I Don't Give a Damn, I'll Step In!

"Among the established Tier-B Races, according to the book's analysis, there are only five races the human race could try challenging!"

"But established Tier-B Races are indeed incredibly powerful!"

"Take the one ranked 1,000th. Its population actually exceeds thirty billion, its highest talent is A-grade—which should be equivalent to the race's ultimate boss—and its lowest is C-grade. The talent gap is so small! In other words, any random member of this race would at least be a C-grade Talented Individual!"

The highest proportions among human Talented Individuals were those with B-, C-, and D-grade talents, accounting for nearly 90%!

Among them, D-grade Talented Individuals made up the largest share, approximately 90% × 42%!

That meant that, excluding the 20% who were minors, among the remaining eight billion humans whose talents had awakened, three billion had talents inferior to those of this established Tier-B Race!

The remaining five billion would have to face an enemy force six times their size!

Because this Tier-B Race had nearly thirty billion adults!

Xu Kun swallowed hard. "Based on the data, this is a battle we're bound to lose..."

However, the outcome of everything could not be conclusively determined by data alone. Otherwise, the human race's current Sequence Ranking of 1,098 would have been completely impossible according to data analysis!

"And that's only the 1,000th-ranked race. Of the remaining four races, three are right behind it, occupying the bottom four positions, and their circumstances are roughly the same. The last one is ranked much higher, at 956th in the Sequence Ranking!"

"This race..."

Xu Kun took one look and understood why this race had been identified as a hypothetical enemy.

First, this race did not have a large population—just over ten billion, close to that of humanity. The main reason this Tier-B Race had secured its ranking was its talents. Its lowest talent grade was B-grade, nearly one-fifth of its members possessed A-grade talents, and it even had an S-grade racial leader coordinating everything!

"There are eight billion capable fighters. Eight billion A- and B-grade Talented Individuals... just thinking about it, what a terrifying race!"

If this race had not lacked sufficient foundations, it could already try challenging a higher sequence and become a Tier-A Race!

"Only by studying more history can we uncover our own shortcomings. Humanity's path of climbing the sequence is long and arduous, but humanity's strength lies in the Lords of the Era who emerge in every age. That is humanity's true foundation. Otherwise, if we compared only the lower and middle ranks, humanity simply could not stand this high!"

"But all of that is still too far away for me!"

"To enter the Myriad Races Battlefield, one must at least clear the tenth floor of the Haotian Pagoda and reach the tenth rank. Only then can one become a human conscript and enter the Myriad Races Battlefield to fight in real, brutal wars!"

"And reaching the tenth floor and advancing to the tenth rank means becoming a level-one-hundred powerhouse. Only by successfully killing an enemy from an opposing camp with the same talent in the Myriad Races Battlefield can one be awarded the military rank of Warrior-level. This is also the graduation assessment for the upcoming four years at the academy!"

As he spoke, Xu Kun took out another book, the "Haotian Pagoda Floors 2–10 Strategy Manual"!

The thick book before him recorded some of the assessment challenges Xu Kun might encounter from the second through the tenth floors of the Haotian Pagoda!

No matter how thick a single book was, it could not possibly cover all the information from nine floors. It was more like a comprehensive outline of the knowledge covered during the academy's four-year curriculum. Only by applying the strategy manual based on this outline together with the knowledge learned over four years could one successfully clear the first ten floors!

"Four years to clear ten floors?" Xu Kun frowned.

"Isn't that way too long? Surely no one takes four whole years and still fails to clear the tenth floor, right?"

Following the table of contents, Xu Kun looked up the historical rankings for the fastest clear times of the Haotian Pagoda's tenth floor.

First Place: Azure, novice trial clear time: 9 hours 6′30″. Haotian Pagoda tenth-floor clear speed: 9 days after the novice trial ended!

Xu Kun grinned, as though he had found a kindred spirit. "Now that's more like it. After the novice trial ends, there's a three-day novice cooldown period before trial participants can set foot in the Haotian Pagoda again. With Azure God's record, he must have cleared one floor a day!"

Xu Kun still could not determine how long it would take him to clear the tenth floor. After all, he knew nothing about the requirements for the later floors, so he did not dare brag that he could accomplish the feat of clearing one floor per day as well. Still, seeing Azure's result naturally gave him a glimmer of hope!

After all, at least during the novice trial stage, no one could rival his clear time or trial score. Even the exceptionally gifted Azure had fallen short of him!

Second Place: Kite, novice trial clear time: 12 hours 32′56″. Haotian Pagoda tenth-floor clear speed: 10 days after the novice trial ended!

"As expected of the existence humanity considers second only to Azure God. Kite God's clear speed wasn't slow either!"

Third Place: Xuanyuan, novice trial clear time: 14 hours 58′42″. Haotian Pagoda tenth-floor clear speed: 12 days after the novice trial ended!

Third place was actually Xuanyuan Lord, the Lord of the Era from Ling Feng's time!

Fourth Place: Pangu, novice trial clear time...

Fifth Place: Battle, novice trial clear time...

Sixth Place: Unknown

Seventh Place: Zeus, novice trial clear time...

Eighth Place: Sky Eye, novice trial clear time...

Ninth Place: Odin, novice trial clear time: 20 hours 47′21″. Haotian Pagoda tenth-floor clear speed: 15 days after the novice trial ended!

