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Sect Leader Gu Kongshan announced the rankings and strength assessments one by one, from the back to the front.

“Ranked 60th: Ge Rui! Strength Assessment: …”

“Ranked 52nd: Wang Buping …”

“Ranked 35th: Chi Jishang! Strength Assessment: Approaching the Limit of Perfected Innate!”

“Ranked 20th: Gu Fei! Strength Assessment: Limit of Perfected Innate!”

“Ranked 11th: Wei Yumo! Strength Assessment: Limit of Perfected Innate!”

“Ranked 6th: Zhang Youtian! Strength Assessment: Initial Stage of Half-Step Core Formation!”

The specific rankings from fifth place onwards were directly decided by the sect's higher-ups. The sect's higher-ups would give corresponding rankings based on the results of the Sect Competition and the performance of the disciples in the arena.

The rankings were not necessarily absolutely accurate, but generally, they wouldn't be too far off.

Moreover, the rewards for each ranking bracket—5th to 8th, 9th to 16th, 17th to 32nd, and 33rd to 64th—were the same; therefore, even if there was a slight difference of one or two places, it wasn't a big deal.

The top four positions, however, were earned through battles.

“Ranked 4th: Xu Hezai! Strength Assessment: Peak of Half-Step Core Formation!”

“Ranked 3rd: Ye Qianliu! Strength Assessment: Limit of Half-Step Core Formation!”

Ye Qianliu was already at the Half-Step Core Formation realm and had comprehended the perfect Lightning Domain; his strength was already very close to that of a true Core Formation expert.

Xu Ming displayed five perfect domains, completely overwhelming Lin Xuan without giving him any chance to resist; his strength being assessed as "Early Core Formation" was well-deserved!

Although they already knew Xu Ming had won first place, when Sect Leader Gu Kongshan personally announced Xu Ming's ranking, it still caused a wave of shock. Especially Xu Ming's brain-dead fans, who were shouting like crazy!

“The sun rises in the east, Brother Ming is undefeated!”

“Brother Ming, Brother Ming, the golden spear never falls!”

This was the crazed shouting of the No. 2 fan group.

“Xu Ming, I love you—” Song Jiahan, disregarding her image, tore open her throat and shouted hysterically.

“Brother Ming, Brother Ming, you're the best! You're the strongest in the Sect Competition!” This slogan, which was of a lower grade, undoubtedly came from the "laborers" of the Outer Sect.

It could be seen from the slogans that there was a gap in cultural level between the Outer Sect disciples and the Inner Sect disciples; even the slogans they came up with were not as imposing as those of No. 2 and the others.

Xu Ming sat steadily in his exclusive seat, accepting the admiration from his brain-dead fans.

However, the slogans that the brain-dead fans had created themselves really made Xu Ming feel embarrassed—'The sun rises in the east, Brother Ming is undefeated?'

Xu Ming wondered why this slogan sounded so familiar!

Also, “Brother Ming, Brother Ming, the golden spear never falls,” what did that even mean?

“It's good that the fans are enthusiastic, but these slogans… are really not flattering!” Xu Ming pondered whether he should come up with a slogan for the fan club at some point.

…

“Thank you, Sect Leader and Elders, for the strength assessment of all the genius disciples!” Master Mei Cheng announced, “Next is the awarding of the Sect Competition rewards! First, please invite the disciples ranked 33rd to 64th to come on stage to receive their awards!”

Thirty-two disciples lined up and walked onto the arena, some looking restrained, some joyful and excited, and some sighing in disappointment.

The award was presented to them by Elder Zhang, who had a high reputation within the sect.

Each person received five hundred low-grade Xuan Stones, totaling only sixteen thousand low-grade Xuan Stones. However, for most of the disciples in this ranking bracket, it was already a good reward; five hundred low-grade Xuan Stones were enough for them to buy a lot of cultivation resources.

After the thirty-two disciples finished receiving their awards, the sixteen disciples ranked 17th to 32nd went on stage next.

This time, the award was presented by Elder Liang, a highly respected elder.

Next, the awarding of the 9th to 16th places was handled by the elderly Elder Gu.

Clearly, there was also a particular emphasis on who was responsible for presenting the awards.

“Next, please invite the four disciples ranked 5th to 8th to come on stage to receive their rewards!”

Four disciples stood up.

Three of the disciples were fine; they were ranked 5th, 7th, and 8th respectively in the Sect Competition. However, Zhang Youtian, who was ranked 6th, did not stand up; instead, Xu Ming, who was ranked first, stood up and walked onto the stage.

“Hehe, well… accepting the award on behalf of Zhang Youtian!” Xu Ming said with a chuckle.

Xu Ming and Zhang Youtian's bet was conducted under the witness of the entire Desolate Sect. Xu Ming won, Zhang Youtian lost; therefore, there was no problem with Xu Ming accepting the award on behalf of Zhang Youtian.

Coincidentally, the person presenting the award for 5th to 8th place was Zhang Youtian's father—Zhang Kuang, the leader of the Zhang faction.

“Hmph!” Handing the Soul Nurturing Pill, which originally belonged to his son, to Xu Ming with his own hands, Zhang Kuang's face was extremely ugly.

To Zhang Kuang, a mere Soul Nurturing Pill was certainly not a remarkable treasure. But… TMD this wasn't about the treasure, but about face!

Zhang Kuang felt that he wasn't giving Xu Ming an award, but rather sticking his face out for Xu Ming to slap.

"That idiot is nothing but trouble!" Zhang Kuang cursed Zhang Youtian a thousand times over in his heart. 'Our Zhang faction wasn't originally at odds with Xu Ming; we were minding our own business. Why did you, you good-for-nothing turtle son, have to provoke Xu Ming for no reason?'

