Trials of the Abyss

Chapter 361: Merit Leaderboards and Contribution Points

"Chen Weihuang, who do you think is behind this?" asked Wang Ce.

Chen Weihuang shook his head with an indifferent expression. "I'll need some time to figure it out."

Not long after, a small Sword Boat came whistling through the air.

"Master!" Zeng Yulan and Song Zihe rushed to Xu Yu and recounted their harrowing experience.

As soon as Pang Jian disembarked, Chen Weihuang said, "Let me see your sword token."

Although confused, Pang Jian still handed over his sword token.

Chen Weihuang tapped their sword tokens, then handed Pang Jian's back to him.

Pang Jian inspected it with his divine sense and noticed a new glowing light in the message section labeled "Chen Weihuang."

Chen Weihuang's voice echoed from the light. "Give me three days. I'll find out who's behind this."

"Thank you, Senior Brother," Pang Jian responded through his sword token.

The two stood face to face and silently exchanged messages through their respective sword tokens.

Liu Junhong casually grabbed Lei Qie and brought him to his side. "Pang Jian, I'll take this kid back to the Enlightenment Peak. He'll be Qi Qingsong's junior brother from now on, though I can't guarantee anything about how far he'll go."

Pang Jian hastily expressed his gratitude.

"Three rogue cultivators, all in the early stage of the Soul Wandering Realm. You fought them alone and won decisively." Liu Junhong nodded in approval. "Qi Qingsong has done a great service for our Sword Pavilion!"

Xu Yu and Wang Ce exchanged odd glances.

"What are you looking at me like that for? How would the Pavilion Master have found such a talented disciple if not for my disciple's sharp eyes?" Liu Junhong boasted shamelessly. "I already knew Qi Qingsong was extraordinary! It's why I continued to look after him, even after he was demoted to an outer disciple.

"I suppose I just have a keen eye for talent!"

Liu Junhong left with a hearty laugh, dragging Lei Qie behind him.

***

In Pang Jian's residence on the Heaven Departure Peak, a golden divine soul slowly emerged from Pang Jian's brow.

Whoosh!

It stood quietly before his physical body.

As Pang Jian observed his golden divine soul, the descriptions of the Soul Wandering Realm and the detailed methods of tempering one's divine soul recorded in the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art replayed in his mind.

In the early stage of the Soul Wandering Realm, one's divine soul can be exposed to the scorching sun; withstand fierce, cold winds without drifting; and roam ten li away from one's body.

In the middle stage, it can endure the tempering of blazing flames, stand firm amidst fierce astral winds, and soar up to a hundred li away from one's body.

In the late stage, it can submerge in magma, linger briefly within the bizarre mist, and travel up to a thousand li away from one's body.

It was sometimes necessary to rely on items to endure the scorching heat of the sun, flames, and magma pools. The methods for using soul techniques to withstand these conditions were all recorded in the later parts of the manual.

The only problem was that Pang Jian remained uncertain about his exact stage within the Soul Wandering Realm.

Pang Jian had relied on the divine artifact, the Heart of Winter, and the profound sword technique Li Zhaotian had taught him to defeat the three early-stage Soul Wandering Realm rogue cultivators.

Thus, it was not a good metric for him to gauge his cultivation stage.

Even so, when he used his divine soul and destroyed the divine souls of two of the attackers, he could not help but feel their divine souls were as fragile as paper.

It seems I'll need to verify what stage I'm in by checking it manually.

After leaving a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door of his cave residence, Pang Jian placed the black turtle scute above the copper chest as a marker and tossed his sword token into his spatial bracelet.

He then used the Gate of the Abyss to establish a connection with the black turtle.

Whoosh!

Pang Jian appeared in the Cloud Wilderness on the Resolute Expanse.

The black turtle was busy studying the ice veins deep underground in the Frozen Land.

In a few days, I'll move this fragmented land closer to the Sacred Soul Continent under the cover of night, the black turtle informed. The murky energy has already seeped into the lower layer of the clouds bordering the Third and Fourth Worlds.

It'll soon spread throughout the Third World, but don't worry, I already learned of a suitable place to hide from my bloodline memories.

Good, Pang Jian replied.

Stretching his divine sense out, he saw the Ice Race deep in their Frozen Land, focused on cultivation. Several elders had sent their souls to the sea of massive boulders above to gather information about the Abyss through rogue cultivators.

For now, they remained patient and did not appear to be in any rush to venture out.

Early stage—exposure to the sun.

Pang Jian summoned his golden divine soul.

It left his physical body, passed through the cold mist shrouding the fragmented land, and perched atop a boulder in a deserted area, gazing at the scorching sun.

The sun's warmth comfortably enveloped his divine soul.

Pang Jian's divine soul drifted farther from his body, but even after ten li, the connection stayed strong.

Whoosh!

His golden divine soul descended toward the volcanic region of the Resolute Expanse.

Pang Jian let his divine soul linger at the mouth of a volcano that spewed flames and felt no discomfort.

So, I'm either in the mid or late-stage of the Soul Wandering Realm.

I'll test the late stage with magma first before checking the mid-stage again using the astral winds in the Second World.

With that thought, he allowed his golden divine soul to dive into the magma.

Sizzle!

As soon as his divine soul entered the magma, a sharp pain stabbed through his divine soul. It then started to melt like a phantom statue forged from gold.

His divine soul was shrank and his mental energy drained rapidly.

