Prodigy Rankings Rewards, the Troubles of Fame

Lu Yuan's mind stirred. Through the connection between the Prodigy Rankings and his Gene Battle Mark, he reached out to Bai Lin.

"Bai Lin, do you still remember the human who got you killed in the Aier Mechanical Ruins? Want revenge? Then accept the challenge."

He waited for a response.

If Bai Lin wanted to set a different time, Lu Yuan would have no choice but to decline — he was about to leave the Land of Origin and couldn't afford to wait.

As it turned out, his standing as Bai Lin's enemy was apparently not low.

Only a few seconds passed before the acceptance came through.

Now. Not at some appointed future time.

As Bai Lin accepted, a hazy golden light blazed across the Prodigy Rankings board.

Then a Battle Roar thundered out.

The sound was so immense that Lu Yuan half suspected the entire White Cloud City had heard it.

It was his first time hearing a Battle Roar, and it startled him. He stared at the Rankings board, not quite understanding.

*It's just a Prodigy Rankings challenge — why the spectacle?*

He recalled what Yeye had mentioned earlier, about the Rankings inspiring other Gene Warriors to forge a path forward. He still couldn't work out what kind of path that was supposed to be.

Throughout the plaza, the scouts and agents from various factions who had been watching the three of them perked up the moment the Battle Roar rang out, eyes lighting with excitement.

"The challenge Battle Roar went off! Looks like the human has chosen his opponent — who did he pick?"

"Who cares, we'll know in a moment."

"With that human's strength... heh. Whoever he chose has some rotten luck."

The crowd fixed their eager gazes on the arena now solidifying into existence.

Yeye and Small White both looked at Lu Yuan.

Yeye tilted her head. "Who did you pick?"

"Bai Lin," Lu Yuan said with a smile.

Yeye tilted her head to one side. "I feel like I've heard that name before."

Lu Yuan: "..."

Beside her, Small White cleared her throat and spoke with crisp composure:

"Your Highness, he's the Innate King Grade from the White Frost Race — the one from the Aier Mechanical Ruins last time."

Yeye's memory clicked into place. "Oh."

She looked at Lu Yuan, gave a firm nod, and made a small fist. "Do your best."

"Don't worry," Lu Yuan said, smiling.

His body vanished from where he stood, reappearing on the arena.

At the same moment, not far across from him, a young man materialized — white hair, ice crystals dotting his forehead and both cheeks.

Bai Lin.

After experiencing the Land of Origin's spatial transit firsthand, Lu Yuan guessed that Bai Lin had been pulled from wherever he'd been — possibly far from White Cloud City — and deposited here. Once the challenge ended, he would be returned the same way.

From what Yeye had explained earlier, unlike the qualification challenge, dying in a Prodigy Rankings duel did not expel you from the Land of Origin. It functioned more like a simulated battle.

The structure of the Prodigy Rankings and its companion boards clearly favored the geniuses listed on them. The fact that even a loss didn't mean exile was proof enough. The Will of the Land of Origin was actively encouraging talented warriors to take on the boards.

He suspected this tied back to what Yeye's Ancestor had said before.

But that wasn't something he needed to dwell on right now.

Down below, the crowd broke into murmurs the moment Bai Lin appeared.

"Is that Bai Lin?"

"The young lord of White Frost Star? They say he's Innate King Grade too... wait. Isn't he one of those Innate King Grades this human tricked to their deaths?"

Strange looks rippled through the audience. People exchanged glances.

"This human actually chose Bai Lin? What is he trying to do?"

"Once wasn't enough — he's going for a second kill? What kind of grudge is this?"

A few mouths twitched. The gazes aimed at Lu Yuan shifted.

Nobody disagreed, either.

The power Lu Yuan had put on display during his qualification challenge had been overwhelming. Many of them were still absorbing it. There were precious few who thought Bai Lin stood any chance.

On the arena, the moment Bai Lin laid eyes on Lu Yuan, churning masses of icy mist began coiling around him, and the air dropped sharply in temperature.

He fixed Lu Yuan with a contemptuous stare.

"I didn't think a single stroke of luck would go so far to your head. You honestly believe you can match me in a fight?"

In Bai Lin's mind, if there hadn't been so many powerful Lord Grade Mechanical Guardians back then — and if he'd had more than three genes inscribed at the time, with that third still un-tempered — things would never have gone the way they did. And even then, this particular human hadn't been the one to strike the killing blow.

He did not believe the man standing across from him was his equal.

"No need to say things like that before we've even started," Lu Yuan said calmly. "Fight first, talk later."

Bai Lin drew a slow breath. Spirit Power surged through him, and wisps of icy mist curled outward in all directions.

Four ice wolves coalesced around him, each standing four meters tall — crystalline and translucent, their auras formidable.

That alone put him a notch above Shuiji.

Shuiji had been a mid-level Battle Venerable, which meant Bai Lin had likely only recently broken through to Battle Venerable himself. But Innate King Grade really was a different matter — the higher the cultivation, the more genes inscribed, and the wider the gap from ordinary Gene Warriors grew.

