Chapter 447 - -

Chapter 447: Chapter 444 - "Is There a Problem with Your Wisdom?"Ding-dong!"

After entering the enclosed room, Su Ming’an heard the system prompt.

He immediately opened the Silver Star ranking, but at the moment, the leaderboard was blank, not a single person was listed.

This meant that the minor instance must have lasted for quite a while; the first batch of players to participate in the minor instance might not have finished yet, therefore, up to now, no player had obtained a Silver Star.

Xiber, standing beside him, said in a low voice, "Hey, your wisdom’s not an issue, right?"

"..." Su Ming’an gave her a glance.

The system voice continued:

"Wow, it’s a networking game." Boris scratched his head, looking somewhat vexed, "What to do, what to do... my network isn’t all that great..."

"Recruit Noel and Lv Shu." Su Ming’an spoke up immediately.

The next moment, the system responded to him.

"..." Su Ming’an hadn’t expected that both of them were actually working overtime to clear instances at night.

After pondering for a moment, he gave the name "Luna."

The next moment, the long-haired woman, holding a silver sword and clad in yellow rose armor, looking gallant, appeared on his left side. Next to her was a white-haired woman, elegant as the Moon Goddess, her face adorned with a gentle and slow smile.

"It’s ’Moonlight Watcher’ Lucia, ranked 32nd..." Xiber recognized the white-haired beauty at a glance. For her, those Guides who were ranked higher were completely out of her league.

Lucia glanced at Xiber faintly, raising her eyebrows slightly.

"Pleasure to cooperate." Luna looked at Su Ming’an and smiled.

In the Seventh World, she had only symbolically proposed cooperation to the Number One Player; she didn’t expect he would still remember her, recruiting her as a temporary ally in such a crucial moment.

"Luna." Lucia whispered in her ear at this moment, "Your adventurer companion, his Guide girl... carries an ominous aura."

Luna: "Hmm?"

Lucia: "It’s the scent of Jiu Shen. That disgusting smell is particularly strong on her. My perception ranks among the top among the Guides, I can clearly smell the scent of Jiu Shen in her soul. She... may be a heretic."

Luna: "I think it won’t matter, Lucia, you are not the type that particularly minds faith distinctions, right?"

Looking towards Xiber, Lucia said, "Young girl, the scent from Jiu Shen on you is heavy. If you don’t want to cause trouble for your adventurer, stay away from those Guides with keen senses. They are not as tolerant of heretics like you as I am. You will attract fatal danger."

Her voice was gentle, like a friendly reminder.

Xiber lowered her head.

"...I know," she squeezed the words out from her throat.

"Number One Player, we’re still one teammate short." Luna turned to Su Ming’an, "I don’t know anyone in particular among the top hundred players, why don’t you recruit another teammate? I think anyone will agree as long as they receive your remote invitation."

By just calling a player’s name, one could initiate recruitment, allowing any other player to become their teammate, as long as the other player agreed.

"Shall we recruit someone you’ve had some dealings with from Yamada Town? Or should we recruit some well-known for their wisdom to deal with this instance? Like Lu, Isabella, or Atlanda..." Luna said.

Su Ming’an pondered for a moment.

If this instance valued knowledge and wisdom, then among these hundred people, the best fit would actually be...

"Recruit Su Rin," he murmured.

"Whoosh—"

The figure wrapped in a black robe stood before him.

The moment he appeared, both Xiber and Lucia instinctively stepped back, their eyes full of shock and wariness.

Their gaze was not on Su Rin himself.

But on the young man with white hair standing behind Su Rin, dressed in a black and red cross-collared shaman’s attire, with black boots on his feet.

The young man held a pitch-black samurai sword, his eyes deep and dark, his facial contours sharp and cold, as he slightly tilted his head and cast a dismissive glance at the fearful Lucia.

He carried an air of distinctive aloofness, as if he were the waxing moon amidst the night sky.

"Elder Lucia of the Eighth Tribe," the white-haired young man said, "It’s you."

"Lord Fengchang!" Lucia’s icy demeanor immediately vanished; she bowed her head low, curtsying like a humble maid before the young man.

The white-haired young man calmly accepted her reverence. He turned his head, glanced at Xiber, his eyes showed a slight change, and then swiftly averted his gaze.

"Let’s not waste any more time, adventurer," the white-haired young man said to Su Rin, "This sacrifice field is quite small, resolve it quickly."

His voice was cold, but it seemed not to be intentionally so, rather it was an innate sense of superiority.

"Who is this?" Su Ming’an turned to ask Xiber directly. He had grown accustomed to relying on Xiber to recognize people; she seemed to have memorized the appearance and identity of all Guides.

"..." Xiber’s head, which had been lowered from the start, did not rise.

When he looked at her, Su Ming’an noticed that she was trembling all over.

He had never seen Xiber this emotionally stirred; she was like a rabbit facing its natural predator, wishing she could shrink into the ground, her complexion had turned deathly pale, and her hands clutched tightly at his robe.

"This is ’Annihilator’ ranked number two, Lord Fengchang," Su Rin explained indifferently beside them, "He is also the most Affinity with the aura left by Bai Shen in all of Qiongdi, revered as the ’Son of Bai Shen’, as well as the heir to the Clan Leader of the First Tribe."

Su Ming’an was somewhat surprised.

...So this white-haired young man’s status was equivalent to the heir to the "throne" of Qiongdi, the sole heir at that. Once he became the Clan Leader of the First Tribe, he would gain complete dominion over all thirty-six tribes of Qiongdi.

