Lin Yi listened to Guo Yinglong’s words.
He felt both amused and helpless.
He licked his lips, feeling a bit parched.
Although within the camp, one could survive without having to drink water or eat food.
But ultimately, it’s not something he was used to.
"Where did they get those ice pops they’re holding?"
"They can’t be naturally provided by the camp, right?"
Guo Yinglong shook his head: "Of course, they’re not naturally provided by the camp."
"You have to purchase them from the tower guardians."
Guo Yinglong sat back down.
"Every day at noon, apart from opening the trial entrance, specialized tower guardians will come, bringing many supplies to sell."
"When monsters are killed in the trial tower, they drop something called Ocean Eye Stone, which is the currency used for all transactions within the tower."
"And they will start from the S-level camp, selling goods clockwise."
"They sell food, drinks, snacks, everything."
"It’s very likely that by the time it’s our turn, their goods will have sold out."
"Though these food and drinks simply satisfy the desire for taste."
"What they really sell of value..."
"One is an item that grants an extra chance to pass the level."
"But so far, according to Mr. Wang, they’ve only sold it five times."
"The other thing is information."
"This information reveals which specific floor’s guardian BOSSes will appear after today’s trial starts."
"And what beneficial effects are more likely to appear during exploration."
Lin Yi thought about it after hearing this.
This information is indeed important.
Knowing the BOSS information in advance means we can figure out how to handle and counter them.
And knowing which beneficial effects are more likely to appear aids in creating strategies.
Having played many rogue-like games, Lin Yi naturally knows about strategy building.
But others entering the Inverted Sky Tower for the first time don’t know.
"I understand preparing for BOSSes in advance, but why is knowing which beneficial states are easy to acquire considered part of the information?" Ding Yue asked this naive question.
"Because randomly choosing these beneficial states means you cannot progress deeper."
"People here call these beneficial states blessings."
"Apart from a few SSS-level blessings, which can be taken without much thought, all others require careful consideration."
"Many blessings have synergies, and when collected, their effect is very strong."
As Guo Yinglong spoke, he took out a thick stack of handwritten notes from the table beside him.
"Mr. Wang, I’m showing them your recorded blessing compendium."
Wang Yizhong nodded gently, simply saying, "Don’t damage it."
Lin Yi picked up the thick stack of handwritten notes, glancing over the first page briefly.
The first page densely recorded the details of fifty blessings.
Then, Lin Yi counted the number of pages.
Almost 200 pages.
"This is the blessing compendium compiled over thirty years through Mr. Wang’s own experiences and exchanges among others who participated in trial clears."
"From D-level to SSS-level, they are all included."
"In terms of understanding trial rules, blessings, and mechanisms in the entire trial tower, if Mr. Wang claims to be second, no one dares claim to be first!"
Guo Yinglong’s praise clearly pleased Wang Yizhong, who pretended to read a book while actually observing people’s reactions.
"Mr. Guo, don’t mislead, this isn’t a complete compendium, at most it records about 60% of the blessings. Those triggered by special events, sold by spirit currency merchants, and ultra-rare ones are yet to be fully explored."
Lin Yi was a bit taken aback.
Even just these 60% blessings account for over a thousand in quantity.
The total number of blessings that may appear in the trial tower might be close to 2000!
No previous rogue-like games had achieved such scale.
Whew...
This trial tower’s starting to seem interesting, what to do?
Seeing everyone’s admiration, Guo Yinglong continued, "Let me tell you quietly."
"Besides Mr. Wang, other five or six seniors from Xia still remaining in the trial tower."
"Are different from that Mr. Liu."
"They are quite sane."
"They just find the trial tower’s blessing selection, using blessing synergies to build strategies, very intriguing."
"So they decided to dedicate their life’s efforts to constructing a super strategy that can clear 99 levels, reaching the 1st level directly."
"In other words, they are crafting a thorough strategy book."
"This strategy is detailed, covering every level."
"In a few years, or ten more years, when their strategy is truly finished, then in the future, our descendants entering this trial tower will be blessed!"
Guo Yinglong finished speaking.
Everyone looked at Wang Yizhong with admiration.
This spirit of predecessors planting trees is undeniably great.
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Three bell chimes suddenly sounded.
Lin Yi felt the ground beneath him slightly tremble.
Soon, he saw people originally wandering outside the camp all crazily dashing back into the camp.
Those already inside the camp chose to throw the trash they created outside the camp.
After the ten seconds since the bell chimed.
A black hole suddenly appeared on the central pillar.
The hole rippled with black water patterns.
Following that, a terrifying suction force emanated from this hole.
Lin Yi watched as all the trash on the ground was sucked in.
Impressive.
This mechanism forcibly making people enter for clearance has been turned into a fully automatic garbage disposal system by these people.
Lin Yi checked the time on his wrist.
Noon, 12 o’clock.
The trial had begun.
At the same time, Lin Yi also saw a dozen people dressed all in black, with masks featuring spiral patterns, appearing out of nowhere next to the Korea camp.
These people must be the tower guardians both Guo Yinglong and Cheng Xiao mentioned.
"Hehe, nice."
"These Eye Slaves are quite diligent."
"But why can’t I see Zayina?"
Within the Undead Space.
Lin Qianqian and Lin You were both paying attention to external affairs.
Lin Qianqian saw these tower guardians and said something that baffled Lin You.
"Zayina..."
"Who is she?"
Lin You felt a sense of familiarity, yet couldn’t recall anything.
"Sister, you’ll remember."
"We are all moving along the predetermined path of fate, I just met you in advance."
Lin Yi was actually secretly listening to the sisters’ conversation.
But Lin Qianqian remained cryptic.
He couldn’t really say much.
He could only refocus his attention back to reality.
During the time he was distracted, the tower guardians had already reached the camp at the seven o’clock direction.
The goods available for sale were officially sold out.
From within the spatial confines of the trial tower itself, an aged voice sounded.
"Today’s trial tower has started."
"The leaderboard rankings remain unchanged."
"All camp levels have not changed..."
"Camp initial blessings have been refreshed."
With this tower guardian’s announcement concluded, a leaderboard also appeared on the central pillar.
[S-level Camp: Korea, Current Points: 1547, Historical Total Clear Levels: 16425 levels]
[A-level Camp: Nanyue Country, Current Points: 996, Historical Total Clear Levels: 2145 levels]
...
[C-level Camp: Japan, Current Points: 437, Historical Total Clear Levels: 40103 levels]
[D-level Camp: Xia Country, Current Points: 275, Historical Total Clear Levels: 258746 levels]
Reading all the way down, the end Xia has an alarming difference between current levels and historical total levels.
This cumulative historical levels directly surpasses the second-ranked Japan by over two hundred thousand levels, crushing Korea by more than hundredfold.
However, this is exactly the source of pride for people like Wang Yizhong, who quietly remain in this tower, day-in and day-out, for decades.
Behind them stands a powerful country.
Lin Yi took a deep breath.
Suddenly, his competitive spirit arose.
Setting a small goal, within today, he wants Xia to also rank first in S-level on the leaderboard!