"Fifth place, Qingcheng Immortal Sect, Sun Junyi, for his contribution in the battle to slay the Half-Dragon Blackwater King Serpent at the Blackwater River." Sun Junyi shrugged. Fifth place was a bit of a shame, though Lu Yuan secretly felt lucky; he had expected to be fifth or sixth at best, but now it seemed he could break into the top four.

During the engagement with the Blackwater King Serpent, Sun Junyi had played a significant role. He employed the Sound Soul Stasis Sword Technique, continuously targeting the serpent’s ears, brutally battering them until they were nearly shattered and useless.

The reward for fifth place was decent enough, and Sun Junyi collected his prize.

"Fourth place, Kunlun Immortal Sect, Wang Zhongling, for his contribution in the battle to slay the Half-Dragon Blackwater King Serpent at the Blackwater River." Wang Zhongling had indeed exerted massive effort in that fight. His Sea Fire burned fiercely. At the time, the Blackwater King Serpent was continuously scorched while submerged, forcing it to flee the water out of sheer necessity. If he hadn't driven the serpent from the water with his Sea Fire, slaying it would likely not have been so straightforward. Wang Zhongling recalled the serpent's immense size; it stood at the pinnacle of a Second-Tier Demon Beast, possibly even bordering on Third-Tier. Its colossal body stretched over forty zhang, its pitch-black scales hinting at nascent armor plating, already possessing the vague appearance of a jiao dragon.

Compared to the Blackwater King Serpent, the Demon Fire Qilin and the Water Ape King were mere trifles.

"Third place, South Sea Immortal Sect, Qiao Leng, for his contribution in the battle to slay the Half-Dragon Blackwater King Serpent at the Blackwater River." Qiao Leng’s contribution to eliminating the Blackwater King Serpent was undeniable. The ferocity of the South Sea Immortal Sect's sword arts was fully displayed through him. Qiao Leng was incredibly daring in combat, willing to commit his life. He often charged in recklessly against the serpent, inflicting wounds while simultaneously sustaining damage himself. This highlighted why the South Sea sword arts were considered the foremost among the Five Great Immortal Sects, inflicting immense, critical harm upon the Blackwater King Serpent.

"Second place, Mount Hua Immortal Sect, Qi Haozhi, for his contribution in the battle to slay the Half-Dragon Blackwater King Serpent at the Blackwater River." Qi Haozhi, a master of the Hua Shan Qi School, possessed an almost unbelievable grasp of esoteric arts. With the Heavenly Heart in hand, his attacks radiated the domineering nature of pure spellcraft. In terms of sheer single-target destructive intensity and flexibility, sword arts generally held the edge.

But when it came to overwhelming power in area-of-effect attacks, spells were unquestionably superior. The massive body of the Blackwater King Serpent must have endured countless spells from Qi Haozhi.

Lu Yuan was slightly stunned. Was he first place? Otherwise, why were the names from fifth to second read out without his?

Indeed, Sun Xiuli continued: "First place, Mount Hua Immortal Sect, Lu Yuan, for single-handedly slaying the Second-Tier Demon Beast, the Demon Fire Qilin; single-handedly slaying the Second-Tier Demon Beast, the Water Ape King; and sharing the kill of the Second-Tier Demon Beast, the Water Bull King." When Lu Yuan’s name was first announced, a ripple of disbelief went through the crowd, but once his full combat record was listed, everyone found it justifiable.

That was true; the Blackwater King Serpent was significantly more formidable than the Demon Fire Qilin, the Water Ape King, and the Water Bull King combined.

However, five individuals together besieged the Blackwater King Serpent at the Blackwater River, dividing that single credit among them. Lu Yuan, on the other hand, single-handedly killed the Demon Fire Qilin and the Water Ape King—two Second-Tier Demon Beasts—and shared in the killing of the Water Bull King. Within the River of Divine Souls, across nine breaches, Lu Yuan accounted for three of the four medium-level Second-Tier Demon Beasts, while that one higher-tier beast was shared among five people.

When compared this way, it was perfectly logical that Lu Yuan surpassed Qi Haozhi and the other four on the merit ranking.

There was another factor: the Water Ape King’s territory, the Three-Ring Water Domain, was exceptionally perilous. Eighty-seven cultivators attacked simultaneously; had Lu Yuan not reversed the tide, all eighty-seven might have perished there. Including the Three-Ring Water Domain, the difficulty at Qin Jiangyan was nearly on par with that of the Half-Dragon at the Blackwater River.

Lu Yuan had expected to place around fifth or sixth, but upon reflection, judging by the calculation of merits, ranking first was indeed possible. If one of those five at the Blackwater River had claimed an exceptionally large share of the merit, that person could have ranked above him. But since they essentially divided the credit equally, it became impossible for him not to win.

Lu Yuan turned his attention to his rewards. The Falling Star Meteoric Iron was a given. For the five Giant Spirit Beasts, he exchanged them, per his request, for five Giant Cloud Whales. This represented a massive resource boon, bringing his total number of Giant Spirit Beasts to thirteen—more than many Sword Immortals possessed.

Ah, and the Divine Soul Crystals—those were excellent items!

The utility of Divine Soul Crystals permeated the entire Longevity Stage. The Longevity Stage was fundamentally about refining the Divine Soul. Minor Divine Soul Stones were of minimal use; Major Divine Soul Stones were better, but Divine Soul Crystals were of supreme importance. The Old Lord’s Pavilion remained quite lively afterward, with cultivators discussing the joint slaying of the Blackwater King Serpent by the five cultivators at the peak of Longevity Seven, while others excitedly debated Lu Yuan—how could a mere tenth-generation descendant achieve such greatness as to rank first in merit within the River of Divine Souls?

