"Th-that's it?"
Xu Kun's eyes widened. After waiting so long for the permission review, the database's answer was only three words!
A traitor to the race...
"What about his other information?" Xu Kun asked indignantly.
"Beep. Insufficient permissions. Unable to access."
Xu Kun fell silent. Even with the B-rank permission granted by his gold card, all he could learn was the title "traitor to the race"? He was not qualified to know anything else?
Then this person's status must have been extremely high!
What Xu Kun did not know was that, with the B-rank permission of his gold card, he had no right to learn anything whatsoever about the "traitor to the race"!
Just now, the one on Blue Star had granted him S-rank information inquiry authority, which was why the database had provided even that one answer!
"Still, although I didn't obtain any other information, the words 'traitor to the race' alone are enough to make one think deeply!"
"His efficiency in clearing the first ten floors of the Haotian Pagoda ranked sixth among all Lords of the Era. That proves this traitor possessed terrifying talent and strength!"
"If such a person had served humanity, he would have become a Sky-Supporting White Jade Pillar, a Jia Hai Zijin Liang for humanity. He might even have been..."
Xu Kun muttered to himself. At that thought, Hao Jian's offhand remark on the school field suddenly surfaced in his mind...
"Based on past experience, humanity produces one Lord of the Era with an SSS-tier talent every hundred years. But why did Kite God and Light God Odin emerge at the same time five hundred years ago, while no one appeared three hundred years ago?"
Kite God and Light God Odin had existed in the same era, breaking humanity's long-standing pattern of producing one Lord of the Era every century!
At present, Xu Kun had no speculation about this matter!
But three hundred years ago, humanity had unexpectedly failed to produce a Lord of the Era!
This strange phenomenon had also sparked endless debate among countless curious people!
The view most widely accepted by the public was that the Lord of the Era from three hundred years ago had been targeted by the Myriad Races because humanity was steadily growing stronger. As a result, he had completely perished before he could mature, and humanity had concealed the news to avoid causing panic!
Xu Kun had always supported that theory the most. After all, history had proven that every generation of humanity's Lords of the Era became incredibly terrifying once they matured. They might not necessarily dominate all races of their generation, but among the SSS-tier prodigies of the Myriad Races, they were always uniquely outstanding!
Someone like that could not possibly remain unknown. The only explanation for why no information about him had been left in the historical records was that he had died young!
However, after obtaining a few scraps of information just now, Xu Kun gradually began to waver in the belief he had once held so firmly!
"Someone capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with Lords of the Era, or even surpassing several of them—such a person would have to possess an SSS-tier talent!"
"If an SSS-tier Talented Individual of humanity hadn't died young but had instead betrayed humanity, would human history still record him?"
"If this hadn't involved such a powerful historical figure, would my current B-rank permission have revealed only the title 'traitor to the race'?"
At that thought, Xu Kun hurriedly shut his mouth!
This accidental discovery was far too significant. Before confirming it, he absolutely could not tell anyone about his speculation regarding that person—not even Hao Jian, his mother, or Hao Jian's parents!
"See? I told you he'd figure something out, didn't I?"
Qian Manlou stood to the side, stammering speechlessly. He glanced at his boss, the corner of his mouth twitching as he inwardly muttered, Are you sure it isn't because he saw exactly what you wanted him to see?
After making a series of hypothetical deductions, Xu Kun did not dwell too much on this traitor to the race, who ranked sixth in clear time for the first ten floors!
He was simply too far removed from someone like that, and with his current status, even if he wanted to verify some of his guesses, it would not be realistic!
What was most practical right now was thoroughly studying the useful books the database had compiled for him!
There were still more than six days left in the Novice Trial period. Since he could not do anything else during that time, while everyone else was still struggling to clear stages, he had already begun studying stronger opponents!
One step ahead meant staying ahead every step of the way. Everything worked like that!
Accustomed to studying, Xu Kun showed no panic when faced with books packed with endless information. Instead, he approached them with an eager, inquisitive spirit and completely immersed himself!
