Chapter 579: The Changes After One Year
Thus far, the newest recruits had entered the academy for one year. During this period of time, many disciples had risen in fame, and a ranking of top 100 disciples had also been released. The ranking was known as the Dragon Phoenix List, and each of the disciples on the list was an extraordinary genius.
Of the 100 disciples, the hidden genius disciples, Baili Yixiao the Smiling Swordsman occupied the first place. Zhan Wushuang the Fist Emperor occupied the second place, Yu Ziyang the Holy Son of the Yu Clan occupied the third place, Ouyang Chuanqi of Ouyang Clan occupied the fourth place, Huang Wuji of the Dusk Dynasty occupied the fifth place, Yu Caidie the Holy Maiden of the Yu Clan occupied the sixth place, Han Chenfei of the Glacier Palace occupied the seventh place, Xiao Xie of the Severing Saber Manor occupied the eighth place, Long Shi occupied the ninth place, Ye Linshan occupied the tenth place, and so on.
The first eight disciples were more or less the same eight strongest freaks. Meanwhile Long Shi and Ye Linshan had squeezed themselves into the top 10. Both of them had displayed an extraordinary talent during the assessment. They possessed high-grade eight-star innate elemental physiques, comparable to Di Lin's physique.
Di Lin hadn't been able to enter the top 10 and wasn't even part of the top 20. He currently occupied the 39th place. But the only reason for that was due to his relatively lower cultivation level due to his age. Given a year or two, he would be able to climb higher.
As for Huo Xudong, he was within the top 100, while people like Di Tong and Tang Longfei weren't even part of the top 100. One ought to know the weight of this ranking list. The placings were all based on the accomplishments of the new disciples after a year of hard work.
Some of the disciples who had failed to enter the top 100 weren't necessarily weaker; they simply hadn't been as dazzling as those on the list. Naturally, many of the disciples were working hard to one day enter the list. Just by entering the list, they would be guaranteed a certain status amid the numerous geniuses of the dominion.
During the year, Tang Longfei, Lady Shura, and Ning Wenhuang had been cultivating hard. Tang Longfei was now a first-stage Dragon Ascension Realm cultivator, and when ranked among all the disciples, he was within top 5,000.
The top 100 list was known as the Dragon Phoenix List while the top 1,000 list was known as the Jiao Luan List[1]. As for the list including all the new disciples, it was known as the Serpent Fowl List.
The naming style of three rankings were rather interesting. From a serpent to a jiao, and from a jiao to a dragon. From a fowl to a luan, and from a luan to a phoenix. The three were the same lists that had been repeatedly used generation after generation in the academy.
As for Tang Longfei, he occupied the upper-middle range of the Serpent Fowl List. After all, there were about 20,000 new disciples in their batch in addition to the large number of followers. Thus, competition was tight.
As for Xiang Shaoyun, who had initially astonished everyone, he was now ranked at the middle range of the Serpent Fowl List. The reason his ranking was so low was because rumors of him cultivating nine different powers had spread. He had even been locked up at the forbidden Back Graveyard by the principal.
It was an extremely harsh punishment, and those who had left the Back Graveyard had mostly ended up with slight mental issues or had completely gone mad. Some had even directly died there. In short, very few people had survived that place intact.
Since Xiang Shaoyun was only an eighth-stage Skysoar Realm cultivator, nobody believed he would end well after being thrown there, which was the reason for his low ranking. Everyone believed that after a period of time, his name would probably be removed altogether.
As the followers of Xiang Shaoyun, Han Qianwei and Han Xuewei had indirectly suffered the humiliation on his behalf. Due to their beauty, the two were akin to snow lotuses that gave one an urge to pluck them. Furthermore, the two weren't too strong and were at the bottom of the Serpent Fowl List, even if they had already reached initial eighth-stage Skysoar Realm from peak sixth-stage.
In the eyes of the various geniuses, they were still completely insignificant. Because of that, the two turned into the prey of many men who wanted to make them theirs. For them, having these two as maids would be a decent option. In their eyes, they weren't even qualified as lovers.
It gave the two sisters an intense sense of humiliation, and their confidence was completely shattered. Back then, they had still aimed to be Xiang Shaoyun's women, but now, it seemed like they weren't even qualified to be his women. That realization had changed their expectations, and if Xiang Shaoyun was able to leave safely, they would willingly serve as his followers without hoping for more.
Only when they managed to catch up with someone like Lady Shura would they entertain the thought of being his women. One ought to know that Lady Shura's draconic aura had reached 90 percent completion. She was almost an Emperor, and with her Shura Physique, she ranked quite high in the Serpent Fowl List and wasn't too far off from entering the Jiao Luan List.
The Shura Physique was a unique physique that wasn't any worse than the innate elemental physiques of those freaks. Thus, it was clear Lady Shura would have a bright future. Furthermore, she was also a core disciple.
Because of that, she now had her very own villa. She had also settled the Han Clan sisters in her villa, allowing them to cultivate there. Otherwise, there probably wouldn't be anything left of the sisters.
After all, private battles were not prohibited in the Dragon Phoenix Academy. So long as one did not kill or cripple an opponent, nobody would care about private battles. Those who had joined one of the various factions in the academy would receive the protection of the faction, and that would serve as a deterring force. If a faction member was targeted by someone, the faction would work together against the aggressor.
For now, Lady Shura and the Han Clan sisters had yet to join any faction. The time for them to wait around was almost up, and if they still remained without a faction after this, trouble would come looking.
Di Lin headed a faction called the Di Alliance, and this was a faction that had been constantly creating trouble for Lady Shura and the Han Clan sisters. Today, Yi Xuan had arrived at Lady Shura's villa with seven other people from the Di Alliance.
Yi Xuan had joined the academy as a regular disciple. He had subsequently encountered Di Lin and flattered him enough to become a member of the Di Alliance. It was unknown how he had earned Di Lin's grace, but he was able to quickly become one of Di Lin's trusted aides. With that, his status within the Di Alliance quickly became extraordinary.
He had long taken a liking to the Han Clan sisters. He wanted to have them for himself, annoying Xiang Shaoyun by making him relive the experience of having his women snatched from him. Of course, the main reason he did this was so he could help vent Di Lin's anger at Xiang Shaoyun.
Someone with Yi Xuan's status was not supposed to be qualified to enter the residential area of core disciples. But by his side this time was Yue Huangquan, a core disciple ranked higher than Lady Shura on the Serpent Fowl List. He was very close to entering the Jiao Luan List and had a cultivation level of first-stage Dragon Ascension Realm. He was also why the group was able to smoothly arrive before Lady Shura's villa. There, Yi Xuan directly kicked the door open, showing no fear whatsoever.
"Get out here right this moment, Lady Shura. Today, I am taking the Han Clan girls away with me," shouted Yi Xuan brazenly.
1. Jiao is a dragon-like beast in Chinese mythology, commonly depicted as a beast lower than an actual dragon. Luan is a phoenix-like bird in Chinese mythology, also commonly depicted as lower than an actual phoenix.