Ma Bi froze, then a surge of bravado rose within him. “Who’s ever scared me, Ma Bi? If anyone dares mess with me, I don’t care who they are—I’ll beat them until their own parents wouldn’t recognise them!”
“Heh heh, someone was just playing the shrinking turtle,” Niu Bi chuckled honestly from the side.
“I… Fatty, can’t you back me up for once?” Ma Bi snapped, unable to hold back his curse.
Niu Bi grinned without replying.
As the crowd thinned, Lin Xiao’s group moved forward again. Tianmen’s disciples began stepping up to test.
When the group handed over their Holy Origin Academy outer court badges, the inner court youth by the platform glanced at them, a flicker of disdain in his eyes. He muttered scornfully, “Tenth Outer Court?”
“Tenth Outer Court?” Lin Xiao and the others blinked in confusion. How had their outer court become the tenth-ranked one? He’d only glanced at the badges—how could he tell?
“How do you know we’re the Tenth Outer Court?” Ba Hu demanded, bristling with defiance.
“That emblem marks the lowest-ranked outer court badge. It’s not hard to spot,” the inner court youth replied with a mocking smirk, not bothering to hide his contempt.
“Then take a look at our badges—are we First or Second Outer Court?” Ma Bi couldn’t hold back, hurriedly pulling out his own badge.
It was identical to Lin Xiao’s group’s, bearing the “Yuan” character, though the colour differed slightly.
Naturally, Ma Bi’s badge also sported three stars, marking him as a three-star disciple.
The inner court youth glanced at Ma Bi’s badge and sneered, “Ninth Outer Court.”
“I… Damn it!” Ma Bi’s face darkened instantly.
“Heh heh, check mine!” Niu Bi gleefully produced his badge, reveling in the moment.
After a quick look, the youth smirked disdainfully. “Eighth Outer Court badge.”
But instead of shock, Niu Bi beamed, turning to Ma Bi and Lin Xiao’s group. “Heh heh, higher than both of yours!”
“…” The group was speechless.
Getting excited over Eighth Outer Court—what was wrong with him?
“Outer court rankings are just a basic measure—they don’t mean much. Test away!” Lin Xiao said calmly, directing Tianmen’s disciples.
The group nodded and stepped forward, tossing their slaughter bracelets onto the platform. They hadn’t hit eight thousand points—this was just for the inner court youth to glance at. They knew their own totals well enough.
Numbers flickered into the air. For the twenty-odd members, the kill points were modest, ranging from one thousand to two thousand.
The inner court youth smirked sarcastically, his face dripping with mockery. Outer court rankings reflected a court’s caliber—if they were meaningless, why bother with them?
“That’s why you’re ranked tenth,” he said, arms crossed, grinning with amusement.
Tianmen’s disciples’ faces darkened.
“Heh, Tenth Outer Court indeed—way lower than our points!” a group of disciples behind the inner court youth jeered.
“Bottom-ranked outer court—what high points could they have? They’re lucky to even qualify for a mission. These must be the best of the Tenth Outer Court, huh?”
The opposing disciples mocked freely. They’d been geniuses back home, but here, finding themselves bottom-tier among so many stronger peers had bruised their egos. Now, seeing a group with lower kill points, they vented through ridicule.
“Your cultivation hasn’t risen yet—ignore them!” Lin Xiao reminded his group. They nodded, bolstered by his calm demeanor. Their points might be low, but their leader’s score would surely shut those mockers up.
With that, the group moved behind the inner court youth, standing firm despite the taunting stares.
“Boss, did your kill points hit eight thousand?” Wang Long asked as he stepped up to test.
In their minds, Lin Xiao was unstoppable, having slain plenty in the Monarch’s Cache.
But reaching eight thousand points wasn’t easy, especially since Lin Xiao wasn’t yet a Martial King.
“Eighth-tier Heavenly Martial hitting eight thousand points? Heh, dreaming in broad daylight?” the inner court youth scoffed, growing impatient. “Hurry up already—don’t waste time.”
But then Lin Xiao nodded to Wang Long and the others. “Heh, I got there by luck. You lot go first.”
The platform youth froze. Eighth-tier Heavenly Martial reaching eight thousand points? Had he heard that right?
“Hmph, puffing yourself up to look big. We’ll see when you test. If you don’t hit eight thousand and stand at the back, you’re in for it!” the inner court youth snorted coldly.
“Heh, pity—I didn’t reach eight thousand either,” Hu Yue sighed with mock regret beside them.
The inner court youth blinked again. Eighth-tier Heavenly Martial, and now an underdeveloped girl, both aiming for eight thousand? Wasn’t that a bit too fanciful?
“Utter ignorance!” he muttered, shaking his head, his face thick with disdain.
Lin Xiao ignored the youth’s skepticism. Wang Long gave him a thumbs-up—they trusted Lin Xiao completely. He wouldn’t lie for fleeting pride.
“Boss, we’re waiting to see your points!”
Next, Ba Hu and Wang Long tossed their slaughter bracelets. Two numbers flashed into the air.
Ba Hu: 3,500 points. Wang Long: 4,500 points.
The mocking crowd behind paused, slightly taken aback. Those scores topped most of theirs.
“Tenth Outer Court does have a couple decent ones, but just one or two,” someone said, still dripping with disdain.
But then Hu Yue tossed her slaughter bracelet onto the platform. A number blazed up—7,000.
It nearly blinded the onlookers. This little girl, only sixth-tier Heavenly Martial—how had she done it? Seven thousand points meant killing six low-tier Martial Kings!
Or sixty high-tier Heavenly Martial experts.
Even the inner court youth was momentarily stunned. Hu Yue’s points exceeded his expectations.
Seven thousand wasn’t much to him, but on a sixth-tier Heavenly Martial girl of fifteen or sixteen, if she’d earned them all herself, that was remarkable.
Still, he suspected she’d cheated somehow.
Kill points only required a kill—not necessarily a solo one from start to finish. Some came from finishing off wounded foes, still counting toward the total.
Some even had elder experts injure enemies, leaving the final blow for them—impossible to distinguish.
Thus, kill points didn’t always reflect true strength, especially with such a cultivation gap, making trickery likelier.
Hu Yue’s reveal silenced the jeering crowd behind the inner court youth. After a long pause, someone grumbled awkwardly, “Just luck, that’s all. Who knows what tricks she used? Compared to our outer court’s top few, she’s still nowhere close.”
“Yeah, yeah—probably had help,” another chimed in, unwilling to believe a younger, weaker girl outdid them.
