717 Arrival

Upon arrival at the Holy Land, one would naturally develop a sense of supreme pride. It seemed like one could actually become a powerful existence unlike on Earth, where they were almost insignificant.

Perhaps upon entering the Holy Land, one could be regarded differently from an ordinary human.

When the air-disc went to a lower height, everyone could already see many strange and bizarre-looking creatures. They were obviously from the Fifth Dimension, instead of Earth. Since humans could domesticate mutated beasts, people of the Holy Land obviously had to do better.

Whoosh!

An airship several times larger than the flying disc flew over from a distance not far away and decreased its speed. The person flying the airship clearly knew Russell and the others. "Hi, are they all freshmen from Earth? There are so many of them. Seems like you guys will make a huge profit this time. The reward for receiving and welcoming each one of them is 50 Holy Coins, right?"

"There are only a couple of freshmen. How much can the reward be after splitting them between us three? You pirates, how can we even compare to you guys?" asked Russell jokingly. Everyone noticed that the airship seemed to have secured prisoners. There were several pairs of deep black eyes — filled with hate and resentment — staring out from the lower half of the airship, which was covered with a web of runic symbols. "Flying at such a safe speed? The ship's probably almost overloaded. This trip would be enough to last you guys half a year."

"Bullshit!" The guy's expression turned bitter. "The numbers don't matter one bit. Also, the dimensional base station gave us inaccurate information. The D9-H38 area is only filled with low-rank demons. We only saw one Margaret and it slipped through our fingers. I don't even know if I can account for this trip! Damn, the missions are getting more and more difficult recently. It's really not easy to make money!"

Margaret… Anyone with a little knowledge of the Dark Culture would know that it was the demon version of a god-like existence, which could only be heard from the Dark legends on Earth. Yet, here they are being hunted? The freshmen on the air-disc felt a little speechless.

The aircraft followed the established trajectory and flew for more than two hours in the Holy Land. Throughout the journey, the buildings below gradually became smaller. They seemed to have flown to a peripheral region of the Holy City before they slowly touched down on a huge circular landing platform.

They had informed the area of their arrival, and there were already several uniformed staff waiting on the platform. Seeing the air-disc land, every one of them hurried toward them, holding a box of equipment in each hand. Everyone was a little startled after a rough observation. Every single one of them was at the Heroic Soul Stage… yet they were only the staff.

Everyone also roughly knew about the Holy City's strict hierarchy. The teachers were obviously at the top, but they were also split into different ranks. The ranks were: Teacher, Great Teacher, Sacred Teacher, The Patriarch Society, and Holy Saint Teacher. But no one had managed to become a Holy Saint Teacher after Adalia. As the position of the Holy Lord remained untaken after several years, The Patriarch Society completely took over the role, becoming the uppermost class in the Holy Land and assuming absolute dominion over the place.

Next would be Holy Disciple, followed by Holy Apprentice, which people like Carolyn and Scarlet were referred to as. In addition, there were also many working staff who came from the Federation. They were all at the Heroic Soul Stage, but their status was lower than that of the Holy Apprentices. To maintain operations in the Holy Land, a lot of helpers were needed. However, the requirements for them were much harsher.

Lastly would be the creatures from the dimensional world. They could be considered slaves as well. Whether they were intelligent or not was not taken into consideration unless they made a huge contribution and obtained the recognition of the Holy Land. Such legendary creatures indeed existed.

Zhao Kunlun asked everyone to line up on the landing platform, and the working staff distributed small boxes to them. Additionally, they gave a crystal chip to every one of the freshmen.

"Crystal chips are the identification cards of the Holy Land. Open your box, take out the Skylink device, and insert the crystal chip. Then enter your real information to complete the authentication process."

"After authentication, the information cannot be altered anymore. The crystal chip must be carried at all times. In order to prevent the invasion of alien races, the Holy City's defense system is very strict. Not only are there patrols conducting constant spot-checks, but there are also several hidden devices scanning the entire Holy City. Whoever forgets to bring their crystal chip along might be caught and assumed to be an alien. Of course, don't think you will be let off lightly after the truth comes out just because it was a small mistake. You must know that the fees of the guard force are rather high. Haha. Even if you are eventually proven to be one of us, you will still have to pay the fines, and I doubt you can afford them."

Zhao Kunlun appeared to have a conscience as he guided them through the freshman course. He knew that many of them might become his juniors; therefore, he did not hold back information regarding these things.

Everyone followed his instructions immediately. None of them faced difficulties as they were already used to the Skylink on Earth, which generally had fairly similar functions to the one here. Scarlet inserted the crystal chip into her Skylink, and the watch-like device emitted a faint light. Her whole body was scanned, and a three-dimensional virtual image was projected right after by that device. That image appeared to be a mini version of Scarlet, and it looked exactly like her. On the side, there was various other basic information — such as her name, gender, age, identification number, and identification dimensional code. There were even detailed personal credibility indexes, the number of Holy Coins they had, etc.

"Everyone's crystal chip has 100 Holy Coins, specially prepared for the freshmen as a reward for being selected to enter the Holy Land. That will be the only currency here. The amount of Holy Coins you have will symbolize your gains as well as pay for your needs." Zhao Kunlun was almost done with the freshman course.