Just thinking about Xu Ming's talent made Zhang Kuang tremble.

But then, Zhang Kuang realized, 'Wait a minute! Turtle son? Doesn't that include me?'

Xu Ming, with a radiant face, accepted the Soul Nourishing Pill, his voice especially loud as he expressed his gratitude: "Thank you, Elder Zhang!"

After distributing the rewards for fifth to eighth place, Zhang Kuang was also responsible for the fourth-place reward: a high-grade treasure.

High-grade treasures practically came with a built-in "blinding" effect, dazzling countless envious eyes in the audience.

"Next, please welcome the disciple ranked third to the stage to receive their reward!"

The third-ranked disciple was Ye Qianliu; however, Xu Ming once again stood up without hesitation.

"Hehe, accepting it on behalf of Ye Qianliu!"

The reward for third place was a True Martial Breakthrough Pill, which Xu Ming had also "tricked" out of the Martial Arts Tournament—oh, no, how could you call it tricking? It was a fair and square win, as the entire audience could testify!

But… was it really fair and square?

The reason Xu Ming hid his strength in every battle was to "trick" his opponents out of their rewards! If Xu Ming had unleashed his perfect fifth-level domain from the start and crushed everyone, probably no one would have dared to gamble with him!

And the one presenting the third-place reward was… the leader of the Liang faction, Grand Elder Liang Weihe!

This made the situation awkward!

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Liang Weihe, just like Zhang Kuang, had to personally hand over the reward that originally belonged to his side to Xu Ming.

More fortunate than Zhang Kuang, Ye Qianliu was just an ordinary member of the Liang faction, not Liang Weihe's son. But unfortunately… this time, Liang Weihe was awarding Xu Ming one-on-one; they were the only two on the stage, very conspicuous!

"That trash Ye Qianliu has no ability; what's he gambling for!" Liang Weihe also felt the humiliation of being slapped in the face.

"Thank you so much, Elder Liang!" This time, Xu Ming's voice was even louder.

"Hmph!" Liang Weihe threw down the reward and stormed off.

However, Xu Ming didn't leave the stage because…

"Next, please welcome the disciple ranked second to the… uh, no need to come on stage, he's already here!" Master Mei Cheng said smoothly, then felt embarrassed.

The second-ranked disciple was Lin Xuan.

But Lin Xuan also repeated the mistakes of Zhang Youtian and Ye Qianliu, losing his "Enlightenment Pill" to Xu Ming.

"Elder Liang, don't rush off; you still have to present the reward for second place!" Xu Ming called out, all smiles.

Liang Weihe's eyes were bloodshot, and he almost vomited blood.

Forcing himself to endure the humiliation, Liang Weihe once again walked onto the stage to accept the slap in the face.

"Elder Liang is too kind, coming back again and again!" Xu Ming really wanted to shake hands with Liang Weihe to show his gratitude; unfortunately, this world didn't have the custom of shaking hands.

Liang Weihe once again threw down the reward and left.

"Hey, Elder Liang, come back often to present me with awards!" The Gu and Liang factions were irreconcilable, and Xu Ming had also learned from Gu Hanmo that Liang Weihe harbored murderous intent towards him. Since that was the case, Xu Ming naturally didn't need to give Liang Weihe any face; therefore, he relentlessly mocked Liang Weihe, slapping him in the face repeatedly.

"Oh, right, Elder Liang!" Xu Ming suddenly said, "Lin Xuan hasn't given me the 50,000 low-grade Xuan stones he owes me yet. So, are you going to pay it, or…?"

Fifty thousand low-grade Xuan stones wasn't a small sum; Lin Xuan didn't have that much on him, so he couldn't pay his "gambling debt" for the time being.

"Take it, let's call it even!"

Liang Weihe directly put 50,000 low-grade Xuan stones into his storage ring and threw it to Xu Ming without looking back.

"Elder Liang is so generous, unlike Lin Xuan, who's so slow and can't pay his gambling debt for ages!"

Master Mei Cheng continued to preside.

"Now, let's directly invite the Sect Leader to present the award to the first-ranked disciple!" Master Mei Cheng had presided over the Sect Tournament for so many years, but this was the first time he had seen such a bizarre award ceremony.

After Xu Ming went on stage, he seemed reluctant to come down, receiving reward after reward.

Gu Kongshan laughed heartily and went on stage to present the award, very pleased.

The first disciple's reward had always been presented by the Sect Leader; this was the rule of the Wilds Sect.

Gu Kongshan hadn't presented an award to a Gu faction disciple for many years, and every time he had to present it to the Liang faction's disciple, his sworn enemy, he felt extremely stifled.

Today, presenting the award to Xu Ming, the pent-up frustration that had accumulated in Gu Kongshan's heart for many years vanished all at once!

"Hahaha, Xu Ming, not bad, very good! But you must not be arrogant and complacent, you must continue to cultivate diligently, hahahaha…" Gu Kongshan laughed and patted Xu Ming's shoulder.

"I will, I will!" Xu Ming said modestly.

Actually, did Xu Ming need to cultivate diligently? With a cheat in hand, lying down and sleeping was Xu Ming's cultivation!

After the award ceremony, the Sect Tournament came to an end; usually, at this time, it was time to start dismissing the crowd.

But this year, Sect Leader Gu Kongshan still had something to announce: "One month later, on November 28th, is my daughter Gu Hanmo's coming-of-age ceremony! I'm announcing it here first, and I'll send out invitations later; please, everyone present, be sure to come…"

End of Volume 3, Volume 4 "Mist Rain Ship" starts tomorrow! Brothers and sisters, let's get those [recommendation tickets] rolling!