Chapter 861: Updated Ranking

[Brilliant Golden Monkey Wine: Permanently enhances the body’s agility upon consumption, making short-distance movements more nimble and swift. Note: due to the increased speed, one must be especially careful for safety.]

After receiving his reward, Chu Liang stared at the jar of aged wine left behind by the sharp-clawed demon monkey. He didn’t say a word. He simply raised it to his lips and drank it down in one go. By now, he had no doubts about the safety of the items granted by the White Pagoda. The only question that remained was how strong and effective they truly were.

Among cultivators, movement techniques generally fell into two categories. One prioritized long-distance travel, such as Golden Path and Shattering the Void, specializing in swift, straight-line traversal across great expanses. The other focused on short-range maneuverability, which was far more valuable in close-quarters combat.

Chu Liang did a small leap, golden light flashing beneath his feet. He zipped from one corner of the prison cell to another in the blink of an eye, covering more than a dozen zhang in an instant. The burst of speed rivaled even Dimension Compression in effectiveness.

However, it was stronger than he had anticipated. His footing faltered at the end, and he nearly slammed into the wall.

“Not bad,” he said with a satisfied smile.

Without enough control or a strong body to match, high speed could be more dangerous than helpful. It wasn’t just about the strain from moving so fast. If a cultivator didn’t have a strong divine sense to guide that momentum, one wrong step could send them crashing headlong into disaster. A single miscalculated impact could make things really unbearable for the cultivator.

Fortunately, Chu Liang’s body was strong in every way. He could handle it.

Thanks to a series of fortified dragon-body techniques and divine arts focused on physical cultivation, Chu Liang’s physique had already surpassed that of most cultivators at his level. And now, after repeatedly receiving rewards that enhanced his physique, his physical abilities had taken another significant leap forward.

At this point, even without cultivating the great Daos, in pure physical combat alone, even that seventh realm White Dragon from Mount Shu, which was renowned for its physical prowess, might no longer be his match.

Of course, Chu Liang's greatest strength still lay in the many Great Daos he had comprehended.

The more Great Daos he comprehended, the more connections he uncovered between them, and the more powerful their combined effects became. At the Dao Attainment Realm, he was already walking a path no one had ever walked before.

Even so, progress could not be rushed.

He had to let the Dao-Comprehending Puppet slowly comprehend things and gain full understanding of the Great Dao. In addition, he needed to slowly collect and accumulate the rewards from all the demonic beasts here.

If another mass prison break of demonic creatures occurred overnight, the Guardian Ruler might respond by tightening security with an iron fist. That would make things much less favorable for Chu Liang.

For now, this Celestial Northern Prison, being filled with evil entities, was practically a paradise for him, and he intended to stay a while longer.

He couldn’t kill the goose that laid the golden eggs. He had to take things one step at a time, making sure the process remained sustainable.

After drinking the Monkey Wine and savoring the new sensations in his body, Chu Liang sat down cross-legged and pulled out a copy of

The Seven Stars Gazette

that he had conveniently purchased in the capital of Yu.

These days, with the Circle of Immortal Friends Token becoming more and more widespread, news among cultivators spread almost instantly. As a result,

The Seven Stars Gazette

had become less useful for those in the cultivation world, though it remained a valuable source of information for people who do not practice immortality cultivation.

This particular issue of

The Seven Stars Gazette

featured something that Chu Liang was very interested in. The section that people usually didn’t care about had become the highlight of the entire issue!

Naturally, the battle between the Mount Shu Sect and the Penglai Supreme Sect took center stage in this issue’s “Chronicles of the Nine Provinces.” However, the two legendary artifacts that appeared during that battle had also earned a place of prominence in the “Catalog of the Mortal World’s Ten Thousand Treasures.”

There had been little controversy over the previous top ten legendary artifacts in the catalog. Their rankings were backed by years of recorded battle data, and the gap between them and other enchanted artifacts was clear.

But now, these two newly revealed legendary artifacts seemed to rival the existing top ten, sparking widespread debate over how they should be ranked.

This placed the Celestial Pivot Pavilion in a tough spot.

...

The first item listed was the Celestial Cosmic Ring. According to the latest issue’s Catalog of the Mortal World’s Ten Thousand Treasures,” it had been newly ranked at number twelve!

It was listed just below the True Form of Ksitigarbha.

Back in the day, when the Cosmic Ring and the Chrono Wheel were used together, they produced astonishing results. But when separated, neither artifact alone was considered among the top legendary treasures.

Later, the Cataclysmic Chrono Wheel was enhanced and upgraded, eventually climbing to fourth place in the rankings on its own. On the other hand, the Celestial Cosmic Ring had only been restored and repaired, without any significant improvements.

After thousands of years without a single recorded battle, the Celestial Cosmic Ring made a stunning return during the recent battle against the Mount Shu Sect. It was combined with the Chrono Wheel from the East Sea and nearly destroyed the entire Mount Shu.

Had the Penglai Supreme Sect won that battle, the Celestial Cosmic Ring’s ranking would have undoubtedly risen to a higher tier. Unfortunately, the Penglai Supreme Sect was defeated.

