Chapter 35: Slowly Dominating The Field!

Chapter 35: Slowly Dominating the Field! "Your rating is SSS-rank... That’s the highest rank... No, that’s the highest POSSIBLE rank." The spirit couldn’t help but shout. "You’re amazing! Waa! I wasn’t wrong about you, Challenger Ken. Just the rewards you’ll be getting will make all the disciples jealous if they knew about them." She said, her childish voice and reactions doing wonders to Ken’s serious mood. Having just gotten out from a situation where he had to use all of his fortes to the max, he was used to staying in full concentration for a good amount of time. "What are my rewards?" he asked, not expecting much. "Well, actually, they’re nothing too crazy, as this is just the 1st trial, and they didn’t want to make the supposedly impossible rank have too valuable of a reward lest someone like you really does show up and get it." She said, possibly checking the rulebook, instructions, or whatnot that ran this place. "You’ll be getting 1000 low-quality spirit crystals and 100 perfect-quality 9th-grade qi absorption and fasting pills each. Also, you can get to choose any technique from the third floor, and this is the best reward so far." She said. "Even so, I always thought that it’s impossible to get such a grade within the first year of a cultivator’s journey, seeing as the record before you was an S-rank, and it was by a difference of a single second; had they missed that, they would have gotten an A-rank, similar to countless others." She said, emphasizing how hard it was to get his rating. There were logical reasons behind this, one of which includes the difficulty; most struggle to just succeed, and those who can don’t rack their heads too much, doing their best to achieve whatever they can. One has to remember this is merely a few months after the new disciples join the sect, and most have yet to even achieve minor accomplishment in a single technique. Hearing the spirit’s words, Ken thought of something before asking. "Is there any possible way you could either hide or, better, disguise my score?" He asked. "Huh? Why would you..." She stopped for a second before she continued. "Yes, I can disguise it for you; you can say it’s a favor from me." She was planning on going into things like why would you want to hide your rank and that it was better to show it. But in the end, she didn’t bother; the elders and those higher up could see it easily. The only ones not able to see it are outer and inner sect disciples. And to be honest, she wanted to know what Ken was planning; watching him, she knew that whatever he planned went much deeper than the eye could see. Otherwise, how would he guess some of the craziest objectives to get SSS-rank? Killing the warden and leaving in record time were relatively simple to guess, though not simple to achieve, but there were things like killing Michael, not allowing Titan to leave, and even stopping any chance for the prisoners to step out. Most of the objectives above were straight-out impossible. Most male disciples had a hard time beating Michael, and Titan was too strong unless you were a trained individual. And let’s not speak about the time limit to achieve SSS-rank. It was 1 hour! No one could reach the exit that fast even if they ran, and they even had to get through the warden, who was a trained 1st realm qi refining cultivator. No one had hints to help them explore the entire prison! No one could so much as guess which was the correct path, and even if they did, they had to get through Titan. Something that took time to do even for the elites, and most failed. The spirit failed to comprehend how such a strong individual could be a new disciple. True, she gave him a hint, but could he deduce everything just from that? She didn’t believe it. Little did she know, Ken liked hints best. "What rank do you want it as? Or do you want to hide it at once?" She asked. "Make it S-rank." He said. He was playing it low, but not that low. He wasn’t going to make himself at the same level as those geniuses, but just a step higher, enough to make him look down on them but seem reachable. This was for the best. Any higher and things might start spiraling out of control, closing rooms for many useful things he could use the disciples for. There were things you’d do for a friend and a rival that you wouldn’t do for someone far beyond you and vice versa. He wanted them all. Ken wanted to make connections with people who may turn out useful later, like Darek. And he might also be in need of a few errand boys in the future. If he showed up as an SSS-rank and continued showing such results, which he planned on achieving later on, even the promising prospects might become fanboys. In short, he needed that gap. "Due to your high rank, you’re eligible for an additional reward by the sect; it’s a storage ring." Once again, the spirit came with good news. "It isn’t that big, just 50 cubic meters, but it should be enough for quite a long time for you." She said. "It is more than good enough." Ken’s consciousness grinned; 50 cubic meters was HUGE! "I’m looking forward to watching more of your plays; do visit more often." The spirit said, which made Ken realize that there was no additional try given to him due to his rank, but he figured that it wouldn’t be fair if they gave him another chance just due to his high rating. Just the rewards he had received till now were good enough. "I’ll be here for the floors tomorrow." Ken said. "Then I’ll be waiting. See you then." And like that, he was allowed to leave. And unlike the others, he was let out a whole minute before, something that hasn’t happened for any other disciple. Looking around him and not seeing anyone, Ken shook his head. "Difference in Privilege!" -----End----- Damn, Ken turned out OP! But that’s all because he’s using his tools to his advantage, and he’s smart. Still, it seems like when small cheats compile, they become deadly. Anyway, do tell me what you think of the story so far.