Edits:

I guess I have actually ascended a few artifacts.

The experience points is probably closer to 0.6% through 0.75%, since I just did an 8 multibattle of stage 10 of the event dungeon and only went up 5% on level 41.  So it cannot be above 0.8%, because then I would go up at least 6% if so, but definitely above 0.5%.

And also, I'm specifically trying to beat map 6 stage 3 on Nightmare of the campaign.

So the new update didnt directly impact the Forge Pass, it just happened to end the same day as the update. A new pass will show up usually in 2-3 weeks.

I dont know offhand how much XP it takes to level an account but there is info on the web about it if youre interested.  XP gain though is directly tied to how much energy you use, and you can use it anywhere.

Souls are another source of powering up your champs.  Each level gives a fairly significant stat gain as well as access to some powerful blessings.

I wouldn't worry about focusing on beating NM campaign.  Brutal is plenty efficient enough for leveling your champs.  Looks like youre doing a good job making 6*s already.  Now focus on trying to get your dungeon progress up to level 20 for some proper gear farming.

Like you, I missed a promo champ, would love a Wukong.  I will humbly suggest that Skillz is right on dungeon hunting.  I initially spent $ chasing champs, and still get beat by smaller accts in progression overall by them just working on gearing of what they have.  So now I'm pausing to go back and work the acct gearing versus adding more champs.  Good luck! 😁

Update:

Thank you Skillz and Gareth

I actually was able to get through that stage of the campaign as soon as I got my first awakened soul.

Any suggestions on Spirit Keep stage 13+?  I can beat stage 12 and under, (I think only 11and under on auto), but I can't beat that pesky stage 13, when they heal basically 2/3 of their health each turn.

I'm also trying to keep up with the advanced quests everyday, but the only one that gets in the way each time is the Faction Crypts boss.  I can only beat the first stage faction crypts boss with a select few factions, so when only a random two are open per day, I basically have no chance.

I have been doing the events as much as possible, and I have been farming the event dungeon for silver to upgrade my gear.

I've beaten every other dungeon necessary for the Challenges section except for Spirit keep on auto, and Fire Knight's castle.

On the note of gear, regardless of my exact team, since I basically have 6 champions which I can cycle between for a good 4 champion team, depending on the challenge, what gear or gear combos do you guys think would be best for champions?  I've seen talk about Speed being crucial, so I did max out a speed set, but in relation to how easy the gear is to farm or forge, what would you say are the most useful gear sets to have (assuming 6 star any rarity, or 5 star epic or higher)?

At your level of the game:  Speed, Accruacy & Lifesteal are the very best sets and they are all available from Dragon, which should be the first Dungeon that you focus on.  Get yourself to Dragon L20 as soon as possible.  As you get more (and better) forge materials from Faction Wars, Perception will quickly become one of the best sets for you can will stay that way for a long time.   

As you progress, other gear sets will become more important, and you can read about them here:  https://hellhades.com/raid/artifact-tier-list/

Spider is the best source of silver per energy, not the Event Dungeon. Ideally, that would be the second Dungeon that you focus on getting to L20.