Translator: Timothy_ Editor: GlobeGlotter
The contestants didnât have to wait too long until the examiner came again. Everyone held their breaths. It was the decisive moment when they could know whether they had entered the hall of fame.
The examiner looked around and nodded. "The results of the second round will be released now! The 21st to 100th rankings have been chosen. I will read the names now, listen carefully!"
However, it had already quieten down a lot there.
The examiner cleared his throat and started calling names, "Aqua Sea Sectâs Wang Ai 6.4 points, total points 13.4, ranked 100th. Snow Mountain Mosqueâs Jing Qi 6.4 points, total points 13.5, ranked 99th, etc. Solo cultivator Wu Yonglin 6.8 points, total points 14.5, ranked 53rd. Immortal Treasure Towerâs Lu Qianyou 7.2 points, total points 14.5, ranked 52nd, etc."
Ye Mo noticed that there were ranking differences even among people with the same points. It might have been based on minor aspects.
"Sea Palaceâs Zhen Long 7.8 points, total points 15.5, ranked 23rd. Ghost Immortal Sectâs Liu Huoliang 7.8 points, total points 15.6, ranked 22nd. Heaven Pill Sectâs He Liang 7.9 points, total points, 15.7 ranked 21st."
Then, the examiner paused for a moment before continuing, "Immortal Herb Valleyâs Guang Wei 7.9 points, total points 15.8, temporarily ranked 20th, etc. Heaven Pill Sectâs Cai Sheng 8.1 points, total points 16.1, temporarily ranked 14th..."
"Pill Cauldron Sectâs Wan Guoping 8.2 points, total points 16.3, temporarily ranked 10th, etc. Ghost Immortal Sectâs Wenren Fu 8.5 points, total points 17, temporarily ranked sixth. All Beast Mountainâs Zhuang Man 8.5 points, total points 17.1, temporarily ranked fifth. Immortal Herb Valleyâs Qin Muxin 6.8 points, total points 17.3, temporarily ranked fourth. God Sword Sectâs Xi Qi 8.5 points, total points 17.4, temporarily ranked third. Solo cultivator Ye Chengjun 9 points, total points 18, temporarily ranked second."
When the examiner read this name, the entire scene burst into disbelief. Ye Chengjun, the pill king, first one for three consecutive decades, had only ranked second.
"No way! This impossible!" some cultivator screamed.
"Something smells fishy! Definitely! Call out the first guy! Letâs see what kind of backdoor means he has."
"Itâs obvious something is not right. Chen pill king was first for three consecutive decades and got 18 points. How can he be second? I think itâs because heâs a solo cultivator and has no connections."
"This isnât right! Other than the ones youâve already called out, even if it were someone who got 10 points in the second round, they wouldnât be able to beat his 18 points," some cultivator said.
"Who had a high rank in the first round and hasnât been called out?"
"Someone called Ye Mo, from the Herb Pill Sect. Heâs a dark horse, but he only got eight points in the first round. Even if he got 10 points in the second round, he canât be first."
"10 points? Keep dreaming? This tournament has been running for thousands of years. Who did you see that got 10 points in a single round?"
Chen Yejun was also shook. How could someone get higher results than him?
The examiner hadnât expected this chaos. He pressed his hand together and said, "Everyone calm down! The first master of the second round will be announced by Kong Ye-Qianbei. I believe he will give everyone a satisfactory explanation."
With this, everyone calmed down. Kong Ye-Qianbei was very respected. He was just and the most high achieving pill king in the North Far State. No one dared to doubt his words.
Even Ye Mo was suspicious. He hadnât thought he would get 10 points on the second round. He knew the spirit weaving pill was rare, but he had the even better spirit recovery pill, so he didnât think much about it.
His heart had sunk when his name hadnât been called in the last twenty rankings. He subconsciously glanced at Wan Guoping. If someone was playing tricks, Wan Guoping was the most suspicious, but he still had a sliver of hope. After all, the last name hadnât been called out. Perhaps he would be lucky enough to get it.
When Kong Ye appeared, Ye Mo couldnât tell the manâs age, but he could see he was definitely stronger than Tong Wusheng and Sima Zhu. He wasnât tall and instead seemed feeble. However, he tried checking the manâs power and realized he couldnât see it at all. It was the first time this happened.
He could sense even the hollow spirit state middle stage power dark-faced Tong had, but that old man felt like an enormous ocean to him. Ye Mo was sure that the man was at least at hollow spirit state primary stage, or even beyond that.
At this moment, Ye Mo felt the old man look over at him. He had felt a benign will from the old man, but he still quickly took back his spirit sense. He couldnât even resist against a master of his level.
Kong Ye stood at the stage. There seemed to be excitement in his eyes. He glanced at Ye Mo and then said, "Everyone must be wondering why I must personally announce the number 1 master of the this tournament, but I believe everyone will understand why after hearing me out."
His voice wasnât loud, but everyone heard it clearly, as though he was speaking in front of them.
"Herb Pill Sectâs Ye Mo 10 points, total points 18, ranked first." Kong Ye didnât even say âtemporarily rankedâ.
Rumble-
The discussion below could no longer be stopped. Ye Mo had been a dark horse until the end and gotten first place. How had he done it?
There had never been a single person with full marks.
Some people said in enlightenment, "I finally understand why he ranked first! Although he has the same points as Ye Chengjun, he got ten points in one round. So, heâs first!"
"That should be right! Ten points... I donât think Kong Ye-Qianbei would lie. It seems he really is a genius."
Chen Yejunâs heart was bitter. He had thought that it didnât matter if he got first or not, but when it really came to it, he felt it hard to accept this fact.
He had a subconscious thought. They both had 18 points - had first place been given to that new guy because he had been first three times in a row?
Ye Mo was also surprised. He had never expected he would get 10 points in the second round.
Kong Ye waited for people to quieten down before saying, "If everyone thinks that Ye Mo got first place because he received ten points in the second round, then youâre all wrong."
Hearing this, people started to listen closely again. Was it not due to Ye Mo getting full marks, which had never happened in the millenniums the tournament had been held?
Kong Ye continued, "Yes, itâs due to another reason. Everyone knows that the spirit attraction grass canât be added to a pill, so the spirit attraction herb was used in the first round to increase the judging speed. However, someone used it in a pill recipe and formed the spirit weaving pill recipe. To be honest, when I saw this recipe, I admired the contestantâs innovative idea and intelligence, but I never dared to imagine it would succeed."
Suppressing the once again heated discussion, Kong Ye continued, "Hence, I would like to thank Judge Wang Zangjian. He didnât easily neglect our contestantâs replied. He looked carefully at this pill recipe and gave us a positive feedback."
"So," Kong Ye looked around and said slowly, "this contestant shouldâve gotten nine points on the first round. If we had taken into consideration his recipe, then he might have even gotten ten points again. However, I only gave him eight points before and this in itself is unfair."
"So thatâs it! Doesnât that mean that Ye Mo got 20 points in the first two rounds? It sounds a little unfair," some people doubted his words.
Kong Ye said again, "Itâs not unfair. Even if he had gotten 20 points, itâs not the reason I want him to get the first place. Ye Mo raked first because he made the spirit weaving pill, a spirit pill that can repair and recover spirit sense. He has set a precedent on Luo Yue Continent!"
With this, the crowd finally erupted uncontrollably.