Meanwhile.
Cang Yin and the others also received Li Shuang's message.
They listened to Li Shuang's voice with a touch of disbelief.
Unbeknownst to them, their eyes began to well up.
For the past nine years.
Every few months, they would visit the city lord to inquire about news.
Fearing they would hear some terrible news.
Now, Li Shuang was finally back!
Thanks to their gains from the Langya Palace, they had made rapid progress over the years, implicitly reaching a higher level and becoming the cream of the crop.
Cang Yin and the others even made Youlan feel threatened.
All of this.
It was all thanks to Li Shuang.
Without Li Shuang, they would not have cleared the secret realm, nor would they have earned so many reward points.
At the final moment.
Li Shuang chose to face tens of thousands of raging True Spirits alone, just so they could leave safely.
How could they ever forget any of this?
Now, Sister Shuang was finally back.
They had initially wanted to see Li Shuang immediately, but Li Shuang had said she would come to participate in the Sect Assembly with her sect members.
Everyone then suppressed their urge to go look for Li Shuang right away.
They were already in Huanling City!
They only had to wait a few more days to see Sister Shuang!
They had made many guesses about Li Shuang's sect. Now, all of it was finally about to be revealed!
Amidst everyone's anxious waiting.
The day of the Sect Assembly finally arrived.
The Sect Assembly venue wound upwards in a circular shape.
At the very top were the positions of the five super-sects.
These super-sect members stood at the pinnacle, seemingly looking down on all living beings.
Below them, surrounding the five great sects, were numerous high-level sects.
According to their strength, the positions of high-level sects also varied.
Further down were dense clusters of mid-level sects.
And the low-level sects, as well as the ungraded sects attending the Sect Assembly for the first time, gathered on the massive open ground at the very bottom!
This place had a strict hierarchy of levels.
Those at the bottom were absolutely forbidden to ascend to higher places without permission.
However, those at the top were not affected and could move freely in the lower areas.
The first step of the Sect Assembly was to assign ranks to these new sects attending for the first time.
The sect ranking had already begun.
Each of the five super-sects sent down an elder to handle the ranking process.
It wasn't that people from other sects couldn't do it.
Rather, the power of ranking could only be firmly controlled by the super-sects.
Such matters of manipulating the fate of other sects, turning the tide with a flick of the hand, could only be done by the super-sects!
The first sect in line was the Rock Sect. The number of powerful cultivators in this sect had long met the standard for a low-level sect; now it was time for the second assessment.
Number of geniuses!
To become a low-level sect, only five Grade B geniuses were needed.
A massive stone pillar now stood on the testing platform.
The pillar had ten segments in total.
By channeling spiritual power into it, the pillar would light up.
If not a single segment lit up, it meant the person was utterly talentless.
If one segment lit up, they were considered a Grade C genius.
If three segments lit up, they were considered a Grade B genius.
If six segments lit up, they were considered a Grade A genius.
After the stone pillar appeared, Youlan, curious, once tested it herself. Her spiritual power caused eight segments of the pillar to light up.
It was precisely because of this that her reputation as the top genius was so firmly established.
Of course, the top genius now had changed. If Li Ruo was present, perhaps she could light up the ninth segment?
As for the tenth segment.
It's best not to even think about it.
They say the Heavenly Dao is incomplete and nine is the extreme. The mighty cultivators who forged this stone pillar never intended for anyone to light up the tenth segment.
"Rock Sect, young disciples under a hundred years old, step forward for testing," the elder announced.
The younger generation of the Rock Sect nervously walked forward.
They encouraged each other, knowing that if five people could make the stone pillar light up three segments, their ranking this time would likely succeed!
However.
Even though these disciples tried their hardest, in the end, only four of them successfully qualified as Grade B geniuses.
They were just one person short!
"Rock Sect, number of powerful cultivators, met. Number of genius disciples, not met. No need to check the sect's foundation. Remain unranked!" The elder's stern voice rang out.
A series of sobs immediately broke out from the Rock Sect's ranks.
They had failed a hundred years ago.
A hundred years later, they had still failed.
Failing to get ranked meant fewer and fewer disciples were willing to join them, and with fewer disciples, the number of geniuses never kept up.
In this vicious cycle, a hundred years later, they would only face greater difficulties.
Perhaps.
They wouldn't even last another hundred years.
The members of the Rock Sect left disheartened.
Lin Qingling watched, feeling a pang of sympathy.
Indeed, there were many resources on this Central Continent.
However, most of the resources were concentrated at the top.
Then they were distributed downwards, with higher-ranked sects receiving more resources.
The Rock Sect failed to advance its rank twice; this time, upon returning... it might fall apart.
This time!
They must succeed!
If they failed this time, they would have to wait another hundred years!
…How many people could wait a hundred years?
"Next sect, Heaven Hawk Sect," the elder continued to announce.
The Heaven Hawk Sect members nervously stepped forward.
At the highest level.
The sect masters of the five super-sects stood at the pinnacle, looking down calmly.
"Among the sects being ranked this time, have any young geniuses emerged?" Fu Xiao, the sect master of the Demon Heaven Sect, asked casually.
"So far, no Grade A genius has appeared," someone immediately said with a smile.
"Why do you care about that?" Liu Qingyao, the sect master of the Sunset Glow Sect, glanced at him. "However talented, can they surpass Youlan?"
Fu Xiao was about to say something.
Liu Qingyao's next sentence was, "Oh, no wonder you haven't been very confident lately. After all, my Feng Yu gained a huge opportunity from the Langya Palace, and she's probably not much worse than Youlan now."
Fu Xiao nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood. He wondered if this woman could say anything nice, yet she had been waiting for him here!
Youlan had also entered the Langya Palace secret realm before, but she didn't gain much and left early, let alone cleared the secret realm.
Feng Yu and her group, on the other hand, were quite good. Although their abilities were clearly not as strong as Youlan's, they managed to clear the realm together by relying on someone powerful!
Fu Xiao gritted his teeth, "They would never have been able to clear it on their own, not in a hundred lifetimes! Weren't they relying on others?"
Liu Qingyao chuckled, "Well, wasn't it good luck that they happened to have someone to rely on?"
Li Hanchuan, the sect master of the Nine Nether Gate next to them, happily said, "Luck is also a part of strength. Old Fu, you're too attached."
The Demon Heaven Sect and the Nine Nether Gate were the only two demon sects. Originally, they were united and advanced together.
But!
After all, Yan Lie, a disciple of the Nine Nether Gate, had also aligned himself with Li Shuang.
Qu Lan, the sect master of the Limitless Sect, also smiled faintly, "Speaking of which, Cang Yin and the others went down to wait early. According to them, Li Shuang... is coming to participate in the Sect Assembly!"