<h4>Chapter 554: Top Ten of the Barren Sky Ranking</h4>


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Nyoi-Bo Studio <strong>Editor: </strong>Nyoi-Bo Studio


    The vast battleground below the Holy Zhi Pce was now filled with people. The crowd stretched to the horizon. Gradually, people entered the battleground. They were the 160 prides who’d been chosen yesterday and their friends and elders. Everyone was discussing today’s battle and famous figures.


    When Ye Futian and Hua Jieyu arrived, Yu Sheng and the others were already there. Seeing them, Yi Xiaoshi and the others gave them looks of disdain. They wondered where the two went for a date yesterday. Ye Futian was smiling and looked vibrant. The must have had a happy night.


    Others stared coldly at Ye Futian and Hua Jieyu walking together.


    Zhuge Xing stared daggers at Ye Futian. The other youths of the Zhuge Family didn’t look happy either. These two seemed very close and no one knew where they’d gone or done yesterday. It seemed that he’d really helped train a Divine Spiritual Sorcerer for someone else.


    Right then, two figures shed and appeared. They were Zhuge Mingyue and Beitang Xing’er. Zhuge Mingyue looked ambiguously at the two and smiled. “Seems like yesterday went well.”


    “Senior Sister!” Hua Jieyu cried, embarrassed.


    “Are you prepared?” Zhuge Mingyue asked Ye Futian.


    “Entering the pce shouldn’t be a problem,” Ye Futian said. Zhuge Mingyue’s eyes brightened as she smiled at him. He seemed confident.


    “Most of those who enter the Holy Zhi Pce are at the top of the Barren Sky Ranking. Take advantage of this chance,” Zhuge Mingyue said, smiling.


    “Yes.” Ye Futian nodded.


    “When the Holy Zhi Pce invites you, just watch my eyes,” Zhuge Mingyue said. Ye Futian blinked and then nodded earnestly. After all, he wasn’t familiar with the strong cultivators of the Holy Zhi Pce. Since he was so amazing, people might fight for him and he wouldn’t know who to choose. His Second Senior Sister really thought of everything.


    “Jieyu, Xiaoshi, you need to work hard too,” Zhuge Mingyue said to the others.


    “Of course.” Yi Xiaoshi stuck his chin up. He couldn’t be worse off than Ye Futian. As the senior brother, he had to show his skills this time. He couldn’t be beaten by that guy, especially before Second Senior Sister. Otherwise, he would bepletely humiliated.


    “I’ll wait and see,” Zhuge Mingyue said. Then she walked towards the Holy Zhi Pce.


    “Sister Mingyue,” a voice called out. She looked over to the other direction and saw it was Zhuge Xing.


    “They’re important to you, but this is apetition. I will be fighting for the glory of the Zhuge Family and I won’t go easy on them,” Zhuge Xing said. Zhuge Mingyue was his cousin. She’d left when she was young and only returned two years ago. Instead of caring about the family, she was closer to Hua Jieyu. However, Hua Jieyu was beautiful and the Zhuge Family all had other thoughts, so they didn’t mind. Now, it seemed that Zhuge Mingyue wasn’t nice to Hua Jieyu because of herself but because of her junior.


    As a member of the Zhuge Family, Zhuge Xing was naturally upset.


    Zhuge Mingyue had high hopes for Ye Futian but had no hopes for them at all. Did she not care about her family’s honor at all?


    “You said that this is apetition. There’s no need to go easy. Do your best. I hope you will bring glory to the family.” Zhuge Mingyue smiled and left.


    “I will.” Zhuge Xing’s tone was proud. He nced at Ye Futian, who also looked at him at the same time, and then looked away.


    “Futian.” Chen Yuan’s group walked over. Ye Futian looked over and saw that Mu Chuan of the Zhaixing House was still there. Mu Zhiqiu was beside him too.


    “Chief,” Ye Futian called.


    “As the Son, you should rule the generation,” Chen Yuan said, repeating their conversation in the Starry School.


    Seeing the anticipation in Chen Yuan’s eyes, Ye Futian nodded. “Okay.”


    “You’re dreaming.” It seemed to be Mu Chuan’s habit to insult Ye Futian and Chen Yuan.


    “Senior, you’re still here? Didn’t Zhiqiu choose an ind to cultivate on?” Ye Futian asked Mu Chuan, smiling. This old guy was pretty funny.


    “It’s interesting to see the juniorspeting. More importantly, there are so many geniuses here. I’d like to see how the Son of the Starry School loses miserably.” Mu Chuan scanned Ye Futian.


    “Then watch if you’d like.” Ye Futian smiled.


