Chapter 822: Top of the List, Ye Wudao

Long Aotian was struggling to stand up from the ground. Hearing this, he did not get angry; instead, he laughed out loud.

"Hahaha!"

His laughter aggravated his injuries, causing him to spit out another mouthful of blood, but his eyes were shockingly bright.

He stared straight at Ye Wudao, his eyes devoid of resentment and filled with excitement instead. He said, "Not bad. I lost, and I lost wholeheartedly!"

"But you, you fought truly magnificently!"

As he spoke, he gave Ye Wudao a thumbs up and said, "I have yet to meet a peer who could make me fight so heartily!"

"Brother Ye, I admire you immensely!"

Ye Wudao was slightly taken aback upon hearing this.

He truly had not expected Long Aotian's personality to be so forthright.

After all, since coming to the Divine Realm, most of the people he had encountered were like Princess Ji Ruxue—gnashing their teeth after a single defeat, wishing to hunt him to the ends of the earth.

To suddenly have someone who admitted defeat so readily and praised him so highly, Ye Wudao was indeed quite surprised.

This Long Aotian was quite a character.

The look in his eyes towards Long Aotian immediately gained a hint of appreciation, and he smiled, "Competing with Brother Long has also been quite a gain for me!"

Long Aotian laughed, stood up, patted Ye Wudao on the shoulder, and said, "Brother Ye, then we are friends!"

"In the future, we must keep in touch. When there is time, we shall spar again and improve together!"

He was still panting heavily, but these words were spoken with great heroism and integrity.

Ye Wudao also laughed and cupped his hands at him.

The crowd outside the ring was stunned to see them making friends and calling each other brothers after deciding the winner.

What was going on?

These two, one loser and one winner, could actually be this harmonious?

Many people even thought of Princess Ji Ruxue and secretly turned their heads to look at her.

High in the sky, Venerable Tianji watched this scene below, his heart stirred.

He took a deep look at Ye Wudao, his emotions extremely complex.

There was surprise, shock, but more than that, a trace of greed.

Ye Wudao not only possessed that strange little tower but also mastered a Heaven-grade Precious Technique.

The secrets on this boy were far more than he had imagined!

Venerable Tianji's eyes flickered, but he did not reveal his inner thoughts.

He quickly regained his composure and announced, "The challenge on Ring Number One, Ye Wudao wins!"

"The prodigy ranking list has changed!"

The moment the words fell, golden light flooded from the massive crystal in the center of the plaza.

The name that originally belonged to Long Aotian instantly dimmed.

And the three big characters "Ye Wudao" rose with an unrivaled momentum, from tenth place directly to the highest position!

Top of the prodigy ranking list, Ye Wudao!

The entire White Jade Plaza fell into silence instantly.

After all, this result was too far beyond everyone's expectations.

The Dongyi Divine Kingdom, where Ye Wudao resided, was merely a Level 1 Divine Kingdom two years ago.

If not for Elder Yin Changhong suddenly advancing to the Saint Spirit Realm, the Cultivators of the Dongyi Divine Kingdom would have had no chance to participate in the Prodigy Ranking Tournament at all.

Therefore, after the Prodigy Ranking Tournament began, even though everyone noticed Ye Wudao's cultivation was not bad, no one had ever thought he could take the top spot.

The top three, Long Aotian, Situ Kong, and Lin Langtian—which one of them wasn't a young expert with monstrous talent and great strength?

Everyone thought that Ye Wudao could at most enter the top three.

Who would have thought that he would end up taking first place!

Undoubtedly, once the Prodigy Ranking Tournament ended, Ye Wudao's name would surely resound through all the Level 2 Divine Kingdoms!

Just as everyone was in a silence, not knowing what to do.

At the location of the Vermilion Bird Kingdom.

Princess Ji Ruxue's eyes flickered as she looked at Queen Ji Yu, and she asked silently with her lips: "Mother Empress, have you not made up your mind yet?"

Her Dantian had been destroyed, and with no cultivation, she naturally could not transmit sound.

But this did not prevent her from inciting Queen Ji Yu of the Vermilion Bird Kingdom at this moment.

After all, this was an excellent opportunity.

At this moment, the better Ye Wudao's situation was, the more uncomfortable Queen Ji Yu must be feeling.

Because Princess Ji Ruxue herself was like this!

Thinking of how her revenge failed and she ended up like this, she wished she could seize Ye Wudao and eat his flesh and sleep on his skin!

But she couldn't do it herself, so she could only incite Queen Ji Yu to take action.

Queen Ji Yu heard this, and her eyes flickered slightly.

She certainly understood what her daughter meant, and was even extremely tempted.

But to make a move just like that, what would happen if it provoked the Tianyuan Chamber of Commerce?

