Messi and Kas had made a bet. If Ye Dui’s group could successfully win the initial trial, then Messi would hand over all three thousand five hundred blank scrolls on him to Kas. But if Ye Dui failed to complete the trial, then Stan Town would be annexed by Kane City. Now Ye Dui’s group had achieved victory as hoped. These scrolls should rightfully go to Kas.
Yet just as Kas reached for the scrolls, Messi pressed down on Kas’s hand.
Kas looked at Messi. “Vice Mayor Messi, what do you mean by this?”
“Are you sure you want to take these scrolls? If you do, that means you are completely opposing Kane City!” Messi said coldly.
Kas returned a cold laugh to Messi. “Opposing? Kane City has always wanted to annex Stan Town. As long as there is a chance, you will never give up. You never intended to let us go in the first place!”
“But if you take these scrolls now, I guarantee that Kane City’s attacks on you will double in punishment. When Stan Town is devoured by us, you will face multiplied retribution. I promise that by then, not a single person in Stan Town will survive!” Messi threatened in an ice-cold voice.
This threat carried real weight. When fragment worlds devoured each other, it was common for everyone in the devoured world to be massacred. Kane City absolutely had the strength and audacity to slaughter the entire Stan Town… provided they could annex it.
In the past, Kas would certainly have shown hesitation under Messi’s threat. But now, he forcefully swept Messi’s hand away. He said coldly, “Go ahead and try!”
He hugged the three backpacks to his chest. He downed the last of the ale in his mug in one gulp. Then he turned to leave the tavern.
“Who gave you such great confidence to oppose Kane City!” Messi roared in fury.
Kas smiled as he turned back. He pointed at the light screen. “Them.”
Messi’s body suddenly stiffened. “Them” naturally referred to that completely unpredictable newcomer team. Without doubt, Kas knew them. It was clear Kas had a very close relationship with those people. He seemed absolutely certain that this newcomer team would help them and stand on the same side… And the truth was that this newcomer team indeed possessed terrifying power.
If they joined Stan Town, then Stan Town would truly transform from a lamb into a ferocious little wolf. It would become a real threat!
“Vice Mayor Messi, are we just going to let him take our scrolls like this?” One subordinate asked unwillingly.
“What else can we do? A mere three thousand scrolls… Kane City can afford to lose them…” Messi said with a grim smile. “I just cannot swallow this humiliation!”
“Then, send assassins to take him out?” The subordinate suggested.
Fighting was forbidden in the central city. Powerful rules restricted it here. Anyone who fought would face heavenly thunder punishment. But some fragment worlds, for certain benefits, would train death warriors. These were used to assassinate enemies in the central city. After killing the target, the death warrior would be struck down by heavenly punishment.
“For the leader of a small world, it is not worth deploying a death warrior…” Messi shook his head. Training death warriors took immense time and effort. It absolutely could not be wasted. Sacrificing one just for three thousand blank scrolls was not worth it. However, Messi’s eyes turned to the now-dark light screen. “I am actually very interested in that newcomer team. Especially those magic constructs in their hands. I never expected such terrifying things to exist on the outside Castro Continent. If we could obtain those magic constructs from them, it would greatly enhance Kane City’s strength…”
“Vice Mayor Messi, you want to… win them over?” The subordinate was stunned. He frowned. “That might not be easy. Kas clearly knows them.”
“Hmph. This is the Divine Sin Continent. Everyone has the right to be selfish. Friends and family can all be betrayed. As long as they understand the situation and are not fools, they will realise choosing us is the better option.” Messi said confidently. “Moreover, they killed Windless City’s Mad Beast Bien. This will definitely provoke Windless City’s mad retaliation. Stan Town cannot shield them from Windless City’s wrath. They can only choose us!”
With that, Messi made his decision immediately.
“No time to waste. We head to Celestial Plaza right now. That newcomer team, having completed the trial, will appear there. Hmph. Kas is probably heading there too, right?”
…
In the initial trial world.
Ye Dui looked helplessly at the short-haired woman who had committed suicide. He had planned to question her. But she had killed herself just like that. What a pity. In his arms, he still held Elf Baobao, who was crying. After going through so many adventures with Ye Dui, Baobao was not afraid of killing or corpses. She had just been scared by Mad Beast Bien’s sudden attack. Fortunately, Ye Dui had given her a pistol for self-defence beforehand.
