31: Chapter 31 The Prodigy Ranking, Lords' Association

Once the Seven-Day Assessment ended, the blockade on the nearly ten million surviving new lords was lifted, and their regional channels were merged into the communication channel for all Human Race lords in the First Source Sea.

The behavior of these new lords varied.

Some returned immediately to the Main World, while others were in no rush to leave, instead interacting with the veteran lords in the regional channel—some seeking patronage, others gathering information—while many other lords opened the prodigy ranking right away.

Jin Ruxuan was among the latter.

First Place: Wei Xuanqi, Level 2 Territory

Second Place: Yun Zhiyue, Level 2 Territory

Third Place: Qi Lan, Level 2 Territory

...

Seventh Place: Lin Xiao, Level 2 Territory

...

Thirty-ninth Place: Jin Ruxuan, Level 2 Territory

...

One-hundredth Place: Jiang Daoyuan, Level 2 Territory

Without exception, all one hundred lords on the prodigy ranking possessed Level 2 territories.

The vast majority of those on the list were Prodigy descendants from major factions and Families; even if Jin Ruxuan didn't know them personally, he had at least heard of them.

There were only a few he was completely unfamiliar with, clearly the dark horses that had emerged among this batch of lords.

"Lin Xiao, ranked seventh."

Jin Ruxuan felt a slight sense of relief.

Among all the dark horses, Lin Xiao had the highest ranking; not only did he enter the prodigy ranking, but he also made it into the top ten.

Jin Ruxuan was not overly surprised by this ranking, as he was the one who understood Lin Xiao's situation best.

"Lin Xiao actually made it into the top ten of the prodigy ranking."

Gao Yue stared at the familiar name on the prodigy ranking in shock.

Given how closely he had been watching Lin Xiao, it was imaginable that he might make the prodigy ranking, but he never expected him to enter the top ten.

The level of attention received by the top ten compared to the top hundred was on a completely different level.

At this moment, the regional channel was in an uproar.

"Who is that Lin Xiao? How did he manage to surpass so many Prodigies from major factions and Families to break into the top ten?"

"To suppress so many Prodigies—that's incredibly impressive."

"It's been a long time since such a dark horse appeared."

"Heh, look at you all fawning over him; someone who didn't know better would think he'd reached the very top."

...

In the Main World, there were two major administrative organizations.

Ordinary people were under the jurisdiction of local municipal governments, but once they became lords, their status changed completely, and the organization that managed them was the Lord Association.

The headquarters of the Lord Association was located in Shangjing City, Central Province.

As the seventh day arrived, this central hub of the Main World became busy.

"The Seven-Day Assessment has ended."

"Of the ten million lords who entered the Chaos Source Sea, the vast majority survived, though over thirty thousand failed the trial and unfortunately perished."

"The prodigy ranking has been released."

As the headquarters of the Lord Association, their primary focus was naturally the prodigy ranking.

President Gu Yizhou, one of the vice presidents.

His gaze swept over the prodigy ranking submitted by his subordinates, as well as the profiles of the one hundred listed Prodigies, and he quickly issued an order: "Immediately summon these one hundred lords to the Lord Association headquarters for a meeting."

This was an annual custom.

Lords who didn't make the prodigy ranking weren't necessarily weak, but those who did were undoubtedly powerful with astonishing potential and high cultivation value.

The Lord Association would naturally provide them with a certain degree of support and protection, acting as their guardians.

Especially now, during these special times.

...

Eastern Province, Morning Star City.

The light of the teleportation faded, and Lin Xiao's figure appeared in the central square.

This was where he had teleported into the Chaos Source Sea, and upon returning, he appeared here as well.

If ordinary people wanted to enter the Chaos Source Sea, they had to use a cross-boundary teleportation array.

Of course, now that Lin Xiao had become a lord, he could enter and exit his territory anytime and anywhere, so he no longer needed to rely on the cross-boundary teleportation array.

"You must be Lin Xiao."

"Congratulations on making it onto the prodigy ranking."

A soft female voice rang out.

Lin Xiao looked up and saw two men and one woman standing before him, wearing the official uniforms of the Lord Association.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Hu Wei, and these are our identification credentials."

Seeing the look of confusion on Lin Xiao's face, the leading woman immediately handed over their identification.

"People from the Lord Association headquarters."

Looking at their credentials, Lin Xiao understood; he had heard of the treatment given to lords who made the prodigy ranking.

"Going to the Lord Association headquarters for a meeting? I understand, but I need to contact my Family first."

Lin Xiao said.

He opened his personal terminal, intending to let his parents know he was safe, but discovered they were offline and there was an email from them.

The email stated that they had originally intended to come and greet him the moment he returned, but unexpectedly, their territory had been invaded two days ago, and they had to return to oversee the situation.

"The territory was attacked?"

Lin Xiao frowned slightly, though he wasn't too surprised; one could say he was already accustomed to it.

This was the norm for a lord.

A territory would not become unselectable just because the lord left, so no lord would stay in the Main World for long, leaving their territory unattended.

Once an invasion occurred, they would rush back immediately.

Since he was a child, he didn't know how many times this situation had occurred.

What worried Lin Xiao was that this time, both his parents had returned to the territory together.

His parents' territories had long since undergone Fusion, with one responsible for logistics and the other for combat; if it were a normal invasion, only one of them would need to return.

Now that both of them had returned, it meant the invasion they were facing was unusual and the threat level was very high.

In the past, when encountering such situations, Lin Xiao could only worry helplessly.

But now, he was a lord too.

"Hello, Uncle Zhou, this is Lin Xiao."

"Yes, yes, haha, it was just my good luck that I managed to enter the prodigy ranking."

"My parents' territory has been invaded, and I would like to ask for your help in inquiring about the specific situation."

"Aunt Fang, it's me, it's me."

Lin Xiao began contacting his parents' lord friends.

Since he was in the First Source Sea and couldn't contact his parents in the Second Source Sea, he had to ask their friends who were also in the Second Source Sea to help him understand the situation.

If the situation was critical, Lin Xiao would find a way to ask a top-tier lord in the Second Source Sea to intervene.

If it wasn't that critical, he would wait until he entered the Second Source Sea to resolve it.

He figured it wouldn't be long.

After handling all the messages, Lin Xiao said apologetically to Hu Wei and her team: "Sorry, I had to take care of some personal business; we can go now."

Hu Wei and the other two stood quietly to the side, with no impatience or urging on their faces.

"Please come with us."

Hu Wei and her group led Lin Xiao to the west side of the central square.

Besides the cross-boundary teleportation array leading into the Chaos Source Sea, there were also teleportation arrays here that led to other cities in the Main World.

A flash of light passed, and the four of them vanished into the teleportation array.

"What's going on? Those three people are from the Lord Association headquarters, right? Why did they come to Morning Star City?"

"Are they here for that young man?"

In the central square, there were lords who had teleported back everywhere, along with their families and friends welcoming them; many noticed this scene, but no one dared to disturb them.

Some were confused, while others knew exactly what was happening.

"The person who was just taken away is named Lin Xiao; he made it onto this year's prodigy ranking, and in the top ten at that."

"Holy crap, the prodigy ranking, and in the top ten!!!"

"A true Dragon has emerged in our Morning Star City; the last time someone made it onto the prodigy ranking was five hundred years ago, right?"