All players: I can choose my own dungeon rewards.

In the blink of an eye, Wang Zhifan, who had entered the instance, found himself in a peculiar place.

He found himself standing on the shoulder of a headless stone statue. The statue was enormous, with its shoulders alone measuring ten zhang (approximately 33 meters) wide. The problem was that this enormous statue was not placed on the ground, but rather floating in the white clouds, as if it were being lifted up by something invisible.

Looking around, the scene presented in the pure white clouds was basically the same: dilapidated temples, broken stone pillars, and black beast-patterned cauldrons pierced by long swords flashing with lightning. They all floated in the clouds, above, below, left, and right of the headless stone statue, as if gravity did not exist in this world.

"This is the Shattered Heaven? It doesn't look particularly shattered."

Wang Zhifan calmly pondered the situation, glancing again at the basic information of the current instance.

[Dungeon Card (Black) (Solo): Rise to Fame Across Shattered Heavens]

[Note: Shattered Heaven is a special place where the Six Domains and Seven Realms meet. For countless years, heroes and powerful figures from the Six Domains and Seven Realms have fought endlessly here, all for the sake of climbing the Wind and Cloud Ranking and making a name for themselves. This has caused the laws of heaven and earth to be shattered. You can pass the level as long as you enter the top 100 on the Wind and Cloud Ranking.]

Please note that this dungeon is extremely challenging; those with weak abilities should not attempt it.

Wang Zhifan chose this dungeon randomly. He didn't have many reasons for choosing it; he mainly chose it because the requirements for clearing it were simple. As long as he could get into the top 100 on a leaderboard, it would be easy for him to achieve, and he could clear the dungeon relatively quickly.

Of course, even for dungeons that are difficult to clear quickly, he can use the Proof of Transcendence to force quit, so the dungeon clearing requirements are not the key for him; as long as he can get Mythic Points, that's the best outcome.

Standing on the shoulders of the giant headless stone statue, Wang Zhifan raised his left hand and looked at the mythical hourglass he had brought in for a few seconds.

He discovered that, similar to his previous experiences in special instances, the sand in this hourglass flowed much slower in the instance world, meaning that he had a significantly longer remaining time in the instance world compared to reality, and that he didn't have only one or two days left before entering the final test.

Having confirmed this basic situation, he casually put the hourglass back into his pants pocket, pondering how to proceed next and seeking out any potential mythical points.

"The requirement to clear this dungeon is to enter the top 100 of some kind of leaderboard. According to the dungeon information, the ranking is based on fighting and killing, which is within my strengths. So, obviously, if I clear the dungeon as the top player, will I complete a high-level hidden quest and get Myth Points? But that approach is too simplistic. Perhaps the game will set up a trap."

After thinking about it, Wang Zhifan felt that he didn't have a good idea. Although he would try the simple routes, he always had a feeling that the game was deliberately trying to cheat him out of the Mythic Points reward, since the other party had done something similar in the previous dungeon.

Unleashing his senses and briefly surveying his surroundings, Wang Zhifan then moved swiftly across the vast, shattered sky, his figure flashing continuously.

About three minutes later, he left the chaotic initial area and headed upwards, arriving at an island floating in white clouds.

The island isn't large, maybe only ten square kilometers in area, but there's quite a commotion on it. Two men, presumably local residents, are engaged in a fierce battle, fighting fiercely until the sky darkens.

One of them was three zhang tall, like a giant. He wore a wild and unrestrained black giant armor, a blood-red fang mask, and a five-zhang long silver spear. He laughed loudly and kept attacking the enemy in front of him, using his spear to force the enemy back one after another, and was about to be forced out of the island's territory.

The one who was retreating was a masked man with long black hair and dressed in a blue cloth. He was wielding two swords and constantly dodging and fleeing from the fierce attack of the spear. Because his size was relatively normal, he looked like an insect compared to his huge opponent. It seemed that he was in danger of being stabbed to death by the five-zhang silver spear every second.

Wang Zhifan slowly landed outside the battle formation of the two, one large and one small, calmly observing them, trying to discern some hidden information.

"The three-zhang-long armored giant wielding the spear possessed extraordinary power, yet he held it back, indicating that he was far from using his full strength and was deliberately toying with his opponent."

