Chapter 59: When the Jade Rain Falls, All Flowers Scent the Air

The Heavenly Ladder ranking system does not prohibit divine-awarded weapons.

But the virtual pod’s scanning unit can scan only one weapon at a time.

The Wish Jade was not simulated.

“The divine-awarded rank of Han Guang Sword is unclear.”

“But as a naturally bestowed weapon, it is exceedingly rare.”

“It certainly cannot be Level 2.”

Thoughts flashed through his mind.

Jiang Jian did not dwell on it; he reached out and tapped the holographic screen before him.

“Confirm match initiation?”

Jiang Jian confirmed.

The empty arena was utterly silent.

Only the massive screen remained, its dense data scrolling endlessly.

A few seconds later.

“Match successful!”

The vast holographic screen dissolved and vanished.

Across the suspended rock arena, several hundred meters away, a figure appeared.

“Which school are you from?”

The man raised a long blade and shouted loudly.

Jiang Jian remained silent, attempting to channel Shen Que Qi into Han Guang Sword.

As expected.

Han Guang Sword’s ability to store Qi had not been simulated.

Here, it was merely an ordinary Level 2 divine-awarded weapon.

The virtual pod was a divine-tech artifact, with extremely high realism.

Jiang Jian sensed his Shen Que Qi with perfect fluidity, not the slightest discomfort.

“You won’t speak? Pretending to be a master, huh!”

The man across from him sneered and charged forward, “Let me show you my martial art!”

His speed was slow; thin Qi surged over his entire body, turning him and his blade into a thick cloud of mist.

Jiang Jian, using the virtual pod for the first time, was still familiarizing himself with Han Guang and paid no attention to the approaching mist.

“You actually look down on me so much!”

A voice filled with anger came, and the mist-wrapped blade slashed forward, already at Jiang Jian’s front!

Jiang Jian glanced up and swept his hand casually.

Fine petals of rain emerged from nothingness, silently sweeping past and reducing the thick mist to ash.

Level 3, Yi, Hidden Fragrance.

After Jiang Jian’s diligent cultivation, this rare enhancement talent had become terrifyingly potent.

“You have won this ranking match!”

“Your rank: 39801.”

The holographic screen reappeared.

Jiang Jian held Han Guang and spun a sword flourish.

“In this virtual setting, I can access about ninety percent of my Shen Que Qi essence.”

“Divine-awarded weapons aren’t that important.”

After familiarizing himself, Jiang Jian initiated another match.

“Match successful!”

As the notification came, the arena’s space twisted.

Another figure appeared several hundred meters away.

This time, it was a girl in her school uniform.

The girl held no weapon; her expression was shy, looking pitifully vulnerable.

She studied Jiang Jian, puzzled: “Wearing pajamas to compete? Which divine-awarded university is this student from?”

As she considered this, she hesitated whether to continue her disguise and lull the opponent into complacency.

Before the thought finished.

BOOM!

A brilliant sword light roared toward her, tearing her body into fragments!

Fine light and shadows rained down.

“Pathetic.”

Jiang Jian held Han Guang, smirking, “Such clumsy acting—could it really fool anyone?”

“You have won this ranking match!”

“Your rank: 36557.”

Hearing the notification,

Jiang Jian was speechless.

“From her rank, she must have won at least three matches—she really did fool people.”

“Match again!”

The Heavenly Ladder ranking match had begun; seventeen divine-awarded universities in Linjiang Prefecture, tens of thousands of freshmen, were all racing to climb the ranks overnight.

Match speed was extremely fast.

Just a few seconds later.

“Match successful!”

Hearing the notification,

Jiang Jian showed no hesitation.

Shen Que Qi surged violently; he raised his hand and struck with a sword!

A blazing sword light roared forth, slamming directly into the newly appeared figure!

“I’ve met a tough one!”

A startled, furious cry rang out; the figure was caught in the sword light and blasted backward, crashing against the arena’s edge!

The arena’s edge was an endless expanse of white cloud sea.

The figure barely steadied himself; his protective aura was riddled with cracks, his face filled with shock: “I’m a Level 2 technique user!”

BOOM!

Another blazing sword light surged forward!

CRACK!

As the protective aura shattered, the entire body was torn apart by the sword blades!

“You have won this ranking match!”

“Your rank: 32341.”

Jiang Jian stood in place, eyes thoughtful.

Compared to his peers, his Qi essence was exceptionally solid.

The previous sword light’s ferocity did not come from the simulated Han Guang.

