[Fourth place] Name: Qiuye Physique: Azure Luan Immortality Evaluation: The Azure Luan soared high across the four seas, its cry rising into heaven's rosy clouds-the gates of longevity opened!
The announcement of the ranking shook the mortal world once again!
The Azure Luan was a blue phoenix, a pure-blooded branch of the phoenix lineage.
And Qiuye's physique was "immortality," was "longevity"!
As all living beings reeled in astonishment, an image appeared on the Heavenly Ranking. In the Parasol Tree Grove, beneath the vast heavens, stunning birds gathered, their overlapping feathers like thick, colorful clouds that obscured the sky.
The birds flocked in with harmonious cries. As a world-shaking phoenix cry rang out, a noble, sacred blue phoenix burst out of the Parasol Tree Grove, circling and calling back, and all the birds bowed their heads!
"Heavens, a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix!"
"Azure Luan Immortality-this is the Great Dao of Longevity!"
"All have passed! How many heroes, alas, fell along the road to longevity!"
"A physique this heaven-defying only ranked fourth?!"
"What terrifying heavenly prodigies could be above her?!"
All living beings discussed it, immersed in the awe of the hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix, unable to recover for a long time. Even the winds and clouds churned violently because of it.
Soon, the video dispersed, and lines of text emerged.
[Fourth-place reward] Cangwu Divine Huang Source The spirit of Cangwu, the foundation of longevity, the Great Dao Root Bone of the Primordial Phoenix!
"Fourth, just as the clan king said."
Qiuye raised her fair hand and gently brushed her hair in the wind. Her slender shoulders lifted slightly, and she smiled with pursed lips, half coy, half helpless.
Gu Chen smiled wryly.
Had he known his "crow's mouth" was so effective, why hadn't he said first place?!...
But he was also delighted, for the Cangwu Divine Huang Source awarded to her was even more powerful than Qu Jiangxuan's Ancestral Dragon Great Dao Bone! If the latter offered a sixty-percent chance of evolving into the Ancestral Dragon, theirs offered a ninety-percent chance of evolving into the Primordial Phoenix!
The Azure Luan Clan, which had always been slightly weaker than the Azure Dragon Clan, would surely rise up completely, now and in the days to come, because of this favored daughter of heaven!
The Azure Dragon Clan.
"What? That girl actually ranked fourth!
"Azure Luan Immortality-a physique that seeks to attain the Great Dao of Longevity has appeared in the phoenix lineage!
"To think that cunning old fox Gu Chen hid someone like her! Good thing the Heavenly Ranking exposed her. Otherwise, once that girl grew up, she would surely be a grave threat!"
Xuan Tugu spoke through gritted teeth, her slightly distorted eyes brimming with rage, jealousy, and madness!
As two bloodlines left behind by the Ancestral Dragon and the Primordial Phoenix, the Azure Dragon Clan and the Azure Luan Clan had always been as incompatible as fire and water. As the Azure Luan Clan declined day by day, the Azure Dragon Clan had reigned supreme for tens of thousands of years.
And now...
The Azure Luan Clan had produced Qiuye!
Fourth on the Heavenly Ranking was enough to prove how powerful her physique was, how great a threat she posed! Not to mention the added boost of her reward!
Qu Jiangxuan's lips turned pale, and his eyes gradually went blank. All the pride he had accumulated over decades shattered beneath those shining names, scattering across the ground!
The clanspeople around him either remained silent, sighed, or shook their heads in astonishment.
"To watch helplessly as the Azure Luan Clan surpasses the Azure Dragon Clan is something these old bones cannot accept...
"Qiuye... the Azure Luan Clan..."
She murmured, and a glint suddenly flashed through her calculating eyes, so vicious! So sinister!
The Heavenly Ranking's arrival stirred the Three Thousand Worlds. All living beings raised their heads, some sighing in wonder, others shocked, their horizons broadened as they clicked their tongues in amazement.
Meanwhile, Xie Feng had already left the Nameless Domain. His blue robes fluttered gracefully, each step dreamlike, as he crossed a desolate desert and entered an ordinary region, the Yuan Continent.
Border towns had been desolate since ancient times.
Here, besides lone plumes of smoke and the setting sun, there were two or three tea stalls where travelers could rest.
Xie Feng ordered a pot of tea and a steamer of buns. The attendant answered and swiftly brought his food and drink. At that moment, a blue phantom was taking shape high in the sky, the phoenix's auspicious radiance shining over heaven and earth.
"With the Heavenly Ranking unveiled, many secrets will surely be exposed.
"Rogue Cultivators hidden in the wilderness, mysterious forbidden lands, secluded clans and so on-within the Three Thousand Worlds, unexpected figures are bound to make the ranking.
"Perhaps... myself?"
