Supreme Emptiness

After a brief interlude.

Merit statistics proceeded in an orderly manner.

Before long.

The Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion Master held two scrolls in his hand.

One was very thin, the other quite thick.

He unrolled the thin scroll and said:

"I will first announce the team merit rankings."

The crowd was invigorated.

The rankings were always divided into two parts.

One was the individual merit ranking.

The other was the team merit ranking.

Teams ranking high on the list could enjoy special privileges.

First, they were allowed to pick items from the team treasury. While it was far less valuable than the individual treasury, it still served as an additional reward.

Second, they had priority in task selection. For some tasks with high merit point rewards or substantial prizes, top-ranked teams could choose first.

This allowed the strong teams to grow stronger.

The Wuji Team had benefited greatly from this.

This time, it was expected that Wuji would once again claim first place.

Li Shangqiu stood with his hands behind his back, a trace of anticipation on his face:

"Each of our seven members made significant discoveries."

"Our total merits finally exceeded two thousand."

"That's enough to redeem a Bright Light Brocade Robe from the team treasury."

The six team members behind him were all excited.

"The Bright Light Brocade Robe has always been the standard for the top-ranking team."

"Not only is the robe itself at the quasi-Spiritual Artifact level, capable of withstanding attacks below the Nascent Soul stage,"

"It is also a symbol of kingship."

"Only the top-ranked team of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion is qualified to wear it."

"Unfortunately, starting fifty years ago, no team has managed to wear it again."

"That two-thousand merit point requirement has blocked everyone who came after."

"This time, under Senior Brother Li's leadership,"

"Our Wuji Team has finally brought this kingly battle robe, which had been lost to the dust of fifty years, back to light."

Although Li Shangqiu maintained a composed exterior, he couldn't suppress the excitement in his heart.

He didn't care about the material value of the robe.

What he cared about was the immense honor it symbolized.

A glory that conquered history and ascended to the pinnacle!

At this moment, the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion Master began to recite the list.

"This time, the number of teams totals twenty."

The senior disciples were slightly surprised.

"These newcomers are truly strong."

"The conditions for forming a team have already been raised to the requirement that the leader must reach the Jiedan Eighth Layer."

"Many old teams still haven't met this standard."

"Yet two newcomer teams managed to pass."

"Could it be that the condition hasn't been enforced yet?"

A trace of astonishment appeared on Li Shangqiu's face.

But he didn't take it to heart.

Newcomer teams could hardly affect him.

The only teams capable of rivaling him were just two.

One was the team led by Ren Guhong.

The other belonged to Wang Chongling, one of the four divine prodigies.

However, Wang Chongling's team had taken on a mysterious task in the South Sea and hadn't entered the underground world this time.

The only one worth worrying about was Ren Guhong.

Ren Guhong's team wasn't as strong as his, but Ren Guhong himself had numerous tricks up his sleeve.

He often uncovered things in the underground world that others overlooked.

"I will only announce the top three."

"The subsequent rankings will be posted on the board for you to check yourselves."

The Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion Master interrupted Li Shangqiu's train of thought.

The crowd fell silent, their minds quietly speculating the order of rankings.

The first place—undoubtedly Li Shangqiu's Wuji team.

The second place would most likely be Ren Guhong.

The third place, since Wang Chongling was absent, was uncertain.

In the past, these three teams consistently made up the top spots.

Rarely did any other teams push their way in.

"Third place, Wuji, 2,150 merit points."

The Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion Master announced calmly.

But among the gathered disciples, it caused a storm of gasps.

"What?"

"Wuji, third place?"

"Wait, the team merit score surpassed two thousand?"

"If I remember correctly, no team has scored this high in decades, right?"

"And yet, it's only third place?"

...

The disciples weren't the only ones shocked.

The administrative stewards who hadn't been part of the merit statistics were equally stunned.

They all looked toward the four Vice Pavilion Masters.

Their meaning was clear—could there have been a mistake?

Two thousand merit points—this was a record-breaking achievement in the past fifty years.

And yet, it ranked third?

The smile on Li Shangqiu's face froze.

The anticipation in his chest felt as though it had been doused with a basin of cold water, extinguished on the spot.

Third place?

Wuji, a team that rarely fell from first place, had slid to third this time, even while achieving a historic feat?

He couldn't believe it. Something had to be wrong.

It couldn't possibly be true!

The team members behind him spoke out one after another.

"Impossible!"

"There must be an error in the rankings!"

"How could we rank third with such a high merit score?"

Li Shangqiu raised his hand, biting his lip slightly as he ordered, "Stay quiet!"

"Let's see who ranked above us before saying anything!"

He found it incomprehensible.

If Ren Guhong surpassed him, that was understandable.

But how could another team outshine Wuji?

The Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion Master continued to announce:

"Second place, Expedition, 4,000 merit points."

The senior disciples were utterly baffled.

This was a team they had never heard of.

Li Shangqiu's eyes narrowed. "A newcomer team?"

"A newcomer team, entering the underground world for the first time, staying only one day—yet they surpassed us?"

"And their merit points are twice ours?"

The senior disciples grew restless.

They began discussing fervently.

The stewards also found it incredulous.

This was too absurd.

A newcomer team, in just one day, during their first attempt, had broken a fifty-year record?

If there wasn't something suspicious here, it would be shocking.

"What's going on here?"

The Expedition team leader, Mu Ying, had eyes wide open: "We're only in second place?"

The six team members behind him were equally shocked.

Yu Tiandu murmured in disbelief: "How is this possible?"

"We put in… to achieve such an astonishing result."

"How could anyone have a higher score than us?"

In his shock, he nearly let slip the underlying truth.

Fortunately, he stopped himself in time.

Mu Ying shook his head, clearly dissatisfied with the result, and said gravely:

"Could it be that the people of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion are wary of those from outside their domain?"

"Did they deliberately tamper with the merit scores to suppress us?"

"I refuse to believe that in an underground world this depleted, anyone could achieve over four thousand merit points."

Inside the team treasury lay a treasure they deeply coveted.

If they secured it, their operations would be unstoppable in the future.

Their primary goal this time had been to claim it.

They'd gone to great lengths and paid a high price to accumulate those 4,000 merit points.

Yet.

They had only managed second place?

If the opposing team also had their eyes on the prize, then it would no longer be within their grasp.

"Who is first place?" Mu Ying clenched his fists, muttering in frustration.

Li Shangqiu glanced at Ren Guhong from afar.

He had thought it would be him.

But then.

Ren Guhong, too, was wearing a look of complete astonishment, devoid of the calm confidence of someone who had secured first place.

First place wasn't Ren Guhong?

Li Shangqiu was truly dumbfounded.

If not him, then who could it possibly be?

Surely, it couldn't be another newcomer team?

If it were true.

Then this joke had gone too far.