It came from the deep, profound foundation of his Shen Que Qi.

“This arena is somewhat interesting.”

Jiang Jian clicked to match again.

“To my opponent, I must appear suddenly on their arena.”

As he pondered, the match was already made.

“Match successful!”

Unlike before.

The figure across from him vanished the moment it appeared!

Jiang Jian stared at the empty arena, expression calm.

A few seconds later.

Jiang Jian tilted his head slightly.

Crimson flames erupted suddenly dozens of meters to his left!

“It hurts!”

The scarlet flames burned fiercely; a figure screamed as it tumbled out, and within moments turned into a blackened lump of charcoal.

“You have won this ranking match!”

“Your rank: 29872.”

The notification appeared.

The arena refreshed, spotless once more.

“Match again!”

Jiang Jian did not stop.

The Tian Ti ranking match settlement time is every Saturday evening.

But tomorrow morning, I must go to First Jiangcheng for a study assignment.

In the first few days of next week, I will have classes and cultivation.

The time Jiang Jian set aside for climbing the rankings is very limited.

“Match successful!”

“Jiang Jian, is that you?”

The girl across from him looked delighted, wearing the Linjiang Academy school skirt.

Jiang Jian glanced at her but said nothing.

The girl wore black velvet knee-high socks and small leather shoes as she stepped closer: “It really is Jiang Jian from the First Academy! I’m from the Third Academy—I’ve watched your battle videos and have long wanted to meet you!”

The moment she finished speaking.

Her surrounding spiritual energy surged violently; her expression changed instantly, the purity on her face vanishing, replaced by icy coldness.

The next second.

Dozens of sharp ice spikes erupted from nothingness, stabbing toward Jiang Jian!

The piercing sound of their passage was especially shrill, carrying sharp whistles!

“At this distance, I want to see how you dodge!”

The girl’s movements didn’t pause; her slender fingers danced, forming a spell incantation, summoning another ice phantom!

Boom!

Around Jiang Jian, a blood-red barrier surged into existence.

One ice spike after another struck the crimson veil, sending ripples across its surface, each shattering into countless fragments.

“Jing Ling.”

Jiang Jian murmured softly.

Dark red flames spread across the sky, roaring through.

They engulfed the girl and her ice, burning them into nothingness.

“Shen Que spiritual energy consumed: thirty percent.”

Jiang Jian’s eyes narrowed as he roughly estimated his spell’s energy cost.

His current spiritual reserve upper limit, though not high, was by no means small among his year’s newcomers.

If fully replenished, it would be one hundred percent.

Jing Ling requires thirty percent spiritual energy—it’s immensely powerful, but the cost is equally high.

An Xiang requires ten percent spiritual energy—its power is equally terrifying.

Channeling spiritual energy into Han Guang to unleash sword qi is the most economical.

Only five percent spiritual energy is needed to sustain it for over ten seconds.

These are merely basic techniques.

If you activate the spell patterns within An Xiang, the cost becomes even more terrifying.

“You have won this ranking match!”

“Your ranking: 26092.”

The notification sounded.

Jiang Jian fell silent and clicked match again.

“Cultivation time is too short.”

“My spiritual reserve is still too low.”

“If this weren’t a ranking scenario, each battle would fully restore my Shen Que spiritual energy.”

“After the last few fights.”

“My Shen Que spiritual energy has already been drained dry.”

As he pondered,

the match was complete.

“Match successful!”

This time, Jiang Jian did not test further.

He channeled Shen Que spiritual energy into Han Guang; a blazing sword light slashed through, instantly shredding the opponent’s figure.

“You have won this ranking match!”

“Your ranking: 21013.”

Most of these lower-ranked newcomers had only just begun cultivation.

Fighting them couldn’t possibly hone his combat awareness.

“You have won this ranking match!”

“Your ranking: 19082.”

…

“You have won this ranking match!”

“Your ranking: 15323.”

…

“You have won this ranking match!”

“Your ranking: 11016.”

…

As his consecutive wins mounted,

the ranking gap of Jiang Jian’s opponents widened dramatically.

His Tian Ti rank rose at an exponential rate!

“You have won this ranking match!”

“Your ranking: 9765.”

The opponent’s body exploded into a shower of light.

Jiang Jian’s expression remained calm; he held Han Guang, sensing his Shen Que spiritual energy restored, and exited the ranking scenario.

“You have successfully exited.”

