Chapter 205: There’s No End to Absurdity

Instinctively catching the oversized package thrown by the black-haired girl, Miss Thief paused for a moment, then quickly scratched her head in embarrassment.

“Boss, I haven’t really put in much effort these past few days, just being able to fill my stomach is sufficient… No need to split it, no need to split it, I’ll just take a little for promotion, and you can keep the rest. Who knows, I might even push into the top ten or even the top three!”

Gazing at the clear, genuine eyes of Miss Le Qiao Qiao, Vilyric smiled and shook her head.

“The top ten and top hundred are guaranteed to advance to the finals, and the remaining empty titles don’t mean much to me. Plus, I don’t want to stand out too much in the early stages. Let’s split it; you’re the one who needs this promotional spot more than I do.”

In fact, Vilyric had considered this point on the first day when she discussed cooperation with Le Qiao Qiao. The reason she brought an extra person was to have the flexibility to distribute crystal pearls when necessary. If she accidentally snagged a high ranking, it would probably bring endless troubles for a long time.

You see, except for a few like the Jing Shen Sect who have guaranteed spots, all remaining competitors in the Dongyuanzhi Kingdom’s martial arts competition are concentrated here. Achieving first in the qualifiers doesn’t guarantee a first in the finals, but becoming a hot topic is inevitable.

It is indeed an honor, but Vilyric doesn’t need such things to prove herself. She doesn’t shy away from taking the top spot in the Dongyuanzhi Kingdom region or even the entire Four Saints Selection Tournament; she just doesn’t want to become overly famous too soon and be pointed at everywhere she goes.

Moreover, from a more cautious perspective, she has already revealed her true self and strength in front of those seven-day Demonic Lords, and with the Ancient Spirit Realm now churning with dark currents, stepping into the limelight too early wouldn’t be beneficial for future actions.

As for her saying that Le Qiao Qiao needs this promotional spot more, it’s not just empty talk. From Vilyric’s observations, the actual strength of Miss Thief probably falls between lv30-lv40—not exceptional, just at a high level within the popular range known as the mid-third realm in their parlance, roughly Earth-level in the adventurer standard.

Although having this level of skill at just over twenty years old makes her a genius among geniuses, even the most talented still need time to mature.

Moreover, due to her unique training direction and lack of experience, her frontline combat power is relatively limited. Forget now, even before breaking through Seeking Immortality, Murong Yun should be able to defeat her with ease.

If we were to consider the swordsman girl Hong Yan that Vilyric had encountered before facing off against Le Qiao Qiao, her chances of winning would be at least eighty percent.

With such mediocre standards… frankly, aiming to get into the top one hundred of the Dongyuanzhi Kingdom competition is no small feat.

Tit for tat; this can be seen as a reward for the work Miss Thief put in while diligently laboring for Vilyric over the past five days. Just like Miss Priestess mentioned at the start, she’s definitely not a heartless boss.

Evidently, Le Qiao Qiao understood those principles well herself. Seeing the black-haired girl’s resolute attitude, she gritted her teeth and shrugged, no longer declining.

“Boss, no need for unnecessary words! I owe you a favor, so whenever you need anything in the future, feel free to come find me. If I ever say no, I’ll have my conscience bitten by a dog!”

“Is that for real? …Anything goes?”

“Ah? Well, I can’t violate my principles as a person!”

“Eh…”

……

Just as Vilyric expected, even after splitting all the crystal pearls evenly, with each receiving over two thousand six hundred, when the Priestess laid out the heavy package on the table and unwrapped it, it still sparked gasps from the surroundings.

“Whoa! Did this little girl steal the crystal pearl vault? This must be at least a thousand or two, right?”

“To be honest, I initially thought she was just carrying some plain crackers or jerky… Look at the little girl behind her; could she be…”

“No way, that would be too coincidental!”

“With this many, she’s definitely solidly in the top one hundred; a guaranteed spot… Ah, how nice.”

