Various Prodigies and New Rankings

"..."

Goddess Luo Squad were speechless.

Facing Lin Yuan's occasional displays of false modesty, they always felt they had grown numb and immune to it, yet every single time he still shattered their understanding.

Such a freak...

Even Su Ningxue, the cold and aloof girl in the squad who rarely spoke, could not help muttering a sentence at that moment.

They did not really doubt that Lin Yuan was exaggerating. After all, stellar force fluctuations could not deceive anyone, and lying served no purpose.

It seems the special constitution Lin Yuan awakened is truly extraordinary...

Gu Shuangshuang felt increasingly that this teenage boy was out of the ordinary.

Time and again, he shattered their understanding.

Time and again, he brought them shock.

The era really is different now...

Gu Shuangshuang suddenly thought of the other newly rising Star-Martial Prodigies of this generation, and couldn't help sighing with emotion.

This time, far too many peerless geniuses had emerged.

The quality far exceeded any previous generation.

There were civilian dark horses who came from total obscurity like Lin Yuan bursting onto the scene, favored children of the Star-Sky Martial Academy making their mark, and heir-prodigies of legendary top martial arts clans coming into being as the times required...

It seems competition for this term's Star-Martial Prodigy Talent Development Program will be fierce...

She murmured in a low voice.

A hint of playful amusement lingered within her beautiful eyes.

Meanwhile, within a minor astral realm.

The earth was shattered, lying in utter ruin.

The surrounding jungle trees seemed destroyed by the shockwave of a violent burst of true energy, sheared right in half.

The corpse of a terrifying star beast, massive in size and resembling a lion-tiger hybrid, lay fallen right there.

Judging from the terrifying stellar force fluctuations lingering around the dead star beast, it was at the very least an extremely powerful existence among the One-Stripe Rank, and possibly even a Lord-Rank Star Beast!

As for the culprit...

He was sitting unceremoniously atop the star beast's head, lowering his gaze to flip through the stellar communicator in his hand.

At the same time, he muttered under his breath—

"A One-Stripe Lord-grade star beast, and it's actually only a measly two contribution points?"

"Tsk tsk, wasted all those methods of mine... What a loss."

"Looks like hunting those most ordinary One-Stripe star beasts is still more cost-effective..."

The young man wore a suit of black clothing, his appearance extraordinary. A pair of white eyebrows stood out particularly, and his deep eyes were as sharp as a white heavenly eagle's, valiant and domineering.

After finishing his complaints, he casually opened the Star-Martial Prodigy Contribution Rankings—Azure River Regional Rankings.

"First place: Qin Tianyi, 249 contribution points!"

Upon seeing this, the black-clad youth with white eyebrows raised the corners of his lips.

He hadn't expected that by merely employing a few casual methods without using his full strength, he would take the top spot on the Azure River Regional Rankings.

It seemed the so-called geniuses of this Azure River Satellite City were nothing special after all...

"Boring, so boring. It looks like this regional preliminary selection isn't worth spending too much effort on; only the Imperial Capital run-offs are worth anticipating."

Skies were clear and bright, and the great sun was ascending.

Amidst thousands of mountains, ravines, jade-green seas, and forest waves.

A young girl in verdant green attire stood slender and graceful, her glass-like pupils gazing indifferently ahead.

"Hiss—"

Upon the earth, four or five menacing, black-and-white dual-colored giant spider-like star beasts hissed.

Each of them was massive in size, their black-and-white bodies as plump as elephants, and further equipped with eight massive, four-to-five-meter-long spear-like spider legs, making them terrifying beyond compare.

"Clear Wind Willow-Whipping Sword!"

The girl in green lifted the verdant longsword in her hand. A gentle breeze swept past, fluttering her dress and revealing her white-as-jade calves.

"Whoosh—"

The several black-and-white demonic spiders that had been roaring furiously abruptly stopped dead in their tracks.

A series of sword gashes split open atop their heads.

That which looked like a gentle breeze blowing by was actually a series of formless sword qi, instantly tearing those several terrifying star beasts to shreds.

"Azure River Regional Rankings—"

"Second place: Mo Qingqing, 239 contribution points!"

"Hahaha, kill, kill, kill!"

