"Liao Jiayi is in the first position and gains 10,000 merit points, in second place is Meng Jia who gets 4,000 merit points, and in third place is Yan Qiu, who gets 1,000 merit points.
I would also like to congratulate Tang Su, Tang Di, and Bu Fui who have come in fourth, fifth, and sixth place respectively.
I wish good luck to the remaining participants."
Even after a few seconds had passed since Yang Qing's announcement, He Shan and the rest stood rooted in place with shock in their eyes, especially Zou Yi who had just announced aiming for the top three.
·?θm Even though he had not said it with much seriousness and thought their odds were slim, he still didn't expect both three places to disappear in such a fashion.
"Did they all finish simultaneously, or did Brother Yang Qing wait so he could announce them all together?" muttered Zou Yi.
"I think they must have arrived together, otherwise if Brother Yang Qing were waiting he would have announced the moment the first three arrived, and not do it all together by announcing all six participants at the same time.." Zou Liqin answered with a bitter smile on her face.
She barely made it through the first test, but six people already reached the peak just as they were about to start scaling the mountain. They didn't know how far away they were from the peak, but they figured they were closer to the bottom than the top, and as they moved up, it was bound to get tougher and tougher.
The reality of six people having already cleared such a test was a huge hit to their egos when they realized the disparity between them and the six people.
"I didn't expect that old man to be that powerful. He finished sixth!" muttered Zou Yi in shock.
Of the names mentioned he only recognized the sixth place Bu Fui who was one of the unique participants present because of his old age. He looked to be in his seventies and had a farmer's get-up on. He was also one of the few people who summoned enough courage to ask a question.
Even though he had a cultivation base that was in the middle stages of the qi refinement realm, Zou Yi didn't hold too many high hopes for him. He was even surprised to see someone that old participating in the test.
Being that old, and having only reached the middle stages of the qi refinement realm meant his talent was too low, and even if it wasn't, his best years for cultivation were already behind him. Zou Yi couldn't understand why the Order let him take the test. He just chalked it up to the Order being generous with its quota.
Still, he didn't expect much from him, but ending up in sixth and if the top six announcements happened in real-time, it meant he wasn't that far from the first-place finisher.
The announcement was filled with shocking surprises to him.
"Do any of you know any of the participants mentioned?" Zou Yi asked with a grim expression.
The question was mostly directed to Yu Mei. He Shan with his 'excellent skills' in striking conversations, Zou Yi had doubts if he would know anything about the participants. He could know what spirit beast they ate for supper, which herbs they brushed up against when coming here, or which weak points he could target, but when it came to knowing normal things like their names, Zou Yi had serious doubts if he would care about that.
"Of the six other than Bu Fui, I know of only one of the names..." Yu Mei paused as she had an incredulous look on her face.
She was shocked just like Zou Yi and the rest, but her shock was different. It was more of a surprise that came when someone you know reached heights and did something you never expected.
"The first-place finisher...Liao Jiayi. I met them on my way here. His father and mother were kind enough to invite me to travel with them here which gave me the opportunity to interact with him. I can't believe he is in the first place even without a cultivation base..." Yu Mei's voice trailed off as she this look that made it seem like she was replaying the scene in her head.
Can't you finish it, Don't you see how anxious He Shan is because of your delays? If he shoots an arrow at you out of frustration, I'm not stepping in for you...
Zou Yi couldn't help but roll his eyes, and dock a few points from Yu Mei or her delay tactics. He Shan did look twitchy and impatient from her delay, and Zou Yi oblivious of himself, ignored the fact that his hand was clenching and unclenching the century-iron pebble stone as he looked at Yu Mei.
"Liao Jiayi was the youngest participant among us. That seven-year-old kid, who had blue robes with circular symbols on the chest..." Yu Mei finally said, with disbelief still showing in he tone as she said this.
"HIM?!!!" they all yelled.
They had all unanimously assumed that the first three place finishers were all legacies. Never in a million years would they have thought it would have been the seven-year-old boy whom they all assumed had no hopes of joining and his parents had probably signed him up in the hopes of lucking out and shooting for the stars in one fell swoop in the hopes of their child joining the Order.
Such a notion wasn't impossible. Over the years parents have tried even sending month-old babies to try out and join the Order. Of course, they were ruthlessly turned back and scared stiff, but such cases had not stopped happening. Zou Yi and Zou Liqin had heard of those stories from Yang Qing's nephews. They assumed Liao Jiayi's case was the same since he had no cultivation base.
It took them a short while before they processed it, along with the shock of the sudden announcement.
"Let's focus on reaching the peak. For now, the position doesn't matter though ideally I would like us to reach it before the 15 places are up. I'd rather not experience a month-long training that could in my death if I can help it," Zou Yi said as he dryly laughed with fear flashing in his eyes.
Everything he endured in Purple City paled in comparison to those brief few seconds he almost got drilled into by the snapping willow. Even with the increase in strength he still held an unreserved fear for the tree and death itself as a whole.
The rest all nodded in agreement to Zou Yi's statement and immediately set off with increased urgency to their steps.
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