Chapter 511: First Is Me

In the cave, Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan stared blankly at Lu Ye.

After a long moment, Li Baxian finally asked, "Didn't you say there was someone else?"

"I thought so too, because in my own calculations, I didn't have that many hunting points. The first-ranked player had a thousand more hunting points than I had calculated. But just now, I observed that after I killed two cultivators at the fifth-level, the first-ranked player's hunting points increased by two hundred and forty..."

Earlier, five cultivators had besieged Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan. By the time Lu Ye arrived, one of them had already been killed by Li Baxian. Lu Ye ambushed the fifth-level formation master, then killed another fifth-level cultivator, taking down two enemies consecutively. Given his third-level cultivation, killing fifth-level cultivators (two levels higher) earned him 120 hunting points for each. The first-ranked player on the hunting leaderboard originally had 1550 hunting points. After Lu Ye killed the two fifth-level cultivators, this total became 1790 points, an increase of 240 points. Adding to this the fact that he hadn't found his own name among the top ninety ranks previously, Lu Ye could essentially conclude that the first-ranked player was himself. Otherwise, the numbers wouldn't have increased so coincidentally.

"The hunting points on the leaderboard are a full thousand points more than you calculated? Where did they come from?" Li Baxian asked, puzzled.

"After much thought, there's only one possibility." Saying this, Lu Ye took out the golden spirit token from his storage space: "It must be from this item! Inside the hunting ground, Heavenly Mystery selects one person each day and bestows a golden spirit token. Within twelve hours, this token cannot be used or stored away. Only after twelve hours can the token be truly possessed. I was chosen by Heavenly Mystery once before."

Li Baxian was curious about the source of the extra thousand hunting points, and Lu Ye was equally so. After much thought, this was the only plausible explanation. However, the information he bought from the Heavenly Mystery Alliance did not mention such a thing, so he couldn't be sure. Moreover, a full thousand hunting points seemed a bit too much.

"Let me ask," Feng Yuechan said, then began sending a message. While Li Baxian didn't have a good relationship with Danxin Sect cultivators, Feng Yuechan was different. Regardless of her background, appearance, physique, or talent, she was top-tier within the Danxin Sect. She had spent over a decade in the Spirit Creek Battlefield, sending off countless Danxin Sect cultivators. Now, many Cloud River Realm cultivators from Danxin Sect were active in the Cloud River Battlefield, including several at the eighth and ninth levels. These individuals should have more information about the hunting ground.

Soon after, Feng Yuechan finished her communication and said, "These spirit tokens bestowed by Heavenly Mystery can indeed grant hunting points to cultivators. Furthermore, when the time limit expires, the points gained are directly related to the holder's cultivation level and the duration of possession. The lower the cultivation level and the longer it's held, the more hunting points it grants!"

With Lu Ye's third-level cultivation, holding the token for the full twelve hours was something no one else in the entire Nine Provinces could have achieved besides him. Aside from other factors, the token would flare up every three hours, a total of four times, directly exposing his location and attracting swarms of cultivators. How could a third-level cultivator possibly keep the token in such an environment? It was precisely because he accomplished this nearly impossible feat that Lu Ye's hunting points suddenly increased by a full thousand, propelling him to first place on the hunting leaderboard and leaving the second-ranked player far behind.

The hunting ground had been open for two days. Before Lu Ye, another golden spirit token had been bestowed, but it had changed hands several times before finally being obtained by an eighth-level cultivator, who only held it for just over two hours and received 300 hunting points. At that time, Lu Ye was hiding in the cave, always ready to flee, and naturally knew nothing about this.

"Splendid," Li Baxian clapped his hands. Lu Ye had previously set up numerous teleportation formations, allowing him to teleport away immediately if things went wrong. Therefore, while the golden spirit token bestowed by Heavenly Mystery would certainly not be good for an ordinary third-level cultivator, it didn't have much impact on Lu Ye. These one thousand hunting points were essentially a free gift from Heavenly Mystery. At this point, Li Baxian gained a profound understanding of Lu Ye's fortune.

"Originally, as your junior brother, I was alone and focused primarily on self-preservation, thinking I'd just hide here until the hunting ground closed. But now it seems that the first place on the hunting leaderboard... isn't entirely out of reach to contend for!"

First place on the hunting leaderboard came with a Class-A Spring Spirit and nine golden spirit tokens. Who wouldn't be envious? Lu Ye was also envious. He had previously lost a Class-C Spirit Land, which wasn't a huge loss since the improvement it offered him wasn't significant, and it even imposed some restrictions. However, a Class-A Spirit Land would be different. Even if he didn't need it much, Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan certainly would, as would Ju Jia. With such a Spirit Land, they could cultivate within it, without having to rush around outside seeking various opportunities. Even if the cultivation speed wasn't as fast as using spirit tokens, possessing a Class-A Spirit Land offered stability.

Moreover, besides a Class-A Spring Spirit, there were also nine golden spirit tokens, which were precisely what Lu Ye urgently needed now. He indeed had quite a few spirit tokens on hand, but at most, they could only allow him to advance to the fourth level. Future cultivation would require even more tokens. Of course, the main reason he considered contending for the hunting leaderboard was the arrival of his fourth senior brother and Senior Sister Feng Yuechan. Neither of them were ordinary Cloud River Realm cultivators. At their current fourth-level cultivation, it was safe to say that fighting two levels above their own should not be an issue.

