Listed on the Rankings

[1st Place: Zhang Zhixian, Cultivation: Qi Martial Ninth Level, Area: Area 1]

[2nd Place: Gu You, Cultivation: Qi Martial Eighth Level, Area: Area 5]

[3rd Place: Huang Tianyu, Cultivation: Qi Martial Eighth Level, Area: Area 8]

[...]

[63rd Place: Xu Qingqing, Cultivation: Qi Martial Fifth Level, Area: Area 8]

[91st Place: Meng Shijun, Cultivation: Qi Martial Fifth Level, Area: Area 8]

[...]

Zhang Zhixian remained firmly at the top, suppressing the second-ranked and Feng Country's Prince Huang Tianyu.

Yang Chen was truly curious about who Zhang Zhixian was, to be able to suppress a prince of a country. However, since the other was a disciple from Area 1, they were at least a hundred miles apart, making the possibility of meeting almost zero.

As he was observing the leaderboard, the people surrounding Xu Qingqing let out gasps of surprise.

Yang Chen immediately looked at Xu Qingqing's ranking:

[54th Place: Xu Qingqing, Cultivation: Qi Martial Sixth Level, Area: Area 8]

"Qi Martial Sixth Level!"

Yang Chen marveled inwardly. Xu Qingqing's initial ranking wasn't high, but after these past two months, she had maintained her rapid progress, nearly breaking into the top fifty.

He focused for a moment, then left without looking back. He wasn't confident enough to make the list yet and didn't need to use the leaderboard to gauge his own cultivation. There were still over ten days left this month, and he had a good chance of making the list.

Xu Qingqing, surrounded by the crowd, seemed to sense something and looked in the direction Yang Chen had left, vaguely seeing a familiar figure fading into the distance.

The next day, Yang Chen bought some Fierce Beast Meat and left early. The matter with Zhu Xi was just an interlude; his life remained stable, with his days spent cultivating and contemplating brewing.

Unknowingly, another seven days passed.

In the wooden house, Yang Chen sat on the floor, his eyes staring ahead as if unfocused:

[Realm: Qi Martial Fifth Level, Punching Power: 6847 kg]

A full half-month had passed since his last breakthrough. Yang Chen's strength had improved significantly. As his power increased, the strength gained from each cultivation session also grew slightly.

If this trend continued, breaking through to Qi Martial Sixth Level in another half-month would be no problem.

"It's time to try and make the list."

Just as Yang Chen was heading towards the residential area, Wang Feng appeared at Wang Kui's home.

He casually found a place to sit and said with a smile, "Big Brother, you asked me to come, is there some good news you want to share?"

Wang Kui knew his second brother's personality and stated directly, "Zhou Han just approached me. He wants to arrange for his younger brother to be assigned to the spirit field. He's willing to offer 30 Spirit Crystals afterward. What do you think?"

"Who does this Zhou guy think he is, trying to get us brothers to offend someone for a mere 30 Spirit Crystals? Did he offer any other promises?"

Wang Feng understood what Wang Kui meant. Such matters were common but involved offending people. It wasn't worth offending a disciple with considerable potential for just 30 Spirit Crystals, unless there was other compensation.

"After it's done, besides the Spirit Crystals, he'll also allow you to operate in the mine area."

Wang Feng's eyes lit up: "Really?"

The mine area wasn't his territory, and he had long wanted to get involved there, but Zhou Han had always refused. He didn't want to rashly go there and make an enemy.

"If I can establish a foothold in the mine area, all my cultivation resources will be secured. Big Brother, there's no reason for us not to agree to this. Let's go with it!"

Wang Kui glanced at him calmly: "Don't get too happy too soon. He specifically wants to replace Yang Chen. That's why I called you here."

Upon hearing Yang Chen's name, Wang Feng immediately became hesitant. Wang Kui was slightly surprised. His brother was a shrewd businessman; when there was profit to be made, personal pride was worthless, but now he was hesitating because of Yang Chen.

"Big Brother, if it were anyone else, I would have agreed immediately. But this Yang Chen is a bit special. He's already spent over a hundred Spirit Crystals here these past few months."

Wang Feng wasn't deeply attached to Yang Chen, but Yang Chen had brought him a net profit of at least 5 Spirit Crystals in these few months.

While 5 Spirit Crystals might not seem like much, among his many clients, very few could provide the same value as Yang Chen.

To him, Yang Chen was a top-5 little money god.

Wang Kui smiled: "In that case, I'll refuse Zhou Han and tell him to find someone else."

"However, since Yang Chen is quite well-off, the losses this will bring to you and me need to be compensated. Have him pay 15 Spirit Crystals."

Wang Feng thought it made sense. Regardless, Yang Chen had at least secured his position as a spirit field inspector. If he were truly assigned to the mine, his cultivation speed would be greatly reduced.

He got up to leave. As soon as he stepped out, he took out his Sound Transmission Bamboo to contact Yang Chen.

Meanwhile, as soon as Yang Chen returned to the residential area, he received Wang Feng's transmission, saying he had something to discuss after dinner.

This was the first time Wang Feng had actively contacted him in months, so he didn't think much of it. He put away the Sound Transmission Bamboo and went to the plaza.

There were quite a few people testing their strength in the plaza at the moment. Many didn't expect to make the list, but being able to verify their cultivation was excellent.

Yang Chen looked at the leaderboard and thought, "The changes on this leaderboard are much smaller now."

Compared to the first two months after the leaderboard was released, the changes this month were becoming increasingly minor. Only a very small number of people's rankings had changed; most of those on the list showed no change in cultivation.

His gaze swept to the bottom of the leaderboard:

[95th Place: Zhu Wu, Cultivation: Qi Martial Fifth Level, Area: Area 9]

[96th Place: He Changfeng, Cultivation: Qi Martial Fifth Level, Area: Area 2]

[...]

[100th Place: Yan Hai, Cultivation: Qi Martial Fifth Level, Area: Area 10]

[...]

All of them were Qi Martial Fifth Level. He had noticed the names of these few people the last time he returned. Some of them had been on the list for over twenty days. As for the last spot, it was a newcomer.

This gave him confidence, so he parted the crowd and walked towards the punch strength testing monument.

"Huh, he's here? This saves me the trouble of waiting."

Just as Yang Chen was walking towards the testing monument, Wang Feng happened to arrive.

He came here quite often. He might not remember all the names on the cultivation ranking list by heart, but he knew Yang Chen had never been on the list.

Sometimes he even wondered, Yang Chen had clearly spent so many Spirit Crystals, implying he had a background, yet after more than two months, he had never made the list. This made him doubt Yang Chen's talent, or perhaps the cultivation resources the other party purchased weren't spent on himself?

In short, although Yang Chen was an important client of his, his evaluation of Yang Chen had not been high over these two months.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have hesitated after hearing the news just now. If Yang Chen had been on the list like Xu Qingqing and the others, he would have refused without hesitation. Why would he listen to his elder brother and ask Yang Chen to fork over 15 Spirit Crystals to secure his spot?

Just as Wang Feng was pondering whether to step forward and confront him, surprised voices came from the ranking board: "Quick, look, the list has changed!"

Everyone looked at the ranking board in unison and saw a brand new name appear at the bottom of the list.

[99th Place: Yang Chen, Cultivation: Qi Martial Fifth Level, Area: Area 8]

"I've never seen this name before. Could it be a Senior Brother who just made the list?"

"The ranking list has been stable recently. I didn't expect someone to break through today."

"Directly reaching 99th place, this Senior Brother is amazing!"

"..."