His masked, dual-wielding opponent was also holding back, not as battered as he appeared, but his remaining potential was limited; if he didn't escape quickly, he'd likely die soon.

Just as Wang Zhifan was analyzing the battle situation, the fierce battle between the two on the edge of the island reached a critical juncture.

The masked dual-wielding man, who appeared to be at a severe disadvantage, had been forced back to the edge of the island by the armored giant's spear. If he retreated a few more steps, he would fall into the white mist outside the island and be unable to stand on it. At that point, he would have nowhere to lean on and would be in a very dangerous situation.

The armored giant clearly knew that his opponent dared not retreat any further, and he continued to attack with his five-zhang-long spear, laughing and shouting:
"Hahaha! You little dwarf! Either admit defeat and get out of here, or die right here!"

As he spoke, the armored giant wielded his spear, unleashing a flurry of spear flowers that blocked all directions in front of the masked man wielding two swords. This forced the masked man to grit his teeth and retreat, for otherwise, being crushed into mincemeat by the massive spearhead would be his only fate.

However, at the last moment, a ruthless glint flashed in the man's eyes. He suddenly threw his twin swords forward with a strange technique and angle. The twin swords then spun extremely strangely and pierced through the impenetrable wall of spears in front of him, attacking the armored giant's neck and heart from above and below!

"You're the one who's going to die! You big, stupid idiot!"

The masked man then shouted loudly, and his figure suddenly disappeared from the spot. When he reappeared, he had already crossed the wall of spears and appeared strangely behind the neck of the armored giant who was being attacked by the twin swords. He held a sharp long dagger and stabbed it fiercely into the gap in the armor. At the same time, he launched an attack on the armored giant from three directions.

By unleashing such extraordinary skills, the masked man was undoubtedly trying to turn the tide in a desperate gamble. He believed he had the ability to do so, but in Wang Zhifan's calm gaze from afar, he saw the signs of his impending doom. He had lost his last chance to escape.

boom!
Despite the sudden attack, the armored giant remained completely calm. He unleashed his long-accumulated superhuman power, causing his armor to suddenly extend outwards like a hedgehog, with long silver needles growing rapidly!

No, given his size, what extended out weren't thin needles, but rather sharp, long spears—normal-sized spears!
These spears appeared with incredible speed. The masked man, who was originally on the attacking side, had no time to retreat or dodge, and had no direction to hide in. Instantly, with a scream, he was pierced through by thousands of spears, his body shattered, and he fell from a height of more than two zhang like a tattered rag, dead beyond any doubt.

As for the bizarre twin swords he had hurled at the armored giant, they were now blocked by countless spears extending from the armor, their blades shattering into scrap. "Hahaha! You mere little dwarf, you think you can outsmart me?! What can your little head possibly hold!"

After successfully defeating his opponent, the armored giant planted his five-zhang-long silver spear on the ground, then pulled out a plaque from his waist that was much smaller than his palm, looked at it, and muttered:
"What? My ranking didn't improve? That little dwarf is a complete waste of my energy killing him!"

After saying that, he angrily stomped on the tattered corpse of the masked man behind him, turning it into a bloody pulp. Then, he picked up his silver spear and leaped into the air, leaving the island beneath his feet.

Wang Zhifan was still observing from a distance on the island. He noticed that the small sign the armored giant had just taken out might be related to the so-called "Heroic Rankings," so he immediately shifted his gaze to the ground and looked at an inconspicuous little wooden sign.

He remembered that the wooden plaque was the one that fell to the ground after the masked man was killed by the armored giant. It felt similar to the item the armored giant had just taken out, so he raised his hand and used a little spatial power to take it out of the air and examine it carefully.

The wooden plaque appeared unremarkable in material, being brownish-yellow in color and hard in texture. However, a string of hieroglyphs was engraved in the center of the plaque. When he focused his gaze on it, the extraordinary game automatically displayed the translation: 589,004,463.

"Is this number... the masked man's identification number? Or is it his ranking on the popularity chart?"

Wang Zhifan immediately made this deduction, examining the inconspicuous yellowish-brown wooden plaque in his hand over and over, trying to find some connection between it and the popularity rankings.

As expected, he quickly sensed that the wooden plaque in his hand was surrounded by a mysterious power. The hieroglyphs in the center of the plaque faded in the blink of an eye under his gaze, turning into a blank yellowish-brown area. In other words, the numbers had completely disappeared, and there were no more words on the plaque.

