Chapter 1243: Not Should Be

Lu Ye had already left; Du Lang remained solitary in the mine tunnel.

It was a long time before a resolute expression appeared on his face, and he softly murmured, "I'm withdrawing!"

As he spoke, a gentle power arose out of thin air, enveloping him. The power, like a soft breeze, slowly circled him. As it swirled, the space around him began to warp. It took more than ten breaths for his figure to finally vanish. In the end, he didn't dare to risk it all. Compared to his own opportunities, the future of his realm was paramount. Even if no one knew whether that idea would succeed, it was always worth a try. Almost immediately after Du Lang's figure disappeared, a massive repulsive force approached from afar, rapidly spreading towards the interior of the Grand Beginning Realm.

The first month of the Divine Sea Conflict had passed!

Upon exiting the Grand Beginning Realm, Du Lang immediately reappeared on the large platform where he had been before. A white-haired old man beside him, seeing his safe return, couldn't help but sigh in relief. Although he knew Du Lang's return at this point likely meant he had gained something, he still couldn't resist asking, "How was it?"

Du Lang responded gravely, "I did not fail!"

The old man was greatly comforted, nodding repeatedly, "Good, good, good!" He then showed an apologetic expression, "But it must have been tough for you..."

Du Lang shook his head, "My ancestral land gave me birth and raised me, and my sect taught and nurtured me. At this critical time for the ancestral land's rise or fall, it is my honor to be able to contribute." The old man was even more gratified, "It's best you think that way. Let's go."

The purpose of his bringing Du Lang here had been achieved, so there was naturally no need to stay any longer. The scenery of other realms was, after all, just that—the scenery of other realms. Whether it was a blessing or a misfortune that the most outstanding Divine Sea Realm cultivator of the current generation from Crimson Sky Continent had given up his opportunities for the future of his ancestral land was unclear for now, but staying here would only disturb his state of mind.

Du Lang walked out with the old man, but he couldn't help but glance back at the direction of the Grand Beginning Realm's portal.

The portal remained, with two massive pillars standing on either side. The left pillar displayed nearly two thousand names, while the right one showed a hundred. Compared to the beginning of the Divine Sea Conflict, about five hundred names were missing from the two pillars. Most of these people had died within the Grand Beginning Realm, with only a very small number fortunate enough to emerge alive. Now that a month had passed, the list of the top hundred temporary rankings had also just been released.

Du Lang couldn't help but be startled, his steps halting!

The old man noticed and looked back, "What's wrong?"

Du Lang looked astonished, "I saw a friend's name."

The old man smiled upon hearing this, "Oh, you made a friend in there?"

Du Lang wasn't sure if they counted as friends, but he supposed so. After all, though they had known each other for less than a month, they had helped each other during that time and even shared drinks at the end, forging a tentative friendship.

"Is that person on the right pillar?" the old man asked. Simply seeing a friend's name shouldn't have elicited such a strong reaction from Du Lang. It must be that the name appeared on the right pillar for Du Lang to be so moved.

Du Lang nodded.

"Which one? What's the ranking?" The old man grew interested. Being on the right pillar temporarily didn't guarantee staying there, but it undoubtedly showed that the person had the capability to compete for opportunities. Moreover, everyone currently on the right pillar had already achieved some gains. In the struggle among prodigies from various realms, having made gains at this stage indicated considerable potential, surpassing most others. If such a person could emerge alive, they would be worth befriending.

"The one ranked eleventh!" Du Lang stared intently at the right pillar of the portal, at the line of golden characters for the eleventh rank: "Nine Heavens Realm, Lu Yiye!"

Now it was the old man's turn to be astonished: "It's him?!"

"That shouldn't be possible. If I recall correctly, that young man should only be at the eighth level of the Divine Sea Realm. Even if he had some skill and was qualified to participate in the Divine Sea Conflict, he shouldn't be able to achieve such a high ranking at this stage!" When the Grand Beginning Realm portal opened earlier, Lu Ye had set off relatively late, so many powerful cultivators had noticed his cultivation level and remembered the name "Lu Yiye of the Nine Heavens." The old man was one of them, and at the time, he had thought that this young man from the Nine Heavens Realm would likely face grim prospects and might not last long. But now, it seemed he had been mistaken.

Du Lang also had a look of disbelief: "That shouldn't be right!" When he met Lu Ye, Lu Ye was already mining spirit jade in that tunnel. For the next twenty-odd days, the two were practically inseparable, and no battles broke out. So, what was the deal with this ranking? There couldn't be a duplicate name; even if the name was the same, their origin realms would be different. So he was completely certain that the person ranked eleventh was indeed the Lu Yiye he had met in the spirit jade mine. Could it be that he had killed many people before meeting Du Lang? So even if he gained nothing in the subsequent twenty-odd days, he could still be ranked eleventh?

