Elder Godari let the rank refresh in every hour. He did an hour gap instead of a live ranking to prevent them from using the score as the correct or wrong indicator for their answers.
Furthermore, it would be a huge distraction factor for the contestants.
Each time it refreshed, a lot of names changed places and some were replaced with new ones. This was especially true at the lower ranks.
As for the top ten, there have only been two rank swaps so far. However, the gap between the first place and the rest was getting wider and wider.
Norin Homun's position as the number one in the first round was cemented already if she continued at the same pace and without sudden problems.
As for Ori Oregano, he was getting more and more irritated every time the rank refreshed because Anda's score kept following him closely behind. He already knew he couldn't get the first place this round but he absolutely wouldn't allow himself to rank lower than 2nd.
The two rank swaps that happened in the top ten so far both involved Mia Fafifa. After she stopped worrying about Lin Wei's disappearance, her ingredients identifying speed increased by a small margin but it was enough to overtake the other two, and she finally got to the 8th place at the 7th-hour mark.
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While the first round was underway, Lin Wei who had been missing for a few days was currently being imprisoned somewhere.
After he left the special market following the aura similar to his treasure, he found out that it came from a suspicious man wearing a long dark robe with a hood doing some suspicious things. It was like he was marking a place but he wasn't sure about the specifics.
Lin Wei immediately activated his stealth martial skills and erased his presence. The stealth martial skill was a part of the inheritance he got and even though he was only in the early-stage Core Formation realm, even a peak-stage Nascent Soul realm wouldn't be able to detect him. The stealth martial skill had saved him from his rabid fan girls countless times.
Soon, the suspicious guy exited the Holy Cat City and he decided to follow him. This was also to his advantage after all it was too risky to take action while in the city.
Since they were outside now, he could rob him much easier. Usually, he wouldn't do something like robbery but the remnant was too important to him. He would leave him with some compensation after he robbed him, even though he was a suspicious person.
After he secretly followed the suspicious person for a hundred kilometers away from the city, he finally landed and headed towards a crack in a hidden wall of a hill.
Lin Wei decided it was the right time to attack and put him to sleep. Even though he was only an early-stage Core Formation cultivator and the long dark robbed was a middle-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, he was confident he could knock him out easily.
Lin Wei took out a metal bat from his space bag. It was a Tier-5 Spirit Weapon capable of knocking out even a Soul Formation cultivator. All he had to do was use it to bonk their head.
His Metal Bat Spirit Weapon wasn't made to kill people but to incapacitate them. During his time at the Longevity Academy, he had used his stealth martial skill to bonk many arrogant young masters who were bullying weaker students. He would strip them naked and hang them in public.
Later on, nobody dared to be a bully anymore afraid of being targeted by the Phantom Bonk. Sometimes when Lin Wei had trouble sleeping, he would bonk himself and have a nice sleep.
Lin Wei used his stealth martial skill to snuck behind his potential victim as always was about to bonk the dark-robed man's head but he suddenly turned around and palmed Lin Wei's chest.
Lin Wei was caught off guard and palmed a few hundred meters away.
"Cough! Shit! How did he notice me?" Blood flowed from his mouth while struggling to stand up again. A black aura lingered on his chest, giving him a creepy feeling.
The next moment, the dark-robed man appeared in front of him. "Oh? I didn't expect a Core Formation brat to survive an attack from me, a Nascent Soul cultivator. You must have a very strong body. A Qi and Body cultivator eh? Very lucky, my master would love a person like you."
"How do you spot me?" Lin Wei asked as he was readying himself to continue fighting. He had to obtain the remnant no matter what.
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"Kukuku! Brat, maybe next time you spend some time learning about formation. You seemed to have followed me for a while. Had you attacked me much earlier, you might have landed your sneak attack. Your stealth ability is truly amazing." The dark-robed man talked while slowly circling around Lin Wei.
"But unfortunately, you are too late. This place is already within our territory and you had entered my master's formation. As someone who controlled the formation, your clown actions are all within my grasp. Kukuku." He laughed at Lin Wei, looking at him like an idiot.
"Heh, thank you for your advice. I was about to be bored studying alchemy, maybe I'll study formation next." Lin Wei had removed the lingering black aura on his chest.
The next moment, a huge pressure was exerted on him but he dispelled it using his own spiritual pressure.
"Oh? So you know spiritual pressure too. That's weird, I thought this backward continent hid this knowledge from the common cultivators. So you must have an impressive identity then. Meaning I had to make sure you stay here!"
The dark-robed man took out an item that looked like a birdcage. The small cage door opened and a dark hand extended out of it towards Lin Wei.
He dodged and smacked it away using his metal bat but the dark hand extended more and kept aiming for him. The dark hand gave him a very creepy feeling. It felt like his life force would be sucked out by it. He wondered where this thing came from.
"Kukuku. Be obedient and let yourself be caught. If possible I don't want to injure you. You'd make a nice present for Master after all." The dark-robed man controlled his spirit artifact while also using his spiritual pressure to force Lin Wei down.
Soon, the dark hand grabbed Lin Wei's leg and he fell to the ground. The dark hand crawled around his body and bound him, ready to pull him into the bird cage.
"Kukuku.... come inside little birdy."
Dammit! I'm at a disadvantage. I can only go all out and finish this quickly. Heavenly Flesh and Qi Unification Body!
Lin Wei's aura suddenly increased rapidly. Middle-stage Core Formation, late-stage Core Formation, peak-stage Core Formation, early-stage Nascent Soul, middle-stage Nascent Soul, and finally late-stage Nascent Soul realm!
He was the owner of one of the Unique Heavenly Body, the Heavenly Flesh and Qi Unification Body! It allows him to combine his body and Qi cultivation into one for a short period, increasing his cultivation tremendously.
Lin Wei used his enhanced physical strength and broke the dark hand apart.
"WHAT??!" The dark-robed man was shocked by the turn of events.
Then he saw Lin Wei charge at him with his metal bat at high speed. It was too late to dodge so he could only block the attack using the bird cage covered with protective Qi.
However, Lin Wei's metal bat easily crushed the birdcage and sent it flying. He immediately launched a follow-up attack not giving the dark-robed man any chance to retaliate.
BONK!!
A loud-sounding bonk echoed through the area. The black-robed man immediately fell unconscious, totally defenseless.
Lin Wei's cultivation dropped quickly to the early stage of Core Formation again as he panted heavily.
Lin Wei searched his body but couldn't find his space bag. Soon he found a necklace which was actually a space ring.
"Dammit! It's a space ring. I can't open this. I have to find a skilled array expert. Why is this so troublesome?" Lin Wei was visibly annoyed.
Lin Wei took the space ring and hesitated. Should he kill this guy? After contemplating he decided to kill him because he was too dangerous.
He took out a spear and was about to stab his head but suddenly a spiritual pressure fell on him. He immediately dropped flat on the ground.
"Errrrggghhhhh!!!" He was pushed by the spiritual pressure so hard that he started to sink into the ground.
Shit! Shit! Shit! I'm dead! My spiritual pressure can't even hold a candle against this! Who the hell is this hunched old man? Is this the master he was talking about?
"Kikiki! What a surprise! My useless underling brought me such a good body. The Heavenly Flesh and Qi Unification Body!" The hunched old man was very happy.
If the dark-robed man saw this he would be very shocked because he had never seen him laughing.
After Lin Wei fought against the spiritual pressure for a while, his Qi depleted and passed out.