Chapter 143: The candidates are climbing the ladder

Ryan finally understood and chuckled as well. “I thought you were laughing at me. Hearing it like this, it does sound interesting. But tell me, if my temporary identity appears on the leaderboard, won’t the higher-ups of Western Mansion investigate and find out who I really am? That wouldn’t be very fun.”

“Don’t worry,” Wang Bi’er said confidently. “The temporary number is just a code. It doesn’t contain any personal information. They won’t know who you are unless you reveal it yourself.”

“That’s good,” Ryan replied, visibly relieved. His eyes gleamed as he looked back at the ranking. “In that case, I’ll go to the Eight Palace Battle Hall and see whether this temporary number of mine can make it onto the leaderboard.”

After all, he still had the entrance examination ahead of him. There were the Li Clan juniors and the North District candidates to consider. For now, remaining hidden was far more interesting than stepping into the spotlight too soon.

After hearing Wang Bi’er’s explanation, it was not only Ryan whose interest was stirred. Mu Xianling, Li Wujie, and the others also showed obvious curiosity toward the Eight Palace Battle Hall and the legendary leaderboard.

Just as everyone was preparing to head toward the Eight Palace Battle Hall to personally experience the so-called cross-palace sparring, a wave of exclamations suddenly rose from the candidates gathered nearby.

“Did you see that? Did you really see that? My heavens!”

“I saw it! This can’t be… could it be one of our candidates this year? That’s terrifying!”

“He actually made it into the top three thousand of the Outer House rankings. That’s insane!”

“I noticed it too. The ranking shows a temporary number, 59886, placed at 2995. Only a temporary code is displayed. Do you know who that is? A temporary number actually appearing on the leaderboard… that’s unbelievable.”

“Of course I know. That’s Yu Yunli from the Eastern District. He already has the strength of a Seven-Star Exalt. He’s incredibly strong. People say he’s the most outstanding young genius to appear in a hundred years!”

“How do you know it’s him?”

“When he received his temporary number, I secretly glanced at his arm. I remember it clearly.”

“So it really is him… As a candidate, he already reached Seven-Star Exalt. And now he’s entered the top three thousand of the Outer House rankings. Looks like we’re not even on the same level.”

“Talent really decides everything. At the same age, others have already stepped into the Exalt realm and are even preparing to advance toward Upper Exalt. And us? Still stuck as Upper Elites. Who knows when we’ll even break through.”

The discussions were filled with envy, shock, and helpless sighs.

“Yu Yunli… a young genius… rank 2995.” Ryan murmured softly as he glanced at the leaderboard. Sure enough, near the bottom, he spotted the temporary number that had become the center of attention.

“It seems the overall quality of candidates this year is really high,” Wang Bi’er said with emotion. “Much stronger than previous years. Even besides Brother Li, there are candidates who can enter the top three thousand of the Outer House rankings.”

“There’s always someone better out there, and the world never lacks geniuses,” Ryan replied with a light laugh. “That’s nothing strange.”

“Yes, but people like Brother Li are on a completely different level,” Wang Bi’er said seriously, her eyes shining with admiration. “You’re the most outstanding person I’ve ever seen. The word ’excellent’ isn’t even enough to describe you anymore.”

The others silently agreed.

Excellent was far from enough to describe Ryan. Using the word “monstrous” felt more appropriate.

Which candidate could defeat Upper Exalts? Which candidate could kill countless Exalts head-on?

No one had ever seen such a thing.

But Wang Bi’er had.

That man was Ryan.

Mu Xianling, however, frowned slightly. Wang Bi’er’s words sounded a bit too intimate, and that made her inexplicably uncomfortable.

“Bi’er, we were talking about others. Why did you suddenly start praising me?” Ryan laughed. “I’ll be happy hearing it, sure… but I might also get arrogant.”

“That’s fine. Just be arrogant,” Wang Bi’er replied bluntly.

Ryan laughed again, but quickly stopped speaking. Mu Xianling’s sharp gaze was already fixed on him, and if he continued, who knew what kind of trouble would follow.

He shifted his attention back to the light curtain, only to notice that the temporary number 59886 had risen again. In the blink of an eye, it moved up one position, reaching rank 2994.