That said, the Celestial Cosmic Ring still delivered a dazzling performance. It split the heavens and the earth, and the several eighth-realm cultivators could do nothing about it. It also destroyed many of Mount Shu’s peaks. If Venerable Wen Yuan had not been able to create a replica of the ring to counter it, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

However, when the Mount Shu Sect’s Vessel of God appeared, it struck the Celestial Cosmic Ring with a single blow, sending it hurtling toward the Southern Regions. The ring nearly became uncontrollable. Daoist Cangsheng quickly retrieved it and sent it back to Mirage Mountain in a panic, but the artifact was ultimately lost.

The fact that a legendary artifact could be so easily lost was, without question, a fatal flaw.

If the Celestial Cosmic Ring had been used to overpower the Mount Shu Sect back when it lacked a legendary artifact, it would still be considered worthy of its title. However, in a direct clash between artifacts, which mattered the most in determining rankings, it was completely defeated by Mount Shu Sect’s Vessel of God.

Because of this, the Celestial Pivot Pavilion ranked it at twelfth.

Ranked just below it were the Yu Dynasty’s Panyang Ancient Jade, the Immortals' Talisman of Lunar Radiance, and the Golden Crow’s Soul Essence. Among these, the Panyang Ancient Jade remained somewhat mysterious, as there were few recorded instances of it being used in battle.

These three enchanted artifacts had long been viewed as top-tier among mortal treasures, though they were not quite on the level of true legendary artifacts. Because of this, there had always been a wide gap between the top ten legendary artifacts and those ranked below.

However, with the addition of the Mount Shu Sect's Vessel of God as well as the Celestial Cosmic Ring, the previous top ten of the ranking became a top twelve with the number of legendary artifacts increasing by two.

Next came the most anticipated artifact of all—Mount Shu Sect’s Vessel of God.

The “Catalog of the Mortal World’s Ten Thousand Treasures” ranked it in eighth place.

It was ranked just below the Xuanhuang Battle Armor and above the Dharma Lotus Platform.

As a legendary artifact with both flight and combat capabilities, the Mount Shu Sect’s Vessel of God already had a naturally high starting point. Its ranking was further boosted by its impressive battle record of striking down the Celestial Cosmic Ring in a single blow and later holding its own in a clash against the Chrono Wheel of the East Sea.

The reason it was ranked eighth was that, as a combat artifact, it had not yet built up enough battle records to fully demonstrate its strength. So far, it had only proven itself stronger than the Celestial Cosmic Ring. Compared to other high-ranking combat artifacts, there was still not enough evidence to confirm that it was clearly superior.

The East Sea Chrono Wheel did not gain the upper hand in their clash. Still, it possessed mystical abilities related to time itself and was not just a combat artifact. One of its abilities included restoring the Celestial Cosmic Ring. Since the battle ended in a draw, the Mount Shu Sect’s Vessel of God could not be considered its equal in rank.

The three legendary artifacts ranked below the East Sea Chrono Wheel, namely the Chunyang Ancient Sword, the General's Supreme Constellation Disc, and the Xuanhuang Battle Armor, had not yet faced Mount Shu Sect’s Vessel of God in battle. In such cases, the Celestial Pivot Pavilion preferred to maintain the existing rankings rather than make premature adjustments. If the Vessel of God were to lose in a future clash, the list would need to be revised all over again.

Thus, it did not mean the Vessel of God had a permanent spot at eighth place. If it had the opportunity to challenge higher-ranked artifacts in the future, the ranking could change at any time.

The artifacts ranked below the Vessel of God all had significant flaws, which was why they were ranked below the Vessel of God.

The Dharma Lotus Platform, which was ranked ninth, had mystical abilities but lacked offensive power. For a legendary artifact, it was considered a little too merciful, which was why it had always remained near the bottom of the list.

The Celestial Portal of the Nine Yin, an artifact of the Greater-Yin Cult, was ranked tenth. Upon activation, it would release the divine and devilish powers of the Nine Yin Realm behind the portal, transforming the nine provinces and the four seas into a boundless domain of ice. Given enough time, it had the potential to destroy the world.

Despite its terrifying power, the artifact ranked low due to its immobility. No one dared to travel to the Northern Regions to provoke the Greater-Yin Cult, but the cult was also unable to bring the artifact elsewhere to wage war.

This trait of the legendary artifact was likely the reason why the Greater-Yin Cult had always lived in a reclusive and isolated manner.

The True Form of Ksitigarbha, ranked eleventh, was a legendary artifact focused entirely on combat. Its low placement on the rankings came down to two main reasons. First, its battle record was poor, with several failed campaigns in the past. Second, it belonged to a diabolical sect, which led to its ranking being deliberately suppressed as much as possible.

It was hard to believe that, after years of little change, the “Catalog of the Mortal World’s Ten Thousand Treasures” would suddenly gain two new entries as the result of a single battle.

Top Twelve Legendary Artifacts (Updated Ranking):

Demon-Suppressing Pagoda

Seven-Star Sword

Divine Mirror of the Eight Trigrams

Chrono Wheel of the East Sea

Chunyang Ancient Sword

General's Supreme Constellation Disc

Xuanhuang Battle Armor

Mount Shu Sect’s Vessel of God

Dharma Lotus Platform

Celestial Portal of the Nine Yin

True Form of Ksitigarbha

Celestial Cosmic Ring

...

"My dear family, how are we supposed to make sense of this?"

Chu Liang stared at the newly updated “Catalog of the Mortal World’s Ten Thousand Treasures,” gently patting the Demon-Slaying Sword in his hand.

"You didn’t even do anything wrong, and somehow your ranking dropped by two spots."