The next day, the Martial Pavilion was packed shoulder to shoulder. It was the monthly update of the Divine Strength Rankings, and many had arrived early to see the new list the moment it appeared. 

They had all come for the same reason—to witness Dao Shi'er's rise to second place on the Divine Strength Rankings with their own eyes.

For more than a year, the northern barbarians had held the advantage and suppressed the martial artists of the Da Yu Dynasty. The rankings made it even clearer, as nearly seventy percent of the list was occupied by northern barbarians. 

The Da Yu Dynasty martial artists had been losing hope for quite a while now. Even...