Elder Chen naturally accepted Gao Cunfeng’s invitation.

He was also very curious who would emerge as the final winner of this last contest.

Mainly because the reward this time was rather unusual.

The competition was simply too fierce.

No one would give up unless they were knocked down for good.

Those who returned would surely be covered in injuries.

"Do you have any predictions, Elder Chen?" Gao Cunfeng asked curiously.

This contest was mainly led by three families.

Fang Tiancheng of the Fang Family.

Li Yuan of the Li Family.

Cheng Ning of the Cheng Family.

All three were extraordinarily powerful.

Elder Chen pondered for a moment before speaking. "These three families each have their own powerful Magic Skills. The Fang Family focuses on the Physical Body, making them extremely strong in close combat.

"The Li Family’s style leans toward support, but Li Yuan obtained a top-grade Art of Attack and Destruction. The two complement each other, giving him a higher chance of winning.

"Cheng Ning of the Cheng Family is quite strong, with a top-grade Defense that is exceptionally powerful, but she lacks Attack power.

"If she can wear the other two out, her chances of winning aren’t small either."

As he spoke, Elder Chen thought for a moment more and added, "Cheng Ning is too passive. Li Yuan is strong enough that as long as he doesn’t let Fang Tiancheng get too close, his chances of winning are greater."

Gao Cunfeng nodded. "Indeed. It will come down to whether Li Yuan or Fang Tiancheng can seize the advantage. I’m afraid things look difficult for Cheng Ning, but it is a three-way fight, so there are bound to be many unexpected turns. If she can capitalize on those, she might just pull through."

"However, there are too many people this time, so the variables are unpredictable. If they use the other participants to wear each other down, that could lead to a different outcome entirely," Elder Chen added.

Gao Cunfeng smiled. "We’ll see. The more variables, the more hope there is. It’s getting late. The results should be out soon."

——

Xiaopang made his way to the Cyan Cloud Pavilion.

He didn’t see anyone he knew.

Soon, he remembered something.

He headed to where the list of new members for the Six Pavilions was posted and, sure enough, saw Song Qing.

Xiaopang went over, handed him some meat jerky, and said, "Any stories this time?"

"Yeah," Song Qing said, taking the jerky. "Someone finally decided to take me."

Hearing this, Xiaopang froze.

He asked in disbelief, "Really?"

"Really. But they wanted me to gather some damaging information on Jiang Man as a pledge of loyalty," Song Qing said, shaking his head and sighing. "I had to refuse."

"You’re too naive! You could’ve just bought it from Brother Jiang. He definitely would have been happy to sell," Xiaopang exclaimed.

Song Qing was stunned. "That’s an option?"

"Definitely," Xiaopang said with certainty.

Song Qing shook his head. "Forget it. Jiang Man has been good to me. He found opportunities for me several times; it’s just my own fault that I couldn’t make it work.

"He’s a good person. I can’t betray his kindness.

"I’ll try again after I advance to the Fourth Layer. Maybe there’ll still be a chance then.

"Let’s see Jiang Man’s ranking this time. If he’s first in the Six Pavilions, then the fact that I share a courtyard with the top student of the Six Pavilions might make someone interested.

"Plus, my fundamentals are decent, so there’s still hope.

"But you need to work hard, Xiaopang. You say your family isn’t poor, but you still have to work hard to maintain that position.

"When it’s all passed down to you, it’ll be bad if you can’t hold onto it.

"I’m just looking for stability, which is relatively easy. The worst that can happen is I go back to my village.

"You’re different. If you’re too useless, your standard of living will plummet.

"But it’s fine. If that happens, just come find me. I’ll make sure you have a bite to eat.

"I’ll definitely be an excellent farming Cultivator when I go back to my village."

Xiaopang, munching on his jerky, said, "You’re cursing me like this, and I’m supposed to thank you?"

Song Qing smiled and asked, "Have you been staying up all night for Cultivation recently?"

"No, I never practice Cultivation when I go back," Xiaopang replied.

Song Qing stared at Xiaopang’s dark circles.

"These?" Xiaopang pointed to his dark circles. "My dad wants to find me a wife. I’ve been so worried I can’t sleep at night."

Saying this, Xiaopang handed another piece of jerky to Song Qing.

The latter took the jerky and nodded emphatically. "That is indeed something to worry about. No wonder you have dark circles."

Xiaopang nodded too, confirming that he was genuinely worried.

Just then, they saw someone appear ahead of them and announce to the crowd below, "The Six Pavilions ranking has been canceled. Go to the central plaza to see the Yunqian Bureau ranking."

Hearing this, the crowd was surprised.

’Why was it canceled?’

The crowd that had been waiting moved toward the central plaza.

But as soon as they arrived, they heard people discussing it.

"Why are they suddenly saying there’s a ranking from the Three Towers? Wasn’t it always just the Yunqian Bureau ranking before?"

"I don’t know. A Three Towers ranking just appeared out of nowhere."

These comments confused the others.

’The Six Pavilions said their ranking was canceled and to come here.’

’The people here are talking about a Three Towers ranking.’

’What’s going on?’

"Could it be that the Six Pavilions are no longer worthy of their own ranking? That only places like the Three Towers deserve a detailed list?"

"Over a hundred people from the Six Pavilions competed this time. Did they really do that badly?"

Though that’s what they said, no one elaborated further.

Because the strength of the Three Towers was well known.

It was only logical that they couldn’t compare.

At that moment, the person posting the ranking list ascended the high platform.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he posted the list.

"I’ll start reading from number fifteen," Xiaopang said excitedly. "You start from number five and read down."

"Okay," Song Qing replied immediately.

He was also a bit nervous. With no Six Pavilions ranking, the honor of being first among them was gone, but getting into the Yunqian Bureau was still a great achievement.

