Chapitre 27: [Ranking And Reward]
After tallying Jian Ning's points, the two elders quickly counted Jian Shi's points, which totaled 24,562, surpassing the previous record. It's worth noting that Fu Hui had scored 13,500 points, which closely approaches the former record.
Time passed slowly.
[Ding, congratulations to the host for cultivating for one minute, +44 cultivation points, +44 W.E.]
[Ding, congratulations to the host for cultivating for one minute, +44 cultivation points, +44 W.E.]
[Ding, congratulations to the host for cultivating for one minute, +44 cultivation points, +44 W.E.]
....
~~ Several hours later ~~
Most participants had arrived, and thanks to the elders' high cultivation, their points were swiftly calculated.
Following discussions among the participants, those who had failed quickly realized their shortcomings upon hearing their peers' points.
"The first trial is officially concluded. We will now display the rankings. Anyone below the top 500 may leave, while the others will accompany me for the next trial, which involves a verification of your abilities, cultivation, and mental fortitude," Elder Tan announced as he unrolled a large scroll listing 500 names with corresponding numbers.
Upon hearing Elder Tan's words, Jian Ning ceased cultivating and approached the two elders to continue the trials.
[Ding, congratulations to the host for cultivating for 182 minutes, +8008 cultivation points, +8008 W.E.]
Jian Ning rose from his seat and approached Jian Shi, who was conversing with Jian Mei, the latter having also passed the evaluation and ranked 37th, a commendable position, with Jian Shi placing 2nd just after him.
Both congratulated Jian Ning sincerely, though he sensed a hint of indifference and arrogance in Jian Shi's tone, as if he regarded the trial lightly and believed that first or last place held little significance.
Jian Ning could detect traces of jealousy and envy from Jian Mei, perhaps even a hint of disdain. Given their somewhat strained relationship, Jian Ning could understand why.
Jian Mei had always been a pampered child who desired everything and was very capricious. She expected to be pampered even by her younger brother, which seemed illogical to him.
This current and past behavior perplexed Jian Ning, straining their relationship.
Jian Ning wasn't driven by familial, romantic, or fame-seeking desires. He simply took what he needed to minimize risk and maximize gain.
[Ding, congratulations to the host for inciting jealousy in Jian Mei, who cultivates at the level 9 of tempering body, +105 W.E.]
A notification jolted Jian Ning's mind as he stared coolly at Jian Mei, who was chatting cheerfully with Jian Shi about their forest adventures and the monsters they had fought.
His gaze towards Jian Mei was colder than usual. The system only triggered with powerful negative or positive emotions towards him. Despite their strained relationship, Jian Ning hadn't expected her jealousy to be so pronounced.
The earlier notification underscored Jian Mei's severe jealousy.
Jian Ning didn't address this but quietly observed, hoping to find something interesting or simply watching the candidates who had failed,
seeing their sorrow at failing to make their backers proud, the despair of seeing a bright future slip away, the anger at their helplessness, the madness of their current mindset, the longing for those coveted but elusive positions.
These emotions coalesced, casting a tense, negative, and gloomy aura.
On the other hand, the 'winners,' those who ranked in the top 500, celebrated joyously, their faces reflecting joy, hope, and anticipation.
They were happy!
Happy to envision a bright future ahead, eager to meet their family's expectations, who surely sacrificed more than they could fathom!
Filled with hope, they dreamed of becoming legends on the continent, living for millennia, battling geniuses from all corners, achieving eternal glory, ascending to the skies, and ruling land and sea!
Unfortunately, most of them would end up dead!
In a few years, only a few would survive. Some would fall seeking adventures in distant lands, while others would simply die after provoking the wrong people.
A lucky few might survive. Among them, those with great skills could join stronger forces as guards or disciples, while those with lesser abilities might settle down, starting small families in tiny towns or becoming disciples or elders in minor sects like Lingyun Sect.
From a logical standpoint, the joy of these 'winners' would be short-lived, and their hope just an illusion as fragile as glass. Their ambition to become strong and dominate the skies would soon be shattered by harsh reality.
Without special skills, exceptional talent, and great fortune, they would just end up as faceless figures in the crowd!
And their dream of becoming the protagonists of the skies, the chosen ones, would remain fleeting.
For the chosen ones were picked by Lady Luck before birth; their destinies were already written, unchangeable!
Jian Ning stopped observing those around him and focused on the two elders, who were about to begin distributing the promised rewards to the top 10.
"Very well, let's start distributing the rewards before finishing the remaining trials."
"No. 10, Lin Hong, your reward is 10 low-grade spirit stones and a Qi spirit pill, very useful for AQi Gathering Realm cultivators to increase cultivation speed."
"No. 9, Long Yuhan, your reward is 20 spirit stones and a Qi spirit pill."
"No. 8, Gong Ling, your reward is 40 spirit stones and two Qi spirit pills."
"No. 7, Yu Delan, your reward is 60 spirit stones and three Qi spirit pills."
"No. 6, Xuan Lei, your reward is 80 spirit stones and four Qi spirit pills."
"No. 5, Xun Jiang, your reward is 100 spirit stones and five Qi spirit pills."
"No. 4, Zi Shi, your reward is 150 spirit stones and seven Qi spirit pills."
"No. 3, Yu Delan, your reward is 200 spirit stones and ten Qi spirit pills, plus the right to choose a martial technique from the second floor of the sect library."
"No. 2, Jian Shi, your reward is 250 spirit stones, ten Qi spirit pills, and the right to choose a cultivation technique from the second floor of the sect library."
"And finally, No. 1, Jian Ning, your reward is 1,000 low-grade spirit stones, 100 perfect Qi spirit pills, the right to choose two martial techniques from the second floor of the sect library, the right to choose a cultivation technique from the third floor of the sect library, and you may also request a specially forged weapon by myself," Elder Xiang announced loudly.
It was evident that Jian Ning's rewards far surpassed those below him, understandable given his talent. After all, humans were not equal and never would be in their lifetimes.
Elder Xiang began distributing rewards starting with Lin Hong and continuing up the list.
Meanwhile, Jian Ning received a deluge of W.E.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone