Newborn Rising

This year's Dragon Ranking competition is more intense than in previous years, with many defending champions being overthrown by challengers, reaching a proportion of over half.

This means that half of the students from the previous Dragon Ranking's top three hundred have met their bitter end in this year's competition!

The most crucial point is that most of these victories were achieved by first-year freshmen.

This batch, hailed as the strongest freshmen in a thousand years, have proven themselves with their strength.

"The Chu State is about to rise!" This is the sentiment of most people.

In the VIP seats of the spectator stands, the new King of Yan State, King Yan Heng, watched all this with concern.

He wasn't here to watch the Dragon Ranking competition, but to seek an alliance with the Chu State. The reason the Qin State retreated its troops some time ago was because the Qin State's backyard, the Yan State, had turned against them.

Having always been Qin State's subordinate, Yan State lived in the shadow of its big brother. This time, when Qin State attacked Chu State, Yan State and Qi State, as subordinates, followed Qin State's lead.

Unfortunately, the previous King Yan suddenly died, and the pro-Qin Crown Prince unexpectedly failed to seize the throne, which was inherited by Yan Xun, who was from the anti-Qin faction.

Then came a series of events. Yan State's betrayal forced Qin State to halt its offensive against Chu State. And this time, Yan Xun traveled thousands of miles to Chu State, wanting to form an alliance with Chu State to prevent Qin State from turning around and dealing with Yan State.

An alliance was one thing, but Yan Xun did not want to see Chu State become too powerful.

Yan Sage sat beside Yan Xun. Seeing Yan Xun's worried expression, he naturally knew what he was worried about. Although his lips did not move, his voice entered Yan Xun's ears.

"Your Majesty need not worry. King Chu Saint has no great ambitions. Under his rule, the Chu State is destined for ruin."

This was the art of sound transmission, which cultivators below the Spirit King level could not achieve.

"With Chu Saint here, it's incredibly difficult," Yan Xun sighed.

Since Chu Saint became a saint, he has protected the Great Chu for over two thousand years, his might shaking the entire Azure Dragon Continent. Chu Saint's contribution to the resurgence of Great Chu was immense.

"Chu Saint is old," Yan Sage said calmly.

At the advanced age of three thousand five hundred years, without breaking through to the immortal realm, he would eventually succumb to the erosion of time.

Yan Xun glanced at Chu Saint. He was a very ordinary old man, wearing a plain gray robe, with white hair cascading down his shoulders and his face etched with the marks left by time.

Perhaps sensing Yan Xun's gaze, Chu Saint slowly turned his head to meet his eyes. They were incredibly deep, and Yan Xun felt as if he could perceive the passage of ages within them.

Yan Xun lowered his head slightly, showing respect to Chu Saint.

Chu Saint smiled slightly and turned his head back to watch the competition.

Yan Xun withdrew his gaze and looked at the arena, saying faintly, "Master, do you think Chu Saint's cultivation is truly only at Spirit Saint level six?"

The five states had five saints. Chu Saint had the highest cultivation, Spirit Saint level six, while Yan Sage had the lowest, Spirit Saint level three. The others were around Spirit Saint level four or five. However, this data was from five hundred years ago.

Yan Sage smiled slightly upon hearing this and said, "Your Majesty, you must understand that I have already reached Spirit Saint level seven. Although Chu Saint's talent is not as great as ours, his belief in cultivation is extremely deep. After five hundred years of change, how could he have made no progress?"

"If my guess is correct, he is only one step away."

Just one step away from entering the immortal realm.

However, no one believed Chu Saint could take that final step.

Without entering the immortal realm, Chu Saint, who had lived for over three thousand five hundred years, would eventually reach the end of his life.

When Chu Saint dies, it will be the time when Chu State disintegrates.

"That will also be the day when our Great Yan sweeps across the four states and unifies the Azure Dragon Continent."

Yan Xun's ambition was comparable to that of Qin Shi Huang.

"Look quickly, someone has gone up to the Dragon Ranking top ten arena!" a spectator in the stands exclaimed.

The Dragon Ranking top ten arena had not seen a challenger in the first round for many years! Countless spectators shifted their gaze towards it.

"Student Jiang Yibei requests guidance from Senior Brother Li."

Finally, someone stepped onto the Dragon Ranking top ten arena to challenge.

Li Chen, ranked in the top ten, looked at Jiang Yibei, who was slowly walking onto the stage, and couldn't help but let out a wry smile, "Why choose me?"

This year's Dragon Ranking top ten and freshmen were hailed as the strongest in Zhenguan Academy in a thousand years. For the students on the stage, they had long expected that there would be challengers in the defending matches this year, but they hadn't expected the first one to be him.

Jiang Yibei heard this and teased, "Isn't it because Senior Brother Li is ranked last?"

"Are you picking on the softest target? That's not like you, Jiang Yibei!" They had known each other for a long time, so Jiang Yibei's teasing didn't bother him.

However, Jiang Yibei was a prominent figure among the freshmen, with a very arrogant personality who liked to challenge the strong.

