Changying bent her slender waist slightly and looked down at the green bamboo slip, pouting. "Well, you were the ones courting death. You can't blame me for being heartless."
Xun Ji and Cheng Lian were trapped inside the bamboo slip!
This bamboo slip was no ordinary object, but a reward from the Heavenly Ranking!
The Heaven-Revering Immortal Diagram!
Within it lay countless mountains and rivers, a vast world unto itself!
When the immortal diagram opened, yin and yang appeared!
To Xun Ji and Cheng Lian, Changying, who controlled the bamboo slip, was a god who could mold them however she pleased!
Life or death lay in a single thought.
Changying casually raised the bamboo slip, spiritual workings swirling around it. Within the world of the immortal diagram, an endless ocean poured down from the heavens!
Its mighty waves surged! They could destroy heaven and earth!
The surging ocean formed two water dragons, which roared and circled before slamming savagely into Xun Ji and Cheng Lian. Utterly terrified and powerless to resist, they perished with a thunderous crash, their cultivation extinguished!
Two Mahayana Realm experts had fallen just like that!
Changying rolled up the bamboo slip, smiling serenely like an immortal descending upon the world!
She continued wandering through the world.
Just then, high in the sky, sunlight scattered the dark clouds, and a golden ranking stretching tens of thousands of miles appeared out of nowhere, astounding the three thousand worlds.
It also stirred all beneath heaven.
Sect after sect...
Holy land after holy land...
Mighty expert after mighty expert...
The people of the world trembled inwardly and could not help looking up at the sky!
"The Heavenly Ranking has opened again!"
"Three months have already passed!"
"This ranking will be another gathering of outstanding talents!"
People discussed it eagerly, full of anticipation.
Dong!
A bell rang out.
A heavenly voice that shook the world resounded throughout it-
"The third round of rankings, the Grace Ranking, is now open!
"Tenth place will be announced first!"
[Tenth place] Name: Qin Luofan Assessment: Firm of heart, with exceptional potential and a clear, refined grace, he possesses unrivaled good looks and has created a spectacle that shook the world. Score: 800 Reward: Great Dao Body Infusion
Lines of text appeared.
Immediately afterward, moving images appeared on the Heavenly Ranking.
In the video, a man stood alone atop a towering mountain. He wore a silver crown, his white robes fluttering. With the bearing of a green pine and an elegant crane, he stood proudly, as handsome as a god!
When his face appeared in the video, countless people instantly held their breath. What a perfect face it was!
Sword-like brows, star-bright eyes, and smooth contours combined masculine magnificence with feminine gentleness, making him scholarly and refined without losing his heroic air!
Wearing a sword at his waist, he gazed into the distance, his entire body radiating a vast presence that shook the winds and clouds. He was not merely handsome-he also possessed formidable strength!
Countless women fell for him!
And men, too!
"Qin Luofan, the Dao Son of the Purple Cloud Sect!"
"He's the most handsome man under heaven, and his origins are extraordinary. They say red clouds filled the sky when he was born!"
"Alas, compared with him, even through a screen, we feel ashamed of our own inferiority."
"His score is 800. Looks like the maximum is 1,000!"
"800 is already very high!"
The crowd immediately erupted.
Spirit Continent.
The Purple Cloud Sect.
The sect's disciples gathered together, cheering when they saw their Dao Son on the ranking.
"Just as expected, the Dao Son made the Heavenly Ranking!"
"Whether in looks or strength, he's among the best under heaven!"
"He rose from disciple to Dao Son in just one year, drawing swarms of female disciples to him. Even female elders have been casting him flirtatious glances. With such grace, who else could it be!"
"The reward is actually Great Dao Body Infusion! That terrifying ability can grant a breakthrough regardless of one's realm!"
"The Dao Son has devoted himself wholeheartedly to the Dao and has been stuck in the Spirit Transformation Realm for three whole years. This reward will surely let him break through into the Tribulation Transcendence Realm!"
Many eyes turned toward the mountain behind the sect.
Atop the cliff was Qin Luofan, the Purple Cloud Sect's Dao Son, immersed in cultivation! His face shone like light, his grace unmatched. He was even more handsome and elegant than in the Heavenly Ranking's video!
