Chapter 853: Not A Hallucination
Just like before, even though Huang Xiaolong’s name appeared on the ranking list, it did not gain any attention. Most of the people on the square were mainly focused on the top one hundred of the ranking list, and there were some who also looked at the top one thousand from time to time.
Whereas the Azure Dragon Institute Grand Elder named Wang Hong glanced at the bottom of the ranking list more frequently than any other people on the square. Although Ceng Chu and the others claimed it was a hallucination when he saw Huang Xiaolong’s name on the 3,000th place, Wang Hong wasn't convinced.
However, for the next few days, Huang Xiaolong’s name did not appear again at the bottom. This caused Wang Hong to doubt himself; did he, perhaps, saw wrongly?
Just as Wang Hong retrieved his gaze from the bottom of the ranking list, his gaze froze at a certain name on the 2,945th place.
Shining softly at that spot was the name ‘Huang Xiaolong’.
‘Huang Xiaolong?!’
A breath was stuck in his chest; Wang Hong rubbed his eyes with disbelief, was this another hallucination?
He widened his eyes to look at the same spot after rubbing his eyes—it was still Huang Xiaolong’s name!
This time, however, he did not shout or scream, but rubbed his eyes again in case he was seeing things. When he looked again at the 2,945th place, it was a disciple named Lin Xin.
Looking at this name, Wang Hong breathed out in relief, surmising that what he saw earlier was a hallucination, a mistake. Fortunately, he did not yell and make a commotion or he would suffer another bout of scolding from Ceng Chu and the rest.
Barely after a second of relief, Wang Hong’s eyes seemed to freeze in a widened state as he caught sight of Huang Xiaolong’s name at the 2,931st place!
2,931st!
Leaping up fourteen places!
Could it be that just now… wasn’t a hallucination?
In the next moment, Wang Hong saw Huang Xiaolong’s name flicker and climbing up again, stopping at the 2,912th place!
2,912th!
Before long, Huang Xiaolong’s name once again shot up, this time rising all the way to the 2,873rd place!
Wang Hong looked like he saw a ghost, his eyes protruding from their sockets, his breathing ragged, even his limbs seemed to quiver as he shook his head in denial, shrieking, “No, impossible, this cannot be true, definitely impossible!!”
Wang Hong’s sharp shriek made the rest of the Azure Dragon Institute members turn to look at him.
There was a frown on Qin Yi’s forehead as he demanded in a sullen voice. “What’s impossible? I’ve already told you many times, with that Huang Xiaolong’s strength, it’s impossible for him to show up in the top three thousand!”
Wang Hong ignored the dissatisfaction on Qin Yi’s face, pointing at the ranking list, his voice shaking, “N-no, it-it’s Huang Xiaolong, Huang Xiaolong!”
Qin Yi, Ceng Chu, and the others looked at the ranking list’s 2,873rd spot out of curiosity. However, Huang Xiaolong’s name glimmered at this moment, jumping a great distance forward from 2,873 to the 2,412th place.
Hence, when Qin Yi, Ceng Chu, and the rest looked at the 2,873rd position on the ranking list, they did not see Huang Xiaolong’s name.
Ceng Chu couldn’t hold back from ridiculing Wang Hong, “I think you’ve been hoping for that Huang Xiaolong to appear on the list day and night that you've started hallucinating, seeing things that aren't there!”
Qin Yi’s expression turned cold, deciding to examine this Wang Hong in detail once they returned to the Azure Dragon Institute.
Wang Hong continued to point at the ranking list, ignoring Ceng Hu’s ridicule, stuttering in his words, “Huang, Huang Xiaolong, so fast!!”
So fast?
Qin Yi, Ceng Chu, and the others once again looked at the ranking list. Finally, this time, they saw Huang Xiaolong’s name! And they stiffened in place.
Was it really that Huang Xiaolong?!
Ceng Chu and several other Grand Elders rubbed their eyes, just like Wang Hong did before, and looked again at the ranking list. Huang Xiaolong’s name was still on the 2,264th spot!
In the next moment, his name glimmered brightly. When it reappeared, it was at the 2,125th place!
Qin Yi, Ceng Chu, and the others finally understood what Wang Hong meant by ‘so fast’. Huang Xiaolong was rising through the list very quickly.
“He’s already entered the 1,900!” Wang Hong shrieked again, his jaw dropping.
This time, neither Qin Yi nor Ceng Chu criticized or snapped at Wang Hong.
Qin Yi stared at Huang Xiaolong’s name rising like an arrow up the ranking list, his face darker than muddy water. It seems like he once again underestimated that Huang Xiaolong, not only was this little annoying punk still alive, his strength wasn't as weak as he had thought it to be.
Qin Yi remembered that a few days ago Wang Hong told them he saw Huang Xiaolong’s name appearing on the ranking list at the 3,000th place. Now, though, it was clear that Wang Hong did not see wrong at that time, nor was it a hallucination.
‘It was true!’
“I really didn’t think Huang Xiaolong has such ability. It seems he has concealed his cultivation realm, perhaps he has also broken through to the Highgod Realm like Junior Brother.” Ceng Chu spoke in a solemn voice.
At this point, Ceng Chu didn't believe that Huang Xiaolong was a mere perfection stage late-Tenth Order God Realm cultivator.
All the disciples who managed to climb up to the top three thousand were late-Second Order Highgod Realm and above. Huang Xiaolong couldn't possibly achieve this result with just a God Realm cultivation.
There could only be one explanation, Huang Xiaolong had already broken through to the Highgod Realm, but used a secret technique to conceal his real cultivation realm!
“Then again, even if he has advanced to the Highgod Realm, he cannot compete with Junior Brother who has the Azure Dragon Divine Fire. The highest he could reach would be somewhere after the 1,000th place, he has no chance of climbing up the top one thousand!” Ceng Chu snickered, “All ranking numbers lower than 1,000 are irrelevant.”
In this tournament, only the top one thousand disciples would receive rewards.
“It’s exactly as Ceng Chu said, Huang Xiaolong has no chance of entering the top one thousand.” An Azure Dragon Institute Grand Elder Fu Yan agreed and added, “Moreover, the current ranking is not set in stone. Who knows, maybe a few days later he’ll fall out of the top two thousand, even fall out from the top three thousand!”
While the Azure Dragon Institute group was cursing Huang Xiaolong, in another corner of the Aeon Square, the Yelu Family Patriarch Yelu Chufei and the family’s Grand Elders were paying close attention to the ranking list.
Yelu Chufei’s eyes were glued to Yelu Tianfeng’s name on the 15th spot! He was looking forward to the surprise that their Yelu Family’s brightest star, the most talented genius of their family, could give him by breaking into the top ten!
“Father, Big brother will definitely enter the top ten!” Yelu Tianhao said on the side.
Yelu Chufei nodded.
All of a sudden, a Yelu Family Grand Elder’s expression turned grim, pointing at the 1,087th place, shouting, “Patriarch, look quick, Yelu Xuan…!”
Yelu Chufei and the other Yelu Family members felt that Grand Elder was acting strangely. When they looked over at the 1,087th spot, Yelu Xuan’s shining name suddenly dimmed and exploded like fireworks in the next second, disappearing permanently from the ranking list!
They were no strangers to this scene. If a participating disciple’s name exploded like that, it meant that disciple had fallen!
In short, dead!
An eerie silence enshrouded the Yelu Family’s group.