After all, the population size of the bone demon civilization was just too small. Even if their natural endowments were outstanding and their proportion of experts was very high, so what? Even if there was one expert for every 100 people in their civilization, and another civilization had one expert for every one million people, the other civilization would have billions of people. Thus, they would have many more experts than the bone demon race, even if they were naturally stronger.“That Wang Zhong’s points are not low either. He probably ventured into a level-6 world…”

“It must have been his luck again. I heard that his points have not changed in the past half month. He was probably lucky to venture into a level-6 world the first time. Then, he ventured into another level-6 world while trusting in his luck and probably got trapped there. Look, he hasn’t returned even now.”

“Heh heh. Kampbell is more impressive! After losing to Pavaro back then, he seemed to have made massive breakthroughs. Look, he’s rushed to number one this time with over 10,300 points. He has collected at least two level-6 worlds. Tsk tsk. Kampbell has truly made a huge gain this time. Not only does he have the opportunity to read the Heavenly Gates records for three days without any restrictions, the 10,300 points he earned this time…—That is all money! When we become official pupils next year, it will be extremely difficult to earn points.”

This task was also an advancement gift from the Titan supervisor to this batch of new pupils. This was like a coming-of-age ceremony, where they would say goodbye to their past status as new pupils. To official pupils, earning points was too difficult, but it was also very important. The Titan supervisor was typically fierce, but he treated the pupils rather well.

“There’s also Zhenk Gintonge from the Lasting Crow race with over 10,100 points.”

“Monroh from the goblin race obtained 10,080 points. The top three pupils are not well-known, but they have made a name for themselves this time. They can be considered the new top three experts in the Combat Cultivation Hall!”

“They are smart people who would break out in important moments to earn points, like right now. They are not like Wang Zhong at all. Back then, he jumped about everywhere and desperately fought for fame, but in reality, he is second-class in this Hall. When it comes to official events, he cannot perform. From how I see it, he and Pavaro probably ended up in a hopeless situation and could not make it back— Oh?”

Just as that person was talking, they saw two rapidly traveling figures flying over at a low altitude.

They were Wang Zhong and Pavaro!

The person immediately stopped talking. Even though people mocked them behind their backs, their strength was on full display. Even if they had been impressed by the new rising experts in the Combat Cultivation Hall, these insignificant pupils did not dare to casually provoke the two former stars. However, their gaze towards Wang Zhong and Pavaro contained less admiration. There was even an occasional mocking gaze that seemed to celebrate their misfortune.

People were like this. When one was in power and was the strongest, people would naturally worship them. However, if someone more powerful appeared, people would naturally change their stance and worship that person instead.

Such situations were natural and normal. Unsurprisingly, Lao Wang and Pavaro did not mind and did not even care about the rankings on the boundary cloth. Including the few days that Pavaro had spent breaking through, their points had not increased for most of the month. One did not need to ponder to understand that these rankings definitely had nothing to do with them anymore.

“Supervisor.” The two of them ignored all the gazes in the surroundings. They simply headed to the supervisor and handed in their wristbands.

At first, their points had made the supervisor very dissatisfied. However, when he saw the two of them, the supervisor’s eyes lit up.

The Titan supervisor casually registered their names and flashed a devilish smile. “Little skeleton, are you a Solid Core now? Not bad, not bad.”

The surroundings were instantly silent. Those who still mocked him slightly now stared straight at him. Even the so-called new top-three experts of the Combat Cultivation Hall — Iron Titan Kampbell, Lasting Crow Zhenk Gintonge, and goblin Monroh — could not help but cast a sidelong glance towards him at the same time.

Just like how Pavaro initially could not tell that Wang Zhong had accumulated his Core, one could not differentiate between a Solid Core and a Void Core just based on appearances, unless one’s strength and outlook were much higher than the other’s.

Stepping into the Solid Core Realm was like the wind transforming into clouds, or a flood dragon transforming into a dragon. It was a qualitative change. Even among the Land, he could be considered a formidable figure and was obviously on another level from the ordinary pupils who were still stalled in the Void Core Realm. His low points were probably because he had encountered a special situation and was delayed…

In an instant, everyone looked at Pavaro with a different gaze. There was no more doubt, unlike after the Balor incident, and there was admiration again. They looked at him with a respectful gaze, as if they had just entered the Combat Cultivation Hall and heard about the “top experts in the Combat Cultivation Hall” for the first time. The divine territory worshipped experts, and the Heavenly Gates was no exception. In the eyes of the experts who had truly experienced life and death, they might focus more on multiple aspects of a soldier’s performance in actual combat and not make a judgment solely based on someone’s superficial strength.

