The reason Thunder God ranks first is entirely due to his flashy fighting style.
Calling upon thunder, mastering thunder, becoming one with thunder; especially the last one, turning into thunder itself, has garnered countless fans.
This popularity has led to him surpassing Fang Qing, securing the top spot in this ranking.
Of course, this unofficial ranking holds little authority, merely based on the past performances and popularity of ten Evolvers.
Still, the rankings of these ten Evolvers do reflect to some extent the outcome of the final showdown.
At the forefront are the top three: whether it's Thunder God, Fang Qing, or even Yang Wei as number one, the strength of these three Evolvers is clearly a rung above the other seven.
Almost everyone believes the champion will emerge from these three.
As for who it will ultimately be, they must battle to determine.
The tournament organizers have not allowed these three Evolvers to confront each other to maintain fairness, not until now.
Yang Wei, however, was an exception; before his sixth-tier bloodline awakened, Thunder God crushed him.
But once a sixth-tier bloodline awakens, it's hard to say who will win or lose.
Evolvers with bloodline abilities are indeed shackled by their own bloodlines, but once a powerful bloodline awakens, they can nearly crush peers at the same level in the early stages.
The day before the global showdown, in the virtual world, the tournament officials approached Lin Yuan.
"Hello, Mr. Lin Yuan, I am the official assistant of this tournament," a gentle-featured woman with light purple eyes said with a smile.
"Hello," Lin Yuan nodded in response.
"We need you to record a video, mainly about your views on the upcoming top ten showdown," the assistant paused, adding, "Of course, if Mr. Lin Yuan is not sure what to say, we can provide a script for you to follow."
The assistant handed over a stack of documents.
Lin Yuan glanced through them and immediately understood that they were intended as declarations of challenge to the other nine Evolvers.
Although the top three of this tournament are almost predetermined to be either Fang Qing, Thunder God, or Yang Wei, one must not lose in momentum no matter what.
Even if one cannot reach the top three, there is still fourth, fifth up to tenth place.
These interviews are meant to stir things up, to provoke other participants and entertain the audience.
"I'll just say something myself," Lin Yuan decided after reading the script and finding it unsuitable for him.
"If Mr. Lin Yuan has his own ideas, there's no need to read the script," the assistant said softly, having followed more than one tournament and knowing that some Evolvers feel nervous before matches, she had kindly prepared scripts for them.
"Then..."
Lin Yuan smiled, "I wish everyone a great match."
"That's all?" The assistant waited patiently after Lin Yuan finished speaking.
Realizing he was done, she asked.
"Isn't that enough?" Lin Yuan inquired, "Or is there a time requirement for recording?"
"No time requirement," the assistant quickly replied, "It just felt a bit short."
There was another unsaid thought: Lin Yuan's declaration lacked momentum.
Just a 'wish everyone a great match'? As an assistant, she couldn't dictate what Lin Yuan should say.
"Then I'll be off."
"Lastly, I hope Mr. Lin Yuan can achieve a good ranking," the assistant said with a smile before disappearing from sight.
That night, Lin Yuan trained as usual.
Then his intelligent assistant reminded him that the Martial Evolution Path's revenue share had been settled.
"Let's see how much it is," Lin Yuan showed some interest.
The income is settled once a year.
Till today, Lin Yuan had settled once.
However, last time the Martial Evolution Path barely made the top hundred and hadn't been up long, so the final income share was less than ten million.
From the last settlement to this one, the Martial Evolution Path had been in the top ten of the Evolution Ranking for nearly a year, attracting many citizens to cultivate it.
"One billion five hundred thirty-six million?" Lin Yuan was slightly surprised at the income.
This was just the take-home income.
If official deductions and taxes are considered, the total sales would be close to ten billion.
[Evolution Path: Martial]
[Innate Stage Practitioners: 7,893]
[Grandmaster Stage Practitioners: 2]
[Supreme Grandmaster Stage Practitioners: 0]
"Someone has already reached the Grandmaster stage?" Lin Yuan glanced at the Martial Evolution Path's related data.
This data comes from the official records of the Universal Human Alliance and the Evolvers Association.
There might be some errors, like some Evolvers reaching the Grandmaster stage without registering, but those are rare.
Lin Yuan's power surge every eight months is extremely uncommon.
