The rules of the Oul Ruins

Below the Divine Realm, only a small number of people passed this test, a total of thirty-three, with the Gu Ding Team taking six of those spots. Of these thirty-three, nearly twenty barely passed, with attack power only at two and a half or three stars. In reality, over two thousand people participated in this test before even reaching the Divine Realm.

This pass rate is normal. After all, there are three minor ranks between the Demigod Realm and the One-Star Low-rank God realm. Those who can pass the test at the Demigod Realm are at least two-star or higher prodigies.

On the same spaceship, many people recognized Gu Ding. Those powerful individuals with Five-Star Low-rank God shrewdly dismissed the test results of Gu Ding Team, but everyone on the spaceship was somewhat awestruck by their Gu Ding Team's strength. They were well aware of the impact of cultivation level on attack power; the lower the cultivation level, the less advantageous one was in this test.

"Among these 10,000 people, the 33 of you are the weakest in terms of cultivation. You probably haven't even been to the Universe Sea or come into contact with the Zerg, right?" After everyone was seated, Gatins suddenly struck up a conversation.

Everyone nodded and looked at Gatins. Although some of them had looked up some information about the Zerg on the SkyNet, the explanation from the Federal Government was definitely more practical than what was available on the SkyNet.

"Then let me explain briefly," Gatins, showing some consideration for monstrous talent. "The Zerg are one of the Three Peak Races in the Great Universe Sea. Almost all of them are born warriors, and what's most terrifying is that their reproductive capacity is the strongest of all species. A low-ranking Mother Queen can produce at least tens of thousands of Zerg warriors every day, while a high-ranking Mother Queen can produce at least a million. Moreover, these Zerg warriors don't need a growth period; they can join the battle immediately after birth. This is a powerful advantage that no other species can match."

"The lowest-ranking Zerg warriors are called Soldiers. This rank is equivalent to Low-rank God in our human race. Each rank is also divided into one to five stars, but the Combat Strength of each rank is one level higher than that of our humans. One-Star Soldier Rank Zerg has Combat Strength comparable to Two-Star Low-rank God in our human race, Two-Star Soldier Rank Zerg has Combat Strength comparable to a three-star Low-rank God in our human race, and so on. But this is only the level of ordinary Zerg warriors."

"Ordinary Zerg warriors are the easiest to deal with. But besides ordinary warriors, there are some with special skills, such as those skilled in attack, defense, or speed. These are called Specialized Zerg Warrior. If it's a special-type Zerg warrior skilled in attack, One-Star Soldier Rank's attack power is comparable to a human's three-star Combat Strength. If it's a special-type Zerg warrior skilled in defense, One-Star Soldier Rank's defense power is also comparable to a human's three-star Combat Strength. And then there are speed-type..."

"Of course, while the special type of Zerg warriors are strong, they are not the strongest among their tiers. There is an extremely rare type of Zerg warrior called the Elite Warrior. This type of warrior is not produced under the control of the Mother Queen, but rather through a certain probability. Our scientists have studied the patterns, and the probability of Mother Queen of the Soldier tier producing Elite Warrior is about one in ten thousand. That is to say, there is only a chance of producing one Elite Warrior. And each Elite Warrior is at the level of a monstrous talent among humans. They can fight across at least three tiers. The longer the Elite Warrior takes to develop, the stronger it becomes, and there have even been individuals who have surpassed four or five tiers in strength."

"To put it bluntly, if we encounter Elite Warrior, I estimate fewer than five people on this ship will survive." Gatins's statement didn't elicit any objections. He continued, "Do you know why I used attack power as the standard for this selection, rather than overall Combat Strength? Because even the most ordinary One-Star Soldier Rank Zerg requires two-star attack power to break through their defenses. As for One-Star Soldier Rank defensive special Zerg, at least three-star attack power is needed to break through their defenses. No matter how high your overall Combat Strength is, if your attack power isn't enough, it's useless to go in."