However, to these new pupils from the Combat Cultivation Hall, one’s actual realm was the only convincing benchmark…

In the past, Pavaro would have been used to these gazes. He did not like such gazes or revel in them, but did not dislike them either. True experts would usually stand in the spotlight by accident. This was something that one could not reject but could only get used to.

However, at that moment, Pavaro felt slightly awkward.

When he stood beside Wang Zhong, titles like “first in the Combat Cultivation Hall” were a slap in the face. Even though he had advanced to the Solid Core and his strength had skyrocketed, to be honest, even with his current state, Pavaro had no confidence that he could have eliminated those two bone dragons, let alone win so simply and easily.

He coughed lightly. The Titan supervisor’s gaze had already shifted to Wang Zhong and was quickly fixed on him.

“Wang Zhong…” There was obviously a hint of surprise in the Titan supervisor’s eyes. There was an indescribable complexity in his gaze, as if he was shocked and astonished.

Lao Wang looked at him with a smile on his face.

To be honest, he could not see through the Titan supervisor at all. Even before they had entered the Illusion Sea World, he felt that the Titan supervisor was out of reach. However, at that moment, he felt that the supervisor had become “clear” in his eyes and was not as obscure or concealed as before. He could truly sense the Titan supervisor’s power.

Just the power contained in his muscles was not inferior to Wang Zhong’s divine cells, and the Titan’s spiritual power level was relatively high. At the very least, in the Illusion Sea World where the spiritual pressure was similar to that in the Land, Wang Zhong could clearly see the power of the world naturally surrounding the Titan supervisor. This feeling was similar to when he had arrived in the peripheral worlds. He became strong enough to completely ignore the spiritual pressure in those places and even channel boundless spiritual power there.

This kind of expert was definitely a Solid Core. There was no doubt about this. However, the strange thing was… he did not feel that the Titan supervisor was stronger than Senior Lavel!

This sudden judgment would have surprised Lavel. No matter what, Titan supervisor Tsargesimon had a certain fame in the entire Heavenly Gates and was even called the Silver Lightning God of Combat. He was ranked first-class among the many Gold Cores in the Heavenly Gates, but Lao Wang actually felt that Senior Lavel was stronger than the Titan supervisor? Furthermore, this was not a direct comparison with both of them present, but simply based on his impression, and he was able to clearly sense that Lavel was stronger… This was truly unthinkable.

When he thought about his and Flying Pig’s attitudes towards Senior Lavel… He could only say that the past Wang Zhong knew no fear.

“Very good.” The light in the Titan supervisor’s eyes was quickly concealed, and he did not continue nagging. Instead, he nodded his head at Wang Zhong. However, there was an indistinct smile on his face that made Lao Wang feel as if the supervisor’s strange interest in him was showing signs of escalating.

The buzzing sounds in their surroundings did not cease, and most of them were about Pavaro. Meanwhile, the three new “top” experts had unpleasant expressions on their faces. They managed to burst forth with fame after much difficulty, but the glory that was supposed to belong to them had been seized by two lower-ranked pupils.

Lao Wang glanced at the ranking on the boundary cloth. He was in fifth place, while Pavaro’s ranking was much lower and was not even among the top 30. The top three prizes were destined to have nothing to do with the two of them, but these two had already gained many things and obviously did not mind.

After waiting at their original location for about four to five hours, they reached the stipulated deadline, but over one hundred people had still not returned.

A large majority of these people had died in the Illusion Sea World. The boundary cloth was able to sense their Time-Space Wristbands to a certain extent and use them to determine whether they had died. However, the names of a small group of pupils who had not returned still flashed on the boundary cloth. Most of them had been trapped somewhere.

The Titan supervisor did not intend to continue waiting and waved his large hand, collecting all the pupils who had returned into the boundary cloth. Then, they made their journey home.

The disappearance of 100 people in this external mission did not cause any waves in the Combat Cultivation Hall. Everyone seemed to feel that this was normal. Cultivation in the Combat Cultivation Hall was also accompanied by risks, and everyone knew from the moment they entered the Heavenly Gates that this place did not nurture good-for-nothings. Being chosen to enter the Heavenly Gates was only the beginning, and the path to becoming an expert was very long. In the end, pupils who had been nurtured by the Heavenly Gates would definitely be experts who were expected to be able to pass through the Heavenly River Tide. Having one or two pupils from the entire batch reach that stage would be considered a success. As for the other pupils, at least half of the batch would die by the time graduation arrived. Even those who were left only had the qualifications to establish a footing in the Land…

“Wang Zhong, shall we drink?” Upon their return to the Heavenly Gates, Pavaro was obviously in a good mood. When he invited Lao Wang, there was a hint of warmth in his eyes. If it had not been for this Earthling, he might have died a long time ago, let alone being able to obtain the Ghost Flower and break through to the Solid Core Realm.