The previous Clan Leader of the First Tribe seems to have perished, leaving a power vacuum, making Fengchang essentially the de facto leader in all but name. It is likely that after this hundred-player war, he would rightfully ascend to leadership. Even a powerful Guide like Lucia would merely be one of his subjects.

Logically, someone of Fengchang’s status should be seen by everyone as the one who ought to survive until the very end. ’Son of Bai Shen’ is no simple title... Typically, no matter how devout, the highest-ranking individual would not claim kinship with the deity worshipped by their tribe.

Unless his status is indeed high, exceedingly high, evidently having a perfect Affinity with the relics left by Bai Shen, such that he would be bestowed with such a lofty title.

He had grasped the power that synchronized divine and royal authority, and in the eyes of these believers, his position should only be second to that of Bai Shen.

Looking at Lucia’s recently servile posture, similar to that of a maid, Su Ming’an had no doubt that if the battle progressed to the later stages, other Guides might either actively or passively pave the way for Fengchang, even at the cost of their lives, to let Fengchang achieve the final victory.

This was almost a candidate who had been predetermined.

Matching up to this kind of identity ceiling, Su Rin really did come across a great advantage.

Wait a minute.

...If even someone with a status ceiling like Fengchang was only ranked as the second Guide,

then who exactly was the Number One Guide?

The system prompt interrupted his thoughts.

Across the barrier, Boris had already recruited two Players, a man named Ge Peier, dressed as a Doctor, and Eve, a spirit-language girl from Yu Country. Judging from their interaction, they were strangers before, just people Boris called on temporarily, probably among the smarter Players in terms of Intelligence.

"Ding-dong!"

The system prompt continued:

"It’s really a question round," Luna said, looking at Fengchang with a wary eye and quietly keeping her distance.

She did not know who this black-robed teammate was, as Su Ming’an had kept his voice low when recruiting Su Rin, evidently not wanting her to hear, and she would not ask.

But this Fengchang... He was clearly going to be a terrifyingly strong opponent.

"Cultural questions? These rules..." Boris said, smiling as he listened.

He suddenly felt that his odds of winning were not low.

He was born into an educated family in Luo Country, with a house full of books, and his enlightened parents always encouraged him to read widely. He also had a strong interest in folk stories and myths and had read enough books to fill an entire large underground room.

If it was a contest of knowledge storage, he was confident he wouldn’t lose to a Dragon Country student with only a high school education.

And the two Players he had recruited were also well-read, with tens of thousands of books under their belts, and had a thorough acquaintance with areas such as astronomy, geography, mythology, folklore, and history.

If they could answer all the questions here correctly without giving the other side a chance to strike, and then take out Su Ming’an...

Boris and the two people beside him all breathed a little heavier.

"Hey, have you read many cultural books?" Xiber whispered to Su Ming’an.

After moving even farther away from Fengchang, her emotions seemed to have stabilized a bit; it seemed that Fengchang was some kind of natural disaster to her.

"Books I’ve read... Do textbooks count?" asked Su Ming’an. "Also, math, English, geography..."

"What are those books?" A question mark appeared over Xiber’s head.

"In fact, I’ve also dabbled in some detective and philosophy books," said Su Ming’an.

"...Philosophy? What’s the use, can you eat it?" Xiber asked.

"That’s hard to say. In a certain sense, it could be considered a kind of spiritual sustenance for a particular person..."

Before Su Ming’an could finish, the game had started.

Su Ming’an glanced at Su Rin beside him.

Su Rin’s actual age surpassed that of anyone present, and his experience was also incredibly profound; there should be very few questions that could stump him.

It was up to Su Rin now.

The system voice had just started when a shrill "beep" came from the other side!

The one who had pressed the buzzer was Eve from Yu Country.

Boris furrowed his brow; Eve was too impulsive.

For them, even one wrong answer was almost catastrophic; no one dared to give Su Ming’an that guy, a chance to strike.

Eve stared at the red light rotating inside the room, waiting for its question.

She came from an upper-class family in Yu Country, loved reading books from various cultural fields, and had the ability to never forget what she had seen. Since childhood, she had been regarded as a prodigy, and once a self-proclaimed history Doctor came to her to discuss topics, but she dashed him devastatingly with her vast and extensive references.

For her, this was a rare opportunity—she knew how many eyes were converged on the person standing opposite her.

If she could shine here...

"Ding-dong!"

The system posed the question.

"..." Eve was stunned.

At this moment, she looked like a clown.

She blinked, feeling the air passing through her throat was cold and harsh.

"Wait..." she opened her mouth, her tongue somewhat disobedient.

—You call this a ’cultural’ question?

What kind of cultural question is this???

"Beep."

The ten seconds of response time granted by the buzzer had passed; the person standing opposite her calmly pressed the buzzer.

"’Spring warmth’," said Su Ming’an.

Such details were likely known only by those particularly attentive to the storyline, but the top-ranking Players who valued every second wouldn’t bother learning such trivial matters.

This kind of question could only be answered by someone who had communicated closely with Hui Shuhang.

...Actually, even he hadn’t expected to be asked this sort of question.

He had thought that it would be ’cultural’ knowledge about astronomy or geography. Although what they asked now should also be considered a kind of ’culture’...

The system sent out the prompt.

He decisively raised his hand.

"Wait—" Boris paled in shock.

"Boom—"!