Chapter 45: A Grasshopper Slightly Bigger Than an Ant!

Chapter 45: Chapter 45: A Grasshopper Slightly Bigger Than an Ant!Liu Junli walked up to Lin Fan and said, "Congratulations on becoming a Sky Star genius!" "Hehe!" Lin Fan chuckled and said, "All these are but empty titles!" Liu Junli curiously asked, "By the way, since you successfully passed the seventh layer of the Sky Star Treasure Pagoda, did you gain any opportunities?" Lin Fan shook his head and said, "It was merely an improvement in my Heart Realm; nothing else..." "Merely an improvement in Heart Realm?" Liu Junli looked at Lin Fan, somewhat astonished. In Liu Junli’s view, the Sky Star Treasure Pagoda was a treasured place, and after Lin Fan had passed its seventh-layer trial, he surely must have received some great opportunity! But... Was it really just an improvement in Heart Realm? To be honest, at first, Liu Junli thought Lin Fan was deceiving her. However, after observing closely, she confirmed Lin Fan was not lying to her! "It’s impossible by logic; he should have received some other major opportunities!" Liu Junli thought in her heart. If Liu Junli knew that Lin Fan’s Heart Realm had improved beyond this world, she definitely wouldn’t think this way, and moreover, she would be utterly astonished.... "Look, look! The final rankings of the trial have come out! Over there!" Suddenly, someone pointed towards a massive placard in front of the Sky Star Treasure Pagoda and exclaimed loudly; meanwhile, names started appearing one after another on the placard. Lin Fan’s name was ranked first! The second place was Liu Junli, and the third was Cheng Lin... Everyone was not surprised at Lin Fan’s ranking first, for he had indeed passed the seventh layer of the Sky Star Treasure Pagoda, making him a Sky Star genius. If such a genius wasn’t ranked first, it would be utterly unjustifiable! Finally, the placard listed a total of ten names. As for those whose names weren’t on the placard, it meant they had been eliminated. Li Rou loudly said, "Those whose names remain on the Sky Star Treasure Pagoda will continue with the next round of trials tomorrow. As for those who didn’t leave their names, you are directly eliminated!" Those who didn’t leave their names all showed expressions of regret... However, one person stood out, somewhat unwilling to accept and asked Li Rou, the elder, "Elder Li Rou, I have a doubt in my heart!" Everyone followed the voice and saw a short disciple standing out, and they all recognized him; his name was Xiong Zhang, who had shined brightly in the previous performance. Many even thought Xiong Zhang might enter the top ten, but in the end, he failed. "Oh?" Elder Li Rou looked at Xiong Zhang and asked, "What is your doubt?" Xiong Zhang said, "Elder Li Rou, I am very curious, does staying on the list in the Sky Star Treasure Pagoda truly mark someone as a genius? Do they genuinely qualify to be ranked in the top ten?" Elder Li Rou slightly frowned and asked, "What do you mean?" Xiong Zhang said, "Elder Li Rou, I want to challenge one of them. May I ask, Elder, if I succeed in the challenge, can I take their place as one of the top ten?" Elder Li Rou replied indifferently, "As long as the person you challenge has no objections, naturally it is possible!" "Good!" Xiong Zhang said, "Then I’m reassured!" Following that, Xiong Zhang walked step-by-step toward Lin Fan and the others. Everyone looked towards Xiong Zhang, and most were extremely curious—who exactly would Xiong Zhang challenge? At a time when everyone was extremely curious, Xiong Zhang had already stopped not far from Lin Fan, his eyes fixed directly on Lin Fan, and a cold, cruel smile appeared on his face. At this moment, most people understood that the person Xiong Zhang wanted to challenge was actually Lin Fan? Immediately, many people looking at Lin Fan had sympathy in their eyes. "It seems that Lin Fan is destined to be replaced by Xiong Zhang!" Many thought this way in their hearts. Although Lin Fan had previously exhibited dazzling talent and even became a Sky Star genius, still, many were sure that Lin Fan was no match for Xiong Zhang. Everyone could see that Lin Fan was merely in the Middle Period of Into Profound Realm, while Xiong Zhang’s cultivation had already reached Into Profound Realm Perfect. The gap between them was simply too vast! Everyone felt that if it was a fight on equal footing, Xiong Zhang would definitely not be Lin Fan’s opponent. But now, the cultivation gap between Lin Fan and Xiong Zhang was too significant, so Lin Fan was undoubtedly doomed to lose. "Do you dare to battle me?" Xiong Zhang looked at Lin Fan and said coldly. "Not interested!" Lin Fan casually shook his head and nonchalantly said. "Haha!" Xiong Zhang burst into a loud laugh and exclaimed, "Coward, you don’t even dare to accept my challenge. With such a heart, how can you aspire to reach the pinnacle of the Martial Path?" "Just a wretched, cowardly creature!" While speaking, Xiong Zhang even