Chapter 341: Chapter 338: Yan Dingtian: Watch How I Tackle the Challenge
The others were stunned, and the person managing the control panel, recalling the hesitant demeanor of the blonde, immediately scrolled the ranking down.
In the Spirit Space, one can only use their real name, a widely recognized nickname, or remain anonymous.
Most Trial Takers on the leaderboard did not choose anonymity. Among those who had just reached the 40th floor, there were only two, Lu Xiaopeng and Ma Jiazze, neither of which were the blondeâs name.
In an instant, Blonde was embarrassed.
Public humiliation, the sound of slaps resonated.
Unable to withstand the othersâ questioning, Blonde left behind a statement, â22nd floor,â too shamefaced to stay any longer, and hastily exited.
It seemed that by acknowledging the difficulty of the âTrial Towerâ and seeing strong figures like Chief Instructor Luo who had only made it to the 60th or 70th floors, the first batch of Trial Takers began to disclose their scores.
A dozen floors, twenty floors, none surpassed Wang Zhou.
Wang Zhou, having held back for a long time, finally boasted, âThis is why Director Tang values me, and not you.â
âŠ
The âTrial Towerâ was difficult, but it also invigorated many Awakeners.
â Elsewhere, the gap between ordinary Awakeners and the big shots was huge, but within the âTrial Tower,â everyone was brought down to the same level, allowing them to potentially defeat unreachable big shots with their rich experience.
âReach the 60th floor, reward a thousand Source Crystals, 70th floor, three thousand Source Crystals, 80th floor, ten thousand Source Crystals⊠so much money, I want it.â
âNo time to waste, hurry and break through the levels!â
âAlthough itâs really tough, trying a few more times and figuring out the pattern can significantly boost the score. No more talk, if I donât make it to the 40th floor tonight, I wonât come out! Tomorrow, the 50th floor, the day after, the 60th floor, the rewards are as good as mine!â
âGoodbye then, walk wellâŠâ
In an instant, the remaining nearly one-third of the rooms were occupied by Awakeners, and long queues formed in the Spirit Space area after a long absence.
Tang Yu, remotely spying, saw the dormant rooms all logged in and the Source Crystals flooding his account, felt a joy⊠incomprehensible to ordinary people.
Where did the rewardâs Source Crystals come from? As the saying goes, the wool comes from the sheep; as long as he could encourage more spending by the Awakeners, giving away one-tenth⊠or one-twentieth of his income and occasionally running promotions seemed reasonable.
âŠ
As the number of Trial Takers increased, the leaderboard constantly shifted.
The top thirty spots did not change at all, only occupied by Territory seniors, a few from the Army or Martial Arts Hall Core Apprentices who could make it past the 60th floor.
The top hundred also saw minimal changes, Wang Zhouâs strength, which originally placed him at ninety-first for reaching the 31st floorâdespite being related to the smaller number of people on the listâat this moment, with at least hundreds of Awakeners starting the Trial Tower, the changes in the top hundred were still minimal. After a slight fluctuation, Wang Zhou merely dropped to ninety-fifth.
It meant that there were only a mere four people who made it beyond the 31st floor.
Those who could come to the Spirit Space area were already the elite among Awakeners⊠Now, many faces changed color once more.
Then,
A commotion arose from the entrance of the circular hall, a majestic aura spreading, making the Awakeners by the door instinctively move aside.
A group of about a dozen people entered the circular hall.
They wore uniform black and red combat uniforms, a shield and longsword emblem emblazoned on their chests, escorting a silver-haired middle-aged man.
âItâs the War Alliance Commander, Lin Qingtian with the Sky-Supporting Shield!â
âUnexpectedly, even he has come, truly a distinguished personage!â
Many murmured softly, more retreating with awe to let the War Alliance group pass.
A few Awakeners who didnât recognize him, quickly learned from othersâ explanations.
The War Alliance started as a Mercenary Corps, but it had grown so large its scale now far exceeded that of a large mercenary group. The War Alliance had more than ten thousand Awakeners; their operations were various, ranging from taking missions from large Sanctuaries to negotiating with employers for escort, collection, hunting missions, and moreâŠ
The War Alliance even established its own outpost in the wild, comparable in size to a medium-sized Sanctuary, yet much stronger defensively.
The Awakeners often talked of the few large cities around, small and medium-sized Sanctuaries, with Green Shadow as the foremost, then War Alliance Town as the second.
It was quite a high appraisal.
For many, the Commander of the War Alliance Lin Qingtian was also seen as a legend. Before the apocalypse, Lin only held a management position in an ordinary company and was far from a big figure. After the apocalypse erupted, he didnât start in a much better position than an ordinary person yet brutally forged the War Alliance into what it was.
