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Chapter 96: Chapter 96, Top Candidate, 6500 Points
Luo Cheng stood on the deck, hearing the crowd’s exclamations, feeling a bit surprised.
A mere 1,700 points, and yet everyone seemed so shocked by it.
However, after thinking it through carefully, Luo Cheng settled his mind.
The servant disciples participating in the Green Cloud Trial were mostly at the Third Layer of Transcendence Realm. Those at the Fourth Layer of Transcendence Realm only matched the level of Two-star Intermediate Demon Beasts.
When encountering even slightly stronger Two-star Demon Beasts, these participants could only run for their lives. Managing to kill over a hundred Two-star Demon Beasts in a day would already be remarkable.
"I wonder what my total score will be... did it surpass 15,000 points?"
Luo Cheng’s eyes gleamed with anticipation.
After eliminating Fang Rui and Cao Qing, his hunting points had already reached close to 10,000.
Later, Luo Cheng continued to hunt numerous Demon Beasts and several servant disciples, including Lin Jintai!
He claimed all of their hunting points one by one, but hadn’t yet carefully calculated how much his total had risen.
Given Lin Jintai’s reputation, backed by Elder He’s influence among the servant disciples, one could imagine his score wouldn’t be low.
The crowd disembarked the ship in an orderly fashion, registering their scores.
The scores of those ahead were rather average; few managed to exceed 1,000 points.
To surpass 1,500 points was enough to enter the top 100. A name displayed on the leaderboard always commanded admiration!
Currently, the top spot on the leaderboard belonged to a Transcendence Realm Fifth Layer martial artist named Feng Lan, with a score of 1,980 points.
No one paid much attention to this.
The crowd knew full well these scores were just appetizers.
Not a single one of the top ten seed contenders had disembarked yet!
Finally, the first of the top ten seed contenders emerged.
Zhou Bingrui!
Among the top ten seeds, Zhou Bingrui ranked lowest in terms of popularity.
When Zhou Bingrui registered his score, the plaza erupted in uproar.
A striking number shot straight up to the leaderboard’s top spot.
Zhou Bingrui, 2,890 points!
"Wow, 2,890 points! Senior Zhou Bingrui’s score is insanely high!"
"Impressive, leaving the second place trailing by 1,000 points!"
"Senior Zhou Bingrui might even make it to the top three!"
Exclamations filled the plaza, shocking the assembled servant disciples.
After Zhou Bingrui, another top ten seed contender disembarked almost immediately—Yuan Zhilan.
Instantly, every gaze turned toward the leaderboard.
Yuan Zhilan and Gu Lingfeng were the two most favored to win the championship.
Everyone wanted to see how many points Yuan Zhilan had scored.
As Yuan Zhilan submitted her identity token, her name directly vaulted to the top of the leaderboard.
Yuan Zhilan, 3,790 points!
"Whoa! Senior Yuan Zhilan’s score is ridiculously high, nearly 4,000 points!"
"Amazing! She beat Zhou Bingrui’s score by close to 1,000 points!!"
"With this score, only Senior Gu Lingfeng might be able to compete with her."
"Looks like Senior Yuan Zhilan is destined to be the champion of this Green Cloud Trial!"
Yuan Zhilan’s elegant beauty coupled with her warm demeanor won her many admirers among the servant disciples.
Seeing Yuan Zhilan ascend to first place triggered a louder wave of excitement in the plaza.
Many cheered her name, convinced she would claim this trial’s championship.
But despite the endless chatter, Yuan Zhilan’s gaze remained calm.
Having already secured the Primordial Spirit Fruit, she felt content with her gains from this trial and didn’t care whether she claimed first place or not.
Moreover, Yuan Zhilan had a feeling that this trial’s outcome would defy everyone’s expectations.
As her thoughts wandered, Yuan Zhilan inconspicuously glanced at the fifth ship.
Over half of the participants had disembarked.
Soon, yet another top contender stepped ashore.
