighter their name shined on the ranking list, Xiang Mingzhi’s name was undoubtedly eye-catching.
“Master, it’s Feng Yang that old man.” Ceng Chu suddenly whispered to Qin Yi.
Qin Yi and the other Azure Dragon Institute members turned over to look, seeing Feng Yang, Liu Yun, and the rest walking over from the distance.
In these three months, Feng Yang and his disciples would come over to check the ranking list every ten days or so. Even though they knew the chances of Huwang Xiao entering the top three thousand were extremely slim, Feng Yang still harbored a sliver of hope, hoping for a miracle.
“Feng Yang, I didn’t expect you to still not give up at this stage.” Seeing Feng Yang coming to the square again, Qin Yi began ridiculing him in a cold voice, “Don’t tell me you really believe a miracle will happen.”
Every time Feng Yang came to look at the ranking list, Qin Yi would take the opportunity to mock him. This gave Qin Yi an instant feeling of satisfaction.
“Unfortunately, there are only so many miracles in the world.” Qin Yi snickered, “You guys are bound to be disappointed again. I’d advise you to stop coming; it's sad to say this, but that Huwang Xiao is probably dead.”
Feng Yang’s gaze was sharp as blades. Ignoring Qin Yi’s taunts, he looked at the ranking list, but Huwang Xiao’s name still hadn't appeared.
Noticing Xiang Mingzhi who was already in the 89th place, Feng Yang’s expression grew uglier.
“Let us return.” A moment later, Feng Yang said to his three disciples.
There was an air of dejection around Feng Yang as he left the square.
At this time in the Overflowing Lightning World, Huwang Xiao retrieved his divine sense from the jade token.
4,346th place, this was Huwang Xiao’s current position.
In general, disciples who could rise to the top five thousand possessed the strength of a late-Second Order Highgod Realm and above.
If it was known that a God Realm cultivator like Huwang Xiao actually broke into the top four thousand, it was enough to cause an uproar at the Aeon Square.
However, the ranking list projected in the Aeon Square only showed the top three thousand names and didn't show the disciples’ cultivation realm and strength. Hence, Huwang Xiao’s existence went unnoticed.
Even Xiang Mingzhi, who paid close attention to him in the first few days stopped doing so after Huwang Xiao’s ‘disappointing’ performance. The same went for the Yelu Family disciples.
On this day, Huwang Xiao was flying forward as usual when, all of a sudden, he stopped in the air with an astonished expression. There was a megapolis in the distance!
There was actually a city in the Overflowing Lightning World! This possibility never occurred to Huwang Xiao.
Ch.850
Looking at buildings inside the megapolis in front of him, Huwang Xiao couldn’t guess what they were made of. The city walls reflected a faint black light, thick layers of dark clouds seemed to hover permanently above the city with lightning weaving across them like dragons.
From Huwang Xiao’s current location, the megapolis looked like a city that rose from hell, exuding a violent killing aura that made one’s heart palpitate.
Even though he was at a far distance from the city, the overwhelming destructive force coming from the giant dark clouds with streaks of lightning exuded a pressure he felt down to his soul.
Huwang Xiao hesitated for a second before he flew toward the intimidating city.
As he was flying toward the city, three figures were hidden close to the city gates.
These three figures had concealed their auras and presence, their bodies emitted a strange radiance that allowed them to become one with their surroundings. Even when walking right beside them, one wouldn't be able to detect their presence.
These three were all peak late-Second Order Highgod Realm disciples from the Prestige Galaxy’s Water Clan!
It was an ancient clan, one of the few most powerful clans of the Prestige Galaxy. These three figures were part of the Water Clan disciples that entered the tournament, the stronger ones of that group, and heir current rankings were somewhere between three to four thousand.
The three of them had been hiding close to the city gates for over a month, preying on disciples who passed by. However, the three of them weren’t greedy, only killing disciples below Third Order Highgod Realm.
