Chapter 554: Top Ten of the Barren Sky Ranking

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The vast battleground below the Holy Zhi Palace was now filled with people. The crowd stretched to the horizon. Gradually, people entered the battleground. They were the 160 prides who’d been chosen yesterday and their friends and elders. Everyone was discussing today’s battle and famous figures.

When Ye Futian and Hua Jieyu arrived, Yu Sheng and the others were already there. Seeing them, Yi Xiaoshi and the others gave them looks of disdain. They wondered where the two went for a date yesterday. Ye Futian was smiling and looked vibrant. The must have had a happy night.

Others stared coldly at Ye Futian and Hua Jieyu walking together.

Zhuge Xing stared daggers at Ye Futian. The other youths of the Zhuge Family didn’t look happy either. These two seemed very close and no one knew where they’d gone or done yesterday. It seemed that he’d really helped train a Divine Spiritual Sorcerer for someone else.

Right then, two figures flashed and appeared. They were Zhuge Mingyue and Beitang Xing’er. Zhuge Mingyue looked ambiguously at the two and smiled. “Seems like yesterday went well.”

“Senior Sister!” Hua Jieyu cried, embarrassed.

“Are you prepared?” Zhuge Mingyue asked Ye Futian.

“Entering the palace shouldn’t be a problem,” Ye Futian said. Zhuge Mingyue’s eyes brightened as she smiled at him. He seemed confident.

“Most of those who enter the Holy Zhi Palace are at the top of the Barren Sky Ranking. Take advantage of this chance,” Zhuge Mingyue said, smiling.

“Yes.” Ye Futian nodded.

“When the Holy Zhi Palace invites you, just watch my eyes,” Zhuge Mingyue said. Ye Futian blinked and then nodded earnestly. After all, he wasn’t familiar with the strong cultivators of the Holy Zhi Palace. Since he was so amazing, people might fight for him and he wouldn’t know who to choose. His Second Senior Sister really thought of everything.

“Jieyu, Xiaoshi, you need to work hard too,” Zhuge Mingyue said to the others.

“Of course.” Yi Xiaoshi stuck his chin up. He couldn’t be worse off than Ye Futian. As the senior brother, he had to show his skills this time. He couldn’t be beaten by that guy, especially before Second Senior Sister. Otherwise, he would be completely humiliated.

“I’ll wait and see,” Zhuge Mingyue said. Then she walked towards the Holy Zhi Palace.

“Sister Mingyue,” a voice called out. She looked over to the other direction and saw it was Zhuge Xing.

“They’re important to you, but this is a competition. I will be fighting for the glory of the Zhuge Family and I won’t go easy on them,” Zhuge Xing said. Zhuge Mingyue was his cousin. She’d left when she was young and only returned two years ago. Instead of caring about the family, she was closer to Hua Jieyu. However, Hua Jieyu was beautiful and the Zhuge Family all had other thoughts, so they didn’t mind. Now, it seemed that Zhuge Mingyue wasn’t nice to Hua Jieyu because of herself but because of her junior.

As a member of the Zhuge Family, Zhuge Xing was naturally upset.

Zhuge Mingyue had high hopes for Ye Futian but had no hopes for them at all. Did she not care about her family’s honor at all?

“You said that this is a competition. There’s no need to go easy. Do your best. I hope you will bring glory to the family.” Zhuge Mingyue smiled and left.

“I will.” Zhuge Xing’s tone was proud. He glanced at Ye Futian, who also looked at him at the same time, and then looked away.

“Futian.” Chen Yuan’s group walked over. Ye Futian looked over and saw that Mu Chuan of the Zhaixing House was still there. Mu Zhiqiu was beside him too.

“Chief,” Ye Futian called.

“As the Son, you should rule the generation,” Chen Yuan said, repeating their conversation in the Starry School.

Seeing the anticipation in Chen Yuan’s eyes, Ye Futian nodded. “Okay.”

“You’re dreaming.” It seemed to be Mu Chuan’s habit to insult Ye Futian and Chen Yuan.

“Senior, you’re still here? Didn’t Zhiqiu choose an island to cultivate on?” Ye Futian asked Mu Chuan, smiling. This old guy was pretty funny.

“It’s interesting to see the juniors competing. More importantly, there are so many geniuses here. I’d like to see how the Son of the Starry School loses miserably.” Mu Chuan scanned Ye Futian.

“Then watch if you’d like.” Ye Futian smiled.

