It is said that thousands of years ago, when the Sanqing Immortal Sect was at its peak, a genius from the Sonic Sect emerged who had cultivated the Phoenix Nirvana Melody to perfection. When they plucked the zither strings, it truly summoned an immortal phoenix from beyond the Nine Heavens. The phoenix danced gracefully to the music, a moment that became a celebrated tale for the ages.
Later on, the Sanqing Immortal Sect purchased this land. On the very spot where the immortal phoenix had alighted, they established the grand Phoenix Perch Building as a gathering place for disciples from the Sanqing Immortal Sect and other Great Immortal Gates.
For thousands of years, the Sanqing Immortal Sect led the Righteous Path in Nanzhou. The Phoenix Perch Building, in turn, was a convergence point for legends and talents, where the sect’s own paragons would perennially welcome challenges from the young cultivators of all realms. Any high-spirited youth who wished to make a name for themselves could come to the Phoenix Perch Building to challenge a disciple of the Sanqing Immortal Sect. Victory would earn them fame throughout Nanzhou!
Over time, various lists such as the Golden Core Ranking and the Venerable List came into being, becoming a popular topic of conversation among both the younger and older generations.
However, more than eight hundred years ago, the calamity of the Demon Race greatly weakened the Sanqing Immortal Sect. Consequently, the caliber of the sect’s disciples was a far cry from what it had been at its peak. A millennium ago, the Sanqing Immortal Sect occupied more than twenty percent of the spots on the Golden Core Ranking, the Venerable List, and the Great Ability List. To put it into perspective, geniuses from all Thirty-Six Heavenly Caves and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands vied for a mere one hundred spots, yet the Sanqing Immortal Sect alone claimed more than twenty of them. One can only imagine how powerful and prosperous the sect was back then.
But now, on the top-one-hundred Nanzhou Golden Core Ranking, the Sanqing Immortal Sect holds only two spots, with none in the top ten. Even this was considered a relatively good performance. In the past few centuries, the Sanqing Immortal Sect could usually only secure a single spot on the Golden Core Ranking, and that was typically outside the top twenty. In the bleakest of times, the sect even experienced a complete talent gap.
The sharp decline in the number of prodigies also caused the influence of the Phoenix Perch Building in Nanzhou to plummet, never to return to its former glory. In fact, many other Immortal Sects had already established similar venues within Vermilion Bird City, attempting to usurp its status in the martial world and increase their own influence. Nevertheless, thanks to the Phoenix Perch Building’s excellent reputation cultivated over thousands of years, the majority of its old clientele had not yet been poached.
Upon entering the Phoenix Perch Building, a rich concentration of spiritual energy washed over you. A grand spirit-gathering formation was clearly inscribed within the building, making the spiritual energy density inside higher than in many Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands. Correspondingly, its consumption of Spirit Stones was also much greater. The source of this content ɪs ɴovᴇl(F)ɪre.ɴet
Directly facing the main entrance, four large plaques were proudly displayed. On them, series of words were written in gilded, flowing calligraphy that seemed to dance like dragons and phoenixes, all while emitting a brilliant glow.
[Nanzhou Beauty Rankings]
[Nanzhou Golden Core Ranking]
[Nanzhou Venerable List]
[Nanzhou Great Ability List]
The Nanzhou Beauty Rankings documented the one hundred most popular and sought-after young women throughout Nanzhou, all of whom were single and under the age of thirty. Naturally, this list was rife with controversy. Popularity is intangible and unquantifiable, so the beauties on the list were not ranked in any particular order. Moreover, since the ranking’s sponsor, the Phoenix Perch Building, was an asset of the Sanqing Immortal Sect, its female disciples enjoyed a considerable advantage during the selection process.
At a quick glance, Wang Xiu noticed that Dragon Head Peak’s Senior Sister Xiao Qingyu and Thunderclap Peak’s darling, Ji Zidian, were both named on the Nanzhou Beauty Rankings. Accompanying the rankings were high-definition portrait projections, displaying their flawless beauty and sublime, pure temperaments, which were further enhanced by a max-level "Heavenly Immortal effect" enchantment. Their beauty was staggering enough to intoxicate countless men.
It seems many female disciples from other branches of the Sanqing Immortal Sect are also on the list. A rough estimate would be a dozen or more, which is quite a strong showing. Presumably, this is also to promote the Sanqing Immortal Sect and boost its recruitment competitiveness! After all, for most hot-blooded young men, the allure of love is sometimes stronger than any Spirit Stones or cultivation techniques. The chance to meet an extraordinarily beautiful senior sister by joining the Sanqing Immortal Sect... who could resist that? Wouldn’t they be clamoring to sign up?
This ranking supposedly didn’t exist originally. The Sect Leader only came up with it because of the Sanqing Immortal Sect’s dismal recruitment over the past few hundred years. And one had to admit, the influence of single, beautiful women was formidable. Since the [Nanzhou Beauty Rankings] were introduced, they immediately caused a sensation across Vermilion Bird City. Countless independent cultivators and disciples from smaller Immortal Sects, Blessed Lands, and Cave Heavens flocked over to enjoy the spectacle, all vying to admire Nanzhou’s many Fairies. Even the business at the Phoenix Perch Building improved significantly as a result, raking in a fortune each day.
Moreover, the Sanqing Immortal Sect had conducted a survey and found that in the years since the [Beauty Rankings] were introduced, the number of new recruits had shown a noticeable increase. Innumerable young men rushed to the Sanqing Immortal Sect, all proclaiming they were there to find true love. In this regard, one must commend the Sect Leader for his foresight and superb management skills.
However, a list like the Beauty Rankings is akin to a gossip magazine—full of differing opinions and highly controversial, even if it serves as powerful publicity. The actual "value" of the Fairies on the list isn’t that high. Other Cave Heaven-level Immortal Sects, of course, had their own opinions on the matter. They would always insist that their own Fairies were the most beautiful!
As for the other three lists, they were decided entirely by competition based on raw strength. The strong rise, and the weak fall.
The Golden Core Ranking listed the top one hundred experts. Looking down from the top, nearly every person on the list was a cultivator at the Ninth-Heaven Golden Core Realm.