Chapter 501: Someone Intercepting? |
"Hiss... Although it's because the others are all busy with the Sovereign of the Purple Zenith's selection and didn't participate, it's still somewhat astonishing..."
Someone couldn't help but click their tongue. Expectation was one thing, but becoming reality was another. Seeing those two familiar words, one couldn't help but marvel.
"Yeah, it's been many years since our High Heaven produced an Abyssal Hidden Star Ranking first place."
"..."
"Was it really snatched by Old Su?"
Not far away, Wei Zhenghong swallowed hard. Looking at the leaderboard on the holographic screen, a green light flickered in his eyes.
"It's hard to say. This is only the first round of screening." Shen Yi'an slowly let out a breath, still able to maintain his calm.
"But the first round of screening has already ended. Even if the top-ranked people intend to intercept him now, it would be difficult to do so, right?"
Wei Zhenghong was puzzled. "After this initial ranking, the people who didn't participate won't be able to participate anymore, right?"
"It's just that they'll be treated as being ranked one hundredth. It will take a massive amount of time to climb up. In the past, almost no one has used this rule."
"I estimate they would probably have to undergo hundreds of battles in ten days to finally earn the qualification to challenge Su Chen. But for those top-ranked people, this actually isn't a big problem."
The Five Pillars all had things similar to the Martial Proof Hall, which could quickly heal them. As long as their strength was overwhelming, fighting hundreds of battles in ten days was entirely achievable.
Hearing this, Wei Zhenghong couldn't help but frown. Before he could speak, he heard a voice coming from nearby, carrying a bit of a sneer: "The most worthless first place, what's there to care about? It's nothing more than because the top few people weren't here, and he took advantage of the loophole."
It was a young man with a gloomy expression. He seemed to have recognized the two of them and deliberately spoke up.
Wei Zhenghong looked annoyed and was about to step forward to argue, but was pulled back by Shen Yi'an, who slightly shook his head.
"Is that so? May I dare ask if Your Excellency is ranked first?" A large, bearded man nearby asked slowly and unhurriedly.
"What, am I not even allowed to evaluate? Even Chang Geming doesn't have that big of a face, right?" the gloomy young man coldly snorted.
"I was wondering who it was, so it's Senior Brother Gu Huaizhou of Upper Firmament Heaven..." The Big Beard wasn't anxious or impatient, and instead chimed in: "Senior Brother Gu is right, this Star Seed Su indeed took advantage."
"If placed in previous years, he would probably only get a fourth or fifth place, barely one or two places higher than Tong Zhuo."
This Big Beard clearly knew how to poke where it hurt. Mentioning Tong Zhuo, the gloomy young man's face immediately turned ugly. He coldly snorted and flicked his sleeves, leaving.
Wei Zhenghong's expression relaxed a lot. In High Heaven, aside from the people of the High Three Heavens who felt uncomfortable being suppressed by Su Chen, an Outer Heaven cultivator, the other five Heavens had no animosity towards Su Chen, and even respected him.
"You two..." The Big Beard raised his hand, greeting Wei Zhenghong and his companion. Shen Yi'an also hurriedly responded.
"Is truly no one intercepting him?"
In the Buddha Land, under the dazzling precious light, Kong Ye stopped and looked at the golden light screen in front of him. "Su Chen also has the Recognition of the Three Dragons, should I..."
His eyes flickered, but he still shook his head. "No, there are still a few people more powerful than me. What if someone else also gets ideas..."
After obtaining recognition, they naturally possessed a special spirituality. In that kind of combat environment, if they matched up, it truly would be unavoidable.
"Kong Ye?" A mild voice came from in front of him. "Why are you looking for me?"
Kong Ye hurriedly focused his mind. "Martial Uncle Mingguang, Martial Nephew Kongse obtained the Recognition of the Three Dragons, however..."
In Great Heaven, a swath of black mist shrouded the grayish-white land that resembled the Nether Realm. Xu Yingshen stood proudly. The mist around him rolled in, and three purple dragon shadows circled his body. He seemed quite joyful and excited.
Opposite him was another figure whose three dragon shadows were gradually fading, their face looking rather unwell. "Senior Brother Xu, the item you promised..."
"Here." Xu Yingshen glanced coldly and tossed out an item surrounded by brilliant light.
Heart of Spiritual Light... The other party reached out to catch it, their expression only then softening. Just as they were about to say something, they saw that Xu Yingshen had already disappeared.
"That makes six already. Only four short..."
Xu Yingshen had already walked out. The place he was in was impressively a massive Black Lair, with thick branches crisscrossing.
He narrowed his eyes and opened the Selection Ranking List to take a look.
The updates were extremely fast. It already showed he had defeated six people, and his selection probability had increased by another 2%, reaching 12%.
"It updates quite fast." Xu Yingshen couldn't help but coldly snort. He naturally knew this kind of speed would attract jealousy, and it wasn't that he didn't want to hide it.
