Chapter 68: Battle Exemption

“So, Jiang Yan, your competitors are no longer your former classmates from the College Entrance Exam, but the top prodigies under the age of 25 from the entire war zone—across a thousand planets!”

Returning to his villa, Jiang Yan kept replaying in his mind the words his advisor, Mr. Wang, had said to him privately that afternoon.

He could tell that this advisor, whom he had never met before, took a special interest in him, perhaps due to Jiang Yan’s Talent performance, or for other reasons.

He understood the advisor’s intention—essentially urging him to maintain a calm mindset and treat wins and losses with equanimity.

Perhaps in the advisor’s mind, Jiang Yan was a talented student, but merely talented at that.

Across a thousand Martial Way civilizations, the number of prodigies was as countless as fish in a river. Who could guarantee securing a place on this ladder?

Jiang Yan was only eighteen this year, turning nineteen in another month. Yet, all those prodigies on the Ladder Rankings were pushing the age limit of twenty-five. With six more years of cultivation than Jiang Yan, who could guarantee he would stand out among such fierce competition?

“So, I wonder what Realm that senior ranked around ten thousand has reached?”

Jiang Yan thought idly while battling the Law Beast.

Now, the Law Beast could no longer breach Jiang Yan’s defense; attacks landing on him felt as weak as tickling.

Another night passed.

System Log updated:

Your proficiency in “Injury-Craving Mad Bone” has reached Skilled.

Your 【Titan’s Body】 defense increase has reached 150%.

Jiang Yan continued practicing his Saber.

“Six Path Reincarnation Slash” still felt quite unfamiliar in his hands. Shi Heng Grade Martial Skills were indeed not easy to master, but as long as he grinded hard enough, none of these issues would be problems.

In the afternoon, he planned to go see the legendary Myriad Realms Ladder.

The morning passed in the blink of an eye.

Jiang Yan left the villa and headed toward the Martial Training Ground.

Since it was during the midday break, when Jiang Yan arrived, there were still about a thousand Game Capsules available.

Jiang Yan couldn’t help but admire these overachievers—they occupied three to four thousand spots even during the break. What would it be like during regular hours?

In fact, it wasn’t just students of Divine Capital Martial University; many teachers also used the Game Capsules. Although teachers received no credit rewards for climbing the ladder, they could still use it to hone their Martial Skills and advance their Martial Way. Why wouldn’t they?

Thus, at Divine Capital Martial University, aside from the scarce Spirit Gathering Chambers, these simulation capsules were the most sought-after.

What he couldn’t see were the dozens of long lines forming outside the hundreds of Spirit Gathering Chamber rooms. Students were willing to camp out on the floor, queuing up just to use the chambers.

This phenomenon was a common sight across all higher institutions.

Spirit Gathering Devices were extremely expensive. Blue Star’s current technology couldn’t achieve mass production, making them something that couldn’t be bought no matter how much money, credits, or Martial Artist Points one had.

Even top institutions like the two capital Martial Universities combined had fewer than a thousand units. Other schools would consider themselves lucky to have even ten.

Jiang Yan found an available simulation capsule and was about to enter when he overheard some idle chatter that piqued his interest slightly.

“Did you hear? Senior Zou Han is aiming to break into the top ten thousand of our war zone’s Ladder Rankings.”

“What! Hasn’t Senior Zou Han already graduated? Why hasn’t he left our school yet?”

“Hey, you don’t know this, do you? Senior Zou Han hasn’t been able to advance an inch since his ranking reached 15,020. Sometimes he even faces having his ranking snatched away by others.”

“Senior Zou was the top talent of his class, only comparable to that guy from Demon Capital. Before graduation, he publicly vowed that if he couldn’t break into the top 10,000 of the Myriad Realms Ladder, he’d rather never graduate.”

“Hiss~ Senior Zou is too ruthless, isn’t he? Students in the top 10,000 of the Myriad Realms Ladder can’t even be considered within the realm of living beings anymore. Can he really succeed?”

“Who knows? During his four years at university, Senior Zou challenged the Ladder every time he had a breakthrough. His best result was only 15,020. Unless he makes a greater breakthrough, trying to push past over 5,000 people above him is nothing but a pipe dream.”

“Enough talk. For someone like me who hasn’t even made it into the top ten million of the Ladder, I’d better aim to leave my name on the list before graduation. Otherwise, after the age bracket resets at twenty-five, there’ll be no hope for this lifetime.”

Jiang Yan listened with great interest, but one thing puzzled him: why was Senior Zou so fixated on reaching the top 10,000 of the Myriad Realms Ladder?

Could it be that the 10,000th place held some special meaning for him?

Unfortunately, the two people talking had already entered their simulation pods, and the idle chatter came to an end. Jiang Yan had no way of learning more.

He shook his head and entered his Game Capsule.

Meanwhile, in the outside world, a piece of news exploded across Blue Star.

Countless television stations broadcast the same footage, media outlets scrambled to report, all of Blue Star halted work and production, and everyone set aside their trivial tasks. Even couples who had just started planning for a second child were forced to pause and look at the live stream on their phones.

An hour earlier.

The highest government of Blue Star issued an announcement:

“Divine Capital Martial University student Zou Han is preparing to charge into the top 10,000 of the Myriad Realms Ladder. All Blue Star People are requested to look forward to it and extend sincere blessings to our hero of the Human Race.”

As soon as this global announcement was made, the vast majority of people had no idea what was happening.

A wave of discussion frenzy erupted online.

“Myriad Realms Ladder? What the hell is that?”

“Who cares about that? My company just suddenly announced a holiday. I’m over the moon, okay?”

“Damn, our school just announced a suspension of classes, telling everyone to go home and watch the Myriad Realms Ladder live stream. They even asked us to write a reflection afterward. Does anyone know what’s going on?”

The term “Myriad Realms Ladder” was quite unfamiliar to the vast majority of Blue Star People, so many felt baffled by this event.

Finally, someone stepped forward to explain the origin of the Myriad Realms Ladder, giving the public a rough understanding of its background.

“But even if the Myriad Realms Ladder is impressive, why go to such lengths to have the whole nation watch?”

“Right, I admit it’s amazing that he can rank around 10,000th among so many monsters, but what does that have to do with me, a laborer who hasn’t even opened an Aperture?”

“Then do you know… what privilege comes with entering the top 10,000 in the under-25 age bracket of the Myriad Realms Ladder?”

“Privilege? What privilege?”

“Exemption—from war.”

Boom!

As soon as this statement was made, all the previously confused netizens suddenly fell into silence.

They began searching online for the detailed rules of the Myriad Realms Ladder, and in no time, various specific regulations about the Myriad Realms Ladder were compiled by resourceful netizens, quickly spreading across the internet.

“Rule Five of the Myriad Realms Ladder: Players who first enter the top ten thousand of the Celestial Ladder Ranking List in the 0/25 age bracket will grant their home planet a one-year exemption from war.”

“During this period, Myriad Realms Technology Co., Ltd. will ensure the safety of that planet. For one year, no faction may invade the planet; otherwise, they will be considered enemies of Myriad Realms Technology Co., Ltd.”