Chapter 227: Chapter 154: First on the Monthly Report, Shock From All Sides

But he could never keep up with Xiao Chen’s cultivation speed, a fact Ye Fei had once found unbelievable.

He had secretly set a goal for himself: to surpass Xiao Chen.

’Fortunately, I was the first to arrive as reinforcements for Hezhou.’

A glint of excitement flashed in Ye Fei’s eyes. ’This is my chance to surpass Xiao Chen.’

After arriving in Hezhou, he had quickly obtained many Spiritual Objects by hunting Demon Cultivators.

Now, his cultivation was advancing by leaps and bounds. He had already reached the fifth layer of Foundation Establishment and was on the verge of breaking through to the sixth.

At this thought, the corners of Ye Fei’s mouth lifted into a slight smile. "You were too slow, Xiao."

"One step behind means you’ll always be behind."

"Next time we meet, you’ll have to call me Ye."

Meanwhile, the two major strongholds on the front lines had also received the latest monthly report.

In Seeking Plum Mountain, Liu Feng was taking advantage of the New Year festivities to challenge Hei Bai Zi to a match.

He had given Hei Bai Zi a two-stone handicap at the start, but by the mid-game, his position was already beyond saving.

Seeing the new monthly report arrive, he simply conceded the game. "I lose. Let’s take a break."

Last month, he had killed one seventh-layer and three sixth-layer Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators, and he was eager to see if he had made the rankings.

But when he picked it up and took a look, his eyes went wide. "Xiao Chen!"

He truly hadn’t expected this result.

.

Hearing Liu Feng’s exclamation, Hei Bai Zi also came over to look at the monthly report.

He had arrived some time ago, but for two consecutive months, he had failed to break into the top ten.

Now, seeing that Xiao Chen had suddenly taken first place, his eyes also went wide.

Since he was relatively close to the Su Family, Hei Bai Zi had already met Xiao Chen once before, at the All-Fish Banquet last year.

That was precisely why he found it so hard to believe. In just one short year, the strength of that seemingly ordinary young man was now on par with his own.

Not only had he successfully broken into the top ten and made it onto the commendation list, but he had gone straight to number one.

In contrast, he, one of the Ten Heroes of Li State, hadn’t even managed to secure tenth place.

Over at Luoyan Mountain, Elder Tie Xin, also one of the Ten Heroes of Li State, saw the latest monthly report as well.

He immediately boomed, "Zhu, the monthly report is here! The way I see it, last month’s number one spot has to be yours."

Zhu Hui, who was not far off, heard him but didn’t rush to respond. Instead, he picked up the monthly report, read it, and then stood rooted to the spot, lost in thought.

He had met Xiao Chen before on the Flying Boat. The man had seemed quite approachable.

Zhu Hui genuinely hadn’t expected him to possess such strength.

"Zhu, what’s wrong?"

When he didn’t get a response, Elder Tie Xin sensed something was wrong and grabbed the monthly report to see for himself.

Then, a rather unfamiliar name caught his eye. "Xiao Chen?"

He had been busy with closed-door cultivation and hadn’t even had time to attend the Cyan Bamboo Tower’s Immortal Ascension Ceremony, merely asking a friend to deliver a congratulatory gift for him.

Naturally, he’d had no time to wander about afterward, so he had never heard of Xiao Chen.

Seeing Xiao Chen’s name suddenly in the number one spot left him completely bewildered. "Zhu, who is this Xiao fellow?"

"How come I’ve never heard of a character like him in our Li State?"

After a moment of stunned silence, Zhu Hui broke into a knowing smile. "Worthy of the master of the Wind and Thunder Dual Swords. Truly extraordinary."

He then turned to Elder Tie Xin and began to explain the rumors surrounding Xiao Chen.

In fact, it wasn’t just Elder Tie Xin who was filled with curiosity. The many cultivators from Hezhou who saw the monthly report were also astounded.

They had previously made inquiries about the powerful figures from Li State.

But Xiao Chen had not been among the Ten Heroes of Li State they had heard about.

Thus, they all began asking the Li State cultivators in their vicinity for information about Xiao Chen.

And through these conversations, news of the Wind and Thunder Dual Swords quickly spread throughout the Lingyuan Sect’s domain before rapidly disseminating across all of Hezhou.

However, some were completely baffled by this.

"How is this possible?"

Gu Qiu Ling stared at the monthly report in her hands, finding the name ’Xiao Chen’ exceptionally jarring.

’Isn’t that the guy with connections I sent to the Qingyang Spirit Ore mine?’

’How could he have ended up as number one last month?’

"Senior Sister, what are you thinking about? You seem a million miles away."

Unable to figure it out on her own, Gu Qiu Ling voiced her confusion to her junior sister. "Junior Sister, I just don’t understand. How could he possibly have taken first place?"

"Oh, Senior Sister, what’s so hard to understand?"

Pan Qiaochun’s response was startling. "If there’s no way there are that many Demon Cultivators near the Qingyang Spirit Ore mine, then it’s simple. He faked his Merit report."

Gu Qiu Ling’s brow furrowed. "Faking his Merit report?"

Pan Qiaochun nodded. "Mhm. He kills Demon Cultivators somewhere else, brings their bodies to the Qingyang Spirit Ore mine, and then lies about an invasion to fraudulently claim Merit."

"You don’t know, Senior Sister, but these well-connected heirs from prominent families love to pull this kind of stuff."

"They use their connections to steal credit for other people’s work."

Realization instantly dawned on Gu Qiu Ling, and she became furious. "So that’s how it is! These parasites!"

Pan Qiaochun, however, tried to comfort her. "Forget it, Senior Sister. It’s not worth getting angry over people like him." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"Let’s just go have New Year’s Eve dinner."

But Gu Qiu Ling was still fuming. "If the Grand Elder wasn’t so insistent on protecting them, I’d drive every last one of these people back to Li State!"

Many other discussions of all kinds were taking place.

Some were astounded by Xiao Chen’s strength, wondering if he was a hidden cultivator at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment to have earned nearly four hundred points.

Others, however, began to worry about the Divine Fire Sect’s intentions, speculating as to what was so unusual about the Qingyang Spirit Ore mine.