Chapter 465: Real-Time Rankings and Ground

Tianling Sect, the Quarters of the "One Leaf" Disciples.

One by one, the One Leaf disciples, clad in deep green sect robes, gazed at the sky, each wearing a wooden plaque engraved with a leaf pattern at their waist.

Mu Yong, who had just been promoted from Miao-level disciple, was among them.

Yet strangely, though he had only just been promoted, his robe was extremely worn, ill-fitting, and frayed in many places…

After a while, the others gradually lowered their gazes, but Mu Yong continued staring at the sky, lost in thought.

Compared to the others, he—who could truly be called a "Child of Destiny"—had seen more through resonance with the World's Will.

In a daze, it felt as if some "thing," some "concept," or even something more elusive, was slowly separating from the deepest core of the world.

He even saw two other versions of himself…

Identical experiences, identical chances to begin anew.

But in every version of himself, everything that happened after "rebirth" differed from what he remembered.

Again, a group of unknown cultivators—bold to the point of audacity—had disrupted everything.

In one such version, the Blood Vajra Temple he belonged to was utterly annihilated by those audacious, nameless cultivators!

Later, those audacious, nameless cultivators even turned their attention to Tianling Sect.

A great battle shook heaven and earth.

In that battle, Mu Yong—just promoted to One Leaf disciple, hoping to take refuge within the sect—was fused into nothingness along with the other One Leaf disciples by a blood-evil spiritual technique of the sect's elders, his spirit and body obliterated, his bones and flesh erased!

Only the Miao-level disciples, under the protection of those nameless cultivators, escaped unscathed…

In another blink, all he had seen vanished; before him remained only misty divine light, with celestial cranes circling and crying above the rainbow bridge.

Mu Yong's heart suddenly grew cold, and he shivered involuntarily.

A magical and absurd scene.

Those audacious, nameless cultivators—how could they possibly protect Miao-level disciples who had no autonomy whatsoever?!

A flicker of shock passed through Mu Yong's eyes, but he quickly returned to his usual calm.

Though everything he had seen differed from his current reality, he felt a strange certainty: "This truly happened."

Was it real or false?

Was this the future, or merely another possible path?

Amidst these thoughts, Mu Yong clenched his fist—his longing for power, his thirst to control his own fate, reached its peak!

"I must hurry…"

A being beyond the world is about to descend.

In this turbulent era of upheaval, he could no longer cultivate in a slow, methodical way.

He lowered his gaze, eyes flashing with resolve.

Boom—

A thunderous sound, audible only to him, deafening in its intensity.

The spiritual energy flowing along its fixed path within his body abruptly halted, then redirected, carving a far more mysterious trace within him.

The originally clear and transparent spiritual energy gradually took on faint threads of gold and crimson—

The Hao Ran Yan Yao Yang Wu Xuan Gong!

Correct!

Not the even more mysterious Mu Ling Yang Wu Hua Cang Zhen Jing, but the cultivation method he had created after his past-life promotion to Fan Xu, perfectly suited to his own physique.

After all, the Mu Ling Yang Wu Hua Cang Zhen Jing originated from the Xuan Xiang Tian Gui.

Remember, the Xuan Xiang Tian Gui was formed from the body of Xuan Qi, the old devil.

That old devil Xuan Qi himself engineered the "Tian Gui Qi Extraction System," turning the world into this monstrous state—he could rightly be called the source of all evil.

Would he kindly help others?

Anyone with a normal brain wouldn't believe it!

He certainly didn't.

Thanks to his "past-life experience" and the Hao Ran Yan Yao Yang Wu Xuan Gong's perfect compatibility with his physique,

Within a single breath, the Tian Ling Lian Qi Jue was replaced by his past-life Fan Xu cultivation method.

"Huh~"

He exhaled a wisp of stale air.

Mu Yong felt no lingering attachment; he turned and walked toward his own stone chamber.

The storage ring had appeared suspiciously, so he had dared not use it until now.

But now he could no longer afford caution!

…

…

At the highest point of the world, where the Xuan Xiang Tian Gui resided.

"All nodes of the Immortal Network have been successfully embedded; all progress matches expectations," Ning Ruo murmured, pinching a thread of the Immortal Network between her fingers. "Removing it via the original program would take thirty-seven days, but if we load Xiang Yuanjun's Tui Shen Zhen Fa, the progress can be greatly accelerated."

"You've worked hard," Xu Xing nodded slightly, then turned to Xiang Yuanjun. "We also owe you thanks."

