Worldwide Class Change: Minimal Effort, Maximum Reward!

The ranking update came at seven in the morning.

Lin Yi was already awake. He had been awake for some time, sitting at his desk with his formation theory notes open, working through the multi-element anchor configuration section that Shen Rou had flagged for supplementary materials.

His datapad notification appeared at exactly seven.

Heavenly Phoenix Academy — Sect Rankings Updated

He opened it.

Heavenly Phoenix Academy — Sect Rankings Combined Sessions

1st: Crimson Vanguard — 847,340 pts

2nd: Azure Tide — 721,900 pts

3rd: Iron Bastion — 698,450 pts

4th: Void Hunters — 512,300 pts

5th: Heavenly Sword Sect— 487,200 pts

6th: Nine Heavens Dao— 412,800 pts

7th: Celestial Legion — 398,750 pts

This ranking showed the combined session, which consist only of the previous session and the current session points. It shows how a sect improves with more time.

He then scrolled to the second display.

Heavenly Phoenix Academy — Sect Rankings Current Session Only

1st: Celestial Legion — 398,750 pts

2nd: Crimson Vanguard — 84,200 pts

3rd: Heavenly Sword Sect — 71,300 pts

4th: Azure Tide — 68,900 pts

5th: Nine Heavens Dao — 52,100 pts

6th: Jade Immortal Palace— 48,700 pts

7th: Ten Thousand Poison Sect — 44,200 pts

8th: Forgotten God Clan — 42,450 pts

9th: Thousand Treasures Pavilion— 40,780 pts

10th: Vast Sky Alliance — 38,960 pts

He looked at the gap between first and second. Celestial Legion’s current session score was four times Crimson Vanguard’s. Every other sect in the top ten was operating in a range that was less than a quarter of Celestial Legion’s total. The distance was not a gap in the competitive sense. It was a separate category.

He opened the Celestial Legion group channel.

Wang Hao had sent twelve messages in the past forty-five seconds. Shen Rou had sent two. He read them in sequence.

Wang Hao: BROTHER LIN

Wang Hao: HAVE YOU SEEN IT

Wang Hao: FIRST

Wang Hao: FIRST IN THE CURRENT SESSION

Wang Hao: FOUR TIMES SECOND PLACE

Wang Hao: CELESTIAL LEGION HAS THREE PEOPLE

Wang Hao: CRIMSON VANGUARD HAS TEN

Wang Hao: TEN VERSUS THREE AND WE HAVE FOUR TIMES THEIR SCORE

Wang Hao: I need to sit down I’m already sitting down but I need to sit down harder

Wang Hao: Also seventh in the combined historical ranking which means we’re ahead of five sects that have been operating for two full sessions

Wang Hao: On day four

Wang Hao: Brother Lin this is actually insane

Shen Rou: The current session ranking is first with a 374% lead over second place. Historically, the largest opening-week margin in the academy’s session records was 180%. We have more than doubled that.

Shen Rou: I also noted that the combined historical ranking places us seventh, which at this accumulation rate means we will overtake sixth place within approximately two weeks if the current output continues.

Lin Yi read all of it. Then he typed into the channel.

Lin Yi: Good start.

Wang Hao’s response came in four seconds.

Wang Hao: GOOD START

Wang Hao: BROTHER LIN

Wang Hao: We are FIRST IN THE ACADEMY among current session sects, by FOUR TIMES the second place score, with THREE MEMBERS, and you have said TWO WORDS

Lin Yi: It’s a starting point.

Wang Hao: It’s a—

Wang Hao: Okay I need to have a word with you about how human beings celebrate things

Wang Hao: Normal people celebrate

Wang Hao: They express joy

Wang Hao: They maybe shout a little

Lin Yi: You’re shouting enough for both of us.

Wang Hao: That is true and I accept that role

Wang Hao: But still

Wang Hao: Can you give me something

Wang Hao: Anything

Wang Hao: One emoji

Lin Yi: No.

Wang Hao:

Shen Rou: The ranking is significant. I want to note specifically that the score includes the Dragon King Sect transfer, which was approximately 11% of our total. The remaining 89% was generated through the dungeon instance clearance.

Shen Rou: If we exclude the transfer, our clearance output alone would still place Celestial Legion second in the current session ranking with a 180% lead over third place.

Wang Hao: Shen Rou said that to point out that even without the transfer we were dominant

Wang Hao: Which is correct

Wang Hao: But I also want to point out that the transfer happened because someone tried to attack us and Lin Yi dealt with it

Wang Hao: So in a way the attempted ambush was a gift

Shen Rou: That’s one way to frame it.

Wang Hao: I’m going with that framing

Wang Hao: Han Yue tried to ambush us and donated over 43,000 points to our cause

Wang Hao: Generous of him

Shen Rou: The academy conduct review for the extraction zone incident will likely be announced today. Based on the witness count and the recording data I flagged, the findings will not be favorable for Dragon King Sect.

Wang Hao: Oh right

Wang Hao: What happens to them in a conduct review

Shen Rou: At minimum, a formal warning and mandatory mediation with the involved parties. At maximum, score forfeiture and sect activity suspension pending review. Given that the score transfer was voluntary, the forfeiture option likely doesn’t apply. But the suspension is possible.

Wang Hao: So they might lose the ability to generate score during the suspension period

Shen Rou: Correct.

Wang Hao: So they attacked us, lost all their score, and might also lose the ability to earn new score for a period

Wang Hao: Brother Lin. Please appreciate how well this turned out.

Lin Yi: I appreciate it.

Wang Hao: You don’t sound like you appreciate it

Lin Yi: I appreciate it.

Wang Hao: One more time but with feeling

Lin Yi: Shen Rou, what’s the accumulation projection for the combined historical ranking if we maintain current session output?

