Chapter 60: Rankings

While the high-level wizards conferred in the secret chamber, the teleportation square began its operations.

Beams of teleportation light ignited one after another across Plane Nuolun Academy's vast teleportation square.

Like apprentices awakening from a nightmare, a tidal wave of them was flung onto the familiar, safe ground, bearing the dishevelment and exhaustion of survivors.

The scorched and bloody stench of the Grayrock Realm had vanished from the air, replaced by the academy's distinctive cold scent, faintly tinged with magic.

High above the square, a massive curtain of light slowly unfurled, shimmering with brilliant radiance; it displayed the final evaluation of this trial—the points leaderboard.

At that moment, the gaze of every apprentice, regardless of how many wounds they bore or how depleted their spirits were, was firmly locked onto that curtain of light.

This was the ultimate manifestation of the glory and profit they had fought for with all their strength, risking their lives.

The rankings on the light curtain refreshed rapidly, and the names at the top drew sighs of astonishment from many.

First Place: Bert Vera Augusta—Points: 23541

Seeing this name, many felt no surprise.

That Miss Augusta, as mighty as a thunder god, had indeed rampaged through the Grayrock Realm, breaking through native blockades time and again and crushing powerful enemies.

She possessed an aggressive desire for destruction utterly incongruous with her delicate appearance; she had shattered the most traps, slain the most magical beasts, and unquestionably claimed the most point tokens.

However, when the second place was revealed, many apprentices uttered confused murmurs.

Second Place: Bill Ling Black—Points: 21965

This name was utterly unfamiliar to most; he was neither the scion of a noble house nor a genius who had always shone brightly within the academy.

Gao Jie Ming looked at that name, his brows knitting slightly as he racked his memory, finally recalling who it was—wasn't this the fellow who looked frail and fragile, vanishing into the crowd right after the aptitude assessment ceremony?

Many strained to remember, finally recalling that during the entrance examination, there seemed to have been an apprentice who displayed a Level Nine Soul Purity talent at the aptitude assessment.

But immediately after detecting that Level Nine Soul Purity talent, the individual had been taken as a disciple by a wizard and vanished from the apprentices' sight; over so many years, many had even begun to forget this person's existence.

Yet the problem was that for such a genius, even if rarely appearing, they should not have faded from public view so quickly.

It was only today that these wizards suddenly realized that, unbeknownst to them, they had overlooked the existence of such a genius.

Level Nine Soul Purity... a flash of understanding passed through Gao Jie Ming's eyes.

With such a talent, supplemented by appropriate sorceries, one could indeed achieve levels in detection, concealment, and mental control that were unimaginable to ordinary people.

The fact that the other party could vanish from everyone's impression was itself a testament to their achievements in soul studies.

He vaguely guessed how the other party had secured second place—by avoiding those bloody battles entirely, relying on their innate talent to skillfully evade detection and infiltrate the core territory of the native coalition.

Then, at the critical moment, they had swept clean the point tokens collected from "dead" apprentices stored in the native warehouses.

This was a method completely different from Augusta's head-on confrontations.

"If we were to face each other on the battlefield, that would truly be a troublesome opponent..."

Deep within a secret chamber of Plane Nuolun Academy.

Oswaldo, the high-level wizard who had played the role of "Pastor Oswaldo" in the Grayrock Realm, lounged lazily against a comfortable sofa.

Boredly listening to the other wizards discuss the academy's upcoming policies, his attention had shifted elsewhere—before him hung an identical light curtain displaying the leaderboard in real time.

Upon seeing the name "Bill Ling Black" leap to second place, a triumphant smile immediately spread across Oswaldo's face.

"See that? This is my student!" he could not help but boast to the other high-level wizards in the chamber. "I said it long ago: the plasticity of soul-type talents is the highest! They make no sound, then astonish the world with a single cry!"

The other high-level wizards merely glanced at him without speaking.

They were long accustomed to Oswaldo's personality; furthermore, although the process was somewhat speculative, reaching such heights via soul talent was indeed praiseworthy.

They cared more about other data, such as the average survival rate of the wizard apprentices during this trial and the weaknesses exposed.

On the teleportation square.

The leaderboard continued to scroll, and the results further down held almost no surprises.

Most of the apprentices who had survived in the valley had gained some points through the final pursuit and battlefield cleanup, but their rankings could not compare to those at the front.

Gao Jie Ming's name appeared in thirty-sixth place.

For him, this ranking was normal.

He had not deliberately collected point tokens; throughout the journey, he had focused solely on gathering materials and "clearing" encountered obstacles.

Ranking in the thirties was sufficient; after all, as long as one remained within the top ten percent, they would secure a quota for future comprehensive academy tests held by the Plane Nuolun Workshop.

What surprised him slightly was that Amy and Victor's results were also good; Amy ranked thirty-fifth, and Victor ranked forty-eighth, both within the top five hundred, with Amy's score even slightly higher than his own.

Gao Jie Ming understood.

The two of them were among the few apprentices who had not participated in that final "Native War."

Unswayed by the show of weakness displayed by the natives, they had relied on their own abilities to avoid the war.

Taking advantage of the chaos between the two sides, they had used their keen instincts and relatively safe strategies to locate numerous point tokens left behind and some precious resources.

Gao Jie Ming walked toward Amy, who stood nearby.

"Congratulations, Amy," he said, offering his congratulations.

"Gao Jie Ming!" Seeing him, Amy's face broke into a happy smile. "Thank you, and congratulations to you too! Your ranking is very high as well! Thirty-sixth place!"

"But still a bit lower than yours," Gao Jie Ming replied calmly.

Footsteps approached from the side, and Victor also walked over silently.

Victor stopped beside Amy, looked at Gao Jie Ming, and his eyes flickered.

Seeing both of their gazes turn toward him, Victor composed himself for a moment, then put on a seemingly sincere smile: "Congratulations to you both."

Gao Jie Ming and Amy exchanged a glance, then laughed.

Given Victor's personality, he rarely took the initiative to show goodwill to others.

The cruelty of this trial, along with the results achieved by Gao Jie Ming and Amy, had clearly caused him to reevaluate these two fellow apprentices from his cohort.

Gao Jie Ming raised an eyebrow slightly; it seemed this trial had also convinced him of their strength, as both possessed potential worthy of investment.

However, neither of them held much ill will toward Victor's personality; since their own interests had not been harmed, they both accepted Victor's congratulations.

"Thank you."

"Congratulations to you as well, Victor."

Just as the three were exchanging congratulations, or rather, probing one another, they suddenly sensed something strange about the atmosphere around them.

The three sharply lifted their heads and discovered that throughout the entire square, nearly every returning apprentice had turned their gaze toward their location.