Chapter 166: A Miracle in the Hall
by xennovel“Chairman Fang!?”
“Chairman!?”
Under anxious anticipation, the many top officials in the Hall stared at Fang Hao, who, like Yang Guoping, stood dumbfounded, as if he needed a jolt to come to his senses.
“What did you see?! Speak up already!”
Had it not been for Fang Hao’s stature, no one would dare act up. Yet in that critical moment, the anxious crowd was itching to rush in and find out what was unfolding.
None were more agitated than the members of the Starbright Merchant Guild.
A Third-Stage senior nearly lost his mind, his eyes darting frantically between the swirling vortex and the two men.
“Chairman Fang! Is it Huang Lingyu or someone else?”
That question sent a jolt through him as he looked at Fang Hao, who remained silent, as if verifying something, and his heart skipped a beat.
“It’s over! In this state, things are bound to go wrong! If that girl I brought—or anyone else—is involved, they should be pulling back right now.”
“The whole situation…it just doesn’t add up.”
Sure enough, mere seconds later…
Watching the system information fluctuate before finally freezing on his score, Fang Hao forced a calm facade, though inside he inhaled a cold, dreaded breath.
He turned to the anxious crowd and kept his tone deliberately steady, though his strained inflection betrayed his overwhelming shock:
“Yenir…”
“Equal First at 1 minute 09 seconds!”
“System confirmation shows his actual performance surpassed Gongben Tengshan! They’ve been demoted to second!”
He couldn’t quite fathom why the system judged it that way—this was his first time witnessing such a confirmation.
But that did nothing to change one undeniable fact…
“That kid Yenir…”
“Damn it, he’s first again!”
As his words faded out, the crowd fell silent, with many exclaiming in disbelief:
“Yenir!? He did it again!?”
“First in both categories!? How on earth did he manage that?! Does he not need a break at all?!”
“What kind of talent lets him do that? What exactly is his gift?!”
“No… maybe it’s a Third-Type talent! He’s Yenir, but his willpower is on another level!”
“How does a tie for first turn into outright first? Could it be that the system is playing favorites? It can’t be helping him, right?!”
Amid the cacophony of voices, the once-proud Third-Stage members and senior officials now wore expressions of pure astonishment.
“This is utterly outrageous!”
Despite their repeated queries, everyone still longed to know exactly what had transpired. How on earth had Yenir managed it!?
“Chairman Fang!? Has Yenir already set another record?”
“First in the Third-Type! Has anyone ever done that in history!?”
“No need to guess—it’s impossible!”
“Don’t even get me started on the Third-Type; not even Dual-Type has ever seen anything like this! He’s a monster—this is beyond human!”
In the midst of the heated debates, it was assumed without question that Yenir would clinch the Awakener Trial, even though he hadn’t begun. His back-to-back astonishing performances silenced any doubt.
Observing the chaotic scene among the top officials, Fang Hao nodded heavily, his thoughts filled with deep emotion:
“Indeed…”
“Perhaps today, we’re about to witness a miracle…”
He fought hard to keep his composure.
After speaking, Fang Hao returned the information board to Yang Guoping, determined to appear unruffled.
After all, he was a top Third-Stage cultivator; losing composure was simply unacceptable.
Yet when he noticed a stunned Starbright official frozen like a statue and Zhang Yang collapsing to the ground, he couldn’t help but let out an inward sigh.
“These underdogs are truly pitiable.”
“Sharing the same era as Yenir means they’re destined never to rise. That crushing sense of inferiority must be unbearable.”
“Back in his prime, even many Awakener peers had confessed their frustrations to him.”
“That feeling of always being one step behind, of having someone constantly looming above you—it’s absolutely torturous!”
“Compared to my own time…”
“Undoubtedly, the blow Yenir delivers is far more devastating!”
“Back then, I was just slightly ahead. But Yenir… he outpaced all of humanity! Being first in the Third-Type is an unprecedented feat!”
“Consider Buckwade, a Strength Type champion who reigned for twenty-seven years on the global stage, leaving countless aspirants in awe. How many longed to surpass him?”
“Yet compared to Yenir, it’s simply incomparable!”
“One thing’s for sure…”
“When the global announcement comes, it won’t just shock the survivors in the Huaxia Battle Zone—the entire world’s survivors will go into a frenzy!”
“We’ve hit the jackpot… It’s like finding a treasure!!”
“This isn’t genius—it’s pure, monster-level talent!”
Having witnessed Yenir shatter records time and again since his initial setback, Yang Guoping now felt a surge of foreboding.
Luckily, he had trusted his own judgment instead of, like Tang Zhen, suppressing the news to please Zhang Meng. Otherwise, if things got out of hand, he’d find himself facing a military trial!
“Every second wasted on such a monstrous genius is a crime!”
Instinctively, he scanned the crowd for a glimpse of Tang Zhen. Quickly, his eyes landed on a pale, apprehensive Tang Zhen hiding behind Zhang Meng.
Staring at Tang Zhen, whose body trembled uncontrollably, a cold laugh escaped him, filling him with a perverse pleasure.
“Now you’re scared, huh?”
“Back then, Yenir could have qualified with the bare minimum, but it was Tang Zhen who interfered and held him back.”
“I could almost predict that once the trial ended, Zhang Meng would sacrifice this guy as a scapegoat to save himself!”
“And if Yenir dared to push further, many others might end up in trouble just for being caught in the crossfire!”
“………”
“He’s out!”
“Someone’s out already!”
As the vortex shimmered, Huang Lingyu staggered forward, her face alight with excitement as she fought to steady herself.
“2 minutes and 01 second! She did it!”
Seeing all eyes on her, and unaware of what had truly transpired, pride swelled in her heart.
“I really was the first to emerge!”
But why was everyone so fired up?
Though she boasted an exceptional performance in the trial, Huang Lingyu knew deep down that she had only just managed to crack the top twenty.
Her performance was commendable, yet hardly a reason for such exhilaration.
For some reason, her joy abruptly stalled, replaced by a dreadful premonition.
Before she could speak, her teacher hurried over, his face etched with bitterness as he supported her, as if fearing she couldn’t bear the blow.
“Teacher!?”
“Are you all this excited because of me?”
“What about Yenir!? How did he perform!?”
Glancing around frantically, the little girl noticed that Yenir hadn’t appeared before her and anxiously asked.
“Lingyu, you did exceptionally well! Really! But whatever I say next—don’t take it too hard!”
The middle-aged man pulled her aside with a wry smile and a deep sigh.
“We lost…”
“Yenir is still first… His time was 1 minute 09 seconds…”
His words left the girl standing frozen, the world spinning around her as her teacher’s message played over and over in her mind.
“She lost?! And lost so badly?! The gap between her and Yenir—and even Zhang Yang—is enormous!?”
Moments later, overwhelmed by the weight of her efforts and dashed hopes, she couldn’t hold back any longer and burst into tears.