Chapter 72: I'll Install It for You Myself!

The Void-Splitting Weasel had gone berserk.

Within the vast Dueling Arena, thousands of After-Images pounced toward the giant.

Squelch! Squelch! Squelch!…

Chunks of flesh were torn off one after another, only to be sliced into countless tiny fragments mid-air, transforming into a terrifying downpour of blood. The black-and-white lines of the Void-Splitting Weasel were stained a muddy yellow by the blood.

Zou Han felt no pain and tirelessly struck toward the countless afterimages.

Yet, from beginning to end, he failed to touch even a single hair of the Void-Splitting Weasel.

Finally, the massive flesh-and-blood body was stripped away, leaving only an empty skeleton behind. Zou Han’s body mechanically repeated its striking motions, his life force now barely detectable.

“Su!”

Hundreds of silver gleams shrouded in Death Qi pierced through the skeleton. The Void-Splitting Weasel had, at some point, already stood behind Zou Han, its back turned to the Audience. Its slender yet sharp silhouette left an overwhelming sense of dread.

Thud!

Zou Han’s skeleton collapsed to the ground, shattering into scattered debris before ultimately dissolving into clusters of data fragments, vanishing from the Dueling Arena.

“Congratulations, you have successfully defended your position.”

The Void-Splitting Weasel’s expression remained indifferent. As the faint black Qi dissipated, its figure likewise transformed into data fragments and disappeared from the arena.

Zou Han, time and again challenging, time and again achieving Breakthroughs, carrying his own hopes and the expectations of his comrades, had fallen just before victory.

That final step was as difficult as scaling the heavens.

He shut down the Live Stream and sat quietly in place. The virtual barriers around him felt as unreal as his own life, yet the cold numbers on the Ranking told him it was all real. He had truly been defeated by the gatekeeper guarding the top ten thousand of the Myriad Realms Ladder.

“Damn, why’d he turn off the stream? Have the guts to turn it back on!”

“Coward, you got the whole world watching your stream, and this is how you perform?”

“Couldn’t even fight back, yet you had the nerve to say you were aiming for the top ten thousand? Who gave you the courage?”

“You were so close to winning, why didn’t you hold on a little longer?”

“Who’s even pushing Zou Han? How could a good-for-nothing like him have any hope of breaking into the top ten thousand of the ladder?”

…

The Bullet Comments were filled with intense hostility, with insults and blame raining down like a storm.

To become famous in one battle—but it was infamy.

The internet had always thrived on emotional outbursts. Insults and slander came with no barriers or consequences, and the few voices of reason were quickly drowned out by the tide of public anger.

…

“Ranking placement successful. Your matched opponents will now fall within the range of ten to twenty million. After consecutive wins, you will be matched with opponents of higher Rankings.”

An hour passed.

“Yan Thunder Destruction Slash!”

The thunder-infused Saber cleaved the figure before him into a pile of data fragments. Soon, a notification sounded from the Myriad Realms Ladder.

“Congratulations, challenge successful.”

…

“Congratulations, challenge successful.”

“Congratulations, challenge successful.”

Five hours passed, and Jiang Yan’s winning streak had reached 99.

“Detected that you have achieved 99 consecutive wins. The System will now match you with opponents across a wider Ranking span.”

…

“Challenge successful. Detected that you have achieved 100 consecutive wins. Congratulations, you have obtained the title [Undefeated in Battle].”

“Equip this title?”

Jiang Yan: “Equip!”

Since we’re playing a game, what’s wrong with wearing a title?

Soon, dazzling artistic text lit up above his head.

“Undefeated in Battle.”

His Ranking had now reached 1,000,000.

“Excellent, let me see where my limits lie!”

Jiang Yan was thoroughly addicted, cutting through opponents like vegetables all the way, as if playing a roguelike game from his past life.

The Myriad Realms Ladder matching system was quite intelligent. Realizing Jiang Yan’s strength far exceeded his ranking, it began matching him with opponents across large gaps.