Yet the Tui Shen Zhen Fa…

They'd only changed the two characters "Tai Yin"—how casually arbitrary.

"It was merely my duty, Brother Dao," Xiang Yuanjun said softly.

Ning Ruo said nothing further, but gave a slight nod in response.

Seeing this, Master Mei Zu's eyes flickered; she subtly shifted her steps toward Bie Xuening, preparing to add fuel to the fire…

But her small maneuver was ultimately noticed by Xu Xing.

Under Xu Xing's gaze, she blinked, then retreated to one side, looking rather sheepish.

Xu Xing: "..."

When everyone was online, they were more casual, but meeting in person, most of the time they were quite proper.

Only Master Mei Zu was the same, both online and offline.

"That kid is rather interesting." But Hong Zun was looking toward the direction of Tianling Sect. "After the influence of Xuan was gradually purged, the thought patterns of those deeply affected by the world's will have changed accordingly."

Mu Yong, this world's Child of Destiny.

If there were no Immortal Net link nodes, he would surely have directly cultivated the "Mu Ling Yang Wu Hua Cang True Scripture."

With Xuan's intervention, the influence of the world's will was subtle and seamless, a masterwork of ingenuity.

Let alone that Mu Yong was merely a reincarnator who had been "created" — even if he truly had a Return-to-Void past life, it would be hard to avoid.

Now, with the Immortal Net's intervention, things were different.

"I'm rather looking forward to his performance from here on," Dan Zu also said.

The Child of Destiny, conjured into being by the world's will to save the world itself — after this grand tournament, what kind of situation will he find himself in?

…………

Under the jurisdiction of Tianling Sect, a seedling city of modest scale.

Because it was a city used to select "new seedlings," its style was actually the most normal in this world outside the mortal realm.

Ordinary people within the city who had not yet entered the Dao could live like "normal people."

At least until the age of thirty, that was the case...

The rear garden of the City Lord's residence — small bridges over flowing water, jagged rocks of strange shapes.

In a stone pavilion beside a bamboo grove sat a dashing man in a blue robe with a bamboo crown on his head, a long sword as clear as autumn water hanging at his side.

It was Lin Changsheng!

Outside the stone pavilion, several figures stood in a row, heads lowered, staring fixedly at the ground as if trying to bore a hole through the bluestone slabs.

Each of them was secretly groaning inwardly, sighing endlessly.

Where on earth did these damnable Soul Transformation cultivators find their way here?

These were fellows even the sect couldn't handle — why did they have to be so unlucky as to run into them?

If only they had applied to return to the sect!

However, Lin Changsheng paid them no heed, merely looking at what was before him.

A pale-blue, semi-transparent screen visible only to himself.

【Real-Time Rankings】

【Lin Changsheng (Sword Sect), currently ranked first, points: 7】

【Chang Xiao (Taishang Dao Sect), currently ranked second, points: 6】

【Yue Zhongfeng (Hehuan Sect), currently ranked third, points: 5】

【Qiu Zheng (Longxiang Qingtianzong), currently ranked fourth, points: 4】

……

After that were those with two or three points; the overall rankings hadn't changed much.

Apart from that extremist Yue Zhongfeng gaining two more points, that fellow Chang Xiao only gained one.

As for Qiu Zheng...

Wasn't he determined to surpass himself?

When the last round of rankings was displayed, surely he must have been spurred on — how was it that even by the fourth-round safe zone update, he still hadn't gained a single point?

Just as he was muttering inwardly, Qiu Zheng's name suddenly turned gray.

Hmm?!

No way — who eliminated Qiu Zheng!

Lin Changsheng shot to his feet.

The few people outside the stone pavilion saw his movement; their calves trembled and their knees went weak.

Thud!

One person couldn't hold on and dropped straight to his knees.

That kneeling seemed to set off a chain reaction — amid a series of dull thuds of knees striking bluestone slabs, the others dropped to their knees one after another.

"?"

What are these people up to now?

The thought flashed through and was gone; Lin Changsheng still had no intention of paying them any attention.

His gaze swiftly swept to the real-time rankings, scanning the top names — but he found that neither Chang Xiao nor Yue Zhongfeng had any change in their points.

Hmm?

Not those two?

He continued looking further down, checking several in a row — their points were all the same as what he had noted moments ago.

His gaze swept all the way through the top ten — still nothing.

Tsk tsk!

Old Qiu has really gone downhill — fine, it wasn't those extremists Old Chang and Yue Zhongfeng who eliminated him, but he didn't even make the top ten!

