Chapter 9

Just at this moment, the carriage that had been moving forward finally came to a stop. Jicheng got off the carriage and found himself standing in front of a vast academy. He turned to look at the carriage and only then noticed that the driver was a humanoid mechanical puppet.

"It seems you are the student coming to our Aitech Knight Academy. Come on, you're the last one." A heavily armored, muscular man walked out from the academy gate. He looked at Jicheng, seemingly a bit disappointed, but didn't say much. He reached out to pull Jicheng in. At this moment, Jicheng heard the electronic voice of the system: "Please note, do you confirm joining the Aitech Knight Academy? If you do not join, you will become a free person. If you join, you must abide by the rules of the Aitech Knight Academy, or you will be expelled!" Hearing the system prompt, Jicheng silently chose to confirm his joining and allowed the towering man to pull him into the academy.

Since he had decided to participate in this infinite game, he needed to understand its background environment as much as possible. Only then could he maximize his chances of obtaining divine coins. No matter how much an individual could gather information, it couldn't compare to the power of a group. Joining the Aitech Knight Academy was undoubtedly the best choice.

The muscular man led Jicheng to a large playground with a towering statue of a deity. There were about a hundred people scattered around the playground. Jicheng looked closely and realized that they were all players like him! "You wait here for a while. Once everyone is here, we'll give a unified briefing." The muscular man said and left him there.

"Hey, brother, did you also come in through the game?" Just as Jicheng was at a loss, a chubby, honest-looking man in his twenties walked over and asked with a smile, "What, you too?" "Not exactly. I was watching a romantic action movie when the game pulled me in. I was really scared at the time." "I bet you were scared stiff." A young man with glasses couldn't help but laugh, "I never would have guessed you had such a hobby, with your honest face." "Get lost, what's so surprising? Everyone has done it." The chubby man didn't pay much attention to the young man's ridicule. He squinted his eyes and said, "I just didn't expect this to be a real infinite world. When I saw that deity, I was really scared. I didn't even know how I got here."

Hearing the chubby man's words, several people around him also felt the same. The divine power was indescribable, and even now, the memory was still overwhelming. "I wonder what the name of that deity is." Someone couldn't help but sigh. "What, do you want to worship him? It might just be fake." Someone asked curiously. "Haha," several cold laughs came from around. Jicheng also couldn't help but shake his head. How could there be such a foolish person? The world they were in was the greatest proof of the deity's existence! Anyone with a functioning brain would know this was a real world!

"If I'm not mistaken, that deity should be one of the three supreme gods, the God of Fate." A middle school student with a very delicate appearance interjected, "I asked some people here about the creation myth of this world and found that only the description of the God of Fate matches the image of the deity we saw. The God of Creation should have the appearance of a young boy, and the God of Destruction should be an old man. Moreover, the supreme artifact of the God of Fate, the Scroll of Fate, should be the scroll we saw, which envelops countless worlds." As he spoke, the middle school student's eyes clearly showed a look of longing. "You're still a middle school student, haven't you grown out of your middle school phase yet?" The young man with glasses laughed again, "Such an artifact, can you even imagine? If this were in a primordial world, that scroll would at least be a supreme treasure! What I'm saying is, our biggest task now is to earn divine coins. The strange items on the Oddity List can be brought back to the real world! That's the capital for our survival and success!"

The young man with glasses' words hit a nerve with everyone. Just thinking about it, if any item from the Oddity List were brought to the real world, what kind of results would it produce! The elixirs of Penglai, the Earth Spirit Pill, the Blood of the Red Emperor—these divine medicines that greatly enhance cultivation and longevity need not be mentioned. Even the Level 6 strange item, the "Initial Version of the Cold Fusion Ark Reactor," if it really appeared in the real world, would truly start the sixth energy revolution! In short, as long as they could buy the "Initial Version of the Cold Fusion Ark Reactor," the dream of getting a promotion, a raise, becoming a general manager, a CEO, marrying a rich and beautiful woman, and reaching the pinnacle of life would really come true!

As everyone was lost in their fantasies, imagining themselves with countless divine coins, buying whatever they liked, even things they didn't like, and things they both liked and didn't like, such a life would be absolutely amazing. "Do we have any divine coins now?" A voice broke the illusion. "Who is this, saying such obvious truths? Can't you see the water hasn't boiled yet? What are you talking about?" Many people were inwardly furious.

Jicheng casually glanced at the crowd and noticed that while many people looked embarrassed, a few still looked somewhat relaxed, including the chubby man and the young man with glasses. Seeing similar expressions, Jicheng knew these few must have gained something from the activation codes. "I wonder what strange items they got. I hope they didn't get any world-defying items, or that would be too frustrating." Jicheng thought to himself. If the others knew what Jicheng was thinking, they would be furious. He had a Level 4 strange item that could completely transform a person and cure all diseases, yet he was afraid of others having world-defying items. He himself was the most world-defying. According to Zhao Qi's plan, the highest level strange item players could get from activation codes was Level 4, and the least was a few divine coins, with most people only getting a single-digit number of divine coins as a consolation. Of course, Jicheng didn't know this, so he continued to think.

"Alright, everyone, pay attention." The muscular man reappeared among the crowd and clapped his hands to gather everyone's attention. Seeing many people with indifferent expressions, the man's gaze sharpened, and he let out a loud shout. Instantly, it felt like a thunderclap exploded in everyone's ears! They were so scared that their legs trembled, their faces turned pale, and many fell to the ground. The man didn't pay much attention to them and said, "I won't ask about your backgrounds, I'm sure you all know. But the Aitech Knight Academy isn't that easy to join. You all must pass a test. If you can't, you should go back." His words caused a stir among the crowd, but it quickly subsided. The man looked around, nodded in satisfaction, and said, "Very good, it seems you all have no objections. Let's begin."

The man walked to the towering statue and prayed reverently, "Great God of Fire and Civilization, Kasus! We will renew the world with fire and guide civilization with fire!" As he prayed, flame-like divine symbols appeared on the statue, and a dazzling divine power flashed, forcing everyone to close their eyes. When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves standing on a plain, with a large group of soldiers approaching in the distance!

At this moment, Jicheng's system went crazy with prompts: "Please note, you have been scanned by the divine power of the God of Fire and Civilization, Kasus." "Please note, you have been teleported to a mirror instance by the divine power of the God of Fire and Civilization, Kasus." "Please note, you have been scanned by the divine power of the God of Fire and Civilization, Kasus. In this mirror instance, you temporarily possess the Level 2 martial skill 'Black Iron Body' and the Level 1 skill 'Heavy Strike'!" "Please note, in this mirror instance, if you die, you will be automatically teleported out, and all skill memories will be erased. Please seize this opportunity!"

"Alright, I believe you all have received the divine gifts from the God of Fire and Civilization. Your test is to survive the attack from this group of soldiers." The man paused, "The God of Fire and Civilization has been watching this world. If you perform perfectly, you might receive divine favor or gifts, even divine coins. The God of Fire and Civilization will not be stingy. I won't say more. Your time is limited. May you all have good luck." With that, the man disappeared, leaving the hundred or so people to look at each other in confusion.

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