By teaming up with his fourth senior brother and Senior Sister Feng, if they could secure first place on the hunting leaderboard, the nine golden spirit tokens could be split among the three of them, giving each three tokens. This would allow him to make significant progress in his fourth-level cultivation, saving many days of arduous training.

Another point was that his cultivation was indeed low. Looking across the current hunting ground, there were likely few cultivators with lower cultivation than him. However, low cultivation was also an advantage! An advantage in gaining hunting points. Hunting points were directly linked to merit points, a one-to-one conversion. However, the hunting points gained from killing a fifth-level Cloud River Realm enemy were different if he killed them compared to if Li Baxian killed them.

So, while most of the strong cultivators on the current hunting leaderboard were at the eighth or ninth level, for every fifth-level cultivator Lu Ye killed, they would need to kill three fifth-level cultivators. If Lu Ye killed a sixth-level cultivator, they would need to kill four sixth-level cultivators to match the hunting points he gained. It was indeed easier for eighth and ninth-level strong cultivators to kill enemies, but Lu Ye gained hunting points at different multipliers when killing enemies. Both had their own advantages. Comparatively, Lu Ye's advantage was undoubtedly greater because he possessed the ability to defeat enemies of higher levels. With his current strength, ordinary fifth-level cultivators were no match for him. And with Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan, even sixth-level cultivators could be killed! As for seventh-level cultivators... they should avoid provoking them if possible. As for eighth and ninth-level cultivators, they were absolutely unbeatable; even with the three of them combined, they wouldn't be a match due to the immense cultivation gap. However, as long as proper precautions were taken, there would be a chance to escape even if they encountered such powerful individuals.

After realizing he was indeed first on the hunting leaderboard and his fourth senior brother and Feng Yuechan had reunited with him, Lu Ye's ambition was ignited. That being said, if they were to actually pursue it, caution was still paramount.

"Junior brother wants to contend for first place?" Li Baxian raised an eyebrow. However, upon careful consideration, it wasn't impossible. If there were absolutely no hope, that would be one thing. But currently, Lu Ye was first on the hunting leaderboard, and he had a significant lead over the second-ranked player. While he couldn't promise too much, as long as they maintained this trend until the hunting ground closed, it would be enough. With a thought, Li Baxian nodded and said, "Since junior brother has this idea, then your senior brother and Senior Sister Feng will lend you a hand!"

"Senior brother and Senior Sister Feng, please protect me first. I need to refine some formation flags."

Although he had just acquired dozens more formation flags, to stir up trouble in the hunting ground, they definitely needed enough. After all, all three of their cultivation levels were still relatively low. Only with enough formation flags could Lu Ye freely set up formations. Only by relying on the power of formations could he protect himself when encountering danger. The formations weren't for killing enemies, but simply to provide a retreat path. There were quite a few powerful eighth and ninth-level cultivators in this hunting ground, and who knew when they might encounter one.

There were still many materials left over from his previous purchases from the Heavenly Mystery Alliance, enough to refine several hundred formation flags. The only issue was that refining formation flags would generate spiritual energy fluctuations, making it easy to expose their location. To counter this, Lu Ye set up a concealment formation. This way, as long as they didn't create too much commotion, external cultivators wouldn't be able to detect them.

Time passed by little by little. Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan rested and recovered while remaining vigilant of their surroundings. Large quantities of materials were consumed as formation flags were continuously produced.

While he was refining formation flags, many strong cultivators on the hunting leaderboard were striking out in all directions, acquiring hunting points. Notably, Xia Liang, ranked second, hailed from the first-grade sect, Mad Saber Sect. He had ascended to the Cloud River Realm with 360 apertures and had made it into the top ten of the Spirit Creek Rankings during his time in the Spirit Creek Battlefield. His strength was among the very top in the entire hunting ground.

When the hunting leaderboard first appeared, he was initially suppressed by Lu Ye, but he quickly overtook him, firmly holding the first position and hunting Vast Heaven Alliance cultivators everywhere. However, Lu Ye suddenly came from behind, not only surpassing him but also leaving him hundreds of hunting points behind. This greatly vexed Xia Liang. If he had merely suspected that Lu Yiye was "that guy" from the Jadeblood Sect before, he could now be certain. The increase of a full thousand hunting points undoubtedly indicated that Lu Ye's cultivation was not high, which matched the intelligence he had received. However, he had no idea how Lu Ye managed to hold that special golden spirit token for a full twelve hours.

While hunting around, he was also searching for Lu Ye's whereabouts, but unfortunately, he found nothing. The hunting ground was neither too large nor too small, but without precise information, finding someone there was quite difficult. He didn't believe Lu Ye could contend with him for first place. A Cloud River Realm cultivator with low cultivation must be hiding somewhere, not daring to show his face. How could he dare to compete against him?

Indeed, this proved true. Over the course of a day and a night, Lu Ye's hunting points remained at 1790, while Xia Liang's had reached over 1600. He only needed to kill a few more people to reclaim first place.