Su Baolian clapped the shoulder of an outer disciple standing in front of him with excessive force, causing the disciple to stagger in surprise, before leaping onto the ship's deck. His wild aura and thudding steps were a comical contrast among the elegance of the celestial vessel.

  Behind the line of outer disciples, a tense silence once again enveloped Pure Cloud Peak as the light blue scroll prepared to project the top ten names. All eyes were now fixed on the names about to appear.

  Fei Sheng stood tall. The tension between his eyebrows indicated deep nervousness. He knew that with two Consciousness Transformation cores, he was guaranteed to be in the ranks of the Star King's Stairs, his name called fifth in the Star King's Stairs position. Feng Yi, her arrogance fully returned, her sharp eyes radiating the anticipation of battle. She did not just want to enter the top ten; she wanted to challenge the highest position in her sixth position on the Star King's Stairs.

  On the other hand, Zhi Xuan stood rigid, cold silence consuming him. He ignored the roars of excitement from the outer disciples who were now flocking onto the ship, ignored Fei Sheng's tension, and ignored Feng Yi's sharp gaze. He only cared about the jade scroll floating in the air.

  The top names advanced quickly. The seventh, sixth, and fifth positions were announced, granting the deserving titles to the Consciousness Transformation geniuses. Silence fell as the light blue scroll projection jumped to the fourth position. The gaze of all remaining cultivators was fixed on the air, envy and awe mixing into one.

  "Fourth Position. Jiang Yue, awe-inspiring Sword of Heaven will," the Female Grand Elder said, waving her hand and handing over the Thousand Heavens Sect core disciple package.

  The girl named Jiang Yue stepped forward calmly, filled with unmatched ancient arrogance. She bowed briefly to the Grand Elders respectfully, then immediately shot up to the Continent Crossing Vessel.

  Three names remained. Three geniuses who had defeated the entire Southern Continent. Zhi Xuan's heart beat with a brutal and irregular rhythm. The physical and emotional exhaustion wrapped in his black jade essence began to crack. The power he needed was only in these three positions. The scroll whirred. The jade light grew brighter, projecting the name in the third position with runes radiating the weight of Heaven.

  "Third Position. Zhi Xuan. Mastery of the Dao beyond the realm, The Blood Transformation Banner Bearer."

  The name, spoken by the sky-blue robed female Grand Elder with a note of concealed surprise, struck Zhi Xuan like an unavoidable Law collision. The remaining geniuses on Pure Cloud Peak gasped, their gaze shifting from the scroll in the air to the tall figure in the spiritual blood-stained robe. A Blood Transformation cultivator was in the third position of the Star King's Stairs, defeating the majority of Consciousness Transformation cultivators. This was unprecedented.

  Fei Sheng staggered slightly, his eyes widening in silent acknowledgment, while Feng Yi, whose name was confirmed to be in the sixth position, clenched her jaw, her arrogance hurt by the cultivator she had underestimated, yet who was also her alliance partner.

  Zhi Xuan should have reacted with cold triumph, with the arrogance of a Devil who had torn apart the Heavenly Law. However, he did nothing. He stood rigid, the composure on his face showing no joy, no sparkling eye radiance. There was only a gloomy silence, like a lake that had suddenly frozen in autumn.

  With trembling steps, Zhi Xuan stepped forward. His movements were awkward and slightly comical, a heartbreaking contrast for one who had just been announced as the third highest genius in the Southern Continent. He, the Devil's Emissary who defied Heaven, looked like a child being called to the front of the stage.

  He walked under the gaze of a hundred piercing eyes, ignoring the now-resumed whispers. Arriving before the white jade stage, he bowed low, a formality that now felt heavy. The female Grand Elder stared at him with a gaze full of curiosity, as if she were observing a strange natural phenomenon.

  "Zhi Xuan," the Elder said, her tone now gentler. "Take your reward, which is recognition from Heaven. The Thousand Heavens Sect identity jade, which opens your path to the Central Continent. The inner disciple robe, the emblem of your honor."

