"How...how is this time calculated?"
Several people turned their attention to Qing Songzi. Qing Songzi whispered a few words to the disciples beside him, and the two disciples immediately left.
Immediately afterwards, they carried up a large, beautifully carved wooden plaque.
The first row of signs was followed by a previously carved wooden plaque that read: Master Bai Yuan. Immediately following it was the time he took to complete the level: ten and a half minutes, or a quarter of an hour.
The second line naturally reads Lu Zhaozhao's name, and the time taken was ten and eight minutes.
The two times were so close, almost incredibly fast, that even the host, Qing Songzi, hadn't anticipated it.
"The results will be displayed here temporarily. After the competition, they will be displayed on the Hundred-Zhang Cliff in the courtyard for everyone's reference."
Qing Songzi added to the discussion among the guests.
Two people had already received their results, and the happiest were those from Wenyuan Academy and Qing Huizong, since no one else would be able to achieve high scores in this batch.
Ying Che breathed a sigh of relief and smiled with satisfaction, but soon his heart jumped into his throat again because Nian Zhi's condition was not good.
Perhaps the first two gave the audience a false sense of security, as they were waiting for the third place to appear. However, half an hour passed, and not only did no new rankings emerge, the other disciples in the secret chamber were in a rather precarious situation.
Many disciples failed to grasp the rules at first, touching all five puppets and activating them simultaneously. Under the onslaught of the five puppets, they were inevitably caught off guard and became somewhat flustered.
Some people even subdued a doll, inserted the key into the door, and then sat down to rest, thinking they would regain some strength before continuing. Unexpectedly, when the key was inserted, the remaining dolls were activated at the same time, catching them off guard.
With various situations arising, it seems unlikely that anyone will emerge anytime soon, at least for now.
After Lu Zhaozhao and Bai Yuanshi returned to the banquet from two different routes, the third person appeared.
At the last moment before the five puppets attacked him together, Liaochou of the Sword Tomb tore off the outer robe covering his body, revealing his face hidden beneath the clothing.
Long red marks covered his entire face, with a vermilion dot on his forehead, like a drop of blood on it, and his pupils were also blood red.
Many people were startled by his appearance and their eyes kept glancing towards the Sword Tomb.
But Liao Chou was in a secret room at the moment and could not perceive these things. He clasped his hands together and whispered something.
Hundreds of beams of light emerged from his body, condensing into countless weapons of various shapes and sizes, which shot straight toward the puppet.
In the blink of an eye, all was still.
The next moment, all five puppets were dismembered, their parts scattered all over the ground.
Many of those present were taken aback by this scene and slowly stood up.
Lu Zhaozhao happened to see this scene when she returned.
Others might find it hard to understand, but Lu Zhaozhao, who had gone through the trials, knew very well how powerful this puppet was. It seemed hard to believe that it could be so easily dismembered.
But... if he has such methods, why did he wait until now to use them?
Lu Zhaozhao looked at the banquet of the Sword Tomb. Most of the Sword Tomb disciples were shocked, only the sect leader was calm, but there was some worry in his eyes.
Could it be that Liao Chou didn't intend to use this attack so early? Was she just forced to use it?
Judging from the Sword Tomb Sect Leader's expression, Lu Zhaozhao felt that this idea was not impossible.
She lowered her eyes. If Bai Yuanshi hadn't lied to her, then Liao Chou was indeed only at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm. Therefore, to break the deadlock, he had to use the power of the artifact master, which made sense.
So, how did Master Bai Yuan pass the level?
Lu Zhaozhao stirred, wanting to ask Ying Che beside her, but seeing him staring intently at the mirror with a tense expression, she stopped her outstretched hand in mid-air, paused for a moment, and then withdrew it.
He casually turned to one of his disciples and asked him about Master Bai Yuan's actions when they were in the secret room earlier.
The young disciple recounted the scene to her in detail.
The mirror reflected the entire secret chamber, though it lacked detail. According to the disciple, he only saw Master Bai activate all five puppets at once, then move among them, with faint golden threads appearing wherever he went. After about a quarter of an hour, he suddenly stopped, and at that moment, he was standing right in the center, with the five puppets in the exact same positions as before.
Then, a golden light suddenly appeared, and the entire secret chamber was covered in light, so that those outside could not see anything.
As the light faded, Bai Yuanshi had already left the secret chamber, leaving behind the shattered remains of the puppet on the ground.
After hearing this, Lu Zhaozhao couldn't help but look at Bai Yuanshi, who was sitting in the seat of honor. He was being pulled aside by Qing Songzi to talk.
Lu Zhaozhao recalled his actions in East Lake. At that time, she thought that this was most of his strength, but now she realized that he was hiding much more. It was just the first hurdle, and he certainly wouldn't use his full strength. But the abilities that Bai Yuanshi had shown so far were enough to make her wary.
When she looked back at the mirror, quite a few people had already completed the game.
The wooden plaque was densely filled with the names and dates of many people, with Bai Yuanshi and Lu Zhaozhao's names prominently displayed at the top, taking advantage of their prominent position.
Below, there is the sage's thorn.
This is exactly the same as the Wenrenlu (Records of Notable Figures), and it must be said that this Zhezhishanren (a man from Zhezhishan) has a truly unique perspective.
Further down, there were several names listed side by side, and Lu Zhaozhao saw Bai Yuanzhou's name among them.
It seems these two brothers from Wenyuan Academy are really coming on strong this year.
It was surprising that Yao Tong was ranked behind the group of people who were tied for first place. She was the highest-ranking member of the Tianyin Sect this year, but she only managed to come in tenth.
However, the competition has only just begun, and no one can predict what will happen next. Perhaps they are holding back their strength, or perhaps they are hiding a lot of problems.
The rankings had reached over seventy people, with Nian Zhi being the latest addition, which surprised Lu Zhaozhao somewhat.
She vaguely remembered that although Nian Zhi's ranking in the book was not the top one, it was still very high. It seemed that the opportunity she had taken from Donghu had a really big impact.
The first batch ended quickly, and the second batch entered, once again displaying their unique talents.
The rankings at the top remained largely unchanged until evening, when significant changes occurred in the top ten.
A rogue cultivator named Sangpan suddenly appeared and rose to the top in less than ten minutes, shocking everyone.
"Who is this? I've never heard of him before?" Some people at the table whispered among themselves, and Lu Zhaozhao was also very curious.
What's even stranger is that the process of this rogue cultivator clearing the level was inexplicably missing a piece on the mirror, so no one knows how he cleared it.
In the overall rankings, Sang Pan is first, Bai Yuanshi is second, and Lu Zhaozhao is third.
The fourth place began to change positions several times. In the end, Liao Chou, who was originally below Lu Zhaozhao, was ranked seventh, while Bai Yuanzhou, Yao Tong and other pre-competition favorites were all outside the top ten.
It is worth mentioning that Nian Zhi actually ranked below 100th, advancing with an extremely precarious position.
She was quite certain that Liao Chou and Sang Pan had never appeared in the book, but since she transmigrated here, there have been countless characters who had never appeared in the book, so she had become accustomed to them.
The first day came to an end, and what awaited them was an even more brutal selection on the second day. Everyone tacitly avoided the topic and left to rest after the gathering.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com