Now that Ye Wudao had taken the top of the prodigy ranking list, Elder Yin Changhong would definitely send this news to the headquarters of the Tianyuan Chamber of Commerce to claim credit.

If the Vermilion Bird Kingdom took action against Ye Wudao at this time, what if they provoked the entire Tianyuan Chamber of Commerce?

Queen Ji Yu could not let the Vermilion Bird Kingdom head towards destruction!

The Tianfeng Divine Kingdom where the Vermilion Bird Kingdom was located also had a branch of the Tianyuan Chamber of Commerce.

She usually treated those branch Elders with courtesy precisely because their strength was extremely formidable.

If she couldn't even afford to offend a branch, how could she make up her mind to do something that would offend the headquarters of the Tianyuan Chamber of Commerce?

Princess Ji Ruxue saw at a glance what Queen Ji Yu was worried about.

She cursed "trash" inwardly, but on the surface, she put on a sorrowful expression and continued to move her lips silently: "But Mother Empress, are the grudges between me and the Old Ancestor just going to be let go like this?"

"The vermilion bird origin crystal was something the Old Ancestor exchanged his life for!"

"Now, it is in Ye Wudao's hands; Daughter is truly unwilling to let it go!"

Princess Ji Ruxue endured her nausea and specifically mentioned the Vermilion Bird Kingdom's Old Ancestor and the vermilion bird origin crystal, of course, to add fuel to the fire for Queen Ji Yu.

She believed that Queen Ji Yu would definitely be able to connect the vermilion bird origin crystal to the Qilin Precious Technique, and then to that strange but incredibly powerful little tower of Ye Wudao's!

And the facts were indeed so.

After reading her daughter's lip-reading, Queen Ji Yu's eyes quickly flickered.

Not to mention the Vermilion Bird Precious Technique and the Qilin Precious Technique, these two Heaven-grade Precious Techniques, they were at least treasures that Queen Ji Yu could recognize.

But as for that little tower, Queen Ji Yu couldn't see its origin at all, nor could she even see its grade!

You must know, Queen Ji Yu was the Queen who possessed the vast Vermilion Bird Kingdom, a powerhouse in the Saint Spirit Realm!

Yet she couldn't see through what level of treasure that little tower was.

But there was one thing she could be sure of.

That was, the preciousness of this little tower definitely exceeded her imagination!

If she could get her hands on that little tower…

The moment this thought appeared in Queen Ji Yu's mind, her breathing became rapid.

Just right, the silent lip-reading of Princess Ji Ruxue just now had provided her with an excellent reason.

Dazzled by the treasure, Queen Ji Yu, who no longer had the capacity to think too much, almost immediately and very smoothly, without any doubt, borrowed this point.

That's right, the vermilion bird origin crystal containing the Vermilion Bird Precious Technique was the product born after their Vermilion Bird Kingdom's Old Ancestor perished together with a Divine Beast, the Vermilion Bird.

It was just that the Starry Sky Battlefield was closed at the time, and they hadn't been able to retrieve it.

But in the final analysis, this thing still belonged to their Vermilion Bird Kingdom's royal family!

Ye Wudao disregarded martial ethics, relying on the fact that the strong of the Vermilion Bird Kingdom could not enter the Starry Sky Battlefield to snatch the vermilion bird origin crystal; it was his fault to begin with!

Their Eldest Princess only wanted to seek justice for her own family and was made into this state by Ye Wudao.

Then it was only natural for them to take revenge!

Queen Ji Yu was already extremely tempted to seize the treasure; now that Princess Ji Ruxue had given her a ladder, she immediately went down it and rationalized everything.

So, a moment later, she nodded slightly to Princess Ji Ruxue and secretly transmitted her voice: "Rest assured, Xue'er, once the Prodigy Ranking Tournament ends, I will definitely avenge you and make Ye Wudao pay the price!"

Princess Ji Ruxue knew she was completely driven by profit.

But this was exactly what she wanted to see, so she quickly put on a grateful smile.

Until she turned to look at Ye Wudao, she no longer concealed the malice in her heart and thought secretly: "Fight, fight!"

"I want both of you to suffer!"

At this time, high above the ring.

After Venerable Tianji gave Ye Wudao and Long Aotian some time to tidy up, he looked around at the one hundred small rings and asked: "Is there anyone else who wants to initiate a challenge?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the White Jade Plaza became even quieter.

Just kidding, Ye Wudao had already taken the top spot; who would dare to challenge him now?

The prodigies from fourth to ninth place looked at each other and all shook their heads with bitter smiles.

Situ Kong and Lin Langtian frowned, with no intention of moving either.

As for the others, they had no intention of challenging the top ten again.