"Ah, I don't want to be exposed. Let me lie low for another couple of years..."
Xie Feng scratched his head in frustration.
With fourth place announced, he already knew where he would rank!
After all, he possessed the chaos sacred body!
Nothing under heaven could compare to the makings of a Saint!
Xie Feng looked at the few coarse tea leaves floating in his bowl and could not help thinking to himself. He looked up and around. Several customers were gazing skyward at forty-five-degree angles. Though the Heavenly Ranking hung tens of millions of miles high, even ordinary people could see it perfectly clearly!
"Big brother~
"Could you tell me where I can have food and drink without worry and earn silver too?
"I'm so hungry, but people said I need silver before they'll give me anything to eat..."
As his thoughts wandered, a clear voice rang out. At some point, a petite, pretty figure had quietly appeared before Xie Feng.
It was a cute girl!
She had a delicate figure, her silver hair gathered behind her head into a flowing low ponytail, with straight bangs in front, though two locks had deliberately been left loose to sway. One of her pinkish-white cat ears drooped, while the other perked up.
Could she be a little cat demon?
Xie Feng wondered, continuing to lift his gaze to examine her.
She wore a little white vest with dark orange lantern trousers and looked no older than twelve or thirteen. Her amber eyes were clear, but somewhat listless now, and she held her stomach, complaining of her hunger.
The little girl tilted her head, blinking her bright, dewy eyes.
She seemed to be asking seriously.
It was a ridiculous question, but Xie Feng did not laugh.
Instead, his expression grew grave!
Because he discovered great providence swirling around this girl!
Xie Feng calmed his mind and stilled his breath, quietly releasing his probing power. In his eyes, the girl before him gradually faded away. Suddenly, a fierce tiger's roar burst from within her, shaking the world and stirring his soul!
An illusory white tiger appeared, its tiger's might surging through the vast cosmos like a raging tide, stirring the providence of the myriad worlds and commanding the heavens!
This was great providence from ancient times!
The providence manifested in the form of a white tiger, its majestic might capable of dominating past and present!
This girl had an extraordinary physique!
She was no little cat-she was clearly a fierce tiger!
And yet...
Powerful shackles seemed to imprison it!
Though the manifested white tiger possessed power as violent as a cascading torrent, careful perception revealed its lack of staying power. Moreover, a terrifying force was dragging the white tiger downward.
There was a soul seal within this little girl!
That was precisely why, despite bearing such great providence, the girl's cultivation was only at the lowest Qi Refining Realm!
Xie Feng frowned.
He silently calculated heavenly divinations, only to discover that he could not divine the answer!
The little girl was concealed by an incomparably powerful veil of heavenly secrets!
Furthermore!
The white tiger physique...
Could she be the White Tiger, one of the four legendary divine beasts?
Now this was talent!
As Xie Feng's thoughts ran wild, he caught the little girl secretly swallowing as she stared at the buns. He temporarily set aside his questions and could not help smiling as he invited her to sit down and eat with him.
The little girl's eyes lit up. She grabbed a bun, lowered her head, and took a restrained bite. Suddenly, she cried, "Ah!" and sprang to her feet, scratching the back of her head. "Oh no, I remembered! Mother said I can't just eat other people's food!"
The little girl spun around anxiously. "It's all because I was too hungry. Mother said if I eat someone else's food, I have to pay them back."
Xie Feng said, "Go ahead and eat!"
The little girl said, "Then I'll eat and work to pay you back."
"Where would a little girl like you find work?"
"I can follow you and help with odd jobs. I may be little, but I'm really strong."
As she spoke, the little girl rolled up her sleeves and walked to the edge of the stall. She gave two cries of "Heave-ho!" to encourage herself, then lifted the tea stall with her bare hands!
With the shelter suddenly lifted while they were eating and dirt and wood chips showering down all over them, the customers jumped up in alarm. They were about to teach her a lesson, but seeing that she was a girl of only ten or so, they could hardly make an issue of it, and sat back down, grumbling.
Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, Xie Feng hurriedly told the reckless girl to put the man's building down!
"I'm the master of the Xuanji Sect. If you follow me, you'll be doing rough work like fetching water and odd jobs. Can a little girl like you manage that?"
"It's just some physical labor, isn't it? I have plenty of strength. You said you're the master of the Xuanji Sect, so I'll call you Master!"
Having said that, the little girl did not wait for an answer. She plopped straight down at the table and began eating buns with an easy conscience. She was truly ravenous. Her hands swept through like wind scattering clouds, and in an instant, ten steamers of buns were empty. The proprietor and customers all stared in horror at this girl with a taotie's appetite.
Xie Feng asked, "What's your name?"
"Sushang!"
As she spoke, the little girl turned and called, "Boss, another ten steamers of buns! My master will pay!"
Xie Feng: ...