Chapter Seventy: The Top Hundred Ranking!

"Three hundred seventy points of Soul Hunting Value—this should be enough to rank in the top ten!" Yang Yan composed himself, quietly calculating in his heart.

Earlier, he had effortlessly defeated two young disciples from the Jade Sword Pavilion, yet he hadn't used the pale blue spiritual power within his body. In truth, this was intentional; he wanted to test the effectiveness of a new spiritual attack method he had devised.

During the fight, rather than unleashing the full force of his water-element spiritual power in a single blow, Yang Yan chose to divide the abundant energy within him, releasing it in a steady stream that constantly gathered in his fists.

This attacking style was inspired by the phenomenon of water wearing away stone—unceasing persistence overcoming even the hardest obstacles. Sometimes, relentless force is not as effective as a gentle but continuous flow.

Seeing through this profound principle, Yang Yan gained a new insight and applied it in actual combat. The result was far beyond his expectations.

Though his water-element power was not overwhelming in its intensity, its relentless, layered assault not only exhausted the powerful earth-element energy of the two Jade Sword Pavilion disciples, but the surging waves of his power also invaded their bodies one after another, each wave stronger than the last!

Had he not used this method, defeating two second-stage cultivators in the Sense Spirit Realm would not have been difficult, but it would not have been so swift and decisive.

"It seems I need to study this form of spiritual attack carefully in the future," Yang Yan mused, clenching his fist, anticipation flickering in his gaze.

"Attention all contestants, the Top Hundred Ranking will open in twenty minutes! Attention all contestants..."

As Yang Yan pondered, a distant yet clear voice, as if descending from the heavens, rang in his ears.

"So it's finally here..." A cold, sinister smile curled at Yang Yan's lips.

"Xu Shaoguang, you’d better make it into the top hundred. It's time we settled our scores once and for all!"

A flash of icy killing intent swept through his heart, but Yang Yan simply sat down on the spot, closed his eyes, and began to draw in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth around him.

Though his energy consumption from the earlier fight had not been great, Yang Yan decided it was wise to use the waiting time before the Top Hundred Ranking opened to fully restore his power. In this perilous Hunting Grounds, being thoroughly prepared could make all the difference.

"The Top Hundred Ranking is about to begin!"

Carried by a deep surge of spiritual power, the not-so-loud voice spread clearly to every corner of the Hunting Grounds.

At the center of the field, a massive curtain of light, as if connecting heaven and earth, cascaded down like the Milky Way. At the same time, names in soft golden characters appeared on the map of the Hunting Grounds, each accompanied by two sets of numbers—the rank and the Soul Hunting Value. In the upper right of the screen was the number 330/382, indicating the current number of survivors versus the original number of contestants.

Sitting cross-legged in the forest, Yang Yan opened his eyes, scanning the light curtain until he found several familiar names.

"Fifteenth place, Lei Fengxing, 275 points. Thirteenth, Ye Xiulan, 290 points. Ninth, Long Aodi, 340 points..."

"Innate spiritual bodies truly do have an advantage," Yang Yan couldn't help but sigh.

Though the current rankings did not determine who would ultimately become a disciple of the Azure Profound Sect, they revealed much.

Lei Fengxing, Ye Xiulan, and Long Aodi all possessed fourth-grade innate spiritual bodies. The first two were close in rank, but Long Aodi's standing was much higher, largely due to his special innate body—the Ice Body.

Water turns to ice when cold; when cold reaches its extreme, water becomes as hard and unbreakable as steel. The mutated Ice Body, however, combines the qualities of both water and ice—softness within strength, strength within softness. Spiritual power with such characteristics offers a clear advantage in battle.

"The pale blue energy within me shares some traits with the Innate Ice Body, but it certainly isn’t the same," Yang Yan thought, shaking his head to dismiss a fleeting hypothesis.

"The abilities of that blue energy can only be discovered slowly, in time..."

He sighed softly, composed himself, and continued scanning the Top Hundred List.

"Second place, Sun Zhixin, 560 points..."

"With her sixth-grade Innate Fire Body, and spiritual strength far surpassing others, such results are expected..."

As he pondered this, Yang Yan searched the map for his own name, feeling a subtle mix of apology and competitiveness towards Sun Zhixin, the first girl to have shared such intimate contact with him.

"Sigh! Eighth place—not even close..." Yang Yan couldn't help but sigh, clearly feeling somewhat discouraged.

"Wait..."

Just as he was about to look for Liu Zhenqing's name, his gaze froze on another. Its dazzling golden glow outshone even Sun Zhixin's, for the number before it was one.

But what truly shocked Yang Yan was not the rank, but the Soul Hunting Value that followed—1200!

This was more than double Sun Zhixin's second place score, and three times Yang Yan's own! And this was only half a day since the Hunting Grounds had opened!

"This Leng Yuetian is truly a formidable opponent!"

After a moment, Yang Yan's shock faded, replaced by a surge of intense fighting spirit.

If Leng Yuetian’s performance had been unremarkable, Yang Yan would hardly regard him as a rival. The path of cultivation is one of defying the current; only by constantly challenging and defeating the strong can one surpass their own limits, growing ever stronger and journeying ever further along the immortal road.

From a once-worthless young master to a role model among the young cultivators of Jinhuan City, Yang Yan had always believed—and acted—upon this very principle.