The Blood Trial's Trial Ground divided Trial Takers into four ranks. The first three were determined by their Force Amplitude or Psychic Amplification.
The lowest-ranked was someone like Bai Yu. His Psychic Amplification had measured only around twentyfold, so he'd received only the basic rewards for an ordinary Trial Taker. His weapon and armor had both been Second-Grade Upper-Rank, and he'd received only one Cosmic Crystal.
Even among Trial Takers of the same rank, the vast gap in amplification and equipment made it impossible for people like him to stand against the others.
They were there to make up the numbers. Once the Trial Ground opened, they'd be lucky to survive for a few days.
People like Man Gu, whose Force Amplitude had measured around fortyfold, were Excellent Trial Takers. Depending on their circumstances, they could choose a Second-Grade Peak-Rank or Third-Grade Lower-Rank weapon and armor. During the first year of the trial, they'd receive ten Cosmic Crystals to improve their strength.
People like them could still make a little noise in the early days of the trial, but given enough time, they'd still meet their deaths. So they often sought out Elite Trial Takers and became their followers, hoping to improve their chances of survival.
With a little luck, they still had some hope of making it out of the Trial Ground alive.
As for Elite Trial Takers like Wu Sheng and the others, they were the true contenders on the Trial Ground's roster.
Their Force Amplitude or Psychic Amplification started at eightyfold, and their custom-made Third-Grade Mid-Rank weapons could further triple their amplification at this level.
In an ordinary Blood Trial, Elite Trial Takers like these often survived to the end and claimed their ultimate reward: ten thousand Cosmic Crystals.
But in every Blood Trial, there were always a few Trial Grounds where the competition for those "prizes" drove the great powers of the Blood Sun Tribe into a frenzy, prompting them to send in their secretly raised Special Elites.
Special Elites were Planet Grade powerhouses who possessed a Domain.
In Wu Sheng's view, a Domain was a kind of "force of the world and heaven," a special ability that allowed one to effectively combine Spiritual Force, Genetic Primal Force, will, and more.
As their understanding of Domains deepened, some could even burn part of their souls to massively increase their strength for a short time.
Planet Grade powerhouses with a Domain could claim invincibility within their realm.
Even for Cosmic Level powerhouses, a Domain was a power they had to master before they could break through to Domain Lord.
Without the aid of a Domain, a Cosmic Level powerhouse couldn't use the "force of the world and heaven" to combine their Spiritual Force, Genetic Primal Force, will, and more into one, ultimately condensing their own Life Core.
Likewise, only through a Domain could one come into contact with the truths governing the universe: the Source Laws.
Though Wu Sheng was a Special Lifeform, he was the weakest of his kind. Forget the laws—he couldn't even sense what people called the first level of a Domain.
When he heard the man named Jin An say that "there are at least five or six Special Elites in our CKHX-3819 Trial Ground," his heart gave a little jump.
Looks like this so-called prize won't be easy to claim. I wonder how fierce the competition will get in my Trial Ground.
Wu Sheng sighed inwardly. It wasn't something he could control. Whether someone possessed a Domain was what ultimately determined the course of a battle, and everything depended on how those Special Elites fought.
The boost from his meager will could only make him the strongest among Elite Trial Takers. Against someone with a Domain, he'd be like an egg thrown at a rock.
Unless he could raise his will by another major realm!
But that would be difficult. Even if his will reached Cosmic Level, he'd still have no choice but to run if he ran into a Special Elite who'd broken through to Star Grade.
"So, what do you say, Brother Wu Sheng? Want to join our Blood River Squad? I can recommend you to my captain. He'd be more than happy to recruit an independent Elite Trial Taker like you."
Jin An wore a broad smile and looked utterly sincere. He didn't seem to mind at all that Wu Sheng had killed the Seventh Squad members under his command.
"Oh? What would I get out of joining the Blood River Squad? Also, I'd like to know about the prize in our Trial Ground and the general situation with Trial Takers from the other factions. Why don't you tell me about that first?"
Wu Sheng smiled. Did Jin An really think he'd blindly join his squad just because he'd told him a little about the Trial Ground?
How naive!
If he didn't offer any benefits and let Wu Sheng compare his options, did he really think he was a bargain?
"Uh, the prize in our Trial Ground is actually a human woman from the distant Human Territory. She's Sky Grade, Third-Level, but she already has a Domain and has even grasped a little of the Source Laws. She's incredibly powerful, far stronger than the Special Elites raised by the great powers of our Blood Sun Tribe."
"And since she's human, we could put her to good use. Whether to infiltrate the core of human society or to pass information to us through the Virtual Universe, she'd be a valuable asset. That's why all the great powers are competing for her."
"As for the great powers in our CKHX-3819 Trial Ground, there should be six Special Elites. There are probably hundreds of Elite Trial Takers. Mm, according to our Blood Sun City's estimates, there are fewer than five hundred, but definitely three or four hundred."
Jin An looked troubled as he spoke. In an ordinary Blood Trial, there were usually only a little over a hundred Elite Trial Takers, and he'd been confident he could at least save his own skin.
But the CKHX-3819 Trial Ground he was in now was practically a meat grinder.
Even he wasn't confident he'd make it out alive.
"What? There's a human in that Perilous Land? And a super genius, no less?"
Wu Sheng was truly shocked. He hadn't expected to encounter a fellow human in the distant Prison Clan territory.
"Yeah. Those factions spared no expense because of her. I heard that if the prize at another Trial Ground hadn't been even more enticing, the competition here would've been fiercer."
Jin An sighed, looking utterly dejected.
The followers beside him looked even more hopeless. With three or four hundred Elite Trial Takers, what chance did people like them have? They were doomed to die here.
But when Wu Sheng asked his next question, they were even more stunned.
"Who's the Special Elite from Blood Sun City?"
As Wu Sheng asked, he thought that if he could, he'd be quite willing to join Blood Sun City. After all, Blood Sun City was the greatest power in the Blood Sun Tribe, and it had the home-field advantage. It would suit his development very well.
If Blood Sun City's Special Elite was strong enough to keep everyone in line, joining them wouldn't be a bad idea.
The three or four hundred Elite Trial Takers belonged to the various factions and would surely fight among themselves. If so, as long as he didn't make himself too much of a target, his chances of getting out of the Trial Ground alive wouldn't be bad.
"Uh, to compete for that biggest prize, the higher-ups have already transferred all the Special Elites there. So we don't have a single Special Elite here."
Jin An looked at Wu Sheng, somewhat embarrassed.
"What? And you still have the nerve to ask me to join? Do you think I'm an idiot?"
Wu Sheng jumped to his feet and glared at Jin An.
For a moment, he even considered killing this man, who looked honest but was scheming underneath, and handing his head over to another faction as a token of allegiance.
The Carp Aliens were just as shaken when they heard this, stumbling as though they'd lost their backbone entirely.
Without a Special Elite to lead them, wouldn't Blood Sun City be wiped out for sure? If they kept following Jin An, they'd just be waiting around to die.