Bai Lin swept his Staff, directing two of the ice wolves to remain at his flanks as guards while the other two howled and lunged at Lu Yuan.

He watched from behind his defenses, a thin smirk on his face — as if he could already picture Lu Yuan being torn apart.

In the next instant, Lu Yuan simply vanished.

Bai Lin blinked.

Then a terrifying force slammed into him from behind.

Cold sweat erupted across his back. Shock flashed through his eyes. He caught a faint streak of blade-light cutting past, heard an ice wolf howl in fury — and then his consciousness dissolved.

As Bai Lin's body scattered into white light, Lu Yuan felt nothing in particular.

With Space Teleportation at his disposal, cutting down an Elemental Type warrior who was slight of build to begin with was almost trivial. And Bai Lin's raw fighting strength was simply far beneath his — the gap between them was massive.

There wasn't a shred of satisfaction in it.

With Bai Lin's defeat, Lu Yuan's ranking was updated.

**Rank 98 — Lu Yuan, Human, Battle Venerable.**

The challenge ended. The arena disappeared. Lu Yuan returned to his original position.

Simultaneously, a message from the Will of the Land of Origin arrived in his mind — his rewards.

For first-time entry onto the Rankings at Rank 98: one Fourth-rank Emperor Grade Gene Armament of his choosing, and ten Fourth-rank Origin Stones needed for a Battle Venerable to break through to Battle King.

Beyond that, for as long as he held the rank, all consumption venues in Land of Origin cities like White Cloud City would give him a 10% discount, Training Halls would give him 50% off, he would receive priority access in certain areas, and the Auction House would charge him a 9% commission on items he sold.

Lu Yuan's eyes lit up.

*The Prodigy Rankings rewards are far more generous than I expected.*

A Fourth-rank Emperor Grade Gene Armament was comparable in rarity to a Third-rank King Grade Gene Armament. Items above Emperor Grade in Fourth-rank essentially didn't exist. The value was staggering.

He selected a greatsword.

The ten Fourth-rank Origin Stones were excellent as well — they saved him the trouble of tracking down Origin Stones or other materials for breaking Gene Locks. He had enough Spirit Crystals to buy them at auction, and the Auction House never ran short of such items, but free was always better.

Ten was still far too few, though.

Just breaking through from Battle General to Battle Venerable had consumed eighteen Gene Locks. Now that all his genes were Emperor Grade, he figured he'd need thirty or forty — possibly more. Ten wouldn't go very far.

But given that he'd made his first entry, future climbs up the Rankings would presumably bring more Origin Stone rewards. He wasn't in any immediate rush to break through, so there was no particular urgency.

As for the other perks — he practically lived at the Training Hall, so the 50% discount would accumulate into real savings. The general consumption discount was less useful to him personally; he rented a room, rarely drank, and mostly just ate. Saving 10% on meals wasn't worth getting excited over. Something was better than nothing.

The reward that genuinely stood out was the Auction House commission dropping to 9%.

One percent might sound trivial, but for someone in Lu Yuan's position, that single percentage point meant tens of millions of Fifth-tier Spirit Crystals saved.

Of course, even at 9%, he had no immediate plans to auction anything. Better to keep climbing the Rankings until he couldn't go any higher — by then the rate would be lower still.

If he ever reached Rank 1, the commission would be waived entirely.

That had been his motivation for challenging the Rankings from the start. Saving over a hundred million Fifth-tier Spirit Crystals was nothing to scoff at.

At that moment, an orange sphere of light and ten pale stones appeared before him, hovering at chest height.

He could feel the scorching weight of the crowd's stares.

Orange — an Emperor Grade Gene Armament.

Lu Yuan calmly pocketed both and turned back to Yeye and Small White.

"Done."

Still slightly stunned by Bai Lin's instant defeat, both of them came back to themselves at his voice.

Yeye looked at him, smiling softly. "You seem stronger than me now."

"You helped me plenty back when I wasn't as strong as you," Lu Yuan said. "Now it's my turn. If you ever need anything, I've got you."

"I didn't really do that much," Yeye said.

Small White glanced between the two of them.

She wasn't sure why, but something about the air between them felt... slightly off.

"Since it's over, we should leave," Yeye said. "The crowd's getting bigger."

Lu Yuan nodded.

The Battle Roar had drawn a swarm of Gene Warriors to the plaza.

Yeye summoned the Night Sky Fiend, and the three of them departed from the central square.

Afterward, they wandered White Cloud City together for a while. Lu Yuan sparred with Yeye several more times — a warm-up of sorts ahead of her upcoming ranking challenge.

The following day, his time in the Land of Origin came to an end.

He said his farewells to Yeye and Small White, then departed.

Only then did he take out the Fourth-rank Emperor Grade Gene Armament he'd received and look it over.

*Sky-Fracture Greatsword (100%): Fourth-rank Emperor Grade Gene Armament.*

One hundred percent tempered.

