“Hehe, you two are early.” A mischievous voice echoed from the rift as an eighty zhang tall demon with four horns and a pair of wings stepped out from the rift. A charming pet.i.te girl sat on its shoulder, swinging her white-jade legs around.

“Amitabha, all is well, Amitabha, all is well...”

A continuous chant could be heard as a Bodhi glow appeared, followed by a giant crystal-like ancient tree encapsulated within a strong Bodhi will that floated in the air. Under the tree was a monk sitting with his legs crossed and his head lowered, which served as a relaxing sight from afar.

The girl sitting on the enormous demon let out a cold harrumph seeing this, as the previous smile on her face vanished.

“HAHA, everyone, it’s been a while.”

Pleasant laughter could be heard as nine colorful lotuses blossomed, from which s.h.i.+ Qingfan stepped out followed by a female. He approached the dojo taking one step at a time without concealing his monarch aura.

In comparison to the others, he was like a natural ruler, each of his actions utterly majestic.

The other geniuses seemed dull when standing close to him.

The crowd on the Touring Dojo became excited seeing this.

“s.h.i.+ Qingfan! s.h.i.+ Qingfan has arrived!”

“The same goes for Sorceress Qian Qian and Chen Zilai, don’t forget Dao Qianzhong and the Sky-Yin Daoist!”

“Gasp, how imperious, s.h.i.+ Qingfan’s cultivation has ranked up to the half-Martial Monarch Realm!”

“Sorceress Qian Qian has summoned such an enormous demon, and Chen Zilai’s illusionary figure of the Bodhi Tree is absolutely stunning!”

“I thought Dao Qianzhong only had three sabers before? How does he have five now?”

The dojo was immersed in an uproar.

The Martial Monarch Realm experts of the other factions frowned slightly but remained silent.

They could easily tell that the geniuses had carefully planned their entries in order to manipulate the partic.i.p.ants’ thoughts.

This caused the crowd to feel envy and be intimidated subconsciously.

“Mm?”

s.h.i.+ Qingfan, Sorceress Qian Qian, and Chen Zifan immediately glanced at the people of the Dragon Emperor Clan when they arrived, but they did not discover Qin Nan’s figure, causing them to raise their eyebrows.

Why hadn’t Qin Nan and the three geniuses arrived yet?

What were they up to?

Having this thought, their eyes flickered with astonishment.

How would the person who was considered the rare one by the Monarch Ranking make his entry to the dojo?

Time gradually pa.s.sed, but the noise showed no sign of relenting. A sudden rare occurrence took place half an hour later.

Dragon figures appeared on the chests of the geniuses as the number in the center began to change rapidly.

‘Mm? The ranking is changing again?”

“HAHA, this must be the last time before the start of the Monarch Horoscope Contest!”

“Look, my ranking has improved by thirty!”

The geniuses glanced at their chests. Many of them wore joyful looks on their faces, while some became gloomy, not expecting the ranking to bring such a great impact to them just before the contest.

However, the rankings did not change by a huge margin.

s.h.i.+ Qingfan was still ranked first.

Meanwhile, the Nine-Tailed Monarch Beast did not focus on observing the rankings of the geniuses. She had been waiting for a response from her badge, as the Dragon Emperor would surely contact her when Qin Nan returned to the Dragon Emperor Clan.

At that instant, a badge in her Sumeru Ring emitted a blinding glow.

The Nine-Tailed Monarch Beast was startled and immediately looked at it. She was stunned after taking a glimpse, Why was it a message from the Shadow PaG.o.da?

In addition to the Nine-Tailed Monarch Beast, many Martial Monarchs and the geniuses were stunned too.

Even the Martial Monarch of the Shadow PaG.o.da was utterly confused.

Why would Shadow PaG.o.da be sending them any information at this time?

Did something serious happen in the Middle Continent?

Filled with doubts, the crowd inserted their Divine Sense into their badges. As they read the information, their faces were filled with great astonishment.

This...

How was this possible!

Qin Nan’s ranking had dropped all the way from ninety-sixth to eight hundred and ninetieth?

This didn’t make any sense!

Everyone knew that even if Qin Nan were to cultivate in seclusion without fighting anyone for a month, his ranking would only drop slightly over ten ranks instead of eight hundred!

Even if he had encountered some danger, causing his cultivation to be crippled, his name would be erased from the Monarch Ranking instead!

There was only one explanation why his ranking had dropped so much within such a short time...

His cultivation had dropped significantly!

Many of the Martial Monarchs and the experts clearly knew that around two thousand years ago, a disciple ranked over fifty on the Monarch Ranking had severely damaged his Martial Tree as his cultivation went awry, causing his cultivation to drop significantly by over five hundred, which was similar to Qin Nan’s situation.

However, to their surprise, something like this would happen once again.

...Meanwhile, in the Middle Continent, on the dojo...

“How is this possible! Why did his cultivation drop so much!”

The Dragon Emperor was infuriated as a terrifying aura in his body slowly awakened.

After being told that Qin Nan’s ranking had dropped by over eight hundred, he had immediately come to a conclusion.

“This——”

The Diabolic Qilin, Xuan Yue, Ao Cangtian, and the others were filled with disbelief too.

That was Qin Nan we’re talking about!

Someone who had surpa.s.sed the rules of cultivation!

Why would something like this happen to him?

Was he involved in some sort of accident while he was cultivating?

Was that the reason why he was late, as he had no intention of taking part in the Monarch Horoscope Contest?

“Sigh...”

The Dragon Emperor was on the verge of becoming enraged, but a while later, his arms dropped to his sides as he uttered a sigh.

He initially thought that Qin Nan would be able to achieve the Martial Monarch Realm and continue to astonish the world, helping their beast race to recover their long-lost glory.

However, it was over now, as their hope was gone.

“You four should head to the Touring Dojo now.” The Dragon Emperor said.

Although something like this had happened, they still had to walk their paths.

Xuan Yue, Ao Cangtian, and the others wore blank faces as they collected their thoughts.

Go?

Leave?

Without waiting for Qin Nan?

As a matter of fact, there was no point of waiting any further. Qin Nan’s cultivation had dropped significantly, causing his ranking to drop to eight hundred and ninetieth, thus there was no way he could achieve anything in the Monarch Horoscope Contest.

They would only be wasting their time.

“Chief, I won’t leave.” Xuan Yue said with a hoa.r.s.e voice.

“HAHA, serves him right. That’s what he gets for beating us with the Beast-Hitting Stick. I will wait for him here and mock him!” Ao Cangtian burst out laughing while Jiu Jiu and Yang Qi shrugged.

They were not waiting for Qin Nan because of his power, but the bond that tied them together.

“We shall wait then, but we don’t know if he’s coming...”

The Dragon Emperor let out a sigh seeing their determination.

The Diabolic Qilin stood at the side in silence.

However, at that instant...

A figure appeared from the formation of the Dragon Emperor Clan.

“Senior Monarch Ranking is so unreliable, isn’t my cultivation being shrouded by the desolation aura? Must he really drop my ranking by that much in one go...Mm? Chief? Senior Diabolic Qilin?”