Invincible Soul Emperor

Chapter 65: Chapter 65: The Record-Breaking First Place

Liu Wenzhuang ranked fourth!

This meant that Ye Qingchen’s score had to be higher than Liu Wenzhuang’s to win their bet. In other words, Ye Qingchen had to break into the top three! For a good-for-nothing like Ye Qingchen, this was simply impossible! Therefore, Ye Qingchen was destined to lose!

The surrounding outer disciples looked at Ye Qingchen with gloating expressions.

”Overall rank fourth? Not bad, not bad. This result greatly exceeds my expectations! You did great!”

Faced with Liu Wenzhuang’s provocation, Ye Qingchen showed no anger or worry. Instead, his face was full of excitement as he praised Liu Wenzhuang.

Liu Wenzhuang was dumbfounded. What is going on? Shouldn’t he be worried? Why is he congratulating me instead? Could it be that he knows his score can’t possibly surpass mine, so he’s deliberately flattering me in hopes I’ll drop the bet? In his dreams!

”Ye Qingchen, don’t bother trying to cozy up to me!” Liu Wenzhuang said decisively. ”The bet is set, and you must abide by it. You must hand over this year’s Cultivation Resources from the Sect to me!”

Ye Qingchen waved his hand. ”I think you’ve misunderstood. I’m praising you because I think you’re a qualified money-delivery boy!”

As he spoke, it was Ye Qingchen’s turn to be tested. He strode forward, ascended the high platform, and placed his palm on the black megalith.

After a moment of silence, the black megalith displayed his score. ”Ye Qingchen, four hundred and eighty-eight points, first tier, temporary rank: first place!”

BOOM!

Seeing Ye Qingchen’s score, the entire square instantly erupted into an uproar. Everyone’s faces were filled with disbelief!

Ye Qingchen had actually scored four hundred and eighty-eight points, a full forty-four points higher than Liu Wenzhuang!

”How is this possible!”

Liu Wenzhuang stared in disbelief, vigorously rubbing his eyes. The scene before him was so completely beyond his expectations that he began to doubt his own eyes.

But no matter how many times he rubbed his eyes—so hard that he squeezed out tears—Ye Qingchen’s score remained four hundred and eighty-eight points. There was no mistake. Furthermore, because Ye Qingchen had surged into first place, Liu Wenzhuang’s name had dropped from fourth to fifth on the large ranking board behind Elder Huang.

Seeing Liu Wenzhuang’s reaction, Ye Ying blinked her lovely eyes and smiled. ”Is he really crying? I told you there would come a time for you to cry, but you didn’t believe me. Do you believe me now?”

Ye Qingchen walked down from the high platform and smiled at Liu Wenzhuang. ”You kept calling me trash. Now that you’re ranked behind me, does that mean you’re even worse than trash?”

Upon hearing this, Liu Wenzhuang’s face instantly darkened. This was a blatant humiliation!

Frustrated, Liu Wenzhuang turned to Huang Xiaoshuai. ”What’s going on? Didn’t you say Ye Qingchen was trash?”

Huang Xiaoshuai spread his hands. ”I only said that Ye Qingchen ranked ninety-ninth during the trials. I never called him trash!” There was no way he was going to take the blame for this.

”Hmph!” Liu Wenzhuang snorted angrily and turned to leave the square. The humiliation was too great; he no longer had the face to stay.

Ye Qingchen called out to Liu Wenzhuang’s receding back, ”Oh, and don’t forget our bet! I’ll gladly accept this year’s Cultivation Resources from the Sect!”

Hearing this, Liu Wenzhuang did not turn back, but his fists clenched. Barring any surprises, his rank would be in the top ten, so the Cultivation Resources he would receive would be considerable. The mere thought of having to hand them all over to Ye Qingchen made his heart bleed.

Hmph! I will remember today’s grudge! I’ll find an opportunity to make Ye Qingchen spit out a hundred times what he took from me!