Actually, Director Tang of Green Shadow was even more legendary, yet for some reason, the Awakeners always felt everything related to Director Tang was just âbasic,â in contrast, the War Alliance Commander seemed more tangible.
Tang Yu was also paying close attention, not because of the so-called legendary experiences, but because⊠the War Alliance Commander possessed a professional legacy!
That silver hair, he guessed, was likely caused by the leakage of power during the inheritance.
This was a man of fortunes!
Entering a small room in the Spirit Space, there was no vacancy left, but a member of the War Alliance had already been waiting there; they had used Source Crystals to book the room but didnât occupy it, leaving it for the Commanderâs use.
Lin Qingtian entered the room and began to challenge the Trial Tower.
âHow far do you think Commander Lin will get?â
âItâs hard to say, although the Trial Tower is difficult, Commander Linâs strength is undeniably top-notch among humans. I think he might reach the seventieth floor?â
âMaybe not, donât forget the rules of the Trial Tower, which arenât much related to strength⊠But I think he should make it to the sixtieth floor, itâs just frustrating not being able to watch Commander Linâs challenge.â
âLook here, thereâs the progress of a trial takerâs challenge, and even a video stream request can be sent⊠Wait, I accidentally triggered it, I hope I wonât be beaten.â
An Awakener had a sorrowful look on his face and shrank his neck in fear upon seeing the members of the War Alliance not far away.
Someone leaned over to take a look.
[Video streaming request sent to trial taker âSky-Supporting Shield â Lin Qingtian,â waitingâŠ]
[Ding, request accepted.]
The screen suddenly switched to a scene within the Trial Tower.
The sky was a vast expanse of gray, underfoot were about a dozen round platforms, each with a radius over one meter, and not too far apart. Below the platforms was the void; anyone who fell from a platform, unable to fly, could only admit defeat with a âGG.â
At that moment, Lin Qingtian stood on one of the platforms, holding a large shield in one hand and gripping a one-handed sword in the other, his expression calm.
Around him, three creatures resembling bees, each no smaller than a human, flew around, occasionally diving down. On closer inspection, one could see small red dots or lines on the bodies of the Demonized Beasts.
Hoo~
Lin Qingtian blocked with his shield while his sword swiped across a Demonized Bee, striking a red line, and in an instant, the Demonized Bee turned into points of light and vanished.
âThe tenth floor cleared, so fast!â
On the eleventh floor, the environment underfoot changed, the area available for standing became smaller, the distance between platforms increased, and some platforms even tilted, making it hard for the awakeners to maintain their balance.
But Lin Qingtian remained unstoppable, always killing the Demonized Beasts in a single strike, without a scratch on him.
At the twenty-first floor, the difficulty increased; Lin Qingtian could no longer stay on the same platform, forced to dodge using different platforms.
In the thirties, the crowd could see Lin Qingtian gradually feeling the pressure, no longer relying solely on normal attacks. When his sword swung, it burst with lightning, injuring several Flying Demonized Beasts in one stroke and making them falter. Lin Qingtian then leapt decisively, finishing them.
At the forty-first floor.
The ground environment was no longer fixed; the platforms constantly changed, some moved, some tilted left and right, causing the awakeners witnessing the difficulty above the fortieth floor for the first time to exclaim in shock at the cruel design, with enemies not limited to a single type, melee and ranged coordinatingâŠ
Lin Qingtian finally sustained injuries, but he displayed a healing ability and fiercely fought on.
An Awakener with the ability to fly had a complicated expression, âHaving the ability to fly is already a big advantage, but I still only made it to the thirty-fifth floor; watching Commander Linâs combat made me realize my own shortcomings.â
Lin Qingtian finally stopped at the forty-sixth floor.
This result was far below everyoneâs expectations, but after seeing Lin Qingtianâs combat, they understood it wasnât that the War Alliance Commander was weak; rather, the âTrial Towerâ was absurdly difficultâŠ
Who on earth designed this thing! Itâs simply inhumane!
Forty-six levels were this terrifying; could the sixtieth level be something humans could actually conquer? And who exactly were the top thirty in the rankings?
In an instant, the spirit of the awakeners watching the live broadcast in the circular hall dipped.
Tang Yu, observing secretly, was somewhat helpless.
Was the âTrial Towerâ really that hard? But he wasnât going to take the blame for this mess; it was the systemâs fault!
Surely these people wouldnât just give up?
As Tang Yu pondered, one person stood out from the crowd.
âItâs just a Trial Tower; watch closely, and see how I conquer the challenges!â