Chapter 2995: Leaderboard
Over a thousand Golden Horned Crows, even after rushing into the forest and their formation being broken, could only allow Wyatt Barnes to escape a certain distance.
Because only without forming the formation, over a thousand Golden Horned Crows would be slower than Wyatt Barnes.
Once they form the formation, the speed of over a thousand Golden Horned Crows could rival that of an Immortal Lord, making it easy to catch up to Wyatt Barnes.
And even if the formation is broken once the crows enter the forest, it doesn’t take long for them to reform the formation in the forest, catch up to Wyatt Barnes, and kill him!
"Earlier, their speed wasn’t that fast. It was only after getting close to me that they sped up... Clearly, they completed the formation after getting close to me."
Upon darting into the forest, Wyatt Barnes’s body surged with Immortal Origin, merging into the earth element and turning earthy yellow, with golden and purple lights bursting from him.
A vortex suspended above him for a moment, voraciously devouring the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, then completely dissipating.
It was evident that in this instant, Wyatt Barnes used all the techniques he could muster.
Minor Devouring Technique!
Purple Energy from the East!
Immovable Heavenly King!
Moreover, the speed at which Wyatt Barnes’s Immortal Origin surged forth was extraordinarily fast, with the ninety-nine heavenly veins within him never resting.
Whoosh!!
Wyatt Barnes’s figure now shot out like a streak of earthy yellow, gold, and purple intertwined lightning, darting swiftly through the forest.
After a while of darting, Wyatt Barnes noticed there was no movement behind him, and he couldn’t help but pause, "What... what’s going on?"
Following that, Wyatt Barnes mustered the courage to turn around and retrace his steps, only to find no trace of the Golden Horned Crows.
Even at the spot where he had previously fled back into the forest, there were no signs of the Golden Horned Crows chasing him down.
"What’s the situation?"
Out of curiosity, Wyatt Barnes soared into the air again, and as he neared the forest canopy, extending his Divine Sense, he clearly sensed the dense presence above the forest.
"Could it be... that these Golden Horned Crows cannot enter the forest?"
Wyatt Barnes stood in the air above the forest, his gaze piercing through the trees, once again spotting the thousand Golden Horned Crows there, glaring at where he was now.
Moreover, these thousand Golden Horned Crows were still in formation.
"Let’s try..."
Taking a deep breath, Wyatt Barnes, wishing to test his theory, flickered into sight outside the forest.
Of course, appearing not far from the forest.
In that instant, piercing screeches swept overwhelmingly toward him, stabbing Wyatt Barnes’s eardrums with pain, as if they might burst at any moment.
Wyatt Barnes squinted, seeing the thousand previously still Golden Horned Crows with their head crests glowing brilliantly, flapping their wings and diving down toward him.
Whoosh!!
Whoosh, whoosh!!
...
A thousand Golden Horned Crows dived down, their momentum so strong, making Wyatt Barnes’s scalp tingle, and he instinctively dashed back into the forest immediately.
As Wyatt Barnes re-entered the forest, that thousand Golden Horned Crows quickly halted mid-air, then returned to their previous place, glaring intently at Wyatt Barnes.
"Just as I thought."
At this moment, Wyatt Barnes confirmed his suspicion.
For whatever reason, these Golden Horned Crows could not enter the forest.
However, he wasn’t particularly surprised by this.
"If there weren’t such a restriction on these thousand Golden Horned Crows, allowing them to roam freely in the lower realms of the South Heaven’s Ancient Realm, no Upper Immortal in this realm would survive them."
This is why Wyatt Barnes wasn’t surprised.
"However, the existence of these Golden Horned Crows also means that, including myself, all Upper Immortals in this forest cannot ascend above the forest canopy."
"Once above the forest canopy, they’d be attacked by these Golden Horned Crows... Only within the forest would they be safe from such an attack."
In this situation, Wyatt Barnes easily speculated that the South Heaven’s Ancient Realm set such rules, prohibiting them from ascending above the forest canopy.
Without going above the forest, it would be hard to know the surroundings’ situation, leaving only the option to feel one’s way step by step through the forest.
"Forget it... In this scenario, I might as well just choose a direction and walk until I reach somewhere."
With this thought, Wyatt Barnes chose a direction and dashed towards it.
Along this path, Wyatt Barnes was so fast that although he startled many spiritless Immortal Beasts within the forest, those beasts couldn’t catch up with him.
"My current speed rivals that of an Immortal Lord... And the strongest Immortal Beast I’ve encountered along the way is merely of average skill at the peak Upper Immortal level."
"Such beasts may pose a threat to ordinary Upper Immortals, but they are no threat to me."
