strictlysupreme Chapter 22 Demon Slayer Ranking
Chapter 22 Demon Slayer Ranking
However, Guo Jieyuan was a man of his word. He reached into his robes, pulled out a small piece of silver, and patted it into Heng Ziyang's palm.
Heng Ziyang took it, weighed it in his hand, put it in his pocket, then picked up a new incense stick from the table, lit it on the candle flame, and inserted it into the incense burner.
Wisps of smoke rose into the air.
He turned around, looked at Zhang Ping again, and said to Guo Jie with a more serious tone, his smugness fading slightly. "Brother Guo, I won't bet with you this time."
"It seems Brother Zhang should have emerged from the illusion by now."
He glanced at the newly lit incense stick and estimated the time.
Based on past experience, the limit of their Black Mirror Trial here is about three incense sticks' worth of time.
When he and Guo Jie first broke through, they both couldn't hold on for more than three incense sticks before being bounced out by the Black Mirror.
As far as Zhang Ping is concerned, it's unlikely he can hold out much longer.
Therefore, Heng Ziyang thought that Zhang Ping should be ejected in about half an incense stick's time.
But what he didn't know was...
Zhang Ping had already killed many demons in the illusion by using his supernatural powers.
There were at least twenty of them, most of them at the seventh or eighth level of body tempering, with a few at the ninth level, but they were all dealt with in one strike.
After all, his strike was at the Boiling Blood Realm.
And he has even begun to slowly get used to this environment.
It's not just about being used to killing, but also about being used to the composure that comes with being on the brink of life and death.
With a sword in hand and supernatural powers at his disposal, he could still wield his blade expressionlessly, even when facing a demon several minor realms higher than himself.
With a single strike possessing the power of the Boiling Blood Realm, he has been cutting through everything in his path, and so far has not encountered any real danger.
This is his trump card, and this is his source of confidence.
Even if a demon with an aura approaching the Boiling Blood Realm occasionally appears, he can still unleash his supernatural powers continuously. If one strike isn't enough, he'll strike twice; if two strikes aren't enough, he'll strike three.
Even if that monster were made of iron, it couldn't withstand such a continuous barrage of true damage from a single strike of the Boiling Blood Realm.
Time slipped away little by little.
Heng Ziyang waited in the stone chamber for the time it takes for one incense stick to burn, and then another.
His expression kept changing.
From doubt to disbelief.
He glanced at Guo Jie.
The changes observed by Guo Jie speak volumes.
Because that newly lit incense stick had already burned to its third stick.
Zhang Ping is still in the mirror.
Aside from a slight change in him two incense sticks' time ago, he has remained completely still until now.
This was beyond his comprehension.
After all, they had experienced the things depicted in Black Mirror.
They knew better than anyone what it was like inside.
It will drag the trial participants into a world that is half real and half fake, where you will face an endless stream of monsters, one after another, wave after wave.
The flow of time inside is different from that outside. What feels like several hours inside might only be the time it takes for an incense stick to burn outside.
But the consumption is real.
The mental, physical, and emotional energy expenditures all take real and tangible effects on you.
If you can't hold on, you can't hold on.
There are no shortcuts.
Of the current members of their branch, no more than ten could survive the time it takes for three incense sticks to burn.
None of them could survive the time it takes for four incense sticks to burn.
And now, that newly lit incense stick has already burned to its third stick.
Zhang Ping is still inside.
Even his breathing remained perfectly steady.
"What...what is this guy doing in there?"
Heng Ziyang murmured something.
He suddenly stopped talking before he could finish.
Because the Black Mirror has begun to change.
The mirror, which was originally as black as ink, suddenly began to ripple.
It wasn't a large fluctuation, but rather like someone throwing a small pebble into a calm lake, causing tiny ripples to spread out from the center of the mirror.
The ripples spread to the edge of the mirror and bounced back, layer upon layer, intertwining with each other.
Heng Ziyang's pupils suddenly contracted.
He had witnessed this change.
That was a sign that the list was about to appear.
Then, golden characters appeared one after another.
The Demon-Slaying Ranking.
Three large characters are at the top, and below them are rows of neat names.
Each name is followed by a number, which represents the number of demons killed.
Heng Ziyang's gaze swept from top to bottom, finally settling on the very bottom of the list.
100th.
That location originally had an unfamiliar name; Heng Ziyang had never heard of it before, but it probably belonged to some branch.
But now, that name is being overwritten by another.
Stroke by stroke, slowly fading away, a new name emerges.
Zhang Ping.
Number: 21.
Heng Ziyang gasped, his eyes fixed on the name, his mouth agape for a long time.
"How is that possible..."
He finally uttered those three words, his tone devoid of its usual playfulness, replaced only by pure shock.
The Demon-Slaying Ranking.
This isn't just for show.
There are countless monsters in the Black Mirror Illusion, but you won't automatically be added to the list just because you kill them.
This list records the number of demonic beasts killed by the test takers during the trials. The cultivation level, species, and combat strength of each demonic beast are quantitatively evaluated by the Black Mirror and finally converted into a comprehensive score, which is then used to rank the participants.
In other words, killing twenty-one demonic beasts at the Body Tempering Realm is not necessarily more valuable than killing ten peak Body Tempering Realm beasts plus one Blood Boiling Realm beast.
But no matter how the standards change, the minimum threshold to be on the list and to enter the top 100 is 20.
Twenty.
How many did Heng Ziyang kill when he broke into the Black Mirror?
He knew it all too well.
Nine.
He killed a total of nine demonic beasts, and then he was completely exhausted.
Guo Jie was a bit better at fighting and killed eleven, but he still didn't make the list.
Now, Zhang Ping has made it into the top 100 on his first attempt at breaking into the mirror.
"Twenty-one?"
Guo Jie's voice was a little tense, as if he was confirming that he hadn't seen it wrong.
Before Heng Ziyang could answer, the golden characters on the mirror surface moved again.
The number after Zhang Ping's name jumped from twenty-one to twenty-two.
The ranking jumped from 100th to 99th.
"Still killing?"
Heng Ziyang's voice even changed tone.
The third incense stick had not yet completely burned out.
From the time Zhang Ping entered Black Mirror until now, it has been no more than the time it takes for three incense sticks to burn.
In such a short time, they killed twenty-two demonic beasts.
What kind of efficiency is this?
Moreover, given his current level of cultivation, logically speaking, the cultivation levels of the demonic beasts behind him should have already surpassed his.
How could he possibly withstand it?
Unless those monsters lined up to deliver themselves to him, allowing him to kill them one by one.
But are the monsters in the Black Mirror illusion really that stupid?
But apart from them.
Thousands of miles away.
Cangwu Mountain.
The mountains are majestic and stretch for thousands of miles, with the main peak piercing the clouds. The area above the halfway point is shrouded in clouds and mist all year round. When ordinary people stand at the foot of the mountain and look up, they can only see a vast sea of white clouds.
It was midnight, and moonlight shone through the gaps in the clouds onto the square.
Even at such a late hour, a considerable number of people still gathered in the square.
A rough count would reveal at least forty or fifty people.
Some were dressed in gray-black casual clothes, while others were in armor. They gathered in twos and threes, some sparring, some talking, and some meditating with their eyes closed.
In the very center of the square stands a stone tablet.
It is about three zhang tall and two zhang wide, and is entirely black, made of the same material as a black mirror.
The surface of the stone tablet is as smooth as a mirror, and one hundred names are engraved on it, arranged from top to bottom, each name emitting a faint golden light.
This is the overall ranking of the Demon Slayer List.