Continuing to look further down, he finally found the one person whose points had changed during this period.

【Di Xing (Shenji Lianbao Pavilion), currently ranked seventh, points: 1】

Shenji... Lianbao Pavilion?

Old Qiu was eliminated by someone from Shenji Lianbao Pavilion?

Di Xing?

If I remember correctly, isn't that the guy who just recently ascended and got eliminated in the first round of the last Xian Sect Grand Competition?

Even among those tied for seventh place, he ranked last.

Old Qiu has truly fallen!

His usual quality was already low, and now he's become this weak.

If he keeps going like this, in two years they'll even reject him for hauling celestial components in the Starry Void because his voice is too loud.

Lin Changsheng's generation naturally had their own little circle; having endured Qiu Zheng's mental attacks in the group chat for so long, Lin Changsheng had long wanted revenge.

This was the perfect opportunity—he wouldn't miss it, and immediately began furiously slander him in his mind.

But soon, another announcement interrupted him.

【Real-time Map Opened】

As these words appeared, a map popped up in the upper-right corner of his vision—toggleable by thought, switchable between flat and 3D.

【Tip! Precise coordinates of remaining contestants have been marked】

Instantly!

Dozens of sparse red dots appeared on the map, some far, some near—the closest one…

Outside the city!

Zhum~!

Amid a clear, ringing sword cry, the long sword hanging beside him landed in his hand.

Instantly, the swordlight turned into a streak of light, shooting out of the stone pavilion and vanishing into the clouds.

"Hu…"

The several people kneeling outside the stone pavilion collapsed, feeling utterly drained, yet each breathed a sigh of relief.

That demon is finally gone!

After a brief pause, one of them opened his mouth to say something.

"City—"

But he'd barely uttered one syllable when the world around him flooded with endless crimson, and a hair-thin bloodline suddenly appeared on his forehead without warning.

Violent sword qi shattered his soul.

Bang! Bang!

Amid a succession of thuds as bodies hit the ground.

The last two survivors stared in horror, unable to speak a word.

Of course, they weren't good people themselves.

But in this damn world, how could there possibly be good people?

Given how the world was, Lin Changsheng was willing to spare those who still retained a shred of mercy.

…

…

"Not bad, Xiao Zhao, Xiao Ye, and Dog Brother—all got one point."

High above the clouds, Chi Jiuyu sat cross-legged on her sword, arms crossed.

She was also checking the real-time rankings.

But she skipped straight past the top few, only looking at those with scores close to hers.

After all… to be honest, she had little confidence.

The scores of the top few were far beyond what she could catch up to now!

Though she, Jiuyu Laozu, possessed peerless talent, supreme wisdom, and was universally recognized as the number one prodigy of the myriad realms, her cultivation years were still too short…

The cultivation years of those top few old bastards, halved, still exceeded hers—it was only natural she couldn't match them.

After scanning the rankings, she turned her gaze to the real-time map.

But sadly, even the closest contestant was still a long distance away.

Hmm…

Then again, maybe it wasn't so bad.

What if Lin Changsheng suddenly spawned nearby? That'd be game over.

She didn't for a second believe that guy would "respect his elders."

As she was thinking this, the real-time map before her suddenly changed.

One red dot suddenly accelerated, charging straight toward another red dot!

But the other red dot also sensed someone approaching and began accelerating to flee.

One chased, one fled—and it was clear the distance between them was rapidly closing.

Clearly, the pursuer was stronger than the one being chased!

At least in terms of flight speed.

Seeing this, Chi Jiuyu narrowed her eyes.

She realized her Grand Void Sword Dash was even faster than the fleeing contestant's…

So does that mean…

Her thoughts flashed—she made her decision instantly.

Get involved!

Zhum~!

Swordlight turned into a streak, exploding in a fierce burst of radiance before vanishing as if teleporting through space.

Yet he fully unleashed the Grand Void Sword Dash, racing toward the person being pursued.

Yet even Pool Nine Fish's decision stirred the red dots surrounding him.

Aside from one who remained where he was to observe, the other four nearby surged directly toward the pursued man!

No need to guess—the one staying put was surely an old schemer from the Supreme Dao Sect.

As for why he didn't flee while he could…

Of course, he feared that fleeing would draw attention and turn him into a target, just like the pursued man.

Under these circumstances, maintaining stillness to respond to all changes was the wisest strategy.

Nearly two minutes have passed; he only needed to wait one more minute.

After all, according to the rules, the precise coordinates of the body would only be displayed for three minutes. (End of Chapter)