"Better safe than sorry, Senior Brother Li," Jiang Yibei said with a smile. "Wang Dong just lost his match due to carelessness, and he's probably crying at home right now. I don't want to end up like Wang Dong."

As freshmen in the same cohort, Wang Dong's strength was not bad, so Jiang Yibei naturally paid attention to him. He had also watched Wang Dong's match against Yang Chengzhi.

Li Chen nodded, his smile fading from his face. He clasped his hands together and said seriously, "Then Junior Brother Jiang, please."

"The Dragon Ranking top three hundred defending matches begin now." As the referee announced, a top ten Dragon Ranking defending match officially started.

"Swish~"

Jiang Yibei attacked first, turning into a shadow and charging straight at Li Chen. As he ran, a white longsword appeared in his palm, which had been empty moments before.

Li Chen slightly bent his waist, and a bright white longsword also appeared out of thin air in his hand.

'Clang!'

The swords collided, emitting a sharp sound. Both of them were forced back by the impact.

Li Chen retreated three steps, while Jiang Yibei only retreated one.

However, since Li Chen was on the defensive, their strengths should be considered roughly equal.

Jiang Yibei circulated his spiritual power, covering his sword with a thin layer of energy. He stamped his foot and lunged at Li Chen again.

Li Chen lowered his sword hand to a forty-five-degree angle, the tip pointing at the ground. He channeled his spiritual power, twirling the sword into a flourish. The ground instantly cracked, forming a pit. As Li Chen raised his sword, the path his tip traced left behind a wide trench.

"Bang!"

This time, before the two could even get close, their powerful spiritual energy collided and exploded.

The immense sound instantly silenced the entire Jiaolong Plain. The spectators in the stands all turned their gaze towards them. Even the contestants on other platforms who were still fighting looked over, intentionally or unintentionally.

This was the first time since the start of the competition that such a deafening roar had shaken the entire Jiaolong Plain.

This was the power of a Spirit Sect realm strike.

"Now this is a fight!" Ma Feifei, watching from the stands, finally felt a spark of interest.

He had initially watched the defense battles with excitement, but later found that although the fights were thrilling, they lacked a certain something. It was like comparing fights from a high-level martial world to a low-level one. In high-level martial worlds, fights were spectacular, with constant displays of wind and clouds rising, mountains collapsing, and earth splitting, flight and earth-moving.

Low-level martial worlds were more about back-and-forth exchanges, a thrust here, a sword slash there, occasionally announcing the names of their techniques.

In Ma Feifei's eyes, this world was a cultivation world even a level above high-level martial worlds. Therefore, fights in such a world should naturally be filled with dazzling special effects! How could a cultivation world's fight be like a low-level martial world's fight? What was the point?

As a result, after watching a few matches, Ma Feifei lost the desire to continue and lowered his head to write, until the loud noise just now reignited his interest in watching the match.

The two on the platform did not stop their attacks because of the loud noise. Their figures had already blurred into afterimages, appearing everywhere in the air and on the platform.

Cultivators below the Spirit Realm could barely track their movements, only catching glimpses of their afterimages and the moments their attacks clashed.

"Swish~"

A crisp sound rang out, and a light barrier suddenly appeared around the platform, shooting straight into the sky.

This was a protective formation that was supposed to activate only in the second phase, but due to their intense battle, it had been triggered early in the first phase.

Because of the formation's activation, the two fought with even less restraint, unleashing all sorts of flashy techniques and martial skills. The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy in the sky was also drawn in, constantly being absorbed into their bodies and transformed into powerful attacks.

Two afterimages streaked past, and Li Chen and Jiang Yibei reappeared on the platform.

"Junior Brother Jiang, I didn't expect you to be hiding so much. Spirit Sect second stage cultivation!" Li Chen looked at Jiang Yibei opposite him with a slightly pale face. In just a few minutes of fighting, he hadn't gained any advantage over Jiang Yibei. What surprised him even more was that Jiang Yibei's cultivation was actually at the second stage of the Spirit Sect realm!

If this were last year, Jiang Yibei's cultivation alone would have been enough to contend for the top spot on the Dragon Ranking!

Jiang Yibei chuckled upon hearing this and said, "Senior Brother Li is also quite the hidden master!"

His complexion wasn't much better. He had initially thought Li Chen had only recently entered the Spirit Sect realm and that he could easily defeat him. He never expected this brat to have been hiding his cultivation all along. Only when they started fighting did he realize that Li Chen had also reached the second stage of the Spirit Sect realm, and was even in the late stage, surpassing him in minor cultivation levels.

To think they usually sparred, drank, and discussed matters together. It turned out they were both great actors, each more capable of pretending than the other.

Li Chen chuckled and looked at Jiang Yibei, saying, "Facing the strongest batch of new disciples in a thousand years, if I, Senior Brother, didn't hold back, I'm afraid I'd be utterly defeated by you newcomers."