"This data isn't right."
Lin Yuan checked the sales of each stage for the Martial Evolution Path.
"The third stage has sold over two hundred copies?"
Lin Yuan was surprised.
The current Martial Evolution Path is divided into stage one, stage two, and stage three.
Lin Yuan set the prices for these stages at—
Stage one: ten thousand.
Stage two: five hundred thousand.
Stage three: five million.
Lin Yuan hadn't uploaded the third stage for long before selling over two hundred copies.
Known as the single price was five million, two hundred copies equate to over a billion.
Deducting the official seventy percent cut and taxes, that's still three to four hundred million.
Not a small number.
"It should be the chain reaction from the Martial Evolution Path topping the ranking."
Lin Yuan thought for a while and roughly understood the reason.
Uploading stage three led to the Goddess of Wisdom reevaluating the Martial Evolution Path, which topped the Canglan Evolution Ranking.
Though it might not be a big deal in the entire Crimson Leviathan Star Domain, in Canglan Star's Evolver circle, it must have caused an uproar.
Those top Evolvers spent over five million to buy and research the Martial Evolution Path; it's only natural.
In ordinary citizens' eyes, five million might be an unattainable fortune, but for those stage three and four Evolvers, it's not much.
"I've already recouped it."
Lin Yuan was pleased.
The wealth reduction due to purchasing 'Vermillion Fruit' and 'Cold Jade', these two universal treasures, was instantly compensated, with an additional few hundred million.
"Next settlement should yield even more income," Lin Yuan thought to himself.
The Martial Evolution Path's topping effect has not fully unfolded yet.
Over time, newly born Evolvers in Canglan Star will inevitably prioritize the Martial Evolution Path.
After all, given roughly the same cost, one Evolution Path is ranked first, and the others rank second, third, or fourth.
Normal people know which to choose.
The next day, the global top ten showdown officially began.
On an enormous arena, a male and female host appeared.
These hosts are Canglan Star's most famous, responsible for narrating the top ten finals.
Around them, the seats quickly filled with audiences, and on the virtual world's screens, a vast number of citizens watched.
"Citizens, the much-anticipated top ten finals have finally arrived. Who will win the championship of this tournament? Everyone must be eagerly curious."
The male host raised his hand and said, "Without further ado, let's welcome our ten Evolvers."
Zooming in, Fang Qing, Thunder God, Yang Wei, Lin Yuan, and others took turns entering the stage.
With each appearance, thunderous cheers erupted, especially for Fang Qing, Thunder God, and Yang Wei, as people are most interested in the champion, and these three have the highest chances.
"I love you, Lin Yuan!" when it was Lin Yuan's turn, some of the audience were excited.
Lin Yuan's unique fighting style of 'tormenting' opponents indeed attracted a group of 'peculiarly interested' loyal fans.
"Alright," the male host started speaking again.
"I have to say, these ten are Canglan Star's most remarkable young Evolvers. They are our future."
"But in the arena, it still needs a winner and a loser."
The male host's voice was stirring, "Let's start the competition officially."
"Firstly, it's the points match."
"All ten Evolvers will appear on an island that's miles wide."
"Their goal is to find this blue crystal on the island."
The male host pointed to a palm-sized, azure crystal for everyone to see.
"There are a hundred of these crystals scattered in hidden spots across the island. The final points ranking is divided by how many crystals each holds."
The male host paused for a moment: "This points match doesn't forbid fighting among contestants."
A fiery statement.
Not forbidding combat means merely finding the crystals isn't enough; the main task is to defend them.
Otherwise, finding a hundred crystals yet getting them stolen is labor in vain.
"Now, the match begins," said both the male and female hosts together.
Instantly, Fang Qing, Thunder God, and others appeared somewhere on the island.
Above the large arena, ten screens appeared, each displaying one of the Evolvers.
"Folks, you can choose your favorite player's perspective, which can be switched at any time," the male host reminded.
As he finished, numerous viewers began selecting perspectives.
The number of viewers for each of the ten screens also updated continuously.
Moments later, the viewers for each perspective became relatively stable, with Thunder God's perspective having the most, over 110 billion.
Next was Fang Qing, slightly over 100 billion.
Yang Wei had over 90 billion.
Viewership numbers often fluctuated, with many viewers switching between different perspectives frequently.
