For a long, long time, Xuan Niao finally recovered from the shock. He looked at the General in disbelief, then, as if understanding something, couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"It's actually... God's Wedge?"

From the bottom of his heart, he admired the sheer audacity of the Yingzhou Phylogeny. Such an item, nearly a treasure of their lineage, and they just scatter it around willy-nilly? Have they gone mad? What are they plotting?

He once again gained an understanding of the extent of chaos within the Yingzhou Phylogeny. At the same time, he couldn't help but feel a sense of the fantastical amidst his astonishment. It was as if two villages were in a land dispute, but they hadn't expected someone to dig up a dog-head-sized nugget of gold from the ground during their brawl and then just pick it up and run off with it! Could it be that during the fight between the Dongxia Genealogy and the Yingzhou Phylogeny, someone else had taken the biggest advantage? Even I, Xuan Niao, who can perceive Fate, couldn't have predicted something like God's Wedge that wasn't in the plan from the start, could I? But what difference does it make if I hadn't expected it? As one grows old, one must learn to be content. I had long come to terms with that. Xiematai was secured, and Ye Xueya advanced. That was enough for me. What does it matter to me if the young ones of the Yingzhou Phylogeny are selling their ancestral lands and getting swindled?

"Hahaha, it seems this God's Wedge was not fated for us, General."

"Heh, someone really did a thorough number on us…" Arthur chuckled, his expression unreadable—was it extreme rage or admiration for the schemer's audacity? He merely looked in the direction where God's Wedge had disappeared, without chasing after it in a fit of rage.

After all, I wouldn't be able to catch up anyway. I don't know which old ghost is behind all this, but no matter what, there will be clues left behind. I'll take my time settling this score in the future.

The shadowy figure of the Eagle God spread its wings. He turned to glance at the White Emperor's Son, who followed cautiously behind him, and grinned, revealing what he considered a benevolent smile, just as he was about to say something.

Then he saw Xuan Niao step sideways, blocking the girl. Xuan Niao smiled and lifted his phone, showing him the number 911 on the screen.

FBI warning.

"TSK."

After glaring at Xuan Niao for a moment, Arthur vanished on the spot.

As Xuan Niao waved his hand again, the live-streaming camera silently went dark. Myriads of stars, like a curtain, covered the newly born 'Bianliang' above. With Kua Fu's roar, it was completely integrated into Dongxia's orbit. The overall situation had settled, and the Asia Newcomers' Competition thus drew to a close. The rest was the organizers' business...

"So, I'm just forgotten like that?" Di Ting, in the live-stream room, held the melon Bai Ze had passed him, completely baffled.

Next to him, Bai Ze was happy to slack off. "Isn't that good?"

"But have you thought about one thing…" Di Ting's expression turned bitter as he looked at the list of names on the screen, which was completely wiped out. "How the hell are we supposed to rank them?"

「. . .」

"Name?"

The moment Huai Shi opened his eyes, he saw a giant goose-like creature standing before him. It wore glasses on its beak and held a clipboard and a pen.

"Gender, age, profession…"

"What the heck?"

Huai Shi was dumbfounded, quietly flipping through the Book of Fate within his Soul. Damn, not even a chapter break, and you're starting me on a new volume?

When he saw the live-stream record left by Raven, his face turned green with fright!

Good heavens, did you really sneak into the Newcomers' Competition just to pull such a massive stunt for me? And during a live stream, no less! The whole world saw you abscond with the goods right under their noses! It was painfully obvious how many people around the world were frantically searching for that blasted Raven. She was probably already on every major Genealogy's blacklist, not to mention the infuriated Yingzhou Phylogeny... If her connection to me was exposed, wouldn't a million Yingzhou People come looking to tear me apart? Even without knowing exactly what 'God's Wedge' was, if it was something America's strongest had once fought over, could it possibly be a twenty-buck Ferrari coupon?

Through the Book of Fate, he sneakily sent a message: "Let's go halves when we meet!"

It took a long while before the Book of Fate conveyed Raven's intermittent message: "How about I give it all to you?"

Huai Shi was stunned for a moment, his heart filled with suspicion. When did this woman become so generous? Then he saw the latter half of Raven's message: "I've swallowed it whole; I don't think it's easy to split... How about I give you my entire self, would that be okay, darling?"

"No thanks, goodbye!"

Huai Shi rolled his eyes and said no more. He could sense that Raven, on the other end, wasn't in a good state, seemingly drowsy and about to fall into a deep sleep. After quickly giving Huai Shi a few instructions, she went offline.

He had no idea where she had disappeared to.

Swallowing such a big thing whole... she wouldn't get indigestion, would she?

Huai Shi rubbed the bridge of his nose, inexplicably a bit worried.

Then, he finally noticed the goose-shaped creature that had been waiting in front of him for quite some time. He awkwardly lifted his head. "Sorry, what did you say just now?"

"Ah, I was asking for your name, gender, and age," said the goose-shaped creature.

"..."

Seeing Huai Shi's twitching expression, the goose-shaped creature seemed confused. It lowered its head to look at the form. "That's strange. The 'News From Tomorrow' said asking these questions could help you relax. What went wrong? Oh, there's another sentence here. It says I should tell you, 'You're awake; the sex-change operation was very successful'..."

