404 The Heaven Board

An 874-meter-tall stone figure of a beautiful woman in an imperial robe stood atop the Chaotic Millionverse Mountain. The figure had one of her hands resting on the hilt of a huge sword, her eyes gazing at the infinite sky.

Though it was only a statue of Empress Chi Yao, people felt that the stone figure seemed to contain some kind of soul. Warriors passing the stone figure couldn't help feeling fearful.

So it was no surprise that when the students of the School of the Martial Market arrived at the mountain, they immediately kowtowed at the stone figure as if worshipping a god.

Zhang Ruochen stared at that stone figure. When he met the eyes of the stone figure, he felt shocked as if a person had seen through him at a glance.

He felt as if he could hide no secrets.

"How incredible. It's terrifying just to see a stone figure of her. I wonder what realm Chi Yao's cultivation has reached after 800 years?"

One could build a personal Divine Temple after achieving the status of Half-Saint and worship stone body, mud body, and golden body.

The Half-Saint will automatically leave a trace of the Divine Soul in the temple and absorb the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi around it.

Since Chi Yao had placed her stone figure here, she must have left a trace of her Divine Soul to absorb the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi in Chaotic Millionverse Mountain.

She could use the Divine Soul to secretly keep an eye on the Primitive Worlds at the same time.

She would find out the instant anything major happened in any of the Primitive Worlds.

Her stone figure wore a crown, with a golden Wheel Disc in the center.

The center of the Wheel Disc was emanating a red light. It was as if a ball of fire was burning inside.

Zhang Ruochen felt great spatial fluctuations coming from the Wheel Disc.

The world seemed to rotate slowly alongside the Wheel Disc.

"That's… the Space Treasure of the legends, the Holy Wheel Seal."

There were only a handful of space treasures that had been preserved in Kunlun's Field. Each one was an incredible Holy Weapon.

The Holy Wheel Seal was one of them.

The mountain was apparently supported by the space power of the Holy Wheel Seal.

Furthermore, the seal was also the reason for the passages in the Chaotic Millionverse Mountain that led to each of the major Primitive Worlds.

The seal was a true Space Treasure. The power it had could assimilate as well as destroy a Small World.

The Spatial Ring that Zhang Ruochen made could only be considered the most basic and lowest-level of Space Treasures. It couldn't be compared to the Holy Wheel Seal at all.

The seal was refined by Saint Monk Xumi. According to the records of The Mystery of Time and Space, the seal also has its own internal space. Only a warrior who cultivated space-time power could open the internal space.

The ratio of the internal space of the seal to the outside world was 30 to 1.

If one were to practice in the internal space of the seal for a month, only one day would have passed in the external world.

Zhang Ruochen, of course, was interested in getting the seal. Only he could use the true power of the seal.

However, he also knew that he had no chance of getting close to the seal just relying on his current strength. He could only make a plan after working hard to raise his cultivation.

The ships stopped after entering the Chaotic Millionverse Mountain.

More than 35,000 students got off the ships and stood under a giant monument.

The giant monument, 676 meters tall, was a milky white color. It was like an inscription carved out of a giant piece of jade stone.

It was another incredible Holy Weapon.

There was no need for the Half-Saint of the School of the Martial Market to introduce it. Everyone had already seen the stone table on the top with two large words carved on it, "Heaven Board".

This piece of Jade Tablet was the Heaven Board.

The Jade Tablet listed the names of every warrior in the Heaven Realm, with numbers behind the names.

Huang Shenyi was in the first place on the Heaven Board.

Behind his name was a series of figures, 6,786,000 military merits.

Hua Li was in the second place.

Behind his name was also a series of figures, 2,463,401 military merits.

Some of the students were doubtful, "How could military merits appear on the Heaven Board?"

SWOOSH!

Just then, a white light descended from heaven.

The white light dissipated, leaving a white-haired, Beard Elder in a purple robe in its place. He stood on a patch of white clouds and hovered in the air. Spiritual Qi emanated from his body.

The white-haired elder's voice was powerful and traveled clearly to the ears of every student present. "I'm the Vessel Spirit of the Heaven Board. Now, the Jade Tablet before you is the true body of the Heaven Board. Over the next month, you'll pass the third round of the examination as long as you accumulate 100 military merits."

The Vessel Spirit had just finished talking when the students began discussing among themselves in whispers.

"The third round of the examination is so simple. Do we even need a month to collect a mere 100 military merits?"

"It's only 100 military merits! Isn't this too easy?"

...

