Meanwhile, Xu Que drew forth a long blade once more.
As the "Heaven-Slashing Style" was reignited, the blade began to radiate a brilliant silver-white starlight.
"Slash!"
Once the spiritual energy had fully coalesced, Xu Que swung the blade toward Lotas' neck.
The silver blade, imbued with vast spiritual power, sliced through the air toward Lotas with unyielding force.
At this moment, Lotas had yet to adapt to the sudden weakness of his own body.
His vision and hearing were compromised, leaving him blindly flailing his hands in all directions.
"Thud!"
Lotas' head was severed halfway, hanging limply as thick, brown blood gushed forth in a continuous spray.
Witnessing this, Xu Que was taken aback—this creature had not yet fully perished, despite this!
Noticing that the ancient white fork and windpipe remained intact, Xu Que's lips twitched uncontrollably.
No wonder, in his past life, this monster had obliterated several squads—it seemed he had been a force of nature even in the early stages!
Thinking of the brave souls lost to the Shadow Corp, Xu Que took a brief moment to mourn their sacrifice.
Surveying the battlefield, he found only three remaining spears—there was not a single blade in sight. This left him slightly frustrated, for he could not hope to confront such an enemy unarmed.
If he were captured, there would be no need for resistance; Lotas would tear him asunder in an instant.
Spotting the warhammer not far off, Xu Que felt a pang of unease. If his strength was rated at one hundred, this warhammer would be one hundred and five!
The effort he had just expended to hurl it had already drained him of all his strength.
Grasping the remaining three spears, Xu Que carefully channeled his mental energy into them, and upon finding them effective, quickly positioned himself directly in front of Lotas.
Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Xu Que opened them once more, and faint starlight appeared within his gaze.
"Control!"
With a swift motion, one of the spears shot toward Lotas' throat, and Xu Que immediately guided another spear.
The first spear left only a shallow wound, but the second one flew swiftly after.
As the two spears shattered in rapid succession, Xu Que placed all his hopes upon the final spear!
"Thud!"
A resounding impact echoed as the spear sank deep into flesh. Xu Que stepped forward with a rush of triumph, just as a long-awaited mechanical voice rang in his ear.
"Congratulations, human Xu Que, you have successfully cleared B-level [Shadow Forest], earning the territory rights of [Shadow Forest]. You have obtained sixteen Spirit Iron ores, twenty-three Spirit Crystals, and three Spirit Stones. You will receive daily territorial income. Please check the Trading Hall interface for details."
Upon hearing the rewards, Xu Que couldn't contain his excitement and leapt into the air.
To possess a B-level territory now would grant him a lead of more than half a year over others!
Before his exhilaration could fully subside, another mechanical voice sounded in his ear.
"Congratulations, human Xu Que, you are the first to clear the dimensional rift. After data analysis, your territory qualifies for the [Territory Leaderboard]. Would you like to appear on the list?"
"Yes!"
Xu Que did not hesitate. Though he had no idea what the [Territory Leaderboard] might reward, he knew that the most powerful company in his past life was based in the M-country, and its influence was formidable, with several nations backing it.
In his past life, Xu Que had joined a company founded by Ji Boda. Although the contract promised ample resources, he had never seen a single Spirit Crystal, for all the resources he received were seized by Liu Ruoyan.
"Would you like to hide your name or use a codename? Note: Once chosen, this cannot be changed."
Staring at the screen, Xu Que was somewhat startled.
Could it be that each leaderboard allowed a different name?
Without a moment's hesitation, Xu Que reached out and typed "Ya Zi" into the virtual screen.
Although his name on the [Cultivation Leaderboard] had been "Avenger," it never quite felt fitting. After all, he was a man who pursued vengeance to the end. No matter where his enemies fled, he would hunt them down and make them suffer until their final breath!
In his previous life, he had been tortured to death; in this life, he would repay that suffering with the same ferocity as the "Ya Zi."
Thus, any who had wronged him would not receive a peaceful death.
As Xu Que confirmed his choice, the mechanical voice sounded again.
"Congratulations, human Xu Que, you have earned the first place on the [Territory Leaderboard], and as a reward, you gain the temporary ability [Eye of Probe] (subject to change with your ranking)."