    “More and more people arrived. The 160 prides arrived gradually and countless figures appeared in the direction of the Holy Zhi Pce too. The sat on the steps quietly, looking down. They appeared quietly, but many elders of the Holy Zhi Pce bowed towards them. Clearly, they were important.


    “Sage Liuyun is here.” Someone looked up and saw an old elder sitting there quietly. Many people from the Thousand Holy Inds recognized him.


    “Sage Qijue is here too.”


    “That’s Sage Daozang.”


    “Senior Sword Demon.” Another figure appeared, instantly attracting much attention. It was the Sword Demon, one of the top three swordsmen of the Barren State. He was a super strong cultivator on the Barren Sky Ranking.


    The top three swordsmen of the Barren State were Yan Wuji, leader of the Sword Saint Vi; Fatal Sword God of the Tingxue House, and the Sword Demon of the Holy Zhi Pce.


    These three represented the highest level of swordsmanship in the Barren State.


    Yan Wuji never passed his skills to outsiders. The head of the Tingxue House had fatal techniques and he mostly didn’t ept students. Thus, the biggest hope for swordsmen-in-training of the Barren State was to enter the Holy Zhi Pce and be the Sword Demon’s disciple. Thus, he was very popr. Many people present hade just for him.


    Seeing all these legendary cultivators appear, many people were extremely excited. Of course, when Bai Luli, young city lord of the White Cloud City, arrived, he also attracted a lot of attention.


    Bai Luli’s cultivation wasn’t as high as those big figures from the Holy Zhi Pce, but he was much higher than them on the Barren Sky Ranking. Of everyone present, he was the highest at tenth ce.


    The Barren Sky Ranking was a list of the top figures of the entire Barren State. One could imagine what being tenth ce meant.


    The nine before him were all extremely powerful figures who shook the world.


    Ninth ce was the Fatal Sword God, the head of the Tingxue House. Eighth was a horribly powerful figure from Alchemy City. Seventh was someone from the Holy Zhi Pce. Sixth was Zhuge Qingfeng, head of the Zhuge Family. Fifth was the head of the Sovereign Family. Fourth was the city lord of the White Cloud City.


    Of the top three, two were top figures of the Holy Zhi Pce. The remaining one was the second ce. She was in the Ice Temple.


    Thus, of the top ten figures on the Barren Sky Ranking, four cultivated at the Holy Zhi Pce. The city lord of White Cloud City and Zhuge Qingfeng had once been disciples of the Holy Zhi Pce too. One could imagine what kind of status the Holy Zhi Pce enjoyed in the Barren State!


    There was a reason why it was the ma for cultivation.


    The people other than the 160 prides gradually left the battlefield, leaving room for them. Everyone felt that the atmosphere had changed. They were the top figures—the best of the best.


    Today’s battle was basically the top battle of those in the lower Noble ne.


    “Let’s begin,” a big figure said to the elder on the steps after everyone was in ce.


    The elder nodded. He gazed at the battlefield and said, “Everyone, move to the edge of the battlefield. Space out.”


    Everyone nodded. Even those from the same force spread out. Ye Futian nced at Hua Jieyu, Yu Sheng, and the others. They nodded and spread out to the side, each taking up a different ce. The huge battlefield easily fit the 160 people. Everyone had a lot of distance between each other.


    “The Holy Zhi Pce usually chooses disciples for the core ind from the top 100. Right now, there are 160 people left. Instead of purposely eliminating 60 people, we will directly begin the battles. The winners will qualify for the next round. The seniors of the Holy Zhi Pce will choose from the defeated. If the chosen one is willing, they can cultivate in the Holy Zhi Pce. If not, they will leave. If they are not chosen, they are eliminated.”


    The elder on the steps announced the rules for choosing disciples. They were quite unique. The seniors would choose from the defeated ones. This way, the losers would be stronger as time went on.


    Other than thest person, the other 159 people would all be defeated in the end. Theirbat abilities could be seen through the battles.


    Now, they must put in their all for every battle and show all their abilities. There wouldn’t be a second chance. Technically, this battle would be even crueler than thepetition for the Thousand Holy Inds earlier. Some talented figures might be eliminated because they didn’t perform well.


    “The rules are a bit different from before. You cannot repeatedly challenge the same person and everyone must participate in each round,” the elder continued to announce. The battles were one against one, so there would be 80 battles for the first round. Half would qualify and continue fighting. The losers would either be chosen or eliminated.


    “The order for challenges is very simple. Whoever steps out first can challenge first. If two step out at the same time, they will fight without choosing.” Then the elder said, “Now, let us begin. The battlefield is yours!”