Top Ten Merit Contributors at the Wormhole Gate
Just as they were about to leave Lake Defiance, Joe Di seemed to recall something. He took out another ring and handed it to Zane Wu. "Brother Zane, here are about thirty thousand merit points. I'd like you to have them."
Zane Wu immediately waved his hand and said, "Brother Joe, after exchanging all the insects I have, I have around fifty thousand merit points. The tenth place on the Wormhole Merit Leaderboard only has about thirty thousand points right now. My merit points are enough to get me into the top five."
Joe Di chuckled, "We're planning to exchange our merit points at the last moment—can you be sure others won't think the same way? Besides, even after giving you my merit points, I still have about a hundred thousand left, not counting that Rainbow-Winged Lightning Bug egg. If I include that, I have around two hundred thousand merit points. Having more is pointless, so why take unnecessary risks?"
Zane Wu immediately understood what Joe Di meant. Joe Di was absolutely right—if someone else had the same idea to exchange their merit points at the last minute, trouble could easily arise.
"Since that's the case, thank you very much." Zane Wu did not refuse any further. As Joe Di said, having a few thousand more points wouldn't make much difference to him.
......
It wasn't unusual for Joe Di and Zane Wu to leave Lake Defiance. The two of them left the lake every day, wandering throughout the entire insect district, simply to buy all kinds of insects.
But today, Joe Di and Zane Wu didn't go to the various trading districts to purchase insects. Instead, they headed straight to the merit exchange station at the grand plaza.
There weren't many people at the merit exchange station. Joe Di glanced at the massive merit leaderboard array in the distance—there was still more than an hour left until the deadline.
But the tenth place on the leaderboard already had forty-three thousand points. Zane Wu glanced at Joe Di and said with relief, "Brother Joe, you were right—there really are others who thought the same as us. The previous tenth place is now ranked thirteenth."
When Joe Di and Zane Wu both walked over to the contribution points exchange counter, all eyes instantly focused on the two of them.
The top ten slots for annual contribution points were about to be announced, so those exchanging now were clearly aiming for a last-minute push into the top ten.
Zane Wu exchanged his contribution points ahead of Joe Di. As everyone watched, Zane Wu's total shot up to eighty-seven thousand.
With that score, he instantly climbed to fifth place. He was just over five thousand points away from third.
The moment Zane Wu stepped up, the tenth-place holder was immediately knocked out. Everyone was stunned. Every year, there were people who tried to force their way into the top ten on the last day, but no one had ever presented over eighty thousand points in one go. Even if you wanted to, you’d have to be able to gather that much first.
"It’s that pill and the guy named Zane Wu..."
"Isn’t he the one always buying insects?"
"That’s right, it’s those two..."
"Looks like Evan Wang from the Wayseekers Hall is about to get knocked off the list."
Evan Wang of the Wayseekers Hall was ranked ninth on the contribution points leaderboard. Now that Zane Wu had easily bumped the tenth-place holder off, Evan Wang dropped to tenth. If Joe Di overtook Evan Wang, there shouldn’t be any problem. Zane Wu had over eighty thousand points, and Joe Di had always been with him—it would be strange if his score was lower.
"Does collecting insects really work?"
"Maybe it does. I’ve never tried it myself."
"They’re newcomers too, but they have Immortal Crystals to pay. Even if we wanted to collect insects, we don’t have Immortal Crystals..."
The crowd buzzed with regret and envy. If they’d known collecting insects was so easy, they would have started long ago. Now that their Immortal Crystals were spent, they didn’t even have the capital to collect insects.
Joe Di pulled out a Quantum Vault Ring, but before he could hand it over to exchange for contribution points, a hand suddenly grabbed at him. "So you’re the one who secretly killed my friend," the person said.
As the hand reached out, the surrounding space was completely engulfed by its imposing force.
No fighting is allowed in the Insect District, but Evan Wang couldn’t care less at this point. He absolutely couldn’t let Joe Di exchange his contribution points. If Joe Di ended up with tens of thousands of points like Zane Wu, Evan Wang was finished.
His score was over fifty thousand, but if he didn’t make it into the top ten and earn a Leap Dao Gate slot today, his points would shrink to just over ten thousand. This year’s fifteen thousand points would become seventy-five hundred, last year’s thirty thousand would be reduced to a quarter—less than ten thousand. Older points would drop to an eighth or even less.
Joe Di knew full well not to start a fight here. Even if he wanted to teach Evan Wang a lesson, this wasn’t the time or place. He hadn’t expected to be competing with Evan Wang for a slot.
Smiling, he raised his hand and caught Evan Wang’s palm. "Friend Wang, I didn’t expect you’d come to congratulate me. It’s fine—once I reach the Dao Domain, I’ll treat you to a grand feast."
As they spoke, Joe Di was already weaving layer upon layer of Law Restrictions inside Evan Wang's body.
To Joe Di, Evan Wang’s level of cultivation was barely above that of an ant.
Evan Wang felt a chill in his heart. He sensed that the space around him was no longer under his control, and his palm was easily held by Joe Di—he couldn’t move at all. How terrifying was Joe Di’s cultivation?
"I’m here to exchange my contribution points." Joe Di said with a smile, handing his ring to the attendant.
The attendant gave Joe Di a cold glance, then shot another at Evan Wang, before sending his divine sense into the ring.
When he saw the pile of insect corpses—especially the body of a Rainbowwing Thunder Moth—he stared at Joe Di in shock.
Materials from the Rainbowwing Thunder Moth were extremely rare. Even though the trading post offered ten thousand contribution points for one, if you took it to the Dao Domain, people would still pay a fortune for it.
Rainbowwing Thunder Moths never appear on the battlefield; they’re basically like overseers. For Joe Di to have caught one—how unbelievable was that?
"Did you manage to find a Rainbowwing Thunder Moth’s Insect Egg?" The attendant normally wouldn’t ask such questions, but the egg was so precious he couldn’t help himself.
Joe Di said regretfully, "I didn’t manage to get one."
At the same time, he released Evan Wang’s hand.
Evan Wang shot Joe Di a wary glance but didn’t dare cause any more trouble. He hadn’t expected Joe Di’s strength to be so overwhelming—beyond anything he could imagine.
The attendant sighed in disappointment as well. After all, how could anyone just casually obtain a Rainbowwing Thunder Moth’s Insect Egg, given how priceless it was?
Once Joe Di finished exchanging his contribution points, he shot straight to first place on the leaderboard—one hundred thirteen thousand, four hundred points. As for Evan Wang, there was no suspense; Joe Di had easily knocked him off the list.
Seeing his name vanish from the top ten, Evan Wang was dazed. In just one incense stick’s time, his score would drop from over fifty thousand to just over ten thousand.
"Once I’m gone, you’ll have good luck—and a feast too." Joe Di patted Evan Wang’s shoulder, smiling as he spoke again.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! There’s no way you could collect so many insect corpses. Even if you could, you wouldn’t get a Rainbowwing Thunder Moth..." Evan Wang shouted angrily. He’d just seen the attendant holding the Rainbowwing Thunder Moth’s body.
"Idiot. When did I ever say all my insect corpses were bought?" Joe Di gave Evan Wang a scornful look, then exchanged a glance with Zane Wu. The two of them walked over to stand beneath the massive Formation Screen.
Joe Di and Zane Wu didn’t have to wait long. The Formation Screen erupted in dazzling golden light, and ten Top Ten Tokens appeared in the air, each inscribed with a cultivator’s name.