5: Hengtian Ranking, system tasks, villains are no longer low-key

“It’s not like that, Chu Tian, listen to me.”

Liu Yun’s face was pale, overly frightened, and she collapsed on the mountain Peak, shouting weakly at Chu Tian’s retreating back.

She truly couldn’t understand why Chu Tian’s attitude towards her, and even towards Ye Fan, had done a 360-degree turn.

Weren't the Ye Family and the Chu Family also closely allied?

What was wrong with her helping Ye Fan?

However, being precocious, she understood even more clearly that she had likely caused a major incident, one that might even affect the survival of her Family.

The Sect patrol Disciples and powerful experts hidden in the clouds were terrified to death. Since it involved the Little Holy Son, the Chu Family, and the Liu Family, they dared not intervene, nor even dared to help Liu Yun up, and quickly left.

Soon, news of what happened on the mountain Peak spread throughout the Sect with lightning speed.

The good-for-nothing Ye Fan, relying on having saved Liu Yun, used his life-saving grace to coerce the Little Holy Son into stealing the Sect’s divine medicine, the saint vein flower fruit. The Little Holy Son, realizing his mistake, became enraged and slapped his fiancée, ordering her to personally capture the good-for-nothing Ye Fan.

The Little Holy Son even personally stated that Liu Yun was not worthy to be the future mistress of the Chu Family.

In less than half an hour later.

Star Servant, authorized by Heavenly King Emperor Lord, led the Sect’s enforcement team to forcibly enter the Liu Family and arrest Juer, Liu Yun’s personal maid.

The Saint Heaven Sect was shaken.

Soon after, the Ye Family released a message, stating that Ye Fan had been apprehended and was undergoing strict interrogation. If his crimes were confirmed, he would not be pardoned, assuring the Chu Family of their resolve.

Meanwhile, on the mountain Peak, it was a long time later before a powerful expert from the Liu Family arrived to take the overly frightened Young Miss Liu Yun back.

“Congratulations, Host, for suppressing the Child of Luck, Liu Yun. Rewarding 2000 destiny points.”

“Congratulations, Host, for suppressing the Child of Luck, Ye Fan. Rewarding 3000 destiny points.”

“Congratulations, Host, the Child of Luck, Liu Yun, has developed intense fear towards you. Rewarding 500 destiny points.”

“Congratulations, Host, the Child of Luck, Ye Fan, has developed immense resentment towards you. Rewarding 1000 destiny points.”

“Congratulations, Host...”

On the way back to the Sect, the System’s gentle and pleasant notification sounds continuously echoed in Chu Tian’s ears. In a short amount of time, the destiny points he had acquired had already exceeded ten thousand.

Chu Tian was not in a hurry to return to the Sect. After descending from the mountain Peak, he had Star Servant rush back to the Sect first to apprehend Juer.

This was the territory of the Saint Heaven Sect; who would dare to lay a hand on him, unless they were tired of living?

Chu Tian was contemplating the situation within the Saint Heaven Sect.

The Saint Heaven Sect has existed for a million years, and the position of Sect Master has been held in rotation by the two founding Families, maintaining a delicate balance between them.

However, in this generation, with his father Chu Tian King marrying his mother, the Broken Sword Goddess of the Ancient Sword God Clan, the Chu Family's influence greatly increased. Although he was the Deputy Sect Leader, his authority already subtly surpassed that of the Ye Family.

Coupled with the birth of himself, the Chaos Divine Demon Body, and the marriage to the Innate Dao Body, their prestige reached its Peak, causing the Ye Family to feel a tremendous sense of crisis.

In his memory, what Chu Tian King told him most often was to always be low-key, that caution was the mother of safety, not to always strive for first place, and not to easily show his edge.

Clearly, Chu Tian King, the Deputy Sect Leader, had also sensed that the situation was amiss. In order to maintain internal unity within the Sect, he asked him to be low-key, so as not to provoke the already sensitive Ye Family.

The original owner was also very obedient. Although he was a Saint, with strength almost comparable to a young Archaic Behemoth, he never pushed himself forward, remaining inconspicuous. He had a great reputation but few achievements.

One must know that powerful immortal ancient clans and top Sects would start training their Prodigies from a very young age, cultivating them from childhood to hone their sharp edges.

An invincible mentality is cultivated from a young age; only then can an invincible will be forged to contend for supremacy in the world.

For someone like Chu Tian, who possessed a supreme Physique and a top-tier background, yet remained obscure, it was simply peculiar.

The outside world had also been speculating whether Chu Tian had become a cripple, or if something had gone wrong with his Cultivation, even affecting the reputation of the Chu Family.

Even in the original plot, until the very last moment when the conflict between the Chu and Ye Families completely erupted and the Ye Family revealed its true intentions, Chu Tian King still prioritized maintaining the Sect's unity, not completely tearing down the facade, choosing to trust his sworn brother, Ye Tianxiong.

Otherwise, with the Chu Family’s million-year Legacy, even if everyone turned against them, if they retaliated with full force, the Saint Heaven Sect, if not torn apart, would at least be severely weakened and fall from its position as a top Sect.

“Taking a step back, there’s no vast ocean and sky; there’s only one step back, then every step back, eventually handing over the foundation left by our ancestors to the other party,” Chu Tian muttered to himself.

As a Godfather, Chu Tian had always firmly believed that if you strike one punch, you avoid a hundred punches.

Deterrence is achieved through action, not through humility.

