Translator: CinderTL
"Follow me to battle at Two Realms Mountain..."
Li Chunjun pondered slightly.
There are advantages to having more people.
It would make it easier to search for Divine Spirits.
When encountering multiple Divine Spirits, there would also be people to help contain them, preventing them from scattering in chaos.
However, with more people, the target also becomes larger, making it easier to attract the attention of large-scale enemies.
But...
He glanced at Zhao Yu Pan.
This Great True Lord was proficient in Array Formations and Thunder Methods, and his Mystical Powers were grand and imposing, making him suitable to attract firepower at the front.
While he drew the fire, Li Chunjun could launch a surprise attack with his Great Void Destruction Sword Intent...
Even against an Apex Divine Spirit, he could often ensure a one-hit kill.
This would undoubtedly accelerate the efficiency of his life level enhancement.
At this moment, Li Chunjun's gaze returned to him: "There's no need for too many people. The entire Two Realms Mountain consists of thousands of continents and islands, but the human side has only deployed a total of 36,000 Nascent Soul True Lords this time."
He said calmly, "An excessive concentration of Nascent Soul cultivators would inevitably lead to emptiness in other areas. The final outcome of the Two Realms Mountain battlefield is not determined by one or two continents but by the overall occupied area. No matter how powerful a team is, even if they clear one continent a day, they can only sweep through about 300 continents in a year."
"So, Sword Prodigy Li means..."
"Having too much Nascent Soul power concentrated is not a good thing. A few people accompanying me will suffice."
As Li Chunjun spoke, he glanced at Zhao Yu Pan: "In the previous battle, my cooperation with True Lord Zhao was quite good. If True Lord Zhao is willing to accompany me, I naturally welcome it."
Then he scanned the others.
Immediately, whether they were Mid-stage Nascent Soul Adepts or Early-stage Nascent Soul Cultivators, all perked up.
They strived to present their best demeanor in front of Li Chunjun, hoping to be chosen by him.
Everyone knew that if they could join the team of a Nascent Soul Sword Master, it would not only mean an easy win but also ensure they would reap substantial rewards, even if they only got a small share.
However, Li Chunjun preferred quality over quantity.
He selected True Lord Yuanhai and True Lord Zhi Yuan, whom he was familiar with and who had good character.
True Lord Yuanhai was chosen because of his considerable strength.
He was the strongest Mid-stage Nascent Soul Adept among the group.
As for True Lord Zhi Yuan...
Having lived for 800 years, he had extensive knowledge and had participated in three battles at Two Realms Mountain, making him highly experienced.
Li Chunjun needed to obtain information from him, as well as details about the Azure Sea Domain and even the Profound Yellow Great World.
After selecting these two, he turned his gaze to another Mid-stage Nascent Soul Adept.
This True Lord Liu Feng had demonstrated exceptionally refined Wind Manipulation Divine Power, with speed that was no less than that of Si Xiang Zhen Ren, who possessed the "Chasing Light" Mystical Power.
He would be perfect for reconnaissance.
At this moment, Li Chunjun asked, "True Lord Liu Feng, would you be willing to accompany us?"
True Lord Liu Feng immediately looked delighted: "I would be honored to serve Sword Prodigy Li!"
Li Chunjun nodded: "Let's settle it like this for now."
The other Nascent Soul True Lords who were not selected felt a pang of regret.
But they understood Li Chunjun's choice.
The key to an army lies in its quality, not its quantity.
Moreover, the environment of Two Realms Mountain was indeed not suitable for too many Nascent Soul cultivators to gather. They could only blame themselves for their insufficient cultivation and lack of unique skills.
"Meeting is fate. The battle at Two Realms Mountain has just begun, and there will be more opportunities to fight side by side in the future. There's no need for everyone to be disheartened."
Zhao Yu Pan smiled and spoke.
Upon hearing this, the others felt slightly more invigorated.
Some mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators stepped forward and asked, "Sword Prodigy Li, would we be fortunate enough to leave our Jade Talisman Imprints in your Message Jade Talisman?"