A man who had created an iconic moment with his face alone!
A peerless beauty of a man!
The white light of the reward flew over, forming a rapidly spinning vortex. A pillar of five-colored light slowly descended, releasing boundless Spiritual Qi that poured entirely into Qin Luofan's body.
Bang!
His cultivation broke through!
Tribulation Transcendence Realm First Stage!
Without a heaven-defying physique...
Without divine-grade or immortal-grade artifacts...
Through his own diligence and talent, he had reached the Tribulation Transcendence Realm after only fifty years of cultivation!
This realm was the dividing line between true experts and ordinary experts. Even the Purple Cloud Sect's sect master had needed two hundred years! And that was already incredibly fast!
Qin Luofan had taken even less time!
He was a true prodigy of his generation in the Purple Cloud Sect!
Qin Luofan opened his eyes, his smile robbing heaven and earth of their color. He did not particularly care whether he made the ranking. All he wanted was to comprehend the Dao soon and step into that supreme realm!
Snowview Pavilion.
"The Heavenly Ranking has opened again. Another storm is sweeping through the world.
"Qin Luofan truly does possess exceptional grace.
"Cough, cough..."
Qi Wuyan pulled her ermine-gray feather cloak tighter and coughed twice. Her lovely face grew even more bloodless, and she seemed somewhat weary.
Ye Yuan asked, "Are you all right?"
"Heavenly calculators contend with heaven. Under the balance of the Great Dao, we inevitably expend more mental effort. Physical frailty is normal.
"Oh, the Heavenly Ranking has updated."
Qi Wuyan shifted her gaze and pointed it out. Both of them looked over.
A new placement had already appeared on the Heavenly Ranking!
[Ninth place] Name: Qi Wuyan Assessment: With an extraordinary disposition and limitless potential, she used her transcendent heavenly calculation arts to have the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion completely replace Endless Heaven within three months, becoming the world's foremost intelligence organization and causing a sensation throughout the world. Score: 1,300 Reward: Immortal art, "Divine Scroll of Heavenly Strategy"
In the video, a woman stood with an exquisite figure, her misty skirts ethereal. The bronze Fate Cauldron in her hands shone brilliantly, and amid the infinite secrets of heaven, she looked as beautiful as a celestial maiden.
"Oh my, what an honor to admire the snow and play a game with the great beauty ranked ninth on the Heavenly Ranking. I'm overwhelmed by the favor!"
Ye Yuan teased.
Qi Wuyan smiled helplessly. She had never expected to appear on the ranking. The Heavenly Ranking's placements must have been rigorously selected using the Great Dao's data.
The primary criterion was the scale of the iconic moments created over the preceding three months. The other considerations were disposition and potential, with appearance actually coming last.
The Heavenly Ranking's reward likewise had its traces concealed through the means of the Great Dao.
White light appeared.
It was a peerless immortal art!
Qi Wuyan looked at the reward, bitterness filling her heart.
Although she possessed a heaven-defying physique like Numinous Heavenly Calculation, as a young girl, she had chased advances in cultivation without considering the consequences or building a foundation. On top of that, divining heavenly hexagrams consumed tremendous mental effort, leaving her unable to sustain herself later. Her body had already been severely overdrawn. As she was now, she had no strength to cultivate an immortal art at all!
Ye Yuan frowned. "You seem troubled?"
For some reason, Qi Wuyan felt an inexplicable trust in him. She told him about her difficulties.
Ye Yuan said, "I once met someone whose cultivation I couldn't fathom, and whose soul power was equally unfathomable. He may very well be an alchemist, and an extremely powerful one at that! Perhaps he can refine a pill that will help you!"
"Who?"
"Xie Feng."
"Him again!!"
"When I first met him that day, I secretly probed his strength. Though I learned very little, I did gain something."
"Where is he?"
"Uh, well, I don't know."
Ye Yuan spread his hands, speaking with complete assurance.
Qi Wuyan asked no more. She lowered her eyes to the Fate Cauldron, her gaze flickering, her long lashes appearing all the blacker against her bloodless, white-porcelain face.
Xie Feng...
Will you be my benefactor?
Now, even a tenth-grade pill can no longer save me. You...
Can you refine divine pills?