Chapter 539 - 233: Shocking the Nation! The Jubilant Hometown

"His name is Lin Ye."

"Maybe we’ll see his name appear higher up in the rankings in a bit."

The list on the sky-screen paused for a moment, then began to scroll upward again!

Ninth place, eighth place, seventh place...

Each name that appeared was accompanied by jaw-dropping combat footage and a string of incredibly dazzling data.

In Dong Dongchen’s live stream, the atmosphere had reached a fever pitch.

"Folks, don’t even think about judging these A-rank and S-rank evaluations by the standards of a normal martial arts exam!"

"I heard through some inside contacts that all the testing standards for the Imperial Capital’s Exam Site 001 this year were absurdly, almost unbelievably, difficult!"

"Every single one of these ratings you’re seeing represents a world-shocking record!"

Long Bohan, who was beside him, also nodded and added with a serious expression, "My father mentioned this to me as well."

"I won’t say too much, but let’s just take the most basic Qi and Blood index test as an example."

"In the Yanjing exam sites this year, a Qi and Blood index over 1,000 points would already earn you a perfect score."

"But if you took those same results and put them in the Imperial Capital’s Exam Site 001..."

Long Bohan took a deep breath and uttered a single word that left everyone in the live stream stunned.

"Failure."

[?????]

[Did I hear that right? A Qi and Blood index of one thousand is a failure?!]

[What kind of fucking exam is this for humans? Are they trying to select gods?!]

[I’m numb... I worked my ass off to reach the Gang Condensation Realm, and my Qi and Blood just barely passed six hundred. But for them, a thousand points on the college entrance exam is considered failing?]

[This gap... It’s even bigger than the one between a human and a dog!]

Just as the bullet comments flew across the screen, the light in the sky suddenly shifted!

The scrolling list came to an abrupt halt at the third-place position!

At that moment, the music playing throughout the city became ethereal and melodious.

A stunningly beautiful figure appeared on the sky-screen.

Xia Lianxue!

Onscreen, she was dressed in white that outshone the snow, her expression cold and aloof. With a gentle lift of her fair hand, countless brilliant streams of light, condensed from different elements, weaved together and merged before her.

The next instant, the sphere of light, which had fused with the ultimate destructive energy, suddenly burst open!

There was no earth-shattering roar, only a pure, all-consuming white light!

The terrifying power of the explosion, even seen just through the screen, made countless hearts pound in fear.

However, at the entrance to the Firewood Martial Hall, Long Bohan’s expression changed the instant he saw Xia Lianxue appear in third place.

His previously relaxed smile froze on his face, replaced by astonishment and confusion.

"What’s wrong, Old Long?"

Dong Dongchen noticed the change in his expression immediately and quickly asked.

Long Bohan didn’t answer right away. He just stared intently at the sky-screen, muttering two words.

"An upset..."

"What do you mean, an upset?" Dong Dongchen was even more confused.

Long Bohan finally snapped out of it. He glanced at the live stream camera and lowered his voice, but he couldn’t hide the shock in his tone.

"Before the rankings were released, almost all the prominent families and high-ranking officials in Yanjing, including my father, predicted that this year’s national top scorer would be either Xia Lianxue or Xiao Lingchen!"

"Everyone thought that with her SS-rank Martial Arts Spirituality, Xia Lianxue had a better chance of winning!"

"But now... she’s only in third place!"

When he said this, it wasn’t just Dong Dongchen; the tens of millions of viewers in the live stream were all completely stunned!

The recognized favorite for top scorer only got third place?

Then who could the second and first place scorers ahead of her be?!

As everyone was still reeling from the immense shock, the light on the sky-screen shifted once more.

The name of the person in second place appeared!

[2nd Place, Xiao Lingchen, the Xiao Family of the Imperial Capital, Total Score: 3588.4]

Onscreen, Xiao Lingchen still had that same calm and carefree demeanor, a faint, almost unnoticeable smile on his face.

He didn’t even attack proactively. He simply strolled about casually under the Divine Realm instructor’s fierce, storm-like assault.

Countless fatal attacks grazed the hem of his clothes, yet not a single one managed to touch him.

That graceful poise, remaining composed even in a desperate situation, captivated the hearts of countless onlookers.

Dong Dongchen felt as if his brain had been struck by lightning and completely shut down.

And Long Bohan, after a brief moment of surprise, could only let out a bitter laugh.

"Xiao Lingchen... I never expected him to be the one to have the last laugh."

"He and Xia Lianxue have competed for so many years, and in the end, he was the one who came out on top..."

But halfway through his sentence, Long Bohan’s voice came to a sudden stop.

He suddenly realized an even more terrifying problem.

’Wait!’

’He’s not the top scorer!’

’This is only second place!’

’Xiao Lingchen isn’t first either!’

At that moment, Long Bohan was completely floored.

The same scene was playing out in countless martial arts families and high-level organizations across the entire Great Xia who were watching the rankings reveal.

「Imperial Capital, the Xiao Family estate.」

A second ago, when Xia Lianxue’s name appeared in third place, the entire Xiao Family was still immersed in an atmosphere of ecstatic celebration.

In their eyes, if Xia Lianxue was third, then their Xiao Lingchen was, without a doubt, this year’s national top scorer!

But now, when the glaring words "2nd Place" appeared on the sky-screen, all the cheers died down as if choked off by an invisible hand.

All the members of the Xiao Family stared, dumbfounded, at the sky-screen, the smiles on their faces frozen like statues.

They had considered countless possibilities, but they had never imagined that the title of top scorer would slip through the fingers of both the Xiao Family and the Xia Family!