The book "Haotian Pagoda Floors 2–10 Strategy Guide" was concise and straightforward, using the simplest language to summarize the various problems he would encounter on the next nine floors of the Haotian Pagoda, along with their solutions!
Together with "One Hundred Thousand Whys About Low-Tier Races," Xu Kun could quickly learn the traits of some racial monsters he might encounter next!
Overall, most of the racial monsters he would encounter on the next nine floors were merely low-tier monsters from F-tier and E-tier races. Xu Kun would face no pressure in terms of attributes. What he needed to watch out for were the unique combat methods possessed by certain racial monsters!
After all, every race had its own means of survival. One careless mistake could lead to failure. Strategically despising the enemy while tactically taking them seriously was the best way to secure victory!
Before studying these materials, Xu Kun had considered himself invincible due to his powerful attributes, equipment, talent, and skills!
After casually reading through the two books once, however, he developed a different mindset.
I'm invincible beneath the heavens!
That was right. He was just that inflated!
Based on the experience of previous generations, Xu Kun believed the next nine floors would pose no difficulty for him at all. All that remained was to see what clear rating and clear time he could achieve!
"Nine days! That's the unbreakable record set by Azure God. That is my target!" Xu Kun said seriously.
Without realizing it, five days had silently passed while he studied the two books!
Only one day remained until the end of the Novice Trial!
When he learned from the database that he had immersed himself in the sea of knowledge for a full five days, Xu Kun froze.
"Five days without sleep or rest? How is that possible?"
Xu Kun patted his face and confirmed that he showed no signs of sudden death. During the ascent of the Haotian Pagoda, ordinary people gradually evolved toward the "gods" spoken of by others.
Once they reached a certain height, they surpassed so-called mortals. At that point, not to mention five days, even going five years without sleep, food, or drink would not matter at all!
But Xu Kun was still far from reaching such a level. He was only a rookie who had just cleared the Novice Trial!
"Beep. The effects of the A-rank medicine—High Mountain Bright Eyes Tea—are currently active in your body. Your mind remains in an excited state, and you have shown no symptoms of exhaustion. Please rest assured!"
"A-rank medicine—High Mountain Bright Eyes Tea!" Xu Kun repeated, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"Serving guests tea is a tradition of the Huaxia Race since ancient times. Brother Qian brought out tea worth over a million per tael. I thought he was merely being hospitable, but thinking about it now, even if I could produce S-Tier Spirit Stones, that shouldn't have been enough for the owner of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion to treat me as an honored guest, right?"
The Huaxia Race had a traditional way of receiving guests ingrained in its bones. The more distinguished the guest, the better the tea and the more lavish the feast that had to be served to show respect!
But in the eyes of Qian Manlou, the owner of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, he should not have held such a high status!
"Brother Qian, did you do that intentionally, or unintentionally?" Xu Kun found himself increasingly unable to see through Qian Manlou's earlier actions!
Everything seemed to have been arranged beforehand—arranged so perfectly that Xu Kun had not felt the slightest discomfort!
"Perhaps... that's simply how an expert does things!"
Xu Kun took a deep breath. No matter what the other party's intentions had been, five days of tireless study had indeed benefited him enormously. It could help him avoid many unnecessary detours in his upcoming trials!
The database had compiled five books useful for his current stage in total.
There was no need to mention "A Century of Modern Human History." The major and minor events of the past century had been summarized quite simply. He would have plenty of opportunities if he wanted to study them in greater depth, and he had only skimmed through it earlier anyway!
As for "Haotian Pagoda Floors 2–10 Strategy Guide" and "One Hundred Thousand Whys About Low-Tier Races," which he had spent five days studying, Xu Kun had gained some understanding, but he was still far from mastering them!
Read a book a hundred times and its meaning would reveal itself. This was an eternal truth. Even though Xu Kun could now remember everything after reading it once, every time he picked up a book and read it again, he gained new insights, because many subtle details were hidden within certain passages!