“Next time.” Lao Wang laughed. In reality, there was something weighing on his mind, and he was in no mood to drink.

Throughout his entire journey back to the mushroom house, he was pondering about the scene he had witnessed in the bubble world.

No one had been able to clearly explain the origin of the bubble worlds or projection bubbles in the Illusion Sea World. No one knew where exactly they came from, let alone what rules they followed. However, there was one thing that was certain. Everything that had happened in those bubble worlds had definitely occurred in this universe.

The Dragon Emperor, the eight divine kings in Heaven, and the Golden Stone Slabs. What did these have to do with Wang Zhong? The Golden Stone Slabs… He thought that they were objects from a level-4 civilization at best but never thought that they were a treasure that had founded the Heaven…

Lao Wang could not quite understand this, but he had a feeling that not only was this very important but that this also had a close relationship with him, especially the god-like Dragon Emperor and his final gaze towards Wang Zhong. When Wang Zhong had been chased out of that world, he had felt as if time and space were in disorder at that moment. It was as if there had been a strange string that passed through time and space to connect him and the Dragon Emperor…

However, in the end, this was just a feeling and a guess. He was unable to attest to this or find any related clues. However, he still felt that the more he thought about it, the more he could not wrap his head around this.

Lao Wang shook his head. There were some things that were definitely useless if they involved indulging in fantasies, and they would simply be a waste of his time. Since he was able to sense an indistinct connection between him and the Dragon Emperor that surpassed space and time, and since fate had had dimly shown him the way, Wang Zhong believed that he would be able to obtain more direct clues when there was an opportunity in the future.

“Don’t think about it anymore.” He flung his head back and chased these messy thoughts out of his head.

He did not know where Jhonas had gone. Lao Wang entered his own fragment world and looked up at the Fate Stone. What was this object? Why would such a powerful thing fall in a distant and small place like the Earth? Why would it be with him?

Could it have been a mere coincidence?

The Real Dragons… were exactly the same as the dragons that had been passed down in Tianjing since ancient times. Could he assume that the Dragon race had also participated in the Game of the Gods and that the Tianjing people were their descendants?

The three artifacts from Grai were on the ground. Two of the objects lay on the ground in their original dusky appearance, but the green mirror was glistening and completely different from what it looked like at the beginning… This change seemed to mean that the artifact was now full of vitality.

This change was slightly mysterious. Had the nourishment from the Fate Stone taken effect?

Back when he had appraised it, he was still a Foundational Stage and did not have enough spiritual power. Thus, the spiritual power that he had channeled into the artifact could not enter it. This time, he had broken through to the Void Core Realm, and his strength had improved significantly. Perhaps he could give it another try.

He activated his Void Core and channeled spiritual power into the mirror.

Buzz~~

With a quantitative and qualitative change in his spiritual power, the green copper mirror reacted strongly. The spiritual power that was channeled into the mirror no longer stalled outside the artifact, but pierced through as if it was breaking through bamboo.

Some blue runes along the boundary of the green copper mirror were activated by the spiritual power and slowly appeared.

Wang Zhong was somewhat uncertain. This time, he seemed to be too successful and did not feel tired at all. If he judged his strength simply based on the level and amount of his spiritual power, he should have reached the standard of an ordinary Solid Core. He would definitely have no difficulties activating a level-7 or level-6 artifact. However, from the beginning, he firmly believed that this green copper mirror was definitely level-4 or higher.

Even a peak Solid Core expert definitely could not activate a level-4 artifact so quickly. Was his initial guess of the artifact’s level wrong? Was there another reason?

The dazzling blue runes continued to spread along the boundaries of the copper mirror until the two dazzling runes on the left and on the right of the mirror came together at its top…

Boom!

Wang Zhong simply felt as if he had opened up a terrifying pathway. It was like a black hole and produced a frenzied sucking force from the runes on the copper mirror. His spiritual power that was linked to the copper mirror was instantly pulled in, and the sucking force even extended to inside his body!

In the blink of an eye, his Void Core was exhausted, but the sucking force did not stop, as if it was about to suck his entire Void Core and reduce it into powder!

This was no trivial matter. Lao Wang had heard of some artifacts that forcibly drew the Soul Power of their user but had never seen any that was as tyrannical as this. His first reaction was to forcibly cut off his spiritual power link with the copper mirror, but he realized that he could not sever it!