Chapter 397 - 373: Trial Ranking

Chapter 397: Chapter 373: Trial Ranking

"Let’s go too!"

With that, Zhang Chi and Qin Yuyan immediately followed the crowd, flying into the spatial passage. After a disorienting whirl, they successfully passed through and arrived at the plaza in front of the Desert Divine Palace.

A short while later, all the Cultivators had returned, including the Elder from the Desert Divine Palace.

The Teleportation Gate then closed, shrank rapidly, and flew into the depths of the Desert Divine Palace.

"Alright, everyone, start handing in your Tokens and materials," the Elder from the Desert Divine Palace announced. "The Divine Palace will use them to determine your ranking and assign your corresponding status and Contribution Points."

At the same time, several hundred Nascent Soul Cultivators from the Desert Divine Palace flew out to assist the Elder with the collection and registration.

Filled with anticipation, the Cultivators who had participated in the trial formed hundreds of queues and stepped forward in turn.

With so many queues, even with tens of thousands of people present, each one only had about a hundred individuals.

One by one, Cultivators completed their submissions and registrations, and soon Zhang Chi and Qin Yuyan were near the front.

Qin Yuyan immediately took out thirty Tier Four Upper Grade Demon’s Hearts and the Token used for recording Spatial Nodes, handing them over to a Nascent Soul Cultivator from the Desert Divine Palace.

’So many Demon’s Hearts? And all of them Tier Four Upper Grade? Doesn’t this mean she killed at least one Tier Four Late Stage Demon every year?’

The Desert Divine Palace Cultivator and the others nearby fell silent, their faces etched with unconcealed astonishment.

When they looked at Qin Yuyan again, their gazes had clearly changed, now filled with awe.

After all, in their eyes, anyone who could obtain so many High Tier Demon’s Hearts must possess extraordinary Combat Power.

Moreover, this was likely only a portion of Qin Yuyan’s haul. If she’d killed so many Tier Four Late Stage Demons, she must have also killed plenty of Tier Four Middle Stage and Early Stage ones.

"You’re Qin Yuyan, Qin Yushan’s sister? No wonder you possess such strength!"

After registering Qin Yuyan, it dawned on the Nascent Soul Cultivator in charge of the queue, and his attitude became even more courteous.

Even the Nascent Soul Cultivators managing the other queues, and the Elder from before, paused their work to come over and greet Qin Yuyan.

Clearly, they all believed Qin Yuyan had a chance to rank near the top and become a disciple of one of the three Palace Masters.

Although the three Palace Masters had many disciples, their status was still extremely high, comparable even to that of Nascent Soul Peak Elders.

If Qin Yuyan’s Cultivation advanced further in the future, her status could even surpass that of a typical Nascent Soul Peak Elder.

Qin Yuyan was thrilled. She responded politely to everyone, then purposefully glanced at Zhang Chi, her eyes filled with gratitude.

Most of these Demon’s Hearts, after all, had been lent to her by Zhang Chi. Otherwise, she never could have collected so many on her own.

Afterward, as they had agreed, she would give the Merit Points and other rewards she received to Zhang Chi.

But even so, she was still coming out far ahead.

After all, the title of Palace Master’s Disciple was an honor in itself and would bring her immense benefits.

Next, it was Zhang Chi’s turn. He also handed over a Token and thirty Demon’s Hearts, though his were all Tier Four Middle Grade.

He did this because he had already decided that becoming a Core Disciple of the Desert Divine Palace was sufficient for now.

This way, he would still receive a Spirit Vein Cave Mansion and gain the right to trade for High Tier Cultivation Materials from the Desert Divine Palace.

’The benefits aren’t as good as those of a Palace Master’s Disciple, but I won’t have to get close to the three Palace Masters. This is undoubtedly safer.’

His results were actually quite impressive, but overshadowed by Qin Yuyan’s dazzling display, he didn’t attract much attention.

He then settled in to wait patiently.

Afterward, once every Cultivator had submitted their items and been registered, not a single one left. Instead, they all remained, waiting.

While they waited, the Cultivators began to form factions and network among themselves. This time, their targets were clearer: those who had submitted more materials were decidedly more popular.

Qin Yuyan, for instance.

However, despite Zhang Chi keeping a low profile, quite a few Cultivators still approached him to make conversation.

After all, the materials Zhang Chi had submitted were not insignificant, and it was clear he had held back. Coupled with his closeness to Qin Yuyan, it was only natural that he would garner some extra attention.

At this moment, Qin Yushan arrived. Seeing Zhang Chi and Qin Yuyan safe and sound, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He was even more delighted when he heard about their accomplishments.

"Third Brother, thank you so much for everything!"

In fact, Qin Yushan had immediately sent a voice transmission to thank Zhang Chi.

As it turned out, Qin Yuyan had already taken the first opportunity to tell her brother, Qin Yushan, a few things.

While Qin Yuyan hadn’t mentioned Zhang Chi’s true Cultivation, Combat Power, or the matter of the Golden Seal, she did say that he had helped her immensely and that her success was all thanks to him.

Upon learning this, Qin Yushan was naturally grateful to Zhang Chi.

At the same time, Qin Yushan was extremely curious as to how Zhang Chi had managed it, but he was tactful enough not to press for details.

"It was nothing, really. In fact, Second Sister helped me a great deal as well," Zhang Chi replied with a faint smile.

Qin Yuyan’s Combat Power was quite good. Though it was a far cry from his own, she had indeed been helpful over the past decade.

