Yi Yang's gaze lingered on the ranking board for two breaths.
Number twenty-five, Zheng Qiao, qi-blood fourth level, Acting Patrol Commander of Yunlin County's city headquarters. The record beside his name was spotless; he had yet to take the stage today. He was the sort to conserve his strength and wait until the latter half to reap the harvest.
Yi Yang removed his waist token and turned it once in his palm, thinking, The Quarterly Ranking Battle determines how resources are allocated afterward. Pills, reward money, assignments-everything is tied to rank. Resources are what I lack most right now. That hundred-thousand-point progress pool for the sixth layer of the Wood-Nurturing Longevity Art will never fill up on the Archive Hall's little salary, not even in the year of the monkey and the month of the horse.
I should be able to reveal qi-blood fourth-level cultivation now. Showing that much will be just right.
He would keep his sixth-level trump card hidden for Wang Gongqin and the truly life-threatening situations. Fourth level counted as upper-middle strength on this drill ground. Winning would not attract too much attention, and losing would be understandable.
Yi Yang gripped the bronze token and walked toward the platform.
Behind him, Zhao Gang stamped his feet in agitation. Yi Yang acted as though he heard nothing.
A space had just opened on the platform. The previous winner had stepped down to exchange tokens. Yi Yang stepped on the wooden edge and clambered up. His movements were hardly nimble, and his knee even cracked once. He looked exactly like an old man struggling to climb somewhere high.
Several young Patrol Guards below snickered.
Yi Yang planted his feet and raised his bronze token. His voice was quiet but clear. "Number eighty-seven challenges number twenty-five, Zheng Qiao."
On the