  Disciple Ling, with a steady hand and a look full of serenity, handed the prize box to Zhi Xuan. Inside was the Sect Identity Jade, a Thousand Heavens Sect disciple robe made of Five-Colored Cloud Silk, and a Divine Black Jade Stone radiating a thick and pure essence aura.

  At the bottom of the box, lay a hundred High-Grade Spiritual Stones radiating a soft silver light—a wealth equivalent to ten years of living expenses for an ordinary small sect. Zhi Xuan took the box with trembling hands.

  The cold touch of the pure jade and the High-Grade Spiritual Stones struck him with a cold and painful realization. Spiritual stones, the resources he had chased with blood, cunning, and brutal battles in the Arena, were now given to him. Not sought, but given.

  He allowed his gaze to linger on the hundred High-Grade Spiritual Stones. In his sea of consciousness, the Ancient Devil Monument whirred loudly.

  "Foolish monkey! What are you doing?! Stop!" Ruo Xianxue hissed, his voice filled with cold shame and anger. He wanted to slap Zhi Xuan's consciousness, forcing control over this embarrassing mortal emotion. "Be proud! Be arrogant! Do not cry over mundane material trash!"

  However, Zhi Xuan ignored him. He could not hold back his tears. The tears flowed profusely, soaking his pale face, which was stained with dried spiritual blood. He was moved, and at the same time, relieved—a mixture of emotions that struck him with a force surpassing a Soul Artifact attack.

  He no longer needed to return to the Arena to search for spiritual stones to bridge his cultivation resources. He no longer needed to wander painfully and constantly be approached by disaster, living on the edge of a knife just to ensure he had one more Blood Transformation pill. The tears were an outpouring of years of cold battles in the wilderness, brutal calculations in the Arena, and tireless efforts to survive with the threatening Devil Law consuming him.

  "This... this is given," Zhi Xuan mumbled, his voice hoarse and trembling from suppressed sobs. He held the prize box tightly, as if afraid it would vanish like Mei Hua. "I... I do not need to search anymore."

  "Aunt Lian, Zhi Xuan succeeded. Grandpa Wu, I succeeded!" Zhi Xuan said amidst his piercing, mournful cries, feeling the Heart Preserving Jade and the star-embroidered red cloth on his arm giving warmth.

  "Xiao Die, we succeeded!" Zhi Xuan said with a hoarse roar, he turned with a tear-stained face toward the celestial moth behind the folds of his robe, which now hummed a soft rainbow as if knowing Zhi Xuan had succeeded.

  His choked sobs immediately spread, shattering the silence of Pure Cloud Peak. All the geniuses, who had been filled with jealousy and awe, now stared at the scene with horror.

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  Fei Sheng closed his eyes. He channeled his Law of Wind to create a spiritual shield around his head, as if trying to deafen himself from the sound of shame. In the eyes of honorable cultivators, whose lives were guaranteed by large sects, tears over a hundred High-Grade Spiritual Stones were a scene that insulted the Dao.

  He was a Consciousness Transformation cultivator with a solid foundation; seeing his new ally, the Blood Transformation Banner Bearer, crumble over mundane wealth, was an unspeakable shame.

  Feng Yi, her arrogance gone, was left with total confusion. The Fire Phoenix Girl covered her mouth with one hand. She had seen Zhi Xuan brutal, cold, and calculative, but she had never seen such a vulnerable emotional side.

  Where was his Dao arrogance? Where was his cold demeanor? He was a cultivator who fought for honor, not for food. These tears—the tears of a Devil's Emissary—were a puzzle that destroyed all her categorizations of genius.

  On the deck of the Continent Crossing Vessel, Su Baolian, who had just secured the last position on the Star King's Stairs, shook his head. His brutal face showed pure confusion. He was a man accustomed to blood, laughter, and brutal battles, but these tears—tears over mundane material—were something he could not comprehend from his brother.

