128: Chapter 128: Progress Reaches the Top, Gleaning the Eyes of Prodigies

Jiang Daoling ignored these compliments and merely handed his mission token to the deacon, his gaze lingering on the total progress light screen in the center of the grand hall.

His team was able to reach this point by relying on four Divine Kingdoms mutually backing each other up, with distinct divisions of labor among legions, supplies, formation breaking, and reconnaissance.

Without any single link among them, they would never have made it to the fragment core.

Even with comprehensive preparations, on the seventh day of entering the fragment, they were still intercepted by two alien beings at the Golden Core Peak, forcing them to abandon a high-grade spirit mine and seek another path to advance.

Qin Zhaoye's situation was no less difficult.

His main combat army suffered nearly forty percent frontal losses, and on the final day, he could only burn Divine Power values to maintain the continued operation of the war structures.

Both of them knew clearly what fifty percent meant.

This achievement was enough to suppress most newcomers, but it could hardly be called sweeping through a Third-Order fragment.

Qin Zhaoye removed his damaged bracers, handed them to his attendants, and shifted his gaze to the Grey-Robed Deacon in charge of recording.

"Where has everyone else's progress reached?"

The Grey-Robed Deacon brought up the overall rankings.

Most teams on the rankings remained between ten and thirty percent, and another seven people had exited early due to their legions being heavily damaged.

Jiang Daoling's name occupied the first row, and Qin Zhaoye shared the joint mission record with him.

Several Prodigies from the Central Star Domain further down also chose to team up, and the gaps in their progress were not too significant.

"The actual difficulty of this batch of fragments is higher than the academy's preliminary assessment.

Being able to push forward by thirty percent qualifies one to contend for the top twenty during the half-year review."

The Grey-Robed Deacon scrolled the light screen further down.

At the very end of the ranking list, there was still one name that had yet to be settled, its progress lingering at the initial zero point upon entry.

The three words Wang Pingan hung on the very last line, with the mission mode showing solo, and the target being a one-hundred-thousand-square-kilometer Asura Race fragment battlefield.

Several aristocratic scions gathered nearby also noticed this record, and the discussion that had just been suppressed bubbled up once more.

"Having gone in for so long, his progress still hasn't changed.

The fragment Wang Pingan chose probably exceeds the bearing limit of his legion."

"He won brilliantly in the Skeleton Wasteland, but Third-Order fragments retain Golden Core and Martial Ancestor-level combat strength, with a complete Realm barrier separating the middle."

"Acting solo means no teammates to share the pressure.

Once the main force is dragged down in the outer perimeter, he won't even be able to touch the Origin nodes, so naturally his progress won't move."

These people previously looked down on Wang Pingan, partly due to prejudice against those originating from the marginal Star Domains, and partly due to obvious conflicts over resources laid out in the open.

Every time Wang Pingan rose in rank, the mission coordinates, mall discounts, and mentor attention of the Grade A Sequence would be reallocated, and the shares they could obtain would decrease accordingly.

Several of them had long since accepted resource support from Central aristocratic families, and they had to suppress the suddenly rising newcomer in the ranking competition to secure their resource supply for the next year.

Jiang Daoling glanced at them, neither stopping them nor participating in the commentary, only pulling up Wang Pingan's mission data separately.

One hundred thousand square kilometers, Asura Race survivors, over a dozen Golden Core and Martial Ancestor-level commanders, and in the core area, there were still Third-Order Law fluctuations of unjudged intensity.

The mission recommendation suggested a team of three to five people, equipped with at least high-grade defensive army arrays, sustained firepower, Divine Soul protection, and a complete logistical system.

Yet Wang Pingan left a solo record in the team size column.

From entering the fragment until now, he had neither submitted a retreat application nor asked the academy for reinforcements.

Jiang Daoling gazed at the light screen, retracting a bit of the arrogance on his face.

He wanted to know just how far that newcomer who solo-cleared the Skeleton Wasteland could push this time.

Qin Zhaoye stepped to his side, handing the damaged bracer to the attendants behind him.

"You are waiting for Wang Pingan's settlement?"

"If he can bring back fifty thousand square kilometers of Origin, another spot will have to be vacated in the top ten of the half-year review."

Jiang Daoling did not evade his own judgment.

The expressions of the people around froze for a moment.

One of the aristocratic scions blurted out: "Fifty thousand is too high.

If he can bring his main force out with him, it will already be considered defending the Grade A Sequence."

Qin Zhaoye glanced at that person.

"Before the Skeleton Wasteland mission began, someone also asserted that he wouldn't last through the sea of bones.

In the end, that undead Divine Kingdom was punched straight through by him."

