Alone and Infinite

The title advancement is very difficult; to advance to the next stage, "Dragon Hunter," you need to kill four more dragons.

Sensing that his little follower had already rowed nearby, Li Xia turned off the control panel and surfaced.

Lying on the small wooden boat, after suddenly relaxing, all the pent-up tension and fatigue surged up at once.

After forcing himself to direct his assistant to find a safe place, Li Xia could no longer hold on and fell into a deep sleep.

Let's talk about it after we wake up.

The apostle on the other side had completely fallen into madness, a strange emotion a mixture of jealousy and admiration.

Many people are still reeling from the extreme shock.

Even the most daring and arrogant apostle never considered killing Bard and then Smaug to maximize the theoretical gains from the battle.

But in full view of everyone, a new apostle just like himself actually did it.

Maoqiu: "Boss is awesome!!!!"

Baron Despair: "Holy crap! You can do that? I get it!"

Knight: "I admire you, I'm ashamed of my inferiority! Brother Xia, our group offers high prices for treasure chests, and if a Destiny Chest appears, we're open to negotiation!"

Crazy Girl: "Oh, you got dealt with by the group too? I knew the Destiny Box was expensive, but I really didn't know what it contained. But handsome young man, I'll take you too~~~~you know what I mean."

The chat platform refreshed rapidly; the battle was finally over, and everyone was in a state of extreme relaxation.

They desperately wanted to release their pent-up emotions through some means.

Only one person was different. Aaron Gur stared with bloodshot eyes, jealousy and anger gnawing at him like venomous snakes.

He frantically reported it to the Temple of Light.

Thanks to the identity of the person being monitored, the Hall of Light responded: "The Hall has initiated multiple reviews, and this is a very low probability event."

After Aaron Gur looked up what a low-probability event was, he felt his heart ache with anger.

According to the Hall's reply, the kid just stumbled upon Black Arrow while randomly diving around.

On what grounds? On what grounds?

The Hall of Fame is unfair! Is Xia some kind of favored son of the Hall of Fame? He can just pick up equipment like that?

I disagree!

At one end of Lake-town, even the recent battle with Smaug seemed to have no bearing on the peace there.

A long table is set with exquisite dishes, and a half-empty bottle of red wine leans against the wine rack.

On the golden candlestick, a snow-white candle burned with tiny flames.

Claude picked up a napkin, slowly wiped his mouth, and then raised the glass of red wine on the table in front of him with a smile, saying, "Blackie, how about it? Want to join the Brotherhood of Steel?"

Opposite him, a tall black man was tearing at a still-bloody heart, his expression extremely focused, even somewhat pious.

It was as if this was not a heart, but a divine gift of communion, the incredibly resilient tendons of the heart being stretched and broken by the stark white teeth.

Crimson blood was squeezed out and sprayed out, a truly gruesome sight.

“Join you.” The chimpanzee raised his head, wiped the blood from his face, and licked it carefully from his thick lips.

With his other hand, he reached into a bag and pulled out a head as if throwing away trash.

It was none other than Ronnie, the one who had argued with Li Xia. His eyes were wide open, as if he had seen something unbelievable, and his expression showed one of utter horror.

But the chimpanzee still remembered the arrogant way he had mocked him in the hall.

Therefore, people are actually very fragile and fickle.

Why don't you try recruiting other people?

The chimpanzee pointed to the distance, his expression somewhat solemn:

"For example, that Xia I'm not confident I can defeat?"

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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

Sorry, I'm currently outside.

This chapter was just written on the high-speed train.

Chapter 52 King Xia!

Claude's smile faded slightly. He put down what he was holding and stroked his meticulously trimmed white beard.

"Xia is very mysterious, and people like that don't join guilds. For them, guilds are more like a constraint than a help!"

Claude twirled the large gemstone ring on his finger and said meaningfully:

"Lone wolves, there are very few lone wolves in the hall, extremely few. Do you know why?"

The chimpanzee shook his head noncommittally; he had a brain, but under normal circumstances, he didn't want to move.

"Because not everyone is qualified to be a lone wolf. He needs to be strong, well-rounded, resilient, and so much more."

More importantly, the loneliness of walking this long road alone is unimaginable.

He has traversed countless worlds yet remains a mere passerby; he is incredibly powerful yet utterly alone.

That kind of spiritual loneliness has crushed countless strong individuals.

Claude chuckled: "So most people can't be lone wolves; they die too quickly."

The chimpanzee was silent for a moment before nodding.

"So you wanted to recruit him, but Xia definitely wouldn't be interested, so you came to me?"

He has a brain, but under normal circumstances he doesn't want to act; it's just that this isn't a normal situation.

Claude's smile faltered, and he suddenly coughed.

That's obviously right.

The chimpanzee laughed: "I have another question, what are draft picks?"

"Draft picks?" Crowder was speechless. "You still remember that?"

He sat up straight, crossed his hands, and said calmly, "Any successful guild has an extremely well-established hierarchical structure and a process for cultivating new talent."

While it's impossible to provide high-level equipment to lower-ranking apostles, it doesn't mean it's impossible to help lower-ranking members grow quickly.

