School Discussion, Marriage Alliance Rumors (Part One)

The update to the Azure Dragon Province New Talent Rankings stirred up no small wave within Azure Dragon Province.

It was not only Azure Dragon Province; the New Talent Rankings had been updated in all the surrounding provinces as well. Every province had its own gifted prodigies ranked upon them.

Though the New Talent Rankings carried considerable weight, their influence was largely confined to a single province. To spread into other provinces and become renowned across several provinces, one had to at least be a prodigy in the top ten!

However, prodigious newcomers with peerless talent like Gu Qingcheng and Chen Ping'an were naturally famous throughout several provinces. Reckless Saber Chen Ping'an in particular had ranked ninth on the Dragon and Tiger Rankings, greatly increasing the weight of Azure Dragon Province's New Talent Rankings.

As a result, Gu Qingcheng, who could steadily suppress Chen Ping'an by a notch on the New Talent Rankings, gained an extra layer of mystery in the eyes of the outside world.

Though every province had its New Talent Rankings, their value varied drastically from one province to another. The top-ranked newcomer in a weak province might not even make the top ten in a powerful province. Conversely, the bottom-ranked newcomer in a powerful province might rank in the top ten or even the top five in some other provinces!

Different territories, different population bases, different martial philosophies, different atmospheres of competition—though all were young prodigies, the results they ultimately displayed were worlds apart.

Looking across the provinces of the Northern Territory, Azure Dragon Province was not weak, and its territory ranked in the middle to upper tier. The Azure Dragon New Talent Rankings had always carried considerable weight, and this generation, with Gu Qingcheng and Chen Ping'an among them, had elevated that weight considerably.

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