Chapter 36: Power Rankings

Hearing those rewards, Ling Xiao was naturally very excited.

However, his point of excitement was somewhat different from the others.

He was primarily eyeing the Ling family's high-level martial arts.

Possessing the Mountain and River Martial Soul, as long as he entered the third floor of the Library Pavilion, he could take all the martial arts there with him.

Restrictions like "one book" or "two books" meant nothing to him.

Of course, the medicinal pill rewards were also excellent.

After all, a set of three pills used for breakthroughs would cost three thousand taels of silver.

And a hundred Qi Gathering Pills would cost ten thousand taels.

Only a fool wouldn't find that precious.

"Stop shouting, let Senior Brother Ming continue. What are the rewards for making it into the top ten?"

"If you make it into the top ten, you can choose three sets of high-level martial arts, and the breakthrough pills will be increased to three sets!"

This wasn't particularly attractive to Ling Xiao, but for ordinary disciples, gaining an extra set of high-level martial arts and an extra set of pills was a massive windfall!

"It's a pity, though. After all, only ten people can make it into the top ten."

"Regardless, we have to try."

"Exactly, even if it's just for the rewards!"

"Are you satisfied with just that? You're really not progressing! Let me tell you, if you can break into the top three, not only do you get all the previous rewards, but you will also be gifted an additional top-tier martial art and a Gangqi Pill!"

"Whoa! A top-tier martial art as a reward!"

"And that Gangqi Pill—one of those must be worth ten thousand taels, right?"

Senior Brother Ming's words caused many people to cry out in shock.

What did a top-tier martial art mean?

It meant the best martial arts in the secular world!

For disciples who were not yet aware of the transcendent realms or transcendent martial arts, a top-tier martial art was the ultimate prize!

As for the Gangqi Pill, it was the best pill for the Gangqi stage, made using the essence blood of a Level 4 demon beast along with other ingredients.

For anyone below the sixth level of the Martial Vein, it was an absolute supreme treasure.

Why did Ling Xiao want a Gangqi Pill? It was to help him break through to the fourth level of the Martial Vein.

He hadn't expected this annual competition to offer such a reward.

Good, the more of such things, the better; he could still use them even after breaking through to the fourth level of the Martial Vein.

As for the top-tier martial arts, there was no need to even mention it—everyone would covet them.

"The reward for second place is similar to third, but with an additional Gangqi Pill!"

"What about first place? There must be a huge surprise for first place, right?"

"To be honest, besides receiving all the previous rewards, the first-place winner gets a mysterious reward. Even I don't know what it is; they say Old Master Ling will announce it personally to keep the suspense," Senior Brother Ming said with a shrug.

"How can it be like that!"

"Yeah, that's really teasing us!"

The onlookers were going a bit crazy.

Not just them—even Ling Xiao felt a bit itchy in his heart.

Since all the other rewards were already so good, this mysterious reward certainly couldn't be bad.

"Next!"

It was Ling Xiao's turn to sign up. He shook his head, casting aside the confusion in his mind.

He wouldn't think about anything else for now; he would just focus on participating in this annual competition. As long as he secured a ranking, he would naturally find out what the rewards were.

"9588!"

This was the number tag Ling Xiao received.

There was no helping it; because he had been practicing, he arrived late, so his number was pushed far back.

However, it didn't matter; his qualifications for the elimination rounds would be the same.

But the number tag gave Ling Xiao a shock. Although he was late, receiving number 9588 meant that there were at least nine thousand participants—nearly ten thousand!

As mentioned before, disciples in the Elite Hall and Genius Hall had age limits; they had to be under twenty. Those over twenty were reassigned elsewhere and no longer remained in the halls.

Even so, having this many people was truly surprising.

However, most of these people were bottom-tier disciples.

The number of disciples in the Elite Hall was always maintained at around one thousand.

In other words, one had to rank in the top one thousand to become an Elite Hall disciple; otherwise, they would be kicked back to the bottom tier.

Nearly ten thousand people competing for one thousand spots—the competition was incredibly fierce.

Furthermore, even after joining the Elite Hall, one had to squeeze into the top one hundred to obtain better treatment.

That competition was even more intense.

As for the Genius Hall, it was even more terrifying.

Because the total number of disciples in the Genius Hall was only one hundred!

Not even one more would be accepted.

If someone was promoted to the Genius Hall, someone else would inevitably be sent back to the Elite Hall.

This was the cruel competition of survival of the fittest, with no room for shortcuts.

In the competition plaza, there was a massive stone wall with two hundred plaques hanging on it.

Names were written on the plaques.

These were the rankings for the Genius Hall, Elite Hall, and bottom-tier disciples.

Every year after the annual competition, these plaques would change; not only would the order change, but the plaques themselves might be replaced.

The annual competition was mainly divided into two parts.

One part was the contest between the Elite Hall and the bottom-tier disciples. Only the final top ten would be qualified to challenge the Genius Hall disciples.

The Genius Hall disciples would also compete among themselves to re-establish their rankings.

Therefore, the rewards Senior Brother Ming mentioned weren't just for being first in the Elite Hall, but included being first among the Genius Hall disciples!

The plaque hanging in the first position on the stone wall was very eye-catching because it was made of pure gold.

The name on it was—Ling Feifan!

One of the Four Young Masters of Tianfeng City, and the most outstanding disciple under the age of twenty in the Ling family.

Back when he was Ling Xiao's age, he had already broken through to the fourth level of the Martial Vein.

He was an absolute, rare genius!

Since he took the top spot on the leaderboard, no one had been able to shake his position for three years.

This guy was undoubtedly the number one genius of the Ling family.

Of course, that might not be the case this year.

The second-place plaque was made of silver and was also very prominent; it belonged to a disciple named Ling Yun.

The third-place plaque was made of bronze and was also quite noticeable; it actually belonged to a girl named Ling Shuang.

From fourth to two hundred, the plaques were made of wood and all looked more or less the same.

Ling Xiao looked closely; the top ten were all occupied by Genius Hall disciples.

The eleventh person was Ling Yihang, the top disciple of the Elite Hall.

This surprised him slightly; it seemed Ling Yihang had fought the Genius Hall disciples privately, which was why he was ranked here.

Looking further, Ling Yixue, the second in the Elite Hall, was ranked after the hundredth spot, at number 101.

Ling Feng was 102.

Ling Tieshou was 103.

However, these rankings were hard to call. After all, the top five disciples of the Elite Hall were all at the peak of the third level of the Martial Vein. Once they comprehended how to transform Qi into Gang, it was possible they could even defeat a Genius Hall disciple.

"Eh? I'm actually on the list?"

Ling Xiao originally thought it was impossible for him to enter the top two hundred, but to his surprise, when he saw the very last name, it was him!

In the Ling family, there were no duplicate names, as anyone with a duplicate name would be required to change it.

So, this was definitely him.

"It's probably because I defeated Ling Chong and Ling Fei, and also fought Ling Tieshou, so my ranking was moved up."

In Ling Xiao's view, there was no other possibility.

"This is interesting. Although entering the top two hundred is worth celebrating, it's still too far back. This competition will definitely be an opportunity!"