Chapter 74 - 49: The Rankings Are Out

Ye Zhaozhao won in the end. Li Shuang took one look, then nonchalantly averted her gaze.

After all, Long Yan had his own years of Sword Dao Understanding to fall back on. For now, it was barely enough to get by.

But that was all it amounted to. Ye Zhaozhao hadn’t found a better sword yet, so she could tolerate Long Yan for the moment.

Given her personality, the moment she found a better treasure sword, Long Yan would likely be abandoned.

But none of that had anything to do with her anymore.

"The matches are about over. Li Shuang, you can go down and wait for the results," Meng Yifei said with a smile.

Li Shuang nodded and left the high platform.

All three rounds of the round-robin tournament were complete.

The sect’s upper echelons began to deliberate carefully.

Master Lingxu was supposed to participate in the discussion, but he had left early. Meng Yifei didn’t go out of his way to summon him, so the remaining senior members deliberated and drew up the final list.

The list of fifty names was soon posted.

"First place! Junior Sister, you’re number one!" Luo Mingyue exclaimed, having spotted the name at the very top of the list in a single glance.

All eyes turned toward them.

Li Shuang, who was at the Qi Cultivation Stage, had taken first place among Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators.

The result seemed absurd, yet not a single person questioned it.

Over three matches, Li Shuang had proven with her strength that she thoroughly deserved the top spot.

The only shame was that Senior Sister Jiang hadn’t used her full Foundation Establishment Stage strength in the third match. Otherwise, they might have been able to witness her stunning Ice Lotus.

They hadn’t quite understood Li Shuang’s technique, but its power was undeniably astonishing.

Now that she had a Sword Spirit with purple attunement, the power of that technique would only be greater if she used it again.

But they would have plenty of opportunities to see it in the future.

In the upcoming Secret Realm, Li Shuang might just run into Yan Fan of the Cangyuan Sect. Perhaps only a peerless genius like him could force Li Shuang to use her full strength.

"Those with three wins are automatically ranked at the top. Since Senior Sister Jiang lost to Li Shuang, she dropped out of the top ten."

"It can’t be helped. But in terms of raw power, Senior Sister Jiang should still be second."

"Second place now is... Wen Lin! Brother Wen’s Thunder Attribute Spirit Root is as overwhelming as they say. All three of his matches ended quickly. His second-place rank is well-deserved."

Wen Lin, who ranked second, possessed the most overwhelming of Spirit Roots—the Thunder Attribute—yet he appeared somewhat introverted. He glanced at Li Shuang from afar before silently slipping away from the crowd.

In third place was another genius with a variant Single Spirit Root: Mu Jin.

"The speed boost Senior Sister Mu gets from her Wind Attribute Strange Spirit Root is just too great. There’s no arguing with her placing third."

The top three all possessed one-in-ten-thousand Abnormal Spirit Roots. In fourth place was Liu Juncheng of Heartless Peak.

Liu Juncheng had Water and Wood Dual Spiritual Roots. While his Cultivation speed wasn’t as fast as someone with a Single Attribute Spirit Root, his two roots were fortunately Mutual Life Spirit Roots. Under their mutual enhancement, their power was not inferior to a Single Attribute Spirit Root. Ten years ago, Liu Juncheng had barely scraped into tenth place; this time, he had improved significantly.

Liu Juncheng smiled and said with great frankness, "I originally shouldn’t have been able to win all three of my matches. However, a few days ago, my junior sister and I were discussing swordsmanship. I gained some new insights from our conversation and made a breakthrough in my Sword Dao, which is why I was able to secure successive victories."

Li Shuang was taken aback for a moment, then she quickly said, "Second Brother, it was just a casual exchange."

Liu Juncheng looked at her warmly. "The fact that I gained insight and made a breakthrough means the credit belongs to you, Junior Sister."

"Little Frost! His swordsmanship hadn’t improved for years. Now that he’s had a breakthrough, you listen to me and go extort a few bottles of good wine from him," Luo Mingyue said with a laugh.

"I’d gladly bring out any amount of wine for our junior sister to drink. But Eldest Sister, please, have mercy on my good wine. The way you chug it down, it’s a waste no matter how fine the vintage," Liu Juncheng couldn’t help but quip.

Luo Mingyue balled her fist as if to strike him.

Watching them, a slight smile touched Li Shuang’s eyes.

After seeing Li Shuang and Liu Juncheng’s rankings, the group from Heartless Peak didn’t bother reading any further and left in high spirits.

"Tsk, tsk. That’s Senior Sister Li for you. Did you hear? Brother Liu’s breakthrough in swordsmanship was thanks to Senior Sister Li’s help!"

"Senior Sister Li hasn’t been on Heartless Peak for that long, has she? And Brother Liu already made a breakthrough."

"The crucial part is that Brother Liu could admit it so openly. Remember Shen Yue from Lingxu Peak? Senior Sister Li spent a huge amount of her own cultivation time tutoring him, and what did he say? He claimed he was a natural Sword Dao genius and that his current cultivation level was all thanks to his own hard work, having nothing to do with anyone else."

"Shh! Stop talking!" The person next to him gave him a tug. The disciple who had been speaking turned around and saw an ashen-faced Shen Yue, along with several others from Lingxu Peak.

The disciple coughed a few times and said no more.

"Brother Shen, don’t pay any attention to them," Ye Zhaozhao said, filled with righteous indignation. "It must have been Senior Sister Li. She must have been spreading stories again. That Senior Sister Li... she really despises us now!"

After speaking, Ye Zhaozhao waited for the others to chime in with agreement.

But this time, aside from Chang Le’an, who added a few words of agreement, both Sheng Yuan and Shen Yue remained silent.

Ye Zhaozhao’s expression stiffened, and her heart sank.

She couldn’t help but grit her teeth in secret.

’These people from Lingxu Peak are nothing but a pack of ungrateful wolves. I spent ten years working my fingers to the bone to win their favor.’

’Even if I don’t have achievements to show for it, you have to at least credit the hard work, right?’

’Now that Li Shuang is showing the slightest sign of a resurgence, they all look so full of regret.’

’I wonder who they’re putting that act on for!’

"Junior Sister, let’s not talk about this anymore," Sheng Yuan said with a sigh. "You ranked thirty-third this time, and Third Brother is forty-second. At least you both made it onto the list of fifty. The Langya Secret Realm will open in seven days. You two should use this time to prepare."

Ye Zhaozhao’s expression turned sour.

The ranking was another sore spot for her.

After all, she had won two of her matches and had nearly won the third.

’And the result?’

’Li Shuang was ranked first, while she was only thirty-third?’

’For all these years, Lingxu Peak had declared to the world that she, Ye Zhaozhao, was the true, peerless genius—a talent that completely crushed Li Shuang.’

’Now...’

’Now that this list was out, who knew how many people were secretly mocking her.’

"Zhaozhao, don’t worry about the rankings," Chang Le’an said with a confident expression. "Success in the Langya Secret Realm isn’t just about strength! This ranking means nothing. I have heaven-defying luck on my side; it doesn’t matter what kind of genius they are, they’ll all end up beneath my feet. Once we’re inside the Secret Realm, Zhaozhao, all you have to do is follow me."

"Okay. With you here, Third Brother, I feel much more at ease," Ye Zhaozhao replied with a smile.