Chapter 113.1: The Menacing Bone Ascetic is Nothing! (I)

Huh?

Bone Ascetic came to a halt. He raised his head and saw a black figure standing ahead.

It was a saberman dressed entirely in black. A cold, unapproachable aura clung to him, the kind that warned others to stay far away.

Bone Ascetic had always enjoyed playing with people's minds. He loved the slow game of cat and mouse, especially the moment when his prey realized there was no escape and despair began to set in. Watching his opponents struggle had always delighted him.

When his eyes settled on the man in black, a sharp glint flashed through them.

Dao Shi'er. Ranked eighty-first on the Divine Strength Rankings, which I wasn't even qualified for.

The Divine Strength Rankings had just been released, and not everyone knew about it. Even so, the fact that he was not within the top hundred had already lodged itself deep in Bone Ascetic's heart like a thorn.

Once the rankings spread and everyone learned the truth, he would inevitably become a laughingstock. As a man who had always considered himself a supreme expert of the Divine Strength Realm, he could not accept that he was not part of the top hundred.

However, the chance to make it on the list was here. The Divine Strength Rankings were revised once every month. To make the list, he simply had to kill someone ranked in the top hundred.

A cruel smile crept onto Bone Ascetic's lips. "Dao Shi'er. How dare a nobody like you rank eighty-first on the Divine Strength Rankings? That position should be mine."

Bone Ascetic's statement made Lu Changsheng feel genuinely baffled. He had never heard of the man before.

Who is this random martial artist from nowhere, and why is he ranting about the Divine Strength Rankings? He wants to enter the list by killing me and taking my place. Does he think he has the right simply because he looks fierce? Or perhaps because he carries a string of prayer beads carved from human bones?

Either way, Lu Changsheng had no interest in wasting words.

Schwing!

Lu Changsheng swung his saber, and a crimson saber light tore through the void.

Instantly, in Bone Ascetic's eyes, the world abruptly changed. The surrounding space dissolved into a boundless starry sky. Within that vast expanse, a towering waterfall crashed downward, pouring down the starry sky.

Boom!

The saber light carrying the force of the Starry Sky Waterfall Intent descended on Bone Ascetic.

"Nooo!" Bone Ascetic screamed as he swung the iron rod in his hands, trying to block the strike, but it was useless.

Crack!

The saber light cleaved the rod into two and cut straight down through Bone Ascetic's head, splitting him in half.

The two halves of his corpse hit the ground with dull thuds. The once arrogant, vicious, and fearsome Bone Ascetic could not withstand even a single strike from Dao Shi'er. He was dead from just one blow.

Lu Changsheng shook his head. "That's it?"

Bone Ascetic had looked fierce, and his words were bold. He had spoken as if killing Lu Changsheng and taking his place on the Divine Strength Rankings was a certainty. When their blades met, it became clear that he was all talk. He could not even block a single strike.

Lu Changsheng found it amusing that he wanted to enter the rankings when he was so weak.

The Martial Pavilion hadn't created the rankings randomly. Anyone listed on the Divine Strength Rankings was a true elite of the Divine Strength Realm. Some people carried great reputations, but their strength could not match their fame.

The moment they faced a ranked expert, the gap would become painfully clear.

This scene was witnessed by several northern barbarians, as well as martial artists of the Da Yu Dynasty. The few who had barely escaped Bone Ascetic's blade stared at his corpse in disbelief.

"Bone Ascetic is dead. He could not block even a single move from Dao Shi'er. He was cut in half with one strike."

"Before the Divine Strength Rankings came out, Bone Ascetic was famous on the Northern Domain battlefield. But now, he cannot even withstand one strike from a ranked expert. All fame, no substance."

"As expected, the Divine Strength Rankings are not decided at random. Bone Ascetic wanted to enter the list and even dreamed of killing Dao Shi'er. In the end, he overestimated himself and was killed in an instant.

"The gap in strength is enormous."

"So this is the difference between the ranked and the unranked. They are on completely different levels."

