This is hundreds, if not thousands, of times more precious than many things in myths and legends, unthinkable on today's Earth, only available for a large sum of Money at the Divine Will Great Wall.
Yang Qinglan was about to speak.
Boom!
Huge fireworks bloomed above the arena, Li Changzhou had completed the task.
"One hundred and twenty-eight," Yang Qinglan held the Ruyi, paying attention to Li Changzhou's ranking.
Li Changzhou's Speed was already fast enough. Except when dealing with the little girl, where he became slightly gentler and didn't directly Soul Search, he hardly delayed. Even so, he was only the 128th to complete the task.
The 127 people ahead might have had good luck, but one couldn't be so optimistic to think all 127 relied solely on luck; there definitely were strong players among them.
They couldn't afford to lose—they had to be cautious and consider the best plan of action.
They had to secure the first place; missing this chance might mean an endless wait for another solution to the Ancient God Curse.
In the Value game, not advancing means regressing; every minute, every second, players are being surpassed.
Upon returning, Li Changzhou saw Yang Qinglan's intense gaze on the screen, gathering intelligence; Turquoise Pool counting Money; and Li Qianxia, legs crossed in a boss-like posture, wearing sunglasses from who knows where.
"Mission accomplished without dishonor," Li Changzhou said as he sat down and gave Li Qianxia's propped leg a sharp kick.
"...Hiss!" Li Qianxia inhaled sharply, doubled over, clutching her thigh, in too much pain to speak.
She even had to activate the "Evaporator" and use a Blood Pearl to alleviate the pain.
"Well done," Yang Qinglan said with a smile.
"Hard work, hard work," Turquoise Pool chipped in briefly, while pondering the odds for Li Changzhou's next match.
Due to the impressive performance in the previous round, the odds might be lower, but as an unknown contender, even if he had completed a task like 'Capturing a Three-eyed Extreme Fish,' he couldn't be fully favored.
Especially since the second round's test challenges completely different Talents...
"Hard. Work. Indeed!" Li Qianxia gritted her teeth and gripped Li Changzhou's neck.
...Talent, maybe they could bet even bigger.
The so-called bigger bet means betting on more specific outcomes, like predicting the top few, even the exact ranking, to advance to the next round.
With Li Changzhou's Talent...
Turquoise Pool pulled away the red-eyed Li Qianxia, and asked like a beautiful female reporter, "Changzhou contestant, what place do you think you can achieve in the next round's advancement?"
"Cough, if I can't be first, I'll simply cancel my Player status and go back to my Earth home to watch the universe's sunrises and sunsets," he said.
In the field of humanities, Humans are regarded as the wisest of all creatures; what we call literature, no matter what it describes, is fundamentally the study of humanity.
But in science, as it advances, humans will only feel more and more insignificant, and in the star-faring civilization's Divine Will Great Wall, humans are even smaller.
And if one were to narrowly define "Humans" as Earth-born humans, they are barely worth mentioning.
On Earth, Li Changzhou, who was only a provincial scholar in the humanities, didn't actually have the standing to make bold claims like "if I can't be first, I'll go back to my Earth home," but standing aside, he had confidence. After all, an S-level "Wisdom Pearl" was inside him.
"Don't underestimate others," Yang Qinglan said softly, "you have the Wisdom Pearl, and others might have it too, or they might have similar items and skills."
"Don't worry," Li Changzhou laughed, "I'm 'strategically contemptuous of the enemy', but tactically I'll be careful."
"Then shall I put all my money on first place?" Turquoise Pool said as she was about to place her bet.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Li Changzhou quickly stopped her.
Turquoise Pool was waiting for this, her smile brimming with anticipation as she looked at him: "What's wrong, my lord, the great King of Black Fog, sir, are you scared?"
Her eyes sparkled as she laughed.
"Scared of a little rabbit! Not at all!" Li Changzhou first arrogantly asserted his fearlessness, then seriously proposed, "But this money isn't all ours; you should bet the part that isn't ours on my advancement; our part, all on me taking first... What do you think?"
Turquoise Pool scratched her head.
Her head-scratching wasn't due to any trouble, embarrassment, or foolishness, but a gesture made lazily and glamorously, as her white hair was gently tousled.
"But I have a lot of confidence in you." She said.
"Bet it all! Bet everything!" Li Qianxia was also excited enough to kick her legs, "If I earn another big sum, I can buy the upgraded version of the Mier Metal Armor!"
Forging the Mier Metal into battle armor was already a huge challenge to technology, and the 'upgraded version', turning Mier Metal into nanomachines, was an astronomical increase in difficulty.
The nano-version of the Mier Battle Armor could transform into rings or bracelets to wear, and it could also be directly absorbed into the body. Apart from becoming battle armor, it also possessed healing, scouting, communication, and other functions.
In the stands, just like Li Qianxia, countless fans were caught up in the frenzy.
As one popular contestant after another advanced, more and more people made money, and the frenzy intensified.
During a bursting display of fireworks, Si also advanced, once again causing tens of thousands of people to faint on the spot in excitement, and one fully mechanical Ascension Warrior short-circuited out of nowhere, emitting white smoke.
"See that?" Li Qianxia said, resting an arm on Li Changzhou's shoulder, "That's popularity. That girl named 'Xin', who didn't even know about the rankings, knew Si's name—by the way, where did you send them off to?"
"I left them with Luo Lei and Itheri, and reminded them to place bets, earn some pocket money," Li Changzhou replied.
After seven hours since the start of the competition, the first round ended, and fifty thousand people had advanced to the second round.
"Do we get to rest for a while?" Li Qianxia looked to her left and right to see where the surrounding audience was heading and if there was a place to eat.
Fifty thousand beams of purple light descended from the human-height Divine Will Crystals, like the most magnificent fireworks, covering each of the fifty thousand players who had advanced to the second round precisely.
A contestant who had his skull knocked off during the mission and had to be replaced with a light metal alloy now tore off his metal skull, his flesh writhing and healing under the purple light.
Li Changzhou, whose mana was almost unspent, also fully recovered in just a breath.
{The second round begins}
Again, purple light descended, but this time the scale was much smaller, with only five hundred beams.
The purple light formed clusters of fire seeds, situated at the very center of each stage, like campfires just lit.
{Comprehend any of the Divine Wills to advance}
The next moment, tens of thousands of players rushed forward, like vultures swooping down on a carcass, charging towards the Purple Fire.