That aristocratic scion moved his lips, but ultimately swallowed back the words that followed.

The academy's records of the Skeleton Wasteland were right there in the mainframe archives, and disparaging him would only make one's judgment look incompetent.

The timing Formation Plate above the grand hall was still spinning.

Hundreds of newcomers had not left, all waiting for the final result of this fragment benefit.

Some wanted to see Wang Pingan fail, some wanted to use this to judge opponents for the half-year review, and others were preparing to adjust their Family's subsequent investments based on his battle record.

Half a quarter-hour passed, and Wang Pingan's progress still remained at zero.

Amidst the crowd that had quieted down earlier, a few more whispers sounded.

"Communications inside the Asura fragments are interfered with by Third-Order Laws, and progress data is frequently delayed.

Not being settled does not mean there has been no progress."

The Grey-Robed Deacon offered an explanation, his gaze still lingering on the mission permissions.

Wang Pingan's life imprint remained consistently stable, with no signs of withdrawal or requests for help.

Jiang Daoling looked more closely.

Wang Pingan's Divine Power fluctuations had not dropped significantly since the mission began, which meant that the other party still retained trump cards to deal with the core area.

Qin Zhaoye stood before the light screen with his arms crossed, the Battle Intent in the depths of his eyes growing increasingly intense.

"No requests for help, nor any retreat.

He is still advancing toward the core area."

The whispers in the grand hall stopped once more.

One could not walk into the core restricted zone of a Third-Order fragment relying purely on guts; being able to stay there already proved one's strength.

At that very moment, the mainframe Formation Plate suspended at the top of the hall reversed its direction, and nine golden patterns representing the highest-level mission settlement lit up one after another.

Golden data sprinkled across the grand hall; the newcomers who had yet to leave raised their heads one after another, and several deacons also stopped the affairs in their hands, turning to look at the central light screen.

Wang Pingan's progress record, which had stayed at zero, began to jump.

Ten percent, thirty percent.

The numbers were still climbing.

Fifty percent, seventy percent, ninety percent.

The golden progress bar pushed all the way to the end, leaving not even half a grid vacant.

The several aristocratic scions who had previously asserted that Wang Pingan could not advance stood in place, the words at their lips choked back by the numbers on the screen.

The hall's mainframe immediately provided the final settlement result.

The one-hundred-thousand-square-kilometer Asura Race fragment battlefield completely disintegrated, and all pure Origin had finished being devoured.

Wang Pingan's mission progress: one hundred percent.

Three breaths later, the discussions suppressed within the grand hall surged out all at once.

Exclamations, doubts, and eager questioning mixed together, and the deacon responsible for maintaining order had to step forward to stop them.

"One hundred percent? He single-handedly punched completely through the one-hundred-thousand-square-kilometer Asura fragments?"

"The core restricted zone has Golden Core Peak grand commanders, as well as Third-Order Origin cores and lingering Laws, how did his legion withstand that?"

"Jiang Daoling and Qin Zhaoye's joint team only took down half, and his settlement time was quite a bit earlier.

This battle achievement has already suppressed all teams!"

The data on the light screen left no room for debate.

The golden progress of one hundred percent hung high in the grand hall, steadily occupying the upper position of all team records.

The few people who had previously disparaged Wang Pingan retreated toward the back of the crowd.

The supporters behind them could change resource allocations, but they couldn't change the mission results locked in by the academy's mainframe.

Jiang Daoling stared at that fully extended progress bar, putting the high-grade ore marrow in his hand into his storage space, the lingering arrogance between his brows having already dissipated.

He knew very well that defeating the Golden Core commanders was only the first threshold.

Wanting to swallow the entire fragment also required suppressing the lingering Third-Order Laws, sorting out out-of-control ley lines, and ensuring that the Origin would not backfire after entering the Divine Kingdom.

The more people in a team, the broader the area they could handle.

For Wang Pingan to complete all links alone meant that within his Divine Kingdom, a war civilization system capable of operating independently was already in place.

Qin Zhaoye stared at the rankings, not shifting his gaze away for a long time.

He led a team to take down one hundred and fifty thousand square kilometers, yet required four Divine Kingdoms to jointly bear casualties and resource consumption.

Wang Pingan devoured one hundred thousand square kilometers solo, with all the pressure borne by a single Divine Kingdom.

This foundation had already surpassed the level of ordinary First-Order Deities.

"For the half-year review, the top ten will have one more person."

When Qin Zhaoye made this judgment, no one around refuted it anymore.

Jiang Daoling shook his head, his gaze still lingering on Wang Pingan's name.

"Judging by this battle alone, what he contends for won't be tenth place."

