Chapter 267
The thirty-third Saintess of the Purple Mansion Holy Land; the thirtieth was the Divine Son of the Mo Zhou Qi Clan; the twenty-sixth Penglai Feng Clan Divine Maiden, etc.
However, some people disagreed.
"Where is our Ji Changkong, the Divine Son of the Ji Clan of Luozhou? With his strength, he's more than qualified to be in the top thirty!"
Upon hearing this, someone couldn't help but laugh, mocking, "Still here, Ji Shenzi? Your divine son was killed long ago, why aren't you going back to mourn him? What are you shouting about here?"
The moment he finished speaking, it caused a huge uproar!
"So that's how it is. No wonder Ji Changkong's name wasn't on the list; he was murdered."
"Himeko was originally ranked thirty-fifth. Who could kill him? If he can't beat me, can't he at least run away?"
The Ji clan disciple became even more agitated and roared:
"Who on earth dares to kill our Ji clan's divine son?!"
The disciples of the Ji clan were filled with righteous indignation and issued statements one after another.
"We must find the murderer who killed our Ji Clan Divine Son and avenge him!"
However, no one paid them any attention. News of Ji Changkong's murder had already spread. If the Ji clan disciples truly wanted revenge, Princess Xiao was right here; they could simply go and fight her to the death. Why were they just making noise here without taking any action?
It's nothing more than stating a position.
As the list reached the top twenty, the prodigies from various major forces gradually became more eager.
This is not just an honor, but also a matter of their prestige within their respective factions.
On a mountaintop not far from the abyss, two remarkably similar-looking young men and women stood together, gazing into the distance at the rankings.
"Third sister, where do you think we'd rank?"
Gu Ruoshen asked his younger sister Gu Ruoxuan, who was beside him.
"It should be between twelve and sixteen."
Gu Ruoxuan said uncertainly.
The two of them came from the Immortal Dao Lineage, the Gu Dynasty, and were twin siblings.
The list was released soon after.
20th Place: Gui Jianshou
Affiliation: Southern Netherworld Path
Realm: Life and Death King Realm Twelfth Level
Reason for inclusion: It was forged into a Netherworld Demonic Sword, which once slew the Great Sage.
18th Place: Gu Ruoshen
Affiliation: Eastern Pole Gu Dynasty
Realm: Life and Death King Realm Twelfth Level
Reason for inclusion: He possesses Innate Ancient Saint Body and once joined forces with his sister Gu Ruoxuan to fight five great saints and gain the upper hand.
Seventeenth place: Gu Ruoxuan
Affiliation: Eastern Pole Gu Dynasty
Realm: Life and Death King Realm Twelfth Level
Reason for inclusion: He possesses Innate Ancient Saint Body and once joined forces with his elder brother Gu Ruoshen, to fight five great saints and gain the upper hand.
In an instant, two names appeared on the Hidden Dragon Ranking, causing the assembled cultivators to erupt in excitement.
"What's going on? How can they get on the list by teaming up? How can this be considered legitimate?"
"This is unfair! My quasi-emperor grandmaster and I joined forces and were able to kill a Saint King! Why aren't I included?"
Upon hearing this, some people couldn't help but laugh.
"Fellow Daoist, you're really funny. You even joined forces with your grandmaster? Have you no shame?"
"There's nothing strange about it. The Gu siblings are born of the same mother and both possess the Innate Ancient Saint Body. Each of them is powerful enough to kill a Great Saint, so it's quite normal for them to fight multiple Great Saints together."
"That's right, I can attest to it. I witnessed that battle. The Gu siblings fought fiercely against five Great Sages. In the end, the five Great Sages were exhausted and retreated, while the Gu siblings were completely unscathed."
Looking at the rankings, a hint of disappointment appeared on Gu Ruoxuan's delicate face.
"Sigh, why haven't I moved up in the rankings? I'm still stuck here."
