Top 100 on the Military Ranking, the Entire Defense Line Exploded

After coming out of the rift, news of Wang Jianguo's death spread quickly.

The instructors and military personnel entered the side passage to retrieve the body and inspect the scene, reaching the exact same conclusion as Lin Feng.

Three Venom-Sting Lizards, bite marks, venom stinger wounds, severed heart meridian causing death.

The students of Ping'an Martial High School had varied reactions upon hearing the news.

Some fell silent.

Some breathed sighs of relief.

Not a single person wept.

Wang Jianguo's compensation went through military channels.

Lin Feng, in his capacity as Sergeant Major, handled the transfer procedures for this sum.

After the 150,000 in compensation arrived, it should have been forwarded to Wang Jianguo's family according to procedure.

But Lin Feng wrote a note on the transfer form: "Verified: the deceased embezzled student subsidies during his lifetime. This compensation is temporarily withheld to cover the related losses."

When Zhang Qian received this document, his mouth trembled for a long time.

"Sergeant Major Lin... is this... is this compliant?"

"Ask Commander Li whether it's compliant or not."

Zhang Qian took the document around, and Li Zhenguo glanced at it, signed it with a flourish.

"A guy who stole student money—dying wasn't unjust. This money counts as recovered funds, goes through internal accounts."

150,000, in hand.

Plus the 50,000 found on Wang Jianguo's body, that made 200,000.

200,000.

Exactly the same as that subsidy from back then, not a cent off.

Lin Feng transferred the money to Xiao Yu.

After all, the eldest brother is like a father; now that he had money, he couldn't shortchange his family.

The message was only one line: "Don't hold back. Your brother has plenty of money."

After handling this matter, Lin Feng returned to his tent and dumped out all the magic cores he'd accumulated over this period.

A small mountain piled up on the bed.

F-rank, E-rank, D-rank—big and small, over a hundred of them, in various colors, dazzling to the eye.

The most valuable were the three C-rank magic cores.

From the Lava Lion King, Iron-Feather Violent Eagle, and Two-Headed Earth-Splitting Python during the Beast Tide—each worth nearly a million.

Plus the dozens of D-rank cores and hundreds of E-rank cores saved up from clearing rifts afterward...

All this stuff together was conservatively estimated at five million.

"Time to cash out."

Lin Feng thought it over.

The Black Market offered higher prices, but it was a mixed bag, and his current status as Sergeant Major made it inconvenient to go through the Black Market.

The military purchase price was lower, but it was safe and convenient, and there was another advantage.

The Military Magic Core Contribution Leaderboard.

Lin Feng had heard about this by chance from Zhang Qian.

This leaderboard was an internal points system within the Northern Territory military.

Every soldier who turned in magic cores would have the quantity and rank automatically recorded, converted into contribution points for ranking.

The higher the rank, the better the treatment.

The top hundred could prioritize using the military's advanced training facilities and pill reserves.

The top fifty could apply for Martial Master-level military martial skill inheritance.

The top ten directly received recommendation letters from the provincial Martial Arts Association, with boundless prospects.

Lin Feng hadn't paid attention to this leaderboard before, mainly because he'd been busy grinding monsters and fighting, with no time for it.

But now that he had so much stock on hand, he might as well clear it all out in one go and see where he could rank.

He packed the magic cores into three large bags, hoisted them, and headed straight for the military supply depot.

A dozen or so people were lined up at the supply depot's counter, all soldiers turning in magic cores.

Some had two or three, others five or six, each waiting in line for inspection.

Lin Feng slammed the three bags of magic cores onto the counter with a clatter.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The counter shook twice.

The quartermaster in charge of inspection looked up, glanced once.

"Inspection." Lin Feng handed over the Sergeant Major badge.

The quartermaster opened the first bag.

A pile of E-Rank Magic Core rolled out, varying in size, glinting with multicolored luster under the light.

He counted them.

"E-Rank Magic Core, one hundred and seventeen."

Opened the second bag.

D-Rank Magic Core.

The quartermaster's hand paused. He looked up at Lin Feng, then lowered his head to continue counting.

"D-Rank Magic Core, forty-three."

Opened the third bag.

Three fist-sized Magic Core, radiating dense energy fluctuations.

The quartermaster's hand began to tremble.

"C-Rank... C-Rank Magic Core, three."

When he pushed the acceptance form over, his fingers were shaking.

"Sergeant Major Lin, please confirm the total. E-Rank one hundred and seventeen, D-Rank forty-three, C-Rank three."

Lin Feng swept a glance over it, signed.

"What's the total contribution value?"

The quartermaster tapped away on the calculator for a while.

"E-Rank fifty contribution points each, total five thousand eight hundred fifty. D-Rank five hundred contribution points each, total twenty-one thousand five hundred. C-Rank five thousand contribution points each, total fifteen thousand."

"Total contribution value: forty-two thousand three hundred fifty."

The quartermaster swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

"Sergeant Major Lin, this contribution value you've turned in at once."

He pulled up the ranking board.

The ranking board was networked across the entire Northern Territory, all soldiers from the six defense lines sharing one list.

The moment Lin Feng's forty-two thousand three hundred fifty contribution value entered the system.

The ranking board jumped.

A certain name originally in ninety-third place was squeezed out.

Lin Feng's name appeared in ninety-third place.

The quartermaster's eyes went wide.

"Ninety-third place!"

The soldiers queued at the counter all crowded around.

"How much?"

"Ninety-three! Top hundred in the entire Northern Territory!"

"Holy shit! Turning in this much at once?"

The ranking board updated in real time, synced to the big screen in the camp.

Within five minutes, the news spread through the entire Sixth Defense Line.

"Lin Feng? That new Sergeant Major?"

"The one who held the front alone during the Beast Tide?"

"Top hundred? How many days has he even been here?"

Zhang Qian ran over, panting heavily.

"Sergeant Major Lin! You're on the ranking board! Top hundred in the entire Northern Territory!"

"Mm."

"Do you know who's ranked ahead of you? At minimum, old veterans at the Martial Ancestor level! Some have guarded the Northern Territory for ten or twenty years! You've been here less than half a month and you've already squeezed in!"

"Mm."

"Can't you get a little excited?"

"If I get excited, will it give me more money?"

Zhang Qian choked.

Lin Feng tucked away the military's purchase receipt.

A little over five million worth of Magic Core, the military purchase price at twenty percent off, netting four million in hand.

For an eighteen-year-old poor kid, that number was something he wouldn't have dared to dream of just half a month ago.

But Lin Feng couldn't be bothered to think about money anymore.

Martial Path Points were the real currency.

He was about to head back to his tent to rest when Zhang Qian came running over again.

"Sergeant Major Lin! Someone's looking for you outside the defense line!"

"Who?"

"He says he's an old friend of yours from the Seventh Defense Line, and he traveled all the way here from there."

Lin Feng paused mid-step.

"Let him in."

Five minutes later, a bedraggled figure rushed into the camp.

Wang Tie.

His combat suit was caked with dirt, a fresh, unhealed gash ran across his left cheek, and he was panting heavily from running.

The moment he saw Lin Feng, Wang Tie blurted out without preamble.

"Lin Feng! Li Ming is gone!"