Chapter 261 Top Ten

Just as the most intense fights broke out in the Forest of Illusory Moon, a group of people stared fixedly at the massive screen of light at the teleportation entrance of the Jade Terrace Mountain. They were the Elders representing the five continents, famous elders of various sects, and their disciples.

The light screen displayed the real-time situation of the various sects in the Forest of Illusory Moon, with the center stage given to the current top ten sects. Sure enough, no one was a match for the Fallen Immortals Sect. They took the lead with more than 2,300 Hearts of Illusory Moon.

The first runner-up lagged behind with only about 1,900 Hearts, but to everyone's surprise, the title belonged to Heartless Palace of the East Continent. Cultivators from other continents had never even heard of them before.

In third place was the Thousand Feathers Sect of the East Continent with around 1,600 Hearts. This came as a surprise to no one as this sect was more than capable of achieving this.

The third runner-up, however, was shocking to a select group of people. The title belonged to the Order of the Divine Fire of the Middle Continent, with about 1,500 Hearts. The sect wasn't that strong overall and they didn't even make the top ten in the last Immortal Sword's Assembly. Many were confused and turned to look at their sect's Elder.

The self-proclaimed strongest sect in the Middle Continent, the Divine Mist Sect, was astonishingly in fifth place. With only about 1,300 Hearts, they faced the risk of being overtaken by Su family of the Middle Continent in sixth place. Perfected Immortal Feng Lan looked terribly upset. He thought that even if they couldn't win against the Fallen Immortals Sect, they wouldn't fall as far as the fifth place. More importantly, why were they ranked below a small sect like the Order of the Divine Fire?

For the past few assemblies, the Divine Mist Sect had reigned champion since the first day they stepped inside the Forest of Illusory Moon and steadily maintained their lead. Perfected Immortal Feng Lan walked away angrily, unable to keep watching.

In a nutshell, the Divine Mist Sect's reputation for being undefeatable was crushed to pieces today. Even so, the most shocking result was the tenth place: Jade Qing Sect of the East Continent, with more than 500 Hearts.

After all, the East Continent had always been the last in the rankings for the past hundreds of thousands of years. Their sudden victory in the qualifying round was shocking, much less the fact that they infiltrated the top ten rankings. This astonished everyone and they couldn't help looking at Perfected Immortal Qing Chen.

Qing Chen was smoothing his beard with a smile. He made no comment. His neighbor, Perfected Immortal Tai Yi smiled and said, "Qing Chen, looks like your Jade Qing Sect is the true dark horse this time around. Had I known this earlier, I would've placed my bet on your sect. I wonder how my Order of the Countless Blades is doing."

On the other end, Zi Mo stared fixedly at the light screen while nodding enthusiastically. Next to him, Murong Xian'er looked worried. She whispered, "Brother Xiao Chen, please be safe…"

Zi Mo laughed. "Rest assured, girl. That kid will be alright. He owns the Undead Body and it'll be hard for him to die."

It was the morning of the fifth day inside the Forest of Illusory Moon. Xiao Chen and his team had just gotten out of an intense battle, where they successfully snatched the other team's fifty or so Hearts of Illusory Moon. However, Ziyun'er, Luo Shangyan, and a few others were injured in that battle.

While strength was important in a qualification test like the Illusory Moon Forest, luck was also a necessary factor. Lucky ones would encounter sects weaker than them, while unlucky ones would encounter sects stronger than them.

Earlier, the enemy sect that they encountered was the first-runner of the qualifying round of the previous assembly, the Yin-Yang Sect. The sect was located in the North Continent and shared close ties with the Divine Mist Sect. They were more than strong enough to roam the Grade 5 or 6 districts, but they wanted to hunt pushovers in the Grade 4 district. Somehow, they were unfortunate enough to run into Xiao Chen's team and ended up losing dozen or so Hearts of Illusory Moon.

Right now, Xiao Chen and his team were circulating their Qi and healing their wounds in a secluded spot. Since both Li Muxue and Luo Shangyan were injured, Xiao Chen couldn't rely on them to reinstate his True Energy. Should they encounter a sect as strong as the Yin-Yang Sect now, they would likely suffer.

"Since we have 600 Hearts of Illusory Moon now, are we still going to the Grade 5 district?" Yu Yifeng asked, frowning.

Their problem was their increasingly powerful enemies and the even more intense competition in the Grade 5 district. Weaklings would just be serving their Hearts on a platter if they enter, so most that enter were the strong large sects.

"Of course! Why the heck not?" Mu Shaoai retorted, getting up.

Xiao Chen remained quiet. If they continued staying in the Grade 4 district, they would surely fail to enter the top ten rankings in the end. They would also lose the chance to cultivate in the Violet Illusory Land. Glancing at Li Muxue and Luo Shangyan, he asked, "Can you still go on?"

Li Muxue and Luo Shangyan understood very well that the one who wanted to head to the Grade 5 district wasn't Mu Shaoai but him. Thus, they nodded.

