NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 59 - Extra Rewards
At this moment, everyone present was stunned—especially those who hadn’t witnessed Xiao Lingchen slaying a million Demon Clan cultivators firsthand.
The elders from various sects on the high platform were even more dumbfounded. They flew down from the platform to inspect closely. Only after confirming that the heads Xiao Lingchen had presented were indeed those of the Demon Clan did their composure completely shatter!
“This…”
“How can there be so many Demon Clan heads?”
“Young man, did you wipe out the entire Demon Clan in the Dark Forest?”
Xiao Lingchen nodded nonchalantly. “Pretty much.”
With that, he casually tossed out the heads of four Demon Clan elders, including Ye Qianfu, onto the ground, while still holding Ye Cangxuan’s head in his hand.
At that moment, the sect elders were utterly numb.
Wiping out the Demon Clan? Was this something a mere sect disciple could accomplish?
“Young man, you didn’t kill all these Demon Clan members alone, did you?”
“You must have used some cheating trick to gather this many heads!”
Several sect elders refused to believe that Xiao Lingchen, a single sect disciple, could eradicate the entire Demon Clan in the Dark Forest. Even if they were just a branch of the larger Demon Clan, it was still beyond absurd!
But before Xiao Lingchen could respond, the Taixuan Sect disciples behind him couldn’t hold back any longer.
One of them spoke up. “These two elders need to speak with evidence! We tens of thousands of people saw Junior Brother Lingchen slay these million Demon Clan cultivators with our own eyes!”
“That’s right! It’s not just us from Taixuan Sect—disciples from other sects can testify too!”
As the two spoke, the tens of thousands of sect disciples who had been surrounded by the Demon Clan that day—hanging onto life by a thread—chimed in, corroborating Xiao Lingchen’s feat. Had he not appeared to turn the tide, they might not have survived to this day. Naturally, they couldn’t stand to see him slandered now.
With so many people vouching for him, Elder Yun Zhu beamed with pride, clapping Xiao Lingchen on the shoulder. “Hahaha! Well done! Well done indeed! You’ve truly brought glory to our Taixuan Sect! After the tally is settled, aside from the competition rewards, I’ll personally give you some extra benefits, haha!”
Watching Elder Lin Chungang of the Heavenly Sword Sect fume, his beard practically bristling with frustration, Elder Yun Zhu felt an indescribable satisfaction. At the same time, he couldn’t help but marvel at Xiao Lingchen’s freakish talent.
He still remembered how, just a few months ago, Xiao Lingchen had been a powerless fugitive, chased to the gates of Taixuan Sect. Yet now, in less than a year, he had grown to such a terrifying level! This kind of talent wasn’t just unprecedented in Taixuan Sect—it could be called heaven-defying across the entire Tianxuan Kingdom, even the whole East Prosperity Domain!
With Xiao Lingchen’s millions of Demon Clan heads, Taixuan Sect unsurprisingly clinched first place in the sect’s grand competition. More than half of the combined prize pool from the thirteen sects went to Taixuan Sect as their reward.
As for Xiao Lingchen, he received the individual prize for being the top performer: five million low-grade spirit stones, an earth-grade high-tier divine ability, two earth-grade high-tier treasures, three sixth-grade Mixed Essence Pills, and a chance to enter the True Martial Space!
With that, the sect’s grand competition came to an end. Apart from the top three sects, which walked away with rewards, the others left empty-handed and dejected. For them, this competition had been a double loss—sacrificing both resources and disciples.
After they departed, Taixuan Sect held an internal ranking based on points. The higher a peak ranked, the more resources it would receive from the sect in the coming year.
This time, Little Bamboo Peak was no longer at the bottom. That day, Yun Zhanyi and Xiao Lingchen had teamed up, catching the Demon Clan off guard and slaying tens of thousands of them. Single-handedly, they had propelled Little Bamboo Peak to first place. Yun Zhanyi, Ning Huanhuan, and the others were overjoyed.
As the rankings concluded, the disciples of each peak dispersed. Elder Yun Zhu approached Xiao Lingchen and handed over the promised extra reward.
But when Xiao Lingchen saw what it was, he froze.
“This… is this the Radiant Jade Sundial?”
Elder Yun Zhu blinked in surprise. “How do you know what this is?”
Xiao Lingchen gave a wry smile and pulled out the Radiant Jade Sundial that Yu Haoran had given him earlier. “To be honest, Elder, I already have one. It was a gift from a friend.”
“I see,” Elder Yun Zhu nodded. “Then giving this to you has turned out to be quite a boon for you, hasn’t it?”
Xiao Lingchen was puzzled. “What do you mean, Elder?”
He already had one Radiant Jade Sundial—wouldn’t an extra one be redundant?
Elder Yun Zhu smiled. “The origins of the Radiant Jade Sundial are mysterious. As far as I know, there are six of them in this world, each capable of manipulating the flow of time. However, the effect of any single sundial is limited. If you can obtain two and fuse them, their effects stack.”
Hearing this, Xiao Lingchen’s eyes lit up.
Elder Yun Zhu then handed over his Radiant Jade Sundial. The moment it neared Xiao Lingchen’s, both sundials reacted visibly, drawn to each other and beginning to merge.
In the end, the two Radiant Jade Sundials became one. What had once been two unremarkable objects now transformed into a single, more enigmatic form.
Xiao Lingchen tested it briefly and found that the fused sundial could now alter the flow of time around him by fifty percent—1.5 times the normal speed!
This boost filled him with delight. It might seem like a mere twenty percent increase, but whether for cultivation or combat, the advantage was immense!
It also dawned on him that there were six Radiant Jade Sundials in the world. Fusing two had already achieved a 1.5-times speedup—what would happen if all six were combined? He couldn’t imagine it, but he was certain it would be utterly heaven-defying! If the chance arose, he’d have to look into the whereabouts of the remaining ones.
After presenting the reward, Elder Yun Zhu patted Xiao Lingchen’s shoulder again, his tone grave. “You, young man, your talent is too extraordinary. You must understand the saying: ‘The tallest tree in the forest is the first to fall.’ Genius invites peril. From now on, you need to train harder and grow stronger. And try to keep a lower profile.”
Xiao Lingchen bowed respectfully but sensed there was more to the elder’s words.
“Keep a low profile? What do you mean, Elder?” he asked.
Elder Yun Zhu huffed in exasperation. “What do you think? Haven’t you noticed that only twelve sects showed up for today’s tally? Your reckless slaughter of Tianyan Sect disciples in the Dark Forest has already reached their ears. Right now, the entire Tianyan Sect is likely plotting how to retaliate against you!”