Chapter 534: The Secret of "The Sword Heart's Fall"

Jiang Fan laughed heartily.

He waved his hand and said, "I don't want to learn it. I just want to know where you learned this technique."

This sword technique was terrifyingly powerful. Jiang Fan was indeed very tempted. However, this was Liu Qingxian's unique sword art. It would be best if she practiced it alone and didn't teach it to anyone, to prevent it from being leaked and potentially deciphered. He was concerned about the origin of the sword technique, wondering if there might be hidden dangers.

Liu Qingxian, holding nothing back from Jiang Fan, whispered, "I learned it in a dream."

In a dream? Jiang Fan was astonished. How could one learn such an astonishing sword technique in a dream?

Liu Qingxian continued, "Didn't I freeze and pass out that day? While I was on the brink of death, I dreamed of a one-armed old man practicing swordsmanship. The first few moves he performed were identical to the legendary 'Sword Heart Meteor Engraving' that you mentioned. But there were several more moves afterward. It seemed to be part of the same lineage as 'Sword Heart Meteor Engraving.' I only remembered one move: 'Origin of All Things.' If it were you, Xiaofan, with your talent, perhaps you would have learned them all."

A dream on the brink of death? A one-armed old man practicing swordsmanship? After 'Sword Heart Meteor Engraving,' there's an even stronger sword art inheritance? This was a lot of information. It seemed that 'Sword Heart Meteor Engraving,' which was originally deciphered from the meteorite, was not simple after all.

However, what left Jiang Fan speechless was this: to learn the subsequent sword techniques, it seemed one had to be "on the brink of death to enter a dream" for it to be triggered. Such a condition was too demanding. Being on the brink of death implied a slow demise. In normal combat, most injuries were fatal, and enemies would never give you the chance to dream while dying. Take the Mount Realm War, for example—how many disciples and elders were killed instantly? There was no state of being on the brink of death. Furthermore, after having the dream, someone would have to be there to rescue you. Even if someone was lucky enough to meet all these conditions, the problem was: being on the brink of death might not necessarily trigger a dream. This was just Liu Qingxian's conjecture.

Jiang Fan said, "This is a great stroke of luck for you. I observe that this sword technique of yours is not yet perfected; it has several flaws. Therefore, you must never teach it to outsiders, lest someone find its weaknesses."

Liu Qingxian leaned into his arms and said sweetly, "But I want to share it with you. What's mine is yours. You're so good to me; I should also be completely open with you."

Jiang Fan rubbed her head. He found himself growing fonder and fonder of this thoughtful and warm senior sister.

"I possess many unique skills, and some of them are not yet perfected. You understand the principle of 'biting off more than you can chew,' right? If, in the future, I am fortunate enough to trigger such a dream, I will learn it if I can. If there's no such fate, I won't force it."

Liu Qingxian pouted slightly and playfully bit his shoulder. "You bad boy! You just want me to owe you forever, to make me unable to leave you!"

This scene caused discomfort among everyone present.

"I'm not feeling well, I'm leaving!"

"Give me back my sword, I'm going home!"

"I'm not playing anymore, not playing anymore!"

Luo Dongcheng found the sweetness unbearable. He quickly interrupted them, saying, "Alright, let's continue counting the demon cores of the beast kings."

After the previous interlude, the subsequent counting seemed rather unremarkable. Even when Xia Chaoge and Liang Feiyan presented as many as fifty demon cores from beast kings, it didn't elicit much astonishment. After all, 350 beast king demon cores had already been presented. In comparison, the gains of the others seemed dim.

A full half-day passed. The counting of the beast king demon cores finally concluded. Immediately after, the various missions completed by the disciples of each sect over the past month were tallied. Finally, Ye Cangyuan made the decision and approved Lei Zhenhai's commendation requests for the disciples who participated in the Mount Realm War. All merits were approved.

The busy work continued until nightfall. A complete merit list was finally released.

Luo Dongcheng said, "I will only read out the top ten names. The list will be posted afterward, and disciples can come to me one by one to exchange resources according to their rankings."

"Tenth place: Jin Zhongming, 1,300 merit points.""Ninth place: Ji Ruyue, 1,400 merit points.""Eighth place: Nie Yunxi, 1,700 merit points.""Seventh place: Li Shiqian, 1,800 merit points.""Sixth place: Xie Liushu, 1,900 merit points.""Fifth place: Hua Xiangchen, 2,000 merit points.""Fourth place: Ouyang Jun, 2,200 merit points.""Third place: Liang Feiyan, 2,400 merit points.""Second place: Xia Chaoge, 2,800 merit points."