  "Heavens!" Su Baolian roared, his voice softening slightly due to confusion. "He is crying for a hundred High-Grade Spiritual Stones? That is equivalent to ten Organ Azure Kings! Why is he not yelling and laughing at Heaven? Why is he crying?!"

  Zhi Xuan, the Blood Transformation Banner Bearer, the third highest genius in the entire Southern Continent, stood before the white jade stage, hugging his prize box as if it were the only life raft in a stormy sea. Hot, metallic tears mixed with dried spiritual blood stains on his pale cheeks. He sobbed, letting the raw emotions he had suppressed for years pour out.

  For every genius watching, the sight was a piercing insult. They had witnessed a cultivator who did not hesitate to kill and cheat in the Devil's Biting Chain Arena, one whose aura was as cold as deadly ice, now crying like a small child who had found a treasure.

  In the eyes of cultivators from large sects, a hundred high-grade spiritual stones were merely mundane wealth wrapped in material. True treasures were Profound Techniques, Sacred Pills, or Transcendent Artifacts. Zhi Xuan's tears were not only a disgrace to himself, but to the entire cultivation realm.

  "He... he is not a cultivator. He is a beggar," whispered a Consciousness Transformation genius, shivering.

  "A disgrace! A shame to the Dao! How can a genius who defeated us, cry over material trash?!" another one chimed in, his voice filled with genuine disgust.

  In Zhi Xuan's sea of consciousness, Ruo Xianxue—whose identity was a sacred ancient devil who defied heaven—trembled in cold anger. The shame surpassed the millions of eras he had lived through.

  "Monkey! Stop those shameful tears! You disgrace the Devil Ancestor! I, Ruo Xianxue, who devoured Great Saints, must now witness mortal weeping over lowly material!" Ruo Xianxue hissed, his voice like millions of scraping ice blades, spitting words full of contempt. "You who claim to be a Heaven Defier, are now bound to the wealth of earthworms! You should be insulting Heaven, not hugging its prize with tears!"

  Ruo Xianxue tried hard to take control, but Zhi Xuan's emotions were currently pure, uncontaminated by the Devil Law. It was an overflow of the simplest Law of Survival, a catharsis that his rotten Devil Law could not penetrate.

  Zhi Xuan only gave a hoarse snort in his mind. —I do not care about the Devil Ancestor! I only care about my survival! I have fought in the mud for years, and now, I can rest!—

  On the white jade stage, the sky-blue robed female Elder sighed heavily and shook her head in disappointment. "This Blood Transformation Banner Bearer's Dao... is so unstable. His foundation is strong, but his heart is weak. What a pity."

  However, Yan Shen, whose eyes were calm like autumn mist, looked at Zhi Xuan with a gaze full of insight. He did not see weakness. He saw extreme fortitude. Only a heart that had been tempered in absolute suffering could react so purely to financial relief. This weakness was the solid foundation of unmatched tenacity, as he realized Zhi Xuan had such a poor background.

  "Boundless tenacity, Elder Ling," Yan Shen said softly, his voice only audible among the Grand Elders. "This child is not crying for treasure. He is crying because he is weeping for the time he has bought back."

  Yan Shen's words, though spoken softly, calmed the female Elder's heart. She no longer saw Zhi Xuan as a disgrace, but as a genius whose Dao was carved by poverty and suffering. Fei Sheng, who was still covering his eyes in shame, sensed the silence around him. When he opened his eyes, he saw Zhi Xuan's tears beginning to subside, replaced by a rigid expression that returned to cold composure.

  Zhi Xuan took a deep breath, channeling his black jade essence to dry his metallic tears. He forced control. The tears had flowed, and now, only cruelty remained. This weakness must be buried, along with the memory of the lost Mei Hua. Who he would one day take back what was lost.

  He took the inner disciple identity jade from the box, the symbol of authority he now held, and sheathed it behind his robe.

