At the front of the array formation hill was a stone tablet.

The stone tablet was connected to the array formation hill.

There were thirty glowing names on it.

There were numerous light spots below, each of which was rising up, as if they were trying to take over the names which are glowing brightly.

And at the 19th position, a horizontal strip with no name occupied this position.

The rankings were reset every ten years.

They were based on one's accumulation throughout the ten years.

The vast majority of the people would slowly push their way up and squeeze down the others.

Especially since this was already the ninth year.

The rankings rarely changed.

But recently, someone who came out of nowhere made it to the top 30 a month ago.

At that time, no one cared. But as time passed, those who paid attention realized that every two or three days, this person's ranking would rise.

After a month, this person had climbed up to 19th place. This was an extremely rare sight.

At least, this had never happened in the past hundred years.

This would normally only happen when the rankings had just reset.

And currently, it was the last year before the rankings would reset.

"Look, he's one rank ahead. He's already the 18th. If this continues, won't he be charging into the top ten?"

"One is ranked according to his speed up the mountain and how well he decodes the array formations. Does this mean that this person is solving the array formations perfectly and at a very fast pace? Otherwise, his rankings wouldn't have risen so quickly. "

"Probably. But who is this guy?"

"There's no name, which means that he didn't go in by the front gate but via the back of the mountain."

"Did the Summit Leader accept a formation genius, or has the other summits come to challenge the rankings?"

"If the other summits have come here to challenge the rankings, it makes more sense for them to go in from the main entrance, right?"

"Look at the top ten. We only have two spots in the top ten. Is there a need for them to come and challenge to rankings?"

"…"

"Let's continue watching. Perhaps it's because the person had been in closed-door cultivation all this time and he had just come to show off some of his skills."

"What if it's a dark horse?"

"We still have to see how far he can go."

…

Jiang Lan was not affected by whatever was happening outside. These days, besides eating Dao Comprehension Tea, he spent the rest of his time analyzing and solving the array formations.

He was not afraid of wasting time. As long as it was something he had never met before, he would try to understand it thoroughly.

When he felt that he had reached a certain level of understanding, he would sit down and rest for a while to recall everything that he had learned previously.

He wanted to make sure whatever he had just learned had become part of his own skillset.

He repeated this process every day.

It didn't feel dull.

It was just like cultivation.

He could cultivate in the Ninth Summit for decades.

He repeated the same thing everyday when he was in long periods of seclusion.

Learning and cultivating were the two things that he was most familiar with.

Therefore, in the array formation hill, he was just living his normal life.

The sun and moon alternated, and the clouds moved.

Jiang Lan's fifth month on the hill had arrived.

Today he glanced behind him but didn't see the foothill.

Then, he looked up and didn't see the peak of the hill.

"Pretty much in the middle."

With a rough understanding, he continued forward.

His heart was calm.

In front of the Fifth Summit's array formation hill.

Some people had gathered in front of the rankings.

"He's already at 11th place. Do you guys think he'll be able to reach 10th place today?"

"It can't be, right? It's very difficult to move forward further up in the rankings."

"How is it difficult? In a month, he went from the 18th to become the 11th. If we give him another month, he might reach the top. "

"If I reach the first level of Qi Refinement in three days, will I reach the Foundation Establishment Realm in one month? If I reach the Foundation Establishment Realm in one month, will I reach the Golden Core Realm in two months?"

"But you can't deny that this person might really reach the top. So far, his speed has never slowed down."

"Let's wait until he gets into the top ten."

The moment he finished speaking, the empty name slot immediately jumped up a spot.

Top ten.

"… A freak. I don't believe he'll make it into the top five."

Time passed. Today was the sixth month since Jiang Lan entered the hill.

A wave of cheers sounded from the array formation hill.

"Top three, top three. He's really aiming for the first place."

"Just which summit is this person from? Could it be that a Senior Brother who has achieved immortality has come to play with us?"

"Impossible. If one is an immortal, he won't be counted in the rankings."

Fifth Summit's Main Hall.

Miao Yue looked outside and heard some commotion outside.

"There will always be some days when things get out of hand."

She didn't pay much attention to it. Instead, she looked at the array formation mountain.

"It's about time for him to head down the hill. I wonder how much of the basics has he mastered."

The one she was paying attention to was naturally Jiang Lan. It had been almost half a year, and it was about time for him to come down.

When the time came, she naturally wouldn't hide anything on purpose. Even if she told him everything, it would be useless even if he couldn't learn it.

What was needed was comprehension.

The better the foundation, the further one could go.

If his foundation was too weak, he would not be able to go far.

There were no shortcuts on this path.

"Wow, wow. Senior Brother has dropped from the 3rd to the 4th position. The pressure on him has increased."

Miao Yue felt that there were cheers coming from afar and this made her curious.

Then, she walked out and arrived at the entrance of the hall.

"What had just happened?"

Miao Yue asked the person on duty.

"I heard that a dark horse has appeared on the array formation rankings. The person starting appearing on the board from a few months ago and now he's one of the top three."

The female cultivator on duty immediately replied.

Her face was filled with respect.

The people of the Fifth Summit naturally knew who the Fifth Summit's Summit Leader was.

Miao Yue looked calm on the surface, but her eyes focused and turned cold.

A dark horse?

Miao Yue asked.

"Who is it?"

"It's a slot with no name." The female cultivator on duty immediately replied.

Miao Yue was stunned for a moment before returning to the main hall, but the moment she entered, her calm voice could be heard.

"Let me know as soon as the ranking changes."

After Miao Yue arrived at the hall, she looked at the array formation hill and was slightly surprised.

"To be able to reach the third place in such a short period of time, not only does he need to comprehend quickly, but he also needs to understand everything. He can't leave out anything he doesn't understand during this entire process, or else he will slow down his pace of ascending the hill.

It's no wonder Senior Brother said that he doesn't need any instructions. He understands the essence of everything himself and is diligent."

Next, Miao Yue returned to the main hall.

"Looks like he doesn't take my words seriously at all. He won't be coming out within half a year."

…

It was the seventh month since Jiang Lan entered the hill.

This month was almost over.

"He's now firmly in second place and is about to reach first place, right?"

"Did you ask around to find out who he is?"

"It's no use. I can't find out."

"Not even personal disciples know about this person."

Xiao Yu carried a small wooden sword and stood at the bottom of the ranking stone. She looked at the blank name of the second place and suddenly felt curious.

"Could he be the Junior Brother of the Ninth Summit?"

She knew that her Junior Brother from the Ninth Summit was studying array formations in the Fifth Summit. This was also why she had come to take a look.

It was just so they wouldn't feel awkward in the future.

Right now, she was learning sword techniques on the Eighth Summit. She had to go over later.

Jiang Lan had some talent in array formations, so she felt that it was very likely that the empty name was in fact him.

At this moment, a ray of light suddenly appeared on the hill.

Everyone on the Fifth Summit looked towards the peak.

Light illuminated the entire of the Fifth Summit.

"So fast."

Miao Yue looked at the formation mountain with a smile.