Chapter 1406: Accumulated Points Ranking

The Rise of Nine Provinces

Especially those Constellations who came from top-tier realms didn't mind waiting a few extra years for a better future and greater benefits. Of course, many more Constellations were unable to advance to the Moon-Gleam realm, hoping to break through their bottlenecks with the final rewards from the Constellation Hall. Regardless, both types of individuals had reached the pinnacle of the Constellation realm and were among its strongest. The former, in particular, possessed strength far superior to that of an ordinary late-stage Constellation.

Cultivators face many hurdles throughout their lives. The first major one is opening Spirit Apertures. Only by opening a sufficient number of Spirit Apertures can one qualify to advance to the Cloud River realm and then aspire to higher cultivation. Otherwise, simply advancing to Cloud River will not lead to long-term progress. There aren't significant bottlenecks in the Cloud River or even True Lake realms. With sufficient cultivation and accumulated power, one's realm naturally progresses.

However, advancing from True Lake to Divine Sea presents another major hurdle, due to the birth of the Divine Sea. Not every True Lake cultivator can birth a Divine Sea. Those who are unable to do so, or to nurture a Divine Soul Spirit Body, will naturally find their progress stalled. Subsequently, the bottleneck from Divine Sea to Constellation is not inherently difficult. The challenge lies in competing for the opportunity. Each large realm has a limited number of Constellations that can emerge within a given period, with the exact number varying based on the realm's underlying strength and foundation.

In the Nine Provinces, for instance, the foundational strength is steadily increasing, making cultivation progressively simpler for cultivators. While the number of Divine Sea cultivators will undoubtedly grow, the available slots for advancing to Constellation remain limited, ensuring fierce competition among Divine Sea realm practitioners. However, advancing from Constellation to Moon-Gleam is yet another major hurdle, as it involves a fundamental transformation of spiritual power, directly linked to the cultivation foundation a cultivator has built.

Take the Azure Dawn Dao Realm, Tang Jun's home, as an example. Over three thousand years, they've produced a fair number of Constellations, yet to date, they've only had three Moon-Gleam cultivators in total. One, Qin Yuandai, was even killed by Lu Ye using a red talisman. With Tang Jun now stranded in the Myriad Forms Sea, only Wu Zhuo remains in the Azure Dawn Dao Realm. While the Azure Dawn Dao Realm's situation is unique, advancing from Constellation to Moon-Gleam is challenging regardless.

Lu Ye wasn't sure which type of person Wei Yijian was, but he surmised that Wei Yijian was likely one of those capable of advancing to Moon-Gleam but had deliberately held back. Facing such a formidable opponent, Lu Ye knew that relying solely on his standard techniques would not secure a victory, so he decisively unleashed his true abilities. In comparison, Wei Yijian's strength was significantly greater than Zhao Tianmu's.

The battle raged fiercely. Wei Yijian's profound techniques and powerful attacks inflicted considerable disadvantage upon Lu Ye. After more than half an hour, Wei Yijian voluntarily conceded and left. He was forced to maintain high-intensity bursts of power due to Lu Ye's close-quarters entanglement, and after a prolonged period, he found it difficult to sustain. Moreover, he sensed that even with ample spiritual power, he was no match for this "Fa Wuzun." He said nothing more, merely giving his opponent a deep look, as if to etch his appearance into memory.

Once Wei Yijian's figure dissipated, a ball of profound light descended from above. He activated his Talent Tree to refine it. As expected, the benefits gained remained unchanged; similar to battles against other late-stage Constellations, it amounted to refining twenty spirit jades. Defeating a mid-stage Constellation was equivalent to refining ten spirit jades, while defeating a late-stage one was twenty. However, the latter required significantly more time and effort, making it difficult to ascertain which scenario yielded greater overall benefits.

Returning to the hall, Lu Ye found a random spot and rested briefly. Here, whether meditating to heal or engaging in other activities, there was no fear of ambush, as everyone within the grand hall was under the protection of the Constellation Hall. Days passed, and the grand hall remained bustling. Some even set up stalls selling healing pills and spiritual recovery elixirs. While prices were naturally higher than usual, returning to the Myriad Forms Sea for purchases would involve travel and considerable time waste. It was said that Hall No. 88 was the liveliest, as many people had set up their stalls there. Even the Myriad Forms Merchant Association had a presence, allowing cultivators to arrange for deliveries of desired items. That hall had virtually become a dedicated trading hub for cultivators, with all those coming and going engaged in buying and selling.

After a brief rest, Lu Ye continued his journey. Although the Constellation Hall would remain open for a considerable period, the opportunity was rare, so it was only natural to cherish it. Over the next few days, Lu Ye constantly shuttled between various battlegrounds and the Constellation Hall, accumulating considerable rewards daily. One could say he had fought countless battles without a single defeat. The cultivators he encountered were mostly late-stage Constellations, with the majority being ordinary. Only a select few were like Wei Yijian; whenever he faced such opponents, Lu Ye was compelled to unleash his true abilities to secure a victory.