"...Could you please treat me a little better?"

Huai Shi couldn't help but sigh, rubbing his aching forehead. "Where am I?"

"This is a hospital operated by the Jinling Astronomical Association for Sublimators, VIP ward," explained the goose-shaped creature. "Due to Soul damage, you fell unconscious after the competition ended and couldn't attend the award ceremony. Therefore, we had to bring you here to recover naturally.

"I must say, Mr. Huai Shi, your performance in the Newcomers' Competition was superb and absolutely eye-catching. We haven't seen such an outstanding Sublimator as yourself in many years!"

"Huh?"

Only now did Huai Shi remember his rather embarrassing performances, which had apparently been live-streamed worldwide. His expression involuntarily twitched again.

He paused for a moment, coughed awkwardly twice. "May I ask who you are?"

The goose-shaped creature lifted its little wings and scratched its head. "I am a representative of the Giant Goose Group's business department and one of the committee members for this year's Asia Newcomers' Competition. I am here specifically on behalf of the committee to present you with your award."

Huai Shi was stunned for a long moment, incredulous. "What are you talking about? I won a prize?"

Wait, hadn't I already "died"? Can someone still receive a prize after "dying"?

Immediately after, the goose-shaped creature carefully took a box out of its pocket and placed it in front of Huai Shi. Upon opening it, he saw a crystal statue that was a spitting image of himself, evidently modeled after him.

Atop the statue, a warrior on horseback reared, with Huai Shi on its back lifting the Sword of Virtue, as if leading thousands of troops. It looked incredibly imposing; even Huai Shi himself was impressed by his own dashing image.

What delighted him even more was that the entire statue was sculpted from large Source Crystals. Alchemy had been used to cleverly bind hundreds of people's worth of Source Substance into a solid form. Illuminated by the sunlight from the window, it shone brilliantly.

Oh my, you've come all this way, and you even brought such a gift! You really shouldn't have... This thing must be worth a fortune! Third place?!

Huai Shi was shocked. He had no idea that this ranking had caused a heated debate in the committee's office over the past few days.

According to the competition rules, rankings were decided by the order in which competitors entered the Winner's Gate. But by the end of the competition, the only contestant to have properly walked through that gate was Luo Xian.

Ye Xueya was still in deep sleep in Xiematai—no, in The Third New Bianliang City.

Following that logic, the champion should have been Luo Xian.

But anyone with eyes could see that Luo Xian had been defeated by Huai Shi before that.

If Huai Shi had entered the Winner's Gate after defeating her, it would have been natural to declare him the champion. The problem was, he had "died" from the after-effects of an Overload State.

Moreover, if it were purely about strength, the champion should have been Ye Xueya, now known as the 'Heavenly White Fox.'

But there was an issue there too. Ye Xueya had already advanced, exceeding the Newcomers' Competition's Third Stage limit. She had even advanced twice, as if for fun, which clearly put her out of the newcomer category.

Furthermore, she hadn't left Xiematai by the time the competition ended. This could be interpreted as forfeiting her eligibility.

However, if she were disqualified and not counted in the rankings, the entire Newcomers' Competition would have become a complete joke.

Because of these points, everyone had been arguing incessantly in an emergency meeting, even coming to blows.

After several rounds of fighting, Bai Ze, who had been slacking off until the very end, seized the moment when everyone was too exhausted to resist. He took out a marker, wrote the names Ye Xueya, Luo Xian, and Huai Shi on a small blackboard, and submitted it as the competition results. Di Ting immediately announced it live. Amid the uproar from the nitpickers, the troublesome affair was finally settled.

Actually, most people thought this ranking was quite fair. Although it ignored some rules, it was the most convincing one.

Huai Shi's two performances as the Prince, Luo Xian's terrifying ability and talent, and Ye Xueya's brilliant and stunning genius—all were evident to everyone.

But Huai Shi, who had never cared about rankings, never expected to snag third place for himself.

He'd really lucked out! It felt just like that time he woke up on the floor to a smoking man telling him, 'You're the best of the new recruits this time'—a sudden mix of apprehension and delightful surprise.

"Although it's only third place, in my eyes and those of many audience members, there's no difference from first."

Seeing his hesitation, the goose-shaped creature thought he was dissatisfied and promptly reassured him seriously, "Your performance rightfully showcased your remarkable ability and admirable integrity.

"In the WeChat popularity poll among this year's contestants, you won the support of the audience, ultimately snagging first place! Please look—these are all the flowers sent by your supporters after hearing about your hospitalization..."

With that, it slid open the door to the inner part of the ward. Instantly, flowers poured out like a waterfall, completely covering Huai Shi's stupefied expression, making him appear as if he were peacefully resting among countless blooms.

Through the doorframe, he could see a terrifyingly large space, akin to a warehouse, already stuffed full of innumerable flowers.

Simply through his Mountain Ghost senses, he could feel a terrifying total vitality, almost equivalent to an entire botanical garden.

"Are these... all from my fans?" Huai Shi was dumbfounded.

Good heavens, am I about to become famous? For some reason, I have an ominous premonition.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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