"He already has the qualifications to stand before us."

This evaluation came from the mouth of the top-ranked Prodigy, far outweighing the compliments of others, and truly made the Central Star Domain newcomers in the grand hall remember Wang Pingan.

Originating from marginal Star Domains, lacking top-tier aristocratic Family support, and having a short enrollment time—these labels could no longer suppress that one-hundred-percent mission progress.

From this moment on, Wang Pingan was no longer a suddenly surging up-and-comer on the rankings.

He had already become a formidable enemy that must be studied for battle tactics and prepared for in advance during the half-year review.

Several Family liaisons took out communication Jade Slips and sent the mission results back to their clans.

The resource plans originally formulated around other Prodigies also had to be readjusted.

The Grey-Robed Deacon verified it three times in a row, confirming that the settlement was correct, before logging Wang Pingan's battle achievement into the Grade A Sequence's highest archives.

The golden data was still rolling in the center of the grand hall.

Solo.

One hundred thousand square kilometers.

One hundred percent.

These three records pressed down upon the very top of the overall rankings, and also suppressed all the doubts from just moments ago.

The newcomers who had previously surrounded Jiang Daoling and Qin Zhaoye with compliments retreated one after another, leaving an open area in the center of the grand hall.

No one knew what state Wang Pingan would be in when he returned, nor did anyone dare to assert in advance that he was heavily injured and could only barely escape with his life.

The teleportation had not yet completed, and Wang Pingan's consciousness still lingered in the vault of heaven of his Divine Kingdom, overlooking the one hundred and eighty thousand square kilometers of territory reshaping below.

After the Asura fragments disintegrated, the one hundred thousand square kilometers of pure Origin passed through the Divine Kingdom Passage, pouring entirely into the boundaries of the original eighty thousand square kilometers of territory.

The heavy torrent of Origin pushed the boundaries to expand outward; new land was generated from Chaos, mountain ranges rose, river channels traversed the plains, and mineral veins sank deep underground.

The Divine Kingdom's original three layers of Second-Order defensive formation diagrams were pushed toward the periphery, and tens of thousands of subjects from the Formation Hall rushed to various places to re-establish formation bases and pulse-suppressing stones.

Wang Mu stood at the main platform of the Immortal Dao Ancestral Court, with a constantly expanding map of rivers and mountains spread out before him, a vermilion brush sweeping all along the newly born ley lines.

"Seal off thirty percent of the new northern mountain ranges, and wait until the ley lines stabilize before opening mines.

Whoever dares to break ground early will be stripped of their post and sent to the border to build formations."

The order was sent to various places via communication Formation Plates.

The teams originally prepared to enter the new mining areas for exploration stopped their footsteps and turned to measure the outer topography.

Origin plundered from war feared nothing more than out-of-control digestion.

Territorial expansion was merely the beginning; ley lines, Laws, and population carrying capacity were what determined whether this territory could remain.

The impact brought by one hundred thousand square kilometers of Origin far exceeded that of the Skeleton Wasteland; several old rivers were severed by the strata, and the water flow rushed straight toward the mature medicinal fields in the east.

The Spirit Planting Department dispatched over one hundred thousand apprentices to rush-repair the irrigation ditches, channeling the gushing spirit springs toward the new plains and dredging all the branch channels before the torrent entered the fields.

The clusters of Blood Energy Pools beneath the Martial Dao Holy City also began to vibrate.

Following the landing of the Origin, the Asura Race's blood crystal mineral veins were extending along the strata toward the Holy City.

Wang Shan's breastplate had not yet been repaired, with medicinal gauze wrapped around his shoulder, yet he still dragged his crimson flame saber and guarded beside the Blood Energy Pool, refusing to return to the Medical Cultivator Camp to lie down.

Wang Mu's projection fell onto the Formation Plate, his brows furrowing: "If you dare to step into the main pool again, I'll have the Medical Cultivator Camp tie you back."

"Standing on the bank is fine, right? With such a massive blood crystal mineral vein dropping down, you wouldn't be able to lie down either if it were you."

Wang Shan stared at the pool water, his smile utterly impossible to suppress.

The blood crystal mineral vein connected to the underground of the Holy City, and two hundred Purple Mansion-level Blood Energy Pool cores operated in unison, the pool water surging up layer by layer along the nine-tier steps.

The blood Qi accumulated by the Asura Race over many years was filtered through the ley lines, stripping away the killing intent and Impurities, transforming it into power that the subjects of Immortal Martial could absorb.

Several Martial Masters responsible for testing the pool entered the first-tier Blood Energy Pool, and after cultivating for just half an hour, dense tendon and bone resonance emanated from their old injuries.