Cultivation: But Not a Game-Chapter 287 - 197: Divine Turtle Island, Peerless Prodigies
Giant Tortoise Island, the main city of humans in the South Sea of the Fallen Star Islands.
Su Yu initially thought this island was named after its resemblance to a giant tortoise, but upon arrival, he discovered that it wasn’t named for its likeness; the island itself was the body of a giant tortoise.
Though it was dead.
Looking down from tens of thousands of meters high, below lay a giant island spanning thousands of kilometers, shaped like a giant tortoise lying in the sea.
There was a shell, limbs, a tail, and a lifelike raised tortoise head, but it wasn’t alive.
With just one glance, Su Yu understood that this Giant Tortoise Island must have been formed from the corpse of an ancient tortoise-like beast.
This wasn’t unusual; some immensely powerful ancient beings, upon falling, could have their corpses transform into mountains and rivers.
On the island, the shell had transformed into an endless range of mountains, with thirteen towering peaks representing the thirteen segments of the tortoise shell, countless city structures stood among these mountains, and numerous sword lights and flying ships traversed freely on the island.
Giant Tortoise Island, South Sea City.
Human civilization in the main city of the South Sea at the Fallen Star Islands could be considered the human heartland.
To the southeast, they were engaged in battle with the Horned Demon People, and to the southwest with the Fire Race People, but both were held at the borders, so the war hadn’t spread into the South Sea heartland, hence the peace here, and since the previous battle, Su Yu had not encountered the Horned Demon People again.
The sword light plunged into Giant Tortoise Island, and following Lin Tao’s directions, Su Yu headed straight for the military branch in the city center.
The branch completely occupied the highest and largest peak at the center of Giant Tortoise Island, seen from afar, the peak was enveloped in thick Spiritual Qi, with clouds swirling above and pavilions and terraces scattered below, radiating treasure light.
He headed directly to the office at the foot of the peak and saw from afar a gigantic mirror, a kilometer high, standing on the mountainside rock face, his gaze fell upon the mirror, and his information immediately appeared on its surface:
Name: Su Yu.
Race: Human Race.
Rating: Not yet evaluated.
Rankings: Not ranked.
Merit: 15,420 points
Minor Merit: 1.
Major Merit: None.
Supreme Merit: None.
This giant mirror was a sub-mirror of the supreme spiritual treasure, the Mystical Void Mirror, and anyone who looked at it could see their information, but only they could see their own information.
Each time you looked into the mirror anew, it would update the information.
Su Yu was here for the first time, and the existing information was just his current basic situation.
There wasn’t much more to say; the rating referred to the Mystical Void Mirror’s evaluation of an individual’s strength and potential, from lowest to highest:
Ordinary: Just an ordinary person.
Average Talent: Medium level of potential and strength, neither outstanding nor mediocre.
Above Average: Superior strength and potential, elite level.
Exceptional Talent: Far superior strength and potential, an outstanding member of their kind, a top genius.
World-Class Talent: Dominating strength and potential over current super geniuses.
Pinnacle Talent: Known as a supreme talent, dominating an era.
Ratings could only be given in the two main cities of the Fallen Star Islands, although they could also be evaluated at other places within human civilization possessing the Mystical Void Mirror, and the rating was universal.
Blue Mountain Island was too small to have it.
Su Yu wasn’t particularly interested for now, he was just here to learn about the situation with the Celestial Derivation Immortal Sect, not to participate in combat specifically.
As for the other rankings, they referred to several general human rankings, covering all human regions, not limited to those at the Fallen Star Islands.
Prodigy Rankings: 36 spots, listing the strongest 36 under-100 individuals in human civilization for comprehensive strength and potential, those on the list gain human luck blessings.
Peerless Rankings: 72 spots, listing the strongest 72 under-100 individuals in human civilization for comprehensive strength and potential, those on the list gain human luck blessings.
Combined, the two rankings had 108 spots, representing the current strongest peers of young people within the last 100 years of human civilization, with each possessing an immortal stature.