This ranking carried more weight.

Xiaopang’s eyes immediately fell on the fifteenth name.

Yunqian Bureau, Fifteenth: Yang Ling, Ye Ming Pavilion.

Xiaopang was a bit surprised. ’The third-ranked person from the Six Pavilions is only fifteenth?’

Then he continued reading upward.

Yunqian Bureau, Fourteenth: Cheng Moyang, Celestial Essence Pavilion.

Fourteenth place shocked Xiaopang. ’Isn’t that the previous number one from the Six Pavilions?’

’Then where’s Brother Jiang?’

He quickly scanned the thirteenth, twelfth, and eleventh spots.

Not there.

’The top ten?’

Tenth, not there.

Ninth, not there either.

"Song Qing, where are you looking?"

"Tenth place. No Jiang Man."

"I’ve checked up to ten, too. No Brother Jiang."

They started to worry. He wasn’t anywhere from fifth to fifteenth place.

’He couldn’t have been pushed off the list, could he?’

They huddled together, discussed it briefly, and decided to look from fourth place upward.

’What if...?’

Then they saw fourth place.

Yunqian Bureau, Fourth: Fang Tiancheng, Baili Tower.

Yunqian Bureau, Third: Cheng Ning, Dust Purification Tower.

Yunqian Bureau, Second: Li Yuan, Jianyue Tower.

Finally, both of their gazes landed on the clearly written first line.

Yunqian Bureau, First: Jiang Man, Cyan Cloud Pavilion.

The moment they saw that line, their minds went blank.

For a moment, they didn’t know what to feel as they stared at the words.

Meanwhile, the others were just confused.

"Jiang Man from Cyan Cloud Pavilion? Who’s that?"

"Isn’t that the guy who skips sleep to practice Cultivation all night?"

Hearing this, the crowd fell silent.

’Has this unhealthy trend spread to the entire Yunqian Bureau?’

Just then, the person who had posted the list looked down at the crowd and began to write on it.

Down below, Cheng Yu whispered to Luo Xuan beside her, "Is he writing a comment? I thought only an exceptionally outstanding first place gets a comment written on the list."

Luo Xuan took a deep breath, also shaken by the Yunqian Bureau’s new number one.

She had never imagined that the person who was dead last in their courtyard back then would leap to a position they couldn’t even hope to reach.

——

「Gao Mansion.」

Gao Cunfeng and Elder Chen were still chatting.

They thought the results should be out by now.

And just as they were taking a sip of tea, they saw someone run in from outside.

It was the attendant sent to report the news.

He rushed in, bowed respectfully, and then said, "Master, the ranking list has been posted."

"Mm," Gao Cunfeng nodded and thought for a moment. "Tell us about the Six Pavilions first. Who’s number one?"

"The Six Pavilions canceled their ranking," the attendant replied.

Hearing this, Gao Cunfeng was a little surprised. "That’s unheard of. But this contest was special to begin with, so it’s not that strange. In that case, tell us about the Yunqian Bureau. Who’s in third place?"

Elder Chen didn’t think much of it, simply sipping his tea and listening quietly.

’Starting with third place means hearing about the losers first.’

"Third in the Yunqian Bureau is Cheng Ning of Dust Purification Tower," the attendant answered immediately.

Hearing this, Gao Cunfeng shook his head and sighed. He hadn’t expected the first one eliminated to be from the Cheng Family.

"Mm, that’s not far from your guess, Patriarch. She was the third contender to begin with, so her foundation was a bit weaker," Elder Chen added.

Then, Gao Cunfeng looked at the attendant and asked, "And second place?"

The attendant lowered his head and answered truthfully, "Second in the Yunqian Bureau is Li Yuan of Jianyue Tower."

"Li Yuan was defeated too?" Gao Cunfeng was slightly pleased. ’Looks like the Gao Family might get a spot after all.’

"Congratulations, Patriarch," Elder Chen said, setting down his teacup. "It’s certainly reasonable that Fang Tiancheng took first place. It’s just a shame we don’t know how it happened."

Gao Cunfeng laughed heartily and said to the attendant, "Go and collect your reward."

However, the attendant did not leave.

"What is it?" Gao Cunfeng frowned.

"First place... it wasn’t Fang Tiancheng," the attendant said in a low voice. "Fang Tiancheng was fourth."

This statement shocked both Gao Cunfeng and Elder Chen.

"First place wasn’t the Fang Family?" Gao Cunfeng frowned. "Then who was it?"

He had never imagined there could be another expert in the running.

The attendant didn’t dare hesitate and immediately said, "First in the Yunqian Bureau is Jiang Man of Cyan Cloud Pavilion."

Hearing this, Gao Cunfeng shot to his feet. "Who?"

The attendant repeated, this time louder, "First in the Yunqian Bureau is Jiang Man of Cyan Cloud Pavilion!"

Gao Cunfeng stood there, stunned.

Elder Chen was also flabbergasted, but he still said, "Perhaps he only took first place, but someone else received the actual qualification."

"There’s more," the attendant continued. "This time, the list has a comment—a comment for first place."

"Speak!" Gao Cunfeng took a deep breath and stared at him.

The attendant felt immense pressure, but his voice came out clearly: "He alone defeated the entire Yunqian Bureau!"

Instantly, Gao Cunfeng collapsed back into his chair, then shouted, "Butler!"

He infused his voice with a Magic Skill, making it travel an extremely long way.

The butler appeared in the main hall moments later. "Patriarch."

Seeing him, Gao Cunfeng immediately demanded, "The books? Where are the young master’s books?"

"They’re being burned," the butler replied instantly.

Hearing this, Gao Cunfeng felt his Qi and Blood rush to his head. "Put out the fire! Put it out, quickly!"

————