As the old man and young man from Crimson Sky Continent stood there in astonishment, a great stir also arose on the platform. The gazes of almost all the powerful cultivators were drawn to the presence of Lu Yiye from the Nine Heavens Realm, each one filled with disbelief and incredulity. At that time, too many people had paid attention to Lu Ye's cultivation. Even if they hadn't initially, Yang Qing's subsequent act of throwing a dragon pearl into the treasure pool had drawn attention to him. It could be said that among all present, even the attention paid to the prodigies from top realms paled in comparison to that on Lu Ye, because everyone wanted to know when he would die. If he died, the dragon pearl Yang Qing had thrown into the treasure pool could not be retrieved.

How could top realms not have designs on such a nine-star treasure? This time, they were unprepared; regardless of whether Yang Qing won or lost, no one could take the dragon pearl. But the next century would be their chance. Once those top realms had prepared their stakes, that would be the time they could retrieve the dragon pearl from the treasure pool. Therefore, from beginning to end, many powerful cultivators had been observing the changes in Lu Ye's name. If he died inside or voluntarily withdrew, his name would disappear from the left pillar. Now, his name had indeed vanished from the left pillar, but it had reappeared on the right, temporarily ranked eleventh! This was truly unbelievable!

Looking at the hundred names on the right pillar, the top sixty were almost exclusively occupied by those from top realms. Every name above and below Lu Ye's belonged to a top realm, making him the only exception, like a lamb among a pack of wolves. Only from the sixty-first position onwards would cultivators not from top realms start to appear. From this alone, it was evident that cultivators from different realms had vastly different foundations. If it were just an isolated case, it wouldn't signify much, but when a large group emerged together, it highlighted the disparity caused by different origin realms.

It was now a fact that Lu Yiye from the Nine Heavens Realm was temporarily ranked eleventh. The many powerful cultivators were now only curious about one question: how many gains had he acquired during this month in the Grand Beginning Realm? In one month, approximately fewer than five hundred Divine Sea Realm cultivators who entered had been eliminated. To achieve a rank of eleventh at this stage, one would need at least five or six gains. This was quite incredible. Although those temporarily ranked in the top hundred might not necessarily have the last laugh, especially since those ranked higher would inevitably face more targeting in the end, based on the patterns of previous Divine Sea Conflicts, with such gains already in hand, he would only need to find a place to hide for the remaining time. By the time the three-month deadline arrived, he would very likely emerge victorious safely. No wonder that powerful cultivator dared to wager such a valuable treasure; he indeed had immense confidence in his junior.

Elsewhere on the platform, several powerful cultivators from top realms were gathered. They too had once participated in the Divine Sea Conflict, though that was many years ago, and they naturally understood its intricacies perfectly. Lu Ye's ranking surprised them, but it was merely surprise. As observers outside, none of them knew what had transpired inside. Regardless of Lu Ye's current rank, they attributed some of it to luck.

They were more concerned with another group of beings.

A venerable old man with an otherworldly demeanor spoke, "As expected, the Blood Race is making moves. Almost all those ranked between seventieth and ninetieth are their people."

A tall, imposing man sneered, "When has the Blood Race ever *not* made moves? Even if they come from different realms, since they share a common origin, they possess special methods of communication, making it easy for them to gather. Naturally, they appear numerous and powerful in the early stages of the Divine Sea Conflict."

"It's a pity our human race cannot imitate their communication methods, otherwise we could specifically target them!"

"Their methods are based on bloodline abilities; how could humans imitate them? Not to mention their bloodline abilities, even ordinary communication methods are greatly hindered in an environment like the Grand Beginning Realm." They had previously considered gathering forces in the early stages to eliminate the Blood Race cultivators who entered, but within the Grand Beginning Realm, ordinary communication methods were highly ineffective, making it difficult to assemble forces. The Blood Race was different; relying on their special bloodline abilities, they could easily group together. As a result, they were unstoppable wherever they went, often establishing a significant advantage in the early stages of the Divine Sea Conflict. Once this advantage was established, it was difficult to erase.

Therefore, in every Divine Sea Conflict, the Blood Race claimed a large portion of the final winning spots. They were also the most troublesome opponents for the top realms on the human side. Even cultivators from top realms, once caught in a Blood Race encirclement in the early stages, would find it hard to escape. No matter how profound their foundations, two fists were ultimately no match for four hands.

However, this approach by the Blood Race also had its drawbacks: too many people gathered in the early stages meant that gains were difficult to share, resulting in generally low individual rankings. But now was the perfect time for Blood Race cultivators to improve their rankings. As large numbers of cultivators, driven by the rules of the Grand Beginning Realm, would gather towards the center, they only needed to patrol and intercept along the way to easily acquire gains.