Chapter 263: Chapter 263: Astonishing Results

"How terrifying."

Many paled, exclaiming inwardly in astonishment.

"Quick, look at Ye Fanxing from Dongsheng Kingdom! He’s condensed a Red Tiger Martial Soul!"

Another contestant shouted just then.

A crimson, tiger-shaped martial soul, wreathed in flames, exuded a majestic and powerful aura.

"Using a Saber-toothed Tiger Soul Crystal as the base and adding materials like Flame Stone and Red Flame Crystal to give the martial soul a flame energy attack... It’s truly incredible."

"Xia Qixi from Celestial Gold Kingdom also condensed a powerful martial soul. It looks similar to a ’Cyan Simurgh’ Martial Soul."

"It must have used a Cyan-winged Swift Soul Crystal as a base, with various materials added. Its greatest boon to a Martial Artist is speed. A martial soul like that is high-grade, at the very least."

Countless contestants discussed amongst themselves, their voices filled with constant amazement.

The martial souls refined by these top geniuses from various kingdoms were indeed far beyond the level of ordinary contestants like them. In their eyes, simply managing to condense a complete martial soul was already a success. But the geniuses from the major kingdoms were different. They weren’t just thinking about condensing a complete martial soul; they were also considering how to use various materials to add different attributes to it and raise its grade.

The comparison gave rise to a strong sense of defeat in the hearts of many contestants.

"Alright, time is up for the assessment. All contestants, please leave your stations. We will now verify everyone’s answers, determine the final scores, and then announce the results."

The host shouted loudly.

The contestants left the arena one after another, returning to their respective kingdom’s designated areas.

A martial soul condensed from a Soul Crystal could typically be maintained for about ten hours if not implanted into a Martial Artist’s body. This was more than enough time for the judges to conduct their final evaluations.

At the judges’ panel, the chief Soul Refiners from the major kingdoms of the Thirteen Nations Alliance began to inspect the results of the competition.

The first task was to identify materials. Out of nearly forty materials, they had to identify twenty. Each correct identification was worth ten points, while each incorrect one would result in a deduction.

It sounded difficult, but identifying twenty materials was, after all, only half of the total number.

Therefore, for the contestants who had made it to the third round, this first task wasn’t actually that difficult.

And indeed, this proved to be the case.

During the verification process, quite a few contestants received a perfect score of two hundred points. The proportion was not insignificant.

This made the contestants who hadn’t gotten a perfect score feel uneasy.

There were only fifty spots for the Floating Light Secret Realm, but a full two hundred contestants had made it to this third round. To win, one had to make as few mistakes as possible. Losing even ten points in the first task would have a crucial impact on the final score.

During the verification, the top Soul Refiners from the major kingdoms were particularly meticulous when examining the work of the contestants likely to place in the top ten.

"This Xu Bomming from Celestial Gold Kingdom is quite good. Out of thirty-nine materials, he actually identified thirty-three—thirteen more than what was required for a perfect score—without a single mistake. His expertise is truly profound."

"Wenqiao Mei from Fire Crow Kingdom is also good. She identified thirty-two, an impressive result."

"Haha, my Shizhen Kingdom’s Xuu Zhengqing actually identified thirty-four! He was only five away from a perfect thirty-nine."

"Huh, Yun Aoxue from Liuyun Kingdom also identified thirty-four. I really didn’t see that coming."

During the verification, many Soul Refiners marveled to themselves.

Being able to identify over thirty of the thirty-nine materials was already extremely impressive. To differentiate the contestants’ skill levels, the judges had intentionally included ten obscure materials to increase the difficulty when setting the questions.

Even if top Soul Refiners like them were asked to hastily identify some of these materials, they might not be able to get them all right.

This just went to show how strong this year’s batch of contestants was.

"Huh, Bai Qi from Black Forest Kingdom actually identified thirty-seven! Only two away from a perfect score."

One surprise followed another.

Suddenly, someone cried out in alarm.

"Ye Fanxing from Dongsheng Kingdom... he got thirty-eight! He only missed one!"

Missing only one was an achievement that even many elders from the Soul Master Towers of the major kingdoms might not be able to accomplish.

Everyone was still reeling from the shock, not yet having time to react.

A sharp intake of breath was heard. The few Soul Refiners who had arrived at Luan Hong’s station were staring, dumbfounded.

At Luan Hong’s station, all thirty-nine materials had been identified, without a single error or omission. A perfect score.

So far, the only perfect score.

This Luan Hong was truly heaven-defying.

Everyone was shaken to the core.

After seeing Luan Hong’s perfect score, the results of the next few contestants failed to elicit any amazement from them.

Even Zhou Liang from Mu Zhen Country’s thirty-six and Xia Qixi from Celestial Gold Kingdom’s thirty-seven paled in comparison to Luan Hong’s perfect score.

The crowd of judges finally arrived at Ye Xuan’s station.

The eyes of the Zuo Yi Alliance’s president shot out like lightning.