It was like the book Hao Jian loved reading most, "Myriad Races Bestiary: You Call This an F-tier Talent?" According to him, every read brought a different kind of joyful discovery!
The remaining books were "The Secrets Between Me, the Forging Uncle, the Herb-Gathering Grandpa, and the Shop Auntie That Had to Be Told" and "Myriad Races Battlefield Beginner's Guide"!
Without even opening "Myriad Races Battlefield Beginner's Guide," Xu Kun knew it had been prepared for everyone about to clear the tenth floor of the Haotian Pagoda and head to the Myriad Races Battlefield front lines as compulsory human soldiers. He had no use for it yet!
As for "The Secrets Between Me, the Forging Uncle, the Herb-Gathering Grandpa, and the Shop Auntie That Had to Be Told," Xu Kun had originally held little interest in its long and somewhat tasteless title.
But the fact that he had gone five days without sleep or rest and felt no fatigue simply because he had drunk a few extra cups of tea had sparked a strong interest in some of the racial treasures possessed by the Myriad Races!
"Many treasures are unique to the Myriad Races. Some might not even be sold in the Myriad Races Trading Ground. I think I heard that many low-tier races occupied decent racial treasures but refused to share them, only to be targeted by major races in the end. Their races were wiped out, they failed to keep their treasures, and all their people died!"
As he spoke, Xu Kun opened the book's table of contents. After taking a look, he said, "This book should cover forging, herb gathering, medicine-making, and trade. But if its scope expands from there, it involves many different aspects. In short, it's an introductory book about lifestyle-related secondary professions!"
Secondary professions were something many high-ranking humans who had climbed to a certain number of floors would explore!
The most common was forging. For example, the divine craftsman Qian Manlou had mentioned, who could forge SS-tier equipment, was one of the top figures among human forgers. In terms of status within the entire human race, a divine craftsman in the forging industry was equivalent to a Lord of the Era!
Some people with poor talents, seeing no hope of climbing to higher floors, would choose to specialize in a secondary profession. Whether they sought another route to ascend higher or aimed to build a career around it, the importance of secondary professions was self-evident!
"For now, I haven't encountered any powerful resistance while climbing the tower, so I don't have the spare time to consider a secondary profession. But the next few floors will also involve lifestyle skills such as mining, which is a branch related to forging. It never hurts to learn more!"
But Xu Kun only had one day left.
Thinking of this, Xu Kun asked the database, "Can I take these books out with me?"
"Yes. With B-rank permission, you may also borrow or return books at the First Library in the base city!"
That was good!
Xu Kun smiled. He could take them back and read them slowly, then let Hao Jian read them too. It was always better to be prepared!
"Database, can you display the Novice Trial Heavenly Rankings?"
After entering the zeroth floor of the Haotian Pagoda, the Novice Trial Heavenly Rankings that had once been visible everywhere disappeared. As a result, Xu Kun had not paid any attention to them for five days and had no idea what the rankings looked like now!
"Beep. Yes. Would you like to project this year's rankings?"
"Project them. I want to see how the other Myriad Races novice trial participants from my generation performed!"
The database moved quickly and immediately projected the rankings, which could be seen everywhere else in the Haotian Pagoda and on Blue Star.
Trial Heavenly Rankings: NO. 1: Kun. Race: Human. Talent: F-tier. Novice Trial Rating: SSSS. Clear Time: 7 hours, 3 minutes, 54 seconds!
As expected, no one had surpassed Xu Kun's result. He remained suspended high above in first place on the rankings!
Whether it was the unprecedented SSSS-tier Novice Trial rating or the outrageous clear time of just over seven hours, both were enough to keep him in an undefeated position!
However, seeing his own name shining in golden letters on the rankings, Xu Kun grinned. He estimated that what shocked the Myriad Races most was neither his rating nor his clear time, but that eye-searing F-tier talent!
He continued reading.
NO. 2: Zhu Jiu. Race: Dragon Race. Talent: SSS-tier. Novice Trial Rating: SSS. Clear Time: 11 hours, 55 minutes, 1 second!