Debbie, Grimm, Lesa, and the others had finished looting. The haul was massive. They no longer bothered counting the various scrolls and equipment. One backpack after another filled the Wrangler’s trunk.
This place was already very close to the huge light pillar. Around the Heavenly Ladder light pillar lay ruins. Ye Dui summoned his companions to stay vigilant for other teams ambushing in the abandoned buildings around the Heavenly Ladder. They proceeded cautiously towards the light pillar.
At that moment, the distant light pillar suddenly flickered intensely. Its glow seemed several times brighter than before. Ye Dui and the others were greatly startled. They thought something unusual had happened. But after staying alert for a while, nothing occurred. They did not know that just now, after Ye Dui’s group defeated the Windless City team, the remaining three teams in this world had foreseen their terror. They had chosen to forfeit one after another.
This automatically granted Ye Dui’s group the final victory.
Adding the twelve from Windless City team (the believer’s suicide or death from fan loss counted as kills), Ye Dui’s team’s kill count had now reached thirty.
In a trial of around a hundred people, achieving thirty kills was enough to shock the remaining three teams into submission. They preferred to permanently lose the right to participate in trials and be branded cowards forever rather than face Ye Dui’s group again.
Ye Dui and the others did not know any of this. They cautiously searched the ruins around the Heavenly Ladder but found nothing. Finally, they arrived before the massive Heavenly Ladder light pillar. After hesitating for a moment, Ye Dui confirmed it seemed to be some kind of spatial teleportation. He and his team stepped into the light pillar together.
With somewhat dizzying teleportation light flowing around their bodies, the next moment, Ye Dui’s group appeared in a vast square crowded with countless figures.
At the same time, a voice sounded in each of their minds.
“Congratulations on successfully passing the initial trial and entering the lower layers of the Divine Sin Continent. This is the central city. You may choose to join one of the fragment worlds in the lower layers and become a resident of that fragment world.
In the initial trial just now, you defeated six teams in total, with a kill count of thirty. You have earned three thousand five hundred Heavenly Ladder points. At the same time, you have broken the initial trial’s kill record that stood for five thousand years, earning an additional one thousand five hundred Heavenly Ladder points as a reward. In total, you will receive five thousand Heavenly Ladder points.
Now please select your team’s leader to receive the Heavenly Ladder points.”
The voice was genderless. It felt like a thought surging from within the mind.
The companions unanimously chose Ye Dui as team leader through mental communication.
“You have received five thousand Heavenly Ladder points.” The reminder sounded in Ye Dui’s mind.
“What can Heavenly Ladder points be used for?” Ye Dui immediately asked in his mind.
“Heavenly Ladder points can be exchanged for supplies, scrolls, and equipment. They can also unlock your sealed powers. Through the Heavenly Ladder, you can perform power unsealing. Simply think ‘power unlock’ in your mind to open the power unlock screen on the Heavenly Ladder light pillar.” The voice answered.
“What are the rules of this world? I want to know.” Ye Dui continued asking.
“Sorry, those you must discover on your own.”
“Then what else can you tell us?” Ye Dui pressed.
This time there was no reply.
“Who are you? Are you the consciousness that rules the Divine Sin Continent?” Still no reply.
Ye Dui asked a few more questions in his mind. The voice never sounded again. During this process, he had been observing his surroundings. This place was completely different from the initial world. It lacked that desolate and ruined feel. The vast square was filled with people. Their attire was strange and varied. Some even dressed like wild people.
Among them, Ye Dui also saw a few green-skinned warriors with tusks, short but extremely sturdy dwarf warriors, and handsome male warriors with pointed ears. These appearances… seemed to belong to the long-extinct orc race, dwarf race, and elf race?
Though these races had gone extinct on the Castro Continent, it seemed they still existed in the Divine Sin Continent!
Around the square stood tall and magnificent buildings. This place called the central city had a bustling and prosperous atmosphere.
Now everyone was looking at Ye Dui’s group with admiration. They also looked at the Wrangler and motorcycles that had been teleported along with them. Discussions buzzed. A somewhat short and plump middle-aged man with a cunning face walked over. He clapped his hands and said, “Congratulations on winning the initial trial. Haha. Newcomers as unique as you have not appeared in a long time. It seems you even broke the record?”
Ye Dui looked at the middle-aged man with some wariness.
