One drop of fresh blood after another fell from the severed head, landing on the ground.
Lu Changsheng had returned to Beiling City.
In his hand, he carried Sheng Yuan’s severed head, step by step heading toward the martial arts practice building.
"It’s him again, Sword Twelve. Why does he only have one head this time?"
"Yeah, isn’t it his habit to always bring back dozens of Northern Barbarian heads? Why only one this time?"
"Why does this head look so familiar?"
Many people were still puzzled.
Why had Sword Twelve "wrapped up" so early today?
Just one head? That didn’t fit his character.
But soon, someone finally recognized whose head Sword Twelve was carrying.
"That... is Sheng Yuan?"
"Oh my god, it really is Sheng Yuan! Ranked second on the Shen Power Ranking, he recently saw massive improvements in his strength, even heavily wounding Song Wuqing!"
"Sheng Yuan is dead? Beheaded by Sword Twelve?"
"Unbelievable! Absolutely unbelievable!"
"Sword Twelve was able to slay Sheng Yuan?"
The news sent waves of shock through the crowd, leaving everyone in disbelief.
Heaven Heart, Sheng Yuan, Song Wuqing—
These were the three unshakable titans on the Shen Power Ranking!
Ever since the Northern Battlefield had opened, no matter how the Shen Power Ranking roster shifted, these three names stayed constant at the top.
At most, Sheng Yuan and Song Wuqing occasionally swapped ranks.
The entire Northern Battlefield held as common truth that in the Divine Power Realm, Heaven Heart, Sheng Yuan, and Song Wuqing reigned supreme, overlooking all others.
But now, this ironclad rule had been shattered by Sword Twelve.
Blood still dripped from Sheng Yuan’s head.
Sword Twelve had killed Sheng Yuan!
The bloody truth lay before everyone’s eyes. They were dumbstruck, turbulent waves raging in their hearts.
Lu Changsheng’s expression remained calm.
He walked unhurriedly into the martial arts practice building and casually tossed Sheng Yuan’s head onto the floor.
A loud "thud" echoed.
Sheng Yuan’s head rolled across the ground.
Countless pairs of eyes instantly locked on Lu Changsheng.
The martial artists inside the building, all well-informed, immediately recognized the head on the ground.
"Mr. Dao... is that Sheng Yuan’s head?"
Even though the martial artists were familiar with Sheng Yuan, they couldn’t help but ask, their voices trembling.
"It is. Sheng Yuan has been slain by me. How much merit is his head worth?"
Hearing Lu Changsheng personally confirm it, the entire practice building instantly erupted.
The numerous martial artists who followed behind Lu Changsheng were overwhelmed with excitement.
Second on the Shen Power Ranking!
Ahead of even Song Wuqing!
In fact, Sheng Yuan’s name still prominently occupied the second rank on the Shen Power Ranking inside the practice building.
But Sheng Yuan’s head was lying right here on the floor.
Sheng Yuan’s name would remain on the Shen Power Ranking until the list was updated next month, where it would finally be erased.
"Sheng Yuan, ranked second on the Shen Power Ranking—killing him grants thirty thousand small merits!"
A martial artist from the practice building announced loudly.
Thirty thousand small merits!
Enough to exchange for three Divine Power Realm elixirs.
But Lu Changsheng, already a Thousand Cauldrons martial artist, no longer needed Divine Power elixirs.
"Thirty thousand small merits... Can the martial arts practice building exchange them for Divine Astral Realm martial arts?"
"But even the weakest Divine Astral Realm martial arts cost ten great merits—equivalent to one hundred thousand small merits."
Lu Changsheng nodded slightly.
A hundred thousand small merits was an astronomical figure to most Divine Power martial artists.
Based on the minimum of one hundred small merits earned per Divine Power Realm enemy slain—
That equated to killing a thousand Divine Power Realm martial artists to exchange for one Divine Astral martial art.
And only the weakest tier of it.
For superior Divine Astral martial arts, one might need one hundred great merits, or one million small merits!
That would mean killing ten thousand Divine Power Realm martial artists.
Lu Changsheng might be able to gather a hundred thousand small merits.
But a million small merits? Even for him, it would be near-impossible. The source of thɪs content is NovᴇlFir(e).nᴇt
Unless he continued slaughtering endlessly on the Northern Battlefield.
And the Northern Barbarian Kingdom foolishly tolerated it.
But how likely was that?
At that point, even Divine Astral Realm martial artists would intervene.
If necessary, the Northern Barbarian Kingdom would risk an all-out Astral Realm war rather than allow Lu Changsheng’s unchecked massacre.
For now, the thirty thousand small merits would remain with Lu Changsheng for later use.
Afterward, he walked out of the martial arts practice building.
Outside, a massive crowd had already gathered, packed tight.
As soon as they saw "Sword Twelve" emerge, their enthusiasm surged to fever pitch.
"The martial arts practice building has confirmed it’s Sheng Yuan—there’s no mistake!"
"Who would’ve thought that the feat Song Wuqing couldn’t accomplish was achieved by Mr. Dao."
"Back then, You Shifei and the others risked their lives to shield Sword Twelve from Heaven Heart; clearly, they already saw his potential. Fortunately, they fought for him—who else could have killed Sheng Yuan?"
"I wonder now—who is stronger, Mr. Dao or Heaven Heart?"
The crowd’s imaginations ran wild, speculating on the strength comparison between Sword Twelve and Heaven Heart.
The Shen Power Ranking’s top three were undisputedly dominated by Heaven Heart, whose strength far surpassed Sheng Yuan and Song Wuqing.
But now Sword Twelve had slain Sheng Yuan, demonstrating that his power exceeded Sheng Yuan and Song Wuqing by a significant margin.