"To survive in the ruins, you need to learn to observe the strength and type of the insects first, and assess your own strength before making a move. Of course, if you have the strength to crush those insects, you can slaughter as many as you want without any hesitation; every insect is Merit Points." When he said the last sentence, Gatins clearly glanced in the direction of Bigge.

Gatins's explanation of the facts certainly broadened the horizons of Gu Ding and his group.

The Oul Ruins are located within the Oul Star Region, so the spaceship arrived at the location of the ruins after a short journey, hovering in mid-air, waiting for the ruins to appear.

Spacetime-related relics, when not activated, are hidden in another dimension. After a total of eighteen spaceships hovered in the air for nearly twenty minutes, this area finally began to tremble.

Fortunately, the spaceship was positioned on the outermost edge of the shockwave, so it was not significantly affected. The Federal Government had opened the Oul Ruins many times over the years and was quite familiar with them, knowing exactly where a spaceship could remain unaffected.

Of course, despite the spatial tremors, the music from the spaceship still vibrated, causing Gu Ding and the others to look out the window.

The tremor lasted for nearly ten minutes, slowly tearing a crack in the void. As time passed, the crack grew larger and larger until it finally shattered completely, revealing a huge black cavity, resembling a human's open mouth. That huge mouth seemed to be torn apart by an invisible force, continuously expanding until it reached a height of thousands of kilometers before finally stopping.

The scene was so spectacular that the newlyweds, including Gu Ding, couldn't take their eyes off it.

Just as everyone was wondering what would appear behind the black cavity, a rumbling vibration came again, even stronger than before. Although sound cannot travel in a vacuum, Gu Ding and the others seemed to vaguely hear the booming sound produced by the vibration.

"This roar has transcended the physical realm and reached the soul realm directly," the Sea Emperor explained to Gu Ding, having also heard the sound.

As the booming sound in his mind grew louder, a massive, black iron-colored metal gate slowly emerged from the dark cavity. This gate completely filled the entire cavity, thousands of kilometers high and nearly six hundred kilometers wide, resembling a colossal fortress, exuding an aura of antiquity.

Above the giant gate were carved rather abstract images. Gu Ding and the others couldn't quite understand them. Sea Emperor tried to take a picture, but a mysterious force blocked the images, resulting in completely black images. He had no choice but to memorize the images himself, not missing a single line.

After the door appeared, the space quickly stabilized, the previous tremors disappeared, and the door finally opened slowly...

"Alright, all ships, take note. We can now open the hatches and let everyone through." Upon seeing the hatches open, Gatins gave the order to the other ships via communicator.

The hatches of all the other spaceships opened immediately, and numerous god-level powerhouses leaped out of the ships, flying towards the gates.

Gatins glanced around and saw that the hatches of the other seventeen spaceships were all open, and he found nothing unusual. Then he waved to Gu Ding and the others, "Don't resist. I'll take you there."

Everyone then realized that a transparent bubble had condensed from their bodies, enveloping each person, and then floated up. At that moment, the hatch finally opened, and bubbles flew rapidly out of the hatch, heading towards the now-open metal door.

Gu Ding and the others found it novel, but Tagore seemed less than pleased. He stretched out his claws, trying to pop the bubble enveloping him. However, he was scolded by the Sea Emperor, and only then did he sheepishly retract his claws, lying unhappily inside the bubble, his large eyes darting around.

The speed at which the group flew, enveloped in bubbles, was no slower than that of those god-level powerhouses.

The powerful deities also found the bubbles of this group of people rather novel. Some even poked at them a few times, but none of them launched an attack.

Gu Ding also saw ahead; behind the gate was complete darkness, and anyone who flew in disappeared without a trace.

Soon, Gu Ding and his group also plunged into it.

Gu Ding felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, followed by a soft popping sound in his ears—the sound of bubbles bursting—before his body began to fall rapidly.

Once his feet touched solid ground, his eyes lit up as he looked around to find himself in a vast, open plaza. The plaza was enormous, easily capable of holding millions of people at once. Besides himself, the plaza was densely packed with others, all staring blankly into the distance. But beyond the plaza, a thick white mist obscured everything, making it impossible to see anything at all.