Xu Kun's pupils contracted. As expected, the Dragon Race, which had long dominated first place on the rankings and was only occasionally surpassed by the Phoenix Race of the Three Saint Races, had become second only to him this time!
Both its talent and rating were SSS-tier. Among humanity, that would have been enough to become a Lord of the Era once every hundred years. Yet for the Dragon Race—the leader of the Myriad Races and the head of the Three Saint Races—such a dragon appeared every year!
This was the terrifying foundation of the Three Saint Races!
They had entered the tower a hundred years before humanity, and their SSS-tier powerhouses were as numerous as carp crossing a river. Even though every generation of humanity's Lords of the Era was extraordinarily gifted, facing a Dragon Race with a hundred times as many individuals of the same talent could only leave them sighing helplessly!
Yet the talent and rating were expected. What made Xu Kun take this seriously was the clear time of this Dragon Race prodigy with the ID "Zhu Jiu." Compared to all of humanity, his time was actually second only to Xu Kun and the publicly acknowledged strongest human, Azure God!
He had even been faster than Kite God, who had originally ranked second among humans in Novice Trial clear time!
"Looks like this is a formidable opponent!"
Even with Xu Kun's confidence, he felt wary of Zhu Jiu, who was very likely to become an opponent!
Continuing downward, third place was unsurprisingly occupied by a Phoenix Race prodigy!
NO. 3: Yuan. Race: Phoenix Race. Talent: SSS-tier. Novice Trial Rating: SSS. Clear Time: 12 hours, 38 minutes, 8 seconds!
When Xu Kun saw the third-place clear time, he froze. He hurriedly opened "Haotian Pagoda Floors 2–10 Strategy Guide" and compared it with humanity's Novice Trial clear-time rankings!
He discovered that the Phoenix Race prodigy with the ID "Yuan" had finished only a few minutes apart from "Yuan," the identically pronounced human ranked second!
"Another terrifying opponent. But compared with the hegemonic Dragon Race, the head of the Three Saint Races, the Phoenix Race, though it is the second-ranked race among the Myriad Races, seems to have always advocated peace. Humanity hasn't established diplomatic relations with the Phoenix Race, but I don't think I've heard of any major conflicts between us either!"
At the same time Xu Kun was checking the Trial Heavenly Rankings, the Myriad Races prodigies who had already completed their Novice Trials were naturally keeping a close eye on the information displayed there.
At that moment, a young girl in a pale yellow palace dress was stomping her feet indignantly. Looking at the clear time on the rankings, she waved her little pink fists and pouted. "Damn it, I was only this close to catching Fifth Sister's clear time! Argh, it's so infuriating! It's all this guy's fault!"
As she spoke, she vented her anger by viciously kicking the corpse of the final boss beneath her feet.
NO. 4: Hun. Race: Kunpeng Race. Talent: SSS-tier. Novice Trial Rating: SSS. Clear Time: 14 hours, 6 minutes, 21 seconds!
Normally, the top three spots of every Novice Trial were dominated by the Dragon Race, Phoenix Race, and Kunpeng Race, the three great races revered by the Myriad Races as the Three Saint Races!
But this year, Xu Kun had appeared as an anomaly. With an SSSS-tier trial rating and a lightning-fast time of seven hours, he had ruthlessly crushed the Three Saint Races' prodigies beneath his feet in an almost invincible fashion.
Xu Kun's expression became somewhat strange when he saw the Kunpeng Race ID.
"Come to think of it, my ID is Kun. Could the Myriad Races have mistaken me for a member of the Kunpeng Race?"
And Xu Kun's guess had long since come true. The moment his result appeared, the dissatisfied Dragon Race had dispatched high-ranking members to the North Sea occupied by the Kunpeng Clan to demand an explanation. The outcome was still unknown!
In short, when they saw the ID "Kun," the Kunpeng Clan, which floated atop the North Sea like ancient glaciers that would never melt, fell into collective silence. Only the arrival of the Dragon Race higher-ups broke that calm!
