Heavenly Ranking

Chapter 141 Encounter
For a team to function effectively, a leader who commands the complete respect and trust of everyone is crucial.

Although Xiao Hanxue had previously obeyed Yang Kaitai's orders, she had acted somewhat independently and recklessly.

It was because Yang Kaitai's prestige was insufficient to suppress Xiao Hanxue and make her willingly obey his orders.

but now……

It's different.

Ji Fuyou has clearly proven his undisputed captaincy through his strength and achievements.

Whether it's Yang Kaitai or Xiao Hanxue, they are both a whole level below him.

Given this display of ability, no matter how arrogant the two were, believing themselves to be no less than any other young talent in the world, they still willingly accepted Ji Fuyou's identity as captain and obeyed his orders.

When everyone unconditionally obeyed Ji Fuyou's commands, and with Yang Kaitai, the "vice-captain," filling in any gaps, the team's efficiency improved significantly.

In just one hour, the number of monsters lost at their hands had reached three digits.

This included two fire monsters.

With this level of efficiency, Ji Fuyou, Xiao Hanxue, and Yang Kaitai, who had killed a significant number of people, all made it onto the Heavenly Ranking.

Among them, Ji Fuyou's ranking on the Heavenly Ranking reached 61st.

According to Yang Kaitai and his team, the reason why they were only at a mid-level was that the quality of their team was dragging down Ji Fuyou's speed.

Among those ranked in the top 36, aren't they all powerful alliances?

……

"White Spiritual Source Crystal".

Xiao Hanxue extracted a source crystal from the body of a fire monster, somewhat regretfully remarking, "The quality of these two fire monsters dropped drastically."

"If every fire monster had a blue spirit crystal, then spirit crystals would be worthless long ago."

Yang Kaitai smiled.

"However, the cooperation just now proved my guess."

Ji Fuyou looked at Yang Kaitai: "Your soul blast can interfere with the mental frequency of these creatures. If the mental frequency is interfered with, doesn't that mean that the mind cannot concentrate? That proves that the mental resistance has been reduced! At this time, if you use mental magic to attack, it will have a near-cumulative effect."

"This is indeed a pleasant surprise."

Yang Kaitai smiled and nodded.

But it’s understandable.

Intimidating a distracted person has a significantly different effect than intimidating a person who is fully alert.

Just as the two were talking, Yang Kaitai seemed to realize something.

Immediately afterwards, Ji Fuyou also sensed something and made a hand gesture.

Immediately, the other four members of the team went on high alert.

"Captain Yang? We mean no harm."

Soon, a voice came from inside.

This voice...

"Zhou Wangchuan?"

Yang Kaitai quickly recognized the mental fluctuation.

At the same time, he quietly introduced to Ji Fuyou: "This is the most outstanding prodigy in Qingzhou next door, and a genius who is said to be destined to be on the Heavenly Ranking. He obtained the title of Senior Spiritual Ability User three months ago. Of course, he got to this point by spiritual crystallization. Currently, he is ranked 69th on the Heavenly Ranking."

Ji Fuyou nodded.

Soon, six figures appeared in the mist.

Besides Zhou Wangchuan, Yang Kaitai also glanced at a man in his thirties beside him: "Qin Zhou is here too. It seems that all the elites of your Qingzhou have gathered together and formed a single team."

"No one knows what the Trial Grounds will look like, so it's natural to form a strong alliance."

As Zhou Wangchuan spoke, he glanced at Yang Kaitai, somewhat surprised: "You didn't travel with Xue Huanian and Yuan Gang?"

But then he seemed to remember something: "I forgot, Xue Huanian is a mental ability user just like you. If you two are working together, who should be the captain is a difficult question to argue about, and it could even cause problems."

"When two people meet in the mist, they should avoid each other. Why have you come to meet us? Is there something you need?"

Yang Kaitai's tone carried a hint of wariness.

after all……

On the Heavenly Ranking, killing other competitors allows you to transfer all of their points to yourself.

"I want to cooperate with you to hunt a powerful monster."

"That's what Zhou Wangchuan said."

Finally, he paused for a moment and said, "That monster is blocking our way. If we go around it, we don't know how long we'll have to go around here. This palace is too big."

"Cooperation to hunt monsters?"

Yang Kaitai couldn't help but glance at Ji Fuyou.

Ji Fuyou gave him a look and handed him the task of coordinating with Zhou Wangchuan.

Yang Kaitai pondered for a moment, considering that they were merely nodding acquaintances with no trust to speak of, and then bluntly said, "There is no basis for cooperation between us."

"If Xue Huanian were leading the team, it wouldn't be so troublesome."

Qin Zhou frowned.

"This is not a question of whether or not there is a basis for cooperation."

Zhou Wangchuan said, after a moment's thought, "Never mind, there's no harm in telling you. We have professionals in our team who are well-versed in architecture and design. Based on the layout and style of these buildings, he made some inferences and assumptions. The entire Fengwo Temple is actually a pilgrimage site. The palaces and corridors are like a spider web, eventually leading to a common core area."

