Ye Zhaozhao still won. Li Shuang glanced at her, then calmly averted her gaze.
Long Yan, after all, had his many years of sword dao comprehension as a foundation, which was barely enough for the current stage.
However, that was all it was. Ye Zhaozhao hadn't found anything better yet, so she could tolerate Long Yan for now.
With her personality, if she found a better sword, Long Yan would probably be abandoned immediately.
But all of this no longer concerned her.
"The competition is almost over, Li Shuang. Go wait downstairs for the results," Meng Yifei said with a smile.
Li Shuang nodded and left the high platform.
All three rounds of the competition were over.
The high-ranking officials of the various sects began to discuss carefully.
Originally, True Immortal Lingxu was also supposed to participate in the discussion, but he had left early, and Meng Yifei didn't specifically call him. The remaining high-ranking officials discussed and wrote down the final list.
The list of fifty people was quickly posted.
"First place, Junior Sister, you're first!" Luo Mingyue spotted the name at the top of the list at a glance and exclaimed.
Everyone looked over.
Li Shuang, a Qi Refinement cultivator, took first place among the Foundation Establishment cultivators.
This result seemed absurd, yet no one questioned it.
After three battles, Li Shuang proved with her strength that her first place was well-deserved.
The only pity was that in the third match, Senior Sister Jiang didn't use her Foundation Establishment strength. Otherwise, they might have caught a glimpse of the stunning Ice Lotus.
Li Shuang's move was somewhat incomprehensible to them, but its power was truly astonishing.
Now that she had a sword spirit with purple compatibility, the power of that move would only be greater when she unleashed it again.
However, they would have plenty of opportunities to see it in the future.
In this secret realm, Li Shuang might encounter Yan Fan from Cangyuan Sect. Perhaps only such a peerless genius could force Li Shuang to use her full strength.
"Those who won all three matches are defaulted to the top. Senior Sister Jiang, because she lost to Li Shuang, dropped out of the top ten."
"There's nothing that can be done about that. But in terms of raw strength, Senior Sister Jiang should still be second."
"The current second is... Wen Lin! Senior Brother Wen's lightning-attribute spiritual root is indeed dominant. All three battles ended quickly, and his second-place ranking is well-deserved."
Wen Lin, who ranked second, possessed the most dominant lightning-attribute spiritual root, but he appeared somewhat introverted. He glanced at Li Shuang from afar, then silently left the crowd.
Ranking third was another genius with a mutated single spiritual root: Hibiscus.
"Senior Sister Mu's wind-attribute mutated spiritual root gives her a huge speed bonus. There's nothing wrong with Senior Sister Mu ranking third."
The top three were all one-in-a-million mutated spiritual roots. Fourth place went to Liu Juncheng of Ruthless Peak.
Liu Juncheng had dual water and wood spiritual roots. Although his cultivation speed was not as fast as a single-attribute spiritual root, fortunately, these two spiritual roots were mutually reinforcing, and their combined power was not inferior to a single-attribute spiritual root. Ten years ago, Liu Juncheng barely ranked tenth. This time, he had improved significantly.
Liu Juncheng smiled and said frankly, "Originally, I shouldn't have won all three matches. However, a few days ago, Junior Sister and I discussed swordsmanship, and I gained some insights and made some breakthroughs in the sword dao, which is why I was able to win consecutively."
Li Shuang was stunned for a moment, then quickly said, "Second Senior Brother, it was just a casual exchange."
Liu Juncheng looked at her gently: "The insights and breakthroughs I gained from it are all thanks to Junior Sister."
"Xiao Shuang! His sword technique hasn't improved for several years. Now that he's made a breakthrough, listen to me and extort a few bottles of good wine from him," Luo Mingyue said with a smile.
"For Junior Sister to drink, I'm happy to bring out any amount of wine. But Senior Sister, please spare my good wines. With you guzzling them down like that, no matter how good the wine is, it's all wasted," Liu Juncheng couldn't help but grumble.
Luo Mingyue clenched her fist, ready to hit him.
Li Shuang watched them, a smile appearing between her brows.
After seeing Li Shuang and Liu Juncheng's rankings, the group from Ruthless Peak didn't bother to look further down and left in a lively manner.
"Tsk tsk tsk. It has to be Senior Sister Li. Did you hear that? Senior Brother Liu's sword technique breakthrough was partly thanks to Senior Sister Li!"
"Senior Sister Li hasn't been at Ruthless Peak for long, has she? Yet Senior Brother Liu has already made a breakthrough."
"The key is that Senior Brother Liu can say it so openly. Before, that Shen Yue from Lingxu Peak... Senior Sister Li spent a lot of cultivation time guiding him, and what did he say? He seemed to say that he was a sword dao genius himself, and his current cultivation was all thanks to himself, and had nothing to do with anyone else."
"Shhh! Don't say any more!" The person next to him pulled him, and the disciple who was speaking turned around, only to see a livid Shen Yue and several other people from Lingxu Peak.
The disciple coughed a few times and stopped talking.
"Senior Brother Shen, don't mind them," Ye Zhaozhao said indignantly, "It must be Senior Sister Li who said something to them again. Senior Sister Li truly hates us now!"
After Ye Zhaozhao finished speaking, she waited for everyone's resonance.
But this time.
Except for Chang Le'an who echoed a few words, Sheng Yuan and Shen Yue were both silent.
Ye Zhaozhao's face stiffened, and her heart sank.
She gritted her teeth secretly.
These people from Lingxu Peak were indeed ungrateful. She had worked hard to please them for ten years.
Even if there was no merit, there was hard work, right?
Now that Li Shuang had just shown a hint of awakening, they all looked regretful.
Who were they putting on this act for?
"Junior Sister, don't say such things," Sheng Yuan sighed and said, "Your ranking this time is thirty-three, and Third Junior Brother is forty-two. You've both made it onto the list of fifty. The Langya Secret Realm will open in seven days. For the next few days, you should prepare more for the secret realm."
Ye Zhaozhao's expression was a little ugly.
Speaking of the rankings, she was also a little angry.
She had won two matches, and almost won the one in the middle.
As a result.
Li Shuang ranked first, and she could only rank thirty-third?
For all these years, Lingxu Peak had been publicly proclaiming that she, Ye Zhaozhao, was the true peerless genius, whose talent crushed Li Shuang's.
Now.
With this ranking out, who knew how many people would be secretly mocking her.
"Zhaozhao, don't worry about the rankings," Chang Le'an said with a confident expression, "The Langya Secret Realm isn't just about strength! The current rankings don't mean anything. I have immense luck, and no matter what genius, they will be trampled under my feet. When we enter the secret realm, Zhaozhao, just follow me."
"Okay. With Third Senior Brother here, I feel much more at ease," Ye Zhaozhao replied with a smile.