Upon hearing [Eye of Probe], Xu Que's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the notification.
He had seen this ability in a classified document.
At first, he had been indifferent, but after understanding the annotations, he realized just how formidable it was!
While there were numerous exploration-related tools and equipment in the future, none could compare to the [Eye of Probe]. This ability not only allowed the user to see the information of dimensional creatures but was also the only ability capable of probing the level of the dimensional space itself!
As Xu Que was about to explore this newfound power, the mechanical voice echoed once more.
"Congratulations, human Xu Que, as the first to ascend the [Territory Leaderboard], you have earned an exclusive divine-level reward: the permanent ability [Hundredfold Gains] (you will receive one hundred times the resources from your territory daily)."
Xu Que was stunned, utterly taken aback by this divine-level reward.
He could no longer hear any other sound except the roar of his own exhilaration.
"Awesome!"
His ecstatic cry reverberated throughout the forest.
Tears streamed down his face as he realized he was living a dream.
Compared to his past life, he was now a completely different person. In his previous life, he had been nothing more than a hopelessly devoted sycophant, tortured to death in the end…
It was a clear case of "a dog licks and licks, only to end up with nothing."
Meanwhile, the entire world was struck with awe at the name "Ya Zi" on the [Territory Leaderboard].
Many were confused, unable to understand how one could reach such a rank, yet here was another who had done so.
"Who can tell me, what is this territory?"
"This Ya Zi must be from Z-country!"
"What does it matter? Don't forget, the Avenger was the first to ascend the leaderboard."
"Avenger-sama must be from our M-country! We must support him!"
At the same time, high-ranking officials from various countries were frantically trying to locate "Ya Zi," for every nation now sought to claim such a talent.
Inside the dimensional space, Xu Que remained unaware of the far-reaching storm his actions had stirred.
Tucking away his exhilaration, he wiped the tears from his eyes and turned his gaze to Lotas' body.
Beside the corpse, several colorful light orbs floated serenely.
Without a moment's hesitation, Xu Que walked toward the golden orb—golden items were always of epic quality!
[You have acquired the A-level formation, Eight Gates Golden Lock.]
[Name: Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation (A-level, skill type).]
[Quality: Epic (gold).]
[Active: Consumes ten Spirit Crystals per use, within the formation, increases physical, mental, soul, and curse attacks for 300 seconds.]
[Passive: Reduces enemy movement speed for 300 seconds.]
Upon seeing this, Xu Que burst into a hearty laugh.
Though it was not the best formation, it was certainly good enough to claim the first spot on the [Formation Leaderboard], for his goal was the divine-level rewards!
Just as he reveled in the knowledge that he could soon learn the formation, an eerie silence fell over the entire forest.
Ten seconds passed…
One minute passed…
Xu Que scratched his head and opened the skill interface.
[Formation: Eight Gates Golden Lock (Uncultivated State).]
Xu Que stared in disbelief, then opened the cultivation tab. His face froze!
[Formation: Eight Gates Golden Lock (Cultivation Stars 0/35).]
Ha… no wonder this formation would shoot up to second place in a year! It required A-level cultivation to learn…
Cultivation levels were divided into star tiers: E-level had seven stars, D-level nine, C-level twelve, B-level twenty-two, A-level forty-nine, and S-level eighty-one.
As for surpassing S-level, Xu Que had never witnessed it in his past life, for even reaching S-level with just a handful of stars was already immensely powerful—such a person was practically a human nuclear bomb!
Closing the skill interface, Xu Que's momentary joy evaporated.
He walked toward another golden orb, and upon collecting it, opened his inventory.
[You have acquired A-level Forging, Thousand Hammer Tempering.]
[Name: Thousand Hammer Tempering (A-level, skill type).]
[Quality: Epic (gold).]
[Active: Increases forging success rate by 30%.]
[Passive: Each item forged increases your base strength by 1%.]
Xu Que facepalmed, then burst into another round of laughter.
Though this skill wouldn't help him top any leaderboards, it was better than nothing…
Regardless, the start to this life had been absolutely perfect!