Chapter 515 - 177: A Vast Disparity

On the high platform.

Chief Elder Ouyang Jingxuan, holding the freshly inked roster, walked slowly to the main seat. With a slight bow, he presented the list to the Sect Leader of Xuanzhen Sect, Cao Zhen.

Cao Zhen accepted it. His gaze fell upon the roster, his fingertips brushing lightly across the paper as the rows of names and rankings came clearly into view.

He scanned it for only a moment before nodding in acknowledgment. He then passed the roster to the Seven Vein Peak Masters beside him to be reviewed in turn.

As the Peak Masters took the list, some nodded slightly while others showed a flicker of surprise, but none raised any objections. The rankings were largely consistent with the disciples’ performances they had just observed from the high platform.

Only after everyone had seen it did Cao Zhen speak in a deep voice, "The rankings on this list are acceptable."

Upon hearing this, Ouyang Jingxuan gave a slight bow of acknowledgment. He then turned, strode down from the high platform, and handed the roster to a Main Peak Steward of the Qi Absorption Realm who had long been waiting at the side. "Announce it," he said.

The Main Peak Steward took the roster, first giving its contents a quick glance to confirm everything was in order. He then turned and strode briskly onto the Fushan Battle Platform.

He stood in the center of the arena, channeling the Inner Qi from his Dantian into his throat. His voice boomed, deep and resonant, echoing across the entire square like a great bell:

"The Fushan Grand Competition preliminary rankings have been finalized and will now be officially announced!"

"First place, Celestial Derivation Peak, Chu Yunhai!"

"Second place, Thunder Peak, Bai Ziyu!"

"Third place, Qingxu Peak, Lu Shaohua!"

As his voice fell, a low murmur of amazement rippled through the square. The rankings of these three were more or less what everyone had expected.

The Steward didn’t pause, continuing his loud proclamation—

"Fourth place, Main Peak, Jiang Lin Yuan!"

"Fifth place, Zhenyue Peak, Cui Yuan!"

"Sixth place, Yunxi Peak, Gu Changfeng!"

"Seventh place, Fen Yang Peak, Li Cangwu!"

"Eighth place, Celestial Derivation Peak, Su Muyuan!"

"Ninth place, Qingxu Peak, Lin Jinghong!"

"Tenth place, Thunder Peak, Zhang Yunhao!"

"Eleventh place, Main Peak, Meng Fan!"

"Twelfth place, Zhenyue Peak, Shen Kuo!"

"Thirteenth place, Lingxi Peak, Yang Jing!"

"Fourteenth place, Fen Yang Peak, Han Lie!"

"Fifteenth place, Lingxi Peak, Yan Chenglong!"

"..."

"...One hundredth place, Celestial Derivation Peak, Zhao Wenhan."

"..."

"...One hundred ninety-ninth place, Fen Yang Peak, Sun Liying."

"Two hundredth place, Main Peak, Chen Long."

The top ranks were all filled with formidable Qi Eating Realm disciples from the various veins. The announcement of each name sparked a fresh wave of discussion, some hushed, some heated.

As the rankings were announced, a huge uproar swept through Fushan Square. Disciples everywhere put their heads together, discussing the somewhat unexpected results.

Yang Jing, in thirteenth place, became a particular focus of heated discussion.

In the area where the Lingxi Peak disciples had gathered.

Yang Jing was talking with Fang He, Yan Chenglong, Ma Qiang, and the others when he heard the Steward call out his name and rank. He froze for a moment before snapping back to reality, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

"Thirteenth place! Junior Brother Yang, you actually got thirteenth place!" Fang He was the first to react, exclaiming in astonishment.

The others all crowded around as well, their faces filled with shock, and began talking all at once.

Among the three Qi Eating Realm disciples from Lingxi Peak participating in the Fushan Grand Competition, Yang Jing ranked thirteenth, Yan Chenglong ranked fifteenth, and Fang He ranked eighteenth.

None of them had expected that of the three, Yang Jing would be the one to rank the highest.

After all, Yang Jing had broken through to the Qi Eating Realm most recently—only a few months ago, all told. In terms of the solidity of his foundation, he should theoretically have been the weakest of the three.

But who would have thought he would be the one ranked highest among them!

Yang Jing didn’t say much, just offering the group a small smile while he thought to himself.

’Getting thirteenth place is actually within my expectations.’

’Earlier, when resisting the pressure of the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi sent down by Chief Elder Ouyang Jingxuan, I barely made any conscious effort to circulate my Inner Qi to fight back. Instead, I relied purely on the tough physical body forged by the Indestructible True Skill to bear it.’

’And I was able to hold on calmly right until the very end. That pressure was still far from my limit. If I had really tried to compete, my rank might have been even higher.’

In another part of the crowd.

Liu Rou and Lin Wenxuan were standing side-by-side. When they heard the Main Peak Steward loudly announce the rankings, both of their pupils contracted, their faces filled with utter astonishment. They almost thought they had misheard.

The two of them had originally thought that since Yang Jing had only broken through to the Qi Eating Realm a few months ago, his foundation must be unstable. They figured his strength was likely at the very bottom among all the participating Qi Eating Realm disciples.

But who would have thought he would shoot all the way up to thirteenth place in one go?

At that level, he could already be considered upper-middle tier among all the Qi Eating Realm disciples in the Fushan Grand Competition, far exceeding their expectations.

Liu Rou took a deep breath, her clever eyes darting around before her gaze landed on Sun Ningxiang not far away.

She immediately whispered something to Lin Wenxuan beside her, then walked quickly toward where Sun Ningxiang was standing.

It had been over a month since she had last seen Sun Ningxiang, not since the Cyan Qilin Battle ended at the end of April.

The two of them and Sun Ningxiang were, at best, just casual friends; they weren’t what you would call close.

But both of them knew perfectly well that Sun Ningxiang and Yang Jing had an excellent relationship; it was even highly likely that the two were a couple.