Chapter 2018: Champion Without a Doubt

Gan Ning had given an intimidatingly large number.

There was an unspoken rule about the reporting process. The least-contributing member reported first, followed by second place. The captain generally had the best result, and so typically went last.

If Gan Ning – the worst-performing one out of the three – had twenty-eight, then…

The number had caught more than Lu Mingye’s attention. The teams after them suddenly stopped whispering among one another, directing their gazes to the front of the line.

Gan Ning’s loudness had captured everyone’s ear, succeeding very well in his objective.

“Good, very good.” After examining Gan Ning’s orbs for authenticity, the judges nodded one after another.

The participating geniuses were even more taken aback. Among these sixty geniuses, Gan Ning was completely unremarkable. He was at most around the lower-middle part of a hypothetical ranking.

However, this unremarkable genius had submitted a whopping twenty-eight orbs! That was more than what entire other teams had gotten!

Many couldn’t believe what they’d just heard. Considering what kind of person Gan Ning was, he didn’t deserve that many orbs at all. Did heaven know what it was doing?

The world of martial dao fanaticized strength.

Gan Ning didn't possess sufficient strength to win others’ adulation. Because he had more orbs than so many who were his betters, these very same people were upset and envious.

“That kid really lucked out in his choice of captain. Wasn’t there a rumor early on that Hu Lei caught him? Jiang Chen had to come to rescue him. I can’t believe he got so many orbs by himself.”

“What can anyone do about it? Even Poison Consort Shi Qinglu couldn’t beat his team. They’re too strong.”

“What do you mean, too strong? Jiang Chen is their one-man army. I know who this Gan Ning is, he’s average at best. If I were on his team, I wouldn’t possibly do badly, either.”

“I suppose so. Without Jiang Chen, he amounts to nothing whatsoever.”

Gan Ning had placed enough to make anybody jealous, but most believed that Jiang Chen had helped him without question. However, it was a team based exercise in the end.

“Wu You from the Eternal Sacred Land. I have thirty-two orbs.” Wu You reported. Considering his strength and possibility, it was quite normal for him to carry a few more than Gan Ning.

As soon as Wu You revealed his results, everyone around him was astonished. The two geniuses announced so far had sixty orbs between them!

This was remarkably frightful for the audience.

Before Jiang Chen’s team, every other had performed terribly. Only Lu Mingye’s had shown any competitive ability. But Gan Ning and Wu You’s orb numbers were greater than that of Lu Mingye’s two assistants.

Only one question remained: how many orbs did Jiang Chen have? Did he exceed the number Lu Mingye carried?

The Flora genius’s eyes were trained hatefully on his adversary. He felt a tangible threat from Jiang Chen and his teammates.

“Impossible… impossible…” Lu Mingye repeated in stubborn frustration to himself. “Can this Jiang Chen have over a hundred orbs?”

Jiang Chen didn’t care about how others felt. He stepped up with a smile. “I’m Jiang Chen. I obtained two hundred twenty-six orbs in the trial.”

Two hundred twenty-six?!

No one could believe their ears. How could this be??

“How many did you say??” One of the quicker judges blinked.

Jiang Chen laughed. “Two hundred twenty-six. Please examine them.” He was demure rather than full of it from heady success.

Everyone drew a sharp breath when seeing the orbs strewn all over the place. The incredible number on display far surpassed every member of Lu Mingye and his team.

When Jiang Chen’s whole team was counted up, it had two hundred eighty-six orbs!

In other words, only a contest for the later places waged on. The winner had already been decided. Factoring out team Lu Mingye’s one hundred sixty orbs, there were only more than a hundred of the rest at most. Not even two hundred!

Many sighed in exclamation when the results came out. There was a flurry of movement and a storm of whispers.

Lu Mingye’s expression was as black as snake venom. His eyes sparked with hatred. His dreams of winning had been shattered completely.

There was nothing surprising about what came next.

Holy girls Si Tong and Yao Guang didn’t report many orbs. The few that they did have seemed perfunctory.

The most surprising thing of all was that Shi Qinglu submitted exactly zero orbs.

After Jiang Chen’s robbery, she had lost all hope of victory. At the time, it had been painfully obvious that no one could stop him.

The results were finally tallied. Jiang Chen’s team led by a mile, with Lu Mingye’s team trailing behind as a distant second.

Third place was a long way from second as well.

The differences after that weren’t nearly as pronounced, since barely anyone had any orbs at that point.

“Not everyone is able to match up to his own reputation. Young Jiang Chen’s sudden rise has made the competition between the sacred lands’ young people much more interesting. Today, he seems to be a cut above the rest.”

“Haha, congratulations, Daoist Qi. This genius of yours will guarantee you at least ten thousand years of fortune.”

“Eternal’s leadership is as good as in the bag, huh?”

“Daoist Qi, is it possible to yield young Jiang Chen to us here at Void?”

“Haha, we here at Everlasting would pay anything for that privilege.”

Jiang Chen didn't like the comments being made about him. He was a person, not some piece of merchandise. It was ridiculous for anyone to talk about ‘yielding’ him.

Thankfully, the first prime decisively refused. “My friends, your words bring shame to Jiang Chen’s name. He’s a genius that comes along every hundred thousand years. How can you possibly hope to match him with material things? The Eternal Sacred Land is truly blessed with twenty thousand years of fortune to have him. You can forget about us giving him up!”