The Vessel Spirit waved his hand, forming strands of white light haze in front of him. The white mist converged to form rows of text.

It was an introduction to the military merits.

The first line read, "Kill 10 indigens of Primitive World at the Completion of the Earth Realm or one at the Initial Stage in the Heaven Realm to gain 1 military merit point."

When they saw the first line, the students who had thought the third round would be simple suddenly stopped smiling. Some even held their breath as they began making calculations.

If they wanted to accumulate 100 military merits, didn't that mean they had to kill 1,000 indigens of Primitive World at the Completion of the Earth Realm, or 100 at the Initial Stage of the Heaven Realm?

That was too difficult!

The second line read, "Kill an indigen of Primitive World at the Mid Stage of the Heaven Realm to gain the two military merits."

The second line read, "Kill an indigen of Primitive World at the Advanced Stage of the Heaven Realm to gain the five military merits."

The fourth line read, "Kill an indigen of Primitive World at the Dawn State in the Heaven Realm to gain 10 military merits."

The fifth line read, "Kill an indigen of Primitive World at the Medium State in the Heaven Realm to gain 20 military merits."

The sixth line read, "Kill an indigen of Primitive World at the Final State in the Heaven Realm to gain 50 military merits."

The seventh line read, "Kill an indigen of Primitive World at the Completion of the Heaven Realm to gain 100 military merits."

The students finally let out a small breath after reading the first seven lines.

One could accumulate 100 military merits in one go by killing an indigen of Primitive World at the Completion of the Heaven Realm.

Otherwise, one month wouldn't be enough if one were to kill indigens of Primitive World at the Completion of the Earth Realm or at the Initial Stage of the Heaven Realm.

Of course, it wasn't very difficult for students in the higher realms. They could easily complete the third round as long as they could survive in the Primitive World for a month.

However, the students in lower realms were wearing grave expressions. They felt a tremendous pressure. They could accumulate enough military merits only if they continuously work hard in killing the indigens.

The Vessel Spirit smiled. "You may ask me if you have any questions."

A plump student bowed at the Vessel Spirit and asked in a clear voice, "Your Excellency, how many merits do we need to be able to leave our names on the Heaven Board?"

"10,000 merits."

The students were shocked to hear the number.

Indeed, it wasn't easy to become a warrior on the Heaven Board. Given their current power, it would still be difficult to accumulate 10,000 military merits even if they spend a long time killing enemies in the Battlefield of Primitive World.

They had a greater possibility of dying there.

Zhang Ruochen asked in a clear voice, "It's said that if we accumulate a certain amount of points, we can attract the Chord of Gods and reach the Ultimate Realm of the Heaven Realm. How many merits do we need for that?"

The Vessel Spirit nodded. "The true body of the Heaven Board is actually a huge altar, where the killed indigens will become oblations to the gods. As long as enough indigens die, one could indeed communicate with the gods and invite the Chord of Guards to receive blessing and reach the legendary Ultimate Realm."

"Since it's the the Ultimate Realm, naturally not everyone will be able to do it. It's difficult beyond your imagination. You'll need 30 million military merits to be able to reach the Ultimate Realm."

"In the past 500 years, only five people among Heaven Realm warriors managed to accumulate 10 million military merits. They were basically rare talents that appear only once in a century."

"There are only 18 people who have accumulated one million military merits on the Heaven Board right now."

"No matter how you put it, it's almost impossible to accumulate 30 million military merits."

Zhang Ruochen gently nodded. It was indeed much more difficult to reach the Ultimate Realm of the Heaven Realm now compared to 800 years ago.

800 years ago, only 20 million merits were needed.

However, the current environment of the Battlefield of Primitive World was much better than before.

It was reasonable that the Heaven Board would raise the level of difficulty for warriors to reach the realm.

The Vessel Spirit also answered questions from other students. When he was done answering, he continued, "You need to put a drop of blood on the true body of the Heaven Board before entering the Five Elements Primitive World. Through the power of the blood, I can see your every battle outcome in the Primitive World and record your military merits in the Heaven Board."

The students passed by the tablet in order. They cut their fingers and left a drop of blood on the tablet. They were then sent to the third location of the examination by the Vessel Spirit.

Zhang Ruochen frowned when it was his turn and hesitated. In the end, he opened his palm and produced a small Genuine Qi sword.

He gently swung his arm and allowed the sword to slice open his index finger. He let a drop of blood fall on the Jade Tablet.

SWOOSH!

A white light flashed.

The blood sank in the Jade Tablet and disappeared.