"Why not?"
Li Chunjun immediately took out his Message Jade Talisman.
By leaving their Jade Talisman Imprints, they could communicate with him. This way, if they encountered danger, they could naturally seek his assistance.
The dangers they faced would undoubtedly be Greater Divine Spirits or even Apex Divine Spirits. Each encounter would be both an experience and a merit.
Of course, due to the unique environment of the Two Realms Mountain, messages could easily be disrupted by chaotic spatial forces. Even if they could send a message, it would often be confined to a specific area.
If the distance was too great, the message might not be effective.
Seeing that Li Chunjun, the "Sword Prodigy," was so approachable, the remaining Nascent Soul cultivators stepped forward one after another, leaving their Jade Talisman Imprints in his Message Jade Talisman.
After a while of bustling activity, the Nascent Soul cultivators gradually dispersed.
Only Zhao Yu Pan, Yuan Hai, Liu Feng, and Zhi Yuan remained.
"Sword Prodigy, the Two Realms Mountain has tens of thousands of large and small continents and islands. Due to the constant merging and splitting of these islands and continents during the overlapping process, the exact number cannot be calculated. However, the most significant ones are these 133 continents, spanning tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of miles. I have marked these continents..."
True Lord Zhi Yuan immediately took on his role.
Li Chunjun glanced at them.
There were nine continents spanning over a hundred thousand miles.
The largest one spanned three hundred thousand miles.
True Lord Zhi Yuan noticed Li Chunjun's gaze and explained further, "Occupying these continents spanning over a hundred thousand miles may not guarantee victory, but it can increase the probability of success by ten to twenty percent. If we can repeatedly sweep through these 133 continents, we can increase the success rate by forty to fifty percent."
Li Chunjun was about to head to the human race's main base. Unless he took a detour, he would not pass through any of the nine continents spanning over a hundred thousand miles.
At that moment, he drew a line.
He only included six of the continents.
"Let's return first, replenish our supplies, and then come back in the best condition to conquer these nine continents."
"Yes."
Everyone agreed without objection.
However, just as they were about to set off, True Lord Yuan Hai suddenly exclaimed, "The merit ranking has been updated."
Upon hearing his words, everyone realized that another day had passed.
All eyes immediately turned to the ranking list. Unlike the previous day when Li Chunjun's ranking was buried beyond the top 100, this time...
He had directly soared to the top!
-
Li Chunjun, 21,951 merits.
-
Chu Ci, 10,284 merits.
-
Xu Yu, 6,959 merits.
-
Xuan Zhu, 6,561 merits.
-
Xuan Yuan Jian: 6,483 merits.
-
Pu Shi An: 6,333 merits.
...
A clear class divide.
A very clear class divide.
Li Chunjun's name stood at the top of the list with an indisputable advantage, more than doubling the merits of the previous top-ranked Chu Ci.
Chu Ci, in second place, had also surpassed the ten-thousand merit mark.
Behind them was a group with around six thousand merits.
There might be slight differences, but the merit gap was hard to widen.
It was clear that their strength belonged to the same tier.
The distinction between superiority and inferiority does not lie in who is stronger, but rather in who is fortunate enough to encounter Divine Spirits or Servitors that can be slain.
However, at this moment, discussing those ranked second and below has become meaningless.
After clearly seeing this ranking list, the newly joined Liu Feng and Zhao Yu Pan were both left dumbfounded.
After a while, they simultaneously turned their gaze to Li Chunjun.
"21,951 merits!?"
"How... how was this achieved?"
A sense of surrealism filled their minds.
They remembered that when the ranking was updated yesterday, Li Chunjun was still in the 211th position with 4,191 merits. Yet, just one day later, his ranking had skyrocketed to first place, and his merits had surged to over twenty thousand!?
Could it be that in this short span of a day, he had slain dozens of Divine Spirits or thousands of Servitors!? "Sword Prodigy Li, these merits of yours..."
