"Are you looking for me?"

The towering figure, as majestic as the Great Sun, spoke calmly. This was the last sentence Ling Jue heard before he lost consciousness. In the next instant, he felt a silver ghost swoop down on him, and then his head felt as if it was being torn apart, and in a flash, he lost all awareness.

"Has it already been ten days..."

"Then it’s time to leave."

Down below, Chi Jia swallowed hard at this sight. It had only been a few days since they last met, and this human’s strength had become even more unfathomable.

The human just now was not weaker than itself, perhaps even slightly stronger than Chi Jia, yet in front of this monster, he was utterly vulnerable, subdued effortlessly.

To subdue so easily meant that if this person wished, he could destroy beings like Chi Jia with a mere thought.

Su Mu didn’t know Ling Jue, but he wouldn’t kill. At the moment, it was merely a competition; the General Stars who entered here were all colleagues from the War Zone. He just used the Desolate Thought to make Ling Jue fall unconscious.

Just as Su Mu was pondering leaving the Ancient Battlefield, he suddenly remembered something, causing him to look down immediately.

Instantly, Chi Jia on the ground trembled violently, its whole body prostrating on the ground.

"I said you would guard the door for me these days, and afterward I would return your freedom."

"Now, I return your freedom."

With a thought from Su Mu, a terrifying Blade Qi erupted from Chi Jia’s body into the sky, while a silver light orb shot back into Su Mu’s hand, merging into the Desolate Thought behind him.

Upon realizing that the two seals within it had indeed disappeared, Chi Jia was left stunned. This human was completely different from what it had encountered before; he actually kept his promise!

Just as Su Mu was about to leave with Ling Jue in hand.

Chi Jia’s expression flickered with hesitation, then resolved, it raised its head slightly to watch Su Mu’s departing figure. Chi Jia was well aware that if it missed this chance, it might never encounter such an opportunity again.

Swiftly, Su Mu’s figure transformed into a stream of light in the sky, pausing slightly as he sensed a spiritual message from below.

"Great strong one, I, Chi Jia, beg to become your follower."

But Su Mu’s form only paused briefly before disappearing into the firmament.

Chi Jia’s expression on the ground turned utterly despondent for a moment, but then it became ecstatic.

"Next time we meet, I’ll give you a chance."

...

The clam sea surface suddenly stirred, and a powerful aura broke through the sea among waves several meters high.

"The ten days are up, the General Stars have returned!"

After the first figure leaped out of the sea, more and more General Stars from the competition returned from the deep sea, each agile as a dragon.

Soon, cheers erupted over the bay.

A tall and valiant woman wielding a Purple Thunder spear leaped from the sea, her aura of slaughter overwhelming.

"Ancient You, the number one of the Eastern War Zone, has returned!"

"Ancient You’s achievements have surpassed a hundred million again, reaching nearly three billion! If it were in previous years, she would have a great chance of taking first place, but unfortunately, she encountered Ling Jue!"

Upon hearing this, Ancient You’s beautiful eyes held a trace of helplessness as she looked towards the achievement leaderboard projected by the Central Battleship. The list was finalized; there were no more opportunities to gain achievements by hunting Fierce Beasts.

Her eyes landed on the first line.

[Central War Zone 001, Ling Jue, Achievements: One billion three hundred forty-five million two hundred eighty thousand!]

One billion achievements!

Ancient You couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. She barely approached three hundred million achievements this time, not even a fraction of Ling Jue’s accomplishments. This guy had surpassed her by a full billion achievements.

Even the top ten, excluding herself, when combined, were several billion achievements short of Ling Jue.

"He’s truly a frightening guy."

For a moment, Ancient You felt a bit dejected.

"Ancient You, you are the pride of our Eastern War Zone’s new generation. You have done well... It’s just that Ling Jue is too much of a Demon; you don’t need to compare yourself to him." An Eastern War Zone general consoled her.

But Ancient You’s mood remained low; not needing to compare to Ling Jue also meant that she, Ancient You, was not on the same level as Ling Jue.

Yet at that moment, certain discussions shifted Ancient You’s attention, sparking her interest.

"The top ten are all monsters; even the tenth place is nearly breaking a hundred million!"

"This year’s monsters are many, especially Ling Jue. Is this guy even human?"

One of the General Stars participating in the competition couldn’t help but grumble, breaking a hundred million was no easy feat, yet this time someone surpassed a billion.

However, soon someone else exclaimed in surprise.

"Huh, how is there someone with just a million achievements?"

"A million achievements? You must be mistaken, how could anyone have only a million achievements? Those able to compete shouldn’t be less than ten million, right?"

"I’m not wrong, take a look for yourself."

"Wow, it’s true, Southern War Zone 020, Su Mu? Wait... isn’t this guy the one who climbed first back then?"

"What a strange person, I remember he didn’t hunt any Sea Beast when he first climbed, so I bet he didn’t hunt any Fierce Beast in the Ancient Battlefield either. What was he doing all this time? Could he have been sleeping for ten days straight?"

