Chapter 656: Deliberate Sabotaging
There were roughly twenty crystals in total, and obtaining them had cost her a considerable amount of etherium gold.
The moment the priest saw the crystals, his eyes widened. Sophia’s eyes widened as well.
She immediately glared at Lana and leaned close to whisper into her ear.
"Do not donate all of them. These are the rewards for our hidden mission. If you give everything away, we will not have anything to submit as proof, and we will lose the extra points for completing the hidden mission."
Lana simply waved her hand with a relaxed smile. "So be it. It is not as though my life will be over if I do not receive these crystals."
She looked toward the priest. "But their lives could completely change if they have these crystals."
Sophia became speechless. After a moment, she reluctantly spoke. "At least keep one for yourself. You can submit it as proof."
Lana chuckled.
"Let it be. If you are truly worried about those hidden mission points, I have another essence crystal. It is only five thousand years old, but it should be enough."
Sophia lowered her gaze. "Then give that one to me. I may not be as selfless as you."
Lana did not argue. She simply handed one of the essence crystals to Sophia.
Sophia carefully accepted it before stepping aside.
Lana watched her for a moment but did not say anything.
She then looked toward the priest. The priest stared at her with sympathy and guilt.
"I am sorry. Because of me, whatever hidden mission that young lady was talking about will probably not go well."
Lana chuckled and waved her hand dismissively. "It is all right. Just take them."
After giving away all the seven-thousand-year-old essence crystals, Lana turned around and walked out of the temple.
Outside, the morning air felt surprisingly cool against her skin. Mr. Crow could not help but look toward her.
"You are going to regret this when you see Sophia’s name at the top of the rankings because she will receive the hidden mission points."
Lana chuckled. "Yes, I probably will regret it."
She smiled faintly.
"I am not some kind of saint who will happily smile while watching someone else take the top position when I had every opportunity to do it myself."
She paused for a moment before continuing.
"However, I know one thing. I may regret giving away those crystals for the entire duration of the competition, but whenever I think about those children gaining their limbs back or overcoming their disabilities because of those crystals, I will know that I made a difference."
Her gaze softened. "After being reborn into this world, I want to believe that I can leave something good behind."
With that thought, Lana continued walking. Mr. Crow shook his head.
"If you continue being this kind, other people will keep taking advantage of you. That Sophia acted like such a good friend, but when the critical moment came, she still took the crystal away from you."
Lana chuckled. "If I had been in her place, I would have done the same."
Mr. Crow shook his head and murmured, "You would not have."
Lana did not say much after that. Soon, she, Sophia, Calix, Danny, Gabriel, and Raphael arrived at the competition venue.
The atmosphere inside was tense, with the participants standing quietly as they waited for the judges to announce the results. The judges looked over each contestant, and one by one, they began assigning their scores.
Gabriel and Raphael were given a score of 9.0.
Calix and Danny received 9.2.
Finally, Lana and Sophia were awarded 9.3.
The moment Lana saw the ratings, she frowned. ’How were they able to judge us?’
She could not understand how the judges had evaluated their performance. There had been no drones following them, nor had she noticed any surveillance equipment around the ghost domain.
’Then how did they know everything we had done?’
The same question lingered in the minds of many other contestants. Several people exchanged confused glances, clearly wondering how the judges had managed to observe their activities without revealing themselves.
Finally, Natasha stood up. She looked toward the other contestants with a composed expression before speaking.
"We will now disclose the judging criteria for this round."
The venue gradually fell silent.
Natasha continued,
"This round was primarily focused on survival and exploration. The participants who explored more areas and experienced more of what the ghost domain had to offer would naturally receive higher scores."
Her gaze briefly swept across the contestants.
"For example, Lana and Sophia’s team explored the ghost market hidden within the alleys of Ghost Town. They interacted with the ghosts there and, more importantly, managed to conceal their identities throughout their exploration."
Although Natasha spoke with a pleasant expression, there was an unmistakable coldness hidden beneath her words.
It was subtle, but everyone could sense it. It almost seemed as though she was dissatisfied with Lana and Sophia receiving the highest score.
Natasha finally turned her attention toward the two girls.
"There was also a hidden mission during this round. Any participant who submitted a Ghost Essence Crystal that was at least five thousand years old, or a Ghost King’s Essence, would receive an additional five thousand points."
A ripple of surprise spread through the venue. Natasha paused briefly before continuing.
"After tallying all the scores, the winner of this round is Sophia, who submitted a five-thousand-year-old Ghost Essence Crystal."
The moment those words were announced, Sophia’s eyes widened before a bright smile spread across her face.
Cheers immediately erupted from the section representing her country. Several people stood up and applauded enthusiastically, while Sophia smiled awkwardly and waved toward them.
Natasha waited for the cheering to subside before continuing. "The second rank goes to..."
She glanced down at the results in her hands. "The second rank goes to Calix."
A brief pause followed. "The third rank goes to Gabriel."
She continued announcing the remaining positions. "Raphael comes next, followed by Danny."
Once Natasha finished announcing the rankings, everyone gradually realized something. Lana’s name had not been mentioned.
Logically speaking, Lana’s name should have been announced immediately after Sophia.
After all, she and Sophia had explored the same ghost market together, had survived the same dangers, and had even obtained several Ghost Essence Crystals.
Yet Lana’s name was nowhere to be found. Lana remained standing quietly, her expression calm, but her eyes slowly narrowed.
Natasha’s gaze remained fixed on the results for a few seconds before she slowly raised her head.
"Before we proceed with the final rankings, there is another matter that needs to be addressed."
Lana quietly looked at her.
Natasha’s eyes met hers for a brief moment before she spoke.
"Lana has violated the rules of this competition by using talismans during the round."
A murmur instantly spread through the audience. Lana’s expression remained unchanged.
Across from her, Calix and Danny exchanged a glance before looking at Lana with barely concealed gloating. Their lips curled into faint smiles, as though they had finally found an opportunity to see her suffer.
Sophia, however, looked genuinely worried. "Lana..."
Lana raised her hand slightly, signaling Sophia not to worry. She then looked directly at Natasha.
"How exactly did I violate the rules?"
Natasha’s expression remained composed.
"Talismans are external tools. Using them gives you an advantage over the other participants. You are not permitted to use such items during the competition."
Lana narrowed her eyes.
"I am a talisman practitioner. Creating and using talismans is part of my own cultivation. The talismans I used were made by me personally. If you consider that a violation, then you might as well say that using one’s own cultivation technique is also cheating."
A few people in the audience nodded at her words. Natasha’s expression did not change.
"Are you claiming that you personally created every talisman you used?"
"Yes."
"Then prove it."
The words came out calmly, but there was a sharp edge beneath them.
"Create a talisman here, in front of everyone. If you can demonstrate that you truly possess the ability to create talismans yourself, then we can reconsider your violation."
Lana stared at Natasha.
She already knew the truth about her. ’So this is what you want to do.’
Natasha was her grandmother, yet she had never shown the slightest intention of acknowledging her as her granddaughter. Instead, she was now deliberately trying to put her in an embarrassing position in front of everyone.
Lana’s heart remained surprisingly calm. She simply smiled faintly. "All right."