More importantly, Qin Yuyan had been the one to discover the Octopus Monster in the first place. Otherwise, Zhang Chi might not have encountered so many Tier Four Demons at once, and his final haul would have been much smaller.

Besides, having Qin Yuyan with him for the final decade of the trial had also helped alleviate his loneliness.

The three of them then fell into casual conversation.

’How on earth did that Junior Brother manage it? How did he become sworn siblings with the Qin Family Siblings? His luck is just too good.’

The other Cultivators were quite surprised to see Zhang Chi chatting so cheerfully and intimately with the Qin Family Siblings.

Even some of the Nascent Soul Late Stage experts couldn’t help but regard Zhang Chi with more importance than before.

Since all the Cultivators were about to join the Desert Divine Palace, they would all be addressing each other as martial brothers in the future.

Therefore, there was nothing wrong with them calling Zhang Chi "Junior Brother."

"Third Brother, let me introduce you to a couple of people. This is Cheng Ran, and this is Xie Yulin. Like me, they are both Palace Master’s Disciples, and they both have Nascent Soul Peak Cultivation."

"They’re also good friends of mine, so we’re all on the same side. You should definitely get to know them."

At that moment, Qin Yushan, who had brought Zhang Chi aside, gestured to the young man and woman and began his introduction.

"Senior Brother Cheng Ran, Senior Sister Xie Yulin, this is Junior Brother Chen Bufan, my sworn third brother. I’ve mentioned him to you before. Don’t be fooled by his low Cultivation; he’s no ordinary person."

"It only took him two hundred years to go from Nascent Soul Formation to the Nascent Soul Middle Stage. And back when he was in the Nascent Soul Early Stage, he was able to kill a Tier Four Middle Stage Demon Beast."

"Senior Brother Cheng, Senior Sister Xie," Zhang Chi said with an immediate smile, clasping his hands in a fist-and-palm salute. He knew Qin Yushan had good intentions. "I am Chen Bufan. I hope we can look out for each other in the future."

"So you’re Junior Brother Chen. We’ve heard so much about you!"

"Indeed."

Cheng Ran and Xie Yulin responded with smiles, but their expressions and tone were somewhat dismissive.

After all, they were both Palace Master’s Disciples at the Nascent Soul Peak.

Moreover, their own Combat Power was immense, and their looks and bearing were top-tier.

’As for Zhang Chi,’ they thought, ’he’ll probably never reach the Nascent Soul Peak in his lifetime.’

’Besides, his status is on a completely different level from ours.’

’They couldn’t even understand why the Qin Family Siblings would become sworn siblings with a nameless nobody like Zhang Chi.’

But Qin Yushan was their junior brother and friend, and since he had made a point of bringing them over to meet Zhang Chi, they couldn’t very well be rude.

As for Qin Yushan’s claim that Zhang Chi could fight above his level, they paid it no mind.

’In their view, even if Zhang Chi could fight above his level, he’d have a hard time killing a Nascent Soul Late Stage Cultivator, let alone be compared to them.’

"Senior Brother Cheng, Senior Sister Xie."

Qin Yuyan greeted Xie and Cheng as well.

"Ah, Junior Sister Yuyan, you’ve done very well. Soon we’ll officially be fellow disciples."

"Yes, I knew you’d pass this assessment and become a Palace Master’s Disciple, Yuyan!"

Cheng Ran and Xie Yulin replied, their smiles clearly more radiant than when they had faced Zhang Chi.

"Senior Brother, Senior Sister, you’re too kind. The results aren’t even out yet," Qin Yuyan replied modestly.

She then put in a good word for Zhang Chi, explaining that she was only able to harvest so many Demon’s Hearts because of his help.

But while Xie and Cheng acknowledged Zhang Chi on the surface, inwardly they remained unimpressed, subconsciously assuming he had only played a supporting role.

"Look! The results are out!"

The group chatted casually for a little while longer, discussing the recent developments in the pioneering efforts, when a Cultivator suddenly exclaimed.

Everyone immediately looked up to see a screen of light materializing in the sky. Lines of text appeared on it, displaying the rankings for the Demon Abyss trial and the acceptance results for the Desert Divine Palace.

And there, in first place, was Qin Yuyan.

According to the display, Qin Yuyan hadn’t actually submitted the most materials, but her Token had recorded more Spatial Nodes.

Even Zhang Chi and Qin Yuyan themselves had been completely unaware of this beforehand.

They didn’t know how to find Spatial Nodes, but the Token could apparently record them automatically when in close proximity.

The pair had simply ventured deeper into the Demon Abyss and moved faster than the other Trial Takers. They had visited more locations, including some extraordinary ones, and had thus recorded more nodes.

"Congratulations, Senior Sister Qin!"

"Junior Sister Qin, you actually took first place! That’s incredible!"

"As expected of Senior Brother Qin Yushan’s sister!"

The surrounding Cultivators rushed to congratulate her. Even Cheng and Xie had to look at Qin Yuyan in a new light.

’Oh no.’ But at this moment, Zhang Chi’s heart tightened as a bad premonition struck him. ’At this rate, am I going to end up in the top twenty?!’

According to the trial’s rules, the top twenty finishers could all become disciples of the three Palace Masters.

He had submitted a good amount of materials, but it definitely shouldn’t have been enough to get into the top twenty.

But now, the situation seemed to be changing because his Token had recorded too many Spatial Nodes.

This development was undoubtedly beyond his expectations.

After all, he had no idea if the Token had recorded any Spatial Nodes, let alone how many.

His gaze swept down the list, and sure enough, he found his name ranked among the top twenty—in the twentieth spot, to be exact.