It was one of the female top ten seeds—Zhou Ruo!
This time, the crowd’s reaction wasn’t as exuberant as when Yuan Zhilan disembarked.
Compared to Yuan Zhilan, Zhou Ruo’s reputation and strength were slightly lacking.
No one expected Zhou Ruo’s score to surpass Yuan Zhilan’s.
Zhou Ruo approached the stone table and handed over her identity token.
The moment her score was registered, the plaza fell silent. Everyone stared blankly at the leaderboard!
At this moment, Yuan Zhilan’s ranking had dropped to second place!
In first place now was Zhou Ruo!
A dazzling number entered everyone’s vision.
6,500 points!
"Oh my god, am I seeing this right? Senior Zhou Ruo’s score is 6,500 points! She nearly doubled Senior Yuan Zhilan’s score!"
"This is outrageous!"
Seeing Zhou Ruo’s score, the crowd was left completely speechless with shock.
No one could have foreseen that Zhou Ruo’s score would surpass Yuan Zhilan’s—let alone by such a margin!
Even Yuan Zhilan found it surprising. Zhou Ruo’s strength shouldn’t have allowed her to achieve such a high score.
Unless another top seed contender had chosen to assist her...
But how could that be possible?
Zhou Ruo, her eyes like blooming peach blossoms, sneered at Yuan Zhilan with mocking intent at the corner of her lips.
Her actual score of over 3,000 points didn’t surpass Yuan Zhilan’s.
However, during the competition for the Primordial Spirit Fruit atop Piaofeng Peak, she teamed up with three other seed contenders to hunt Gu Lingfeng and Yuan Zhilan.
In the chaos, one of the three contenders was slain by Gu Lingfeng, and Zhou Ruo took the opportunity to steal that contender’s score, which shot her total up.
"Yuan Zhilan, I may not have gotten the Primordial Spirit Fruit, but you can forget about claiming first place in this trial!"
Passing Yuan Zhilan’s side, Zhou Ruo coldly snorted.
Hearing her adversary’s provocation, Yuan Zhilan raised her delicate brow and replied with a gentle smile:
"Jumping to conclusions now might be a bit premature."
Zhou Ruo narrowed her eyes with contempt and laughed coldly: "Oh? Do you seriously think someone else can surpass my score? Gu Lingfeng perhaps? He won’t manage more than 4,000 points."
Confident in her score of over 6,000, Zhou Ruo believed the trial’s championship was firmly hers.
"Who can say?"
Yuan Zhilan responded with an ambiguous smile.
Zhou Ruo snorted lightly: "Then let’s wait and see!"
On the high platform overlooking the plaza, ten outer sect elders responsible for the trial gathered to discuss the rankings.
An older man withdrew his gaze from Zhou Ruo and chuckled:
"I had thought Yuan Zhilan would take first place. But unexpectedly, Zhou Ruo made her move. Judging by the scores now, the champion is most likely set already."
Elder He, sitting nearby, interjected: "Not necessarily."
The elder raised an eyebrow, puzzled: "Do you mean to suggest someone else might surpass Zhou Ruo’s score? Even Gu Lingfeng seems unlikely to exceed 6,000 points."
Elder He shook his head, smiling faintly: "Gu Lingfeng won’t, but that doesn’t mean no one else can. I’m referring to Lin Jintai!"
Lin Jintai was Elder He’s favored disciple. Elder He had pledged to help him claim the championship.
To that end, Elder He had enlisted numerous powerful servant disciples.
If these disciples handed over their hunting points to Lin Jintai, surpassing 6,000 points would be effortless!
Hearing Elder He’s remark, the gathered elders exchanged uneasy glances.
The older man murmured hesitantly: "Elder He, didn’t you hear?"
"Hear what?"
Elder He frowned in confusion.
The older man sighed lightly, shaking his head: "Lin Jintai is already dead, and the one who killed him was none other than the servant disciple Luo Cheng—the very one who awakened a Wasted Martial Soul!"