But this leaderboard was constructed by special means of the Five Pillars. Any guy who had obtained the Recognition of the Three Dragons, whether they failed or took a step forward, would be sensed.
"Only four left, and the Ordained Path will be completed. At that time, I can plan to advance to Morning Star." Xu Yingshen didn't think he would obtain recognition just by completing the Ordained Path.
Now there were truly too many people, including Qin Guanyu and the others. The Ordained Path had already become a basic requirement.
"And after advancing to Morning Star, I can use a special method to forcibly devour a large number of minor Evil Gods. If I can use one stream of Morning Fire to achieve a rank-defying slaying of a Morning Star with two or even three streams of Morning Fire, I should be able to succeed."
Xu Yingshen felt a palpitation in his heart. Qin Guanyu was an Azure God Morning Star, totally impossible to fight.
But there were also quite a few True Radiance Morning Stars. Winning from a position of weakness was even more likely to gain the favor of the Spirit of the Vast Sun.
"It's just that the remaining few guys all have Eerie Kings behind them..." Xu Yingshen flicked his finger, and thick black mist appeared in front of him, turning into a holographic screen.
The six people he had defeated didn't have any significant backgrounds in Great Heaven and were easy to handle, but the remaining ones were quite troublesome.
"Hm?"
Just as he was about to contact a few people, Xu Yingshen looked at the numerous messages that popped up, feeling somewhat surprised, and clicked into them.
"Su Chen is temporarily ranked first on the Abyssal Hidden Star Ranking?" He was slightly taken aback, a sharp gleam overflowing in his eyes. "This guy actually participated in the leaderboard update?"
He scrolled up and down. Someone had reported this to him over ten days ago, but during this time he had been negotiating with the guy from just now, plus the battle, so he hadn't paid attention.
"What guts..." A bizarre smile appeared on Xu Yingshen's pale cheeks, and he licked his lips morbidly. "Since you have no interest in the position of the Sovereign of the Purple Zenith's Chosen, then turn into my nourishment."
A guy who had obtained the Recognition of the Three Dragons was not easy to find.
Even for those easy to handle, he had paid quite a price. Right now, there was one delivered to his mouth for free, why wouldn't he eat it?
"Kong Ye, Xuan Kai, and the others are probably afraid I would get ideas too, so they didn't dare intercept." Xu Yingshen's eyes moved. "The only one with a high probability of beating me is Chang Geming. But that guy loves posturing the most. That Su Chen also postured that day and didn't attack Taixuan Hong; he probably won't intercept this person either."
"Excels in physical classes, has a burst-type Sacred Class... I like this kind of meat target the most. Going in now is a bit late. I have to fight my way up to at least the tenth place to challenge this guy in the last five days."
"Challenging... is truly somewhat unfamiliar." Xu Yingshen calculated for a bit and, without hesitation, headed straight for that Black Lair in the distance.
"Four thousand Faith Essence, I accept..." Tong Zhuo looked at the holographic screen in front of him, gritted his teeth, and replied.
To him, this number was not small anymore. He wasn't the only person in Upper Firmament Heaven, and his daily expenses were also huge.
"Since that's the case, Senior Brother Tong, please come to Xuanwu Heaven. I'll be waiting."
Tong Zhuo coldly snorted and switched the page back to the Selection Ranking List. Looking at the "Defeated six people" mark next to Xu Yingshen, he took a deep breath.
Great Heaven was the place that most believed in the law of the jungle. Xu Yingshen was much freer in Great Heaven than he was in High Heaven.
His gaze paused on the Abyssal Hidden Star Ranking next to the Selection Ranking List. He naturally knew the first round of screening had already ended, and Su Chen was temporarily ranked first.
Opening it would do nothing but disgust himself.
Although his main goal right now was the Sovereign of the Purple Zenith's selection, and he had no obsession with the Hidden Star Ranking.
But when Su Chen truly temporarily ranked first, and had a chance of genuinely placing first in this leaderboard update, he still felt uncomfortable inside.
"It doesn't affect the big picture..." He shook his head. Just as he was about to close the holographic screen and leave, Tong Zhuo received another message from Qi You—"It's confirmed, Xu Yingshen entered the second round of Initial Ranking battles. His target should be Su Chen."
Tong Zhuo's eyes narrowed slightly, and for a moment he actually didn't know how to react.
Xu Yingshen was originally only second to Chang Geming, and because of his class's special nature, he naturally held a certain advantage against physical-path professionals. Since he chose to intercept Su Chen, Su Chen's first place naturally couldn't be kept, and his Recognition of the Three Dragons status would also be lost. Logically speaking, he should feel a bit more comfortable.
But this way, the number of people with the Recognition of the Three Dragons defeated by Xu Yingshen would reach as many as seven. He was only three people away from completing the Ordained Path.
"Giving it to Xu Yingshen for free is worse than giving it to me." He coldly snorted inwardly, closed the holographic screen, stood up, and left, out of sight, out of mind.
"Congratulations, congratulations..."