He paused for a moment, then said, "It should be the main hall where the Confucian priest presided over the sacrificial rites."

"You mean... there might be a powerful guard at the point where the Fiery Lord's main hall is located?"

Yang Kaitai understood what he meant.

"good."

Zhou Wangchuan nodded: "Moreover, if you take the detour, you'll basically have to go all the way to the outermost edge, which will take at least one or two hours. If you're not careful, you might miss the crucial battle to besiege and kill the Fengwo Sect Leader." Yang Kaitai listened, pondered for a moment, and then continued: "We'll see."

Zhou Wangchuan knew that there was no foundation of trust between them and Yang Kaitai. If Yang Kaitai readily agreed to their demands, they would have to consider whether there were any hidden schemes or tricks involved.

He wasn't surprised by his obvious refusal, but added, "We've basically cleared out the monsters ahead. Of course, there might still be monsters patrolling from other passages. If you don't believe me, you can go and see for yourselves."

After saying that, he turned around and led his team into the mist.

After they left, Liu Yi said, "Zhou Wangchuan and Xue Huanian have a very good relationship, and their families seem to have a marriage alliance that is quite distant. If he were here, this cooperation might have been discussed."

"Not necessarily. You can know a person's face but not their heart. In the fog, apart from the members of a small team who can trust and rely on each other, there is no one else you can trust."

As Yang Kaitai spoke, his gaze turned to Ji Fuyou: "Captain, should we change direction, or..."

"Go up and have a look."

Ji Fuyou said, "You lead the team, and I'll bring up the rear."

Yang Kaitai immediately understood what Ji Fuyou meant.

They were worried that Zhou Wangchuan and his group might return.

He nodded immediately.

The team advanced rapidly.

It seemed that Zhou Wangchuan and his group had already wiped them out, so they circled around for a kilometer or two without encountering any guards.

At this moment, Yang Kaitai seemed to have noticed something and suddenly pushed open a door to the side.

This appears to be a prayer room, and it has been through a war; the statues are smashed, the rough furniture is damaged, and there are piles of corpses of monsters from the Fertile Temple.

but……

Besides the monster's corpse, there were also humans.

There were a total of nine human corpses.

This was clearly a two-person human squad.

The crucial point is that, of the nine corpses, six bore wounds inflicted by the monster, while the other three...

"The injuries appear to be inflicted by the monster, but upon closer inspection, there were already wounds left by human weapons on their bodies before they were killed by the monster. In fact... it is highly likely that they were killed by human warriors beforehand, and then the illusion of dying at the hands of the monster was created!"

After examining the evidence, Guan Yue came to a conclusion.

"Do you recognize who it is?"

Ji Fuyou asked.

Yang Kaitai shook his head.

Fang Qiyun said, "I know one of them, Yan Song from the Yan family of Haizhou! He's a high-level martial artist who's been famous for almost a year!"

"Yan family."

Haizhou is a large state bordering Chuzhou, and the Yan family is a top family in Haizhou. They have all heard of them to some extent, and it is possible that the forces behind them have business dealings with the Yan family.

“The disciples trained by the Yan family are not weak. They are probably second only to Luo Suyu in Haizhou. In terms of reputation, they are probably about the same as us and Zhang Haoran.”

Yang Kaitai said with a solemn expression, "In the end, he died here."

However, Ji Fuyou knew that what truly made him solemn was not Yan Song's death here, but rather...

Who killed him?

"We've been fighting fiercely inside the Temple of Fervor for almost two hours now. Let's rest for an hour and recover our strength! I'll go outside to keep watch!"

Ji Fuyou said in a deep voice.

"it is good."

Yang Kaitai understood what Ji Fuyou meant.

The rest is fake.

It's true that it's to prevent someone from following them.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

Yang Kaitai said.

After all, his mental level was still higher than Ji Fuyou's.

"No need. I have mastered the Illusionary Shadowless Technique. Unless you are a master-level mental energy user, you won't be able to detect me within twenty meters."

Ji Fuyou Road.

Yang Kaitai agreed.

We should wait patiently with the others.

Healing wounds, replenishing food, repairing weapons...

Ji Fuyou left the prayer room and found a statue that was over six meters tall. He hid in the corner between the statue and the wall.

The wait didn't last long.

Less than ten minutes later, a very faint sound of footsteps came from the mist.

The owner of the footsteps completely concealed his aura, even suppressing his mental fluctuations to exist only around his body, forming a special force field that seemed specifically designed to counteract mental perception.

However, while he used his mental power to seal off all his fluctuations and prevent others from perceiving them, he also reduced his external perception to the extreme.

They were completely unaware of the people around them.

So that...

And just like that, it appeared in Ji Fuyou's field of vision.

As his figure appeared, he recognized his identity.

He was one of the five people who had followed Zhou Wangchuan not long ago.

(End of this chapter)