"A dungeon with sixteen participants?"

Looking at the information on the panel in front of him, Chu Xiu couldn't help but furrow his brows.

During his recent rest to recover physical strength, he had gathered and summarized a large amount of information about ascension trials online.

Single and four-person dungeons were the most common, and he had never heard of a large dungeon with up to sixteen participants.

Chu Xiu thoughtfully touched his chin: "Generally speaking, the more people there are, the higher the difficulty of the trial. Whether we can work together and unite everyone's Power becomes a key point."

But four people are manageable, sixteen...

The difficulty of organizing cooperation increases exponentially with the number of people, and often, having more people not only doesn't help but can be a hindrance.

However, there are benefits as well. Ascension trials offer rewards, and the larger and more challenging the trial, the better the rewards.

"Forget it, thinking about this is useless, let's enter the dungeon first."

Chu Xiu didn't think much of it and went straight to bed for a good sleep.

On this last day, he didn't enter any dungeons but instead prepared to adjust his state to the best before entering the trial.

A day later.

[The ascension trial is about to begin, please commence deep diving.]

With the notification sound, Chu Xiu donned his mask and black robe, and then entered the Awakening Space.

At this moment, he discovered that his Soul had an additional guide leading to the depths of the Abyss. Following this guide, he proceeded with deep diving, and that eerie sense of spanning space emerged again, with the surrounding space seeming to rapidly contract.

[Deep diving ended, current depth: 1134]

With the notification sound, Chu Xiu suddenly felt a gravitational force pulling his body. With a soft "thud," he landed on the ground.

Chu Xiu found himself on a crumbling dirt road, surrounded by mountains like beasts ready to devour in the night. Looking towards the end of the path, he could vaguely see a glow of fire, suggesting a village not far ahead.

Surrounding him were other Awakened ones, all nervously and curiously glancing around.

Most of them seemed to be over twenty-five years old, except for a petite girl wearing black-framed glasses and an oversized Mage Robe, who seemed to be the same age as Chu Xiu.

Meanwhile, the task panel rose before him.

[Trial Name: The Gaze of Az Ilituay Mgos]

[Trial Task: Disrupt the Sacrifice Ritual, Prevent the Descent of the Evil God.]

[Trial Description: In an isolated village, the Power of an Evil God is spreading, and you must work together to prevent Its descent.]

[Trial Time Limit: Three hours]

[Trial Foundation Reward: 200 Cause and Effect Points + Random Special Artifact]

[Current Ritual Progress: 0%]

"A task related to an Evil God?" Chu Xiu pondered while looking at the words before him.

"Everyone, you should be here for the ascension trial, right?"

At this moment, a voice spoke up; the speaker was a middle-aged man who seemed more composed than the others.

As he spoke, his gaze couldn't help but fall on Chu Xiu.

Everyone else also focused on Chu Xiu, as he was the only one present wearing a mask and black robe, appearing quite distinctive.

"I am a Trial Taker."

A distorted voice came from under the mask, echoing in the dark mountain path with a hint of an eerie atmosphere.

The middle-aged man gave him a peculiar look but then turned his attention elsewhere, saying, "Is everyone's trial task to disrupt the ritual?"

After receiving affirmative responses, he said, "Does anyone have any ideas or heard anything about this Evil God?"

No one answered.

The middle-aged man was somewhat disappointed but quickly regained his composure, saying, "This ascension trial is very unusual, I've never heard of such a large trial."

"I don't know if anyone has participated in large-group dungeons before, but I myself am a leader of a Gold Farming team, and from my experience, the more people in a dungeon, the more we need to work together to have a chance at clearing it."

"So, we absolutely cannot have internal conflicts. Since no one has any leads right now, why don't we take some time for self-introductions and then discuss a mutually agreed-upon action plan?"

This person seemed to have indeed participated in quite a few dungeons and gave off a reliable vibe. No sooner had he finished speaking than several of the younger Trial Takers nodded in agreement.

However, just as he was about to continue speaking, the petite girl who was about the same age as Chu Xiu flatly rejected: "No, there's not enough time."

The middle-aged man was slightly taken aback by the rebuttal but didn't get angry, instead saying, "Spending ten minutes shouldn't matter, right?"

The girl didn't answer and instead looked around at everyone, asking, "Has anyone here participated in a 'simulation trial'?"

The others exchanged puzzled glances, all shaking their heads, with most having never heard of the term. The few who had heard of it only smiled wryly, saying, "That's something for the young masters and misses; we don't have that privilege."

"It's not that exaggerated; in many academies in the Inner City, it's quite common," the girl adjusted her glasses. "In short, it's a method that uses Special Technology to simulate past Trial Takers' experiences, allowing Trial Takers to familiarize themselves with the trial process in advance."

"I've conducted five simulations of rituals involving high-level Life, and each time I've written analysis reports of no fewer than four thousand words. The biggest takeaway is to make the most of your time; rituals are easiest to disrupt in their initial stages! If you wait until near the task deadline, then it's almost certainly a team wipe!"

The girl's words made everyone look at each other with surprised expressions.

An expert!

This time, we're set.

The middle-aged man quickly turned: "Then we should probably follow this young lady's lead, right?"

The others chimed in agreement, with almost no dissenting opinions.

Seemingly surprised by how smoothly things were going, the girl was a bit flustered but quickly regained her composure and continued, "Generally, aside from purely slaughter-type dungeons, there will be some hints about the [Rules] of the dungeon, and the more important the [Rules], the more obvious the hints."

"For example, I once simulated a trial where the monsters had very strong hearing but very poor vision, and at the start of the trial, there was a wall with the large words 'do not speak' written in blood; this was the core [Rule] of that dungeon."

"And in ritual sacrifice-type dungeons, the [Rules] are especially important. Whether performing the ritual or breaking the ritual, there will always be a core [Rule]. For example, for an Evil God fond of [Slaughter], the ritual would often involve [Slaughter], and the more you kill, the more likely the task is to fail."

"Different rules have different clearance methods. My suggestion is that we proceed to the village immediately, while keeping an eye out for any clue hints, and not act rashly until we find the core rule."

The girl's words made everyone nod; this was knowledge that very few people knew, making the girl's image rise considerably in their eyes.

However, just as everyone was about to follow the girl's advice and head to the village to gather information, Chu Xiu suddenly spoke up:

"Everyone, have you noticed something?"

"It seems we have seventeen people here."

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