Alone and Infinite.

Chapter 58 We look forward to you becoming the true king!
The apostle, who had just been shocked by the announcement to the whole community, stared with his mouth agape, wondering how the trial world had become like this.

The dwarves felt like the sky had fallen; each of the three factions had its own unique characteristics.

Prior to this, the human faction was very weak, with extremely low contribution levels. They had many faction missions, but the rewards were meager and the payouts were mediocre.

Therefore, few people are willing to go. Those low-level apostles would rather infiltrate the elven camp and earn some contribution points to exchange for an elven archery manual.

Alternatively, you could go to the dwarven faction and exchange for a basic mineral identification book or a dwarven blacksmithing book, which would at least be useful.

The Elf faction has a moderate number of quests, moderate rewards, and moderate payouts, which is why the Elf faction has the most players.

The dwarf faction has fewer missions but higher rewards, and is mostly comprised of confident apostles.

For example, several people named by Claude, such as Aaron Gur, Madwoman, and Knight, were all from the dwarf faction.

Now things are much better. Quartermasters are shared across the three factions, which is not bad. The key is that the leader of the human faction is also an Apostle, who can issue missions on his own and has extra bonuses!
What's the point of playing this game? Just destroy it already.
Li Xia ignored the wails of the other apostles and directly opened the exchange page.

[Dwarf Faction Shop]

1. Mithril Sword (Blue)

Reputation Level for Exchange: Revered

Exchange contribution points: 1500 points

2. Mithril Shield (Blue)

Reputation Level for Exchange: Revered

Exchange contribution points: 1200 points

3. Mithril Inner Armor (Blue)
Reputation Level for Exchange: Exalted

Exchange contribution points: 1000 points

30. Shiny Gold Coins

Reputation level for exchange: None
Exchange contribution points: 5 points

The quality of items exchanged by the dwarves is indeed much higher than that of the humans. Apart from the Enlightenment Potion, which is exchanged for special items, the best item the human faction can get is a blue bow.

Li Xia suspected that if he hadn't happened to become the leader of the human faction, he probably wouldn't have been able to accumulate the 3000 points needed to exchange for the Enlightenment Potion by the end of the trial.

For the dwarven faction, mithril swords, mithril shields, and inner armor are all widely applicable equipment.

The skills provided are also very practical. Li Xia heard that the skill book for dwarven blacksmithing is almost equivalent to a green ultimate weapon in the hall.

Unfortunately, the limited number of 15 copies available for redemption has already been sold out.

In comparison, the Elf faction has a larger quantity of items, and the quality is also decent.

But apart from elven archery, Li Xia didn't really want anything else.

That's about all the information we can uncover in this trial.

The next step is to wrap things up and bring the five-army battle to a successful conclusion!

Two days passed exceptionally quickly, especially after the scouts sent by the Elven King Thranduil reported that unusual activity had indeed occurred underground.

The tense atmosphere gradually dissipated and grew stronger, and the actions of all parties accelerated considerably.

Aside from constantly sending out ravens to check on his cousin's whereabouts, Thorin spent the rest of his time running around checking on the defensive preparations.

Thranduil and Thorin had several arguments over this.

Li Xia would occasionally chat with Claude, but Chaotuo suddenly fell silent, and many things remained unanswered.

Moreover, more than two thousand years have passed, and many things are no longer the same as in this vibrant era, so it's always good to ask.

This high-ranking apostle was nowhere to be found, but he seemed quite relaxed.

Sometimes the old man would answer, and sometimes it might be due to rules that he didn't want to or couldn't say, so the two of them would tacitly skip over topics that Claude didn't want to discuss.

However, he did say something quite interesting, which was what Li Xia asked when he discovered that his gains in this world were ridiculously high.

Of course, Li Xia wouldn't be foolish enough to ask what to do if the benefits were too great. Instead, he asked a question that went straight to the heart of the matter: "After the solo trial, I've already become a formal apostle. Why do I still need a joint trial, especially one in the form of a war world?"

Claude's somewhat hoarse laughter came through the walkie-talkie:
"Oh? You noticed? Your total earnings for the whole event were probably several times, or even more, than others. You find that unusual, or even confusing?"

Li Xia chose to remain silent instead of answering.

"As expected of a newcomer. They're already confused after only a few times."

If in the future you discover that some powerful individuals gain dozens of times more rewards from clearing a world than other apostles, wouldn't you be unable to sleep at night?

Claude laughed again, then coughed twice, his voice becoming more serious:
"Okay. Well, I find it quite pleasant to communicate with you."

He paused for a moment, then began to explain in the simplest and most understandable way:
"The solo trial is the temple's assessment of whether you are qualified to become an apostle."

Therefore, the trial of joint war is a selection process.

The Hall of Fame is making its selections, and so are the top guilds under its banner. The secondary guilds will also be making their selections after the war ends.

During the trials of war, the apostles' basic qualities will quickly emerge, and each apostle will clearly recognize their own position.

The strong will receive greater rewards and grow even faster.

They are powerful, fearless, and believe that their strength can solve all problems, so they choose to become lone wolves.

Those at the next level, upon discovering that a powerful group can offer them greater assistance, will accept an invitation to join the guild.

Those who were left behind were either not suited for combat, but had strong support or professional abilities.

These apostles will also be welcomed by the guild.

The rest were the lowest rank among the apostles. They either banded together, were absorbed by smaller, similarly banded guilds, or were unable to integrate and died quietly in some adventure.

Claude's voice gradually lowered, perhaps as he recalled those familiar faces that had gradually disappeared because he couldn't keep up.

"This is the palace, a cruel place, but also the best place."

"Won't those apostles who gain excessive benefits disrupt the balance?"

Li Xia frowned, still vaguely feeling that something was wrong. For example, if he himself were to fully digest the gains from this event, he might even be able to directly break through the ranks of those of the same level.

It wasn't that he thought his peers were trash, but rather that unless there was another apostle like himself, with the Temple of the Dying standing behind him.

If they wanted to, they could even clear the area, which would undoubtedly be against the interests of the temple.

"Yes, your gains this time are indeed a bit exaggerated. The part I saw is several times that of others. If you win the Treasure Chest of Destiny, it will be even more exaggerated."

Claude readily admitted it, but he didn't think much of it. The void was too vast; what kind of extraordinary talents hadn't appeared there?

He thought for a moment, then slowly said:

"As for the balance issue you've thought of, the Hall has more to say than you do. We've talked to you about advancement and dynamic difficulty matching before."

Once your strength far surpasses that of others of the same level, there will only be two outcomes.

Firstly, your mission in the world will be different from others. The temple will give you a mission that matches your difficulty level, and of course, it will also provide rewards that match your difficulty level.

Secondly: Once the Hall determines that your strength has reached the middle level of the next tier, or reached the extreme value of the current tier, it will unlock the tier advancement.

Therefore, powerful apostles grow very quickly. Sometimes, those who entered the world at the same time are still at the second or third rank, but the stronger ones are already at the fifth or sixth rank.

Claude slowly ended the conversation with a single sentence:
"In short, the mysteries of the temple can never be fully explained; you can only experience them for yourself."

By the way, good luck. The survivors in Longlake Town call you King Xia?
I hope that one day in the future you will be able to become a faction leader, just like you did in the trials.

Add the title of king to the end of your own title.

To become a true Prince Xia of the Palace!

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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

(End of this chapter)