Opening his eyes, Jiang Jian sat up, reaching into the virtual pod’s scanning unit to retrieve his wooden sword.

The blade was cold, its touch familiar beneath his fingertips.

“This is my sword.”

“That one inside… was fake.”

Jiang Jian smiled to himself, sat back on the sofa, and opened his identity device to check the Tian Ti ranking.

The Tian Ti competition covers seventeen Divine Gift universities.

The academic credits awarded are jointly funded by the Linjiang Prefecture Office.

The overall ranking holds immense prestige.

The first-year overall ranking is an especially important list watched by countless eyes.

A student’s high ranking not only brings them fame but also reflects the strength of their Divine Gift university.

Every year, the first-year Tian Ti ranking sparks countless online debates on Linjiang’s networks.

“The first-year division has three separate lists.”

Jiang Jian scrolled through his identity device, seeing the other two: “Win Rate Ranking,” “Consecutive Wins Ranking.”

On the overall Tian Ti list, Jiang Jian’s position was 9765th.

The second list, the Win Rate Ranking, surprised him.

The top ranks were all 100% win rate!

The only difference was the number of matches.

“Rank 1: Qi Ming, 45 matches, 100% win rate.”

“Rank 2: Lu Tingting, 38 matches, 100% win rate.”

“Rank 3: Qiu Lu, 32 matches, 100% win rate.”

…

“Rank 16: Shi Luohua, 21 matches, 100% win rate.”

…

“Rank 39: Jiang Jian, 13 matches, 100% win rate.”

…

Jiang Jian flipped through the list, his expression odd.

“All ruthless players rushing the rankings overnight.”

“Students from other Divine Gift universities have strong records.”

“But.”

“Isn’t our Linjiang Academy the top Divine Gift university in the prefecture?”

Aside from the overall Tian Ti ranking, all other information was fully displayed.

The other two leaderboards do not display the divine-granted university where they are located.

That said.

Jiang Jian understood clearly.

Only at the start of the Heavenly Ladder ranking tournament would so many have a 100% win rate.

As time passed.

These individuals began matching against each other.

Each person’s 100% win rate would gradually be broken.

Turn off the Heavenly Ladder system.

Jiang Jian opened the learning task interface.

Of hundreds or thousands of learning tasks, only a small fraction had been accepted.

Most of these learning tasks had their “Accept” button glowing brightly, emitting a faint light at all times.

The scenario Liu Tiezhu had anticipated—students competing to claim learning tasks—never occurred.

After all, learning tasks carried danger.

Most students preferred to stay inside virtual pods and did not wish to undertake learning tasks.

The Heavenly Ladder ranking tournament posed no danger whatsoever.

With a little effort, entering the top ten thousand meant receiving 200 academic credits each week upon settlement.

For students who rarely visited the campus cultivation chambers and seldom spent academic credits.

An inflow of 200 academic credits per week was more than sufficient.

“You have a designated learning task. Please check.”

A notification sounded.

Jiang Jian tapped open the message.

“Learning Task: Repair Structure.”

“Designated Person: Wu Hai.”

“Confirm acceptance?”

Jiang Jian did not hesitate; he immediately tapped confirm.

“Accepted successfully!”

“Report to the task location at 8:00 a.m. aboard an aerial shuttle.”

Jiang Jian dismissed the interface, opened communication, and directly shared the task with Liu Tiezhu, Shan Ye, and Shi Xuan.

Within minutes.

“Shared successfully” notifications came in one after another.

This meant the recipients on the other end had also accepted the learning task.

Task sharing completed.

Jiang Jian shut off his identity device and returned to his bedroom.

“No wonder those who grew accustomed to the campus cultivation chambers can no longer manage daily cultivation.”

Jiang Jian attempted to activate the Pure Spirit True Method.

Only the thinnest trickle of spiritual energy stirred, barely perceptible.

No spiritual energy supply from the campus cultivation chamber.

No cultivation herbs to enhance the process.

The cultivation speed was as slow as a crawling tortoise.

“But I.”

“Will not be like them.”

Jiang Jian’s expression turned cold; he swept away distracting thoughts and forced himself into cultivation with unwavering resolve and willpower.

“To calm the mind and sink into cultivation, at any time, in any environment—”

“That is what matters most.”

Every week, Jiang Jian planned to cultivate like this for one night.

On one hand, to hone his self-discipline.

On the other.

To prevent himself from truly becoming dependent on the convenience of the campus cultivation chamber and thus harming his daily cultivation.

(End of Chapter)