The First Appearance of the Golden Ranking: The Heaven's Pride Ranking!

Spirit City, Papal Palace.

Three people stood at the entrance of the Papal Palace.

One of them had fair skin, red lips, a slender waist, sharp and bright phoenix eyes, and a high, delicate bridge of the nose. She wore a purple ceremonial dress, a nine-curved purple-gold crown on her head, and held a scepter over two meters tall in her hand. She was Bibi Dong, the Pope of Spirit Hall.

Behind Bibi Dong stood Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan, who wore gilded light armor, and Ghost Douluo Ghostly, who wore dark-black heavy armor.

The three of them raised their heads and looked up at the sky simultaneously.

Three days have passed, and the time is almost here.

Gazing at the object in the sky, Bibi Dong parted her rosy lips to murmur to herself, a look of unmistakable anticipation on her face.

Three days ago, a golden light curtain suddenly appeared in the sky, displaying a string of numbers that ticked down every single second—clearly a countdown.

The golden light curtain was extremely bizarre; not only could the people of Spirit City see it, but people in other parts of the continent could see it as well. It was truly something visible to all living beings.

Because of the peculiar nature of the golden light curtain, some people regarded it as a divine miracle.

In a little while, the countdown would end.

What would happen after it ended?

Nobody knew.

Countless people were filled with curiosity about it because of this.

At this moment, aside from Bibi Dong and her two companions, there were numerous people gazing up at the sky, fixing their eyes on the golden light curtain, and waiting quietly for the countdown to end. Examples included the teachers and students of Shrek Academy, the King of Slaughter in Slaughter City, the old dragon of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, the Sea God Douluo and Seven Pillar Guardians of Sea God Island, and that Sun-Moon Lord far away on the Sun Moon Continent.

[00:00:03]

[00:00:02]

[00:00:01]

Boom!

The moment the numbers turned to zero, a deafening sound rang out from the nine heavens.

That sound was like a sudden crash of thunder bursting through a spring rain, extremely shocking to the heart.

Immediately afterward, the content within the golden light curtain changed; the original numbers gradually vanished, slowly being replaced by words one after another.

[The golden light curtain has descended, bringing fortune to all things!]

[The first of the golden rankings is the Heaven's Pride Ranking.]

[The Heaven's Pride Ranking is restricted to human Soul Masters.]

[The Heaven's Pride Ranking is divided into the Douluo Continent Prodigy Ranking and the Sun-Moon Continent Prodigy Ranking.]

[There are no gender restrictions for the ranked Soul Masters, with only one requirement: their age must be under fifty.]

[The greater the talent of the ranked Soul Master, the higher their ranking.]

[Both Heaven's Pride Rankings have ten slots each, without exception.]

[Every ranked Soul Master will be given a general introduction by the golden ranking.]

[After all the ranked Soul Masters on both Heaven's Pride Rankings are fully introduced, a comparison will take place. Whichever ranking's prodigies are superior, the living beings of that continent will obtain a minor fortuitous encounter, while the ranked prodigies themselves can obtain a great fortuitous encounter to defy the heavens and change their fate. Great fortuitous encounters include, but are not limited to, hundred-thousand-year soul bones, Immortal Herbs, divine artifacts, secret techniques, domains, and so on.]

Among the three people in Bibi Dong's group, the first to snap back to reality was Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan.

After snapping out of it, Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan spoke repeatedly, saying to Bibi Dong before him with a flattering expression.

"Your Holiness the Pope, with your soul-master cultivation talent, ascending our Douluo Continent Prodigy Ranking will be more than effortless and completely a breeze. Your subordinate hereby offers his advance congratulations to Your Holiness the Pope on soon obtaining a great fortuitous encounter to defy the heavens and change your fate."

When Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan spoke, besides flattery, a look of envy was also present on his face.

Immortal Herbs.

Secret techniques.

Divine artifacts.

Domains.

Hundred-thousand-year soul bones.

Every single one of them was a treasure among treasures.

It was only a pity that he, Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan, was already over fifty years old; otherwise, he believed that the Douluo Continent Prodigy Ranking would have a place for him as well. After all, his martial soul was the Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum—an immortal plant martial soul!

Hearing Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan's words, Bibi Dong smiled with the corners of her mouth turned up.

At the same time, that trace of anticipation on Bibi Dong's face grew even more intense.

Heaven Dou Empire, Shrek Academy, Dean's Office, balcony.

There were two chairs on the spacious balcony.

Seated in the chair on the left was a middle-aged man with a hook nose, wearing glasses, and bearing the expression of a cunning merchant. His name was Flander, and he was the dean of Shrek Academy, a Soul Sage possessing seven soul rings. People gave him the nickname Four-Eyed Owl.