After the top four, it was naturally time for the Seven Royal Races to exert their strength.
Fifth and sixth place were unsurprisingly claimed by two prodigies of the Seven Royal Races. Although their trial ratings were also SSS-tier, their clear times lagged far behind the first four. Fifth place had taken twenty-three hours, while sixth place had taken twenty-four hours!
Among the Seven Royal Races, it was impossible to say who was stronger or weaker. It all depended on how the prodigies participating in each year's trial performed!
Xu Kun searched for the Black Tortoise Race, one of the Seven Royal Races that humanity was affiliated with!
But after reading through the first six places, he did not see the Black Tortoise Race first. Instead, he saw a familiar human ID!
NO. 7: Princess Yaoyao. Race: Human. Talent: SSS-tier. Novice Trial Rating: SSS. Clear Time: 25 hours, 25 minutes, 25 seconds!
"What kind of awful ID is that?" Xu Kun's face darkened. How could a human choose an ID like that? He could not help suspecting this person's identity!
Still, being able to achieve seventh place among the Myriad Races' prodigies showed just how formidable this human prodigy called "Princess Yaoyao" was!
"If I hadn't appeared, then this... Princess Yaoyao should have been the Lord of the Era humanity produces every hundred years, according to tradition, right?"
"But now... how am I supposed to put this?" Xu Kun scratched his head in distress.
His F-tier talent occupied first place, so for humanity in the future, which would matter more—his F-tier talent, or Princess Yaoyao's SSS-tier talent?
Who was the true Lord of the Era?
Putting that question aside for now, Xu Kun continued reading and finally saw the name of the Black Tortoise Race!
NO. 8: Tian. Race: Black Tortoise Race. Talent: SSS-tier. Novice Trial Rating: SSS. Clear Time: 26 hours, 26 minutes, 26 seconds!
"Mm... not a bad result. It's nowhere near mine, of course, and compared with Princess Yaoyao, it's exactly one hour, one minute, and one second slower. This little bastard... ah, no, Tian should be a generous person... no, a turtle, right? It wouldn't become angry out of embarrassment just because two races affiliated with the Black Tortoise Race are standing on its Tortoise Shell, would it? No way, right? No way? The Black Tortoise Race's tolerance can't be that small, can it?"
People really had all kinds of creative tricks when it came to choosing IDs. Look how domineering this Black Tortoise Race prodigy's name was!
I am myself. I am heaven!
But no matter how he looked at it, Tian split apart meant "bastard." Didn't they say the Black Tortoise Race hated it most when others called them bastards?
Combined with its eighth-place ranking, ah, it was practically an ancient eighth-place loser!
Ah, incomprehensible. Impossible to understand!
The rest was naturally nothing unexpected!
Humanity claimed first place and seventh place!
The Three Saint Races occupied second, third, and fourth place!
The Seven Royal Races lived up to expectations and occupied fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth place!
The rankings recorded the top twenty Myriad Races prodigies overall. Apart from the Three Saint Races, the Seven Royal Races, and humanity dividing the top twelve places among themselves, the remaining eight spots were each claimed by a prodigy from one of eight S-Tier Races!
At that moment, one prodigy from an S-Tier Race who had failed to earn a spot in the top twenty cursed angrily at the rankings, "What use is this SSS-tier rating to me?!"
It had to be said that the competition for this year's Novice Trial Heavenly Rankings was incredibly fierce!
In previous years, the top twenty were not necessarily all prodigies with SSS-tier ratings. Often, only the top ten had SSS-tier ratings, while the rest had SS-tier ratings!
So under normal circumstances, an SSS-tier rating could steadily secure a place on the rankings even with a slightly slower clear time!
Unfortunately, there were simply too many freaks this year. As for who was the biggest freak, every racial prodigy likely already had a candidate in mind!
It was that human with the eye-searing F-tier talent!
The racial prodigy ranked twenty-first already hated Xu Kun's existence to the bone. He wanted nothing more than to eat his flesh, sleep on his skin, and fight him to the death!
Before you continue