Gu Ding quickly found Liliath and the others, as well as Robert had entered the gate alone earlier, and the group gathered together.

Before long, it seemed that everyone had arrived, and then an old voice came from the sky.

"Now that all ten thousand human warriors have arrived, let me explain the rules of the game at the Oul Ruins."

The once noisy square fell silent as everyone listened intently to what the voice would say next.

"The game lasts for one month. During this month, you can hunt Zerg individually or in groups, but each group has a maximum of ten members. Teams exceeding the limit will have their kills considered invalid. You will receive Merit Points for each Zerg killed. As for how to distribute the Merit Points within your team, you can discuss it yourselves. Merit Points can be used to exchange for rewards at the Merit Hall of Merit."

As the old man spoke, the fog outside the square finally dissipated, slowly revealing the outline of a magnificent hall, with the three characters "Merit Hall" shining brightly in the center.

"As for how to obtain Merit Points, let me explain in more detail. Killing an ordinary Zerg warrior of the same cultivation level as yourself will earn you 1 merit point. Killing a special Zerg warrior will earn you 5 merit points, and killing an elite Zerg warrior will earn you 80 merit points. Killing an ordinary Zerg warrior of a higher cultivation level than yourself will earn you 10 merit points, a special Zerg warrior 50 points, an elite Zerg warrior 800 points, and so on."

"However, the transcendence rank I'm referring to is based on One-Star Low-rank God as the minimum. For those whose cultivation is below the god level, the transcendence rank is calculated based on One-Star Low-rank God. But the Merit Points for demigods are directly doubled. As for those whose cultivation is not even at the demigod level, their Merit Points are calculated at five times the normal rate."

"In other words, One-Star Low-rank God gains 1 merit point for killing One-Star Soldier Rank ordinary Zerg, but a demigod gains 2 points, and someone who is not even a demigod gains 5 points. Killing special and elite Zerg is also calculated using the same multiplier."

"Now, I will distribute tokens to everyone to record Merit Points," the old man's voice fell, and tens of thousands of black beams of light rained down on the crowd like Fire Rain, each firmly grasped by the powerful individuals present. One for each person, no more, no less. "After the token is bound to your body with a drop of blood, it can be stored within your body and automatically record Merit Points. Upon death, the token becomes ownerless, but the Merit Points recorded within will not disappear. The Merit Points in an ownerless token can be directly transferred to another token. Furthermore, a token with an owner can also be transferred to another token with the owner's consent."

"So, you can gain Merit Points by killing people?" The one-eyed man named Du Long licked his lips, his smile slightly sinister.

This caused many people who were originally very close to him to take a few steps back, fearing that he would target them, because his performance in the test was also very strong.

"You can kill people, but killing people will deduct Merit Points. For each person killed, 10,000 Merit Points will be deducted directly. If your Merit Points negative at the end of the month, you will be eliminated by me. So before you kill anyone, you must make sure that your Merit Points do not become negative."

"Of course, besides the Merit Points themselves being exchanged for rewards, at the end of the month, the top 100 people with the most accumulated Merit Points will receive free rewards. The higher the ranking, the more generous the rewards. In particular, the rewards for the top ten will be far more generous than you can imagine. Of course, before the end of the month, only the person who obtained the token can see their Merit Points. Unless the host dies and the token becomes ownerless, the person who obtained the token can also view their Merit Points."

"Sir, when you say accumulated Merit Points, do you mean the final remaining Merit Points, or do you include all the Merit Points that have already been used?" a young man suddenly raised his hand and asked.

"Accumulated Merit Points are all the Merit Points you've earned, including those you've used," the old man explained. "If there are no other questions, then that concludes the explanation of the game rules. Before you begin your hunt, I have some bad news to share—most of the functions of your smart devices will be unusable here..."

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(A long chapter of 4,000 words is presented here. This chapter is all about explaining the rules, and splitting it up would feel awkward. Well, since it's a long chapter, I'm shamelessly asking for recommendation votes and monthly votes~)