"That's impossible!"
Terrance stared fixedly at the rankings on the blue-green stone tablet ahead, his eyes full of disbelief.
As a spirit reader, he had painstakingly completed ten cultivation missions over the past year, yet he was still only ranked fifty-first.
Lu Qingshan clearly had a lower cultivation level than him and paid little attention to cultivation missions. How could he have surpassed him by so much?
In fact, it was not just Terrance. All the other elites present were shocked to see Lu Qingshan ranked thirty-sixth this time.
Beavis, the werewolf genius who had just been talking to Lu Qingshan, was especially shocked, and even felt somewhat awkward amid his astonishment.
After all, Lu Qingshan's previous ranking had been about the same as his, or even a little lower, yet now he had suddenly shot up to thirty-sixth overall.
"What on earth is going on?"
At that moment, Beavis was undoubtedly deeply puzzled.
We were all clearly ranked near the bottom before, so how did you suddenly rise up?
Just as all sorts of expressions kept appearing on the First Grade Elites' faces, someone suddenly spoke.
"It's the Trial Tower!"
Kebino, the genius ranked thirty-ninth this time, immediately said loudly, "I'm certain Lu Qingshan has already cleared the ninth floor of the Trial Tower!"
"I've killed three Stellar Level One Sky Wolves on the ninth floor of the Trial Tower and completed nine cultivation missions last year, yet I can still only rank thirty-ninth! Lu Qingshan rarely completes cultivation missions. He must have surpassed me by quite a bit in his Trial Tower results, which carry more weight, to rank thirty-sixth!"
"Impossible!"
After hearing Kebino's words, another genius immediately retorted, "Those ten Sky Wolves on the ninth floor of the Trial Tower are incredibly powerful. Lu Qingshan used to rank below the top hundred. How could he suddenly have cleared the ninth floor?"
"What if he reached the domain second layer?"
Kebino spoke again. "There might seem to be a huge gap between our rankings, but our Trial Tower rankings aren't actually very far apart. Most of us are stuck on the eighth and ninth floors. It's only the difference in how many cultivation missions we've completed that affects our overall rankings!"
"If Lu Qingshan really reached the domain second layer, he would absolutely have a chance of clearing the ninth floor of the Trial Tower!"
Although the surrounding First Grade Elites were unwilling to believe Kebino's words, this was now the only explanation that best fit the situation.
That was the domain second layer!
The First Grade Elites of Heavenly Pillar Mountain could be considered extraordinarily dazzling Star Level geniuses even throughout the entire Golden Lion Starfield.
Yet even among them, only twenty-some geniuses had reached the domain second layer.
For Lu Qingshan to reach the domain second layer so soon after joining Heavenly Pillar Mountain was simply inconceivable.
Just then...
"Lu Qingshan is out!"
As that voice rang out, all the geniuses present involuntarily turned to look.
Beavis had wanted to go over and exchange a few words with Lu Qingshan, but upon seeing this scene, he stopped just as he was about to step forward.
However, someone present had no such reservations and went up to greet Lu Qingshan the moment he emerged.
Meanwhile, the moment Lu Qingshan walked out of the Trial Tower, he saw that the gazes of all the First Grade Elites had converged on him, while Wang Chen, farther away, took the lead in walking toward him.
"Brother Wang!" Lu Qingshan promptly greeted him with a smile.
Previously, when he had been immersed in domain cultivation and his results had consistently placed him near the bottom, Wang Chen's attitude toward him had never changed, so he was willing to spend more time with him.
"Hahaha!"
As soon as he reached Lu Qingshan, Wang Chen laughed heartily. "Brother Qingshan, thirty-sixth in the overall First Grade Elite rankings! You've really stunned everyone with a single cry this time!"
"You flatter me, Brother Wang!"
Lu Qingshan soon replied with a smile, "Compared to you, I still have a long way to go!"
"Brother Qingshan, you're far too modest!"
Wang Chen continued, "I know my own circumstances. It took me nearly a thousand years of hard work to achieve my current ranking! But you, Brother Qingshan, have achieved results like these after just thirty years in Heavenly Pillar Mountain. It's truly astonishing!"
"Right! Everyone now thinks you rose to thirty-sixth because you reached the domain second layer. Is that true?"
"Yes!"
Faced with Wang Chen's question, Lu Qingshan concealed nothing. After all, here in Heavenly Pillar Mountain, the greater the talent he displayed, the more attention he would receive.
"Just as I thought!"
After hearing Lu Qingshan's answer, Wang Chen soon asked with a smile, "Brother Qingshan, how many Azure Sky Demon Apes did you kill on the tenth layer?"
"Not a single one!"
Lu Qingshan promptly shook his head. "The moment I entered the tenth layer of the Trial Tower, those hundred Azure Sky Demon Apes swarmed me. I really had no time to fight back before they surrounded me and beat me to death!"
"That's actually perfectly normal!"
Wang Chen quickly offered reassurance. "You don't need to feel too frustrated. Even I've only killed six Azure Sky Demon Apes at most!"
"Among us First Grade Elites, only Parich and Bonas, who've reached the third-stage domain, and that freak Liu Guangyuan can clear the tenth layer of the Trial Tower!"
"As for the others, even the best can only kill twenty or thirty Azure Sky Demon Apes!"
"I understand!" Lu Qingshan promptly nodded.
Among Heavenly Pillar Mountain's many First Grade Elites, only Parich and Bonas had truly reached the third-stage domain.
Liu Guangyuan was only at the domain second layer, but as a spirit reader, he had certain advantages when challenging the Trial Tower, which allowed him to successfully clear its tenth layer.
While Lu Qingshan and Wang Chen were talking, other First Grade Elites nearby came over to greet Lu Qingshan. Almost all of them were geniuses who had already reached the domain second layer!
Geniuses had their own tiers, after all. The domain first layer and the domain second layer were two entirely different things.
They thought nothing of geniuses who ranked higher than Lu Qingshan but were still at the domain first layer.
But now that Lu Qingshan had reached the domain second layer, even if his ranking was a little lower at present, he would certainly catch up in the future. Naturally, they wanted to make his acquaintance.
Once they all broke through to Universe Level in the future, they could also look out for one another.
Not far away, Terrance watched Lu Qingshan converse with the many geniuses who had reached the domain second layer, his feelings quite complicated.
After all, he was a spirit reader and worked very hard at cultivation. He should have been the center of everyone's attention.
Yet now, Lu Qingshan, who had joined Heavenly Pillar Mountain at the same time as him and was even just a warrior, had surpassed him. How could he accept that?
The domain second layer. I must reach it too!
Terrance thought to himself, I'm a spirit reader, after all. Once I reach the wind domain second level, I'll definitely be able to charge straight into the top ten overall. Then I'll naturally surpass Lu Qingshan again!