"Impressive, Sixth Senior Brother," Ye Fang commented. "Indeed, Sixth Senior Brother is divinely brave and unmatched. If I were Senior Sister Ling, I would surely have fallen for him already," Ye Yuan teased.

Ling Yuzhu flushed with anger, her hand resting on her sword hilt: "Fatty Ye, say that again, and you'll test my Jade Crimson Sword."

Ye Yuan immediately begged for mercy, repeatedly proclaiming he dared not.

In a small town below Mount Qingcheng, several figures sat together.

All of them wore bamboo hats. The faces beneath the hats were varied: one handsome with an air of wicked charm, another hideously ugly, and the third utterly unremarkable.

The wickedly charming man spoke: "Oh, the Divine Soul River effort failed?"

The unremarkable man raised an eyebrow. "Who said the Divine Soul River was my primary objective? It was merely a feint, a lure to draw attention. As for my true goal—hasn't it already been achieved?" The unremarkable man waved a hand. In his grasp was a piece of jade-green slate inscribed with ancient seal script: "Sword Gate." The reverse side bore the characters: "Heavenly Pass."

"The Sword Gate Token, Qingcheng’s greatest treasure, is about to fall into my hands. What a pity, what a pity. Qingcheng has few true talents; such a Sword Gate Token achieves little in their hands. But with this token, I can set up the Sword Gate Myriad Sword Grand Array—the most terrifying great sword formation in all the world." The unremarkable man glanced provocatively at the silver-haired, wickedly handsome man: "As for you, you've repeatedly failed in matters concerning Mount Hua."

The silver-haired, handsome man let out a soft chuckle. "That was in the past. When Senior Uncle Yan was here, if I won, wouldn't I be chased by him? Now, I can finally play a real game without restraint. Besides, that Sword Gate Token—you'll likely need decades, perhaps even a century, to figure out how to use it."

The Sword Gate was a legendary treasure of Qingcheng. Legend held that there was a perilous spot on Mount Qingcheng known as the Sword Gate Heavenly Pass. For unknown reasons, this pass was filled with countless sword phantoms and blade traces. Later, the Ancestor of Qingcheng used immense power to forcibly condense this gate, refining it out of the void and integrating it into a single token: the Sword Gate Token. Subsequent generations of the Qingcheng Immortal Sect attempted to utilize it, but its depths were rife with arcane secrets, relying too heavily on formations and demanding excessively high standards in the Dao of the Sword, filled with obscure mysteries. Thus, they could never activate it, never imagining it would be stolen by this utterly ordinary-looking person.

"Speaking of which, the little fellow Lu Yuan you mentioned is quite interesting," the unremarkable man said.

"Indeed, very interesting. But I initially thought this person could be toyed with. Now, I feel he must be eliminated. I don't want another Senior Uncle Yan to appear," the silver-haired man replied with an expression of distaste.

Lu Yuan sat cross-legged in his room. This expedition to the River of Divine Souls had brought significant benefits. Excluding what he had spent from the Leshan Giant Buddha haul, he still possessed the Fiendish Blood and scales of the Demon Fire Qilin; from the Water Ape King, he obtained the Taboo-level spell left by the Ice Ancestor, along with the book, The Ice Ancestor's Method of Water Transformation; and from the Bull King, he acquired three-tenths of a Divine Soul Crystal. Finally, at the Old Lord's Pavilion, he gained five Cloud Whales and one Divine Soul Crystal.

Lu Yuan decided not to rush the use of these Divine Soul Crystals. His soul had recently undergone a massive surge, reaching Longevity Five, but this rapid elevation meant his foundation was unstable. He planned to stabilize for a period first and focus on boosting his magical power.

Increasing his mana was not difficult. He took out the Blood Cloud essence obtained from the inner sanctum of the Blood Sword Gate's Blood Treasury. Purifying it with the Pure Sky Water transformed it into the cleanest, most energy-dense aged white cloud. Yuan took a deep breath, and slowly, an incredibly potent mana flowed from the white cloud, entering his body. Simultaneously, the immense spiritual power released by the thirteen Cloud Whales caused his own mana reserves to climb ceaselessly. Higher and higher his power ascended until Lu Yuan felt his magical strength reach an apex of intensity.

After an unknown duration, Lu Yuan stopped. All the unabsorbed Blood Cloud essence was placed into his Minor Sumeru Pouch. He was currently at Longevity Five, still a significant distance from Longevity Six. And by Longevity Seven at the latest, he would face Ke Machangbai.

The time for that decisive battle was drawing nearer.

He pushed the thought aside for now. Lu Yuan stood up and looked out the window at the scenery—a sunset, the slanting light of the fading sun.

The views of Qingcheng were excellent. It was a shame that he increasingly felt the pull toward Mount Hua. Since leaving Hua Shan, he had traveled through countless locations; the list of place names alone was inexhaustible. He had passed through major sects like Wudang, Kunlun, and Qingcheng. The distance traveled spanned hundreds of thousands of li, making him long for Mount Hua, to return to that Longevity Spring Residence. He should be able to go back soon. The next stop should be Mount Hua.

The setting sun dipped behind the western mountains, and night arrived. Lu Yuan touched the wine gourd resting beside him.