Seated in the chair on the right was a middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance, a buzz cut, facial stubble, and simple black clothes. His name was Yu Xiaogang; under fifty years old, he was a rank-29 Grand Soul Master, and his nickname was Grandmaster.

While gazing at the content within the golden light curtain in the sky, Flander spoke to question Yu Xiaogang.

"Xiaogang, which of the seven children of my Shrek Academy do you think can ascend the Douluo Continent Prodigy Ranking?"

Faced with the question, Yu Xiaogang gave a faint smile before responding with great confidence.

"Which ones can ascend the Douluo Continent Prodigy Ranking? In my view, all seven of them can make the list! After all, not only are the seven of them extraordinary to begin with, but they have also all consumed Immortal Herbs."

Having finished his reply to Flander, Yu Xiaogang was not done yet, and he continued.

"I don't know how the Douluo Continent Prodigy Ranking will rank them, but I only know that in my heart—excluding the other three who won't make the list—Xiao San ranks first, Xiao Wu ranks second, and Oscar ranks third. As for the reason, it is very simple: because all three of them possess innate full soul power."

"Soul Masters with innate full soul power, even without the enhancement of Immortal Herbs, will achieve at least the level of Titled Douluo in their future accomplishments. Needless to say, with Immortal Herbs, they are carrying out a dimensional reduction strike against their peers completely."

"As for fourth, that is Ning Rongrong, and fifth is Ma Hongjun. The reason I ranked them fourth and fifth respectively is because their martial souls are extremely powerful—one is the Nine-Treasure Glazed Pagoda, and the other is the Fire Phoenix. Both are top-tier martial souls."

"It goes without saying who sixth and seventh are: Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing."

Hearing Yu Xiaogang's words, Flander nodded with an approving expression.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration flickered across Flander's mind.

Subsequently, Flander spoke once more, questioning Yu Xiaogang yet again.

"Then, Xiaogang, how do you think our Douluo Continent Prodigy Ranking compares to that so-called Sun-Moon Continent Prodigy Ranking in terms of strength?"

Faced with the question this time, disdain added itself to the confident smile on Yu Xiaogang's face as he spoke with even greater confidence in his reply.

"The Douluo Continent Prodigy Ranking is stronger."

"The Sun-Moon Continent Prodigy Ranking is weaker."

Heaven Dou Empire, Heaven Dou Palace, the residential courtyard of Crown Prince Xue Qinghe.

A young man stood under the shade of the trees in the courtyard.

The young man had an upright posture, a handsome appearance, and long, narrow sword-like eyebrows. He wore crimson brocade embroidered with golden threads, and his waist was bound with a gilded jade pendant engraved with the two characters Qinghe. In his hand was also a folding fan, and at this moment, he was using it to fan himself.

The young man was named Xue Qinghe.

He was the crown prince of the Heaven Dou Empire.

Like countless other people, Xue Qinghe had locked his gaze onto the golden light curtain in the sky at this moment. While watching the content within the golden light curtain above, Xue Qinghe spoke to himself in his heart.

"Barring any accidents, the first place on the Douluo Continent Prodigy Ranking should be me. I wonder who the first place on the Sun-Moon Continent Prodigy Ranking is, and how they compare to me—whether they are stronger or weaker, and just how large the gap is."

As he muttered inwardly, curiosity surfaced on Xue Qinghe's face.

Soon, the content within the golden light curtain changed once again.

This change was different from the previous one.

This time, an awe-inspiring voice that commanded respect without being angry accompanied the change.

Only, an awe-inspiring voice echoed throughout the entire Douluo Continent.

[Both Heaven's Pride Rankings?]

[Let us first reveal the Douluo Continent Prodigy Ranking!]

[Tenth place on the Douluo Continent Prodigy Ranking: Shrek Academy, Zhu Zhuqing!]

Sun Moon Continent, Sun Moon Empire, Sun Moon Imperial Palace.

At the far end of the grand imperial hall sat a glittering golden dragon chair.

Seated on the dragon chair was a young man wearing a black-and-gold dragon robe.

He was named Xu Que, and he was the sovereign of the Sun Moon Empire, currently engaged in painting.

What kind of painting was he doing?

He was painting portraits of meritorious officials.

He had founded Lingyan Pavilion.

And established twenty-four meritorious officials.

Those meritorious officials had all made monumental contributions to the establishment of the Sun Moon Empire.

The first portrait, the Golden-Winged Great Peng, Li Yuanba.

The second portrait, the Hegemon of Western Chu, Xiang Yu.

The twenty-fourth portrait, the Divine Fist Protector, Qin Qiong.

Having finished the painting and listening to the awe-inspiring voice, Xu Que smiled.

"Is the Douluo Continent Prodigy Ranking being revealed first? Very well. After all, the main characters usually make their entrance last."