With another cold snort, Liu Wenzhuang departed quickly.

The interlude ended, and the testing continued. None of the subsequent outer disciples were particularly impressive, so the top ten rankings remained unchanged. Ye Qingchen held fast to first place, while Liu Wenzhuang was fifth.

When the testing concluded, the way everyone looked at Ye Qingchen had completely changed. This was especially true for those who had previously mocked and scorned him; now, they averted their gaze whenever they looked in his direction.

”Today’s testing has concluded! You are all dismissed! The Sect will soon send someone to deliver your first month’s Cultivation Resources to your courtyards!” Elder Huang announced loudly. His eyes fell upon the score Ye Qingchen had achieved, his aged face filled with excitement.

Four hundred and eighty-eight points! Who knew how many years it had been since the Qingyun Sect had seen someone score over four hundred and eighty points in the test. Ye Qingchen was definitely a genius among geniuses!

”Du Pengcheng has truly unearthed a treasure!” Elder Huang exclaimed in admiration, a secret joy welling up inside him. Thankfully, he hadn’t expelled Ye Qingchen from the Sect. Otherwise, he would have become a sinner to the Qingyun Sect! This test result must be reported to the Sect Master!

His mind made up, Elder Huang quickly left, heading swiftly toward the Sect’s main peak.

「...」

On the main peak of the Qingyun Sect, inside a spacious and luxurious hall, Du Pengcheng was reporting something to Lin Qingfeng.

”Are you saying that the peerless genius with the ten-star Holy Soul you discovered... is the very same attendant girl who accompanies Ye Qingchen, whom you personally recruited into our Sect?” Lin Qingfeng completely lost his composure.

A peerless genius had been snatched from the hands of a mighty nine-star sect, only to end up in their one-star Qingyun Sect as the attendant of a mere outer disciple? What kind of farce was this?

”Indeed. It was precisely because of this peerless genius that I made an exception and recruited Ye Qingchen into our Qingyun Sect. I believed it would foster our relationship with both Wuji Immortal Palace and this genius,” Du Pengcheng explained frankly. ”In truth, it wasn’t because Ye Qingchen himself was particularly exceptional. I hope the Sect Master understands my difficult but well-intentioned decision.”

”Ye Qingchen... why does that name sound so familiar...” Repeating the name to himself, Lin Qingfeng’s eyes suddenly lit up as a thought struck him. Ye Qingchen! Wasn’t that the outer disciple the Revered One mentioned? The one who opened the energy barrier of the Divine-Rank Technique in the Transfer Technique Hall?

A smile touched Lin Qingfeng’s lips as he looked at Du Pengcheng. To have a peerless genius as an attendant and be able to open the energy barrier of a Divine-Rank Technique that even I cannot... this young man, Ye Qingchen, is surely no ordinary person! ”Steward Du, you are mistaken,” he said. ”On the contrary, I believe Ye Qingchen is quite exceptional. He is a talent worth nurturing!”

Du Pengcheng was stunned. The Sect Master has likely never even met Ye Qingchen, right? Isn’t it too rash to make such a judgment so easily?

Just as he was thinking this, Elder Huang’s voice came from outside the hall, asking for an audience.

”Elder Huang, please come in!” Lin Qingfeng called out.

Elder Huang walked in, his face brimming with excitement. Ignoring Du Pengcheng’s presence, he got straight to the point. ”Sect Master, the results of the comprehensive test for the new outer disciples are in! First place went to Ye Qingchen, who achieved an astonishing score of four hundred and eighty-eight points!”

”It’s that Ye Qingchen again!” Lin Qingfeng’s head snapped up to look at Elder Huang.

Beside them, a stunned Du Pengcheng interjected, ”Four hundred and eighty-eight points? Ye Qingchen? The same one I made an exception to recruit?”

Elder Huang nodded. ”That’s right. The very same.”

Du Pengcheng was left speechless.