Shen Rou: At current rate, we overtake sixth place in approximately twelve days. Fifth place in approximately three weeks. The trajectory toward top three in the combined historical is possible within this single session if the output is maintained, though the gap to Crimson Vanguard’s accumulated total is significant. They have 847,000 combined historical points. We would need sustained high performance across all remaining session events to close that gap in one session.

Wang Hao: Can we close it in one session

Shen Rou: With Lin Yi’s current demonstrated output level, yes. But it requires consistent participation in every available scored event.

Wang Hao: Brother Lin is it possible to attend every scored event this session

Lin Yi: Yes.

Wang Hao: Then we’re closing the gap this session

Wang Hao: Celestial Legion is going to be first in the combined historical by end of session

Wang Hao: I’m declaring this now

Wang Hao: I’m screenshotting this message so I can show people later

Shen Rou: The projection supports it as achievable if conditions are met. I would categorize it as likely rather than certain, pending unforeseen variables.

Wang Hao: Shen Rou I am learning to read "likely rather than certain pending unforeseen variables" as your version of "yes absolutely we’re doing this"

Shen Rou: That’s a reasonable interpretation.

Wang Hao: I knew it

Wang Hao: Okay so let’s talk about what comes next

Wang Hao: We’re first in current session. We need to stay first. What’s the next scored event?

Shen Rou: The academy calendar shows a combat assessment session in three days, followed by a second wilderness expedition in eight days. There’s also an optional dungeon clearance circuit that opens for sect participation in two weeks. That circuit is normally restricted to top ten sects in the combined ranking, which we have now qualified for.

Wang Hao: Wait

Wang Hao: We qualify for the restricted dungeon circuit now

Shen Rou: As of the ranking update this morning, yes. Celestial Legion’s placement at seventh in the combined historical ranking meets the threshold for circuit access.

Wang Hao: The restricted circuit that normally only second and third year top sect members have access to

Shen Rou: The same.

Wang Hao: And we qualified in four days

Shen Rou: Correct.

Wang Hao: Brother Lin

Wang Hao: We qualified for the restricted dungeon circuit in four days

Lin Yi: I read the messages.

Wang Hao: I know you read the messages I want to hear you acknowledge it

Lin Yi: We qualified for the restricted circuit. Good. What’s the grade range?

Shen Rou: The restricted circuit operates in Grade 7 and Grade 8 dungeon environments. Monster level range starts at 60 in the lower Grade 7 zones and reaches 90 in the upper Grade 8 zones.

Wang Hao: 60 to 90

Wang Hao: That’s significantly above what we encountered in the Underworld Layer

Wang Hao: For me personally that is a terrifying range

Wang Hao: For Lin Yi that range is probably a Tuesday

Lin Yi: The circuit is relevant for leveling purposes.

Wang Hao: Oh

Wang Hao: Oh

Wang Hao: The level gap problem

Wang Hao: The circuit monsters are level 60 to 90 which puts them within ten levels of—

Wang Hao: Brother Lin what’s your current level

Lin Yi: Above 85.

Wang Hao: ABOVE 85

Wang Hao: Impossible! I know your high, but surely you can’t be this high, right?

Wang Hao: RIGHT!!

Wang Hao: The highest level third year is 66

Lin Yi: The circuit provides experience gain at the relevant level range. That’s why it matters beyond score.

Wang Hao: Right right right

Just ignore me

Wang Hao: So the circuit isn’t just score, it’s an opportunity to actually level up in an academy-sanctioned environment

Shen Rou: That’s correct. Solo wilderness grinding outside the academy generates experience without the sect score distribution. The restricted circuit generates both simultaneously because the monster level range is high enough to compensate for Lin Yi’s level disparity.

Wang Hao: So the circuit solves both problems at once

Wang Hao: Score AND experience

Wang Hao: And we qualify for it because of what happened in the last four days

Wang Hao: Brother Lin I need you to understand something

Wang Hao: When you registered Celestial Legion four days ago with zero score and zero ranking

Wang Hao: And you told me it was a starting point

Wang Hao: I believed you because I always believe you

Wang Hao: But I didn’t know it was going to mean qualifying for restricted resources in four days

Shen Rou: The combat assessment in three days is also worth discussing strategically. Academic and combat scores combine for the personal ranking. The combat assessment will update individual rankings as well as contribute to sect scoring. For Lin Yi specifically, performing well in the combat assessment maintains the personal ranking at first overall, which compounds into the sect ranking through the weighting system.

Wang Hao: So we want to do well individually in the combat assessment AND as a sect

Shen Rou: The individual and sect rankings are separate but the academic formula weights them together for resource allocation. Strong performance in both maximizes the resource access.

Wang Hao: Got it

Wang Hao: Okay I feel like we have a plan

Wang Hao: Current session first ✅

Wang Hao: Historical seventh and climbing ✅

Wang Hao: Restricted circuit access qualifying ✅

Wang Hao: Combat assessment in three days

Wang Hao: Wilderness expedition in eight days

Wang Hao: Restricted circuit in two weeks

Lin Yi: Three days to the combat assessment. Review formation theory for the collective component. Individual preparation as normal.

Wang Hao: Yes sir

Wang Hao: From Jianghe to the regional exam to the Dragon God Tower to Heavenly Phoenix Academy to Celestial Legion ranked first in the current session by four times second place

Wang Hao: That’s us

Wang Hao: That’s actually us

Shen Rou: It is.

Wang Hao: Brother Lin. Say something.

Lin Yi: Get some sleep. Combat assessment is in three days.

Wang Hao:

Wang Hao: Goodnight Celestial Legion

Shen Rou: Goodnight.

Lin Yi: Goodnight.