Inner Academy Strong Ranking? Nothing Special

Jia Nan Academy, Inner Academy.

As one of the rare pure lands and sanctuaries within the chaotic Black Corner Region, the Inner Academy had always been renowned for its strict rules, fierce competition, and deep foundations. The Strong Ranking gathered the Inner Academy's most outstanding young talents, each possessing enviable strength and potential, figures admired by countless ordinary students.

Yet today, this land that was usually brimming with vitality and competitive spirit had fallen into an eerie silence.

High in the sky, two figures stood suspended in the air. They had not deliberately released their auras, yet the Blue-robed Youth at the forefront seemed like an invisible black hole, swallowing all surrounding light and sound. Every student and instructor in the plaza and buildings below felt a tremor and oppression that rose from the depths of their souls.

"That's... Xiao Yan? He's back!"

"Who's the person beside him? That feeling is terrifying..."

"They're actually flying above the Inner Academy? That's against the rules! Where are the elders?"

After the brief silence, hushed discussions spread like a tide. Countless gazes filled with shock, awe, and curiosity focused on the two people in the sky.

Xiao Yan seemed oblivious to the discussions and stares below. His gaze swept across the familiar plaza and the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower before finally settling on the towering Strong Ranking Stele in the distance, his expression calm. Once, he too had struggled desperately for a name upon it, but now, his horizons had long since changed.

Just then, several powerful auras shot out from the depths of the Inner Academy. The leader was none other than the Inner Academy's First Elder, Su Qian. Behind him followed several elders with deep and formidable auras, all at the peak of the Dou Huang realm or even at the Dou Zong level.

Su Qian's expression was grave as he stopped a short distance before Xiao Chen and Xiao Yan. He first gave Xiao Yan a complicated look, then fixed his gaze firmly on Xiao Chen. Even with his peak Dou Zong strength, he could not see through this young man at all! The other stood there as though fused with the surrounding space, unfathomably deep!

"Who are you, Your Excellency? Why have you trespassed into Jia Nan Academy's Inner Academy?" Su Qian asked in a deep voice, infusing it with Dou Qi in an attempt to disperse the invisible oppression. Yet the effect was minimal.

Xiao Chen calmly swept his gaze over Su Qian and the elders behind him, then nodded slightly. "You must be First Elder Su Qian. I am Xiao Chen, Xiao Yan's elder brother. I came uninvited and hope you will forgive the disturbance."

His tone was fairly courteous, but the casual indifference that naturally seeped from him made Su Qian and the others' hearts sink even further. Such an attitude was not how an ordinary expert treated an equal force. It was more like... the scrutiny of someone looking down from above.

"Xiao Chen?" Su Qian furrowed his brow and quickly searched his memories, yet he had no impression of that name. How could such a young expert possibly be unknown?

"So you are Xiao Yan's elder brother." Su Qian suppressed his shock and uncertainty, clasping his hands as he said, "May I ask what brings Your Excellency here?" He had already guessed that it was likely related to the Fallen Heart Flame beneath the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower. Xiao Yan possessed a Heavenly Flame, and the cultivation technique he practiced seemed to have special requirements for Heavenly Flames. This was no secret among the Inner Academy's upper echelon.

Xiao Chen did not answer directly. His gaze passed over Su Qian and fell upon the massive Strong Ranking Stele below, sweeping across the radiant names carved upon it.

Lin Xiuyai, Liu Qing, Lin Yan...

His gaze remained calm, as though he were merely looking at a few insignificant symbols.

"This is the Inner Academy's Strong Ranking?" Xiao Chen withdrew his gaze and looked at Su Qian, a faint, ambiguous smile touching his lips. "It seems that the quality of Jia Nan Academy's students this generation is... rather ordinary."

The moment those words fell, the plaza below erupted into an uproar!

Arrogant! Far too arrogant!

Which of the names on the Strong Ranking was not among the Inner Academy's finest students? They were the goals countless people looked up to! Yet now, they had been dismissed so contemptuously as "rather ordinary"?

Even Su Qian and the elders behind him wore unpleasant expressions. Those words not only belittled the students, but also struck at Jia Nan Academy's pride!

"Your Excellency has gone too far!" An elder with a fiery temper could not help but rebuke him. "Our Jia Nan Academy Strong Ranking gathers the Black Corner Region's greatest talents of the younger generation. How can you insult them so freely?"

Xiao Chen did not grow angry. He did not even glance at that elder, merely looking calmly at Su Qian.

Su Qian took a deep breath and stopped the elder who wanted to continue arguing. "The students of Jia Nan Academy naturally cannot compare with Your Excellency. But may I ask what basis Your Excellency has for saying this?"

"Basis?" Xiao Chen smiled faintly. He raised his right hand and made a distant pressing motion toward the massive Strong Ranking Stele below.

There was no earth-shattering eruption of energy, no dazzling burst of light.

Yet the instant his palm pressed down—

"Buzz!!!"

The entire Strong Ranking Stele, along with the space within a hundred zhang around it, suddenly shook violently!

An invisible, formless, yet suffocatingly heavy pressure descended like a heavenly river pouring down from the nine heavens, crashing over that entire area!

The names that had once shone brilliantly upon the Stele instantly dimmed, as though unable to bear the pressure and liable to go out at any moment. The Stele itself let out creaking groans under the strain, while fine cracks began spreading across its surface!

On the plaza below, every student who felt that pressure—whether ordinary students or Strong Ranking experts—turned deathly pale and trembled all over. Their Dou Qi circulation became sluggish, and even standing became incomparably difficult! It was as though an invisible mountain were pressing down upon both their souls and bodies!

Lin Xiuyai, Liu Qing, and the other top geniuses of the Strong Ranking were likewise drenched in cold sweat. They desperately circulated their Dou Qi to resist, their eyes filled with horror and disbelief! Beneath this pressure, they could not even muster the slightest thought of resistance!

So... this was Dou Zun's Might? A mere trace of his aura made them so-called geniuses as insignificant as ants!

Xiao Chen slowly withdrew his hand, and the terrifying pressure receded like a tide.

The sky remained clear, but the entire Inner Academy plaza had fallen into dead silence. Everyone looked fearfully at the blue-robed figure in the sky, all doubt and dissatisfaction gone. Only boundless awe and terror remained.

Xiao Chen's gaze swept over the pale-faced talented students below once more. His calm voice rang out, clearly reaching every ear:

"The path of the strong has no end. A mere academy ranking has left you complacent and trapped in a well, looking at the sky. How laughable."

"A true expert should set their sights above the nine heavens, not on fleeting fame in this tiny place."

His words struck many students' hearts like heavy hammers. The Strong Ranking geniuses in particular saw their expressions change as they fell into deep thought.

Xiao Chen said no more and looked at Su Qian, whose expression had become incomparably grave.

"First Elder Su Qian, now can we discuss the Fallen Heart Flame beneath the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower?"