Chapter 404: Heaven Ranking
On the Chaotic Myriad Realms Mountain stood a stone statue, eight hundred and seventy-four meters tall, depicting a woman of peerless beauty. She wore a dragon robe, one hand resting on a giant sword, her sacred eyes gazing into the endless firmament.
Although it was merely a stone statue of Empress Chi Yao, it felt as though a soul dwelled within it, causing martial artists passing by to involuntarily feel a sense of awe.
No wonder the students of the Martial Market Academy, upon arriving at the Chaotic Myriad Realms Mountain, immediately prostrated themselves before the statue, worshipping it as if it were a deity.
Zhang Ruochen stared at the statue, and when his eyes met those of the stone figure, he felt an electric shock, as if he had been seen through at a single glance.
No secret could be hidden.
"So formidable. Just a statue is already this terrifying. I wonder, after eight hundred years, just how far Chi Yao's cultivation has progressed?"
Once one became a Half-Saint, they could establish their own sacred temple, enshrining a stone, clay, or golden body within it.
A Half-Saint would automatically separate a sliver of their sacred soul, placing it in the temple to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth around it.
By placing her statue here, Chi Yao had also undoubtedly imbued it with a wisp of her sacred soul, absorbing the spiritual energy of the Chaotic Myriad Realms Mountain.
At the same time, she could use that sacred soul to oversee the various Ruins Realms from the unseen realm.
If a major event occurred in any Ruins Realm, Chi Yao would know of it immediately.
On the statue's head sat a crown, and at its center was embedded a golden circular wheel.
At the wheel's core, a crimson light radiated outward, like a flame burning within.
Zhang Ruochen sensed a powerful spatial fluctuation from that golden wheel.
As the wheel turned, the entire world seemed to rotate slowly.
"That... could that be the legendary spatial treasure, the Heavenly Wheel Seal?"
In the Kunlun Realm, only a few spatial treasures had been preserved, each one a remarkable sacred artifact.
The Heavenly Wheel Seal was one of them.
It was said that the world of the Chaotic Myriad Realms Mountain was sustained by the spatial power of the Heavenly Wheel Seal.
Moreover, the reason the Chaotic Myriad Realms Mountain had passages to the various Ruins Realms was also due to the power of the Heavenly Wheel Seal.
The Heavenly Wheel Seal was a true spatial treasure. When its power was unleashed, it could contain an entire minor world or destroy one.
The space ring Zhang Ruochen had refined was merely the most basic and lowest-grade spatial treasure, incomparable to the Heavenly Wheel Seal.
"The Heavenly Wheel Seal was forged by Xumi Saint Monk. According to the Space-Time Secret Scripture, the Heavenly Wheel Seal also has an inner space, which can only be opened by martial artists who cultivate the power of space and time."
The time ratio between the inner space of the Heavenly Wheel Seal and the outside world was thirty to one.
That meant cultivating for a month inside the Heavenly Wheel Seal's inner space would be equivalent to only a day outside.
Zhang Ruochen naturally desired the Heavenly Wheel Seal greatly; only he could unleash its true power.
But he also knew that with his current strength, he had no chance of even approaching the Heavenly Wheel Seal. He could only focus on improving his cultivation first, then make plans later.
Upon entering the Chaotic Myriad Realms Mountain, the ten Silvermoon Ships came to a halt.
More than thirty-five thousand students disembarked from the ships one by one, standing beneath a massive stele.
This stele, six hundred and seventy-six meters tall, was a milky white, like a giant piece of jade carved into an inscription.
It was yet another remarkable sacred artifact.
Without needing any introduction from the Half-Saints of the Martial Market Academy, everyone could already see two large characters at the top of the stele: "Heaven Ranking."
This jade stele was the Heaven Ranking.
On the jade stele were written the names of various Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artists, followed by a series of numbers.
For example, at the top of the Heaven Ranking, first place was Huang Shenyi.
After "Huang Shenyi" came a string of numbers: 6,786,000 military merit points.
Second place was Hua Li.
After "Hua Li" came another string of numbers: 2,463,401 military merit points.
Some of the students were puzzled. "Why are military merit points appearing on the Heaven Ranking?"
"Whoosh!"
Just then, a beam of white light descended from the sky.
As the white light dissipated, an old man with white hair and a white beard, wearing a purple robe, appeared, standing on a patch of white clouds in the void, radiating a sacred aura.
The old man's voice was vast and ethereal, clearly reaching the ears of every student. "I am the artifact spirit of the Heaven Ranking. The jade stele before you is the Heaven Ranking's true body. Over the next month, as long as you can accumulate one hundred military merit points, you will pass the third round of the assessment."
As soon as the Heaven Ranking's artifact spirit finished speaking, the students below began to whisper and discuss among themselves.
"The third round of the assessment is this simple? Just a mere hundred military merit points, and it takes a whole month?"
"Only a hundred military merit points? Isn't that too easy?"
...
Just then, the Heaven Ranking's artifact spirit waved his right arm, and a wisp of white mist formed before him. The white mist coalesced into lines of text.
It was an introduction to military merit points.
