The final day for the ranking list had arrived, and the rankings for March would be finalized at the Hour of the Monkey.
After midday, while a small number of disciples who refused to give up were still diligently completing tasks, the majority had gathered beneath the stone tablet, prepared to witness the unveiling of the March rankings.
Even many teachers from Kunlun Academy were present nearby, observing the changes on the stone tablet.
Yu Chun Dao and Liu Yin Xiao stood among the teachers, their demeanor intimate.
They had not had a proper conversation in a long time, and this opportunity was seized to console someone’s unrequited affection.
The pair, engrossed in each other, exuded a palpable aura of jealousy-inducing sweetness, yet it did not affect the tense atmosphere among the other teachers.
"Zhi Ming, you’ve already taken on a Buddha’s Son, why are you still competing with me for her?"
Teacher Lian, known for his fiery temper, glared at Teacher Zhi Ming, his expression one of pure exasperation.
"Xu Yi is fated to be connected with Buddhism, so she naturally belongs under my tutelage."
Teacher Zhi Ming replied with a smile, his tone unyielding.
"Nonsense!" Teacher Lian felt an urge to spit on the bald head of Zhi Ming.
Xu Yi was not a Buddhist cultivator, nor had she ever joined any Buddhist sect; how could she be fated to be connected with Buddhism?
"Xu Yi's talent in alchemy is no less than mine; she should join my Alchemy Pavilion."
"Not so, not so."
"Not so my foot! Are you trying to pick a fight, you bald donkey?"
"Teacher Lian, mind your words. Do not create karma through speech."
"If you won't let me speak, then let's fight, you bald donkey..."
Had it not been for the quick reflexes of a teacher nearby who pulled Teacher Lian back, they would have transitioned from spectators to the spectacle themselves.
Teacher Lian, restrained, still looked indignant and was about to speak when a sudden commotion arose from the disciples ahead.
"It's rising! It's rising! It's rising again!"
"Her ranking has actually gone up again!"
"She's a monster!"
"..."
Teacher Lian swallowed the curse words that were about to spill from his lips. He scanned the ranking list with his divine sense and saw that Xu Yi, who was previously ranked twenty-fifth, had now moved up to nineteenth place.
His old face broke into a wide smile.
"Haha, good, very good!"
He now considered Xu Yi his disciple and was so delighted that his eyebrows twitched uncontrollably.
Teacher Zhi Ming also smiled, though his was a much more reserved one.
It was already predetermined that Xu Yi had a connection with Buddhism; Teacher Lian's thoughts could not alter the ultimate outcome.
Liu Yin Xiao and Yu Chun Dao couldn't help but smile as well.
Having recruited this batch of disciples for Kunlun Academy, they naturally felt a sense of pride.
Meanwhile, a thin, elderly teacher among the group stared at Xu Yi's name and murmured to himself, "I truly underestimated her. Perhaps I should take her on as a disciple as well?"
The thin old man was Teacher Li from the Artifact Pavilion.
He had already accepted Yu Xiao Yu as his disciple and had originally intended to take only one, but seeing Xu Yi's astonishing performance now made him waver.
As a teacher who had served at Kunlun Academy for several hundred years, he was privy to some of the academy's lesser-known secrets.
In his opinion, Xu Yi fit Kunlun Academy's requirements perfectly. If she continued on this path, her future would be immeasurable.
If Yu Xiao Yu was the disciple he wished to pass on his legacy to, then Xu Yi could be considered an investment he wanted to see a return on.
He lowered his eyes, his mind quietly calculating.
And among these teachers, those harboring similar thoughts were not few.
Although they were already prominent figures on the Continent of Kyushu, they still possessed desires.
After becoming teachers at Kunlun Academy, the aspiration to nurture a disciple who could command influence across the Continent of Kyushu had become nearly everyone's pursuit.
In Xu Yi, they saw that very possibility.
Therefore, while Teacher Lian was still fuming over Teacher Zhi Ming’s competition for a disciple, other teachers were already stirring, preparing to snatch up the highly sought-after Xu Yi.
On the other side.
Sun Yue, his face a picture of grimness, stared at a height on the stone tablet he had never imagined possible. The intense shame made his face burn as if it were on fire.
He had confidently declared here that it would take decades for Xu Yi and the others to even enter the top hundred.
Now, Xu Yi’s actions were a direct refutation of his words.
Nineteenth place!
This was a height he hadn't even dared to dream of, and something very few had achieved in the academy’s thousand-year history.
Yet Xu Yi had accomplished it in her very first month at Kunlun Academy. How terrifying was that?
And it wasn't just Xu Yi who had delivered such a heavy blow to him.
He shifted his gaze downward, his eyes settling on the middle section of the stone tablet.
Lu Zai Ye, seventy-fourth place, four hundred and twenty-seven merit points.
Bei Xing Han, ninetieth place, three hundred and seventy-three merit points.
Hong Jing, ninety-seventh place, three hundred and forty-two merit points.
Xiong Zhuang Zhuang, hundredth place, three hundred and one merit points.
Sun Yue felt an unbearable stinging in his eyes.
What he considered an insurmountable task had been achieved with apparent ease by these individuals.
Five of this batch of new disciples had entered the top hundred, and the remaining two, though not in the top hundred, were within the top one hundred and ten.
This meant that even the lowest-ranked among them was ranked higher than him, an elder who had been at Kunlun Academy for a hundred years.
Sun Yue gritted his teeth, a metallic taste filling his mouth.
He was now experiencing a sense of utter despair.
What kind of genius was he?
Compared to these people, he was merely a dullard with slow aptitude!
It had been too long since he had experienced being praised and complimented.
He even doubted if those memories were mere figments of his imagination, perhaps he had always been an ordinary person.
Sun Yue's eyes were vacant, his appearance gaunt.
And there were many others with expressions similar to his.
While Sun Yue doubted his life, they too were questioning their existence.
They had also been selected from millions across the Continent of Kyushu, but why was the gap so immense, so vast that they could not accept it?
They stared blankly at Xu Yi's name on the stone tablet, a mixture of fear and an unacknowledged flicker of hope in their hearts.
The final moment had not yet arrived; could Xu Yi climb even higher?
Time trickled by, and under their anxious gaze, Xu Yi's name suddenly flickered. They held their breath instantly.
After the flickering stopped, Xu Yi's name was no longer at the nineteenth position.
Trembling with apprehension, they slowly moved their gaze upward, finally finding Xu Yi's name at the seventeenth position.
"It's, it's gone up again."
Someone’s voice uttered a sigh that was almost a groan.
The hushed atmosphere was instantly broken.
Some disciples even clutched their hair, unable to believe what they were witnessing.
Yu Xiao Yu stood in the crowd, her eyes shining.
Xu Yi was too amazing!
Hearing the discussions about Xu Yi around her, Yu Xiao Yu wore a wide smile.
She felt a sense of shared pride in Xu Yi's achievements.
Xiong Zhuang Zhuang, Hong Jing, and the others also had smiles in their eyes.
Only Bai Shan, hidden at the back of the crowd, remained expressionless, his lips tightly pressed, his gaze dark and unreadable.