With the three of them cooperating, a peak late-Second Order Highgod Realm that strayed off from the main group wouldn't be able to escape from their hands, not to mention the fact that all three of them possessed an ancient divine artifact that could isolate the space and energy fluctuations around a person. Even if they fought and killed someone, no one on the outside could detect anything, and there was no way to investigate who killed them.
Hence, even after leaving the Overflowing Lightning World, they weren’t afraid of anyone coming to find trouble with them.
In a little over a month, the number of disciples who died in their hands probably reached a hundred, maybe even more.
“His mother, it’s already been two days since a disciple last came this way.” One of the three, Lue Pang grumbled.
“Waiting like this is not a solution, I think we’d do better enter the city a few days later.” Another companion suggested.
“En, someone’s coming.” The person who glanced outside suddenly exclaimed in a hushed voice. When he took another closer look, disappointment filled his face, “Just a perfection stage late-Tenth Order God Realm?”
“His mother, we waited two full days for this shrimp? Even if we kill him, how many points can each of us get?” Lue Pang was feeling disgruntled.
“Getting something is better than not getting anything at all.” Another person stated, “The kid’s coming, let’s move!”
The three figures flew out from their hiding place to attack.
Regardless of the other party’s strength, the three of them always attacked together. Only then would the points be evenly distributed amongst them after the opponent was killed.
While the three thought the other side would instantly die under their joint attack, the figure in front of them blurred away in a flicker, dodging their attacks, leaving three Water Clan disciples dumbfounded.
The other party was none other than Huwang Xiao.
“Kid, you unexpectedly have some skill. You most likely cultivated some secret technique to conceal your true cultivation and appear as a perfection stage late-Tenth Order God Realm, right?” The disciple named Lue Pang narrowed his eyes dangerously, observing Huwang Xiao.
The three of them naturally didn't believe that a mere God Realm ant could dodge their joint attack, hence, they were convinced that Huwang Xiao used some secret technique to conceal his cultivation.
“But I like this much better! You’re probably a late-Second Order Highgod Realm disciple? Or a peak late-Second Order Highgod Realm?” One of the three smirked, “I bet you�
��ve accumulated quite a lot of points, yeah.”
The three moved tacitly; one of them secretly took out his ancient divine artifact to lock and veil this area from being detected.
Huwang Xiao did not miss this person’s sneaky movements, yet did not move to stop that disciple.
He laughed faintly in reply, “Not much, just a little over three hundred thousand points, currently ranked somewhere in the 4,300 range.”
“Over three hundred thousand!” Hearing this, three pairs of eyes lit up. As long as they killed this kid, each of them could gain more than fifty thousand points.
Currently ranked four thousand something? The three of them estimated Huwang Xiao’s strength to be around late-Second Order Highgod Realm.
“Be careful, don’t hold back, finish this quickly.” Lue Pang cautioned his companions using voice transmission. Huwang Xiao’s serene attitude gave him a strong sense of unease.
“Don’t worry, Senior Brother Cheng. With the three of us going all out, we’ll be able to finish him off in ten minutes.” One of them confidently said.
Just as that disciple stopped talking, a glaring sword of light pierced through space. Before the disciple could react, Huwang Xiao’s soul force blade had slashed down on him, starting from the head.
A vertical thin line of blood emerged from that disciple’s head to his lower body. A beat later, blood spurted in the air; this Water Clan disciple’s body was split in two.
A godhead flew out and was sucked into Huwang Xiao’s palm, then a sliver of true immortal essence fire instantly burned away the soul residing inside the godhead.
A large mass of light flew out from the Water Clan disciple’s body into the jade token inside Huwang Xiao. Immediately, Huwang Xiao’s token glimmered as his points soared.
“You!” The other two disciples came to their senses, but they were filled with fear.
The three of them were equally matched in terms of strength, so if this young man wanted to kill them both, it would only take one move.