Chapter 595: Ranking

"What are you all chatting about?"

Gao Lin stepped into the dining hall and saw that these disciples had no mind for their food, but were chattering about inexplicable things like "The Blazing Blade Guest is truly bold," "This beast has actually come out to commit crimes again," and "If only I knew his identity."

Zhu Yuan said: "Senior Brother Gao, you don't know yet, right? That Blazing Blade Guest came out to commit crimes again last night, looting the money and spiritual herbs of the Liu Family Apothecary and killing Elder Liu Qingyuan's son, Liu Xunfeng."

Gao Lin was shocked. This Blazing Blade Guest was truly bold, actually daring to kill even Elder Liu Qingyuan's son.

This person was truly insane. After looting the Su family last time, the great Su family was torn apart. He did not expect that after disappearing for more than a year, he had actually appeared again.

"It is said that Elder Liu Qingyuan has already offered a reward to the public. As long as one can provide identity information on the Blazing Blade Guest, one can obtain ten thousand taels of silver, a spiritual herb, and a favor from Elder Liu," Zhu Yuan said with a look of temptation.

The Blazing Blade Guest had committed too many crimes. It was not just Liu Qingyuan offering a reward; many other victims were also offering rewards. The total bounty added up to fifty or sixty thousand taels, but unfortunately, no one knew the true identity of the Blazing Blade Guest yet.

"I'm afraid it's the same as before; no matter how high the reward, it's useless," Gao Lin laughed.

He was also tempted by this reward, but no one knew who the Blazing Blade Guest was. Even this name was taken based on the characteristics of his cultivation method.

"Treating a dead horse as a living one. With his only heir killed, Elder Liu has gone mad. He has found many people in Yangcheng with unclean backgrounds and killed them directly. It is said that more than a dozen have already been killed," Zhu Yuan said with some lingering fear.

Liu Qingyuan had simply gone mad. It had been a night, and Yangcheng was still sealed off, allowing entry but not exit.

"Senior Brother Zhu, what's this about killing more than a dozen?"

A voice rang out. Gao Lin and Zhu Yuan looked up and saw it was Xu Yang, and both revealed smiles.

Gao Lin said with schadenfreude: "Liu Qingyuan's son was slaughtered by the Blazing Blade Guest last night."

He stopped at the point, not saying much about the grudge between Xu Yang and Liu Qingyuan.

"That is truly unfortunate. This Blazing Blade Guest is simply bold," Xu Yang laughed.

Zhu Yuan chimed in: "That Liu Xunfeng had no ability, yet sat on a fortune. He had long become a fat sheep in the eyes of others, but I didn't expect that while Elder Liu was still alive, someone would dare to come to his door to rob and kill."

In the following days, Yangcheng was in a state of panic, and all those who made a living through crooked means became honest, fearing being caught by Liu Qingyuan.

Liu Qingyuan killed for several days in Yangcheng, but in the end, he did not find the Blazing Blade Guest. Finally, under the pressure of the Profound Heaven Sect, he had to lift the lockdown on Yangcheng.

"Chirp!"

This day, a sharp eagle cry rang through the sky. The disciples of Departing Fire Peak looked up and saw a giant eagle flying from the horizon, with several upright figures standing on its back. They were precisely Lu Tianchen, Elder Huoyun, and the others.

Not knowing what kind of great battle they had experienced, several of them had bloodstains on them, and their robes were tattered.

The giant eagle arrived above Departing Fire Peak, and Elder Huoyun, Elder Tie Fu, and Elder Gongshu jumped down from the eagle's back.

"Master is back." Xu Yang breathed a sigh of relief.

With Elder Huoyun back, he was at ease and once again threw himself into cultivation wholeheartedly.

……

"Trash, you can't even investigate a single person!"

On Heavenly Power Peak, Liu Qingyuan was furious. More than half a month had passed since his son Liu Xunfeng was killed, and even though he used all his connections and increased the reward again, he had not found the Blazing Blade Guest.

He Song trembled, not daring to speak.

If even a Heavenly Origin powerhouse like Liu Qingyuan could not find the identity of the Blazing Blade Guest, how could they? The Blazing Blade Guest never left survivors, so there was no way to investigate.

Although some suspected that the Blazing Blade Guest was a Profound Heaven Sect disciple, there were so many disciples in the Profound Heaven Sect that even if they were called one by one to be questioned, it would be impossible to find the Blazing Blade Guest.

"What matter do you have to report?" After calming down for a while, Liu Qingyuan finally spoke.

He was an Elder of the Profound Heaven Sect, so even if his son died, he had to handle sect affairs and could not keep chasing the identity of the Blazing Blade Guest outside.

He Song bowed and said: "Reporting to Master, the ranking challenge for the Ten Elites List is about to begin. Yan Guiyun has yet to return, and the Sect Master has asked you to take a trip to the Yunling Mountain Range to find Yan Guiyun."

Upon hearing this, a look of dissatisfaction flashed across Liu Qingyuan's face. He was busy avenging his son, yet Zhang Jingyuan wanted him to go to the Yunling Mountain Range to find Yan Guiyun.

That Yan Guiyun went to the Yunling Mountain Range to find an opportunity to break through. If he broke through, he would naturally return. If he didn't return, he was either dead or hadn't broken through yet. What was the use of looking for him?

"Understood!" Liu Qingyuan waved his hand.

