"Oh! I refuse! I only want to challenge cultivators ranked above me!" Li Xiaoya said lightly. Under the challenge rules, if a challenger ranked more than ten places below the challenged cultivator, the latter could refuse. Winning offered no benefits, so naturally they would not agree. Conversely, challenges from cultivators within ten places of one's ranking could not be refused. Refusal counted as an automatic defeat, and victory earned race contribution points. The amount awarded depended on the cultivator's ranking.
"Hmph! Let me tell you! I was originally number one hundred on the Heaven Ranking! Under the rules, I have the right to challenge you, Legacy Disciple!" Xu Chuling's expression turned furious, and he shouted with a cold snort.
"Originally number one hundred on the Heaven Ranking?" Li Xiaoya froze, looked Xu Chuling up and down, then suddenly smiled. "So that's how it is! All right!" Indeed, challenges from inner clan disciples more than ten places below could be refused, but there were two exceptions. First, a lower-ranked cultivator who won ten or more consecutive matches could challenge beyond that limit, and the challenged cultivator could not refuse.
The second exception was precisely Xu Chuling's situation. He had originally been the inner clan disciple ranked one hundred on the Heaven Ranking, but the sudden addition of Li Xiaoya, a legacy disciple, had directly squeezed him out of that position. Naturally, his ranking had fallen-and straight down to number one hundred on the Earth Ranking, at that. It was a calamity out of the blue. A cultivator displaced like this would naturally be dissatisfied, so to compensate such inner clan disciples, the cultivator originally ranked one hundred received one opportunity to challenge the legacy disciple who had displaced him. The legacy disciple could not refuse.
This arrangement served two purposes: first,