The original rules of the Prodigy Ranking Tournament were not like this.

At that time, only the rewards for those ranked eleventh and below were the same: they could enter the Spirit Pool Holy Land to Cultivate for three days.

But the rewards for the top ten were different according to each person's ranking, and they could get different rewards.

For the sake of this reward, everyone naturally had to compete to be first; even if they entered the top ten, they had to try their best to improve their ranking and get more benefits.

But now it was different from before.

The current rules had changed; everyone in the top ten could enter the Spirit Pool Holy Land for one month of cultivation every year, while those after the top ten still had a fixed three days.

Since the rewards were the same, everyone was too lazy to challenge the people ahead of them to improve their ranking; they just needed to defend their rings.

After all, although failing a challenge still allowed one to keep their previous position, failing a challenge would still be embarrassing!

Even those who had initiated challenges earlier were Cultivators after the tenth place challenging those in the top ten.

There had been no internal challenges among the young prodigies from fourth to ninth place.

It was the same now.

The top ten didn't want to challenge, and the people behind had already challenged and couldn't beat them, so it was better not to challenge anymore and wait for the end.

So after Venerable Tianji asked this, no one stood up to initiate a challenge again.

Venerable Tianji waited for a moment, and seeing no response, he understood.

He immediately continued to announce: "Since that is the case, then this Venerable shall announce here!"

"This Prodigy Ranking Tournament is officially over!"

As the words fell, the atmosphere in the White Jade Plaza instantly eased.

The powerhouses of each family, some looked at their own Disciples and clansmen, while others looked at Ye Wudao with complex expressions.

Those young prodigies also completely relaxed, and their postures became much more casual.

Venerable Tianji was used to such scenes and did not pay attention, but continued to say: "According to the rules, the top one hundred on the prodigy ranking list will be qualified to enter the Spirit Pool Holy Land for cultivation."

"Among them, those from eleventh to one hundredth can Cultivate there for three days."

"The top ten can Cultivate there for one month, and every year in the future, they can all enter for one month of cultivation."

"Now that the ranking tournament is over, young friends, let's set off with this Venerable!"

While speaking, he suddenly raised his hand and grabbed at the empty air behind him.

Boom!

After an explosion, a floating platform like a small mountain suddenly reappeared in the previously empty Void Realm.

The platform was engraved with array patterns and was already in a startup state at this time.

Silver light enveloped this platform, and as Venerable Tianji waved his hand, that silver light quickly transformed into a staircase, hanging down to the center of the White Jade Plaza.

"Everyone, please!"

Venerable Tianji said lightly.

On the way here, Ye Wudao had already learned a lot about the Prodigy Ranking Tournament from his Master and the two Elders.

He was not unfamiliar with this scene.

The array patterns on the floating platform were the teleportation array to the Spirit Pool Holy Land.

This teleportation array was controlled by Venerable Tianji because he was the person in charge of the Spirit Pool Holy Land.

Every time the Prodigy Ranking Tournament ended, he would summon this floating platform to lead everyone to the Spirit Pool Holy Land.

Now, as the top, Ye Wudao naturally had to set off first.

He did not hesitate and walked directly towards the silver staircase; while walking, he looked at Elder Yin Changhong and Yue Liuli and transmitted his voice: "Master, Senior Sister, you go back to the Chamber of Commerce first."

"After I finish cultivating for a month in the Spirit Pool Holy Land, I will send you a message then!"

Elder Yin Changhong frowned and wanted to say something, but seeing that Ye Wudao had already stepped onto the silver staircase, it was too late, so he hurriedly transmitted back: "Don't worry, we will come to pick you up then!"

Ye Wudao smiled upon hearing this, glanced at Yue Liuli, and walked onto the floating platform.

Following Ye Wudao's departure, the other prodigies on the list also stepped onto the floating platform in order of their names.

But as they walked, everyone realized something was wrong.

There were actually only nine people in the top ten this time!

Originally, Ye Wudao was in tenth place, but after he defeated Long Aotian, he became number one, and the tenth place was left vacant!

There was no one in tenth place, and others hadn't even thought of this.

After all, they couldn't initiate a challenge against a non-existent person.

For a time, everyone's expressions were somewhat complex.

Some people even specifically looked towards the direction of the Vermilion Bird Kingdom.

Queen Ji Yu met their gazes and quickly understood the reason why they were looking over; her face turned green and white, and her determination to deal with Ye Wudao became even firmer!

On the other side, on the floating platform, the top one hundred prodigies had gradually gathered in the teleportation array.

Venerable Tianji saw that the number of people was complete, immediately turned his head to nod slightly to the other Cultivators, and said: "Everyone, we shall meet again in a hundred years!"

After speaking, he moved and teleported onto the teleportation array.