Jiang Yibei smiled playfully and replied, "Coincidentally, facing the strongest batch of top ten on the Dragon Ranking in a thousand years, I, Junior Brother, have also held back. Please, Senior Brother, enlighten me."

With that, Jiang Yibei closed his eyes. Immediately, the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy began to surge madly into his body. In moments, Jiang Yibei's aura reached its peak.

His long sword floated up automatically. Jiang Yibei opened his eyes, his hands crossed in front of his chest, forming a sword seal. The long sword before him split into two, then four, then eight... In the blink of an eye, countless swords appeared.

The swords hovered in the air, their bodies imbued with powerful spiritual energy, shimmering with specks of light. Seen from the stands far away, it looked like a celestial map.

"Sixth-tier martial skill, Star Sword Art!"

There were countless powerful figures in the stands, and naturally, someone recognized Jiang Yibei's move.

On the Azure Dragon Continent, everything had a rank, and so did cultivation techniques and martial skills. They were divided into nine grades: upper three grades, middle three grades, and lower three grades.

Upper three-grade cultivation techniques and martial skills were rare and sought after. Middle three-grade techniques and skills were mainstream. Lower three-grade ones were considered trash.

A sixth-tier martial skill was the highest quality within the middle three grades.

Jiang Yibei, at such a young age, had mastered a sixth-tier martial skill, which was truly astonishing.

Facing a sixth-tier martial skill, Li Chen's expression turned grim. As one of the top ten on the Dragon Ranking, he had been fortunate enough to receive a fifth-tier martial skill from the academy as a reward. That was already his most treasured possession. Now, Jiang Yibei possessed a sixth-tier martial skill. How could he possibly fight this?

However, Li Chen had no intention of giving up. He channeled his spiritual power, and his entire body suddenly ignited into a ball of flame, turning him into a fire-man. As Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy surged in, the flames grew larger and larger.

Strangely, although the flames were immense, the spectators could clearly see Li Chen within them. He was enveloped by the flames, yet not even the hem of his clothes was burned, standing unharmed within.

"Fifth-grade cultivation technique, Netherflame Art."

The Netherflame Art was also a relatively rare cultivation technique. In essence, it used Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy, refined through the Netherflame Art, to transform into netherflame, thereby inflicting powerful damage on enemies.

Netherflame was different from ordinary fire; it was an exotic flame that burned not flesh, but spiritual power.

"Whoosh~"

As Jiang Yibei activated his technique, countless swords carrying the power of stars shot towards Li Chen.

Li Chen, transformed into a fire-man, became a giant formed by the immense flames. The swords pierced the flames and were consumed by the netherflame, turning into ashes.

But there were too many swords. With each sword burned, the netherflame dimmed slightly, and the giant shrunk. After burning through more than half the swords, Li Chen could no longer resist and was blasted off the platform by the Star Sword Art.

"Pfft."

Li Chen, lying on the ground, spat out a mouthful of blood, and the flames on his body gradually dissipated.

"Defeated!"

With Li Chen being shaken off the stage, everyone on Jiaolong Plain looked at this scene in shock. This was the first time in a thousand years that a student in the top ten of the Dragon Ranking had been defeated by a challenger in the first stage.

The top ten of the Dragon Ranking! If the top three hundred on the Dragon Ranking were considered prodigies, then the top ten were peerless geniuses. There were over a hundred million cultivators in Great Chu, and only a little over three hundred could make it onto the Dragon Ranking. Those who could enter the top ten were all the cream of the crop, the most outstanding talents of their era.

But now, a student in the top ten of the Dragon Ranking had lost! Lost in the first stage! Lost to a freshman!

The times were about to change!

"Senior Brother Li, I concede," Jiang Yibei said, standing on the stage with his fists clasped.

Having fully activated the Star Sword Art, his face was incredibly pale, and his spiritual power was almost completely depleted. He had won this match by luck, benefiting from his cultivation technique and martial arts. Otherwise, the outcome was truly unpredictable.

"Congratulations," Li Chen said with a wry smile. With this defeat, he not only lost face but also lost his chance to remain on the Dragon Ranking. He didn't even qualify to contend for a spot among the top three hundred. Once a defender was defeated, they would directly miss out on the Dragon Ranking competition for this year.

"Student Jiang Yibei, challenge successful, ranked tenth on the Dragon Ranking," the referee announced the result.

Thus, Jiang Yibei became the first challenger in a thousand years to successfully defeat a defender in the top ten of the Dragon Ranking! This outcome sent ripples throughout Jiaolong Plain.

Jiang Yibei's actions seemed to have opened a door for challengers. In the following period, the defenders in the top ten of the Dragon Ranking were all challenged.

Even Xiaoyaozi, ranked first, was not spared.

Heaven seemed intent on creating continuous surprises for this year's Dragon Ranking competition. After Jiang Yibei, the defenders in the top ten of the Dragon Ranking were successively overthrown.

By the end of the first stage of the Dragon Ranking, four of the previous top ten had been eliminated!

Such an unexpected outcome propelled the Dragon Ranking competition into a climax.