"In this great battle, I took down two Apex Divine Spirits, along with over six thousand other Divine Spirits. Additionally, when I joined forces with True Lord Yuanhai earlier, I slew several more Divine Spirits. Naturally, my merits increased," Li Chunjun explained.
"Even twenty or thirty Divine Spirits... couldn't reach this number," Zhao Yu Pan calculated.
No matter how he calculated, he couldn't make twenty or thirty Divine Spirits add up to seventeen thousand merits.
"Could it be that Sword Prodigy Li previously killed Apex Divine Spirits?" True Lord Liu Feng suggested.
"Not exactly," Li Chunjun replied. "Among the Divine Spirits I slew, there was one Divine Spirit Envoy, which directly added 10,000 minor merits to my tally."
Divine Spirit Envoy? 10,000 minor merits?
Zhao Yu Pan and True Lord Liu Feng were momentarily stunned.
But then, as if they suddenly realized the significance of the words "Divine Spirit Envoy," their pupils contracted sharply.
True Lord Liu Feng couldn't help but exclaim in shock, "A Divine Spirit Envoy!?"
He looked at Li Chunjun in disbelief. "Sword Prodigy, are you saying... that within the Divine Race's hierarchy of Divine Spirits, a Divine Spirit Envoy holds a status comparable to our human race's 'Prodigies'!?"
"Correct," Li Chunjun nodded. "Otherwise, how could I have gained 10,000 minor merits?"
At this moment, Zhao Yu Pan suddenly recalled something.
Not long ago, when he was trapped in an Array Formation by two Apex Divine Spirits and dozens of Common Divine Spirits, he had felt something was amiss.
As a Perfected Great Lord of the Late Nascent Soul Stage, even if he had to fight desperately to break through, the combined forces of two Apex Divine Spirits and dozens of Common Divine Spirits might not have been enough to stop him.
Even if they could, they would have paid an extremely heavy price.
Yet, those Divine Spirits had done just that.
At the time, he had speculated that the Divine Race must have had some hidden trump card, something capable of killing a Great True Lord like him.
Now it seemed...
The Divine Spirit Envoy! The trump card of those Divine Spirits was a Divine Spirit Envoy!
If he had been completely surrounded by numerous Divine Spirits and a Divine Spirit Envoy had joined the fray, his fate would have been certain death.
Fortunately, Li Chunjun had arrived in time to aid him, and on the way, he had slain this Divine Spirit Envoy, thus saving the lives of Zhao Yu Pan and two other Mid-Nascent Soul cultivators!
"A Divine Spirit Envoy... Sword Prodigy Li, you truly slew a Divine Spirit Envoy! An envoy of the Evil God, comparable in status to our 'Prodigies'!?"
Zhao Yu Pan took a deep breath.
Previously, they had also referred to Li Chunjun as Sword Prodigy Li, but this title was more of a respectful honorific.
Since the Divine Spirits themselves called him "Sword Prodigy," they naturally had no issue using this title as well.
In his mind, he had always considered Li Chunjun to be a talented Nascent Soul cultivator with the potential to vie for the title of "Sword Prodigy."
Perhaps, once the great battle at Two Realms Mountain concluded, Li Chunjun could leverage the abundant resources gained to achieve a qualitative leap in his foundation and truly step into the ranks of the "Sword Prodigy."
His so-called "following" was more akin to a powerful alliance.
It was just that Li Chunjun would take the lead, while he would play a supporting role.
But now, it seemed...
Li Chunjun had actually slain a Divine Spirit Envoy!
Not only had he indirectly saved his life, but he also truly possessed the strength of a "Prodigy," making him a genuine Sword Prodigy! Instantly, an unprecedented sense of joy surged in his heart.
This Perfected Great Lord of the Late Nascent Soul Stage couldn't help but praise from the depths of his heart: "The top of the merit list! To be able to travel alongside Sword Prodigy Li is truly the greatest fortune I, Zhao Yu Pan, have encountered since entering Two Realms Mountain!"
(End of the Chapter)
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