Top 6: Sea God Island

"Do you think the Clear Sky Sect will be the next faction?"

The appearance of the sky screen had given everyone something to talk about.

Whether at Wanmin Restaurant or in taverns along the streets, people were discussing the screen everywhere—debating the experts on the rankings and every juicy secret it had exposed.

"Which faction do you think will be next, my young friend?"

Zhongli did not hurry off after his meal. He sipped his tea and looked up at the sky screen.

Su Yun answered without a moment's thought. "Sea God Island. They have the Seven Sacred Pillars, but their reserves of Soul Power are too shallow, and they've grown comfortable over the years. If it came to a fight to the death, the Clear Sky Sect would probably beat them into the ground."

After all, Tang Chen could now draw on Asura Divine Power. If Bo Saixi met him head-on away from her home ground at sea, she might well lose.

And judging by the sky screen's usual approach, it would likely assess combat strength under ordinary conditions, without adding a bonus for being at sea.

The two were speaking loudly enough to be heard. One look at Su Yun's absurdly young face, however, drew a scoff from someone nearby.

"Kid, what level is your Soul Power? What gives you the nerve to judge experts at the pinnacle?"

A noble rose to his feet, his voice dripping with contempt.

Su Yun noticed that neither the noble nor his two companions had taken their eyes off Columbina and Sandrone.

Honestly, he was sick of people like them. But he could not go around unleashing the pressure of a Divine Official everywhere he went.

The Anemo Vision at his waist glimmered—

A gentle force swept the three nobles off their feet. Helpless to control themselves, they flew straight to Su Yun.

"The way you look at them makes me uncomfortable."

Su Yun spoke evenly. With a casual wave, he hung all three upside down from a roadside streetlamp, where they swayed back and forth.

He had pulled them over from a distance without so much as a Soul Ring appearing. Everyone in Wanmin Restaurant was startled.

The nobles' guards hardly dared breathe. They rushed out to rescue their masters, but no matter how high they jumped, they could not reach them.

Stranger still, whenever a guard approached the streetlamp and used Soul Power, a gust of wind slammed him to the ground and held him there.

As passing commoners gathered to watch, one of the nobles shouted in furious humiliation, "Damn it! Let me down, you bastard! I'm one of Prince Xue Beng's men!"

In Heaven Dou City, no one but those aligned with the crown prince had dared defy them.

Now that Xue Qinghe had been exposed as an impostor, Xue Beng was the only prince left in the royal family.

Yet men of their standing had been strung up on a streetlamp for a crowd of lowly commoners to gawk at. It was as if their faces had been ground into the dirt.

Su Yun did not spare them a glance. He slapped each of them from a distance, and the world fell quiet.

At a nearby table of Heaven Dou Royal Academy students, the blond boy at their head rose and cupped his hands to Su Yun. "Young friend, if you can, please let them down. Once the city guards arrive, this will be difficult to settle."

Su Yun glanced at him. Blond hair, black eyes, Heaven Dou Royal Academy uniform.

At the same table sat Dugu Yan, unmistakable with her purple hair and the faint poisonous aura surrounding her.

"Are you pleading on their behalf?" Su Yun lifted his teacup, giving nothing away in his tone.

Yu Tianheng nodded. Impressed by Su Yun's display, he had intended to come over and make his acquaintance. The question left him awkwardly at a loss.

Dugu Yan had no such reservations. She stood and raised her voice. "Why can't you take a hint? Those men belong to Prince Xue Beng. Tian Heng is trying to help you out, and you can't even thank him—"

Before she could finish, she met Su Yun's calm eyes and felt a flash of pressure.

That pressure is even more terrifying than Grandpa's... Dugu Yan's legs went weak. She nearly collapsed.

"If it isn't your business, stay out of it." Su Yun waved a hand. A gentle force pressed both of them firmly back into their chairs, sitting straight and unable to move.

Zhongli set down his teacup. His gaze left the three figures on the streetlamp, who had gradually fallen silent, and settled on Su Yun. A knowing smile touched his eyes.

"That move of yours seemed casual, my young friend, but your purpose ran deeper."

He lightly traced the rim of his cup with a fingertip, speaking at an unhurried pace.

"Teyvat Academy is newly founded. Its foundations are unsteady, and its name has yet to spread. People judge new faces through old eyes. If no one sounds its first gong, those crowding its gates later will not be students seeking knowledge, but people testing its limits."

He paused and glanced at the shifting images on the sky screen.

"As for these three, they simply happened to arrive at the right moment and walk straight into the gong. Someone else would have served just as well."

He lifted his teacup again, as though delivering a verdict on both the tea and the situation.

"Establishing authority is not about showing every edge. It is about striking just the right measure. Hang three more people from a streetlamp today, and tomorrow there will be far less pointless clamor at the academy gates."

Finally, he raised his cup toward Su Yun in a distant toast, his eyes warm with understanding. "A fine first strike."

Sandrone curled her lip. She did not believe this had anything to do with establishing authority. Those three had probably been strung up just for looking at Columbina a little too long.

She was about to turn and look at Columbina when she froze.

Columbina had a grilled fish stuffed in her mouth, while Luonnotar, cradled in her arms, had a sausage between her teeth.

Without another word, Sandrone joined the battle for the food. If she did not pick up her chopsticks now, Columbina might finish the whole meal herself.

At the next table, the Heaven Dou Team began to tremble.

Yu Tianheng lowered his voice and asked Dugu Yan, "Could he be some senior who only looks young?"

He could hardly imagine someone around his own age possessing such terrifying strength. For that instant, he had not even been able to think of resisting. He had felt like an ant facing the bright moon.

Dugu Yan's lips still trembled. "His pressure... was more terrifying than my grandfather's."

More terrifying than Poison Douluo's pressure?

Yu Feng and the others, who had struggled to grasp how strong Su Yun was, suddenly had a clear point of comparison.

Even if Dugu Yan had exaggerated, he had to be at least a Titled Douluo.

Yu Feng stole a glance at Su Yun. He looked no older than seventeen or eighteen, but ever since the sky screen appeared, their understanding of the world had been crushed again and again.

They had learned that above Titled Douluo stood Super Douluo and Limit Douluo, and above even them were gods.

They had learned that being called a genius only got you to the threshold of meeting such people...

The image on the sky screen abruptly changed, and the Heavenly Rankings updated once more. Every eye turned toward it.

"Is it here...?"

"Sixth place? Who's going to be sixth?"

"I hope it isn't another Soul Beast. Otherwise, I really won't dare go Soul Hunting again."

Zhongli set down his cup, his gaze sharpening with curiosity. Would sixth place really be Sea God Island?

[Top 6: Sea God Island]

The Seven Sacred Pillars of Sea God Island froze. Sixth place? How could it be them?

Given Sea God Island's strength, even if they could not take first, they should have held second place at the very least. Why had they fallen this far?