This merit list did not cause any controversy. This was because all the individuals mentioned above had survived the Mount Realm War. Each of them had received a First-Class Merit, directly earning 1,000 merit points! Furthermore, Jian Linyuan and several other disciples from the Heavenly Secret Pavilion had distributed their demon cores among them, with each person receiving anywhere from a few to dozens. Finally, factoring in the capture of invading beast kings in the rear and the various missions, big and small, completed over the past month, their inclusion in the top ten was undeniable.

The only surprise was that Jin Zhongming had actually dropped to tenth place. He was even surpassed by female disciples like Ji Ruyue and Nie Yunxi, who were not considered top-tier in terms of fame. This was quite unexpected.

Kong Yuanba's face darkened, and he said, "Zhongming, what have you been doing?" Jin Zhongming was the second strongest, only surpassed by Xia Chaoge. How could he possibly be in tenth place?

Rebuked publicly once again, a hint of gloom flashed in Jin Zhongming's eyes. He said coldly, "In Broken Heaven Gorge, Jiang Fan didn't leave a single demon core for me. When the Heavenly Secret Pavilion disciples distributed demon cores, I didn't wait for Jiang Fan, so I didn't get any. Is it strange that others surpassed me?"

Jiang Fan again? Kong Yuanba was enraged. This guy was deliberately trying to antagonize the Giant Sect! "He'd better pray he never has to ask the Giant Sect for help!"

After a brief moment of excitement, the disciples who made it into the top ten perked up their ears to hear Luo Dongcheng announce the first-place winner. Jiang Fan being in first place was beyond doubt. Those 350 beast king demon cores alone accounted for 7,000 merit points, putting him far ahead of the competition. Coupled with his countless contributions in the great war, no one knew how high his merit points would truly be.

Luo Dongcheng stared at the list, looking at the number he had personally tallied next to Jiang Fan's name. He couldn't help but feel a sudden dryness in his throat. He immediately announced:

"First place: Jiang Fan! Merit points: 17,000!"

How much? Even Xia Chaoge, who was in second place, couldn't maintain her calm composure. Her beautiful eyes blinked gently: "I have two thousand eight. He has seventeen thousand?" She felt a moment of dizziness. Were their merit points truly based on the same standard? As the second-place holder, she didn't even have a fraction of Jiang Fan's points. Everyone else was also stunned. These merit points were simply terrifying, weren't they? Nangong Xiaoyun couldn't help but gape, wondering if there had been a mistake.

"Good heavens, I even advised him to be careful not to lose first place. As it turns out, the combined total of the next nine people might not even be as much as his!"

Luo Dongcheng's hand, holding the list, trembled slightly. He quickly provided a separate explanation for Jiang Fan's achievements.

"Three hundred and fifty beast king demon cores, totaling 7,000 merit points. Mount Realm War, collective First-Class Merit, 1,000 merit points. Discovered a large quantity of timber, individual First-Class Merit, 1,000 merit points. Cut through the ice layer, preventing the first defensive line from collapsing, individual First-Class Merit, 1,000 merit points. Seized the iron bludgeon, successfully attracting heavenly lightning, individual First-Class Merit, 1,000 merit points. Distributed numerous Rejuvenation Pills and Spirit Replenishment Pills, individual First-Class Merit, 1,000 merit points. Manipulated heavenly lightning, annihilating the army of undead, individual Special Merit, 5,000 merit points! Totaling 17,000 points."

Suddenly, Luo Dongcheng slapped his forehead: "My apologies, I made a mistake in the tally. Jiang Fan previously completed the Taihu Lake rescue mission, earning 500 merit points. And 250 points from last time that weren't used. The corrected total merit points are... 17,750 points!"

Everyone was dumbfounded. Re-tallying it, they surprisingly found that over 700 points had been missed! Moreover, the origin of each merit point left them with no complaints. One collective First-Class Merit. Four individual First-Class Merits. One individual Special Merit. Any one of them, taken alone, would be impeccable.

"Hiss!"

"With so many merit points, can he even use them all?"

"I can't even imagine how many good things he'll be able to exchange for!"

As everyone looked on with envy, Luo Dongcheng took a tent out of his spatial storage device. He ducked inside and said, "Same old rules. Come in one by one, according to your ranking, to select resources. First up! Jiang Fan!"