Chapter 58: I Look Forward to You Becoming a True King!

The Apostles, who had just been shocked by the global announcement, stood there with their jaws hanging open, unable to figure out how the trial world had turned into this.

The members of the Dwarf faction felt as if the sky had fallen. Each of the three factions possessed distinct characteristics.

Prior to this, the Human faction was extremely weak. Its contribution yield was pitifully low, characterized by an abundance of faction quests with meager returns and very ordinary rewards.

Consequently, almost no one was willing to go there. Those low-tier Apostles preferred to sneak into the Elven faction to grind for contributions and exchange them for a manual on Elven Archery.

Alternatively, they would head to the Dwarf faction to trade for basic mineral identification or dwarven smithing techniques, which were at least practical.

The Elven faction offered a moderate number of quests, moderate returns, and moderate rewards, making it the most populous faction.

Meanwhile, the Dwarf faction had a small number of quests, high returns, and high rewards. It was basically populated by Apostles who possessed a certain degree of confidence in themselves.

For instance, Aaron Gur, the Mad Woman, the Knight, and a few others previously named by Claude were all members of the Dwarf faction.

And now? The quartermasters of the three major factions were shared. That alone wasn't the worst part; the crucial issue was that the leader of the Human faction was also an Apostle, capable of issuing quests to himself while enjoying additional bonuses!

How was anyone supposed to play this game? Might as well just let the world end right now...

Li Xia ignored the wails of the other Apostles and directly opened the exchange interface.

[Dwarf Faction Store]
1. Mithril Sword (Blue)
Required Reputation Level: Revered
Required Contribution Points: 1,500
2. Mithril Shield (Blue)
Required Reputation Level: Revered
Required Contribution Points: 1,200
3. Mithril Inner Armor (Blue)
Required Reputation Level: Exalted
Required Contribution Points: 1,000
...
30. Shiny Gold Coins
Required Reputation Level: None
Required Contribution Points: 5

The quality of the items in the Dwarf faction exchange was indeed much higher than that of the humans. Aside from the specially exchanged Enlightenment Potion, the best item in the Human faction was merely a blue-tier bow.

Li Xia suspected that had he not happened to become the leader of the Human faction, he might not have managed to accumulate the 3,000 points required for the Enlightenment Potion even by the end of the trial.

In contrast, whether it was the mithril swords, mithril shields, or inner armor, the items in the Dwarf faction were all pieces of equipment with exceptionally wide applicability.

The skills they provided were also extremely practical. Li Xia had heard that skill books for Dwarven Smithing were roughly equivalent in value to a top-tier green weapon within the Hall.

Unfortunately, there was a limited stock of only fifteen copies, and they had all been completely bought out.

***

In comparison, the Elven faction offered a large quantity of items of decent quality.

However, aside from Elven Archery, there wasn't really anything Li Xia particularly wanted.

That was essentially the extent of the exploitable resources in this trial.

Next came tying up the loose ends and successfully bringing the Battle of the Five Armies to a close!

***

Two days passed exceptionally quickly, especially after the scouting party dispatched by the Elven King Thranduil reported back that abnormal disturbances had indeed appeared deep underground.

The tense atmosphere silently dissipated, only to grow increasingly suffocating as the movements of all parties accelerated considerably.

Aside from constantly dispatching ravens to check on the whereabouts of his cousin, Thorin spent his time rushing back and forth across various locations to inspect defensive preparations.

Because of this, Thranduil and Thorin had ended up in several heated arguments.

Li Xia occasionally chatted with Claude. Transcendence had suddenly gone silent, leaving many questions unanswered.

Moreover, over two thousand years had passed, and many things had long since changed from the era when Transcendence was active, so being able to ask questions was naturally a good thing.

This high-tier Apostle was God knows where, but he seemed thoroughly leisurely.