If Wyatt Barnes hadn’t comprehended the foundational law of earth, ’Earth Element,’ this journey wouldn’t have been so smooth.
And because he comprehended the Earth Element, it allowed him to move through the forest unimpeded, as if it were a deserted place!
Time passed quietly.
In the blink of an eye, ten days had passed.
Above the central region of Cloud Mist Lake.
At the entrance to the lower realm of South Heaven’s Ancient Realm, the Void Gate closed after Wyatt Barnes and the other twelve thousand Loose Cultivators entered.
After the Void Gate closed, a light screen suddenly appeared in the space where the Void Gate had opened.
This light screen was white and very smooth, looking like a very large sheet of white paper, suspended in that void.
Initially, many people focused their attention on this light screen that resembled a sheet of white paper.
However, after ten days passed, the number of people paying attention to the screen decreased significantly.
Until.
"Someone’s name appeared!"
Suddenly, a voice rang out, and all those who had looked away from the screen immediately turned their gaze back to it.
There, on the screen, a name had astonishingly appeared, as if written on white paper.
Xavier Williams.
Two points.
"Xavier Williams!"
"Who is this Xavier Williams?"
"Being the first to appear on the points leaderboard for the lower realm of South Heaven’s Ancient Realm this time means he was the first to kill another who had entered the lower realm."
"I wonder who fell at his hands."
"As long as the person who recommended him has his Soul Bead, they should know he has been killed, right?"
"That’s not correct... It’s said that historically, the Immortal Emperor of South Heaven, who led the opening of South Heaven’s Ancient Realm, was an Immortal Emperor who comprehended the ’Law Rule of Time.’ When he established the upper, middle, and lower realms of South Heaven’s Ancient Realm, he placed a formation inside that incorporated the Law of Time."
"Thus, when someone dies inside, the Soul Bead they have outside, due to the restrictions of the formation containing the Law of Time, will only shatter after some time has passed. Also, this time is not fixed."
"If during this time another person gets killed... Even if someone’s Soul Bead outside shatters at the same time, it cannot be proven that the person with increased points at that moment was the one who killed him."
"So even if someone without much background kills one of the Loose Cultivators from a Seventh-grade power, the strong figures from the Seventh-grade power wouldn’t be able to find the target for revenge?"
"That’s correct. And back then, the Immortal Emperor of South Heaven also considered this point, which is why he left such a formation inside South Heaven’s Ancient Realm."
...
The previously calm skies above the central region of Cloud Mist Lake became lively with the appearance of a name with two points on the leaderboard.
"Haha... Xavier, well done!"
An old man laughed heartily upon seeing the name on the leaderboard.
"Congratulations, Elder Wu, on your grandson taking the lead."
Nearby, a middle-aged man and another old man smiled as they congratulated him, though a trace of jealousy was evident in the depths of their eyes.
The old man was from an Eight-grade family.
Currently, the name on the leaderboard was his grandson’s name.
And those who congratulated him were from two other Eight-grade families who had brought Loose Cultivators to this event.
"Perhaps it’s just a namesake."
The old man spoke humbly, but inwardly he thought such a coincidence was unlikely, after all, only over ten thousand people entered the lower realm this time.
Moreover, his grandson’s name wasn’t very common.
"Another name appeared!"
About two hours after the first name appeared on the leaderboard, another name showed up.
Bruno Fortin.
Two points.
"Bruno Fortin? Could it be that genius Loose Cultivator from Eastbright Kingdom?"
Cyrus Cruz, the ruler of Autumn Holding Kingdom, squinted slightly upon seeing the second name on the leaderboard, while his gaze swept through the crowd and eventually landed on a medium-built middle-aged man.
This middle-aged man, dignified and exuding a natural aura of authority, was clearly someone accustomed to being in a position of power.
Cyrus Cruz clearly saw that when Bruno Fortin’s name appeared on the leaderboard, the middle-aged man’s face was filled with smiles.
"It seems it must be him."
The middle-aged man Cyrus Cruz observed was none other than the ruler of Eastbright Kingdom and also the leader of Eastbright Kingdom for this occasion.
With the opening of the lower realm of South Heaven’s Ancient Realm, those coming from an Eight-grade power were typically the chief figures of that power.
The sovereigns from Eight-grade Immortal Kingdoms.
"Oh my! His points increased by one!"
Before Cyrus Cruz could react, another exclamation sounded in his ear, he instinctively looked at the leaderboard and saw Bruno Fortin, originally ranked second, leap to the first position.
Behind his name, a striking three points were written.
"In such a short time... that Bruno Fortin actually killed two people in quick succession?"
Cyrus Cruz could easily deduce this.