Chapter 525: Individual Circumstances
"Haha! I wonder what expressions those elite squad members will have when they return and see their rankings have all dropped by a spot..."
"Heh, it's probably going to stir up some waves; the top three hundred spots are dominated by elite squads from various Kingdoms. Now, with our Team Leader Ling forcing his way in, we can just sit back and enjoy the show!"
"Hmm... we already know they'll definitely come looking to challenge Team Leader Ling."
"Do you think Team Leader Ling can handle the pressure from those elite squads?"
"Ha! With the strength Team Leader Ling has shown, it's more like he'll be the one pressuring those elite squad members! Who are they to challenge him?"
"True enough, considering that last night, Team Leader Ling managed to scare off an Earth Ghost General with just one skill..."
"..."
Even on the front lines, there's fierce competition.
Merit points are like school credits—they can be used to exchange for various items.
Dragon Kingdom's treasury was strained precisely because the exceptional talents on the front lines emptied it out.
The rewards from merit points far exceed those available at schools and are of a much higher level!
It's said that even Holy Artifacts can be redeemed!
Currently, there are ten elite squad captains who have exchanged for Holy Artifacts.
Among them, the captains of Dragon Kingdom's first and second squads each obtained a Holy Artifact.
So the merit rankings run very deep.
Even a small shift can catch the attention of these elite squads.
Zhou Xue'er's ranking on the Sky List was around 400.
She was among the top ranks.
But compared to Ling Zhan, who had broken into the top fifty, there was still a significant gap.
At the moment.
Ling Zhan didn't care about the merit ranking itself; he only cared about the merit points.
His current merit points totaled 300,000.
With 300,000 merit points, he could redeem two S-grade skill books.
But Ling Zhan hadn't planned to use them yet because he wanted to redeem a Holy Artifact.
Yes.
It was time to upgrade his equipment.
Currently, Ling Zhan's armor and jewelry were still satisfactory, and he was quite pleased with the effects of the Unmatched Demon War set.
He wasn't one to rely heavily on skills, favoring instead his basic attacks.
Especially in this frontline battlefield, facing tens of thousands of enemies, basic attacks seemed like the best option apart from AOE skills.
A single basic attack could kill a monster without consuming any mana.
Of course...
For Ling Zhan, mana consumption was not a major concern.
The Unmatched Demon War set's basic attack power was already comparable to a minor skill.
That's assuming he had applied buffs to himself before attacking.
At present.
Ling Zhan was at the camp, carefully reviewing the latest notices across the reserve teams.
Li Zhaoge had already arrived at the Hundred Ghost Fortress.
She hadn't visited Ling Zhan because she was too busy.
She belonged to Dragon Kingdom's Fourth Squad.
Known by other reserve team members as one of the "elite squads."
That Li Zhaoge, a junior student, had entered an elite squad for training spoke volumes about the high regard her superiors held for her.
Now she was out on a mission with the Fourth Squad and wouldn't return for a few days.
Norton was the same, currently on a mission with the Free Federation's Third Squad.
Otherwise, with Norton's aggressive nature, he would surely have shown up before Ling Zhan by now.
Given Norton's appearance here, it indicated one thing...
He must have grown stronger.
Which was expected.
Since the Global Warcraft Tournament ended,
every Kingdom had become more generous with resources, providing them all to their most talented individuals.
Norton was rumored to have received another demonic bloodline, the Storm Demon bloodline.
So now he had a dual-demon bloodline, and after returning, his mentor had also secured him several resource-rich secret realms.
This allowed Norton, originally in his sixties in level, to rapidly rise to level 77.
Such a level-up speed is extraordinarily terrifying for an ordinary person!
Especially considering that level 70 is considered close to the later stages.
But for the wealthy Free Federation, it seemed like no big deal; they just boosted Norton's level rapidly, enabling him to achieve a hidden tier-three demon profession.
To this day, Norton's hidden profession remains classified.
It hasn't been revealed to the public.
But it's certain that his strength has vastly improved, likely even qualifying him to lead a reserve squad alone.
Similarly...
Li Zhaoge also received family support.
Previously mentioned, the family of this beautiful student council president was a famously influential hidden clan.
They possessed countless resources.
Moreover, her family was reputed to be a Sword God clan, with five tier-four Sword Gods within the family!
Five!
That was enough to place her family among the top-tier families in Dragon Kingdom!
But as for how much stronger Li Zhaoge had become, Ling Zhan didn't know, nor was he particularly interested.
As for his three contract beasts...
Well.
Tianyan Academy had already sent notice.
All three contract beasts had successfully absorbed the Beast God Barrier-Breaking Pill's medicinal power, achieving a significant level increase. But whether they'd inherited the Beast God's talent and broken their bloodline shackles would only be clear once they emerged from their collective seclusion.
If all three could inherit the Beast God talent and break their bloodline shackles, they might one day become the Gods of Beasts!
This was no joke!
So far, only one Dragon God had emerged among the beasts.
It's said that this Dragon God could even rival red-named sub-BOSSes in the Forbidden Land.
And those red-named sub-BOSSes were only one step below the Forbidden Land Lord, making them a force to be reckoned with.
This speaks volumes about the terrifying power of the Dragon God.
To put it in perspective...
In last night's Ghost Nest battle, that Heavenly Ghost General, who required three tier-four powerhouses to severely wound, would have been dealt with in a single move by the Dragon God.
Of course...
If it were one of the top three Heavenly Ghost Generals in the Hundred Ghosts, they'd likely be on par with the Dragon God in strength.
As for the Forbidden Land Lord...
There's no accurate measure of such a terrifying being's power.
But everyone knows that if any one of the Forbidden Lands' masters ever decided to emerge for a fight, it would be the highest-level crisis for the Kingdom armies.
Additionally...
Zhu Yaoguang and her group were about to be sent to a Forbidden Land battlefield for advanced training.
Their talent was truly exceptional, even surpassing that of people like Li Zhaoge.
While Li Zhaoge and others began their battlefield training as juniors or sophomores,
Zhu Yaoguang and her group had started as freshmen.
"Team Leader Ling, there's a confirmed update."
"In three days, the top elite squads will return..."
At this moment,
Zhou Xue'er entered Ling Zhan's office, softly conveying this news.