In such a short time, Yu Yunli’s ranking had increased once more.

Without even entering Western Mansion, that candidate had already secured a place among the top three thousand disciples of the Outer House and was still climbing. His talent was indeed impressive, worthy of the title of a young genius.

However, such talent still failed to attract much attention from Ryan.

They were simply not on the same level.

Ryan’s goal was never the top three thousand.

If he was going to do something, he would aim for the very top.

First place.

Seeing that temporary numbers could truly appear on the leaderboard, Ryan’s anticipation for the Eight Palace Battle Hall grew even stronger. Still, he did not rush to leave. Instead, he lingered, listening to more conversations around him, hoping to pick up other interesting information, just like Yu Yunli’s case earlier.

“Such a young age, still just a candidate, yet already entering the top three thousand… His future achievements are limitless. Too bad he won’t come to our palace.”

“Yeah. We really can’t compare. Now we don’t even have a single disciple within the top thousand. Sigh… it’s all because cultivating mental power is just too difficult.”

“Don’t be so discouraged. Didn’t Brother Mo Ran break through again? He’s already entered the top two thousand. He’s at 1,566 now. That’s still something.”

“And Sister Ye Feihan has also made progress. She’s at 1,050 now, almost breaking into the top thousand.”

“That’s right. Don’t lose heart. Mental power cultivation is hard, but once it succeeds, the rewards are enormous. When that day comes, we’ll definitely soar and shock the world.”

“Yes. Keep going. That day will come.”

These voices belonged to Di Palace disciples.

From their words, Ryan could easily tell that Di Palace’s current situation was far from optimistic.

Not a single disciple within the top thousand.

Within the top thousand, the rankings were completely dominated by the other seven palaces.

It was a bleak reality.

Mental power was powerful, but its cultivation difficulty was equally terrifying. That difficulty had directly caused Di Palace’s overall combat strength to lag far behind the others.

As more and more talented disciples joined Western Mansion, this disadvantage would only grow more obvious. In the future, not to mention the top thousand, even maintaining a place within the top two thousand might become difficult for Di Palace disciples.

However, what surprised Ryan was the atmosphere among the Di Palace disciples.

Even when someone expressed discouragement, others would immediately step forward to comfort and encourage them. That shared resilience, that stubborn refusal to give up, was striking.

Such an atmosphere, if sustained, was bound to produce results sooner or later.

Ryan’s impression of Di Palace improved significantly.

At the same time, he finally understood why Mo Ran had acted the way he did before. Long-term suppression, constant ridicule, and the pressure of being looked down upon would push anyone toward explosive reactions. Under such circumstances, impulsive actions were not strange at all.

And now, Ryan felt that perhaps, just perhaps, Di Palace did not need to remain at the bottom forever.

After lingering in the Observation Hall for a while and finding no further information worth noting, Ryan finally led everyone out and headed straight for the Eight Palace Battle Hall.

The Eight Palace Battle Hall was similar in structure to the autonomous challenge platform. Once inside, rows of individual rooms came into view. Each room served as a connection point where disciples from the Eight Palaces could be matched and spar with one another.

If a room was occupied, a red light glowed above its door, signaling that entry was forbidden. If vacant, the door displayed a green light, indicating availability.

Ryan and his group casually chose a room marked with a green light and stepped inside.

The interior layout was nearly identical to the autonomous challenge rooms. In the corner stood a stone platform used for registering temporary quotas, while the center of the room was dominated by a square, transparent energy barrier.

“Bi’er, how exactly do I spar with the disciples of the Eight Palaces here?” Ryan asked as he examined the energy barrier. “This doesn’t seem to work the same way as the autonomous challenge platform.”

Wang Bi’er smiled and pointed toward the western side of the barrier. “Brother Li, look over there. Do you notice anything different?”

Ryan followed her gesture. Indeed, that section of the barrier appeared noticeably different. A strip about a meter wide was slightly opaque, tinged with white, unlike the clearer surface elsewhere. The rest of the barrier felt thin and light, while that area seemed thicker and more solid.

“It looks different, sure,” Ryan said, puzzled. “But what does it do?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep