Douluo: Unbeatable from Capturing a Goddess

After the nine hundred thirty-seventh place, his name appeared, pushing the other names down by one.

Luo Yu naturally noticed.

The very top of the screen displayed a line of large characters: "Great Capital Province Fist Strength Ranking".

All the rankings within the top one thousand were listed there, visible to the hundred thousand spectators in the stadium and those watching the live broadcast at home.

The top spots—first, second, and third—were the most exceptional, with huge fonts flashing with a golden lustre; the fonts became progressively smaller below them.

First Place: Li Mushen 5010 kilocalories

Second Place: Huo Tongtian 4999 kilocalories

Third Place: Yuwen Chenglong 4756 kilocalories

Fourth Place: Diao Lingluo 3577 kilocalories

...

As Luo Yu emerged from the contestant tunnel and saw the massive screen with the rankings, he felt indifferent. He only knew that kilocalories were the unit for measuring a martial artist's strength, that five hundred kilocalories equated to the strength of one tiger, and he was actually unclear of his own strength; he would only know after being measured.

Diao Lingluo?

Wasn't that the girl who awakened a Third-Rank Green Grade Ancient Heroic Spirit that day? Quite heroic and pretty, Luo Yu remembered her.

While Luo Yu was unconcerned with the leaderboard's data, the examinees queuing in front of and behind him burst into a frenzy of shocked exclamations.

"Holy shit!"

"What's going on, what's with this year's top three? Why are their strength values so frightening?"

"Yeah, is this a mistake? Impossible!"

"Over two thousand kilocalories is already the basic strength value for a Ninth Grade strong person; how can someone have over five thousand? That's insane!!!"

"Has the competition really become this internalized? How many freaks had to emerge for the fourth place to have the strength that could vie for the first place in strength ranking last year? Where did those monsters in the top three even come from."

One after another, voices of apprehension arose, and the girl in front of Luo Yu was patting her chest with a relieved face.

"Phew—"

"That was close. Thank goodness I decided to completely give up before coming here, otherwise I would've been scared to death by those terrifying strength numbers, too frightening. Over five thousand kilocalories? A regular Eighth Grade expert with over two thousand kilocalories of strength would be smashed to pieces with a single punch by them."

"Whoever gets into the top hundred facing such opponents, I'm afraid they'll be in mortal danger. Even if they don't die from a single KO punch, they'd be humiliated before the whole country."

Some people continued scanning downward on the leaderboard until they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's okay, it's okay, it's only the top three whose strength is abnormal. The rest are still within the realm of normalcy. Strength above three thousand kilocalories is enough to enter the top hundred."

Upon hearing this, a look of puzzlement flashed across Luo Yu's brows.

He let out a light 'huh' and said to the person speaking in front of him:

"The limit for Ninth Grade is one thousand two hundred kilocalories, three thousand kilocalories is already firmly above Eighth Grade."

"I remember just a few days ago, during the awakening, the highest among all the candidates was only at the Ninth Grade Peak, and the weakest might have just reached Ninth Grade. After all, once you enter Eighth Grade, you can no longer awaken an Ancient Heroic Spirit. So, in just a few short days, how could these people have broken through to Eighth Grade and raised their strengths to such a level?"

"Granted, the top three might be exceptional, but the hundredth place already has strength above ordinary Eighth Grade, with over three thousand kilocalories?"

Having said this, the people queuing in front of and behind Luo Yu all looked at him with strange expressions.

He touched his nose, feeling that he hadn't said anything wrong.

The people around him all laughed.

"Bro, that just gave away your naivety."

"Isn't this what they try at martial schools?"

The girl standing in front of Luo Yu looked at him with surprise, not expecting Luo Yu to be unaware of even this bit of common knowledge.

Luo Yu cleared his throat.

He felt somewhat embarrassed because he indeed hadn't attended a martial school, not even for a single day.

Moreover, since he had always refused to train, Luo Tiance had never spoken to him about matters of cultivation, and later, when he suddenly became powerful, Luo Tiance deemed that such simple and idiotic cultivation knowledge was unnecessary to share with his prodigious grandson.

That would be insulting to a genius!

The result was the current awkward situation.

The girl began to enlighten Luo Yu:

"What you said isn't wrong. Some very impressive students from various Martial Arts High Schools, in order to increase their chances of awakening an Ancient Heroic Spirit, will cultivate all the way to the Ninth Grade Peak before participating in the awakening ceremony. After all, you only get one chance at awakening, and if you don't succeed, it's over."

"Such students have a deep foundation, and once they awaken an Ancient Heroic Spirit, they will rapidly break through to Eighth Grade, and with the blessing of the Ancient Heroic Spirit and the accumulated foundation from holding back their breakthrough, their cultivation will undergo a short-term surge and improve rapidly."

"See that Diao Lingluo on the leaderboard? She's exactly in this situation—that's the most dazzling genius from our Da Jing Ming De Martial High School, though who knows who will have the chance to get close to such a heaven-blessed lady."

Luo Yu coughed, indicating she was straying off topic.

The girl continued:

"What I was talking about the first kind of genius. There's also a second kind, more confident ones, who believe they don't need to cultivate to Ninth Grade Peak to awaken an Ancient Heroic Spirit. They choose to participate in the awakening earlier. Awakening earlier with the blessing of an Ancient Heroic Spirit means cultivation advances by leaps and bounds, and it's not surprising to break through to above Eighth Grade ahead of time. I fear those frightening top three belong to this category."

Luo Yu had an instant moment of clarity after listening.

Such a simple concept, of course, he understood.

He remarked,

"So the most worthless students are either those who attempted early awakening but failed, or those who reach Ninth Grade Peak but still fail to awaken, right? And there's another kind: those who, even at the golden age for cultivation, do not reach Ninth Grade Peak and are forced to participate in the awakening ritual at the early or middle stages of Ninth Grade, but luckily awaken an Ancient Spirit."

The girl's expression darkened, and with shiny eyes, she said:

"I..."

"am that third kind of trash you're talking about!!"

Luo Yu coughed awkwardly again.

"Sorry... sorry..."

The girl shook her head, causing her hair to sway.

"Sorry for what."

"I am trash!"

"But though I'm inadequate compared to some, I'm better than many. I joined the awakening at the initial stage of Ninth Grade, had good luck, and directly awakened an Ancient Spirit—much luckier than those at the Ninth Grade Peak who failed to awaken."

Luo Yu remarked, "You really are content with your lot..."

The girl smiled.

"I've calculated it. You're even worse than me. As someone who was once the bottom of the barrel, now that I've got someone else to look down on, what's there to be dissatisfied about?"

Luo Yu looked astonished.

"How did you figure that out? Are you sure I'm worse than you?"

The girl confidently said, "You don't even know the basic knowledge taught in Martial Arts High School. Aren't you a rookie? You probably just got lucky awakening an Ancient Spirit like I did."

Luo Yu smiled without saying a word, making no attempt to defend himself.

The first impression was already formed; it wasn't easy to correct now.

But his turn to test was coming soon, and then his fist would tell all.

He looked down silently, feeling a palm pat his shoulder from behind.

"Hey, brother!"

"Got hit where it hurts, huh?"

"Don't lose heart. I kind of like you. How about you become my little bro from now on? I've got your back."

Luo Yu turned his head to look at the girl dressed as a boy with an ethereal aura, his mouth twitching.

"You..."

"got my back?"

The "young man" nodded, "What, you don't believe it? Unlike what you said earlier, I really am strong!"

"This time my master sent me down the mountain to aim for first place."

"But not just first in the Great Capital Province, but first in the whole world!"

"Shh..." Luo Yu looked shocked, "That's some big talk. You sure dare to say it."

"Eh." The faux young man waved their hand, automatically stepping in front of Luo Yu, switching places, and said with a confident smile, "Just wait, watch me test first to broaden your horizons, then you'll understand everything."

He pointed at the top spot on the strength leaderboard.

"That place, will be mine in just a moment."

"Let me introduce myself, my name is Lü Chan!"

Then that one and that one, Lü Chan pointed to two screens beside the strength leaderboard, the speed and reaction leaderboards.

"First place, I've got them covered."

Luo Yu touched his nose and was about to speak but then stopped himself.

He's met his match in showing off.

No, the person seemed more like a naïve girl who had just come down from the mountains, her way of showing off too straightforward, lacking finesse.

"Pfft!"

The girl in front who had been slacking off laughed.

She looked at Luo Yu and Lü Chan and laughed while holding her belly,

"I can't anymore, you two are too funny."

"The perfect duo."

"Were you guys sent by monkeys to amuse us? Each of you more boastful than the other."

"Come on, I'll give you two performers the stage. You test first, I'll be at the back watching, to see just how great you really are."