Erased Name
Erased Name
Looking at the ever-familiar two words on the top of the ranking list, Chu Liuyue was suddenly dazed. Rong Xiu… is actually on the heavenly doctor ranking list, and he has such a high position?!
"How can it be… Why is he first?" Chu Liuyue muttered to herself.
Hearing her voice, Elder Wan Zheng looked up and squinted his eyes. "You're talking about Rong Xiu? He's not first."
Chu Liuyue turned to look at him.
"Rong Xiu is second. There's someone else above him."
"Another one?" Chu Liuyue looked up and didn't see any name appearing above Rong Xiu.
"First… The first person's name has been erased." Elder Wan Zheng's tone was weird.
"Why?" Chu Liuyue didn't understand why. Since everyone wants to be on the Qing Yun Ranking, why would the first-place holder's name be erased?
"The director did it. Back then, after the first-place holder made it to the board, her name disappeared soon after. Many of the students who just came to the academy would mistake that Rong Xiu is first, but he actually isn't." Elder Wan Zheng raised his chin. "Look, if you take a closer look, there's the director's seal engraving on the first position.
Chu Liuyue took a closer look and realized that there seemed to be a faint suppression on the topmost position. But why did the director do this?
Chu Liuyue wanted to say something, but she didn't know what. These top characters will have their own considerations for doing what they did. It would be futile if I asked Elder Wan Zheng.
"But this had already happened a few years ago. Very few people talk about this in the academy now, so not many people know about it."
Even if they knew that the Qing Yun Ranking was amiss, many elders and students tacitly chose to remain silent.
Elder Wan Zheng suddenly sighed lightly. If I didn't accept Chu Liuyue as my disciple, I wouldn't bring this incident up either. After all… some things from the past are already in the past.
"You can just know about this; you don't need to know the details. Now, there's nothing wrong with having Rong Xiu at the top of the heavenly doctor Qing Yun Ranking. Chu Yue, you need to practice a lot harder and get on the ranking earlier!" Elder Wan Zheng laughed as he patted Chu Liuyue's shoulders. His usually stern and ordinary-looking face looked surprisingly kind as his gaze flashed when he looked at Chu Liuyue, as if he had high expectations of her.
Chu Liuyue felt faintly uneasy. "Master, you mean…"
Elder Wan Zheng laughed out loud. "Don't worry, don't worry! I won't expect you to appear on the Qing Yun Ranking right away! I'll give you three months; what do you think?"
Chu Liuyue looked at the last name on the heavenly doctor ranking.
The Qing Yun Ranking had a total of a hundred names, and the last one seemed to be a man's name—Bian Wenhao.
"W-what grade is that Bian Wenhao at now?" asked Chu Liuyue softly.
"Hehe, it's not high! That kid is now a peak ninth-grade heavenly doctor! You just need to reach peak ninth-grade as well. With your talent as a heavenly doctor, you can definitely beat him!"
Chu Liuyue was speechless. Elder Wan Zheng seems to have some misunderstandings about me… No matter how talented I am, it's quite unreasonable to expect me to break through to become a ninth-grade heavenly doctor when I'm only an eighth-grade one now, right?! Besides, I just broke through to become an eighth-grade heavenly doctor in Grotto-Heaven Cliff not too long ago!
"Is there a problem?" Elder Wan Zheng's eyes were filled with kindness. "Why don't I give you some encouragement?"
Chu Liuyue said, "…I'll definitely do my best!"
"That's my good disciple!" Elder Wan Zheng then heaved a sigh of relief and felt very emotional. It's quite hard to find another talent like the troublemaker back then. If not, I wouldn't have not found anybody these few years. Now, there is finally a Chu Yue. As long as he works hard, he can definitely succeed in life!
Elder Wan Zheng was comforted, but Chu Liuyue felt terrible. She glanced at the Qing Yun Ranking again. The last—the hundredth name is a peak ninth-grade heavenly doctor, then… What about Rong Xiu?! I don't even have any interest in asking that man. We are so far apart; what is there to ask?
Looking at the unfamiliar names on the board, Chu Liuyue sighed deeply. I have much to learn at Ling Xiao Academy…
…
Other than the heavenly doctor ranking, the other three ranking lists were also shown.
Most people gathered at the Xuan Master side and warrior side, while the Armory Refinement Master's side was rather empty. Other than an elder standing there symbolically, there wasn't even a person looking at the ranking.
The old students were used to it, and the new students were busying themselves, so it was quite empty there for now.
Chu Liuyue originally wanted to take a look at those two rankings, but there were too many people there. Thus, it was very crowded.
She thought for a while and walked to the Armory Refinement Masters' side.
Different from the heavenly doctor ranking, the Armory Refinement Master's one was very short. This also meant that there weren't even a hundred names on the ranking.
Chu Liuyue looked at the name at the top, and her eyes shrunk! It's… actually Rong Xiu too!
Chu Liuyue's heart suddenly trembled.
She paused for a moment and walked a few steps back. Standing at this position, she could see two rankings.
It was very obvious that Rong Xiu's name on the heavenly doctor ranking was slightly lower than his name on the Armory Refinement Master ranking.
Rong Xiu is truly the top on the Armory Refinement Master's ranking! Chu Liuyue finally couldn't help but look at Rong Xiu, who was standing at Dong Huang Clock Tower. This man… actually hid so much from me! One doesn't even have to think to know how capable he is to attain such a ranking on the Qing Yun Ranking!
Rong Xiu looked down.
Chu Liuyue squinted her eyes and walked toward the warrior ranking.
The crowd was bustling with noise.
"So this is the Qing Yun Ranking!"
"Sigh, I finally got in with much difficulty last month, but I didn't have many breakthroughs last month. I'm afraid I'll be squeezed out again…"
"I've heard that those who completely break through to become a legendary warrior can only forcefully barge into the top twenty. I really wonder what kind of beasts the people at the top are!"
"I heard that Senior Brother Rong Xiu has dominated the board for many years. Even to this day, nobody can beat him. It's really amazing…"
Chu Liuyue's heart tingled slightly.
As expected, Rong Xiu's name was still at the top! However, there was a slight space below his name.
Thinking of what Elder Wan Zheng said earlier, she suddenly understood something.
Some new students asked in confusion at the side, "The first is Senior Brother Rong Xiu, but what's with second place?"
"Yeah! Why is there a spacing for no reason?"
"Shh…" Upon hearing this, the older students hurriedly gestured for them to keep quiet.
"The person in second place is a special student in our academy, and we can't talk about her name. It's fine if you don't understand this because you just came, but you mustn't bring this up again in the future!"
Confusion filled the new students' faces. "Why?"
"There are no whys; just know that you have to follow this rule in the future. You came to the academy to cultivate and practice. Anything else has nothing to do with you, do you understand?"
"…Thank you for your teaching, Senior Brothers!"
Chu Liuyue's heart tingled as she looked at the Xuan Master ranking.
Rong Xiu's name was second. The name at the first position was already erased by someone, just like the heavenly doctor ranking!