  "Thank you for the reward, Grand Elder," Zhi Xuan said, his voice now flat, cold, and almost emotionless, as if the sobs that had just shaken Pure Cloud Peak were a collective hallucination. He did not even bow deeper; his formality had met its limit.

  Zhi Xuan turned, ignoring the piercing and whispering gazes of hundreds of geniuses. He passed the shocked Fei Sheng, and the still-confused Feng Yi. He strode toward the Continent Crossing Vessel. His steps returned to the Three Trace Shadow Steps, straight, efficient, and without fuss. The Continent Crossing Vessel felt massive beneath his feet. On the deck, Su Baolian immediately ran toward him, his steel-like aura melting into pure confusion.

  "Brother Zhi! Heavens! Why were you crying?! You did not even cry when you lost your adopted sister!" Su Baolian roared, his volume equivalent to a speaking God King.

  Zhi Xuan turned to Su Baolian. In his eyes, there was no more gratitude from the wilderness, only a newly formed layer of ice.

  "That is the matter of my celestial karma, Brother Su," Zhi Xuan replied coldly. He ignored Su Baolian, searching for the most secluded spot on the Continent Crossing Vessel. "As for the tears... that is the price I must pay for everything I bought back. Now, go cultivate. I do not want anyone disturbing my tranquility."

  Even Su Baolian, the wilderness maniac, felt the aura of absolute rejection from Zhi Xuan. He staggered back, scratching his coarse head.

  "What kind of Law of Heaven is that?" Fei Sheng finally whispered. He turned to Feng Yi, his jade fan held so tightly his knuckles turned white. "He is a devil's emissary who did not hesitate to kill in the Arena, but cries like a child over a hundred high-grade spiritual stones?"

  Feng Yi shook her head, her gaze cold. "He is not a devil's emissary. He is a devil tempered by poverty." She let the words hang in the air. "Those tears show how far he has fallen, and how high he will fly to ensure he never falls again."

  On the jade stage, Yan Shen smiled faintly, a smile full of insight. He had found what he was looking for; the rotten Ancient Heaven Dao Heart was not entirely taken over by the devil seed. It was a heart tempered by suffering, a small flame he would now observe its growth.

  He shifted his gaze from Zhi Xuan, back to the jade scroll. "Continue the announcement. Second position."

  Zhi Xuan, the Blood Transformation Banner Bearer, the third highest genius in the Southern Continent, sat cross-legged in a corner of the Continent Crossing Vessel, facing the receding mountain view. He held his prize box. In the silence, he began to cultivate, solidifying his newly acquired foundation, ignoring the residue of metallic tears clinging to his cheeks. Those tears were a shame he would transform into brutality.

  He sank back into his sea of consciousness, outside he only sat in silence with the occasional eyes of other cultivators staring back at him with disgust, but also not daring to approach too closely. Besides, they were also afraid of the Verdant Titan level beast on Zhi Xuan's side. Xiao Die settled on Zhi Xuan's shoulder like a symbol that he was not easy to disturb.

  "He even... He has a Verdant Titan beast, I thought it was just an ordinary moth."

  "Yes, a Verdant Titan capable of commanding dozens of peak Azure Kings, is in his hands like that as if they are fellow travelers."

  "That is the Thousand Feathered Moth, the fortieth ranked celestial moth. What do you expect?"

  Zhi Xuan ignored the whispers and disgusted glances still directed at him from the new disciples who had just boarded the Continent Crossing Vessel. To him, those voices were merely mortal humming, not as dangerous as the piercing sound of Ruo Xianxue in his mind. He did not care about the shame. He had achieved his goal—the reward and, more importantly, the right to step onto a larger stage.

  He took a breath that felt cold and heavy. His black jade essence, which he had just stabilized, spun slowly, solidifying his Peak-Stage Blood Transformation foundation. He focused on one thing: the Three Heavens Jade Refinement Pond. That was the promised reward for the top ten, a chance to re-forge his foundation, remove the rotten residue of the Ancient Devil, and prepare himself for the Organ Transformation realm.