On the small platform.
After Lin Xuan stood up, Chen Yu and Bai Yunfei rose and followed behind him.
Today, they, as senior disciples, were no longer the focus.
The true protagonist was now the new disciple Lin Xuan, the new top-ranked champion of the Strength Ranking.
Even Chen Yu, who had broken through to the Opening Spirit Realm, paled significantly before Lin Xuan today, his brilliance dimmed.
Then, under the gaze of the entire audience, the three of them ascended the platform.
Lin Xuan’s eyes swept across the entire platform, taking in all the inner sect elders, a faint glimmer passing through his gaze.
"So many Opening Spirit Realm cultivators, and a few Spirit Yuan Realm ones too. Not bad, not bad."
Lin Xuan murmured to himself.
With so many treasures right before him, there was no reason to let them go.
He immediately activated his thoughts.
"Ding, consumed 10,000 energy points, replication successful. Obtained [Spirit Grade Cultivation Talent]."
"Ding, consumed 1,000 energy points, replication successful. Obtained [Top-Tier Ice Attribute Talent]."
"..."
In an instant, he replicated all the treasures he deemed worthwhile from the elders on the platform.
In truth, they were just some talents.
After all, since his trip to the Alchemist Guild, his martial skills had all been elevated to the eighth-rank upper tier, and his artistic conceptions were already quite high.
These elders’ possessions were beneath his notice.
The only things he found valuable were some talents.
And this ranking competition had shown him the importance of talent.
With ample resources on hand, he decided to replicate a batch.
He aimed to enhance his talents as much as possible.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye, and none of the elders on the platform noticed a thing.
"Disciple Lin Xuan pays respects to all elders."
Lin Xuan then bowed in greeting.
As for the replicated treasures, he would use them once he returned.
There were still a few Spirit Yuan Realm high-ranking officials present, making it inconvenient.
Behind him, Chen Yu and Bai Yunfei also followed suit with their bows.
"Mm, rise."
The inner sect elder in charge of hosting the Strength Ranking competition happened to be someone Lin Xuan knew.
It was the Fifth Elder of the inner sect, who had visited him before.
The Fifth Elder nodded with a smile and beckoned to Lin Xuan:
"Lin Xuan, come here."
His gaze toward Lin Xuan was filled with shock and satisfaction.
Although he had visited Lin Xuan before, he hadn’t expected Lin Xuan’s talent to surpass his predictions, imagination, and even far exceed them.
In such a short time, he had achieved another remarkable feat.
Charging straight up, he had seized the top spot on the Strength Ranking.
Even Chen Yu, who had broken through to the Opening Spirit Realm, couldn’t stop Lin Xuan.
This showed how terrifying his talent was.
Even as a Spirit Yuan Realm cultivator, the Fifth Elder was deeply shaken.
"Greetings, Fifth Elder!"
Lin Xuan responded, stepping forward and bowing.
"Mm."
The Fifth Elder nodded and said with a smile:
"Lin Xuan, your performance in this ranking competition has been outstanding, making us old-timers see you in a new light..."
The Fifth Elder showered Lin Xuan with praise.
And Lin Xuan truly deserved it.
Lin Xuan listened quietly, his expression calm and unmoved.
It was as if they weren’t talking about him.
Seeing this, the elders nodded slightly, even more satisfied.
Not arrogant or impatient—he already had a hint of a strong cultivator’s demeanor.
After speaking for a while, the Fifth Elder paused, his expression turning serious, and continued:
"Lin Xuan, congratulations on winning the top spot on the Strength Ranking. This is the champion token!
And here are the rewards for the Strength Ranking competition. Take them!
From this moment on, you are the top-ranked champion of the Strength Ranking, the foremost among inner sect disciples!
I hope you continue to strive and not let down the sect’s expectations!"
With that, he handed Lin Xuan a pitch-black token with a golden luster and a storage ring from the table before him.
Lin Xuan took them and bowed:
"Yes, disciple will do his utmost!"
Then, the Fifth Elder waved for Lin Xuan to step back, proceeding to award Chen Yu and Bai Yunfei their prizes.
Lin Xuan retreated to the back, channeling his true qi to inspect the rewards inside the storage ring.
He had arrived too late and hadn’t even heard what the ranking competition’s rewards were.
Soon, Lin Xuan discovered that the storage ring was filled with large piles of sparkling spirit stones.
"These are all... low-grade spirit stones, as many as five hundred!"
Lin Xuan roughly counted and was greatly startled, a look of surprise appearing in his eyes.
He had never imagined the ranking competition’s rewards would be so generous.
After all, when he was in Wind Cloud City, he had spent several days exclusively refining and selling pills, only to gather about four hundred spirit stones.
And at that time, he had used the alchemist’s astonishing earning power to drain most of the wealth from the mid-tier martial artists in Wind Cloud City.
He had even drawn the attention and suppression of the city’s major pill shop, Wind Cloud Pill Pavilion.
But now, he had obtained five hundred low-grade spirit stones in one go, far more than before.
Lin Xuan was deeply moved.
Indeed, the upper echelons of the sect were wealthy.
At the same time, a hint of joy welled up in his heart.
With these five hundred low-grade spirit stones, plus the two hundred he had left, he now had a total of seven hundred.
That was more than enough.
He was confident he could break through to the Opening Spirit Realm in one go and advance to a true disciple.
Though he had always performed well, without becoming a true disciple, he was still not among the upper ranks.
Lin Xuan nodded slightly, a smile in his eyes.
By then, Chen Yu and Bai Yunfei had also received their rewards.
The Fifth Elder waved for the three to leave.
He was about to conclude this Strength Ranking competition.
"Wait a moment!"
Just then, a calm voice rang out.
A middle-aged figure in a black robe, exuding a dignified aura, walked over.
The entire venue fell into dead silence.
Though the black-robed middle-aged man seemed to walk slowly, he moved extremely fast.
In just a few breaths, he had reached the platform.
Upon seeing the face of this black-robed middle-aged man, all the inner sect elders on the platform, including the Fifth Elder, were visibly shaken.
They immediately bowed and said:
"We pay respects to the Sect Leader!"
"We pay respects to the Sect Leader!"
"..."
All the inner sect elders did the same.
The crowd was momentarily stunned, then reacted with great shock, following suit in bowing:
"We pay respects to the Sect Leader!"
Lin Xuan also bowed along with the crowd.
He was quite shaken as well.
He had never expected the Sect Leader to appear suddenly.
After all, the Sect Leader was the highest-ranking and most powerful person in the entire Flowing Cloud Sect.
He was also the one who commanded the entire sect.
Even ordinary elders rarely saw him.
Let alone the many disciples.
"Rise."
The Sect Leader’s calm voice fell.
An invisible force spread out.
Everyone involuntarily straightened up.
Lin Xuan did the same.
His heart was even more stirred.
He hadn’t realized the Sect Leader’s strength was so immense.
Being able to do this meant he had no power to resist against him.
It seemed he was still far too weak compared to the sect’s high-ranking officials.
Lin Xuan thought to himself.
Everyone’s gaze converged on the Sect Leader, filled with excitement and reverence.
The Sect Leader held great authority and was rarely seen even by true disciples.
He was also the sect’s commander and spiritual leader.
To see him now was naturally thrilling for them.
But the Sect Leader paid no attention to the crowd. Instead, he turned and fixed his gaze on Lin Xuan.