Chapter 3023 - Rise of the Top Three

Who wouldn't want to join Myriadpath Valley? Everyone present had come here to fulfill their dreams of cultivation. Before, outer mundi geniuses didn't really have a chance and were nothing but prey or servants. However, their chance to rebel and rise had come!

"Kill!"

The group of black ring holders pinned down anyone with a gold ring as a group. Many inner valley geniuses saw that and were about to threaten them into leaving, only for them to be swarmed in turn. There were tens of black ring holders for every gold ring holder!

"What's going on?!" The inner valley geniuses were stupefied. Gold names kept falling from the ranking, some of them being killed in the chaos, with most merely being defeated and left untouched. Either way, the trial of the Skyward Grandpath had devolved into a complete mess.

Tianming didn't know why the proctor had chosen to do such a thing, but it turned out to be the best for him. He watched as the number of black names on the ranking rose to around thirty, nearly achieving half of the number of gold names. It was truly a historic precedent! Tianming's name, being the highest among the black names, stood out among them.

The situation continued with nobody being able to contact each other on the Skyward Grandpath. As such, new gold ring holders kept arriving on the scene only to be swarmed by the mob. The nightmare rabbit had become bait while the gold ring holders became prey. Each one that came would swiftly be crushed!

If they had merely been defeated and fell out of the ranking, they would still have a chance to come back. They were young, and the age limit of the Skyward Grandpath was five hundred years old, after all. But once they were killed, it would be a huge loss for both them and their backers.

There were far too many outer mundi geniuses in the chaotic melee, but their thoughts were completely aligned. While defeating the gold ring holders might not necessarily let them rise in the ranking, killing them almost certainly guaranteed a place. They all took a bit of risk to change their fate by joining Myriadpath Valley, changing from someone of Lin Ke's status to Li Fan’s. The bet would be worth it!

Tianming kept tailing the nightmare rabbit without taking any action. He watched the gold names fall from the ranking as more and more outer mundi geniuses gathered behind the rabbit. After an hour, he was shocked to see that the ratio of gold and black names on the ranking evened out. While the black names mostly occupied the latter half of the ranking, it was still staggering compared to before. Many gold names hadn’t just fallen off the ranking, but completely disappeared! Their parents in Myriadpath Valley likely hadn’t expected that this trial would have a death rate so high that they would lose their children from it.

"Who's the proctor this time? It can't be a good thing for Myriadpath Valley." Tianming had heard quite a bit from the outer mundi geniuses about the affairs here. They seemed pretty knowledgeable about things, and even knew the trial results of the recent hundred cycles. The unspoken rules of Myriadpath Valley were open secrets. Even if it was unfair, outer mundi geniuses still came to chase their dreams.

"After all this, things must cool down soon. We're entering the next phase." It was clear that everything that had happened was being spread around. Many inner valley disciples no longer dared to approach the hotspot. In fact, apart from those in the top ten, most of the inner valley disciples weren't too interested in getting first place. No matter how angry they were to see black ring holders killing gold ring holders from the disappearing gold names, they had to swallow their anger and leave. After most of the suicidal ones were killed off or defeated, the influx of gold ring holders stopped.

At that moment, a weird situation happened. There were a few more black names than gold names on the ranking. Even though Tianming was still the only black name in the top twenty, it was still shocking to behold. The outer mundi geniuses were no fools, either, and knew to stop before going overboard.

Even though it would feel awesome to have black names flush out the ranking, they still wouldn't be able to avoid the wrath of internal factions in the future. The black names might collectively be in for the negative consequences. The ones who had made the ranking had slipped away. Those that remained continued to huddle together, but the prey had run dry.

In fact, nineteen gold ring holders grouped up and came to attack the black names! While their number was small, they numbered among the highest statuses in Myriadpath Valley and were incredibly elite. Even if a thousand outer mundi geniuses joined up together, they probably wouldn't stand a chance against them. The blazing passion from before gradually turned into fear.

"They're all within the top twenty!"

"Yeah! If Li Tianming's there, too, all twenty of them would be there!"

Many of them stopped in their tracks. As long as they didn't continue chasing the nightmare rabbit, they could easily shake off the group.

Most people had their eyes glued to the youth at the very front. He seemed rather burly and was about three meters tall. He had the air of a noble lion, with his upper torso and arms being incredibly thick. He wore a flaming crimson robe that was tightly stretched around his body despite already being wider than normal. What was even more eye-catching was his flaming crimson hair that looked like a lion's mane. It stretched around two meters in length and looked like it had exploded outwards from his scalp, wildly and freely swaying.

Tianming had seen him before the trial even started. He was the son of Huang Daolie, the trial's proctor, Huang Daoxiong. It went without saying that his status was the highest among the disciples of the ancient houses. The gold ring holders that were eliminated from the ranking couldn't possibly compare to him.

The second-ranked Chu Tianyu was also among the group of nineteen. He was tall and slender and wore a set of thick black robes that revealed nothing but his cold, frosty eyes. Even though he was also considered an outer mundi genius, he had grown up within Myriadpath Valley and was one of Huang Daoxiong's compatriots without a doubt.

The third-ranked Qiu Ciling was clad in swordsman's garments. She seemed cold and sharp to the extreme. Her legs were incredibly long and her long hair was fastened into a ponytail. Her phoenix-like eyes gave her an incredibly elevated aura compared to Ji Qianqian.

The key figures had taken the stage and joined together, their presence immediately dwarfing that of a thousand outer mundi geniuses.