Zhou Li and Qingyu appeared dispirited. The battles in the Grade 4 district were their limit. If not for the seal talismans that Xiao Chen gave them, they would have been badly injured in the battle earlier. They might even suffer a fatal attack, resulting in their elimination.

"What, you guys can't keep up anymore? Hadn't I told you to work hard on your practice? But you refuse to listen to me! Look, you're useless at a crucial time like this!" Mu Shaoai said indignantly, shooting both of them a glare.

Zhou Li and Qingyu lowered their heads and said nothing. Xiao Chen walked over to them and handed Zhou Li the Bagua Mirror of the Cosmos that Moxuan Zi gave him. He then took out all of his seal talismans and gave them to Qingyu. Finally, he imbued their bodies with a layer of Mystic Skill.

Qingyu looked up and said quietly, "I'm so sorry for dragging you down, Junior Brother Xiao..."

Xiao Chen shook his head with a chuckle. "We don't say things like to a fellow disciple."

His voice hadn't faded when they heard a fit of rustling noises coming from the distance. Qingluan and Ziyun'er immediately raised their guard and flanked Xiao Chen to protect him.

Yu Yifeng looked in the direction of the noise. Then, he raised a hand and said, "It's not an enemy. Don't be nervous."

Ten or so people were cautiously walking over. The leader was a youngster clad in black, with the hem of his clothing burned in half. Behind him were ten or so male and female disciples in scorched clothes. They looked around suspiciously, looking cautious and prudent. It made them look rather pathetic.

When the group came close and saw Yu Yifeng and the rest, the black-dressed leader heaved a sigh of relief. With a wry smile, he said, "Junior Brother Yu, what a coincidence."

Yu Yifeng frowned when he noticed the burn marks on the group's clothing. "Brother Han, what's..."

The youngster clad in black shook his head with a wry smile. "Unfortunate turn of events, I suppose. We accidentally entered the Grade 6 district. The moment we got out and entered the Grade 5 district, we ran into the Order of the Divine Fire. I wonder when this sect had become so cruel..."

Xiao Chen didn't know who the youngster was but knew the group was a mixture of Xianyong Sect and Order of the Countless Blades after spotting Qin Shaoyang and Liu Feiyan in their ranks. These two sects shared cordial ties with the Jade Qing Sect, so they wouldn't be doing any plundering. Thus, he greeted Qin Shaoyang and the rest.

Yu Yifeng looked at him. "Junior Brother Xiao, let me introduce you to Senior Brother Han Moyang of the Order of the Countless Blades."

Han Moyang's eyes lit up. He immediately saluted Xiao Chen with a bright smile. "So this is Xiao Chen. I have long heard of your name..."

Xiao Chen returned his salutation with a smile. "I apologize for failing to recognize you..."

"You're too polite..."

Yu Yifeng coughed once. "By the way, Brother Han. What's it like over at the Grade 6 district?"

Han Moyang was surprised. "What? Don't tell me you're planning to go there!" He shook his head with a wry smile. "Listen to me and forget about it. We barely managed to escape that place. We couldn't participate in the battles over there at all. That woman from your East Continent is simply too terrifying."

Xiao Chen frowned. "Xiaoyue of the Thousand Feathers Sect?"

"No." Han Moyang shook his head. "It's a woman from Heartless Palace. Her attacks are ruthless. Fortunately, we're in the Forest of Illusory Moon or I don't know how many lives she'll claim."

Xiao Chen's heart sank. It was Huangfu Xin'er!

Qin Shaoyang and Liu Feiyan trembled. It was obvious that their fear of her still lingered.

"I saw her taking on five members of the Fallen Immortals Sect by herself. When her fingernails lengthen, a red light will flash and two of the five members would have their chests ripped apart. The Fallen Immortals Sect has no choice but to come to an armistice with the Heartless Palace..."

Xiao Chen was alarmed. Had Huangfu Xin'er's cultivation become that terrifying, enough to those madmen from the Fallen Immortals Sect to bring up an armistice...?

Qin Shaoyang said, "Besides some other sects, the Divine Mist Sect and the Thousand Feathers Sect are like oil and water fighting for dominance in the Grade 6 district. Xiaoyue has incredible Taoist methods, but she doesn't get the upper hand against an overall stronger Divine Mist Sect."

Xiao Chen nodded. Their explanation gave him a basic understanding of the situation in the Grade 6 district. He asked, "I heard Brother Han mentioning the Order of the Divine Fire. Where are they from?"

The team made up of the Xianyong Sect and the Order of the Countless Blades was quite strong overall. In particular, Han Moyang was surely not inferior to Brother Yifeng in terms of cultivation. How did a single sect make them so miserable? Since Xiao Chen's team would be entering the Grade 5 district, a battle against the Order of the Divine Fire was inevitable.

Han Moyang narrowed his eyes and slowly said, "The Order of the Divine Fire? They're quite the strange one..."