【Name】: xx

【Ranking】: 600,000

At this tier, opponents’ Realms were already one to two major levels higher than Jiang Yan’s, completely overwhelming him in cultivation.

However.

Jiang Yan activated his Trait.

Two Doppelgangers, together with Jiang Yan himself, unleashed the Yan Thunder Destruction Slash.

Multiple Casting displayed its Divine Might, splitting into two additional Saber Qi streams. 【Blade Bearer】【Demon Scale】 Geng Metal Primordial Qi and Blade Momentum combined their power.

Purple-gold Saber Qi filled the entire Dueling Arena.

“Congratulations, challenge successful.”

An hour passed.

【Ranking】: 90,201

Opponents at this tier generally fell within the Fifth Grade Martial Artist range.

“Detected that your online time has exceeded seven hours. The Myriad Realms Ladder reminds you: 【The game is fun, but don’t overindulge】. Please leave the Game Capsule and spend more time with your family.”

Jiang Yan closed the anti-addiction prompt and continued matching.

“Anti-addiction? Unless you force me offline.”

Jiang Yan curled his lip, not taking it seriously at all.

“Continue challenge!”

“Matching in progress.”

Another hour later, Jiang Yan’s ranking reached 50,690.

As his ranking climbed higher, the drawback of insufficient Realm began to show. Jiang Yan was blasted to death by a “Turret Mage” in a Duel—no skill, pure stats.

Under absolute Realm suppression, Jiang Yan’s many cheats became mere accessories.

“Tsk, that guy was almost close to a Sixth Grade Martial Artist.”

Jiang Yan was forced to end the match.

Further up would likely be monsters from Fifth Grade Perfection to Sixth Grade, and these guys themselves possessed extreme strength to fight above their level. It was only normal for Jiang Yan, a Third Grade Innate Perfection, to be unable to defeat them.

After fighting for so long, he finally remembered he was only eighteen years old—still lacking compared to those 25-year-old veterans.

“Seems I need to condense Inner Astral earlier and Breakthrough to Fourth Grade Martial Artist.”

He had a premonition that the day he broke through to Fourth Grade Martial Artist would be his chance to reach the top 10,000 of the ladder!

After exiting the Myriad Realms Ladder, Jiang Yan opened his eyes inside the Virtual Game Capsule. The hatch opened, and he nimbly climbed out.

Back at the villa, Jiang Yan did several thousand standard push-ups to warm up, took a shower, then headed to the Spirit Gathering Chamber.

The area outside the Spirit Gathering Chamber was still packed with people.

Jiang Yan frowned slightly, thinking no wonder Divine Capital Martial University dared to promise him unlimited use of this thing—they had buried a trap here.

Jiang Yan thought if it was always this crowded in the future, he’d have no chance to use the Spirit Gathering Chamber again.

So he decisively called the principal.

Coincidentally, the school’s official website had Qin Wufeng’s contact number.

“Hello, this is the principal’s office. May I ask what important matter you have?”

The voice answering was female, likely the principal’s assistant or similar.

“Hello, I’m Jiang Yan. Could you let Principal Qin take the call?”

“Oh, so it’s Student Jiang Yan. I’ll notify Principal Qin immediately. Please wait patiently for one minute.”

A minute later, a call came through.

“Hello, is this Student Jiang Yan?”

“It’s me.”

“Hey, what’s up? What can I do for you?”

Jiang Yan got straight to the point.

“The Spirit Gathering Chamber is too crowded. Is there any way to fix that?”

“Ah… well, Jiang Yan, that’s a bit tricky. You know, Spirit Gathering Devices are quite rare…”

“By the way, I just made it into the top fifty thousand on the Myriad Realms Ladder.”

Jiang Yan knew full well that only those with value had bargaining chips to trade with others.

Sure enough, an excited, almost breathless voice came through the phone.

“Hurry! I’ll send someone to install a Spirit Gathering Device at your place right away. Actually, screw it—I’ll come install it myself!”

Jiang Yan wanted to say: No need, because I’ve already installed one myself.