Wind and Cloud Rankings: 3,000 spots, listing the strongest 3,000 under-100 individuals in human civilization for comprehensive strength and potential, excluding those on the Prodigy and Peerless rankings, eligible individuals possess at least Earth Immortal attributes, and those listed similarly receive some degree of human luck blessings.
Su Yu self-assessed his situation, feeling that with all his cards combined, he could definitely make the Wind and Cloud Rankings, though the Peerless Rankings were uncertain.
It wasn’t that his strength and potential weren’t strong enough, but rather he hadn’t accumulated enough yet; his Dao and Sword Skills weren’t fully cultivated, he had incomplete Immortal Bones, and even the merging of five Immortal Bones to refine the Battle Immortal Body was not yet within sight, so how could he compare to those seventy or eighty-year-olds who’ve fully accumulated and even transcended a tribulation once?
If all these accumulations were complete, not to mention the Peerless Rankings, he even had confidence in securing a place on the Prodigy Rankings.
Su Yu glanced at these rankings, recognizing none of the names.
What surprised him was that the Prodigy Rankings were not filled; with 36 spots, there were only 26 names, leaving 10 spots empty.
These were the third, fifth, sixth, sixteenth, nineteenth, twentieth, twenty-fifth, thirty-first, thirty-third, and thirty-fourth spots.
This indicated that the Prodigy Rankings weren’t ranked by position, but rather by a standard, and if no one met the standard, spots would be left empty rather than filling them with subpar individuals.
This reflected the credibility of these rankings.
After understanding these, Su Yu closed the rankings and looked at the Military Department Task Board again.
He ignored the ordinary tasks and went straight to the super tasks that rewarded Heaven Merits.
The panel flashed, displaying the tasks, with forty-seven easily visible at a glance.
Heaven Merit Task: Destroy the Celestial Derivation Main City of the Horned Demon People, by any means necessary. The standard is to destroy the city. Reward: 5 Heaven Merits, +1 access to the Immortal Pavilion.
Heaven Merit Task: Destroy the Ten Thousand Flames Main City of the Fire Race People, by any means necessary. The standard is to destroy the city. Reward: 5 Heaven Merits, +1 access to the Immortal Pavilion.
Heaven Merit Task: Destroy the Six-Eared Tribe...
The top row included several tasks to destroy the main cities of various other races, all with identical rewards.
Su Yu glanced at them and moved on, quickly finding the Heaven Merit tasks he was interested in.
Heaven Merit Task: Completely eliminate the 12th-ranked Tianjiao on the Horned Demon People’s Tianjiao list, Jiao Li, with the standard being the target’s removal from the list. Reward: 2 Heaven Merits.
Heaven Merit Task: Execute the human traitor Li Yu, with the standard being the complete demise of the target. Reward: 1 Heaven Merit.
Heaven Merit Task: Explore the Fallen Star Ruins, search for the lost Ancient Immortal Sect Star Palace, with the standard being the determination of the Star Palace sect headquarters’ mountain gate. Reward: 1 Heaven Merit.
Heaven Merit Task: Explore the Ancient Battlefield, search for the remains of Ancient Immortals lost in the Battlefield. Each Ancient Immortal’s remains found rewards 1 Heaven Merit, and guiding a surviving Ancient Immortal back rewards 10 Heaven Merits.
Heaven Merit Task: Explore the Abyss of Fallen Demons....
Clearly, these were the tasks Lin Tao mentioned with no specific strength requirements, all being exploration tasks.
Explore the Fallen Star Ruins.
Explore the Ancient Battlefield.
Explore the Abyss of Fallen Demons.
Explore the Abyss of Fallen Stars, these four.
These dangerous places can be entered by those without a Foundation Establishment, but they are very dangerous; encountering danger means certain death.
However, there are indeed no strength requirements, only requiring extraordinary luck.
Su Yu was not in a rush. First, he closed the panel, then turned to purchase a map and detailed information about the Fallen Star Islands from the Military Department through the Grand Void Divine Net.
The map cost 2000 merits, and the detailed information about the Fallen Star Islands cost 3000 merits, totaling 5000 merits, equivalent to 5000 gold.