"The power that just appeared is closely connected to this world. It is most likely the so-called Ranking of Heroes. This small wooden plaque is probably proof of the Ranking of Heroes. The reason why the text on it disappeared just now is because its original owner died and I obtained the plaque. I have not yet joined the ranking in this world, so the ranking is naturally blank."

Wang Zhifan quickly deduced the key point in his mind. Then, a flash of light suddenly appeared above his head, and a silver spear shadow pierced through the thick clouds and flew at high speed, smashing into him with a loud bang and forming a deep pit three zhang square!

Immediately afterwards, the armored giant he had seen not long ago also descended from the clouds and stood in front of him and the deep pit. This guy's huge body, which was three zhang tall, carried a silver spear that was five zhang tall, and his voice came from behind the blood-red mask on his face.

"Not bad! Not bad! You little dwarf! Although I don't know how you dodged my shot just now, being able to withstand my bullet and emerge unscathed is enough to prove that you deserve to be killed by me!"

The armored giant, who had returned, spoke excitedly, calling Wang Zhifan, who hadn't moved an inch in the face of his attack, a "little dwarf," which finally made Wang Zhifan raise his head to look at him.

From childhood to adulthood, whether before or after his time travel, Wang Zhifan was never called a short man. Instead, he was always referred to as a tall man because he was indeed taller than the average person.

But when faced with this armored giant in the dungeon world who was three zhang tall, which is about the height of a three-story building, he realized that he was indeed being underestimated, and he didn't know how to refute the fact that the other party called him a dwarf.

Then he looked up at the armored giant in front of him and smiled, saying:
"Heh... shorty? This is the first time I've ever heard someone insult me ​​like that... Tell me, you ill-mannered bastard, how do you want to die? I can grant you your last request."

His words weren't particularly intimidating, but his calm and composed demeanor, and his attitude of completely disregarding the armored giant in front of him, immediately put the other party on alert.

The armored giant stared at him intently for two seconds before answering:
"You little brat, I haven't seen much skill from you, but you're certainly full of bravado... Could it be that you're some kind of top-tier expert? Did I misjudge you today? Well, I'd be happy to apologize to you then."

Upon hearing this, Wang Zhifan was immediately puzzled. He showed the blank sign in his hand to the armored giant and said:
"You mean this?"

Upon seeing this, the armored giant first let out an undisguised sneer:

"Heh! Little brat, are you trying to fool me with that dead man's sign? You think I didn't see it..."

Immediately afterward, the armored giant noticed that the wooden plaque in Wang Zhifan's hand was blank. He paused for a moment, then suddenly let out a piercing laugh, laughing so hard that his back bent.

"Hahaha! This is hilarious! I thought he was a master! Turns out he's just a newbie who just entered the Shattered Heaven! He doesn't even have a ranking yet! Hahahaha... This is hilarious..."

While the armored giant bent over, slapped his thigh, and laughed maniacally, Wang Zhifan remained calm. He glanced at the blank wooden plaque in his hand, then looked at the small plaque on the armored giant's waist, noticing that it was also made of wood. He was unsure of the specific ranking, as the game did not provide a translation due to the distance.

Out of curiosity, he casually reached out and grabbed the plaque from the armored giant's waist, triggering the real-time translation of the extraordinary game at close range.

"Two hundred and thirty million nine hundred and sixty-six... Your ranking isn't high either..."

Wang Zhifan frowned as he held the other person's sign and gave his evaluation. The armored giant, who was still laughing loudly, glanced at him subconsciously and then stopped laughing.

Because the armored giant didn't notice anything at first glance, assuming Wang Zhifan was studying his blank plaque, it wasn't until the second glance that he noticed there were two wooden plaques in Wang Zhifan's hand, one of which looked very familiar. In particular, when he looked down and realized that something was missing from his waist, a chill ran down his spine and his mind instantly became clear.

"When did this guy steal my sign?! ​​He must be pretending to be weak to take advantage of me!"

In an instant, the armored giant grabbed the five-zhang-long silver spear beside him, turned, and fled, completely disregarding how humiliating it was to escape the "little dwarf" he had been calling his own. (End of Chapter)