He considered equipping it. If he dropped two of his currently equipped Gene Armaments, he could slot this one in — but his current four, though Third-rank at their base, had been evolved by him to Emperor Grade, putting them on par with Fourth-rank King Grade Gene Armaments. Deequipping them would strip away their evolution bonuses entirely.

He decided against it for now. Better to temper it for a while first, then equip it once his overall strength had grown further.

Early the next morning, Lu Yuan came downstairs to the common room and found Maige and Yang Ping on the sofa in conversation.

The moment they saw him, both turned and stared with expressions he couldn't quite read.

It made his skin crawl.

"Why are you both looking at me like that?"

Yang Ping's face was strained. "You seriously didn't know? The Battle Net is going insane — you ranked 98th on the Prodigy Rankings, and everyone's talking about it."

Maige nodded beside him, studying Lu Yuan with a probing look. "Yuan-bro, I genuinely wonder sometimes — are you even human?"

Lu Yuan blinked, then took out his phone to check the Battle Net.

The moment the screen lit up, his expression darkened.

His calls had exploded. Dozens of missed calls from Li Qinghe, several from classmates like Wang Xiangxiang, and a flood of numbers he didn't recognize. His Guangxin had 99+ unread messages.

He'd left his phone alone for one night. How had it gotten this out of hand?

He opened the Battle Net, dazed.

The entire platform really was talking about nothing else. The top headline in the news section — the whole front spread — was dedicated to Lu Yuan's entry onto the Prodigy Rankings.

His expression tightened further.

*That spread fast.*

Then again, the Prodigy Rankings were the Prodigy Rankings. Anyone who came to White Cloud City almost always glanced up at that board. Going unnoticed was basically impossible.

And he had no illusions about whether Great Qi Star's intelligence operatives had been standing in that plaza when he issued his challenge.

With that thought, he let it go. It was out there. So be it. It didn't change much for him.

Maige noticed him scrolling and grinned. "Yuan-bro — you know how famous you are now, right?"

"Honestly?" Lu Yuan said, a little helpless. "I'd rather not be."

As if to prove the point, another call came in — an unrecognized number. He declined it without a second thought.

No telling who that was.

He switched his phone to block calls from unknown contacts.

Yang Ping couldn't quite wrap his head around Lu Yuan's complaint. If it were him, he'd be ecstatic — but since that was never going to happen, he filed it under envy and looked at Lu Yuan with something resembling awe.

"Yuan-bro's just too strong. The Prodigy Rankings — that's the entire White Cloud Star Domain's young generation we're talking about. Some years, not a single person from Great Qi Star makes it onto the board."

Maige gave an equally emphatic nod. "Yuan-bro's incredible!"

Lu Yuan rolled his eyes at the pair of them and called Li Qinghe.

"Hey, Qinghe-jie."

Her excited voice came through at once.

"Is it true you made it onto the Prodigy Rankings?"

"Yeah, just yesterday."

"That's what I'm talking about! My good little brother!" She erupted into delighted laughter. "Who'd have thought that randomly picking up a little brother could yield this kind of result? I'm honestly too amazing."

She was so worked up she'd slipped into thoroughly unladylike turns of phrase.

"Qinghe-jie is the most amazing, of course," Lu Yuan said, absolutely deadpan.

"Absolutely right! Ha! Come back this weekend — I'll have a surprise for you."

Lu Yuan straightened a little.

"I can come back right now."

"...Get lost!"

She hung up furiously.

Lu Yuan sighed, then scrolled through his call history and returned the calls of a few familiar names — Groat and the others from the Guard Corps, Wang Xiangxiang and some classmates. Then he worked through the group chats.

Nearly an hour later, he finally set the phone down.

*That was more exhausting than fighting.*

Maige and Yang Ping had long since given up waiting and gone to train.

Lu Yuan finished up, left the dormitory, and headed toward Si Tingyu's quarters.

Along the way, every classmate he passed lit up the moment they spotted him and rushed over to say something about the Prodigy Rankings.

For the first time in his life, he discovered that being too famous was a genuine headache.

Fortunately, the walk to Si Tingyu's place was short.

He arrived quickly. The smart housekeeper opened the door. Inside, Si Tingyu was seated on the sofa — dressed simply in a white button-up shirt and slim-cut jeans that traced the lines of her perfect figure.

She glanced up as he entered, smiling. "Heard you made it onto the Prodigy Rankings? Qinghe just called me to brag about how lucky she is to have randomly picked up such a capable little brother."

Lu Yuan: "..."

Apparently the woman wasn't just saying it to his face.

He was speechless.

Seeing his expression, Si Tingyu let out a soft laugh. Her gold-red eyes settled on him.

"Tingxue still hasn't come out of the Land of Origin. When she hears about this, she's going to push herself even harder."

"I just hope she doesn't push herself to collapse," Lu Yuan said, a trace of worry in his voice.

Si Tingyu shook her head. "That's just the kind of person she is. Try talking to her — otherwise she really might."

"I will."

"Good." Si Tingyu smiled. "Then let's get to the real reason you're here."