Trial Ranking and Spell Selection

The top three in this round of the trial were Song Zhongming, Liu Benxin, and Jiang Sixuan.

Since Xiao Chen had left himself some leeway, he successfully claimed Ninth Place, which was more or less within expectations.

Only then did he learn that Junior Brother Liu, his usually low-key neighbor who planted Spirit Fields alongside him, actually came from the Plains Liu Clan, whose family possessed an exclusive inheritance of Spirit Planters.

No wonder Liu Benxin had learned about the Ghost Face Spiders the night before the trial. So he had connections.

Because of Xiao Chen's exceptional performance, Chen Guangyu had been squeezed down to fourth place and lost out on the Mysterious-grade Spell.

After spending so many Spirit Stones to buy Points only to fail to secure the top three, Chen Guangyu's expression immediately turned ugly.

It was worth noting that the gap between the top-ranked contestants was actually not large—less than thirty points in total.

Unfortunately, Chen Guangyu had been unwilling to part with more Spirit Stones and gave up buying more Points. Otherwise, it would not have been difficult for Xiao Chen to help him take first place. In the end, the generously spending Song Zhongming claimed first instead.

All in all, this top ten had exceeded the expectations of many senior and junior brothers.

Aside from the seven 6th-level Qi Refining senior brothers from Branch 2, the remaining three were Liu Benxin, Jiang Sixuan, and Xiao Chen.

To put it bluntly, everyone could accept the high rankings of the others. They either had high cultivation, a background, or both high cultivation and a background.

But Xiao Chen stood out sharply among them. He was the only disciple who had been at Qi Refining Fifth Layer before the trial and had no family background.

Moreover, thanks to Instructor Wu's vigorous promotion and Xiao Chen's earlier rapid Breakthrough to Qi Refining Fifth Layer, his name could now be said to be known by everyone in Branch 2.

Yet no one had expected this newcomer to Branch 2 to leap straight into becoming one of the Inner Sect Seeds—and not even in last place.

This was simply outrageous. What gave him the right?

As soon as the rankings were announced, nearly every disciple began sizing Xiao Chen up, as though trying to see what exactly made him so formidable.

Manager Chen was somewhat curious as well, but he first needed to distribute the rewards.

After announcing the rankings, he took out several Spell Manuals and gestured for them to come forward and claim their prizes.

The three Mysterious-grade Spells were quickly distributed. Next came the choice of one desired spell from five Yellow-grade Spells.

These spells happened to correspond to five different functions: concealment, defense, detection, offense, and cultivation assistance.

This should have been an important choice, after all, a spell selection was closely tied to one's future cultivation path.

But Xiao Chen noticed that the disciples from Great Families, or those connected to them, all chose cultivation-assistance spells without the slightest hesitation.

They did not even flip through the technique descriptions. Clearly, they already had clear cultivation plans for their future paths.

Curiously, Xiao Chen picked up the Auxiliary Spell and glanced through it. It was actually the Three Stars Synergy Technique, which increased the compatibility between a cultivator and their magical artifacts.

The detection technique was the Star Gazing Qi Observation Technique, a spell that allowed cultivators to estimate the strength of others.

After looking through them all, the junior brother ranked tenth also chose the Three Stars Synergy Technique in imitation of the others.

His reasoning was simple: I don't know which technique is best, but the choices of those senior brothers must have their reasons. I'll follow their lead first and figure it out later.

Xiao Chen, however, did not want to follow the crowd.

Now that he had the cloak, he did not urgently need the Breath Concealing Art for the time being. Considering Hextech's enhancement, he did not seem to lack offense or defense either—at least, not urgently.

That made the Star Gazing Qi Observation Technique the most suitable technique for him at the moment. It could make up for his weakness in lacking detection methods.

As Xiao Chen understood it, after entering the Inner Sect, the sect would arrange for disciples to go out on behalf of the sect and complete certain Sect Missions.

Although he had only just broken through to the 6th level of Qi Refining, he was confident that he could continue breaking through in a short time and charge toward Late-Stage Qi Refining.

In that case, the Star Gazing Qi Observation Technique, which would become useful very soon, was clearly more valuable than a Three Stars Synergy Technique whose usefulness might not arrive for who knew how long.

Thus, Xiao Chen made the unconventional choice of the Star Gazing Qi Observation Technique, once again becoming the only person who had not chosen the Three Stars Synergy Technique.

This distinctive choice once more drew everyone's attention to him.

Being different was not necessarily a bad thing, but failing to fit in was often no good thing.

At this moment, the gazes some disciples cast at Xiao Chen carried precisely that implication.

Others began wondering why Xiao Chen had managed to squeeze into the top ten.

Could he actually have some hidden background that no one knew about?

Did he possess some incredibly powerful offensive magical artifact?

Had he secretly cheated through some method?

Jiang Sixuan was thinking as well, but she had never regretted things once she had made up her mind.

Before coming here, she had already chosen to distance herself from Xiao Chen, believing that he was merely a lucky fellow with better-than-average fortune.

She still believed that judgment now, because this trial had indeed involved a great deal of luck.

Looking back, many Spirit Beasts in the trial had been slain first by Song Zhongming and Liu Benxin with astonishing efficiency.

Xiao Chen had merely been lucky enough to find Spirit Beasts that the others had failed to discover.

Jiang Sixuan herself had found a side path and earned many Points by relying on a magical artifact bestowed by her family.

So she naturally believed that Xiao Chen had simply gotten lucky once again.

Luck could be present for a time, but it could not be relied upon forever.

As the saying went, nothing happened more than three times.

Xiao Chen had already been lucky three times in a row. His streak should be about over.

Elsewhere.

Liu Benxin was also watching Xiao Chen, but his thoughts were completely opposite to Jiang Sixuan's.

In his eyes, although this neighbor of his had average talent and was said to possess only a Low-grade Spirit Root,

he cultivated diligently and was unquestionably someone worth nurturing.

In Liu Benxin's eyes, Xiao Chen was an unyielding Ascetic Cultivator.

Over the past half year, he had never seen Xiao Chen attend any activity other than the Branch Academy Exchange Meeting.

Every morning after getting up, Xiao Chen would first meditate and cultivate in the courtyard. Then, while working in the Spirit Fields, he would also take moments between casting spells to sit cross-legged and contemplate the Dao.

At night, he neither went out to have fun nor sought others to drink and make merry with. Instead, he continued silently cultivating beneath the moonlight.

Half a year passed as though it were a single day. He was a model to behold.

Liu Benxin did not know that Xiao Chen's Tenfold Cultivation had made the sensation of rapid daily improvement practically addictive.

He knew that he himself could never endure such dull, high-intensity cultivation, so he sincerely admired Xiao Chen.

That was also why he had been willing to lower himself and exchange insights with this neighbor while they farmed.

Watching Xiao Chen enter the top ten and become an Inner Sect Seed,

Liu Benxin felt only emotion. He sincerely believed that Xiao Chen's achievements today were not merely the result of good luck, but also the reward for his hard work.

Aside from them, everyone else had their own thoughts as well.

Su Wanqing had learned of the result at the earliest opportunity.

After parting from Xiao Chen that day, she had kept thinking about it. When she returned, she specifically asked members of her clan to investigate.

"Ninth Place?"

However, upon hearing that ranking, Su Wanqing was dumbfounded.

???

Xiao Chen was that impressive, yet he only ranked ninth?

Then what kind of extraordinary people were the top eight?