Gu Ruoshen frowned, gazing at the woman standing in the sky, who resembled a banished immortal, and murmured, "Perhaps a great era is about to begin, and monsters will emerge in droves!"
11th place: Ye Ruoshui
Affiliation: Eastern Pole Sacred Academy
Realm: First level of the Life and Death King Realm
Reason for inclusion: Innate Fire Saint Body, wielding ultimate Innate Fire, annihilated the former eleventh-ranked Hong Li with a single blow.
Everyone was confused when they saw the newly released names on the list.
"Who is this woman? Why is she ranked here? I've never even heard of her!"
"Didn't it say so? She killed Hong Li, who was originally in line here, and directly took his place."
"Do you think I can't see for myself? I'm asking about this person's background and how he suddenly killed Hong Li? Besides, isn't Hong Li the Holy Son of the Southern Wilderness Blood Demon Path? How could he suddenly be killed by Sacred Academy Disciple?"
"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?"
Everyone was talking about it, clearly quite surprised.
Since entering the Holy Academy, Ye Ruoshui has rarely gone out and has almost no interaction with outsiders, so few people know of her existence.
"I think I've heard this name before. It seems that wherever Princess Xiao is, there's a sweet and lovely young girl. It must be Ye Ruoshui."
Someone suddenly realized and recognized Ye Ruoshui's identity.
"I remember now, Ye Ruoshui is Princess Xiao's Dao Companion, and they both came from the Southern Border!"
"You can't compare! That's what you call a perfect match, a match made in heaven, the envy of everyone!"
"Tsk tsk, such a beautiful woman, like a celestial being descended to earth, has actually found a female Dao Companion. This old man feels sorry for her!"
"If you don't speak, no one will think you're mute!"
"I'm not saying this to be mean, but aren't you focusing on the wrong thing? Since Ye Ruoshui and Princess Xiao are always inseparable, now that Princess Xiao has appeared, Ye Ruoshui should be nearby. The list mentions that Ye Ruoshui killed the Southern Wilderness Demon Hong Li, so is it possible that the demon has appeared in the Eastern Pole?"
339. The Sacred Maiden of Yaochi
Upon reflection, everyone realized this made sense, and they all tensed up, looking uneasily at their fellow practitioners as if they were all incarnations of evil spirits.
At the same time, many cultivators looked at Xiao Minghuang, hoping she could give an explanation.
The expectations of the cultivators present were exactly what Xiao Minghuang wanted to convey. If the cultivators who were about to enter the ancient tomb were not warned, it might cause even greater harm.
"Please calm down, everyone. We did encounter some problems on our way to Dongling..."
So, Xiao Minghuang briefly recounted her encounter with the evil spirit.
"What?! There really are demons?!"
Everyone was taken aback and gasped in shock.
Xiao Minghuang said seriously, "That's right. According to the memory fragments of the demons killed by Ruoshui, there are quite a few of them, and they are all the proud disciples of the Southern Wilderness, led by Ren Wuqing Red Dust Path Holy Son. After you enter the ancient tomb, you must be careful and cautious, and never trust others easily!"
Upon hearing this, many cultivators began to have second thoughts.
After all, if you encounter cultivators from the Eastern Pole of the Central Heaven in an ancient tomb, you can run away if you can't beat them, or you can pay money to save your life if you can't run away. As long as you don't compete with them for resources, those geniuses won't go after you to the extreme.
However, if it's a demon from the Southern Wilderness, that's a different story.
They need both resources and lives.
For demons, a cultivator's life, including spiritual power, Primordial Spirit, and physical body, is a resource that they can use for cultivation.
"Princess Xiao, are you serious?"
At that moment, a soft, hesitant voice rang out.
Xiao Minghuang turned her gaze and looked in the direction of the sound.
A stunningly beautiful young woman in a white palace dress emerged from the clouds. Her skin was like jade, her eyes like stars, her nose delicate, her lips red and her teeth white—her beauty was beyond compare. A faint golden glow surrounded her, making her appear like a celestial maiden descending to earth.