"Sky Eye, the Lord of the Era in our time, was actually only faster than Odin, who came from the same era as Kite God. They say Sky Eye sees through all things, that Words Manifest as Law, and that the divine revelations he delivers seem capable of seeing through the future. Does that mean his SSS-tier talent isn't the combat-oriented type, but more of a support type?"

"Sky Eye... since he uses an eye as his ID, it's probably a talent that lets him inspect certain kinds of information. After all, the more one sees, the easier it is to make accurate judgments. Just like in humanity's modern history over the past century, Sky Eye repeatedly overruled all opposition and stubbornly issued certain decisions that seemed impossible to carry out. Yet surprisingly, every seeming impossibility ultimately became possible!"

Xu Kun's strength lay in noticing subtle clues and drawing broader conclusions. From such brief information, he was already speculating about the abilities of the Lord of the Era in the current age!

It had to be said that although his exposure to such matters was limited, reality was extremely close to his guess!

"The gap between first-place Azure God and ninth-place Light God Odin really is considerable. Their novice trial times differ by a full factor of two, and their tenth-floor clear times are also five days apart!"

"Light God Odin is said to be one of the few Talented Individuals who controls the special light attribute. During the novice trial stage, where special attributes are rare, it really is difficult for him to display his strengths!"

"But what surprises me the most is this vacant sixth place!"

"Its overall results surpassed Zeus, the Lord of the Era known as the God of Gods, as well as Sky Eye, who sees through all things, and Light God Odin!"

"Yet over the past eleven years, compulsory education within the race, as well as every teacher, has told us that among the Lords of the Era—namely, the SSS-tier Talented Individuals—who emerged during humanity's eight hundred years, there have only been eight. Looking at it now, the fastest rankings for clearing the tenth floor are also all occupied by these Lords of the Era!"

"Could someone with inferior talent to theirs have appeared on the list for no reason?"

"Unless he was like me?" Xu Kun guessed.

His own F-tier talent, "Myriad Races Bestiary," naturally could not be judged by ordinary standards. If the sixth-ranked person had a talent similar to his, then it was only normal for him to make the rankings!

"But why was all his information unknown?"

Xu Kun found this deeply perplexing. Even with an F-tier talent, making the rankings should not have displeased the Lords of the Era, right?

That was impossible, unless this person's information was something he was not allowed to see!

Thinking of this, Xu Kun hurriedly asked the database, "Why can't I see the person ranked sixth among those who cleared the tenth floor of the Haotian Pagoda throughout history?"

"Ding. The information you have requested concerns a human secret. Authority verification in progress..."

After the words "authority verification in progress," the voice fell silent. Xu Kun stood there blankly, lost in thought.

On Blue Star, someone slowly opened his eyes.

At the same time, his pair of vast, starry eyes turned toward the door. Before the person outside could press the doorbell, he said calmly, "Come in."

The door opened, revealing Qian Manlou outside with his hand raised, his face now full of astonishment.

"Boss, could you tone down your divine powers? Skipping the whole process like this makes a mortal like me feel like I have no part to play!"

The man called Boss smiled slightly. "Wasting time is shameful!"

"Take a look. He really is quite the studious kid!"

With a slight raise of his hand, a holographic projection appeared in the room. It showed the scene of Xu Kun asking questions of the surrounding rooms. At that moment, a notification appeared on the holographic projection.

SSS-tier Authority Xu Kun is attempting to learn of that person from three hundred years ago. Approve?

"Damn it, what's wrong with this kid? Why did he suddenly become interested in that person?" Qian Manlou cursed.

"A thirst for knowledge and diligence in learning—aren't those the very steps by which humanity advances?"

The man Qian Manlou called Boss did not mind. He waved his hand and issued an order. "Give him the information that an S-Rank Authority is permitted to know!"

The holographic projection vanished.

Qian Manlou was dumbfounded. Naturally, he understood what information this man meant by information an S-Rank Authority could know.

The corners of his mouth twitched as he asked, "Boss, you're setting this kid up!"

The man smiled. "Without some pressure, how will he find the motivation? That slippery little brat probably already understands everything perfectly well. I just want to give him another misconception, so he doesn't think that with all of humanity backing him, he can live in peace and safety!"

"Geniuses must grow through trials of blood and fire!"

Qian Manlou gave him a thumbs-up. "When it comes to playing dirty, you're still the best!"

The man shook his head indifferently. "What did you come to see me about?"

Just as Qian Manlou was about to speak, the man immediately interrupted him. "Enough. I already know what happened. You don't need to worry about it!"

Qian Manlou felt utterly miserable.

The man glanced at him and said, "It's fine. I'll make a move when the time comes!"

Those words shocked Qian Manlou even more. To protect this kid, his boss had actually said he would personally intervene?

Hadn't he just said he wanted to give the kid some training?

You're spoiling him so much I can barely stand to watch!

"Heh, don't overthink it. Even if I don't make a move, nothing will happen to this kid. You have no idea what he represents!"

Qian Manlou was completely stunned. Just how many things was his boss hiding from him?

Aside from being the only person currently on the Golden Ranking, did this kid have some other identity?

But why had he investigated Xu Kun's records and found not the slightest clue?

Ding. Authority verification approved. The person ranked sixth was: a traitor to the race...