novelraw Chapter 171 - 130: There’s a Reason You Are Weak
Chapter 171 - 130: There’s a Reason You Are Weak
As Jiang Man and his two companions departed, the three who remained behind glanced back at them.
"Who is he? Why would someone like that come from inside?"
Unfortunately, there was no one to answer their questions.
At that moment, Jiang Man was walking along the path when he saw a massive stone stele.
It soared into the clouds, an incredibly eye-catching sight.
"Is this for recording the rankings?" Jiang Man asked curiously.
"The rankings have a delay, and it’s unlikely they’d use such a large stele for them. This might be a stele from within the Secret Realm," Number 99 said.
Number 98 nodded in agreement. "I’ve heard there are four ranking steles, one for each area."
Jiang Man wasn’t particularly concerned. He just asked them how much they knew about this place.
Or, more to the point, what the best treasures in the Secret Realm were.
"Everything in the Secret Realm is undisclosed, so you have to discover and fight for the best things yourself," Number 99 explained.
Jiang Man furrowed his brow. "Then what about the rankings?"
"It’s based on actual combat," Number 99 said.
Jiang Man thought for a moment. "Does this ’actual combat’ include the Five Elements Technique?"
He felt as if the Five Elements Technique was made for this Secret Realm.
The moment he made his move, he realized the Five Elements Technique was more powerful than he’d anticipated.
Its power was astonishing.
It wasn’t that his Talent was exceptional, allowing him to unleash greater power, but that the Secret Realm itself was special.
Therefore, he believed that with the Five Elements Technique, his combat prowess would ascend to a whole new level.
"It counts," Number 99 said seriously. "Anything that proves effective is considered part of your combat performance. For instance, if someone who knows Arrays sets up a grand formation here and wins because of it, that’s counted."
Jiang Man nodded, feeling a bit surprised.
’So Arrays and the like are also included.’
’Then I’ll really have to be more careful.’
After the Foundation Establishment Six Courtyards, specializing in a Minor became common.
Fights were much more complex than before.
Talismans, Arrays, Puppets—all sorts of methods could come into play.
Moreover, Sword Cultivators and Body Cultivators were both troublesome opponents.
At the Qi Refining stage, there were only Magic Cultivators, and the gap between cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Introduction and Early Stage wasn’t large.
But that changed later on.
’I only have a deep Cultivation base, not a deep repertoire of Magic Skills.’
"Do you know where Number 66 is?" Jiang Man asked.
’Since I have to find and investigate everything myself, there isn’t much time left.’
’The combat rankings aren’t necessarily accurate.’
’The rankings and competition here are different from the Yunqian Bureau’s usual contests.’
’There are bound to be discrepancies. You need an opportunity to showcase your skills or stumble upon something valuable enough to have your combat performance recorded.’
’If you just scavenge for leftovers, your ranking won’t necessarily be high.’
’That would be bad for the bet.’
’So the simplest solution is to defeat Number 66 directly.’
’That way, he’ll have to honor the bet.’
’And I can earn a nice sum of Spiritual Source while I’m at it.’
’I’ll also use this fight to show him that there are levels even among those who rank first.’
"He’ll be hard to find. This Secret Realm offers too much freedom, and there are many places to explore, so tracking down a single person is very difficult. However, we can determine which region he’s in." What Number 99 was referring to were the ranking steles.
After some time, they finally saw the four steles.
Jiang Man took a look at the rankings.
First place, Number 6.
Second place, Number 32.
Third place, Number 166.
Scanning down the list, Jiang Man spotted a familiar number near the bottom.
Forty-sixth place, Number 66.
"His rank is pretty far up there."
The leaderboard only listed fifty names, so getting into the top fifty was already quite an achievement.
After all, there were probably around two hundred people in total.
’My own number, 210, was one of the last. With some people already eliminated, it’s reasonable to assume there are somewhere between a hundred and two hundred people left.’
"He’s in our region," Number 98 said, pointing to the third stele.
He was ranked twenty-first in this region.
"Twenty-first?" Jiang Man was a little surprised. "That doesn’t seem very high."
"Our ranks are further down." Number 99 pointed to the very bottom of the list. "Ninety-sixth place is Number 210."
Jiang Man glanced down and was surprised to find he wasn’t in the bottom three.
’Still, I’m in the bottom ten. What a nostalgic ranking.’
’In that case, Number 66, at twenty-first place, must have some real skill.’
Still, knowing only his rank and region, finding Number 66 would be difficult.
"Let’s go ask around first and see if there are any new rules," Number 99 suggested.
’Compared to the Sect’s other competitions, this Secret Realm is far too open-ended.’
’You have to figure out the rules for yourself.’
「Soon, they returned.」
Upon their return, they saw Jiang Man in the middle of his Cultivation.
This...
’Isn’t that a bit much?’
"Just getting familiar with my new state," Jiang Man said casually.
’I’m still not proficient with the Five Elements Technique. I need to practice it more.’
"We have news. They say you can get one Array-related item per region," Number 99 said seriously. "That means after we get the item in this region, we can still go to the outer regions to get theirs."
"We can even try our luck in the central area, but the Sect probably hasn’t prepared anything for us there. Whatever you find is all up to you."
"If you’re forced out of the Secret Realm, your rank will drop."
"Does a lower ranking have any consequences?" Jiang Man asked curiously.
’The rankings here are different from the annual ones; they have no real practical use.’
"Fiftieth place gets one thousand Spiritual Source, and it increases by one thousand for each rank up," Number 98 said.
Jiang Man was stunned for a moment.
’Well, since I’m already here, might as well aim for a high rank.’
’It’ll also make Number 66 accept his defeat without any reservations.’
"Also, we heard about a few places. Apparently, a Top-grade Yuan Condensation Technique has appeared, but no one has claimed it yet," Number 99 said seriously. "To claim it, you need the Five Elements Technique at a certain level."
"The top-grade area requires three aspects of the Five Elements to even have a chance of being breached."