Whether it's intelligence, the breadth of the equipment pool, or even resources, the guild can provide you with a lot.

A constant influx of new blood is extremely important for every guild, which is why the Hall of Fame has granted us special privileges.

The winner is determined through a contest, and that winner has the right to choose first in that batch.

Furthermore, one can rely on the resources provided by the temple to view the evaluation of each apostle's previous trial and the potential star rating marked by the temple.

It's like a talent show.

Cloud said proudly, "The Brotherhood of Steel is the victor of this guild war and has the right to choose first!"

The chimpanzee was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "You're not a Tier 1!"

"Oh? You figured it out?" Claude shook his head, clearly not intending to hide it: "Yes, I won't tell you the specifics, but the restrictions are extremely high."

For example, my strength is locked, and I cannot attack anyone. The mission is forcibly downgraded to the lowest rating, and I cannot use items higher than green grade.

Simply put, my only task is to observe—to observe you all, and to observe those rookies with high potential ratings.

What is my potential assessment?

"Well, that's a very complex assessment, but to put it simply... A-"

"A- That sounds good. Summer?"

Claude fell silent, and the gorilla actually saw extremely complex emotions on the face of this seemingly calm old man.

Awe, disbelief, worry, jealousy, resentment. Acceptance.

"LVMAX is also known as the 'model-level'!"

"I'm joining you."

As the first rays of sunlight pierced the darkness, flocks of birds startled by Smaug flew back to Lonely Hill.

The crows spread the news of the tyrannical ruler's death far and wide, and everyone was drawn to the endless wealth of Lonely Mountain.

Just as they were sharpening their knives and gathering their troops, ready to grab a share of the spoils, Li Xia opened his eyes.

Six henchmen dutifully guarded him. Number 1 and Number 2 greeted Li Xia with a "hehehe" sound.

First, I stood in the stance for a while, until my whole body felt warm and all my fatigue was gone.

Li Xia then prepared to return to Changhu Town.

On the way back, I took a quick look at the chat platform and my eyes were soon drawn to the messages from the knight and the madwoman.

There is no private chat function in the trial world, so they can only repeat it every now and then, hoping that Li Xia will see it.

The Treasure Chest of Destiny seems to be very important? So important that even two prospective members who have almost no chance of accessing it were told of its importance?

Li Xia pondered for a moment, and finally decided to send her reply in the chat channel:

Xia [Dragon Slayer, Leader of the Human Faction]: "What is the Treasure Chest of Destiny?"

Only after posting it did I realize that two suffixes had appeared after my name: the Dragon Slayer was blood-red, while the Human Faction Leader was glowing with a faint golden light.

It's just... strangely good-looking.

As expected, the moment these two particularly eye-catching signs were put up, they immediately caused a huge uproar on the communication platform.

What do you mean? We're still struggling to work for other factions, and you've already become the faction leader??

Li Xia frowned as she looked at the flood of notifications for a while, some praising, some sour, and some sarcastic, so she simply muted the comments.

Only the Knight and the Madwoman's statements remained.

Crazy Girl (Nightingale Sisterhood prospective member): Oh, I don't know, but the guild instructed us that if we come across a Treasure Chest of Destiny, we should try our best to contact the seller and buy it. There will be a commission, you know.

Knight (Prospective Member of the Sword of Judgment): Brother Xia, I don't know the specifics either, and it's not convenient to talk about it here. If you're interested, how about we go back to the hall and discuss it further?

It seems that these two people, like myself, also have limited knowledge. But how did they know that they might get a Treasure Chest of Destiny?

Xia [Dragon Slayer, Human Leader]: "We'll see."

After saying that, he closed the chat platform; Changhu Town was already in sight.

This once bustling town has been reduced to ruins.

The wooden plank foundation that laid under the entire town collapsed by more than half.

So the entire town of Changhu collapsed and slid down.

Corpses floated everywhere on the water's surface, and desperate cries and wails drifted intermittently to the ears on the wind.

Some people used long bamboo poles to poke around in the water, trying to find survivors.

But judging from the expressions on their faces, the harvest was likely zero.

The fire ignited by Smaug has been mostly extinguished, leaving only the burnt remains still emitting black smoke.

The small wooden boat gradually sailed into Changhu Town, and some people were stunned when they saw him.

More and more people put down what they were doing and looked at Li Xia standing at the bow of the boat.

Gradually, whispers like bees began to rise in the crowd, which then turned into a buzzing sound.

People looked at him with a strange light in their eyes.

Everyone knows him; ever since he joined the Changhu Town Guard, he has been working tirelessly for the town.

He captured vicious criminals, wiped out murderous river bandits, and eradicated man-eating beasts.

It was he who, under everyone's watchful eyes, charged towards the dragon and ended the beast's life.

Reputation is never a cold, impersonal reward from the system; rather, it's the heartfelt gratitude that the residents of Changhu Town feel after each completed task.

Someone in the crowd shouted the first word, followed by deafening shouts.

"The Dragon Slayer! King Xia!"

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