“More and more people arrived. The 160 prides arrived gradually and countless figures appeared in the direction of the Holy Zhi Palace too. The sat on the steps quietly, looking down. They appeared quietly, but many elders of the Holy Zhi Palace bowed towards them. Clearly, they were important.

“Sage Liuyun is here.” Someone looked up and saw an old elder sitting there quietly. Many people from the Thousand Holy Islands recognized him.

“Sage Qijue is here too.”

“That’s Sage Daozang.”

“Senior Sword Demon.” Another figure appeared, instantly attracting much attention. It was the Sword Demon, one of the top three swordsmen of the Barren State. He was a super strong cultivator on the Barren Sky Ranking.

The top three swordsmen of the Barren State were Yan Wuji, leader of the Sword Saint Villa; Fatal Sword God of the Tingxue House, and the Sword Demon of the Holy Zhi Palace.

These three represented the highest level of swordsmanship in the Barren State.

Yan Wuji never passed his skills to outsiders. The head of the Tingxue House had fatal techniques and he mostly didn’t accept students. Thus, the biggest hope for swordsmen-in-training of the Barren State was to enter the Holy Zhi Palace and become the Sword Demon’s disciple. Thus, he was very popular. Many people present had come just for him.

Seeing all these legendary cultivators appear, many people were extremely excited. Of course, when Bai Luli, young city lord of the White Cloud City, arrived, he also attracted a lot of attention.

Bai Luli’s cultivation wasn’t as high as those big figures from the Holy Zhi Palace, but he was much higher than them on the Barren Sky Ranking. Of everyone present, he was the highest at tenth place.

The Barren Sky Ranking was a list of the top figures of the entire Barren State. One could imagine what being tenth place meant.

The nine before him were all extremely powerful figures who shook the world.

Ninth place was the Fatal Sword God, the head of the Tingxue House. Eighth was a horribly powerful figure from Alchemy City. Seventh was someone from the Holy Zhi Palace. Sixth was Zhuge Qingfeng, head of the Zhuge Family. Fifth was the head of the Sovereign Family. Fourth was the city lord of the White Cloud City.

Of the top three, two were top figures of the Holy Zhi Palace. The remaining one was the second place. She was in the Ice Temple.

Thus, of the top ten figures on the Barren Sky Ranking, four cultivated at the Holy Zhi Palace. The city lord of White Cloud City and Zhuge Qingfeng had once been disciples of the Holy Zhi Palace too. One could imagine what kind of status the Holy Zhi Palace enjoyed in the Barren State!

There was a reason why it was the mecca for cultivation.

The people other than the 160 prides gradually left the battlefield, leaving room for them. Everyone felt that the atmosphere had changed. They were the top figures—the best of the best.

Today’s battle was basically the top battle of those in the lower Noble Plane.

“Let’s begin,” a big figure said to the elder on the steps after everyone was in place.

The elder nodded. He gazed at the battlefield and said, “Everyone, move to the edge of the battlefield. Space out.”

Everyone nodded. Even those from the same force spread out. Ye Futian glanced at Hua Jieyu, Yu Sheng, and the others. They nodded and spread out to the side, each taking up a different place. The huge battlefield easily fit the 160 people. Everyone had a lot of distance between each other.

“The Holy Zhi Palace usually chooses disciples for the core island from the top 100. Right now, there are 160 people left. Instead of purposely eliminating 60 people, we will directly begin the battles. The winners will qualify for the next round. The seniors of the Holy Zhi Palace will choose from the defeated. If the chosen one is willing, they can cultivate in the Holy Zhi Palace. If not, they will leave. If they are not chosen, they are eliminated.”

The elder on the steps announced the rules for choosing disciples. They were quite unique. The seniors would choose from the defeated ones. This way, the losers would become stronger as time went on.

Other than the last person, the other 159 people would all be defeated in the end. Their combat abilities could be seen through the battles.

Now, they must put in their all for every battle and show all their abilities. There wouldn’t be a second chance. Technically, this battle would be even crueler than the competition for the Thousand Holy Islands earlier. Some talented figures might be eliminated because they didn’t perform well.

“The rules are a bit different from before. You cannot repeatedly challenge the same person and everyone must participate in each round,” the elder continued to announce. The battles were one against one, so there would be 80 battles for the first round. Half would qualify and continue fighting. The losers would either be chosen or eliminated.

“The order for challenges is very simple. Whoever steps out first can challenge first. If two step out at the same time, they will fight without choosing.” Then the elder said, “Now, let us begin. The battlefield is yours!”