Although he was dissatisfied in his heart, he still did not dare to disobey the Sect Master's order.

Time passed, and the Profound Heaven Sect gradually became lively because the ranking challenge for the Ten Elites List was about to begin. On Heavenly Power Peak, the arena had already begun to be built, and disciples from all peaks were waiting in anticipation.

The initial ranking of the Ten Elites List was based on the talent of each disciple by Li Songhe, without considering factors like cultivation.

With the challenge beginning, talent and innate bone were no longer reference factors; only strength mattered. Whoever was strong was number one.

"Can Young Master Jiang Fan continue to hold the first place?"

"There is bound to be a great battle between Li Chuyang and the Young Master."

"Yan Guiyun, Zhang Hanzhou, and the others have been cultivating for longer; the Ten Elites List is bound to change significantly."

……

Various discussions gradually increased. Everyone was looking forward to the arrival of challenges, and some who considered their strength not weak but were not on the list were secretly accumulating power.

Not long after, the sect announced the challenge rewards for the Ten Elites List: for every rank climbed, the reward is one Leopard Fetus Tendon-Changing Pill.

The Leopard Fetus Tendon-Changing Pill is also a marrow-cleansing elixir, and its marrow-cleansing effect is even better than the Dragon-Tiger Great Golden Pill.

The Dragon-Tiger Great Golden Pill has the marvelous effect of increasing mind and spirit, and in terms of quality, it is better, but for pure marrow cleansing, it is not as good as the Leopard Fetus Tendon-Changing Pill.

In other words, if one has the ability to fight from tenth place all the way to first, one can obtain a full ten Leopard Fetus Tendon-Changing Pills. The rules can be described as simple and crude, encouraging everyone to challenge those ranked ahead of them.

There is another rule: if someone who was not previously on the list fights their way into the Ten Elites List and the challenge is successful, the guaranteed reward is three Leopard Fetus Tendon-Changing Pills.

Becoming the tenth place earns three, ninth earns four, and so on.

"I must get onto the Ten Elites List!" Xiong Kun clenched his fists.

He was originally tenth on the Ten Elites List, but was pushed down by Xu Yang's sudden rise. If he doesn't get on the list again to obtain resources, he will be completely cut off from the second Dragon Ascension.

He has a chance to defeat Lu Ren and Han Feng, because both of them are still at the Minor Success Realm of Marrow Cleansing.

As for the others, they are all at the Major Success Realm of Marrow Cleansing; no matter how conceited he is, he has no confidence in defeating these people across realms.

"I'm afraid he's going to drop in ranking."

Xiong Kun looked at Xu Yang, feeling somewhat gleeful at his misfortune.

Qi Xuancheng, Zhang Hanzhou, and Ye Qiuling are all ranked behind Xu Yang, but these people entered the sect earlier than Xu Yang, so it shouldn't be difficult for them to defeat Xu Yang, who only broke through not long ago.

"Does Junior Brother Xu have the confidence to go a step further?" Gao Lin looked at Xu Yang with a smile.

He knows Xu Yang's true strength; even Song Shixian, who was wielding a spiritual weapon, was slaughtered by Xu Yang. If Xu Yang were to compete, he could likely take first place; it's just that he doesn't know if Xu Yang will compete.

Xu Yang smiled and said: "It would be good enough if I could just keep my current ranking."

The implication was to tell Gao Lin that he does not intend to compete for first place.

……

This day, the mountain gate of the Profound Sun Sect was wide open. Luxurious carriages drove in from Qingyang City and stopped at the martial arts arena of the Outer Sect. Big figures walked out from them and hurried all the way to Heavenly Pivot Peak.

On Heavenly Pivot Peak, banners were fluttering, and heads were surging.

A stage one zhang high and two zhang wide stood in the middle of the martial arts arena, and viewing stands were built on all four sides.

The Sect Master's eldest disciple, Bai Shaoling, dressed in a purple cloud-patterned martial outfit, led two junior brothers at the entrance of the martial arts arena, guiding the guests who came to watch the ceremony to their seats one by one.

Those invited to watch the ceremony today were all important figures of great significance in Qingyang City.

The elders of each peak and the disciples on the Ten Elites List also began to appear one after another.

The head of the Song family, Song Shirong, walked with light steps, following half a step behind a middle-aged man in a plain robe, looking like a follower.

Bai Shaoling's eyes lit up, and he walked over quickly, cupping his hands and saying: "Greetings, Senior Song."

The middle-aged man in the plain robe was none other than the Heavenly Origin ancestor of the Song family, Song Yushao. He looked young on the outside, but his true age had actually exceeded one hundred years.

"Young Sect Master is too polite!" Song Yushao did not dare to be negligent and hurriedly returned the salute.

As the eldest disciple of the Profound Sun Sect and the successor to the future Sect Master position, Bai Shaoling's cultivation had broken through to the Heavenly Origin Realm many years ago. He only let Bai Shaoling call him senior because he had lived a long time; he did not dare to truly put on the airs of a sect master in front of Bai Shaoling.

"Old Brother Song, come over for a chat." The voice of Liu Qingyuan rang out on the viewing stand.

"Young Sect Master, please greet the others; this old man will go find Elder Liu." Song Yushao left behind a sentence and left quickly with Song Shirong.

Not far away, a few more figures walked over, but they were all wearing the disciple attire of the Profound Sun Sect.