In Jade Sea Heaven, Ni Zhan laughed loudly, raising a shell shell as a toast to Chu Lingyuan. "Abyssal Hidden Star Ranking first place... Calculating the time, our High Heaven hasn't produced one in nearly a thousand years."
"The last time it happened was only because we took advantage of a loophole when the capable ones from the other Pillars all advanced to Morning Star."
"It's only temporary, still too early to tell." Chu Lingyuan smiled bitterly in helplessness, waving his hands repeatedly.
This junior brother of his said he wouldn't agree, but when the time came, he went faster than anyone else.
If it was just that, it would be fine. But who knows who spread the crooked rumor, making more than half of High Heaven believe it was Bronze Heaven's choice, not Su Chen's choice.
Even that brat Wei Zhenghong just sent a message, beating around the bush to inquire whether Su Chen really went voluntarily.
"I have to say, Brother Chu's decisiveness exceeded my expectations." Ni Zhan drank a mouthful of shell wine and sighed. "Thinking about it carefully, it is indeed so. Although the position of the Sovereign of the Purple Zenith's Chosen is tempting, it's ultimately like the moon in the water, a flower in the mirror."
"Chang Geming, Xu Yingshen, Xuan Kai, which one is easy to deal with? There's also Qin Guanyu and other Morning Stars. Taking a gamble is indeed a good choice."
Ni Zhan also thinks this was my idea... Chu Lingyuan was left speechless and could only repeatedly smile bitterly: "This matter... this matter..."
He had a mind to say he didn't know either, but that would make Su Chen seem reckless and willful. And his junior brother doing this was ultimately for the Sect. How could he speak ill of his own people in front of others?
"Haha, let's not mention it, let's not mention it. I came to congratulate Brother Chu in advance." Ni Zhan raised his hand to gloss over it, only assuming Chu Lingyuan felt guilty and found it hard to say too much.
"I'm afraid it won't be that easy." Chu Lingyuan sighed. Just as he raised the shell, he saw Ni Zhan's expression change slightly, as if he received some message.
A moment later, his eyes became strange, and he looked up at him: "Brother Chu truly predicts things like a god. Xu Yingshen has entered the fray; nine times out of ten, he's going to intercept Su Chen."
"Xu Yingshen..." Chu Lingyuan's heart trembled slightly. He didn't know if Su Chen was prepared to completely lose the possibility of becoming the Radiant Sun Elect, but he certainly wasn't prepared.
He hoped that even if it was slim, it was still a hope; after all, that was the foundation for ten thousand generations.
"Second place isn't bad either." Ni Zhan didn't care much. "It can also catalyze a Morning Star Spirit, plus four Divine Dawn slots..."
"Yes... yes..." Chu Lingyuan pursed his lips, forcing a smile.
Xu Yingshen suddenly entering the second stage of the leaderboard update quickly spread.
Anyone with a discerning eye could guess that his purpose for doing so was likely Su Chen, which immediately stirred up a lot of discussions.
In High Heaven, someone stopped and sighed: "In the end, someone is still intercepting. Xu Yingshen is only below Chang Geming. This Abyssal Hidden Star Ranking first place is still not that easy to get. What a pity..."
"Second place isn't bad either, it's just that the Recognition of the Three Dragons status is probably going to be gone just like that."
"Since Star Seed Su chose to gamble, he must be prepared to lose the recognition. Why feel sorry for him."
"If he defeats Su Chen again, Xu Yingshen's probability of obtaining the selection is probably going to catch up to Qin Guanyu's. I wonder if Chang Geming will enter the fray to intercept Xu Yingshen; after all, this guy is almost done walking the Ordained Path."
"..."
Inside the Martial Proof Hall, Su Chen was temporarily unable to communicate with the outside world; he was just fighting battle after battle.
After the initial ranking was updated, his opponents immediately multiplied. He could match at least one or two people a day. Because he was first, he could only match downwards, and many times the enemies were repetitive.
Later on, he also got a bit tired of it and simply didnt hold back, ending the battles swiftly.
Over time, when he ran into his opponents again, they would basically surrender right away. They couldn't win anyway, and not surrendering would only subject them to suffering for nothing.
Although the factions behind them all had auxiliary equipment to help them recover, the physical pain was not fake.
Under these circumstances, the ten-day second round of re-screening gradually drew to a close.
[The second round of re-screening has ended. Congratulations, you still rank first on the Abyssal Hidden Star Ranking. The third round is about to begin. Since you are first, you only need to wait for others to challenge you.]
Buzz—The black stone monument trembled, the text on it circulated, and more or less some changes occurred. Some people's ranks rose, while others fell.
The second-ranked Xia Yun dropped to third, replaced by a True Radiance from Great Heaven.
Su Chen only scanned it and before he could look carefully, a holographic screen abruptly popped up in front of him—[Challenge received. Target is...]
"Someone challenged me this fast? Someone is still dissatisfied?" Su Chen subconsciously thought, his gaze already glancing at the name behind it, his expression inevitably becoming subtle.
"Ranked ninth, Xu Yingshen?"