"Alright, the match starts."
The male host switched between perspectives, narrating each.
However, most of the time, it focused on Thunder God, Fang Qing, and Yang Wei's views.
These three attracted the most attention, and discussing them led to the greatest audience reaction.
"Finding stuff isn't really my forte," Fang Qing appeared in a dense forest, pondering.
"But let's give it a try."
Fang Qing closed his eyes, vaguely, a large 'Ancient God' phantom appeared behind him.
Fang Qing's perception expanded rapidly by leveraging this 'Ancient God' phantom.
"Blue crystals?" Thunder God, on the other hand, appeared on the island's edge.
His pupils faintly flashed blue lightning, and soon purples thunder coiled around hundreds of meters.
Bang bang bang! One after another, blue crystals emerged from the collisions of purple lightning and landed in Thunder God's hand.
"I'll locate the crystals," Yang Wei appeared a cold, stern man.
His pupils gradually deepened, a bloodline gift—the Eye of Insight.
In an instant, in Yang Wei's vision, trees, stones, everything turned illusory, with only the blue crystals glowing unusually.
"There's a crystal there," Yang Wei 'saw' a blue crystal, flying directly towards it.
In the sky above the grand arena, the male host quickly narrated, "Look at Fang Qing, directly releasing the 'Ancient God' phantom, enhancing perception, has found six blue crystals."
Switching over to Thunder God's view, "Oh my, Thunder God has awakened a domain prototype, probably the Thunder Domain, using it to find blue crystals gives a significant advantage... Thunder God has now found eleven crystals."
"Yang Wei's method of finding crystals is interesting, directly knowing where they are? Using some kind of eye-based bloodline gift?"
Amidst constant perspective switching, the male and female hosts commented on each one, eventually switching to Lin Yuan's view.
"Is our Lin Yuan resting?" The host was somewhat surprised.
In nine previous views, all contestants were frantically searching for crystals.
However, Lin Yuan appeared to be lying on a boulder, resting with closed eyes?
This scene was seen by many.
The view showed Lin Yuan leisurely lying on the rock, a stark contrast to others seeking crystals.
"Could it be? Has he given up?"
"Indeed, Lin Yuan wields a domain prototype; by right, should excel in finding crystals. But locating and holding onto them are two different matters."
"Facing the likes of Thunder God or Fang Qing, Lin Yuan would surely surrender any found crystals."
Countless spectators theorized, mostly believing Lin Yuan had given up; even ending with no crystals, he'd still be globally tenth.
"Looks like Lin Yuan knows when to give up."
The host pondered before finding a suitably diplomatic description.
Afterward, the host switched perspectives.
Lin Yuan's passive competition style wasn't supported by the tournament officials, as it lacked spectacle.
Even without hope, some struggle would add to the excitement and conversation.
On a giant rock on the island, Lin Yuan opened his eyes, surveying.
"Time to move."
Lin Yuan thought.
This points match required finding scattered blue crystals across the island.
Even if he attempted to search, it'd be time-consuming.
Better to wait until the nine Evolvers collected most crystals, then 'pick the peaches'.
With the rules allowing and even encouraging snatching, why not?
"Let's see who's nearby."
With a thought, Lin Yuan expanded his Taiji Domain.
One mile, ten miles, twenty, thirty.
"Three."
Lin Yuan disappeared.
"Tenth blue crystal," Yang Wei maintained his Eye of Insight, quickly seeking blue crystals, soon finding the tenth.
Remember, the entire island holds just a hundred crystals.
"Another one?" Excited, Yang Wei was about to move.
But then, a terrifying pressure came.
"What?" Yang Wei was struck with panic.
A moment later, everything turned black, and he vanished.
Moments later, Yang Wei found himself in the resting area, a disbelief etched on his face.
"I died?" Yang Wei, in disbelief, puzzled over his demise.
Even facing Thunder God or Fang Qing, he'd expect a brief battle, not instant defeat.
Meanwhile, above the grand arena, Yang Wei's view suddenly blackened.
Over a hundred billion spectators of Yang Wei's view were left homeless, clamoring in confusion.
Two chapters, eight thousand words.
Thank you for your support.
Tomorrow we'll end this volume and begin the next— 'Trial of the Star Lord.'