There was a huge difference between 100 Core Power and 1,000 Core Power!
How could someone have accumulated 1,000 Core Power in just four or five days?
Unless!
Xiao Fan's first skill had created a Heaven-Tier Skill!
Wind Snow Traveler had heard his old friend mention that when a player first created a Heaven-Tier Skill, the system granted them an extra 500 Core Power points.
Thinking about it that way, everything that had happened earlier made sense.
Why Xiao Fan had managed to accumulate 1,000 Core Power, and why their team had leveled up so quickly! They could even kill Fierce Beasts above their level!
It was because he had a Heaven-Tier Skill.
A Heaven-Tier Skill! It really was powerful!
When Xiao Fan appeared here, Wind Snow Traveler didn't know whether to be happy or feel sorry for him.
The two sat down on the ground. The lamppost at the village entrance shone like a spotlight on the old and young figures, as if they were taking part in some kind of legacy ceremony.
Solemn and dignified.
After a moment's thought, Wind Snow Traveler asked,
"Your first skill is a Heaven-Tier Skill, isn't it?"
Wind Snow Traveler had guessed that his skill was Heaven-Tier, and Xiao Fan wasn't surprised. He had nothing to hide, so he simply nodded.
"That's right. It really is a Heaven-Tier Skill."
"As I thought." Though Wind Snow Traveler had already been sure, hearing Xiao Fan admit it still left him deeply shocked.
There were only a few Heaven-Tier Skills in the entire Cloud Sea. For a new player like Xiao Fan to create one as his first skill was practically unheard of!
Calling him a genius wasn't enough. He was a complete monster!
Wind Snow Traveler didn't ask Xiao Fan why he had been assigned to Zone 18. Instead, he turned his gaze toward the mountain range outside the village.
Xiao Fan looked in the same direction, but couldn't see anything in the darkness. Wind Snow Traveler, however, seemed lost in thought.
After a long while, he finally spoke.
"Four years ago, a player wandered into the Black Fog and discovered this mountain range. After exploring it, he found that the Fierce Beasts here weren't very high-level, and that they were distributed across different areas according to their levels."
"A place like this was perfect for building a Novice Village, so he reported it to the country."
"After the country conducted various assessments, they built Novice Village 18 here."
"Back then, Zone 18 had some of the best resources of any Novice Village. Countless new players did everything they could to join."
"Zone 18 was bustling with people in those days."
"Just as the country was planning to fully develop the Zone 18 Novice Village, disaster struck."
"That night, the Beast Tide came. The Novice Village hadn't even begun construction and had no defenses at all. The Beast Tide swept straight in, and almost all the new players died there."
"The Beast Tide was something that never happened in the other Novice Zones."
"The Cloud Sea has a special new-player protection mechanism. Whenever an area has more than 100 new players, it automatically becomes a Novice Zone. Players above level 20 can't log in there."
"Zone 18 had already met those requirements, so the system had automatically designated it a Novice Zone. The country couldn't send help."
Afterward, the country had originally wanted to abandon Zone 18. New players were already vulnerable, and a dangerous place like this wasn't suitable for them.
But Zone 18 was rich in resources, and many people didn't want to give up on it.
After some time spent investigating, no more Beast Tides appeared in Zone 18.
The earlier Beast Tide was classified as an accident.
More and more new players began entering Zone 18. Then the Beast Tide came again.
"So whenever there are lots of people in Zone 18, the Beast Tide comes?" Xiao Fan seemed to have picked up on something.
Wind Snow Traveler shook his head. "It comes even when there aren't many people."
Xiao Fan: ...
"Maybe it's because of the system's new-player protection mechanism. The size of the Beast Tide depends on the population of the Novice Village. These days, hardly anyone comes to Zone 18, so the Beast Tides aren't very large. But they're still extremely difficult for new players to deal with."
As he spoke, Wind Snow Traveler looked toward the end of the village. Xiao Fan immediately thought of the thatched hut covered in countless names—all players who had died in Zone 18.
"Later, the new players who came to Zone 18 grew weaker and weaker. Often, they died in the wilderness before the Beast Tide even arrived," Wind Snow Traveler sighed.
Xiao Fan could relate. He thought of the painfully awful things Han the Person and the other three had done when they first arrived...
Forget it. No need to think about that ...
"How long have you been in the Novice Village?"
Xiao Fan suddenly grew curious.
Then he saw Wind Snow Traveler's expression turn strange. There was both nostalgia and pain in it.
After a long while, all those emotions dissolved into a sigh.
"Four years. I'm the one who discovered Zone 18 back then."
Xiao Fan stared at him in disbelief. "You only made it to level ten after four years?"
"Not quite."
"Then what happened?" Xiao Fan asked curiously.
"I was already level ten when I discovered this place."
Xiao Fan: ...
So he hadn't gained a single level in four years...
Xiao Fan began to panic...
"Surely you couldn't have gone four years without leveling up at all. Is there something terrifying about Zone 18?" Xiao Fan asked.
"It has to do with the Cloud Sea's special leveling system."
"What system?" Xiao Fan asked again.
"Once players reach level ten, they have to enter the Trial Land. They can only keep leveling up after clearing it."
"Four years, and you still haven't cleared the Trial Land?" Xiao Fan asked in disbelief.
Wind Snow Traveler's old face reddened. "What do you know, kid? You can't imagine how terrifying the level-ten Trial Land is. It's not just about having strength—you need brains, too."
"So you don't have any brains?" Xiao Fan shot back.
"Damn it." Wind Snow Traveler was so angry he nearly cursed.
"Fine, go on," Xiao Fan hurriedly said.
Wind Snow Traveler then explained everything about the Trial Land in detail.
Xiao Fan understood.
The Trial Land was like a Dungeon in a game.
Players had to figure out the Dungeon's mechanics for themselves.
Put simply, they had to explore it from scratch.
They could only purchase a level upgrade after clearing the Dungeon.
Even more frustratingly, each Novice Zone had a different Trial Dungeon.
In other Novice Zones, there were plenty of people, so teams had already cleared the Trial Dungeon. Those who came later could look up guides online and clear it with ease.
But Zone 18 didn't have many people, let alone talented players. Wind Snow Traveler hadn't even found a suitable team yet, let alone cleared the Trial Dungeon.
It was worth noting that the Trial Dungeon required a team of at least five players and allowed a maximum of ten.
Players also had three chances to die in the Trial Dungeon each day. Once they used them all up, death became permanent.
So far, Wind Snow Traveler had only managed to gather five level-ten players.
He had originally decided to stop waiting and take those five players into the Trial Dungeon to explore it from scratch. He hadn't expected Xiao Fan and his group to enter Zone 18.
Xiao Fan's strength had given Wind Snow Traveler new hope.
Before you continue