Soon, the only outlier with a million achievements on the leaderboard became the subject of much debate among the General Stars, discussions spreading rapidly, soon encompassing all the soldiers at the bay.

When Su Mu was mentioned, everyone had a peculiar expression; he might just be the first to slack off like this in such a major competition.

"This Su Mu is really interesting. However, being able to avoid all Fierce Beasts in the deep sea and the Ancient Battlefield is actually a skill. He must have some level of strength, though his temperament is a bit peculiar."

Ancient You couldn’t help but chuckle as he looked at the million merit points.

The bay was filled with a joyful atmosphere, but on the Central Battleship,

the mood was somewhat peculiar...

The faces of the Battle Zone Generals from the Southern War Zone were somewhat gloomy.

Yue Jun and Qian Xuemin clenched their fists behind their backs silently.

Su Mu could kill the Phantom Demon, rise to the top of Junlin Pavilion, and cause chaos at the grand feast of the Ye Family. This level of strength is undeniable. Yue Jun and Qian Xuemin even doubted whether the two of them could match Su Mu.

However, with such terrifying strength, they were hoping Su Mu would bring some pride to the Southern War Zone, giving the other four War Zones a little shock...

But unexpectedly, this young rascal pulled off such a good show for them.

He directly ended up in last place, and those merit points were clearly the reward for reaching the summit first, not a cent missing, which means Su Mu didn’t kill a single Fierce Beast during the ten-day grand competition.

For a moment, the generals of the Southern War Zone felt extremely deflated, like punching cotton, that sense of powerlessness.

Having absolute strength, the one they had high hopes for, didn’t even aim for the top one in this segment of merit points, at least should be in the top three, right?

What’s with this last place?

Feeling the strange gazes from the other War Zone Generals, even Yue Jun and Qian Xuemin couldn’t maintain their dignity.

"Not killing is actually a skill too. You Southern War Zone folks have indeed produced someone remarkable." At this moment, a general from the Central War Zone suddenly remarked.

A General Star who doesn’t kill!

Upon hearing this title, the faces of the Southern War Zone Generals turned even graver.

Yet soon, everyone’s attention was diverted again, because the military competition is traditionally divided into two segments: First, hunting Fierce Beasts and Alien Races; second, the grand martial arts display.

In past competitions, during the Fierce Beast hunting, the Generals Stars seldom engaged in mutual attacks, and hunting Fierce Beasts is partially affected by luck,

but not the grand martial arts display. The grand martial arts display will be on ten pre-built alloy martial stages where they engage in combat.

The victor can seize half of the opponent’s merit points, hence some also call it the Merit Grab Battle.

The midday sun spilled over the sea, shimmering with golden light, as one General Star after another leaped out of the Golden Light, yet the top-ranked Ling Jue was nowhere to be seen.

"Huh, why hasn’t Ling Jue come out yet?"

"Yeah, he’s the only one left, right? Surely nothing unexpected has happened to him?"

"Ling Jue encountering an accident? How could that be possible?"

"No, besides Ling Jue, it seems there’s another person who hasn’t appeared yet..." someone mumbled at this point, but everyone’s attention was on Ling Jue, not paying heed to those words.

On the Central Battleship, an elder from the Military Department slightly furrowed his brows; by Ling Jue’s strength, he should have emerged already.

"Get me the real-time footage from the underwater cameras..."

And right at this moment,

the long-determined merit leaderboard erupted in brilliance, as all eyes watched...

They saw that the name that had dominated the top of the leaderboard suddenly began to plummet.

"Ling Jue’s rank is dropping? How is this possible?!"

"Look quickly, his merit points are dropping too!"

Someone couldn’t help but exclaim.

Yet, this was only just the beginning.

"Dropping, it’s all dropping, Ancient You and others, everyone’s ranks are falling, but their merit points haven’t changed. What’s going on? Could the merit leaderboard be malfunctioning?"

Under the gaze of thousands of soldiers, everyone’s rank on the leaderboard was plummeting, and soon enough, someone noticed a name beginning to rise like a dark horse, overtaking one General Star after another like a rocket.

"Quick, look, Su Mu’s rank is still rising!"

At the same time, everyone also saw that Ling Jue’s merit points continued to plummet, with a string of numbers jumping endlessly, finally settling at 672,640,000!

Simultaneously, Su Mu’s name skyrocketed, unstoppable, straight to the Nine Heavens, ultimately completing an unimaginable turn of events, directly surpassing Ling Jue to ascend to the top of the merit leaderboard!

[Southern War Zone 020, Su Mu, Merit Points: 673,640,000!]

Su Mu’s merit points astonishingly rested at 673,640,000?!

In an instant, the entire Shenjiang Bay fell into an eerie silence, with only the wind’s wailing over the sea, as countless soldiers suddenly stood up on the deck.

One by one, they couldn’t believe their eyes, even the soldiers from the Southern War Zone were incredulous.

Because the merit points were just too coincidental!

So coincidental that everyone started doubting their own eyes.

Ling Jue’s merit points ultimately settled at 672,640,000.

And Su Mu’s merit points ideally jumped to 673,640,000.

Between the two...

Not more, not less, exactly a difference of one million!