"What happens if you run out of them?"

"Some of you here might be from noble families back on earth. As a senior, I would like to warn you that even if you die here, you will only get a better coffin, and nothing more. You guys will soon understand the importance of Holy Coins," said Russell with an indifferent tone.

"There are still a few days until the official recruitment for apprentices. Accommodations will be arranged for you. Before you officially sign up, familiarize yourself with the Holy City. You can also walk around to learn more about the different forces here to see where you fit in. If you are unclear about anything, you can ask them about it."

After his speech, he immediately turned to Scarlet with a smile and totally ignored the rest of the students. "Junior Sister, my teacher just contacted me through Skylink and invited you to visit the Sparta Clan…"

Before he could finish speaking, Helen had already cut him off while smiling. "Sorry, Senior Zhao. I have already talked to Sister Scarlet during your speech. She has agreed to visit the Mystic Sect tonight."

"Oi oi, you two," said Russell as he had just walked over after handing over control of the aircraft. Seeing that both of them had 'booked' Scarlet, he grew anxious. "How could you two be so despicable? How could you guys make decisions while I was away?"

As soon as they began to talk about the matter, they started to quarrel once again, placing Scarlet at a loss. She looked at Laura apologetically as she had previously come to an agreement with her and the others to stay together in the Holy Land. Now that the teachers of both the Sparta Clan and the Mystic Sect had already extended an invitation to her, she would have her hands full today no matter which place she chose to visit first.

In the end, Sparta Clan's airship drove up first. Helen knew that Scarlet was not in a position to reject their invitation; thus, she hooked their arms together and boarded the ship with Scarlet. It seemed that she had already made up her mind to accompany her to the Sparta Clan, then drag her to the Mystic Sect afterward. The airship drove away quickly, leaving the whole batch of freshman on the landing platform confused by what had happened.

Those staff members then came forward enthusiastically to introduce themselves and to help arrange accommodations for everyone. They were respectful and polite as they spoke and even seemed to be currying favor with the freshmen. Although they had been in the Holy Land for a long time, their status could not be compared to the freshmen.

A common feature of these Heroic Soul soldiers was that they were all at the Heroic Soul Stage. However, they were not born with natural talent; therefore, even though they all had the relative combat power, they did not have the potential for greater power. Most of them were selected by the Federation's Military Department or had voluntarily registered to come over to be a 'handyman' and to be responsible for certain necessary operations in the huge city. A lot of manpower was needed for daily chores and the supervision of the so-called alien slaves. Being the Holy Land's future teachers, Sacred Teachers, or even as an apprentice, the freshmen were considered to be a part of the heart of the Holy Land, thus everything else existed to serve their needs.

Of course, these staff members were not to be underestimated. Due to the Holy Land's unique and confidential nature, these people could almost never leave; therefore, most of them would choose to marry and have children in the Holy Land. As Heroic Soul Soldiers in the Fifth Dimension — with the addition of other external conditions such as dense hyperdimensional power and powers in the Holy Land — more talented individuals were likely to emerge from their offspring compared to the offspring of native people on Earth. In addition, some powerful people had certain needs to be satisfied, and they would often develop sexual relations with the staff. If they managed to produce offspring who were talented individuals, they would get better resources as well as privileges, and they might even be able to return to Earth.

After hundreds of years of accumulation in the Holy Land and a continuous influx of new staff, the new generation had gradually formed their own group: they were regarded as the "indigenous population" of the Holy Land. Some of them had never visited Earth their entire lives and they thought of themselves as "New Humans" or, perhaps, Dimensional Humans.

"The most famous person in our batch should be Hyde Alexander. He attained first place in the Holy Land's Casted Soul Stage test half a month ago. Not only did all his results greatly exceed those of his peers, but he also casted a very rare Dharma Idol, which shared the same power as the natural order's origin. Several Great Teachers have already spoken to him to express their interest in taking him as their disciple, but it is unknown which power he would choose to support."

"The Tyrants values this year's recruitment very much. It is said that an internal Sacred Teacher is very dissatisfied with the clan's development. This time, he announced that their clan had to snatch up all the talented freshmen. Therefore, they will offer rather good welfare for new members. He even said that he would take the time to personally guide the new members. He is a Sacred Teacher with high levels of attainment! If you were to attend a single class, you will definitely benefit for a lifetime! It has been many years since a Sacred Teacher from the three supreme forces volunteered to guide freshmen. It seems like they have put out really high stakes. It will be worth it to consider joining them."

"The Sparta Clan is also obviously not planning to lose out. Previously, they always had the upper hand in terms of recruiting the freshmen with huge potential, especially those who came from noble families back on Earth. But in recent years, more and more freshmen have been snatched up by the other clans. To boost their recruitment, some Great Teachers have already announced that they are planning to take in disciples personally."

"I haven't heard anything about the Mystic Sect, but it has always been known as a sanctuary for soul cultivation. Those who have a greater interest in developing their Soul Power should naturally know where to choose, without needing to be prompted."