Chapter 31: First Place

Upon hearing this, Wang Heng felt a slight tremor in his heart.

Gazing intently in that direction, he realized that beyond the ancient sacrificial tree, the backdrop was entirely dark.

It turned out to be the color of the World Tree's bark.

Even a sacrificial tree, almost powerful enough to become a king, appeared insignificant like mere roadside grass when compared to the majestic and boundless World Tree.

"The World Tree is truly magnificent, vast beyond imagination.

Its existence stabilizes the ancient realm, perfecting the great paths between heaven and earth, ensuring they remain settled, and facilitating practitioners' cultivation," Wang Mian explained.

"Moreover, it makes the realm's skies and earth so resilient that even the tremors of battles fought by Immortal Kings can be borne without issue.

One can imagine the importance of the World Tree to our realm.

Due to its sheer vastness, even from several days away, its faint silhouette can be discerned."

Wang Heng nodded, gaining an understanding of the World Tree from Wang Mian's words.

At this moment, the sacrificial ancient tree at the end of the spatial rift cast a gaze this way, soft yet piercing, landing directly on Wang Heng.

A beam of light shot along the spatial fissure, heading directly towards Wang Heng's body.

The Immortal Vine did not interfere, merely watching silently as it unfolded.

Before anyone could exclaim, the light had already plunged into Wang Heng's body, moving like a swimming dragon through his being.

Wang Heng felt his blood boiling, his soul scorching, and let out an involuntary roar.

In the next moment, a vast force of vitality erupted forth, far surpassing what was typical even for the offspring of Immortal Kings at the Dao Implantation Stage, making him akin to a humanoid true dragon, comparable to the world's foremost ethnicities.

Subsequently, Wang Heng's soul was also galvanized, transforming into a small black sword that slowly ascended from above his head, autonomously executing the "Pacification Art".

Just as Wang Heng was brimming with battle spirit, eager to engage in combat with an opponent, the light beam—having explored every corner—abruptly retreated back into the spatial passage, immediately ceasing the feeling of boiling blood.

The battle fervor subsided, his soul reformed into a miniature figure, and the fighting spirit within Wang Heng extinguished.

He was somewhat astonished, wondering what the origin of that light beam was, for it had involuntarily led him into such a combative state.

"Do not be alarmed, my lord. This light emanates from an ancient stele, forged by a coalition of celestial kings, and stands in the heart of the Ancient Realm beside the World Tree.

Its purpose is to establish a ranking for all the cultivating beings of the Ancient Realm, to enhance competitiveness.

On the stele, each realm has its respective ranking. Beings that are recorded will have their names inscribed on it, and their positioning in the ranking is determined based on their combat power, aptitude, and potential.

Typically, the vast majority of beings in the Ancient Realm will be recorded, because when one steps onto the path of cultivation, their corresponding sacrificial spirit conveys their information to the Ancient Spirit Tree, which then engraves it into the stele.

In this way, a connection is established between the being and the stele; as long as the being remains within the Primitive Ancient Realm, any changes in them will be reflected through fluctuations in the stele's ranking.

The beam of light just now shot out from the stele; it will assess you comprehensively."

Wang Heng was enlightened.

"Precisely. Based on your current realm, my lord, you will enter the rankings of the Seed Dao Realm, where you will be compared with all other beings in the same realm throughout the Ancient Realm, ultimately earning a position." Wang Mian nodded.

Upon hearing this, Wang Heng finally understood the implications of what the Immortal Vine meant regarding the time for his name to spread across the Thirty-three Heavens.

Once he establishes a cause and effect relationship with the ancient stele, entering the Seed Dao Realm rankings, his unparalleled combat power and talent will surely make him renowned across the world.

In the years to come, as long as he remains in this realm, all kinds of changes happening to him will be perceived by the ancient stele, which will then adjust his ranking.

Wang Heng doesn't particularly like this kind of ranking, but he doesn't resist it either.

On one hand, he wishes to develop quietly and make achievements without attracting attention, as constantly being in the spotlight makes many things inconvenient.

On the other hand, if he desires to become an Immortal King, he needs the ambition of one, to dominate and remain undefeated on his path. Constantly hiding does not fit the tone of this path. Where in the world would you find an Immortal King's progeny who acts timidly?

Therefore, he feels conflicted internally, but now, the die is cast. The beam of light from the stele has already traveled through his body, understanding his combat strength, talent, and potential. It won't be long before the name Wang Heng becomes famous in the Ancient Realm.

Since he can't hide any longer and is destined to act boldly, he can only take the second route and fight his way to the Immortal King realm.

After the light beam returns to the other side of the massive spatial hole, it quickly flies into an incredibly vast and towering ancient stele.

This stele rises into the clouds, imposing and grand, standing beneath the World Tree, with the essence of the Great Dao flowing around it, as if it is fused with the heavens and the earth.

On this ancient stele, the names of countless beings are densely engraved, divided into several sections, the Seed Dao Realm, Rooting Realm... True Immortal Realm.

Apart from the ultimate Immortal King realm, all other realms are manifested.

However, the area of the ancient monument is limited, showing only a finite number of rankings, not encompassing all creatures of a realm. Of course, the karmic ties between beings still exist. A creature outside the rankings who achieves an unexpected rise can ascend the list, displacing another name.

Every day, countless creatures gather here, standing at the foot of the ancient monument, gazing up at the fluctuations in rankings. Among them are people from Immortal King families, disciples of immortal lineages, and the eyes and ears of various forces.

Whenever a newcomer or a sudden strong contender emerges on the monument, they spread the word through various channels, swiftly attempting to recruit this new power into their ranks.

On this day, as the creatures stood beneath the monument observing the rankings, they appeared ordinary, expecting no major changes akin to usual days.

The ancient realm is vast with thirty-three heavens, home to countless races and creatures. Stories of meteoric rises are not rare here, occurring and unfolding every day. However, the top positions across major realms remain largely unshaken, divided among the descendants of the Immortal King and the heirs of eternally living families.

Occasionally, a lower-tier creature may rise, achieving miraculous feats, overpowering all adversaries, but such occurrences are exceedingly rare, scarcely happening once in tens of thousands of years.

It was expected that today's rankings would be like any other, uneventful and ordinary.

Suddenly, the monument burst forth with dazzling light, emitting the sounds of the grand path.

In the astonished gaze of countless creatures below, a name appeared out of nowhere in the Dao-Seeking realm area, radiating a brilliance akin to the sun, ascending fiercely from the lowest point, unstoppable as it climbed higher.

Eventually, this name surpassed the renowned descendants of Immortal Kings, standing tall at the very top, solely claiming first place.

"Wang Heng!"