One battle could even be described as a Pyrrhic victory! The opponent in that particular battle was nearly as strong as Wei Yijian, but they possessed a spirit treasure with unpredictable and mysterious power. After the fight, Lu Ye was almost critically wounded. This experience served as a quiet reminder to him: while he might not be inferior to any Constellation in terms of pure strength, a cultivator's battle relies not only on personal power but also on unpredictable external factors. Spirit treasures, in particular, possess a variety of bizarre powers, and a single misstep could lead one straight into an opponent's trap. Having cultivated to the Constellation realm, who wouldn't possess a few suitable spirit treasures? Especially those from top-tier factions, whose spirit treasures often wielded immense power.

However, after numerous battles, Lu Ye also realized that even at the same cultivation level, there could be vast differences in strength among cultivators. Some individuals, despite impressive cultivation, lacked battle experience and thus appeared vulnerable.

Half a month after the Constellation Hall opened, when Lu Ye returned from another battle, he was surprised to find a crowd gathered around the Accumulation Board in the hall, observing it intently. Lu Ye looked up and suddenly understood. The Accumulation Board had changed. All this time, it had been a blank black stele, but everyone knew that names would eventually be recorded on it; the time simply hadn't arrived yet. Until today, when they finally appeared.

A voice exclaimed, "What's going on with these people? How can their accumulated scores be so high? I don't even have a fraction of theirs." Someone replied, "These individuals have extraordinary backgrounds, and their cultivation in the Constellation realm has reached perfection. They don't need to refine profound light, only to battle, which naturally saves them time." This speculation was well-founded and undeniably convincing, as the time cultivators spent in the Constellation Hall could be divided into three categories. One category was the time spent battling others, another was the time spent refining profound light, and the third was time for recovery and healing. In comparison, refining profound light took a considerable amount of time, easily several hours. Constellations like Wei Yijian, who could easily advance to Moon-Gleam, had little need to refine profound light. At most, they might casually refine some after a major battle to recover expended spiritual power. This naturally saved them significant time, enabling them to participate in more battles and accumulate more points.

On the Accumulation Board, the top ten scores had all exceeded three hundred, with the highest even approaching the four hundred mark. In other words, in this half-month period, his accumulated score directly corresponded to the number of battles he had won. Below the top ten, within the top twenty, scores hovered around three hundred with little variation. Only beyond the top hundred did the accumulated scores begin to fluctuate. Lu Ye looked up and searched for his name on the Accumulation Board, quickly finding "Fa Wuzun." He was tied for fifteenth place with two other people!

This was within his expectations. He didn't believe that his Talent Tree advantage alone guaranteed him first place. As the previous person mentioned, many cultivators didn't need to refine profound light. No matter how quickly he refined it, it still consumed some time. Others, by saving this time and accumulating it, naturally participated in more battles than him, thus undoubtedly gaining more points. He had never underestimated others. The Accumulation Board recorded not only cultivators' names and scores but also their win rates. For now, the win rates of the top hundred cultivators were almost all perfect. Only Wei Yijian and a few other names Lu Ye found familiar showed 99%, which was quite conspicuous. Unsurprisingly, their win rates had been lowered by Lu Ye.

As he observed, names on the Accumulation Board constantly flickered and shifted. Some rose, some fell, and some completely dropped off the list. At least a million, perhaps more, Constellations participated in this grand event, yet the Accumulation Board only recorded a thousand names. Therefore, cultivators outside the top thousand could not be listed on the Accumulation Board. Currently ranked fifteenth, Lu Ye had already dropped to seventeenth during his brief observation. He was not in a hurry; it was only the beginning. The Constellation Hall would remain open for some time, and the true competition for rankings would only begin at the very end. According to the Constellation Hall's rules, before the final stage arrived, he didn't even need to maintain a very high ranking; merely keeping his name on the Accumulation Board would suffice. So whether he fought more or less now would not significantly impact the final ranking. However, since every victory yielded benefits, it was naturally better to fight as much as possible.

After a brief rest, Lu Ye turned and stepped into a nearby portal. As usual, a piece of information appeared in his mind. After a quick check, Lu Ye was slightly surprised. For half a month, he had been constantly fighting in arenas; this time, he finally encountered something different. When his vision returned, Lu Ye found himself on a barren planet. The environment wasn't particularly harsh, but it was devoid of life, and all he could see was desolation. There was no one around. He extended his divine sense and, after a thorough search, found no valuable information. A sudden, lively voice, however, echoed in his mind: "Where is everyone? Shall we find a place to gather?"