Her appearance caused a sensation and attracted the attention of countless cultivators.
"The Sacred Maiden of Yaochi, Xie Ziyin, Saintess Xie!"
"Legend has it that she was born in the forbidden zone of Kunlun Divine Mountain, and later was sent to the Yaochi Sacred Land by a forbidden being in the forbidden zone of life, where she was directly appointed as the Sacred Maiden of Yaochi. Her origins are extremely mysterious and unfathomable!"
"The Sacred Maiden of Yaochi rarely makes public appearances, only showing up seven years ago at her coming-of-age ceremony, where she was hailed as the most beautiful woman in the Easternmost Pole of Zhongtian. Over the years, her charm has only grown stronger."
"You're right, but I feel Princess Xiao is a little more beautiful than the Sacred Maiden of Yaochi."
"As a complete bystander, to be fair, while the Sacred Maiden of Yaochi is beautiful, her strength is far inferior to Princess Xiao's."
Without Xiao Minghuang needing to ask, the friendly conversations among passersby had already helped her find out the background of the girl in front of her.
"Thank you, fellow Daoist. This matter is of great importance. Everything I have said is true, and I can vouch for it as the only disciple of the Sun Hall Mistress!"
Since the Yaochi Sacred Land obeyed the Holy Academy, Xiao Minghuang was happy to befriend the Sacred Maiden of Yaochi, and thus his words were quite polite.
Xie Ziyin bowed slightly and said, "Thank you for informing us, Princess Xiao. We will certainly be careful!"
"Well, best of luck, fellow Daoist!"
Xiao Minghuang smiled slightly.
The release of this explosive news did not affect the continued publication of the Hidden Dragon Ranking.
Soon, the top ten on the list were revealed one by one.
Those ranked tenth, ninth, and eighth all dropped two places, clearly making way for newcomers.
Everyone looked on, then continued watching.
Seventh place: Xie Ziyin
Affiliation: Eastern Pole Yaochi Sacred Land
Realm: Life and Death King Realm Twelfth Level
"Look! The Sacred Maiden of Yaochi is on the list! Seventh!"
"The Sacred Maiden of Yaochi is beautiful and powerful, I'm a fan!"
"Wow! It suddenly ranked sixth without any fanfare. I don't think it was even on the list before?"
"Fellow Daoists, why is there no reason for any of the top ten to be on the list?"
"The top ten won't give reasons for being on the list. These are the most monstrous geniuses from various major forces. Why would they openly reveal their individual strengths?"
"Hmph, stop fooling around. The Sacred Maiden of Yaochi is just a pretty face. The people ranked here are probably just Sacred Maiden of Yaochi sycophants. How could she possibly be half as powerful as our Qi Clan Divine Son?"
The Qi Clan Divine Son was originally the seventh, but he was replaced by someone who suddenly appeared. He himself was mindful of his status, so although he was unhappy, he didn't directly make any threats. However, the other members of the Qi Clan were not so polite.
"There's no use in saying all that. We'll find out once we're inside the ancient tomb and see if your Qi Shenzi can come out alive!"
The disciples of the Yaochi Sacred Land retorted.
The rankings are still being published.
Fourth place: Meng Qi
Affiliation: Eastern Pole Ziwei Sacred Land
Realm: Life and Death King Realm Twelfth Level
The moment the rankings were announced, the disciples of the Ziwei Sacred Land stirred.
"How come our Holy Son is only fourth?"
"Hmph, someone must be sabotaging us behind the scenes, deliberately lowering our ranking!"
"How did they rank the Heavenly Machine Sacred Land and the Hundred Inquiries Pavilion? Why are they all from the Holy Academy, while our Ziwei Sacred Land has so few members? And why is our Holy Son ranked only fourth? There must be something fishy going on!"
"Our Holy Son is definitely number one; there's no need to look at this ranking!"
A dark look flashed across Meng Qi's handsome face. He was ranked third last time, but after the rankings were updated, he was actually pushed down to fourth.