163: On merit

"Why?" Chu Yuan was puzzled. Zhang Yue didn't seem like the rigid type; why couldn't he handle such a small matter?

Zhang Yue glanced at him: "Do you not know the importance of your group?"

"To prevent any accidents, only trial participants can use this teleportation array... After you leave, just let them teleport separately."

Chu Yuan realized this was true.

"What if a trial participant is controlled by an alien race and causes trouble?"

"Of course, they have already been tested."

"What if it wasn't detected?"

"...Are you trying to pick a fight?" Zhang Yue sneered. "Why don't you ask what happens if the Legion Commander is controlled by an alien race? Or if the coordinates of the teleportation array are changed to an alien base?"

"...Right, what happens in that situation?"

"If that situation happens... I will tear your crow's mouth apart!"

"...How much military merit does it take to activate the teleportation array once?"

"Without a special reason or an assigned mission... five thousand."

Chu Yuan nodded. It was indeed quite expensive... No wonder Martial Artists from the Outer Heaven Battlefield didn't like returning to Earth Star; they had to be able to afford it.

Everyone arrived quickly; Chu Yuan himself had arrived quite late. As for those who hadn't come, they weren't coming at all.

Everyone entered and stood in the middle of the teleportation array, and the array patterns slowly lit up...

The snowy plains were heavily guarded, and Zheng Qian and Instructor Xie Jun had long been waiting there. Today was the day the Jianmu Project ended, and they certainly remembered it clearly.

As the light of the teleportation array faded, a group of figures appeared...

Instructor Xie Jun counted them and couldn't help but nod. Fortunately, the casualties were much better than he had expected!

A transport plane was on standby nearby, and Instructor Xie Jun urged everyone to leave immediately. The training was over, but these trial participants couldn't return immediately; they still had to return to the training base. There was one more thing... distributing rewards based on their results!

Chu Yuan waited a moment and saw the light of the teleportation array shine again, followed by the figures of Wu Mushuang and Miao Xiuxiu. They were quickly taken away by the garrison for inspection.

He nodded at the two of them, stopped paying attention, and turned to board the transport plane. He wasn't a child anymore, and they all had legitimate identities, so the follow-up wasn't his concern.

"First place: Chu Yuan, cumulative military merit... 220,000?" Zheng Qian paused, finding the number hard to believe. 220,000 military merit... He had accumulated more military merit than that in his life, but he had never had more than 100,000 in his hands without spending it. But what Realm was he, and what Realm was Chu Yuan? Even with a five-fold military merit bonus... Chu Yuan's base military merit was over 40,000! What had he done? Slaughtered a few Seventh Realm experts?

What Zheng Qian didn't know was that Chu Yuan had indeed slaughtered a few Seventh Realm experts... but the anomalies didn't count as hostile races and weren't recorded as military merit. Furthermore, the military merit earned from the [Energy Gathering Array (Modified)] that Chu Yuan uploaded was not included in this ranking... The bulk of the military merit came from the mission to rescue Jiang Fei. The two targets rescued were worth 10,000 military merit each, and the two combined, multiplied by five... that was 100,000 military merit! Additionally, there was the 50,000 military merit bounty from Instructor Jiang Fei... Chu Yuan had contributed the most, so he deserved the lion's share, and the others had benefited from his kindness, so they pushed all the military merit onto him. As for those Fifth Realm Martial Artists who didn't catch up with the Blood Sea Soul Locking Formation... their team leaders would naturally have compensation for them after returning, which was not something Chu Yuan needed to worry about.

Next was the patrol mission, which also brought in a significant amount of military merit. Conversely, the first mission, which sounded the most grand—to exterminate a civilization!—actually had the least military merit... Because the Three-Tailed Lizard Clan was simply too weak. The entire clan only had two Sixth Realm members, and they were not very strong Sixth Realm members at that. Their Legacy was of little value, and the resources collected were only considered wealth because of the large base number.

It wasn't just Zheng Qian and Instructor Xie Jun who were surprised; the other trial participants were also in an uproar. If they hadn't entered the Outer Heaven Battlefield, they might not have known the true value of this. But now... that was 220,000 military merit! That wasn't 220,000 dollars! In other words, the military merit Chu Yuan accumulated in one month was enough to pay back more than one-fifth of the military merit the Pang Family had been fined...

Zheng Qian quickly adjusted and continued reading. This number was definitely correct; the Outer Heaven Battlefield had already carefully calculated it. Even if it was unreasonable... it wasn't his place to question or investigate it.

"Second place: Pang Long; cumulative military merit, 15,000..." Admittedly, this was already a very high number. Even without the five-fold bonus, Pang Long's base military merit reached 3,000... which was already quite good. After all, Pang Long was in the Yukong Realm, and killing one Fourth Realm alien only gave 100 military merit... Looking at it this way, Pang Long indeed had the capital to be arrogant. But in front of '220,000 military merit', it seemed insignificant.

"Third place: Xiang Ning..."

The five hundred or so names were quickly read out. By the time he reached the end, the trial participants who heard their names had expressions of shame. Being at the bottom... was never a good look. They thought they had grown a lot and had fought hard enough, but they still couldn't compare to others... But in reality, compared to those who had been eliminated early, they were already much stronger...

Zheng Qian had no intention of focusing on their psychological state. He put down the terminal and said: "The rankings have been announced, and I believe you have no objections... Of course, even if you have objections, it's useless; hold it in. The rewards corresponding to the rankings have been sent to your terminals; check them yourselves. Rest well today, and tomorrow... I will send you home!"

Giving everyone a moment to digest, Zheng Qian continued: "I announce! The training is over! But... the Jianmu Project has not ended! You will receive attention, special care, and resource allocation! But all of this is not without conditions. You must prove that you deserve this special treatment! If you slack off or indulge in pleasure... you may be kicked out of the training roster at any time! There is no room for negotiation! When you are abandoned, no one will notify you in advance... Alright, dismissed!"

Zheng Qian left after saying this, and Instructor Xie Jun left with him. Chu Yuan was a bit curious about his reward, something that could rival the Martial God Scroll... what exactly was it? But now, there was one more thing to do...

He spoke up: "Ma Chengzong, Wen Shurong, Kong Jingrong, Tang Yan... stay behind."

A youth with an indifferent expression glanced at him: "Pfft~"

He immediately turned and prepared to leave.

Chu Yuan's expression was calm: "I've already given you a chance... You asked for this yourself."

His Divine Sense stirred. The crowd didn't see Chu Yuan make a move, but they only saw Ma Chengzong, who had been indifferent just a moment ago, undergo a drastic change in expression! As if he had seen something terrifying, his legs went weak in an instant, and he collapsed to the ground! He also let out a shrill scream!