“Let me introduce myself. I come from the Flowing Land fragment world. I am the leader of this fragment world. My name is Muto…” The middle-aged man named Muto introduced himself warmly. “You must have already learned just now. Upon entering the Divine Sin Continent, you must choose a fragment world to become residents of. Of course, you can also choose to live in the central city. But your best choice is still our Flowing Land…”
“Flowing Land is just a fragment world ranked beyond five hundred. It is completely insignificant. Join our Udos fragment world instead. We can offer you the best conditions!” A tall, dishevelled man stepped forward.
Immediately after, more and more people came forward.
“Udos is only ranked around four hundred. Its strength is not enough. Our Heavenly Roar City is far more suitable for you!”
“Our Sea Bird Alley may not be strong, but we have abundant supplies. We rank among the top in the number of forgers and inscribers. Join us. We will provide you with the strongest equipment!”
For a moment, arguments swirled nonstop around Ye Dui and the others.
Ye Dui could also see that their earlier performance had been too dazzling. They were treated like rare treasures, sparking competition among these people.
Ye Dui scanned the crowd around him. A trace of disappointment appeared in his eyes. He did not see any familiar faces from Stan Town… He wondered how they were doing. Stan Town had not participated in the initial trial. Places exiled entirely like an entire town would form a fragment world in the lower layers.
“Ye Dui, so we can unlock our powers…” At that moment, Debbie’s surprised cry reached Ye Dui’s ears. She had already followed the instructions and stood before the Heavenly Ladder light pillar. She placed her hand on it and opened her own power unlock screen. A bright light screen floated before Debbie. The others could not see its contents, but Debbie knew what was there.
After checking, she explained to her companions, “It turns out my summoned heroic spirits still have restrictions. The restrictions are divided by levels. Gilgamesh’s restriction level is seven. The terrifying clown’s restriction level reaches eight. As for characters like Shurulu with no combat ability, there are no restrictions. To remove the restrictions, we need to spend points level by level.”
Hearing Debbie’s words, Grimm, Siles, and the others hurriedly tested it too.
“My spells all have restrictions. To use these spells smoothly, we need to unlock each one level by level!” Grimm said.
“My power seal is also unlocked level by level… And my greatsword can be unlocked with points too!” Guni said next. A very small light screen floated before her. Guni knew few skills. She was the classic example of overwhelming force breaking all techniques. “Ah, my power is sealed at level seven!”
Guibao and Longbao also discovered that their beast bloodlines were restricted by seals. Longbao’s seal reached level eight. Guibao’s seal was level seven. They needed to spend points to unlock their power.
The points required for unlocking increased with each level. For example, for Debbie’s heroic spirits, Shurulu had no seal at all since he had no combat power. Gilgamesh’s level seven seal required three hundred points for the first level, one thousand for the second, three thousand for the third, seven thousand for the fourth, twelve thousand for the fifth, sixteen thousand for the sixth, and twenty-three thousand for the seventh.
To fully unlock Gilgamesh’s power would require over fifty thousand Heavenly Ladder points!
For Longbao and Guibao to fully unlock their beast powers would require even more points.
“This Heavenly Ladder points seem very important… I wonder how many points I need to restore all my power?” Ye Dui immediately became curious. The number of his spells could be counted in astronomical figures. Not to mention other BGM, heroic spirits, and so on were countless.
The people around them had also noticed what Ye Dui’s group was doing. Exiled outsiders had their powers sealed. They needed to unlock the power seals before the Heavenly Ladder. The size of the power unlock screen could roughly judge the exiled person’s ability. Though this judgement was not always accurate. Some like Guni knew few skills but were very powerful. But for most people, the more spells they knew, the stronger they were.
These people grew curious.
“It seems these newcomers are quite strong. That bald one’s unlock screen is as big as a pot lid!”
“The others look impressive too. Though young, they know a lot of combat skills.”
“I just wonder how big the leader’s unlock screen is.”
“Since he is the leader, it should at least be bigger than the bald one’s. Maybe two pot lids big!”
Amid these discussions, Ye Dui walked to the Heavenly Ladder light pillar. In his mind, he called for the power unlock screen. Like Debbie and the others, he placed his hand on it. Then…
A massive light screen appeared before everyone’s eyes in the square in a blindingly bright way!
It truly blinded a crowd of eyes!
The people arguing over Ye Dui’s affiliation suddenly fell silent involuntarily.
The more sealed skills and spells there were, the larger the power unlock screen displayed.
And Ye Dui’s power unlock screen was enormous to an excessive degree!
It was practically countless pot lids…