Across a vast grassland, saber light crisscrossed and blood qi soared into the heavens.

The young man's saber was dyed crimson, and every single slash released a fatal blade-light that hacked the star beast before him into eight pieces.

"Star-Martial Prodigy?"

"Before me, Son of Bloody Blade—Luo Yifeng, I wonder if you can withstand two strikes?"

"Earth Piercing!"

The young man slammed a palm heavily into the ground.

Rumble—

The earth before him suddenly seemed to come alive, waking up and abruptly shooting forth dozens of sharp earth-spikes that thoroughly pierced several unsuspecting, bizarrely shaped, tall star beasts, leaving them with miserably gruesome deaths.

"Having awakened the Earth Spiritual Body, the entire earth is the source of my power!"

"With my feet planted firmly on the ground, I stand in an undefeatable position!"

"This spot as a Star-Martial Prodigy... naturally belongs to me, Chen Fan!"

In every corner unseen by Lin Yuan, every single Star-Martial Prodigy was striving forward, erupting with astonishing and terrifying strength and potential.

Every single term's Star-Martial Prodigy Talent Development Program commanded immense attention, deciding the top one hundred stellar-martial prodigies of human civilization.

These one hundred people would receive the tilted resources of all human civilization, destined to become the true powerhouses of the future.

Every aspiring genius would go all out at all costs.

Stellar behemoths were indeed formidable.

Various innate talents emerged endlessly; they possessed innate knowledge, noble bloodlines, and a baseline combat strength that rivaled true starry-sky warriors.

For ordinary people, they were indeed terrifying opponents requiring immense mental effort to hunt down with great difficulty.

Yet...

For the tiny fraction of people at the peak of the human talent pyramid, those ordinary One-Stripe star beasts had mediocre strength at best and could be slaughtered at will!

Therefore, after a mere month had passed, the rankings on the Star-Martial Prodigy Contribution Rankings had undergone earth-shattering changes—

"Azure River Regional Rankings—

First place: Qin Tianyi, 249 contribution points!

Second place: Mo Qingqing, 238 contribution points!

Third place: Luo Yifeng, 234 contribution points!

Ninth place: Chen Fan, 211 contribution points!

One hundred and fiftieth place: Lin Yuan, 115 contribution points!

One hundred and fifty-fifth place: Gu Yiyi, 108 contribution points!

One hundred and sixtieth place: Ling Shi, 100 contribution points..."

Through a month of hunting, both Lin Yuan and Gu Yiyi had smoothly squeezed out of their initial bottom rankings into the top one hundred and sixty, temporarily securing their spots for the Azure River preliminary selections.

The reason it was called temporary was because half a year still remained ahead, and every genius yearning for cultivation would fight fiercely and valiantly, causing the rankings to shift almost every single moment.

If you did not work hard, others were working hard.

Ultimately, you would get squeezed out.

However, for Lin Yuan and Gu Yiyi, this was not a problem.

"One hundred and fiftieth place... is only the beginning."

Lin Yuan sensed the full nine wisps of natal stellar force within his body. Compared to the pitiful single wisp at the very start, it could be called a massive improvement.

With his strength enhanced, dealing with star beasts naturally became even simpler, and correspondingly...

His slaughter efficiency would only grow faster!

"The strong grow stronger..."

"An unchanging truth since ancient times!"

Lin Yuan glanced briefly at the ruthless figures who consistently ranked in the top ten, feeling no surprise whatsoever.

True Star-Martial Prodigies were bound to lack no heavenly treasures or all sorts of cultivation resource supplies.

He had managed to acquire the Golden Glazed Fruit only by relying on Seeking Secrets and the help of Goddess Luo Squad.

As for them...

Without needing to lift a finger, the factions behind them would deliver all kinds of treasures right to their doors.

Naturally, their strength soared at a rapid pace.

I am so pitiful...

Without a faction or backing, the only thing I can rely on is that tiny bit of talent.

Lin Yuan feigned melancholy, then happily glanced over his configured setup—

"Martial Prodigy" + "Transcendent Comprehension" + "Devouring Vitality" + "Swallowing the Starry Sky" + "Seeking Secrets"...

Fourfold talent enhancements plus a heavenly treasure sensing cheat!

I refuse to believe I cannot grind you all to death!!!