Inside Tian Gang City, the streets were roaring with noise and excitement.
Because it sat so close to the Abyss Sea where the World BOSS respawned, its popularity among the Thirty-Six Main Cities never waned.
As far as the eye could see, every Survivor's Combat Power topped three million.
Any one of these people, placed in Tianjian City, would rival an officer of the Three Major Forces.
Yet in Tian Gang City they were merely the bottom rung of Survivors.
Only those whose Combat Power broke ten million could be called strong here.
In other words, more than ninety percent of the King-Level Dungeon World's true experts lived year-round around Tian Gang City.
The black-mist zone outside Tian Gang City also had the highest head-count.
It was known as the Spirit Beast Mountain Range.
The Mist Monsters here were a special breed called Devouring Beasts; their innate talent was to swallow energy and empower themselves.
Thus the monsters even fought one another, and their strength far outstripped the Mist Monsters of other main-city zones.
So when Lin Bei had earlier released clones to sweep rankings in every major city, his gains in Tian Gang City were the smallest.
Competition was simply too fierce; Survivors swarmed here like locusts to farm monsters.
In the end, the spirit devouring crystals he obtained barely passed a thousand pieces.
Compared with other cities, the haul was pitiful.
Still, his grip on the number-one spot was ironclad.
His score left the runner-up in the dust.
The feat had once caused a sensation throughout Tian Gang City.
Many were intrigued by the sudden rise of the name "Beiming".
After much digging, scraps of intel finally surfaced.
When people learned that "Beiming" had single-handedly seized first place on both the honor ranking and speed leaderboard of every main city, their minds were rocked by a tsunami of disbelief.
"Holy crap—for real? Since I entered the King-Level Dungeon World I've never heard of any Survivor grabbing both top spots across all thirty-six cities!"
"Exactly! I'm stunned! And the latest word is, the other cities' powers are scrambling to claw back first place—but apparently they're all failing!"
"Damn, this Beiming guy… is he that fierce?"
"Duh! This is the titan who snatched both firsts in our own Spirit Beast Mountain Range—and broke the records while at it!"
"Hmph, breaking records is no big deal; our big shots only care about the World BOSS, they can't be bothered with Spirit Beast Mountain Range clear-times."
"Fair point—but check his clear evaluation!"
"Clear eval? Lemme see—"
"WTF?! He cleared it in… half an hour?! Impossible!"
"And his honor points hit a million! If I remember right, the old record was barely over ten thousand!"
"This Beiming… is a straight-up monster!"
He must be cheating, right?
Each Devouring Beast in Spirit Beast Mountain Range rivals a BOSS in other main cities!"
"This is insane—how is that even possible?"
"Looks like Tian Gang City's about to gain another unfathomably OP titan."
The crowd buzzed about the hot topic "Beiming".
Lin Bei walked past them, his expression unchanged.
To avoid hassle, he had temporarily hidden his name.
Otherwise, with his fame, the moment he showed his face the place would be mobbed.
He had come to challenge the World BOSS, not to play celebrity.
Besides, he still considered himself low-key by nature.
His current fame was simply because his strength wouldn't let him stay hidden.
"Right, I upgraded my island to Level 8—my cap should be 80 now?"
"Been so busy I forgot to level and add stats!"
Lin Bei slapped his forehead, remembering he hadn't allocated any points.
"Good thing I remembered; without Super Luck boosting it, the stat gains would've been way lower!"
He drew a deep breath, opened his Attribute Panel while still on the move.
Sure enough, his level ceiling had risen to 80.
And the experience he'd saved was enough to max out.
Without hesitation, he began to level up.
[Notice: You advanced to Lv.61! Combat Power +1,000!]
[Notice: You triggered 10,000× Critical Hit! Combat Power +10,000,000!]
[Notice: You advanced to Lv.62! Combat Power +1,000!]
[Notice: You triggered 10,000× Critical Hit! Combat Power +10,000,000!]
…[Notice: You advanced to Lv.71! Combat Power +10,000!]
[Notice: You triggered 10,000× Critical Hit! Combat Power +100,000,000!]
…[Notice: You advanced to Lv.80! Combat Power +10,000!]
[Notice: You triggered 10,000× Critical Hit! Combat Power +100,000,000!]
Every single level-up triggered the max 10,000× Critical Hit without fail.
In total his Combat Power soared by 1.1 billion.
Though trivial beside his already monstrous total, it was still 1.1 billion.
Among all Survivors, a leap of over a billion was the stuff of dreams.
All thanks to the Critical Hit System backing him.
Without it, twenty levels would've added a mere 110,000.
To Lin Bei, pocket change.
And that was with his hidden class "War God"; common classes would gain even less going 60→80.
Hence most Survivors relied on gear and items to grow.
Or, like those in the Order Dynasty, found a patron for resources.
Otherwise leveling alone would never let them rise.
"For class advancement I need to hit 100—still 20 short, but after clearing every city's Mist Monsters my experience should be enough."
"Only issue… my island level isn't high enough."
"Forget it; I'll wait till the next Super Luck window to level."
"Right now the priority is the World BOSS!"
Lin Bei mused to himself.
He exited Tian Gang City and gazed at the boundless sea ahead.
There lay the Abyss Sea.