The emperor looked at the rest of the top placers and said, “I will now call your name. Once your name is mentioned, come up here.”

Right after saying that, several servants came from the back as they each brought with them a small golden box in their hands. They then stood several meters behind the emperor silently as they looked forward impassively.

“He Yin,” the emperor called his name.

He Yin immediately stood up from his seat and slowly went towards the stage with a grin on his face. Had this been a normal day, he would’ve long since gotten nervous with many Sacred Kings putting their attention on him. But because he was too excited for the emperor’s reward, his nervousness was overshadowed by his excitement.

When he got on top of the stage, a servant ceremoniously came towards the emperor and gave the small box to him, which, the emperor received with his own hands.

The emperor turned his attention on He Yin and said, “This is your reward for getting into the top ten of the Golden Dragon Election. As someone in the top ten, all of you are role models for the younger generation in the empire. They look up to you for you are the ones who stood at the top of your generation in the empire. All I’m asking you in return for this reward is to work hard and do not disappoint everyone’s expectations of you. Do your best for the empire. Who knows, someday, you might find yourself among their ranks…”

When he said the last part, he gestured his hand towards the audience which consisted of mostly Sacred Kings.

He Yin felt his heart thump wildly from the emperor’s words. Strangely, he was filled with newfound energy from his words alone.

“I will, Your Majesty. This one will not disappoint everyone’s expectations of me,” He Yin said with a determined look on his face.

The emperor smiled at him.

“Good. You may now return to your seat.”

He Yin came down the stage and headed straight back to where the rest of his fellow top placers were. While he was on his way there, he opened the box that he received from the emperor to see what was inside.

Inside the golden box was a beautiful storage ring with a dragon carving on it.

Obviously, the cultivation resources were stored inside the ring.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

After He Yin, the emperor called the ninth placer of the Golden Dragon Election, Jing Man. Then after him, was the eighth placer, Luo Yutong.

Then the seventh…

The sixth…

Fifth…

Fourth…

Third…

And then the second placer…

“Yun Ling,” the emperor called Yun Ling’s name.

Yun Ling headed towards the stage at a steady pace.

Every Sacred King in the area turned their attention towards him. All of them had great interest in him. After all, Yun Ling might still be a youngster but he was a Divine Being. A type of genius that only appears once every ten thousand years.

Of course, that wasn’t quite true since there actually were three Divine Beings every ten thousand years. Not that they knew that. Perhaps, if they had some contact with the people in the upper realm or they had been in the upper realm themselves, they would know. But since most of them didn’t, they were a bit mistaken.

Even so, they were right that Yun Ling was a Divine Being.

Waves of Divine Senses once again reverberated in the entire Rose Garden continuously as the Sacred Kings talked to each other about Yun Ling.

“So that’s the Divine Being in this generation, huh? As expected of a Divine Being. He has quite a bearing for someone as young as him,” a Sacred King loose cultivator said telepathically as he looked at Yun Ling from head to toe. He was impressed with the way Yun Ling remained firm in his steps even though people much more powerful than he had their gazes focused on him. It was like he was unaffected by their presence. It would seem like coming into the Rose Garden wasn’t a total waste of time. At the very least, he was able to lay his eyes on the Divine Being of this generation.

Thinking of the reason why he came into the Rose Garden, his face turned ugly as he looked at the emperor.

As a loose cultivator, he was unaffiliated with any sect, clan, kingdoms, empires, or other martial organizations. However, since he was staying in the Jin Empire’s territory, he couldn’t not give face when the emperor summoned him. Moreover, in the summon, the emperor said that if he wouldn’t attend the meeting and participate in the upcoming war, he would receive punishment from all the sects of the world.

There was nothing he could do but comply.

“Judging from the spiritual energy I felt from him, he is probably at the late stage of the Four Transformation Realm or at the Mortal Lord Realm already,” a Sacred King from the Song Clan said as he tried to judge Yun Ling’s cultivation realm.

“Wrong. Someone told me that he is already at the late stage of the Mortal Lord Realm. Looks like your judgment isn’t that reliable after all,” a Sacred King who was affiliated with the Yun Clan said as he gave a mocking look at the one who spoke before him.

“A less than thirty-year-old brat is already at the late stage of the Mortal Lord Realm? You’re kidding right?”

“My informant is reliable,” he said proudly.

Nearly all of the Sacred Kings looked at Yun Ling in awe. When they were his age, they were just at the Core Formation realm with the most exceptional among them merely in the early or middle stage of the Four Transformations Realm. Now, he was telling that Yun Ling was actually at the late stage of the Mortal Lord Realm, a realm which was merely a step away from the Fate Dominion Realm?

What a freak!

“This is how great the talent is of a genius born only once in ten thousand years, huh?” a Sacred King said with a sigh.