That's a very insincere statement.

Lu Wenxing rolled his eyes in anger, almost causing his tail to pop out.

Everything was going well, and what seemed like a sure thing turned out to be a complete disaster.

I should have told him to challenge the guy ranked 51. By the time they finished, he would have been 45.

We wasted a chance to use the Array Cake.

Several teammates won crucial matches thanks to the cakes, but he kept the cakes safely in his pocket until the end of the competition.

What's the most frustrating thing in life? It's using the "Zhen Bing" (a type of traditional Chinese medicine) but still not making it into the top 50, like Shen Wuyang.

What's even more frustrating in life? The game is over, but the game hasn't even been played yet. That's Lu Wenxing.

Watching his teammates gloatingly comfort him, it wasn't comforting at all; it was clearly mockery.

Lu Wenxing was angry, but he couldn't beat the junior sister and senior brother who were laughing the loudest.

So he turned to Chen Qi and shouted, "Chen Yaoqiang, I challenge you!"

Chen Qi immediately jumped up, keeping a distance from Lu Wenxing, and laughed, "I won't accept it! Oh well, what can you do about it?"

Before the settlement date, if a challenge was not accepted, the person would be judged to have lost, and the rankings of the two people would be reversed. But now that the settlement date has passed, there is no longer such a rule. Lu Wenxing was angry, but there was nothing he could do.

Three days later, the nine-story pagoda opened as scheduled.

Almost all the disciples from various sects who were in the outer arena gathered on the central floating island to watch the grand opening of the Nine-Story Tower.

The nine-story pagoda has always been on the central floating island, but it is usually hidden by an array and cannot be seen.

The nine-story pagoda can only be seen once a year after the settlement date.

So, regardless of whether they were qualified to enter, everyone gathered together to witness this rare spectacle.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the clouds that had been obscuring the tower gradually dissipated, revealing the true form of the legendary nine-story pagoda.

From the outside, this nine-story pagoda looks very simple, and it is no different from the tall pagodas commonly seen outside.

Judging from the disciples of Qian Yuan Western Region, none of them are as noble as the Xuanji Pagoda from the Six Sects Grand Competition.

Even from a great distance, once the isolation array dissipated, the oppressive aura emanating from the tower reminded everyone that appearances can be deceiving.

The alliance's presiding elder stood on the high platform in front of the nine-story tower, looking at the dark mass of people in front of him, and said loudly: "The top fifty on the Prodigy Ranking, come forward."

There was a small open space in front of the nine-story pagoda, where the qualified disciples were already standing.

The presiding elder frowned slightly, looking at the prodigies before him, and repeated what he had just said: "The top fifty on the Prodigy Ranking, step forward!"

At this point, his tone already carried a hint of impatience.

Only then did everyone realize that of the fifty people who were originally going to enter the tower, only forty-nine had arrived on this small open space.

Shi Xuan's first reaction was that Yan Lingyi hadn't come.

She used her divine sense to search around, and sure enough, she didn't see Yan Lingyi appear.

It has been more than twenty days since he suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of his senior brother, and Shi Xuan has not seen him even once.

He is still ranked 39th and is still eligible to enter the nine-story tower.

But he did not appear.

The presiding elder waited a few moments before coldly saying, "The time has come. One person among the top fifty is not present. According to the rules, this person's ranking on the Prodigy Ranking will be removed from the top fifty, and everyone else will move up one place."

He paused for a moment, as if using his divine sense to check the rankings on the Prodigy List, and then asked, "Where is Lu Wenxing, who was originally ranked fifty-first?"

From the moment he mentioned removing Yan Lingyi from the list of prodigies, everyone had a premonition that she might be moved up to fifty-one.

When it actually happened, Lu Wenxing jumped up, raised his hands, and ran forward, shouting, "Hey, hey, Lu Wenxing is here!"

His eagerness made the other cultivators present chuckle, and some even mocked him for being such a country bumpkin who had never seen the world, so excited about just getting into a tower.

But only five out of a thousand people can get in, and those standing outside can't tell whether they genuinely think he's unsophisticated or are just jealous of his good luck.

The top fifty that Lu Wenxing missed due to his poor decision-making has now returned to his hands.

If you were to ask him now what the most frustrating thing in the world is, he would probably proudly say: "I didn't even need to use the 'Zhenbing' (a type of divination cake), how did I get into the top fifty?"

Lu Wenxing couldn't understand Yan Lingyi. How could someone be like that, giving up a spot in the top fifty just like that? That was something so many people dreamed of.

Shi Xuan could roughly guess Yan Lingyi's thoughts regarding his actions.

The two consecutive failures had a huge impact on him, making him feel like he had lost face in front of everyone.

After losing to Lu Shenzhi, if he were to challenge the third-place finisher, who happens to be from their own Hongmeng team, it's generally better to disappear from the public eye and appear to have retired. Since internal strife is rare among team members, others would simply say they couldn't beat the top two and could only bully their own people.

At this point, he was even less inclined to show up.

Entering the tower as the 39th person, Yan Lingyi probably couldn't bear such humiliation.

Although Shi Xuan could understand his feelings, he could not agree with them.

For pragmatists like Shi Xuan, anything useful is good. As for other people's opinions or their own rankings, what do they matter?

Others' opinions won't magically elevate me two levels or teach me some powerful techniques; something practical is more important than anything else.

Therefore, this immense wealth and honor descended upon Lu Wenxing so easily.

The best team members couldn't help but exclaim: "The saying 'fools are lucky' must be true!"

By this time, all fifty disciples who were about to enter the nine-story tower had been gathered. Even if Yan Lingyi regretted it at this point and wanted to come back and ask for more spots, it would be too late.

Lu Wenxing followed Shi Xuan with a smug look on his face, already imagining how he would brag to his master about how he, his senior brother, and junior sister had entered the Nine-Story Pagoda together after they returned from here.

Although he entered the tower with the other five people, looking around, no one in the entire Qian Yuan Continent had ever entered the Nine-Story Tower before. In a way, he was the first person in the Qian Yuan Continent to enter the Nine-Story Tower!

Even if we're tied for first place, we're still number one!

Lu Wenxing was extremely pleased with himself. After thinking about how to brag to his master, he started thinking about how many times he should tell his fellow disciples. He stood up straight, but his mind was racing.

Seeing that everyone was finally present, the elder presiding over the alliance's expression softened slightly. He addressed the fifty people, saying, "The experience in this nine-story tower is a reward for the top fifty on the Outer Realm Arena's Prodigy Ranking. However, how much you receive depends entirely on your own abilities. When you can no longer advance, there's no need to force it. After thirty days, you will all be teleported out."