“Such talent, incredibly promising!”

Hey, hey, wait a minute; is something weird mixed in here…?

Listening to the crowd’s chatter, Vilyric, the focal point, didn’t show any extra emotion or sound. She simply knocked on the table again, reminding the slightly stunned staff members to get back to work.

However, these officials responsible for counting the crystal pearls must have seen their fair share of big scenes. Although startled by the brilliant flashes of light, they quickly regained their composure and efficiently began the process of counting and verifying.

Considering a variety of factors for efficiency, they certainly wouldn’t count one by one; instead, they shone some device presumably from Lingyin Fairy Island that seemed completely out of place in this world over the table of crystal pearls, confirming their authenticity before quickly placing them into a box to be weighed, thereby calculating the total currency amount.

In this way, the results are open and fair, and there’s zero chance of fraud or deceit. It’s evident that these processes have been thoroughly tested and account for every conceivable angle.

“2617 crystal pearls confirmed, the result is accurate. Competitor Vilyric, you currently rank sixth in the statistics. Since you’re in the top one hundred, please proceed to the rest area and wait a moment. We will finalize the overall ranking after all competitor data is counted and grant promotion to the top one hundred.”

After completing the data statistics for the crystal pearls, the staff’s official manner was tinged with a hint of respect.

“There are about two hours left until the checkpoint closes, so please don’t leave before it’s completed; otherwise, it may complicate the qualification for our distribution. Thank you for your cooperation.”

“Alright, got it.”

Though Miss Vilyric is only temporarily ranked sixth, after more competitors—especially those strong ones who have looted massive amounts of crystal pearls—emerge from the forest, this ranking is bound to change. Nevertheless, she certainly wouldn’t drop out of the top hundred.

Plus, with guaranteed spots, the national finals only allow just over two hundred participants. Those who can enter this list are not just powerful forces, martial arts masters, or even ranked amongst the top one hundred in the Ancient Spirit Realm. Let alone the fact that Vilyric looks so young, it is entirely reasonable for the essentially ordinary staff to treat her with such reverence.

Having comprehended the hidden information within, Vilyric merely offered a polite smile and nodded, then exchanged a glance with Le Qiao Qiao before following the staff leading her to the rest area, disregarding the eruptions of awe behind her.

However, while strolling past a massive crystal board crafted through some special means—displaying real-time rankings of competitors—near the center, the black-haired girl intentionally scanned the situation above and indeed spotted a few familiar names.

Hmm… Hong Yan, 721 crystal pearls, ranked 46th. This position isn’t too stable; she might get dropped off. But considering her swordsmanship, there’s still a great opportunity to make it to the finals if she fights hard—unless she’s afraid of getting into trouble, then it’s not a big deal.

Cheng Fengqi… 430 pearls, ranked 79th.

Wow, he really did go “punish evildoers and promote good”! But with this ranking, he’ll likely end up outside the top hundred by the end, it seems a bit rushed.

Wait a minute… Murong Yun actually hoarded 1500 pearls, ranking at an impressive 12th?

Hey, hey, what’s the deal with this guy? His strength might indeed be extraordinary, but that’s beyond unreasonable, and accumulating that number by hunting is definitely impossible, so his source is quite obvious.

Ugh, what a decline in virtue and authenticity, I didn’t expect you, with those thick brows and big eyes, to falter against temptation and entertain crooked thoughts…

In her mind, Vilyric sped through a frenzied rant about some peculiar white-clad middle-aged man, completely oblivious of the similarity to her own actions. Her gaze traveled up, lingering on her own rank just below Le Qiao Qiao, who had 2616 pearls, ranked 7th, then finally settled on the name sitting atop the leaderboard.

The ever-silent stoic face faltered slightly, and she instinctively rubbed her eyes.

What it said was…

[1st Place: Void Collection of Crystal Pearls — 17280 Pearls.]

“?????”

   

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