First line: Killing ten Earth Extreme Realm Great Perfection, or one Heavenly Extreme Realm initial stage Ruins Realm native, earns "one" military merit point.
Seeing the first line, the students who had thought the third round was easy immediately stopped smiling, some even holding their breath as they calculated in their minds.
To accumulate a hundred merit points, wouldn't they have to kill a thousand Earth Extreme Realm Great Perfection Ruins Realm natives, or a hundred Heavenly Extreme Realm initial stage Ruins Realm natives?
That was too difficult!
Second line: Killing one Heavenly Extreme Realm middle stage Ruins Realm native earns "two" military merit points.
Third line: Killing one Heavenly Extreme Realm late stage Ruins Realm native earns "five" military merit points.
Fourth line: Killing one Heavenly Extreme Realm Small Extreme Position Ruins Realm native earns "ten" military merit points.
Fifth line: Killing one Heavenly Extreme Realm Middle Extreme Position Ruins Realm native earns "twenty" military merit points.
Sixth line: Killing one Heavenly Extreme Realm Large Extreme Position Ruins Realm native earns "fifty" military merit points.
Seventh line: Killing one Heavenly Extreme Realm Great Perfection Ruins Realm native earns "one hundred" military merit points.
After reading the first seven lines, the students finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.
As long as they killed one Heavenly Extreme Realm Great Perfection Ruins Realm native, they could accumulate a full hundred military merit points in one go.
Otherwise, if they had to go after Earth Extreme Realm Great Perfection and Heavenly Extreme Realm initial stage Ruins Realm natives, a month wouldn't be enough.
For students with higher cultivation levels, of course, it wasn't too difficult. As long as they could survive for a month in the Ruins Realm, they could easily complete the assessment.
But for students with lower cultivation levels, their faces turned grim, feeling immense pressure. Only through relentless combat could they hope to accumulate enough military merit points.
The Heaven Ranking's artifact spirit smiled. "Now, if you have any other questions, you may ask me."
A slightly plump student bowed to the Heaven Ranking's artifact spirit and said loudly, "May I ask, Lord Heaven Ranking, how many merit points are needed to leave one's name on the Heaven Ranking?"
"Ten thousand points."
Hearing this number, the students were startled.
Becoming a Heaven Ranking martial artist was indeed not easy. With their current strength, even if they spent a lot of time killing enemies on the Ruins Realm battlefield, it would be very difficult to accumulate ten thousand military merit points.
Moreover, there was a high chance they would die on the Ruins Realm battlefield.
Zhang Ruochen stepped forward and asked loudly, "I've heard that accumulating enough military merit points can attract the resonance of the gods, reaching the supreme extreme realm of the Heavenly Extreme Realm. May I ask how many military merit points are needed?"
The Heaven Ranking's artifact spirit nodded. "The true body of the Heaven Ranking is also a massive altar. The Ruins Realm natives killed become offerings, sacrificed to the gods through the Heaven Ranking. If enough Ruins Realm natives are killed, it is indeed possible to communicate with the gods, attract their resonance, receive their blessings, and reach the legendary supreme extreme realm."
"Since it is the supreme extreme realm, it is naturally not something anyone can achieve. The difficulty far exceeds your imagination. You need to accumulate thirty million military merit points to reach the supreme extreme realm."
"In the past five hundred years, among Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artists, only five have managed to accumulate ten million military merit points. They can be called once-in-a-century talents."
"Currently, among the martial artists on the Heaven Ranking, only eighteen have accumulated over one million military merit points."
"In any case, accumulating thirty million merit points is nearly impossible."
Zhang Ruochen nodded slightly. Achieving the supreme extreme realm of the Heavenly Extreme Realm was indeed more difficult than eight hundred years ago.
Eight hundred years ago, one only needed to accumulate twenty million merit points to reach the supreme extreme realm of the Heavenly Extreme Realm.
However, the environment of the Ruins Realm battlefield was now much better than before.
It made sense for the Heaven Ranking to increase the difficulty of reaching the supreme extreme realm of the Heavenly Extreme Realm.
The Heaven Ranking's artifact spirit answered a few more questions from other students until no one had any further inquiries, then continued, "Before you head to the Five Elements Ruins Realm, you must each drip a drop of blood onto the true body of the Heaven Ranking. Through the power of your blood, I can observe every battle you fight in the Ruins Realm and record your military merit points on the Heaven Ranking."
The students of the Martial Market Academy walked over one by one, cutting their fingers and dripping a drop of blood onto the Heaven Ranking's jade stele. Afterward, the Heaven Ranking's artifact spirit sent them to the location of the third round of the assessment, the Five Elements Ruins Realm.
When it was Zhang Ruochen's turn, he frowned and hesitated for a moment, but ultimately opened his palm and condensed a small sword of true qi.
With a flick of his arm, the small sword of true qi cut the index finger of his left hand, and a drop of blood dripped onto the surface of the Heaven Ranking's jade stele.
"Whoosh!"
A flash of white light.
The blood was absorbed by the Heaven Ranking's jade stele, sinking into it and disappearing without a trace.