Leaderboards and Arena Open

[Congratulations! You placed first on Track 103 in the Parkour King event. You have received the title "Parkour King" and the superior-grade sword array: Three Spirit Sword Array.]

Jiang Liu had just been kicked out of the event map when someone came over.

"Brother Liu, I got wrecked! Aaaah!!!"

Li Dongze wailed with tears and snot streaming down his face. He'd never been beaten in a game before, not once in his life. He'd actually had a chance to finish the course, but who could've guessed someone would knock him out halfway through? He was absolutely furious.

"Oh. Who?"

Jiang Liu gave a perfunctory nod. He had no time to bother with Li Dongze and couldn't wait to enter Cultivation Era.

The Parkour King title, the Three Spirit Sword Array, Qi Refining Layer 9!

Were any of those as important as Brother Ze?

"He was a two-meter-tall musclehead!"

Li Dongze said pitifully, "One punch and my health was gone. You have to avenge me!"

A two-meter-tall musclehead. Probably one of Second Middle School's star students. Li Dongze had really drawn the short straw.

"Sure, sure. I'll remember. If I get the chance, I'll pin him down and let you beat him up."

Jiang Liu pushed Li Dongze away in disgust. Ignoring whatever else he said, he circulated the Three Revolutions Mysterious Technique as he entered Cultivation Era.

Back in the game, he opened his inventory and checked his event rewards.

[Parkour King]: The honor of a victor—though there are a few too many victors. +10% cultivation speed, +10% movement speed.

Not bad. Much better than the First Recharge title.

Jiang Liu happily equipped his new title, then looked at his other reward.

[Three Spirit Sword Array]: Superior-grade spell array. Driven by three types of spiritual energy and formed from three types of flying swords. Once formed, it lets you control spiritual energy and swords within a twenty-meter range. Continuously consumes spiritual energy.

Another thing requiring three types of spiritual energy and three types of flying swords. This array had extremely strict requirements, but that was no problem for Jiang Liu.

"This would only be usable by someone with a Three-Element Mixed Spirit Root in a real cultivation world. Good thing this is a game."

After reading the description, Jiang Liu sighed. Games sure were convenient. Anyone with enough money could get all three types of spiritual energy.

He was talking about himself, of course.

Wasn't it just three types of spiritual energy and three magic swords?

Learn it right away!

With the spiritual energy from his three Supreme Spiritual Roots driving the Three Spirit Sword Array, he was already looking forward to unleashing its devastating power!

With this sword array, he refused to believe he still couldn't beat his senior brother!

"Three rounds over three days, an hour and a half each time, one title, one sword array, and half a bar of Cultivation Points. Please, give me more events like this."

Jiang Liu thought happily. Just as he finished counting up his rewards, several system notifications rang out in quick succession.

[You have advanced to Qi Refining Layer 9.]

[Congratulations on advancing to Qi Refining Layer 9! The Leaderboard and Arena features have been unlocked.]

He'd finally reached Qi Refining Layer 9!

Jiang Liu's spirits lifted. He glanced at the game interface: the [Leaderboard] at the top and the [Arena] on the right had both lit up.

Excited, he opened the Leaderboard. A golden ranking list, like a slowly unfurling scroll, appeared. The tabs at the top read [Realm Ranking], [Divine Weapon Ranking], [Divine Skill Ranking], and [Sect Ranking].

Was he first in the fourth district?!

He immediately opened the [Realm Ranking]. The otherwise empty list had a single name displayed at the very top!

[Name]: Jiang Liu

[Rank]: First

[Realm]: Qi Refining Layer 9

[Rank Reward]: +30% cultivation speed

With the cultivation speed boost from his First Recharge title and VIP status, the spiritual energy in the classroom, the Three Revolutions Mysterious Technique, all the Qi Refining Pills he'd made, and the Parkour event, he'd finally become the first player in the fourth district to advance to Qi Refining Layer 9!

Congratulations were in order!

"Playing games is all about showing off on the leaderboard, isn't it? I haven't even gone home these past few days, all for this."

"Nice! I'm taking a screenshot."

Jiang Liu grinned at his name on the leaderboard, feeling as if a refreshing breeze had swept through him. He was in a great mood.

He'd played hundreds of games over the years, but this was the first time he'd ever topped a level ranking. He was moved to tears.

Cultivation Era really was a great game!

He stared at his name on the Realm Ranking for a full minute before calming down. Then he opened the Divine Weapon Ranking.

The top weapon on the Divine Weapon Ranking was a superior-grade magic weapon, the [Heavenly Branch Spear]. Its owner wasn't listed, so he had no idea who'd gotten so unbelievably lucky.

As for the superior-grade magic weapons he owned—the Crimson Refining Furnace and the Spirit Communication Jade—they ranked twenty-third and seventy-fifth, respectively.

A fake lucky player had been utterly crushed by a genuinely lucky one. Jiang Liu felt pretty sour about it. His superior-grade magic weapons really were nothing special.

"My magic weapons are a little behind. I'll catch up when Mystic Weapons come out."

Jiang Liu shook his head helplessly. Getting a superior-grade magic weapon was all down to luck. If he couldn't compete, he couldn't compete.

He opened the Divine Skill Ranking. The top skill was the superior-grade spell [Return Origin Qi], while his Three Spirit Sword Array and Three Revolutions Mysterious Technique ranked third and nineteenth, respectively.

"Even higher-ranked than the Three Spirit Sword Array?"

Jiang Liu looked astonished. He hadn't even used the Three Spirit Sword Array yet, but that didn't stop it from being amazing!

A sword array driven by three types of spiritual energy had only made it to third place?

How powerful were the first-place [Return Origin Qi] and second-place [Plant Control Method]?

He'd have to try them out in the Arena sometime.

Aside from the Sect Ranking, he had a name on all three other lists. After browsing through them, Jiang Liu happily exited and tapped into the Arena.

Compared to the rankings, the Arena was the real centerpiece of the game.

When he opened the Arena, an extremely familiar interface appeared before him.

The Arena had a sky-blue background. Rankings were on the left, the exchange shop in the lower-left corner, and the number of challenges remaining in the lower-right. There was even a plus sign next to the challenge count.

Arena interfaces were all the same. Nine out of every ten games had one just like this.

What left Jiang Liu speechless was the three identical paper-doll figures standing in the center of the Arena. Their rankings were 9,948th, 9,967th, and 9,995th.

"Damn it! You want me to fight my way up from outside the top ten thousand?!"

Jiang Liu stared at the screen, black lines practically appearing across his face. Copy the interface if you must, but did they have to copy this trash, too?

Wasn't this just making things miserable for players?

Why not just give him first place outright? Why make him go through all this?

"I give up. Seriously, how long is this going to take?"

Jiang Liu didn't even feel like activating Immersive Experience. He went straight to the paper doll ranked 9,948th.

[Challenge rank 9,948?]

[Yes]

[Challenge successful. Your rank has risen to 9,948th.]

The paper dolls traded blows, and the opponent was defeated in one hit. But when the next challenger appeared, the highest available ranking had already changed to 9,711th.

He'd climbed nearly three hundred places in one go. At least the devs were being decent for once.

Jiang Liu watched his paper doll demolish its opponents, his ranking climbing steadily. When he reached 7,123rd, another notification popped up.

[You have run out of challenges. Would you like to purchase more?]

[Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes]