The elder presiding over the meeting hadn't joined yet, and the over thirty attendees in the conference room began bustling in the chat section, discussing various topics. The top eight contestants seemed to hold themselves in high regard, perhaps burdened by the expectations of being idols, and remained reserved, not engaging in the more casual conversations. Zhang Yuanqing, on the other hand, was quite different—he excelled at social interactions. Since these individuals represented potential allies, he made a point of building strong relationships and cultivating goodwill. Though many expressed admiration for him, the participants who had the opportunity to join the combat dungeons were all outstanding performers from their respective regional branches. Among this group, a portion will eventually be promoted to the rank of Sage, and upon accumulating sufficient merits, will naturally be elevated to the position of Steward—thus, the currently enrolled transcendents are the future backbone of the organization, serving as the reserve cadre for Stewards. Only by uniting together, supporting one another, can we successfully complete the quest and ascend to the rank of Sage. [The Little Boy Who Sold Matches: That's exactly what I've been thinking—now I'll be working with the Heavenly Sovereign.] [The Rain Goddess: Count me in.] [White Tiger Forever: I heard the entrance to the quest uses a random teleportation system. I hope I'll end up arriving at the same time as the Heavenly Sovereign.] The Heavenly Sovereign's "modest and gentle" demeanor has earned him warm praise from his colleagues, and now he speaks more casually, less formal. Indeed, the Heavenly Sovereign is quite adept at building relationships—he's more suited to be the leader than Zhao the City Guardian. Once we enter the quest, I can choose to ally with him, and the opinions of the older colleagues will matter little. While watching the lively, continuously updating comments in the chat, Sun Miao-miao is quietly plotting her next moves. The senior figures within the sect have advised that, upon entering the combat quest, the Night-Wanderers should unite, centering on Zhao the City Guardian to form a cohesive group. Then, building on this foundation, they should But Sun Miao Miao believed that, if conditions allowed, joining the array of Yuan Shi Tian Zun directly might be more reliable, since the Five Elements Alliance had a broader range of professions and a larger number of members, enabling them to work in perfect synergy and form the very strongest force. Of course, there was a potential drawback—the Yuan Shi Tian Zun’s prestigious reputation made them the prime target of the evil organizations’ pursuit. As Sun Miao Miao was lost in thought, a secondary-visual, handsome young man holding a jade sword suddenly appeared on the "stage," with his spiritual realm ID: Ten Steps, One Person Killed! A deep, resonant voice emanated from the computer speakers: "Everyone, please report your numbers in the comment section, starting from Yuan Shi Tian Zun, from one to thirty-eight. Let's begin!" The voice was rich and clear, sounding youthful—definitely not someone in their middle or later years. 【Master Yuan Shi Tian Zun: 1】 【Zhao Chenguang: 2】 …… After all the numbers were reported and it was confirmed that everyone was seated at the computer, with no members having left, "Ten Steps to Kill One Person" said: "I am a senior elder among the White Tiger troops. My spiritual realm ID is Ten Steps to Kill One Person. You may call me 'Senior Ten Steps.'" Chat area: 【Master Yuan Shi Tian Zun: Senior Ten Steps sounds a bit off. Could they call him 'Senior One Person'? 'One' sounds like 'I', which would be more pleasant.] 【Guan Ya: Just shut up, Senior Ten Steps is quite particular—don’t speak out of turn.] 【Master Yuan Shi Tian Zun: Guan Ya, do you know him?] #Master Yuan Shi Tian Zun has been muted by the administrator# #Guan Ya has been muted by the administrator# "Ten Steps to Kill One Person": "This meeting is serious and solemn. Please keep quiet, be concise, and refrain from interrupting my flow." After a brief pause, the elder of the White Tiger troops explained: "First, I'd like to clarify what a large-scale slaughter instance is. I'm sure many of you are already familiar with it—slaughtering instances open twice a year, in the mid-year and at year-end. Clearing these instances is an essential step for character progression and the only way to achieve it." As he spoke, Zhang Yuanqing unconsciously began typing on his keyboard: "Is it truly the only way, Elder Shi? I know of one exception..." But midway through, he remembered that he was on mute. He could only patiently wait for the mute status to be lifted, listening as Elder Shi continued: "While the format of the large-scale slaughter instances varies each year, there are two elements that remain constant—the time duration and the core mechanism. The constant time element is that each instance lasts for three days, with the main objective being survival for 72 hours. The constant core mechanism is the point-based system." There are three ways to earn points: first, from regular副本; second, from defeating evil-class characters; and third, by defeating fellow realm travelers from the same faction. "The first two methods offer the most points, while the third provides relatively few. By now, I believe everyone understands that large-scale killing副本 are essentially enhanced versions of faction-versus-faction副本, with the added flexibility that teammates can kill each other, offering greater freedom and operational room. "After the副本 concludes, the player with the highest point total receives the most experience points and the most premium items. "Therefore, each organization closely monitors the point leaderboard, with the top-ranked individuals widely recognized as the most promising and possessing the finest innate talents." After delivering this, the Tenshi Elder paused for several seconds, allowing the trainees time to absorb the information. Companions from the same faction can hunt each other down, which would significantly undermine the reliability and credibility of independent practitioners from the civilian sector... Zhang Yuanqing's instinctive thought was: If the malevolent organization bribes independent practitioners from the lawful and orderly faction, their own position would become very precarious. At that moment, he noticed Zhao Chenghuang asking in the comment section: [Zhao Chenghuang: Regarding independent practitioners, what measures is the official side taking?] The Tenth Step Elder, upon seeing the message, replied: "All officially registered independent practitioners have been formally informed. Of course, this doesn't completely eliminate potential risks—therefore, during your time in the instances, don't place undue trust in civilian practitioners. Should you observe any of them hunting down our official members, note down their spiritual realm IDs. Once the hunting instances conclude, we will naturally settle the matter." After answering a few more questions, the Senior Elder continued lecturing: "Next is the ranking list. This list has twenty-four positions, and these twenty-four spots represent the candidates for promotion to the Sage rank. Those who do not make the list and survive—though not by much—are considered eliminated and may wait for the annual elimination quest at year-end. "Of course, we usually focus on the top ten. The ones beyond the top ten are generally considered to have average potential. The Elder will provide you with the ranking lists from the past ten years for your reference." As soon as the words were finished, the interface on everyone's computer screens changed, displaying two lists: #Ranking List for the Mid-Year Superbeyond Phase, Large Elimination Quest, 2012# #Ranking List for the Year-End Superbeyond Phase, Large Elimination Quest, 2012# The top-ranked candidate in the mid-year list earned 700 points. The top-ranked candidate in the year-end list earned 730 points. Zhang Yuanqing carefully observed the changes in the rankings. Over the periods from 2012 to 2015, the points of the No. 1 entries fluctuated between 700 and 800, and he barely recognized any of the Lingjing IDs listed. In 2016, he spotted a familiar Lingjing ID—Hei Wu Chang. Ranked seventh, he was clearly a promising Wugui master, and later indeed became a key figure in the Lingneng Association's Dongzhou branch, reaching the rank of a 6th-level Saint. When the 2017 rankings appeared, the comment section erupted instantly. In 2017, the mid-year No. 1: @#￥: 980 points. In 2017, the year-end No. 1: Fengdu Ghost King: 850 points. The mid-year No. 1 ID was blurred out. In the comment section: [White Tiger Forever: Wow, who is that mid-year No. 1 from 2017? He's not only 130 points ahead of Fengdu Ghost King, but also nearly reaching 】 【Niu Lan Shan Little Fairy: What a surprise! For so many years, the top-ranked points have been under 800. It's understandable that Feng Du Ghost King, who's often compared to the former Fu Qingyang, has surpassed 800. But this one in 2017—980 points?】 【Peony Fairy: Why is the name blurred? Surely someone very prominent.】 【Jiang Jing Wei: Oh, I know—she was the commander of the White Tiger Army in 2017.】 #Jiang Jing Wei has been muted by the administrator# The Tenth Step Elder said calmly: “Don’t discuss it—just focus on the rankings!” Implied: don’t talk about that female commander. As a junior, it’s neither expected nor permitted to critique a senior online. Was the female commander of the White Tiger Army still at the Transcendent Realm five years ago? Then she must be quite young… Zhang Yuanqing was astonished. Though he knew the female commander of the White Tiger Army wasn’t among the first batch of Spirit Realm practitioners, he had never imagined she would be so young. No, perhaps only late in securing the character card—she might actually be in her forties or fifties. But isn't 980 points a bit extreme? It completely outshines all the past champions. Is this truly the kind of talent that qualifies as a Grand Master-level gift? Zhang Yuanqing gritted her teeth quietly. "The centurion back then hadn't yet reached the ranks of the elite superstars—well, that fits the trajectory of a talented but less gifted liver emperor rising through the ranks..." As he was just thinking this, the leaderboard began to shift, and the 2020 rankings appeared: Mid-year No. 1: Ye Wujin – 720 points Year-end No. 1: Mo Jun – 940 points The comment section erupted again. ["The Boy Who Sold Matches: Mo Jun?! I didn't expect to see Mo Jun here—his score is incredible, second only to the Marshal."] ["Heaven's Return to Fire: What's truly terrifying isn't the score, but the timeline—wow, Mo Jun was promoted to Saint in early 2020, and he passed away in early 2022, when he was already a figure feared even by the senior elders of the Tai Men."] ["The Pawn Who Crosses the River: Does this mean Mo Jun went from receiving his character card to his passing in just a few short years?"] ["A Person with No Sense of Music: A monster! This guy is a true monster."] 】 【Loving the Elder Brother: Now I finally understand the Master of the Taiyuan Sect's evaluation—no one else in the past fifty years has shown such outstanding talent as the Night-Wanderer.】 As the comments section buzzed with activity, Zhang Yuanqing's gaze remained firmly fixed on the second-place entry in the year-end list—the Young Soldier King with 860 points. The Soldier was two years older than him. Two years ago, he was still a first-year student. When he joined the Kill-Off Raid quest during his freshman year, he became a Spirit Realm Traveler—specifically during the summer break of his senior year of high school. This detail matched exactly with Zhang Yuanqing's initial analysis with his senior sergeant. —It was precisely during that summer break of his senior year that the Soldier underwent a significant transformation in character. As for the young age of the Demon King, Zhang Yuanqing realized it immediately upon seeing the mysterious figure's appearance, combined with the audio recordings from the Cat King's speaker. To be honest, though, the Demon King is quite young—yet the women he sleeps with are mostly in their thirties. Yin Ji is in her early thirties, Zhu Rong is about thirty-two or thirty-three. Women whose careers revolve around passion and desire may not know it, but from their voices, they are clearly no longer young—perhaps the youngest is the wood spirit girl with a steward mother, yet even she seems not quite a young woman. It's hard to say he doesn't have some special preferences. Soon, the points leaderboard concluded. Elder Shi said: "Zhao, the City God, and Yuan Shǐ Tian Zun—both of you have strong potential to reach 900 points. The headquarters is very eager to see your performances. Now, let's discuss the strategies employed by the evil organizations in recent past cycles. They typically set traps using curses and toxins, employ illusions to confuse, and then remain hidden. Because the number of evil-aligned professions is significantly lower than that of lawful ones, they demonstrate remarkable cohesion during combat scenarios." By the way, we'd like to add a point: the equipment limitations in the arena matches reflect the design of the Killing Instance. Within the Killing Instance, there exists a crisis at the Saint Realm level. After reviewing historical records and conducting analysis, we've determined that the upper limit is approximately Level 4. "This year, we've received reliable intelligence that the evil faction has declared that either Yuan-Shi Tian-Zun or Fu Qingyang must die. To be safe, headquarters has decided to equip Yuan-Shi Tian-Zun with a complete set of gear to prepare for any unforeseen events." "Once the killing quest begins, please remember to quickly locate Yuan-Shi Tian-Zun and rally around him—unite and stand together. You're fortunate, as you haven't experienced the major defeat of 2020..." At this point, the Ten-Steps Elder paused suddenly and did not continue. This has caused tremendous upheaval and severe repercussions—Da Men and the Five Elements Alliance have always been wary of it, strictly prohibiting us from mentioning it publicly. As soon as we do, we are immediately silenced or have our titles revoked! #Yuan Ting has been muted by the administrator# 【The Boy Who Sold Matches: Ah-ha, indeed silenced!】 【Sun Miao Miao: Such a fool—late-stage now, no hope at all.】 Elder Shi Bu ignored the chat section's casual exchanges and continued: “Time is limited. We’ll now enter the final phase. I’ll provide you with two lists: one of the top ten evil organizations at the Transcendent stage, and another of the top ten orderly and evil independent practitioners from the civilian ranks. The lists will be sent to your email accounts—please check your inbox. This meeting concludes here. Let’s disperse!