Chapter 279: The Top Spot, Starting from the First Floor [1]

Seeing that the time for the trial had arrived, Zich quickly headed to the teleportation formation that happened to be in the same building as the Players Association.

However, he wasn’t too lucky, as there was already a massive line of people waiting to use the teleportation formation to reach the central region.

Three hours later, in the central region of the First Layer.

Before Zich had even truly approached the Heaven Reaching Trial Tower, he could already see its enormous black silhouette piercing through the clouds.

The entire tower appeared to have been carved from a single piece of ancient black stone. Countless dark golden patterns coiled across its surface, becoming increasingly indistinct the higher they climbed before eventually disappearing completely into the dense clouds. Even though only the first thirty floors of the Rookie Tower Domain were open, it was impossible to see where the thirtieth floor was located from outside.

At this moment, tens of thousands of players had already gathered in the enormous square before the tower.

Because of the three hour delay at the teleportation formation, the competition for the thirty three publicly contested slots had already ended, and the challengers who had ultimately qualified were standing in the centre of the square. Many of them were injured, clearly having paid a considerable price to secure their places.

As for the major powers that possessed direct entry qualifications, each occupied an area closest to the Heaven Reaching Trial Tower. The Players Association, the Human Alliance, the Five Great Families, and more than a dozen top organizations with enormous influence in the First Layer had almost all sent the most outstanding young players of their generation.

The moment Zich appeared, numerous gazes immediately fell upon him.

"So that’s Zich?"

"The sixteen year old champion of the Chosen Tournament?"

"How did he obtain direct entry into the Heaven Reaching Trial Tower?"

"Maybe it’s because he’s the champion; ever thought about that?"

Discussions continuously sounded from all directions.

Some were curious, some were doubtful, while others made no attempt to conceal the jealousy in their eyes.

After all, every one of the public competitors present had fought through several rounds of competition against countless other young players to claim one of the thirty three available slots. Zich, however, had not even participated in the qualification competition before the Voss family personally secured an entry slot for him.

A distinctly hostile gaze came from the area occupied by the Locke family.

Standing at the front of their group was a Level 29 blond young man. A golden lion crest belonging to the Locke family was pinned to his chest. After staring at Zich for a moment, he suddenly let out a quiet laugh.

"The Heaven Reaching Trial Tower tests far more than direct combat. Some people win a few matches by relying on a powerful summon and immediately assume they can stand above everyone else. Once they enter, I’m afraid they won’t even make it through the first ten floors."

He made no effort to lower his voice, allowing many of the people nearby to hear every word clearly.

Zich, however, acted as though he had heard nothing and did not even pause.

Nadia had appeared beside him at some point, the blue eyed white tiger following silently behind her. She first glanced in the direction of the Locke family before turning to Zich.

"He’s deliberately trying to provoke you."

"I know."

"You’re not going to respond?"

"He should at least climb high enough to earn the right to receive a response from me," Zich said calmly. "If he can’t even see the floor I’m standing on, what would be the point of saying anything to him now?"

The blond young man not far away had clearly heard those words, and the smile instantly vanished from his face.

Even the people waiting to enjoy the confrontation fell silent for a brief moment.

Nadia stared at Zich for two seconds before ultimately deciding not to remind him that this response was actually far more infuriating than a direct provocation.

Just then, Helen also walked over from the area occupied by the Players Association.

Today, she wore a set of silver white light armour and carried a beautiful looking magic wand. Her blond hair had been tied into a high ponytail behind her head, making her appear less languid than usual and giving her a much sharper presence.

Seeing the two together, Helen narrowed her eyes, a look of dissatisfaction appearing on her face.

Helen had already been informed about Nadia by Cole, but seeing them so close still seemed to irk her.

However, the daughter of the vice president of the Association knew better than to cause any commotion here.

When Helen and Nadia stood beside Zich one after another, even more gazes turned in their direction.

Both Helen and Nadia possessed considerable fame among the younger generation of the First Layer. Now that both women had taken the initiative to approach Zich, many people naturally felt even more resentful.

Helen ignored the surrounding gazes and merely raised her head toward the black stone monument, dozens of metres tall, standing before the Heaven Reaching Trial Tower.

"The rankings have appeared."

Zich followed her gaze. Dark golden patterns rapidly illuminated the black stone monument, which had originally contained no writing whatsoever. Immediately afterward, names began emerging from the bottom of the monument before arranging themselves into different positions according to their respective results.

This was the historical rookie ranking of the Heaven Reaching Trial Tower.

Only challengers who entered the Rookie Tower Domain while below Level 30 were qualified to leave their names upon this stone monument.

Zich’s gaze immediately landed at the very top, and he saw the same name he had seen before.

[First Place: Arthur]

[Highest Floor Reached: Thirtieth Floor]

[Highest Floor Cleared: Twenty Ninth Floor]

[Final Status: Challenge Failed]

[Record Set: Twenty Years Ago]

Upon seeing that name, Helen’s chest seemed to have swelled higher and her head was held extremely high.

Zich glanced at her, at a loss for words, but then again, even if it were him, he would have been proud.

Starting from second place, the highest record was only the twenty ninth floor.

Moreover, not a single challenger had managed to reach the thirtieth floor during the past twenty years. The overwhelming majority of young players regarded as geniuses by the major powers ultimately stopped before reaching the twenty fifth floor.

That was also why the entire private room had suddenly fallen silent when Zich declared that he intended to reach the thirtieth floor.

Merely entering the thirtieth floor meant surpassing every other young player of this generation and matching the current President of the Players Association.

As for completely clearing it, that would mean breaking a record that had remained untouched for twenty years.