Then he rented a temporary cave dwelling on the island to settle down and began studying slowly.
He was not in a hurry; the information was extensive and couldn’t be fully reviewed within a few days, so he made sure to settle down first.
Su Yu then stayed in the cave dwelling, taking the time to carefully go through the materials.
It took him a full six days to finish reviewing the material worth three thousand gold, after which he became quite knowledgeable about the Fallen Star Islands, even more so than most of the local population, as most ordinary locals wouldn’t be willing to spend three thousand gold worth of merits on purchasing such information.
"These Heaven Merit tasks are hard to undertake."
After comprehensively understanding the conditions of the four dangerous places through the materials, Su Yu felt it would be challenging for him to accomplish them.
The Fallen Star Ruins refer to the Grotto Heaven of the Star Palace, a super sect’s mountain gate during the Ancient Era on the Fallen Star Islands. It’s a massive Grotto Heaven, stretching billions of kilometers, larger than Blue Mountain Island.
During ancient times, there was great conflict among the Immortals on the Fallen Star Islands, leading to the demise of the Star Palace and the destruction of the Grotto Heaven housing the mountain gate.
Now it is filled with spatial rifts and chaotic spatial turbulence, along with residual marks of Immortal battles, requiring immense strength to venture inside safely.
The Ancient Battlefield, Abyss of Fallen Demons, and Abyss of Fallen Stars are all remnants of the Ancient Battlefields, their conditions resembling those of the Fallen Star Ruins.
Among them, the most dangerous are the Ancient Battlefield and Abyss of Fallen Stars.
According to records, there was a large-scale melee among Immortals on the Fallen Star Islands during the Ancient Era, resulting in the fracturing of the massive Star Master Island and the fall of numerous Immortals, with residual power forming many treacherous grounds.
The Ancient Battlefield was the main battleground, located in the Other Shore World, a dreadful place filled with spatial rifts and lingering Immortal powers, spanning over a billion kilometers.
The Abyss of Fallen Stars is situated at the very center of the Fallen Star Islands and Ancient Battlefield. In ancient times, it seems an Immortal summoned a star to crash down, shattering the Fallen Star Islands into fragments. That star still exists, endlessly radiating twisted energies that permeate the Ancient Battlefield, rendering the foundational laws of the Other Shore World unable to repair themselves, forming a treacherous ground persisting for untold millennia.
The four tribes all have tasks to explore these major treacherous grounds, seeking the treasures left within.
Leaving aside the potential Immortal remains, there are undoubtedly tier-ten treasures or even beyond waiting to be discovered. Finding just one would lead to immense fortune.
"It’s indeed tempting, but it’s just too dangerous."
Su Yu pondered for a long time, feeling it would be wiser to wait.
"Better to enhance my strength first and refine my Immortal Body."
"Currently, I have 13.2 billion Spiritual Qi experience in my experience pool and roughly 12 billion in the Spirit Gathering Bottle, totaling 25.2 billion in Spiritual Qi experience, yet my Dao cultivation is only at 3200."
It’s quite interesting that after the promotion of the Sea-Suppressing Pearl, the internal time flow rate has shifted from one to ten to now one to one hundred. With the Spirit Gathering Bottle inside, it accumulates 100 drops of Spiritual Liquid per day, with each drop worth one million experience, equating to a daily accumulation of 100 million Spiritual Qi experience.
Traveling from Blue Mountain Island took four months, adding up to 12 billion in Spiritual Qi experience.
So now experience isn’t lacking, only Dao cultivation is.
"I’ll start by working on my Dao cultivation for a few months, refining the remaining two pieces of Immortal Bone, then enhancing the Qi Refining Heart Skill and Sword Formulas. Once they’re around level ninety, I can focus on accumulating cultivation points and Dao cultivation for the condensation of the Nine Heavens Battle Immortal Body."
"Given it’s named after the Battle Immortal Body, it must be a powerful combat Immortal Body. By then, I should rank up, directly stepping onto the Tianjiao list for some fun."
