Chapter 1034: Citizen Qualification Trial Tournament
"No need, I appreciate the offer."
Facing Kuna's invitation, before Meng Shuang could speak, Ling Zhan had already gently shaken his head and declined.
The reason for the refusal was simple.
Unless absolutely necessary, he would never owe anyone a favor.
Favors are often difficult to repay.
And...
Too troublesome and prone to unexpected consequences.
Ling Zhan didn't know what kind of place Helen Town really was, and he had no idea whether this girl's father would reach out to Will from Kost City.
After all, although Helen Town was an independently governed area, it was close to Kost City and reportedly had many trade connections with it.
In such a situation, he couldn't guarantee that this girl's father wouldn't sell him out.
Maybe he was being overly cautious.
But being careful never hurts.
Yun Man, Chang Yue, and Meng Shuang had no objections.
In their eyes, as long as they were with their master, it didn't matter if they had to sleep rough or go hungry.
But in Toad San's eyes, this human seemed utterly foolish.
Did he not realize that Kuna's father was the mayor of Helen Town, and Helen Town was independently governed, even Kost City had no jurisdiction here?
That meant the mayor of Helen Town had extremely high authority—if he approved, this human could easily obtain an identity pass.
An identity pass...
Something the local merchants and Professionals dreamed of.
With one, they could enter a safe zone.
And officially become legal citizens of the Upper Realm.
They could freely travel between all major safe zone cities.
What did those major cities have?
Endless dungeon resources, and legal citizens were entitled to a number of free dungeon runs each month.
More importantly...
Life in a safe zone wasn't as precarious as it was outside.
So to Toad San, this human rejecting such a golden opportunity was just insane.
If it had been him, he would have agreed immediately.
Even Kuna herself felt confused that this handsome young man who made her heart flutter actually refused her goodwill.
"Why?" she asked curiously.
From what she knew, every Professional without an identity pass desperately wanted to become a legal citizen.
They were even willing to spend their life savings.
But spending money alone wasn't enough.
Many Professionals dreamed of getting that pass.
"My master's decision needs no explanation. He just wants to do things his way."
"But if you really want to help us, you could tell us how to earn an identity pass on our own."
Yun Man said calmly.
Kuna blinked and hesitated before saying, "You want to earn it yourself? That'll be tough."
"Hah!"
"Tough is an understatement!"
"There are only so many identity passes handed out in the Upper Realm each year, but countless Professionals want to become legal citizens."
"Do you think you can stand out among all those elites?"
"Let me remind you: some of the competitors for those passes are over level 700."
"You're just a little chick who barely arrived in the Upper Realm, and you want to compete with them? Keep dreaming."
Toad San couldn't help but sneer from the side.
His tone was mocking.
But he wasn't wrong.
In the Upper Realm, to get an identity pass, you had to participate in the annual Legal Citizen Qualification Trial Tournament.
If the Celestial Cup Tournament was a grand contest between top academies,
Then the Citizen Qualification Trial Tournament was a hellish battlefield for bottom-tier powerhouses.
The Celestial Cup drew huge attention.
But the Citizen Trial also had no shortage of heat.
Don't be fooled by its unimpressive name—the intensity of the battles far exceeded that of the Celestial Cup.
Of course...
It's not that the Trial Tournament was more prestigious.
But purely in terms of intensity...
The Celestial Cup had elite students from top academies, many of whom were friends. Even if they met in battle, it was often friendly sparring.
Or they'd hold back out of fear of their opponent's background.
Only long-standing enemies would truly go all out.
But the Citizen Qualification Trial...
Was truly a no-holds-barred bloodbath, filled with all sorts of wildcards.
And...
To win, they didn't just play dirty on the field—they did it off the field too.
The officials wouldn't interfere.
Why?
Because the participants didn't have identity passes—they weren't legal citizens. Technically, they were vagrants.
Vagrants ranked just above slaves, maybe even below pets.
If a pet died, its owner could report it and someone would investigate—after all, pets were legally owned property.
But a vagrant dying? That was that.
Legal? Not at all...
Vagrants were illegal by nature. So even if they were killed, no one cared.
That's why the Citizen Trial Tournament was so brutal and terrifying.
On-field dirty tricks. Off-field sabotage.
It attracted every kind of monstrous freak out there.
It was practically a blood-soaked underground arena.
Full of violence, bloodshed, scheming, and deception.
So strictly speaking, if you could come out on top in the Citizen Trial, your strength was absolutely top-tier.
At the very least, it wouldn't be any less impressive than winning the Celestial Cup.
But that only made it even more dangerous.
Reportedly, each universe domain only issued 10 identity passes a year.
Except the First Universe Domain, which didn't issue any.
So the total for all three domains combined was only 30 passes.
That meant every vagrant in the Upper Realm was fighting for those 30 spots.
Brutal was an understatement.
As for level restrictions...
There were none.
In other words, whether you were a level 10 rookie or a level 700 boss, you could participate.
What's that?
You say that makes the tournament unfair?
Well, too bad. Only the capable get the pass.
If you're not strong, get out of the way.
It's all about taking it with your own strength.
That's why Toad San mocked Ling Zhan for overestimating himself.
A level-200 Ascender dreaming of joining this year's Citizen Trial Tournament? That was a death wish!
Forget winning—he might not even survive the prelims.