Ordinary people have room for being low-key, as they inherently lack the capital to show off. But for the Chu Family, standing in this position, with such a massive presence and terrifying strength, still thinking of developing in a low-key manner, was an extremely bizarre matter.

Although Chu Tian King was invincible and incredibly powerful, he clearly did not understand how brutal the struggle involving the Family's survival could be.

From the point of Juer, it was clear that the Ye Family had absolutely begun to lay out their plans.

It was even very likely that Ye Tianxiong was behind the scenes, orchestrating this scheme himself.

Otherwise, how could a good-for-nothing from the Ye Family repeatedly get close to the favored Young Miss of the Liu Family, the future mistress of the Chu Family, and thereby interfere with the Cultivation of the Chu Family’s Young Lord? It was simply something that could not be explained by common sense.

“System task issued: The Villain is no longer low-key,” a gentle female voice echoed in Chu Tian’s ears.

“As a super Villain, the only Child of Destiny in the future, you should shine like the stars and awe all heavens.”

“This task is a continuous plot task.”

“First stage: Obtain first place in the Forging Bone Realm of the Hengtian Board, suppressing all Prodigies of the same Realm, and you will receive generous System rewards.”

“Even the System understands that as a Prodigy, one should awe all heavens and dominate the world. Yet my old man doesn’t understand; constantly being low-key and yielding will only make outsiders think the Chu Family is in decline, and everyone will want to pounce on us, to take a bite and step on us.”

Hearing the System’s task, Chu Tian smiled faintly, a cold glint flashing in his eyes as he looked forward.

At the Sect entrance, a golden boulder, a hundred meters high, stood tall.

“Hengtian Board,” three golden characters, shone brightly at the top of the giant stone.

The Hengtian Board was jointly created by many top Sects of the Eternal Sky Continent, passed down through countless ages, even longer than the history of the Saint Heaven Sect. Every top Sect and aristocratic Family on the Eternal Sky Continent would erect one at their entrance.

The Hengtian Board was divided into the Heavenly Ranking, Earth Ranking, and Realm Ranking.

The Heavenly Ranking listed the strongest experts of the Eternal Sky Continent.

The Earth Ranking included Prodigies under thirty years old, ranked by their potential.

The Realm Ranking listed those whose combat power ranked among the top in a certain Realm, and it was also one of the important bases for evaluating the Heavenly Ranking and Earth Ranking.

To be on the list meant to be remembered for eternity, and it was the highest honor on the Eternal Sky Continent.

On the giant stone were golden small characters, each a name, all Prodigies who had left their mark on the list throughout the countless ages of the Eternal Sky Continent.

Heavenly Ranking First Place, Eternal Sky Divine Venerable, the foremost expert of the Eternal Sky Continent, ancient and modern, who defended against the invasion of the Outer Realm Demonic God Race, protecting billions of living beings.

Heavenly Ranking Ninety-sixth Place, Heavenly King Emperor Lord, Deputy Sect Leader of the Saint Heaven Sect, who once occupied the top three of the Earth Ranking for twenty-seven years, second in the Forging Bone Realm, first in the Spirit Refining Realm, third in the Body Integration Realm... first in the Heavenly God Realm...

Heavenly Ranking Ninety-seventh Place, Heavenly Hero Emperor, Sect Master of the Saint Heaven Sect, who once occupied the top three of the Earth Ranking for twenty-seven years, first in the Forging Bone Realm, second in the Spirit Refining Realm...

It must be said that from the Hengtian Board, one could see how fierce the competition was between Chu Tian King and Ye Tianxiong, these sworn brothers. They had competed and fought for decades, each striving for victory, with wins and losses on both sides.

Behind this also lay how cruel the secret struggles and contests between the two founding Families of the Saint Heaven Sect were.

And this balance was suddenly broken when Chu Tian King married Jian Kongzhu, the Broken Sword Goddess of the Ancient Sword God Clan, and gave birth to three daughters and one son.

Chu Tian looked up. Heavenly Ranking Twenty-eighth Place, wife of Heavenly King Emperor Lord of the Saint Heaven Sect, who single-handedly slayed the Great Hatred Demon Lord of the Demonic Heaven Forbidden Ground.

That’s right, Jian Kongzhu not only had a cliff-like lead over these two Sect Masters of the Saint Heaven Sect, but she also had only a brief introduction, without any past achievements. Merely by slaying the Demonic Lord of the Forbidden Ground with one sword, she directly surged into the Heavenly Ranking twenty-eighth.

Because the Hengtian Board only recorded experts from the Eternal Sky Continent.

Jian Kongzhu only began to ascend the ranking after marrying Chu Tian King, and she completely established the Saint Heaven Sect’s position as the number one Sect on the Eternal Sky Continent.

Directly killing her way into the top thirty of the Heavenly Ranking with one sword, one can imagine how fierce this mother, the Great Hatred Demon Lord, was.

Under such a good hand, the Chu Family's prestige reached an unprecedented Peak, yet it plummeted, falling into decline and being annihilated within less than thirty years. From Chu Tian's Godfather's perspective, something so abnormal must be the work of a Prodigy.

And the biggest Prodigies were his old man, Chu Tian King, and his three older sisters.

After all, one should not fear an opponent like a god, but fear teammates like pigs.

The Child of Luck, Ye Fan, and external enemies like Saint Heaven Goddess Liu Yun, in Chu Tian's view, were never the key.

A fortress always begins to collapse from within.