Listening from the side, Lu Changsheng pieced together that Bone Ascetic had possessed some reputation.

His corpse should fetch a decent price, whether it is in silver taels or martial arts.

With that thought in mind, Lu Changsheng lifted the two halves of Bone Ascetic's body and turned toward Beiling City, his figure quickly disappearing into the distance.

By the time Lu Changsheng arrived at Beiling City, night had already fallen. But truth be told, on the Northern Domain battlefield, it hardly mattered whether it was day or night. Fighting never truly ceased.

Since Lu Changsheng was carrying two bloody halves of a corpse toward the Martial Pavilion, countless gazes naturally landed on him. Before long, whispers spread among the crowd.

"Isn't that Dao Shi'er?"

"Yes. He has returned from the Northern Domain battlefield again. The corpse he's carrying looks oddly familiar."

"Could it be Bone Ascetic?"

"Even though Bone Ascetic never made the Divine Strength Rankings, he was anything but weak. People said he was close to the top hundred. But now he's been killed by Dao Shi'er."

"If that corpse is taken to the Martial Pavilion, Dao Shi'er could exchange it for quite a few top-tier martial arts."

"As expected of a ranked expert on the Divine Strength Rankings. Look at how cleanly the corpse has been sliced in half. No wasted movement at all."

Many martial artists watched with genuine admiration. On the Northern Domain battlefield, killing powerful northern barbarians was enough to earn respect.

Although the jianghu had its dark side, most martial artists still had a sense of patriotism. When it came to matters of the nation, they could still distinguish right from wrong. Otherwise, the Martial Pavilion's call alone would never have been enough to draw so many martial artists to the Northern Domain battlefield.

Not long later, Lu Changsheng arrived at the Martial Pavilion.

Thud!

He tossed Bone Ascetic's corpse in front of the Martial Pavilion's martial artist. "How much is this worth?"

The martial artist's eyes brightened. He crouched down and examined the corpse carefully. "The Divine Strength Realm northern barbarian known as Bone Ascetic. He's worth three hundred minor merits."

On the Northern Domain battlefield, enemy heads could only be exchanged for merits at the Martial Pavilion. Those who wanted silver taels had to go through the merchant association instead. Merits and silver belonged to entirely separate systems and could never be converted into one another.

At the Martial Pavilion, merits were further divided into major and minor merits. One major merit was worth ten thousand minor merits. Either could be used to exchange for martial arts, secret techniques, or even pills. The Martial Pavilion had an endless supply of such resources, which is why many believed that they had the backing of the imperial court.

But under the current circumstances, none of that really mattered. On the Northern Domain battlefield, as long as a martial artist could kill enemies and openly exchange their heads for martial arts and pills to strengthen themselves, there was no reason to refuse such an opportunity.

"How many merits do I have now?" Lu Changsheng asked.

"Dao Shi'er, you have a total of eight hundred and thirty-six minor merits."

"Already over eight hundred minor merits?"

Lu Changsheng was slightly surprised. He had gone to the Northern Domain battlefield almost every day, hunting northern barbarians without ever keeping careful track of his merits.

He hadn't expected that he had already accumulated so many merits in such a short period of time.

"Do you have any rare treasures? For example, Stoneheart Fruit or Aether Wood?" he asked.

These two items were the final two rare treasures he needed to cultivate the Celestial Treasure-Refinement Secret Technique to the seventh layer. Upon doing that, he would achieve Perfection in the secret technique.

"Of course," the Martial Pavilion martial artist replied. "Each costs one thousand minor merits."

Lu Changsheng's eyes immediately lit up. As expected, while the Martial Pavilion didn't have everything, such resources were well within its reach. In some respects, its reserves ran even deeper than those of the great jianghu sects.

I'm still short by a little over one hundred minor merits, but another trip to the Northern Domain battlefield tomorrow should be enough. If the results turn out decent, I should have a thousand minor merits.

For the first time, Lu Changsheng felt a surge of motivation. The Northern Domain battlefield wasn't bad at all.