Following the fierce commands from Vaelar, Aeliana, and Nyxaris, the paralyzed elves finally began to rise. The terror that had chained their hearts for months shattered under the urgency of survival.

​They quickly formed a well-established chain of command. By silent, mutual respect, the massive army accepted the three newly awakened leaders as their Three Generals.

To maximize their combat efficiency, Vaelar organized the 25,000 elves into two main combat branches.

He established the Warrior Division and the Archery Division.

​Whether they were traditional fighters, elemental users, or mutated spellcasters, everyone was sorted based on their exact combat specialty. Mages with close quarters enhancement spells joined the Warrior Division to reinforce the front lines. Meanwhile, the dark mages under Nyxaris integrated flawlessly with Aeliana’s Archery Division, acting as devastating magical artillery.

Whooosh, whooosh, whoooosh..

Boom, Boom, Boom

​In practical battle, they utilized a highly disciplined, foundational strategy. The Elven Warriors would lock their bodies and heavy weapons together, acting as an impenetrable wall of living tanks.

From safely behind this sturdy vanguard, the long-range Archers and Mages would unleash an absolute storm of arrows and destructive magic.

​This brilliant synergy proved phenomenally successful over the coming three days.

​Yes, the Direwolves Valley was a relentless nightmare when hundreds of thousands of savage beasts poured from the rocky crevices, their red eyes glowing with endless hunger.

But the elven army stood like an unbreakable mountain of iron and magic.

They battled massive direwolf packs one after another, painting the jagged valley floor with the blood of their enemies and securing flawless victories.

​Their achievements within those first 72 hours were nothing short of legendary.

​Under Vaelar’s immovable defense, the Warrior Division successfully repelled twelve consecutive horde waves without a single defensive breach. The knights fought with absolute physical dominance. Their synchronized shield bashes and heavy sword sweeps crushed the skulls of giant alpha wolves, holding the line with terrifying endurance.

Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoosh.

​From the rear, Aeliana’s Archery Division blotted out the dark sky. They achieved a staggering 90 percent hit rate.

Booom. Booom. Boooom.

Their elemental arrows rained down in precise volleys, turning the charging beasts into frozen statues and burning corpses before they could even reach the elven vanguard.

​Nyxaris and her stellar mages secured the highest overall kill count. By casting Abyssal Gravity Well and corrupted star-fire into the densest pockets of the enemy horde, they annihilated thousands of beasts in single, earth-shattering blasts.

​The continuous, brutal slaughter triggered a massive cascade of magical energy.

Glowing blue screens constantly illuminated the dark valley as the elves rapidly powered up. Their previously sealed potential was finally breaking through its limits, fed by the combat experience of the trial world.

​[ Ding! Faction Member has slain a Type 8 Iron-Hide Direwolf. ]

[ +5 Merit Points awarded. ]

[ Ding! Faction Member has reached Type -8 ]

​By the end of the third day, the chaotic, weeping slaves had completely transformed into a unified, blood-soaked legion. They had eradicated the immediate direwolf threat, officially claiming the entire eastern sector of the valley as their secure base of operations.

The ground was littered with thousands of beast carcasses, serving as a grim warning to any other predators in the area. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

​Many of the elves had already accumulated dozens of merit points, inching closer and closer to the golden number of 100.

And that was why, the heavy slave collars around their necks no longer felt like a symbol of eternal despair. They felt like a countdown to absolute freedom.

​Outside the Heavenly Gourd, the administrative officials monitoring the trial were left in utter shock.

​On the massive holographic Faction Ranking board, the name "Zenith Empire" began to violently flash. Through their flawless teamwork and sheer kill volume, the elven army was hoarding merit points at a terrifying speed.

They completely bypassed the lower tiers, rocketing from the 88th position straight into the top 30 factions in just three days.

​While seated upon his command throne, Neo watched the live feed with a proud smile. His supreme investment was already bearing glorious fruit.

He did not stay idle either. He kept working on his own physique after consuming a few of those Elven Mana-Blood Pills.

​His training space was nearly shattered because of his extreme physical pushes. His hands and legs still felt incredibly sore from the recent training.

​He also wanted to descend into the Trial World, but he needed to synthesize more pills and elixirs for the army, and he currently had no way of mass-producing them.

​Just then, the monitor in front of him displayed a sudden notification.

​[ Guest, you have reached the Top 30 ranking. You can join the Faction Chatbox now. ]

​Neo became very curious about what this Faction Chatbox from the Heavenly Gourd administration entailed.

​So, without any delay, he opened the chatbox.

​[ Kraken ]: Yo, what’s up newbie?

​Before Neo could even type a reply, other names began to flood the channel.

​[ Iron Lord ]: Zenith Empire? I have never heard of such a faction. Which core sector are you from? Did your daddy buy your way into the trial?

​[ Crimson King ]: He is not from a core sector, Iron Lord. I had my intelligence network run a quick check on the galactic registry. He is just some wealthy brat from the Sol-III outer rims playing warlord. I heard he bought a massive batch of dying elven slaves from the Aethelgard market just a few days ago.

​Neo leaned back in his command throne, letting a cold and amused smirk form on his face. He calmly tapped his fingers against the glowing virtual keyboard.

​[ Zenith ]: I bought an unstoppable army. And they are currently clearing this trial much faster than your pampered pets.

​The chatbox immediately exploded with digital laughter and pure mockery.

​[ Kraken ]: An unstoppable army? Do not make me laugh, Zenith. You have twenty-five thousand frail, broken elves. My Deep Sea Vanguard has over two hundred thousand aquatic behemoths. We currently occupy the entire Torrential River zone. Your little pointy-eared slaves will drown if they even look at my borders.

​[ Solar Saint ]: Kraken is right. You are acting too arrogant for a small fry. My Heavenly Vanguard deployed five hundred thousand golden paladins into this trial. We are already pushing toward the upper plate of the Heavenly Gourd. Zenith, you did well to reach the top thirty by farming weak direwolves in the starter valleys. But the real trial begins when the regional barriers drop.

​[ Iron Lord ]: Yep. My mechanized infantry numbers 300,000. Your primitive archers will bounce their little wooden arrows right off our titanium shields. You should just surrender your merit points now and recall your slaves before they get permanently traumatized.

​Neo watched the scrolling text, his Spirit Eyes catching the exact faction statistics displayed next to their names. They were not lying. The top factions had poured hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of elite troops into the trial. They possessed immense wealth, established military doctrines, and overwhelming numerical superiority.

​But Neo knew numbers were utterly meaningless against true quality and flawless synergy. His elves were not just standard troops. They were uniquely awakened Beyonders armed with perfect stats and supreme-grade evolutionary mutations.

​[ Crimson King ]: Listen well, Zenith. Reaching the top thirty is a cute achievement for a beginner. But my faction sits at the absolute top of the Faction Ranking for a reason. I have one million blood cultivators slaughtering beasts in the Demonic Wasteland. When the zone barriers officially fall on the tenth day, the safe period ends. Factions will be allowed to attack each other to steal merit points.

​[ Crimson King ]: I will send a single battalion to wipe out your little direwolf valley. I will take all your merit points. Consider it a necessary tax for breathing the same air as the true kings of this universe.

​[ Zenith ]: I truly look forward to it, Crimson King. My elves are getting bored of killing mindless wolves. They could use some actual exercise. Bring your absolute best.

​