The agony Pang Jian felt through his divine soul intensified.

I'm in the mid-stage of the Soul Wandering Realm, not quite in the late stage yet.

Satisfied with the results of his tests, Pang Jian withdrew his divine soul from the magma and returned it to his sea of consciousness to recover.

The next step in my cultivation is to continue tempering my divine soul while working on the Golden Body Realm of the Grand Providence Sacred Body. Both my golden divine and the Golden Body Realm complement each other well.

Whoosh!

Pang Jian returned to his cave residence on the Heaven Departure Peak using the Gate of the Abyss.

He then took out his sword token.

"Pang Jian, I heard you were ambushed and that you killed three Soul Wandering Realm rogue cultivators by yourself. When did you reach the Soul Wandering Realm?" Qi Qingsong's incredulous voice rang out.

Zhuang Yuyan had also sent a message. "Little Junior Brother, I've finished my seclusion. Let's catch up soon."

Puzzlingly, the most talkative person in his contacts, Li Zhaotian, had not sent any messages.

Li Zhaotian's light remained eerily silent.

Frowning, Pang Jian extended his divine sense into another sword-shaped symbol within the sword token and a flood of information surged in.

The Merit Leaderboards!

Pang Jian's eyes gleamed.

The powerful factions in the Western Loam, the Southern Gorge, the Northern Ruin, and the three Divine Kingdoms on the Eastern Land had jointly created a merit-based ranking system for all human cultivators.

The leaderboards ranked individuals based on the number and rank of foreign races and Vicious Beasts they had slain. It also tracked contribution points.

All cultivators, whether from sects, noble families, or even rogue cultivators, could exchange these points for cultivation resources or special positions.

If a rogue cultivator amassed significant contribution points, they could even hold important positions within the three Divine Kingdoms. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Alternatively, they could become a guest elder at sects First or Second Worlds.

Moreover, these sects were not allowed to refuse them!

Disciples from noble families and sects could also exchange contribution points for intermediate-grade, sacred-grade, or even divine-grade resources.

There were three Merit Leaderboards. One for the Profound Abode Realm, the Spirit Condensation Realm, and the Soul Wandering Realm, with rankings based on contribution points.

Pang Jian glanced at the Profound Abode Realm leaderboard but recognized none of the names.

There were, however, some familiar ones on the Spirit Condensation Realm leaderboard.

Wu Yuan from the Demon Sect, Dong Tianze from the Sinister Soul Temple, and Zhou Qingchen and Zhao Yuanqi from the Red Mountain Sect were in the top fifty.

Wu Yuan ranked nineteenth, Dong Tianze twenty-first, Zhou Qingchen thirtieth, and Zhao Yuanqi thirty-fifth.

The names ranked higher than Wu Yuan were unfamiliar to him and likely hailed from the First World.

Pang Jian also recognized two names on the Soul Wandering Realm leaderboard.

Li Yuqing from the Divine Treasure Sect ranked first by a large margin and was the only person with over ten thousand contribution points.

Hu Yuanfei, Pang Jian's senior sister and fellow disciple under Li Zhaotian, ranked fifth with three thousand seven hundred points.

The other names were all unfamiliar.

The Merit Leaderboards and contribution points...

Pang Jian grew intrigued and reached out to Qi Qingsong for more information.

"You rascal, you finally responded!" Qi Qingsong shouted, voice filled with excitement. "Come to the Drunken Cloud Pavilion, the usual room! We're all here. Get over here, quick!"

"On my way."

Pang Jian arrived at the private room shortly after.

"Junior Brother Pang!"

"Junior Brother Pang, how impressive! We thought you were still in the Spirit Condensation Realm, but you're actually in the Soul Wandering Realm!"

"Killing three Soul Wandering Realm rogue cultivators on your own has made you even more famous than claiming the Abyssal Demon Sword!"

Jiang Yang, Duan Jing, and Tang Can all looked at him with admiration.

"How did you reach the Soul Wandering Realm so fast?" Qi Qingsong asked.

"I absorbed the most divine essence in Absolute Heaven and stepped into the Soul Wandering Realm immediately after refining my divine soul," Pang Jian replied honestly.

Zhuang Yuyan gently nodded. "That matches what I suspected."

She exchanged a glance with Qi Qingsong but said nothing more. After all, Qi Qingsong had also broken through to the Spirit Condensation Realm faster than normal thanks to the divine essence.

That alone demonstrated how much divine essence could enhance one's divine soul.

"I believe them now," said Xu Xuanlun from the Breakthrough Peak with a shake of his head. "I didn't quite believe Senior Brother Qi and Senior Sister Zhuang when they said you saved them in Absolute Heaven. I thought they were just exaggerating. I underestimated you."

Zeng Yulan's and Song Zihe's lips curled in a restrained smile, bright eyes gleaming with admiration.

"The murky energy has only reached the lower cloud layer of the Third World and hasn't spread across the fragmented land and continents yet. How are there already so many points on the Merit Leaderboards?" Pang Jian asked.

"I knew you'd ask about that!" Qi Qingsong laughed, rubbing his hands together. "I'm itching to get onto the Merit Leaderboards too.

"They're offering divine-grade artifacts and pills as rewards.

"I'm planning to join the battle in the Third World soon, alongside Senior Sister Hu!" Qi Qingsong declared.

Jiang Yang and the others also seemed eager to participate.