[Third place on the ranking: Nine Hearts and Nine Apertures, Ning Rongrong.]
Seeing that she was only third, Ning Rongrong's face immediately fell. "I'm only third? I'm actually only third!" Disbelief filled her face. "Could there really be people in this world with greater talent than mine?"
"Isn't that only natural? I told you long ago: beyond every person stands someone greater, and beyond every sky lies another sky. Stop staring at your own little patch of land. Work hard at cultivating and surpass yourself. Now look-you didn't even squeeze into the top three of the Pride of Heaven Ranking."
Ning Rongrong pouted and muttered, "I've already been working really hard."
Wang Qiye sighed and said nothing more.
Meanwhile, in Spirit City, Hu Liena looked utterly unconvinced. "I actually lost to a support-type Soul Master? How is that possible?"
"I know that Ning Rongrong. She's the daughter of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's master. Her Martial Soul should be the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda."
"How could a Martial Soul that can't even cultivate to rank eighty compare to mine?"
Hu Liena still looked unconvinced, but she seemed to think of something.
"Could the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda also be capable of touching some sort of law?"
Everyone else inside the Pontiff Palace was discussing it.
The Shrek group was also talking quietly. Although Ma Hongjun had just received twenty lashes, it had only been a minor punishment.
They actually bore little resentment in their hearts. Instead, they felt rather fortunate.
"Dean Flender, just what is Ning Rongrong's background? And what kind of force is the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"
"I kept telling you to read more, but you wouldn't listen. Regretting it now, aren't you?"
Flender instinctively put on his air of a dean, but suddenly remembered that he was now actually an elder of Spirit Hall. His enthusiasm immediately waned, and he began explaining.
But Oscar gazed spellbound at Ning Rongrong's projection on the Pride of Heaven Ranking.
For some inexplicable reason, he felt as though he had met her before. At first sight, Oscar felt that he had fallen for her.
Beside him, Dai Mubai hurriedly nudged his arm. "Little Oscar, what are you staring at? Rein it in, or you'll get whipped."
Oscar's face flushed slightly, and he hurriedly lowered his head.
Such discussions were not limited to Spirit City. Inside Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Dugu Yan gave a cold laugh. "That Ning Rongrong is the young mistress of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, right? I remember the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda is called the world's greatest support Martial Soul. No wonder she made the ranking."
Yu Tianheng nodded. "True. Although the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda is the continent's greatest support Martial Soul, word within our sect is that this Martial Soul actually has a flaw."
Dugu Bo was also somewhat curious. Although he was a Titled Douluo, he was not very familiar with matters within these sect circles. His usual activities consisted of researching poisons or cultivating-an old homebody through and through.
Yu Tianheng said quietly, "I'll tell you, but don't tell anyone else."
The others quietly gathered around. Even Dugu Bo pricked up an ear.
"They say the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda may have been cursed by a god, making it impossible to break through rank eighty Soul Power."
"They originally had the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, but a god specifically sent down a curse and cleaved two stories off their pagodas. That was how they became the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda."
The members of the Heaven Dou Royal Team immediately erupted in cries. None had expected to hear a secret about a flaw in the Martial Soul of one of the Upper Three Sects here, and they all felt they had stumbled upon a juicy piece of gossip.
"Then how could such a trash Martial Soul rank third on the Pride of Heaven Ranking?"
Dugu Yan spoke with a pout.
[Third place on the ranking: Nine Hearts and Nine Apertures, Ning Rongrong.] [Reason for inclusion: A meticulous mind capable of dividing its attention among many tasks. She is the only prodigy to make the ranking through her own innate talent.] [Born with nine hearts and nine apertures, her comprehension is unrivaled under heaven. Her understanding of laws is inevitable.] [Assessment: A pity your talent is too great; a pity this world has too few places where brains are needed.]
Ning Rongrong gazed at Wang Qiye with sparkling eyes. "Master, Master, was the Pride of Heaven Ranking praising me? Was it praising me?"
Wang Qiye helplessly rubbed her head. "Yes, yes, yes. It praised you. It praised you."
"I really never imagined I was such a genius!" Ning Rongrong kept giggling. The Pride of Heaven Ranking's string of extravagant compliments had already praised her until she no longer knew heaven from earth.
"Lady Ning Rongrong, whose comprehension is unrivaled under heaven, have you mastered the Nine Lives Profound Art of Penetrating the Netherworld I gave you?"
Cold sweat instantly trickled down Ning Rongrong's face. "I'm still a little short."
"Oh, still a little short? Then could Lady Ning Rongrong, whose extraordinary comprehension is unrivaled under heaven, tell me exactly how much this 'little' means? Your master is getting old and a little muddleheaded."
"About... ten percent." Ning Rongrong's voice grew quieter and quieter.
"So there's only ten percent left that you haven't comprehended."
"I... I've only comprehended ten percent."
Wang Qiye let out a deep sigh.
Ning Rongrong, however, walked up, clasped his hand in both of hers, and began swinging it as she wheedled.
"Master, you're bullying me! I finally got praised for once. Can't you let me be happy for a little while?"
Wang Qiye sighed helplessly. Everything about this disciple was good, but the trouble was that her talent was too great, so she had developed a habit of clutching at the Buddha's feet at the last moment, no matter what she did.
It was merely a copy of the Nine Lives Profound Art of Penetrating the Netherworld, yet she had only comprehended ten percent in a whole day.
After all, Ning Rongrong was an important node in his future Martial Dao Transcendence Plan.
Still, this child was young. He could spur her on gradually.
At Heaven Dou Royal Academy, after everyone finished reading the reasons for Ning Rongrong's inclusion, the entire little courtyard fell so silent that not a crow or sparrow could be heard.
Without relying on her Martial Soul, her bloodline, or an affinity with any kind of law, she had actually become third on the Pride of Heaven Ranking through her comprehension alone?
The reasons for his inclusion did not mention the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda even once. This world's greatest support Martial Soul, which everyone envied, might even have become a burden to her.
Yu Tianheng wanted to speak, but suddenly felt an itch in his throat and swallowed. Yet in such silence, even that sound seemed extraordinarily loud. He nearly startled himself with the sound of his own gulp.
"There are still two prodigies left. I wonder who they'll be," Yu Tianheng said.
That question instantly broke the silence in the courtyard.
"Yes, I wonder who," Dugu Yan said softly. She felt that her own chances of making the ranking were already infinitesimally small. How could she not know her own level?
She could not possibly compare even to Ning Rongrong of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, much less the two ahead of Ning Rongrong.
Meanwhile, at Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong gazed at the still-vacant first and second places on the Pride of Heaven Ranking, her eyes unfathomable.
If asked which Soul Master in all the world had the greatest talent, she was somewhat uncertain.
But that person's talent should at least have been enough to make the ranking.
She had not appeared among the bottom eight on the Heaven Ranking, so there was only one conclusion: she likely held a place in the top two.
Even Bibi Dong did not know exactly what she was feeling at that moment.
Before you continue