Chapter 53: Behind the Brilliance

The earth around him trembled slightly.

Li Hao froze, looking around, and saw the distant broken mountains and crimson sky gradually fading.

Passed? Is this Mo River Battle Realm disappearing?!

Li Hao stared in shock; everything happened too fast for him to react.

As the ground sank and his small grass hut swayed toward collapse, Li Hao stepped out swiftly, then his figure flickered and appeared at the village’s central stage.

Pulling out the golden paper, Li Hao swiftly placed it inside the strange temple.

Suddenly, brilliant golden light burst forth from the temple, releasing a water-like barrier that enveloped him.

Standing within the barrier, Li Hao watched the village outside shatter like heaven collapsing and earth splitting—everything tore, blurred, and finally vanished.

He was back in the narrow cave.

The old, low temple had lost its golden glow, now ordinary, its two fallen, rotting statues half-smiling.

The golden paper flew back like a thread, sinking into Li Hao’s palm, warm to the touch.

Li Hao felt as if a thread of divine soul had taken root within him.

At his will, the golden thread surfaced in his palm, transforming back into the golden paper.

On the golden paper were three lines of small script:

Name: Chong Er

Merit Points: 100 (Rank 99 in the Dayu Dynasty)

Achievement: Completed Feng Mountain Mo River.

……

“So this is merit points? Seems nothing special.”

Li Hao examined the golden paper closely; he’d heard Elder Er and Wind Elder speak of Mo River Battle Realms having five tiers with vast differences—what he’d just experienced was likely the lowest tier: Residual Memory Mo River.

Destroying a Mo River grants merit points, but if you complete it and erase the Mo River permanently, you gain far more—hundreds of times more! Meaning, had he merely killed the black-robed scholar and destroyed the village, he’d have earned only a few points.

Beyond Residual Memory tier,

there are Yin Sha Mo Rivers.

There are Mingyu Mo Rivers.

And there are Youdu Mo Rivers, which even Elder Er and the others dared not enter lightly.

As for the most terrifying Mo Rivers, Elder Er and the others didn’t mention them—places where even Saint-tier beings would perish if caught.

Even Youdu Mo Rivers were listed as forbidden zones.

Only Heaven-Man Masters dared tread into Mingyu Mo Rivers.

The Mo Rivers had existed for ages; though the Li family’s duty wasn’t to suppress them, they held some records: destroying a Yin Sha Mo River grants roughly ten merit points.

Destroying a Mingyu Mo River grants roughly a hundred merit points.

But completing a Mingyu Mo River grants ten thousand!

As for what merit points are used for, no one yet knew—even the Tianzhao Divine General’s Mansion, which had guarded Mo Rivers for generations, had failed to uncover their purpose.

Yet countless rumors abounded: some said they could exchange for a reincarnated body after death, others claimed they could accumulate blessings for the departed, offsetting karmic sins.

But rumors end with the great ones.

Since both elders said no one had yet discovered merit points’ function, it must be true.

The only apparent use now was as a kind of “points system,” allowing rough estimation of how many strong cultivators currently existed within Dayu’s borders.

Yes, currently.

If a person holding merit points died, their points vanished from the list.

Thus, for many top factions, this had become a way to detect others’ deaths.

The two elders must be on the list too—wonder what rank they hold… Li Hao’s thoughts shifted, and as if sensing his mind, the golden paper’s characters changed, revealing a ranking list.

Merit List.

The first name caught his eye: Wang Zhendong.

Merit Points: 9372.

Second: Wang Tianchong.

Merit Points: 7328.

Third: still a Wang!

Fourth, fifth… Li Hao scanned down—the top ten contained six Wangs.

Further down, fifteen of the top thirty were Wangs. Li Hao’s expression darkened; surprise gave way to heaviness.

Though suppressing Mo Rivers was the Wang family’s duty, countless Wang clan members had died for it.

Each name on the list, each glittering, cold number, represented countless battles, perilous struggles, lives lost.

No different from fighting demons on the border. The Li family guarded the border and slew demons—nine sons of the previous generation died six. Utterly brutal.

Now it seemed other Divine General Mansions hadn’t fared much better.

After all, he’d already seen so many Wangs on the list—who knew how many had once been listed and then vanished?

This ancient dynasty still thrived in peace, its people safe, girls sailing on flower boats, boys riding horses in the countryside, vendors hawking wares without worry—this ordinary, cherished glow of ten thousand hearths… how many nameless heroic corpses had silently guarded it in darkness? “This prosperity… came at a terrible cost,” Li Hao murmured.

He felt solemn reverence for the names above.

He kept reading, but didn’t see Elder Er’s name—perhaps he used a pseudonym.

But Li Hao saw the nickname Wind Elder had mentioned: Bu Liu Xing.

Ranked 35th, merit points: 3201.

Li Hao froze—he was almost certain this was the Thief Saint!

“Wind Elder travels alone, yet has such high merit points…” Li Hao’s gaze grew grave.

Aside from Elder Er, Wind Elder had few friends.

Meaning his merit points came entirely from his own battles.

He stood alone against Mo Rivers.

Yet Wind Elder’s reputation was terrible—he was the Thief Saint, reviled by all factions.

The world condemned him.

Then why risk his life for this?

Maybe there’s an answer. Maybe there isn’t.

Li Hao fell silent, suddenly realizing the old man who joked with him while fishing—he knew him well, yet didn’t know him at all.

Moments later.

He continued reading.

Soon he saw another familiar name: Jian Wu Dao.

Like the Wangs, he used his real name.

Most names on the list, aside from the Wangs, were pseudonyms.

Like the Thief Saint’s “Bu Liu Xing”—how could anyone have the surname “Bu”?

The Sword Saint… Li Hao’s eyes narrowed—he saw his rank: 76th.

Merit Points: 738.

That meant he’d destroyed at least seven Mingyu Mo Rivers, or completed seven Residual Memory Mo Rivers.

Li Hao now understood: the Merit List didn’t reflect true strength. The Thief Saint and the Sword Saint were both Four-Standing Realm, yet their merit points differed four or fivefold.

Many other experts likely never participated in Mo River suppression.

After all, suppressing Mo Rivers brought no benefit beyond the imperial court’s meager rewards—and this vague, mysterious merit point system had no known use.

The world bustles for profit.

No profit, no early rising.

This caused the Mo River Bureau to be critically understaffed, the situation tense.

It also explained why completing just one Residual Memory Mo River placed him in the top hundred of Dayu.

Li Hao sighed softly and tucked away the golden paper.

Suddenly, he sensed a disturbance—someone was approaching.

Li Hao suddenly realized.

Looking at the temple before him, he saw it slowly sinking into the earth, as if vanishing.

This temple was linked to this Feng Mountain Mo River.

Now that the Mo River was gone, the temple naturally vanished too.

Wait.

Li Hao suddenly froze—was this Mo River so simple because it was the one meant for next year’s novice trials?

Now it’s gone…

What will they test them on next year? Damn it.

Didn’t he just tear up all the candidates’ exam papers? Li Hao was speechless—he only wanted to teach the scholar how to draw, never imagined he’d complete the realm! Time to go.

Li Hao swiftly took flight, vanishing in an instant.

As Li Hao fled in haste, many across the world were startled.

(End of Chapter)