In the end, that young sect master went mad searching, but could only catch a few small fish to vent his anger. As for his personal spirit-weapon, it had already been smuggled out of Dragonskull City.
Now, onto the news about the top martial artists.
The war between the Human Race and the Goblins has been raging for over a month, and more than five million martial artists have come to the front lines to help. Among them are not only top experts, but also plenty of young geniuses.
Rumor has it...
More than thirty geniuses from the Hidden Dragon Ranking of the Sky-Sun Region have arrived.
The Hidden Dragon Ranking is similar to the Soaring Dragon Ranking of the Mystic Sun Domain.
Only young experts under thirty are eligible to appear on these rankings.
Supposedly, thirty years ago, the tenth-ranked genius on the Soaring Dragon Ranking from Mystic Sun Domain once fought the thirtieth-ranked genius on the Hidden Dragon Ranking from Sky-Sun Region.
The result was a decisive victory for the Hidden Dragon no.30 genius, and he won with absolute dominance. That battle cemented the prestige of the Hidden Dragon Ranking.
As a result, martial artists from both regions now agree that the geniuses on the Hidden Dragon Ranking are far stronger than those on the Soaring Dragon Ranking. In the years since, the two rankings' geniuses have fought many times, but every time, the Hidden Dragon geniuses have won.
This time, more than thirty geniuses from the Hidden Dragon Ranking have come to assist in battle, including three who are ranked in the top ten.
They are Victor Wang, ranked third on the Hidden Dragon Ranking;
Jasper Xie, ranked seventh;
And Tiana Wei, ranked ninth.
Victor Wang was born with the Hundred-Meridian Body. He started martial training at age three, and in just three years broke into the Origin Core Stage. He’s known as the Qilin Prodigy of the Wang family, hence his nickname.
At age ten, he formally entered the Sigilforge Realm.
At fifteen, he condensed his Sun-Soul.
At twenty-one, he advanced to the Law-Phase Realm.
Now, at twenty-five, his cultivation has reached mid Law-Phase, and his fighting power is considered invincible among his peers.
The current no.1 on the Hidden Dragon Ranking, Gavin Tian, once said that if he and Victor Wang were the same age, he wouldn’t be a match for Victor. Gavin Tian is already twenty-nine and will soon age out of the ranking.
Jasper Xie, ranked seventh, is famed for his extraordinary swordsmanship and his androgynous beauty—he’s known as the prettiest young man, and some even call him 'Fairy Jasper' in private. He’s only twenty-three, but has already reached the Law-Phase Realm.
As for Tiana Wei, she’s a genius girl with a natural martial body, cultivating at a terrifying speed. She’s only seventeen, but her cultivation has already reached the peak of Sun-Soul.
The other geniuses on the Hidden Dragon Ranking are all formidable—at worst, every one of them is at least in the Sun-Soul Realm.
Clearly, the power level in Sky-Sun Region is much higher than in Mystic Sun Domain.
In Ian’s view, so many geniuses have come to the front lines not just to temper their strength, but also to build up their reputation.
Don’t think reputation is just some empty thing—it can be surprisingly useful at certain times.
Just then, a Vermin Squad member spoke up again: "Oh right, Captain, I heard that in three days, Victor Wang will host a banquet at Moonview Tower, the biggest restaurant in Dragonskull City, inviting all the top geniuses. Anyone who gets an invitation takes it as a great honor!"
"Good thing Captain isn’t from Sky-Sun Region—otherwise, those Hidden Dragon geniuses would have to step aside!" Jason Zhuge said, buttering him up.
"Exactly! That’s right!"
Jason Zhuge’s words got a chorus of loud agreement from the others.
Just then—
Conrad Wu walked in from outside.
"Young Master, someone brought an invitation."
Ian waved a hand and the invitation flew to him. He opened it, and a strange expression came over his face.
"Captain, I didn’t expect you to be so famous—just arrived in Dragonskull City and already someone’s inviting you!" Rhea Yan teased with a smile.
"It’s an invitation from Victor Wang!"
Ian smiled and passed the invitation around for everyone to see.
"I didn’t expect Victor Wang’s information network to be so sharp!"
Jackson Wenren looked at the invitation and couldn’t hide his surprise.
Brian Zhang sneered, "Don’t forget, we registered with the military. If someone wants to check up on us, it’s not hard!"
Indeed!
Hearing Brian Zhang say that, everyone suddenly looked enlightened.
I think Victor Wang's invitation for Captain is probably not just about the banquet!" Moira Ji mused.
So, is Captain going?" Hannah Chen asked.
Of course I’ll go. It’s the perfect chance to see how strong these Sky-Sun geniuses really are!" Ian said with a dismissive smile.
After a bit more discussion, Ian ended the meeting. With no battles coming up soon, there was no need to stay tense.
Meanwhile—
Inside a grand mansion in Dragonskull City.
A striking young man in white sat at the head of the table, his eyes bright and deep as if they could see through anyone’s heart. This was Victor Wang, known as the Qilin Prodigy.
Seated on either side of Victor Wang were seven or eight young men and women. If outsiders were present, they’d recognize these as geniuses from the Hidden Dragon Ranking.
Brother Wang, isn’t he just some country bumpkin from Mystic Sun? Why take him so seriously?" one genius asked, puzzled.
Victor Wang just smiled and shook his head: "That Evan Chu isn’t as simple as you think."
Another genius scoffed: "He’s last on the Soaring Dragon Ranking in Mystic Sun. No matter how strong he is, he can’t be that impressive. Any one of us here could crush him!"
Don’t underestimate him, or you’ll regret it!" Victor Wang warned. If the rumors he’d heard were true, Evan Chu was not someone to ignore.
Of course, he was only worth noticing—enough to merit a closer look, but still not qualified to be a true rival.
In that case, I’ll test him myself tomorrow!
A young woman’s eyes sparkled, clearly unconvinced.
Her name was Yanna Zhou, ranked thirty-ninth on the Hidden Dragon Ranking in Sky-Sun Region. She had reached peak Sun-Soul Realm, her combat strength formidable—she’d even defeated a Law-Phase martial artist before.
The higher a martial artist’s realm, the harder it is to defeat someone above your level. For Yanna Zhou to beat a Law-Phase opponent as a Sun-Soul was truly monstrous.
Yanna Zhou snapped: "He’s my prey. Are you trying to steal him from me?"
Another genius spoke up—his name was Howard Cheng, ranked forty-sixth on the Hidden Dragon Ranking.
Apparently smitten at first sight, Howard Cheng kept trying to win her favor. Unfortunately, Yanna Zhou didn’t seem interested.
He’s my prey—are you trying to compete with me?" Yanna Zhou glared at Howard Cheng.
Howard Cheng immediately grew nervous and hurried to explain: "Miss Zhou, I wouldn’t dare compete with you. I just didn’t want you to dirty your hands with a country bumpkin!"
Stay out of my business, or I won’t be polite!" Yanna Zhou snapped, her tone growing more hostile.
Howard Cheng’s face fell, but in the end he said nothing. Still, he was quietly fuming—blaming that country bumpkin. Next chance he got, he’d be sure to teach him a lesson.
The others looked on, secretly despising Howard Cheng. He had no backbone.
Even Victor Wang’s eyes flashed with disdain, though he quickly smiled and said, "All right, that’s enough for today. Everyone’s dismissed!"
[No translation needed; end of scene.]