53. Behind the Brilliance

Chapter 53: Behind the Brilliance

The ground around him started to tremble gently.

Li Hao stood still, looking around and noticing that the distant, broken mountains and the blood-red sky seemed to be gradually fading.

Had he cleared the level? Was this Mie River war realm about to disappear?!

Li Hao was dumbfounded. Everything happened too quickly for him to react.

Seeing the ground sink and the small thatched hut he was in about to collapse from the shaking, Li Hao quickly stepped out and then blurred, appearing at the central stage of the village.

Taking out the golden paper, Li Hao quickly placed it into the eerie temple.

The temple suddenly burst into radiant golden light, releasing a water-like barrier that enveloped him.

Standing within the barrier, Li Hao watched as the village outside seemed to undergo a cataclysm, shaking violently, everything tearing and blurring before finally disappearing.

He was back in the narrow mountain cave.

The old, low temple had lost its golden radiance and appeared ordinary again, with two decayed, peeling statues bearing half-smiles.

The golden paper flew back into Li Hao's palm like a silk thread, giving a warm feeling.

Li Hao felt as though a wisp of spirit energy had entered his body.

At his command, the golden thread floated out, turning back into golden paper.

Three lines of small characters appeared on the golden paper:

Name: Chong Er

Merit Points: 100 (Ranked 99th in the Great Yu Dynasty)

Achievements: Cleared Fengshan Mie River.

...

"So, these are merit points? It doesn't seem that special."

Li Hao examined the golden paper carefully. He had heard from Second Uncle and Elder Feng that the Mie River war realms were divided into five levels, each vastly different. The one he had just experienced should be the lowest, a remnant-level Mie River war realm.

Destroying a Mie River war realm grants merit points, but if you clear it and make the Mie River disappear permanently, the merit points you get would be hundreds of times more!

In other words, if he had only killed the black-robed scholar and destroyed the village, he would have only gotten one merit point.

Besides the remnant level, there were higher levels of the Mie River.

Yin Sha level Mie River.

Netherworld level Mie River.

And even the Youdu level Mie River that Second Uncle and Elder Feng dared not enter, containing great terrors.

As for the most terrifying Mie River, Second Uncle and Elder Feng had not mentioned it, but it was a place where even holy-level beings like them would fall if caught.

Even the Youdu level Mie River was listed as a forbidden zone.

Only grandmasters of the Heaven and Man realm dared enter the Netherworld level Mie River.

The Mie River had existed for ages, and although the Li family's duty was not to suppress it, they had some related information. Destroying a Yin Sha level Mie River could yield about 10 merit points.

Destroying a Netherworld level Mie River could yield around 100 merit points.

But if you cleared a Netherworld level Mie River, you could get 10,000 points!

As for what merit points were used for, no one knew for now. It was said that even the Tianzhao Divine General Mansion, which had been suppressing the Mie River for generations, hadn't figured out the purpose of merit points.

There were all sorts of rumors about merit points. Some said you could exchange them with gods for a reincarnation body after death, others said they could accumulate blessings for rebirth, offsetting killing karma, etc.

But rumors were just that.

Since the two elders said no one had discovered the use of merit points, it must be true.

Currently, the only practical use seemed to be as a kind of "points" system, allowing one to gauge the number of existing strong warriors within the Great Yu Dynasty based on merit points.

Indeed, the merit points of a deceased person would disappear from the list.

Therefore, for many top forces, it also served as a means to detect someone's life or death.

The two elders should also be on the list, but I wonder where they rank... Li Hao thought. Seemingly responding to his thoughts, the characters on the golden paper changed, displaying a leaderboard.

Merit Board.

The first name to catch his eye: Wang Zhentong.

Merit Points: 9372.

Second place, Wang Tianchong.

Merit Points: 7328.

Third place, another Wang!

Fourth, fifth... As Li Hao scanned down, six out of the top ten were named Wang.

Continuing further, fifteen out of the top thirty were named Wang! Li Hao's expression changed, feeling both surprised and heavy-hearted.

Though suppressing the Mie River was the Wang family's duty, the price had clearly been the lives of countless Wang family members.

Each merit point behind a name on the board represented countless life-and-death battles, filled with dangers.

It was no different from slaying demons at the border.

The Li family had six out of nine members of the last generation die fighting demons at the border. It was tragic.

Now it seemed other Divine General Mansions were no better off.

The names on the board were just the visible ones. Who knew how many had been on the board but disappeared?

This ancient, withering dynasty was still prosperous, with peace within its borders. Common folk lived in comfort, young girls played on flower boats, young boys rode horses in the countryside, vendors hawked their wares, and people were carefree. This everyday scene of thousands of lights was preserved by the silent, unnamed heroes who guarded it in the darkness.

"This prosperity... didn't come easily." Li Hao murmured to himself.

He felt a deep respect for the names on the board.

Continuing down the list, he didn't see Second Uncle's name, possibly using an alias.

But he saw a familiar nickname that Elder Feng had mentioned: Bu Liuxing.

Ranked 35th, with a merit score of 3201.

Li Hao was taken aback. It had to be the Thief Saint!

"Old Feng's a loner and still has such high merit points..." Li Hao's eyes grew serious.

Besides Second Uncle, Elder Feng had few friends.

Which meant his merit points were mostly earned by himself.

Alone in the Mie River.

But Old Feng's reputation was bad; he was the Thief Saint, scorned by all.

Why would he go through such trouble and risk to do this?

Maybe there was an answer, maybe there wasn't.

Li Hao felt that the old man who joked with him while fishing, though familiar, was someone he didn't really understand.

After a while, he continued down the list.

Soon, he saw another familiar name, Jian Wudao!

Like the Wang family, he used his real name.

Most names on the board were aliases.

For instance, the Thief Saint's Bu Liuxing didn't have the surname Bu.

Sword Saint... Li Hao's eyes narrowed, seeing his rank, 76th.

Merit Points: 738.

This meant he had at least destroyed seven Netherworld level Mie Rivers or cleared seven remnant-level Mie Rivers.

Li Hao noticed that the merit board didn't necessarily reflect all strength. The Thief Saint and Sword Saint were both at the Fourth Stage, but their merit points differed by four or five times.

Many experts hadn't participated in suppressing the Mie River.

After all, except for the court's small rewards, there was no benefit in dealing with the Mie River. The merit points were also seen as useless by many.

In a world where people were driven by profit, no one would act without gain.

This left the Mie River Division severely understaffed and in a tense situation.

It also explained why clearing a remnant-level Mie River put him in the top 100 of the Great Yu Dynasty.

Li Hao sighed, putting away the golden paper.

Suddenly, he sensed someone approaching.

Li Hao suddenly realized.

Looking at the temple before him, it was slowly sinking into the ground, disappearing.

This temple was connected to the Fengshan Mie River.

With the Mie River gone, the temple naturally followed.

Wait.

Li Hao was startled. Could this simple Mie River really have been intended for the new students' test a year later?

Now it was gone...

What would they test on in a year? Good heavens.

Wasn't this like tearing up the test papers of those examinees in advance?! Li Hao was speechless. He just wanted to teach that scholar to paint, not to clear the level! Time to run.

Li Hao quickly moved, disappearing from the spot in an instant.

As Li Hao made his hasty exit, many people across the world were alarmed.