After a year of intense battles, tens of thousands of Saints had perished. Less than one-third of the participants survived, and the Heaven Battling Ranking had been finalized. Ranked first was none other than the young king among Saints, Xiang Shaoyun.
Although he had used the strength of his God Realm soul, his main body was still a pseudo-God. Thus, he had yet to become a true God. He had gained the largest number of contribution points from all the aliens he had killed, earning himself the first place.
Ranked second was Dongfang Wudi. Riding on his green jiao, he was almost unequaled. Although he hadn't gotten the chance to face Blood Spirit during the final battle, he had slain two other alien Gods, contributing considerably to humanity and displaying his peerless strength.
Ranked third was a relatively unknown person from the Immortal Road Chamber. His name was Tian Lang. He wasn't one of their immortal children, but he had suddenly emerged during the competition. One could say that he was the competition's dark horse. Tian Lang had participated in the final battle, but he had still managed to hide his true appearance, maintaining an air of mystery around him.
Ranked fourth was an old man that appeared in the form of a shadow. He was a member of the Celestial Alliance and was initially Man Hu's guardian. With people like Man Hu and Jin Haojie perishing on the battlefield, the old man was free to display his true strength.
Ranked fifth was Yue Xi from the Guangling Palace. Her Divine Moon Zither was the most suitable weapon for group battles. Thus, she had been able to kill a large number of aliens. She had also participated in the desperate final battle. She might have nearly gotten herself killed by the stoneman, but she had recovered after Xiang Shaoyun had saved her. After her recovery, she had been able to kill even more aliens.
Ranked sixth was Ximen Xue, ranked seventh was Song Tiandao, and so on. One ought to admit that apart from a few, most names on the new ranking were rather unconvincing for the masses. This was because many of the seeded geniuses had perished in the ancient battlefield.
From Xiang Shaoyun's group, people like Liu Qingchen, Devouring Ghost, Yu Caidie, and Devil Concubine had all managed to enter the top 1000.
Xiang Shaoyun's name spread throughout the dominion. The Guardians Guild extended an invitation to Xiang Shaoyun, inviting him to join the guild. So long as he was willing to join, he would be appointed as a young guild master.
When news of the offer spread, countless people were shocked. One ought to know that the guild master position of the Guardians Guild had been vacant for many years. The three deputy guild masters had been the ones running the guild all these years. Ge Yi was one of them.
In fact, Ge Yi was also qualified to become the actual guild master, but he had then decided to quietly retire. The power he vacated was split among the other two deputy guild masters. In their fight for the guild master position, the two had split the guild into two factions. Unfortunately, none of them had managed to assume the guild master position even after years of competition.
Countless years had passed, and the two had undergone a long, drawn-out conflict for power in the guild. Now that chaotic times were coming, the guild had to plan for their future. And thus, they came to a decision to appoint a young guild master, one that would replace the three old fogeys in the future, becoming the new guild master.
Xiang Shaoyun wasn't even a member of the guild, but his master was Ge Yi. So long as Ge Yi said something, he could easily become a member. Now that he was ranked first on the Heaven Battling Ranking, he wouldn't have an issue pursuing the young guild master position after joining.
That position represented supreme glory, one that not everyone was entitled to receive. He Changrui had also declared that Xiang Shaoyun was probably the only person capable of fully killing Blood Spirit.
After all, Xiang Shaoyun was the one who had defeated Blood Spirit, forcing the alien to flee in fear. Thus, Xiang Shaoyun, with his strongest physique, was the only one capable of obliterating Blood Spirit. He Changrui's declaration had pushed Xiang Shaoyun's fame to a brand new level. If Xiang Shaoyun were to fail to live up to that claim in the future, his fall would probably be disastrous.
Due to his newfound fame, the numerous organizations of the dominion were looking for him. They all wanted to fawn on this rising star and get on his good side during the early phase of his rise. Naturally, they also hoped to persuade him to deal with Blood Spirit as quickly as possible so as to rid the dominion of a calamity.
While everyone was searching for Xiang Shaoyun, something happened to the Ziling Sect. Through unknown means, the Di Clan had figured out the true identities of Purple Lightning Marquis and Scarlet Flame Monarch. Their identities were exposed, alerting their old enemies from 10,000 years ago of their existence.
Ten thousand years ago, Xiang Dingtian considered himself unrivaled in the world. Leading the Xiang Clan and his five generals, he waged war on all sides. In his attempt to unify the Western Desert under his rule, he offended numerous organizations. These organizations utilized their web of alliances to call on other organizations and joined hands to kill Xiang Dingtian.
The Xiang Clan was so badly damaged that they almost failed to recover. Scarlet Flame Monarch and Devouring Ghost were both captured, while the other two of the Five Skyslaying Generals were killed. Only Purple Lightning Marquis was lucky enough to escape. He had remained the Xiang Clan's guardian since then.
Now, these enemies were alerted of their survival. When they thought of how Xiang Shaoyun called himself the overlord, they started wondering if Xiang Shaoyun and Xiang Dingtian were the same person. The mere thought of that greatly agitated them.
None of these people was a nobody. The main leaders of the anti-Xiang alliance were the Western Desert's Jing Sect, Southern Wasteland's ancient Nangong Clan, and Eastern Pass's Divine Fist Sect.
The Jing Sect was an ancient organization in the Western Desert. They were once badly damaged by the Xiang Clan and were almost destroyed in their entirety. Due to their close relationship with the Nangong Clan, they were able to call the Nangong Clan to their side in the war against the Xiang Clan. As for the Divine Fist Sect, Xiang Dingtian had once offended them. Thus, when the Xiang Clan was assaulted on all sides, they had taken the advantage to step on the Xiang Clan while they were down.
Of course, there were also other organizations among the anti-Xiang alliance, but none were as big as the aforementioned three. Relying on their powerful accumulation, the Jing Sect had become an existence second only to the Yu Clan in the Western Desert. Back then, the Yu Clan had also participated in the war against the Jing Sect.
However, they had also restrained themselves, so the conflict between the two did not escalate to the point of no return. Of course, the occasional minor conflict would still erupt between the two every now and then. From how the Jing Sect was able to stand against the Yu Clan, one could see how powerful it was.
As for the Nangong Clan, it was an ancient clan as powerful as the Yu Clan. They held supreme power in the Southern Wasteland, and rarely would anyone challenge them. Many of the Nangong Clan members had joined the Celestial Alliance, and relying on the superpower's backing, their growth into becoming a powerful organization was not surprising.
As for the Divine Fist Sect, it was rather mysterious. They had always shrouded themselves in mystery and would rarely interact with the world. Even so, there was no doubt that they had a terrifying accumulation of power and wealth. Back when they had moved against Xiang Dingtian, they had only deployed several members. From how they could deliver Xiang Dingtian a massive defeat with only a few of them, one could imagine how powerful they were.