gave Lin Fan the middle finger. Xiong Zhang did this with a simple purpose, which was to provoke Lin Fan by using reverse psychology, and then force Lin Fan to act against him. Xiong Zhang was very confident that once Lin Fan fought with him, he could quickly defeat Lin Fan and take Lin Fan’s place. However, what Xiong Zhang completely did not expect was that after hearing his words, Lin Fan remained very calm and did not show any sign of anger, but instead seriously said: "Do you think an elephant would bother to compete with an ant?" For a moment, Xiong Zhang did not understand the meaning of Lin Fan’s words, but soon after he realized, he became extremely angry: "Damn it, are you calling me an ant?" Lin Fan nodded and said: "Yes, you are just an ant, oh and you’re also an ant that can make noise! In fact, you are actually somewhat more advanced than a typical ant!" "Bastard, are you seeking death?" Under his rage, Xiong Zhang could no longer care about anything else and charged directly at Lin Fan. At the same time, a curved blade appeared in his hand, resulting in a sky full of blade shadows. "Good!" Lin Fan’s indifferent voice also sounded at this moment as he nonchalantly said: "Since you bring discomfort upon yourself, then I will fulfill you!" As he spoke, Lin Fan moved too. He threw a punch directly forward. Lin Fan’s punch looked plain and unadorned without any flamboyance. However, it contained an incredibly powerful force. Bang... Xiong Zhang’s fierce attack was directly smashed into pieces by Lin Fan’s punch, and moreover, Lin Fan’s attack didn’t stop but continued smashing towards Xiong Zhang. Bang... Eventually, Xiong Zhang’s body was sent flying! This showed just how big the gap between Xiong Zhang and Lin Fan was! "Ah!" Ultimately, Xiong Zhang screamed miserably, his body heavily smashing onto the platform. "How is this possible?" Xiong Zhang looked at Lin Fan in shock, his face filled with disbelief. He couldn’t believe that he had been defeated so easily? Keep in mind, his cultivation was at the Into Profound Realm Perfect, while Lin Fan’s was merely at the Into Profound Realm Middle Period! In such a wide gap, he had still been defeated? But what Xiong Zhang didn’t know was that although Lin Fan’s cultivation was only at the Into Profound Realm Middle Period, his combat power had already reached the True Profound Realm, hence Xiong Zhang was so easily defeated before Lin Fan. "Defeated so easily?" Most people watching Xiong Zhang being easily defeated by Lin Fan were shocked in their hearts. Even some mentioned: "Xiong Zhang, losing to Lin Fan who’s only in the Into Profound Realm Middle Period? He’s really all bark and no bite, how embarrassing!" Barely managing to get up, Xiong Zhang looked at Lin Fan wanting to say something, but for a moment, he ended up not being able to say anything. "Heh!" Lin Fan chuckled, looking at Xiong Zhang and indifferently said: "You, with a cultivation in Into Profound Realm Perfect, could only unleash such little combat power, truly disappointing!" After Lin Fan said this, Xiong Zhang’s expression turned even uglier. "You just wait, one day, I will definitely defeat you!" Xiong Zhang said fiercely. "Fine, I’ll be waiting!" Lin Fan appeared completely unconcerned. "Hmph!" After snorting, Xiong Zhang quickly left! "Alright, among you all, who else wishes to challenge me? Please step forward!" Lin Fan then loudly said. This time, no one stepped forward! Although they all really wanted to take Lin Fan’s place, Lin Fan’s displayed strength was too strong, even Xiong Zhang was no match, if they were to go up and challenge him, it would only be humiliating themselves. Cheng Lin’s brows slightly furrowed as he secretly thought: "This kid, seems really out of the ordinary!" Meanwhile, Liu Junli thought to herself: "It seems, Lin Fan is worthy to be my opponent." For a moment, Liu Junli’s heart surged with war intent. "That’s all for today’s assessment. In tomorrow’s assessment, the final rankings will be decided, everyone rest well!" Elder Li Rou left these words behind and quickly departed. Lin Fan and the others each returned to their own residences. Originally, today Lin Fan could have gone to the Spirit Medicine Pavilion to fetch medicine. However, Lin Fan did not go, but instead stayed in his own small courtyard and began cultivating. Lin Fan initially exchanged those Spiritual Medicines at the Spirit Medicine Pavilion just to refine top-grade Profound Martial Pills to enhance his cultivation, but now, since his bottleneck has been broken, Lin Fan didn’t urgently need those top-grade Profound Martial Pills anymore, thus he now focused entirely on stabilizing his cultivation to prepare for tomorrow’s final competition. No matter what, Lin Fan is determined to be among the top three of the new disciples! However, Lin Fan also knew that securing a top three position would be difficult and now he must concentrate on cultivating to ensure he remains in peak condition tomorrow.