It wasn’t just him; the gazes of the other Soul Refiners were just as intense, like torches.

After all, Ye Xuan’s performance in the first two rounds had been too outstanding. He had even repeatedly suppressed the astonishing Luan Hong from Wushang Kingdom, leaving a deep impression on everyone.

In this third round, for the first two tasks, Ye Xuan had also been the fastest to finish, taking less than a quarter of an hour. He was nearly twice as fast as Luan Hong.

Under these circumstances, how could they not pay close attention?

The moment their gazes landed on Ye Xuan’s station, they were unable to look away.

At Ye Xuan’s station, the thirty-nine materials were quietly sorted and arranged without a single error. Even materials of the same category were placed in neat order, creating a pleasing aesthetic.

"Thirty-nine... a perfect score..."

A collective gasp echoed across the arena once more, shaking everyone to their core.

This Ye Xuan... also got a perfect score?

They couldn’t believe their eyes.

The third round was extraordinarily difficult. In their minds, it should have been impossible for any contestant to achieve a perfect score.

But now, not only had one appeared, but two had appeared at once. The situation left everyone dumbfounded, the shock in their hearts like a raging tempest that refused to subside.

Only after a long while did the many Soul Refiners recover from their shock, avert their gazes, and move on to the next contestant’s station...

Soon, the results of the first task were completely verified, and the host announced them clearly.

"For the third round, first task, those who received a perfect score are..."

Upon learning that Ye Xuan had received a perfect score, a sharp glint appeared in the eyes of Luan Hong, Ye Fanxing, and the others.

Now that they were in the final round of the assessment, even Luan Hong, who had the highest score among them, was still ninety points behind Ye Xuan. To have any hope of taking first place, Luan Hong would have to outperform Ye Xuan by more than ninety points in the next two tasks.

The evaluation of the second task began.

The second task was to write down five methods for enhancing a martial soul.

Each correct answer was worth forty points, and each incorrect answer would incur a forty-point deduction.

To avoid deductions, many contestants in this round only wrote down the few methods they were confident about. As a result, this second task immediately distinguished the skill levels.

Most contestants wrote down two or three answers, scoring eighty or one hundred twenty points. A few wrote down four or five, but these contestants almost all had errors. After the deductions, many of them ended up with fewer points than those who had simply written two or three answers. The risk hadn’t been worth the reward.

Building on their experience from the previous task, everyone’s attention was once again focused on the contestants likely to place in the top ten.

However, the next few contestants, like Xu Bomming and others, all only got three correct. Only Ye Fanxing managed four, standing out from the rest.

For this task’s subject, the top Soul Refiners from the major kingdoms had intentionally chosen the White Tiger Martial Soul.

The White Tiger Martial Soul was a relatively common one. Basically, any Soul Refiner would know how to enhance it. The key, however, was that there were only two commonly known methods for enhancing a White Tiger Martial Soul.

Only those Soul Refiners who had studied it in depth or had profound attainments in Soul Refining could come up with a third method. As for the fourth, even most Peak of Third Grade Soul Refiners in the Thirteen Nations Alliance rarely knew it.

The fifth method was only occasionally circulated among the Fourth Grade Soul Refiners of the Thirteen Nations Alliance, and very few people could actually execute it.

Therefore, these results were not surprising.

Zhu Tianlan and the others nodded to themselves. This was precisely the effect this task was designed to have. Otherwise, if everyone got a perfect score like in the first task, what would be the point?

But when they came to Luan Hong’s station, Zhu Tianlan and the others were utterly stunned.

Because on Luan Hong’s answer sheet, a full six methods were written down.

Five of them were identical to the standard answers known to the various Soul Refiners. But the sixth method was one that even Zhu Tianlan of Celestial Gold Kingdom had never heard of.

’What is going on?’

Everyone’s gaze involuntarily turned to Luan Hong below the stage.

The requirement was only to write down five methods. Since Luan Hong had already gotten the first five right, why write a sixth?

Luan Hong’s expression was calm, and his tone was proud as he said, "There are actually six ways to enhance a White Tiger Martial Soul. Although the competition only asked for five, I felt it was necessary to write down the sixth as well."

After saying this, he shot a provocative glance at Ye Xuan.

Being successively suppressed by Ye Xuan in the previous rounds had stirred Luan Hong’s pride. Therefore, in this second task, he was determined to crush the competition, to show everyone that while Ye Xuan may have bested him in the first two rounds, enhancing martial souls was what truly mattered for a Soul Refiner. He wanted to prove that he, Luan Hong, was the true number one genius among them all.

But faced with Luan Hong’s provocation, Ye Xuan remained perfectly calm and unbothered, not even sparing him a single glance. That expression of complete indifference infuriated Luan Hong even more than disdain would have.

At Luan Hong’s station, Master Zhu Tianlan and the others felt an awkwardness in their hearts, but their attention was completely focused on Luan Hong’s sixth answer.