Chapter Twenty-Four: The Ranking of the Top Ten

Time flew by swiftly. As the rankings on the overall leaderboard were revealed, some wore expressions of regret while others brimmed with satisfaction... Finally, on the sixth day, the competition for the top ten placements began.

Those who could participate in the final placement matches were the ten undefeated champions remaining from both the inner and outer sect arenas. Whether they were among the inner sect's top ten or the outer sect's, all eyes were upon them; they basked in the hard-earned glory.

For the outer sect's top ten, this moment meant that one foot had already firmly stepped into the inner sect. Moreover, the rewards for this year's top ten were unprecedented, so every heart burned with excitement.

Previously, due to preparations for their matches, the indispensable fans who appeared each year had been absent, but now they finally made their grand entrance, dressed in their finest robes.

With the rankings already determined and no further matches required for most, those disciples turned their attention to cheering for their favored senior brothers and sisters.

“Senior Brother Zeng! The strongest!”
Someone led the chant, and voices echoed in response as disciples rallied together.

“Senior Sister Chen! Invincible!”
“Senior Brother Leng! Number one!”
...

Each of the top ten competitors had a considerable crowd of disciples behind them, shouting encouragement.

“Go, Little Fat Gu!”
Only Little Fat Gu had but a sparse handful of supporters, their cheers quickly drowned out by the shouts of the others. There was little choice for Ouyang Luo, Gu Xiaoping, and a few others; though Little Fat Gu had previously thrashed them in single combat, as fellow scions of old families, their only hope to salvage a shred of their battered reputations now lay with him. So, reluctantly, they cheered for him—except, of course, for Handsome Ouyang.

Even Mu Wan’er, who had been delayed for several days in closed-door training for a breakthrough, finally arrived, leading the disciples of the Pill Pavilion in a spirited cheer, her demeanor as imperious and commanding as ever.

In an unnoticed corner of the disciple stands, a pretty little junior sister with cheeks flushed crimson clenched her tiny fists and whispered, barely audible to anyone but herself, “Go, Brother Gu!”

...

Of course, for Little Fat Gu, who always considered himself thick-skinned, it mattered little whether the cheers for him were many or few.

...

Once the headmaster Nangong Kang announced the start of the grand competition, he had remained seated—but now he once again rose into the air. With both hands forming seals, he drew patterns in the void, causing the two hundred scattered small arenas to recombine into five large arenas each for the inner and outer sects.

“Top ten, draw lots! Pair off for matches—winners advance to the top five, losers fall to the latter five...”

The rules were much the same as previous years: each top ten competitor had to fight at least two or three more matches to determine the final ranking. This time, however, five arenas operated simultaneously.

Before each of the top ten inner and outer sect disciples, ten jade tokens appeared out of thin air, clustered together. Each competitor casually took one, and as they held it, a number appeared.

“Top ten placement battle! Begin!”
The bell rang again, and the headmaster returned to his suspended platform.

One versus ten, two versus nine, three versus eight...

The disciples who drew matching numbers were instantly transported in pairs to their designated arenas.

Below the stage, the crowd of disciples erupted in excitement—the most anticipated and thrilling phase had arrived. Mischievous disciples immediately called their friends over and set up impromptu betting pools.

On the floating platform above, dozens of elders and stewards, spurred on by Elder Mu Laohuo, also placed heavy wagers.