Sometimes the old man would answer, while at other times, constrained by the rules, he either wouldn't or couldn't speak. The two of them tacitly skipped over the topics Claude wished to avoid.

However, he did mention something quite interesting. Li Xia had asked about it after discovering that his gains in this world were somewhat absurdly high.

Of course, Li Xia wouldn't foolishly ask what to do when one gained too much, but instead posed a core-level question.

"After the solo trial, having already become a full-fledged Apostle, why is a joint trial still necessary, especially in the format of a war world?"

Claude’s somewhat raspy laughter came through the communicator:

"Oh? You've noticed? Your total yield might be several times, or even more, than that of everyone else. Do you feel it's abnormal, and perhaps even feel puzzled by it?"

Li Xia replaced his answer with silence.

"As expected of a rookie... You're already feeling perplexed after just a few times. If you discovered in the future that some powerhouses clear a world with dozens of times the gains of other Apostles, wouldn't you lose sleep over it?"

Claude laughed again, coughing lightly twice before his voice turned somewhat serious:

"Well... Who made me feel that conversing with you is quite a pleasant thing?"

He paused, beginning to explain in as simple and understandable a manner as possible:

"The solo trial... is the Hall assessing whether you possess the qualifications to become an Apostle. The joint war trial, on the other hand, is for selection. The Hall is selecting, the top-tier guilds under the Hall are selecting, and once the war world concludes, those secondary guilds will still conduct selections. During the war trial, an Apostle's basic aptitude will rapidly surface, and every Apostle will clearly recognize their own positioning. The strong will obtain excessive rewards and grow even more rapidly. They are powerful, fearless, and believe their strength can resolve all problems, so they choose to become lone wolves."

"As for those in the second tier, upon discovering that a powerful group can help them more, they will accept invitations and join guilds. Those left behind either lack combat suitability but possess strong support or professional abilities. Such Apostles are equally welcomed by guilds. The remainder are the bottom-tier existence among Apostles; they either huddle together, get absorbed by smaller guilds that also band together, or fail to integrate and quietly perish in some adventure..."

Claude's voice gradually deepened, perhaps reminded of those familiar faces from the past that had gradually vanished due to failing to keep pace.

"This is the Hall—a cruel place, yet also the best place."

"Won't those Apostles with excessive gains disrupt the balance?"

Li Xia frowned, vaguely feeling that something was still amiss. Take himself, for instance: if he were to fully digest his current gains, he might even be capable of slaughtering his way through his peers entirely.

It wasn't that he thought his peers were trash, but unless there was another Apostle like him, backed by a dying Hall, he could easily clear the board if he wished. This undoubtedly conflicted with the interests of the Hall.

"Hmm... Your gains this time are indeed somewhat exaggerated. Just the portion I can see is several times that of others, and if you hit the jackpot with the destiny treasure chests, it becomes even more absurd."

Claude frankly acknowledged it, yet he didn't think much of it. The Void was vast; what kind of astonishingly talented individuals had never appeared before?

After pondering for a moment, he slowly said:

"As for the balance issue you thought of, the Hall considers far more than you do. I've previously told you about tier advancement and dynamic difficulty matching. Once your strength far surpasses your peers, only two outcomes will follow. First: your quests in the world will differ from those of others; the Hall will assign you a quest matching your difficulty, while naturally providing rewards matching that difficulty. Second: the Hall determines that your strength has reached the middle tier of the next rank, or has hit the extreme limit of your current rank, triggering a rank advancement. Therefore, powerful Apostles grow extremely fast. Sometimes those who entered a world together are still at tier two or three, while the strong ones have already reached tier five or six."

Claude leisurely ended the conversation with a single sentence:

"In short... the mysteries of the Hall are endless, and can only be experienced firsthand by you. By the way, good luck. Those survivors of Lake-town call you King Xia? I hope that one day in the future, just like becoming the faction leader in this trial, you can append the title of King behind your name, and truly become the Prince Regent Xia of the Hall!"