Under the curious gaze of the dimensional audience, every person approached by Caroline eventually handed over a portion of their Heavenly Martial Coins, even if they were extremely reluctant.
Although these Heavenly Martial Coins were negligible compared to the '1000 Heavenly Martial Coin' newcomer benefit.
However, leaving aside the fact that this 'tax' is long-term, such a 'newcomer benefit' will inevitably not always be available.
At the same time, some people considered a very crucial issue.
That is, 'it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality.'
Once they have experienced the feeling of holding a huge sum of money, can they still tolerate days of 'low savings'?
However, these issues were too far in the future for them right now, and many people believed that as long as they remained restrained, they could surely resist the 'temptation.'
[Heavenly Martial Arts Kirin Tower Celestial-Tier Area Entrance]
"Tendo, how many of those people do you think will be left after a month?"
After collecting the 'debts' from all the 'borrowers,' Caroline organized the information in her hands while calmly inquiring as she looked toward the crowd.
In response, Tendo smiled and said, "Quite a few should remain. After all, there are quite a few smart people among them."
With those words, Tendo waved his hand and said, "Let's go. We'll pick a good dorm first, and then come out to look around."
Caroline nodded and followed Tendo into the Celestial-Tier Area, which occupied the largest area and was also the most luxurious part of the entire Heavenly Martial Base.
[Heavenly Martial Arts Kirin Tower Yellow-Tier Area]
On the other side, the episode's camera followed the protagonist, Chen Kong, to the Yellow-Tier training area.
Chen Kong stood at the Yellow-Tier area entrance, his expression quite surprised.
He had expected the Yellow-Tier area to be a simple training ground.
But he hadn't anticipated that the vibrancy here was akin to a bustling small city, completely unlike a 'training area.'
In the distance, neat white dormitory buildings were located at the end of the area.
Closer by, street shops hung colorful signs.
Among these shops, some sold Stellar Energy elixirs, others rented out training equipment and Stellar Energy items.
Still others displayed the words 'Stellar Beast Barbecue,' with tempting food aromas drifting from the stores.
Besides this, the people living here also piqued Chen Kong's curiosity.
The pedestrians on the street mostly had unique features.
Among them, some had cat ears on their heads, while others dragged fox tails behind them, clearly being 'variant humans.'
They wore unified gray uniforms, and on their wrists, they wore simple gray wristwatches similar to Chen Kong's, indicating they were the permanent residents of the Yellow-Tier area.
"Newcomer?"
Just as Chen Kong was curiously surveying everything around him, a crisp voice suddenly came from the side.
Chen Kong turned his head and saw a girl in a gray short skirt.
She had fluffy light brown wolf ears, her wolf tail gently swayed behind her, and her eyes, bright as amber, curiously assessed him.
"Yes, I'm a newly admitted student."
Chen Kong nodded.
The variant girl's eyes brightened. Just as she was about to speak, a group of variant humans suddenly surrounded him, rudely shoving the girl aside.
"Sir! Choose me as your guide! I've lived in the Yellow-Tier area for three years, and I have all the tower-climbing strategies memorized!"
A man with a goatee pushed to the front, holding a yellowed notebook in his hand.
"Sir, don't believe him! He fell down the tower when climbing last year!"
A rabbit-eared girl stood on tiptoes, holding up a price list.
"I only charge 7 Heavenly Martial Coins, and I can even help you haggle for elixirs!"
Amidst the chaotic crowd, Chen Kong was temporarily confused about the situation.
Similar situations were also happening to other students.
It was as if this batch of students were considered rare 'distinguished guests' in the eyes of these variant humans.
Just as Chen Kong was contemplating whether to just choose one of these people as a guide, his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of the 'variant girl' who had been pushed aside.
She was looking down, her wolf ears drooping, seeming a little wronged.
Overcome by kindness, Chen Kong eventually politely dismissed the surrounding crowd.
"Apologies, I've already chosen a guide."
With those words, Chen Kong parted the crowd and walked over to the wolf-eared girl.
"Hello, may I ask you to familiarize me with this place?"
The wolf-eared girl abruptly looked up, her amber eyes lighting up, and she nodded vigorously.
"Y-yes, you can! But it costs 5 Heavenly Martial Coins."
Her voice became smaller and smaller, as if she feared Chen Kong would find it too expensive.
"No problem."
Chen Kong said with a smile.
The wolf-eared girl was stunned for a moment, then excitedly raised her right hand.
Quickly, a faint light flashed across her gray wristwatch.
Simultaneously, Chen Kong's student wristwatch immediately popped up a transaction request.
[Transaction Partner: Yellow-Tier Resident Lena]
[Transaction Content: 1 day of Yellow-Tier Area Guide Service (includes area introduction, basic tower-climbing Q&A, and all questions within her authorization)]
[Transaction Price: 5 Heavenly Martial Coins]
[Do you agree?]
Chen Kong decisively clicked 'Agree.'
The balance of Heavenly Martial Coins on his wristwatch instantly changed from 1007 to 1002.
Looking at the deposited Heavenly Martial Coins, the wolf-eared girl's wolf tail swayed even more joyfully.
She looked up, immediately ready to introduce the situation here to Chen Kong.
However, a sudden long whistle from afar interrupted her words.
It turned out that a Starry Sky Train had arrived at the station.
In an instant, the normally bustling street was mostly emptied, and everyone rushed toward the platform, their faces full of anticipation.
At the same time, the electronic screen above the central platform lit up with a piece of information.
[Starry Sky Train Outer Tower Explorers Return].
"What are they doing?"
Chen Kong looked at the people walking off the train and asked curiously.
These people wore black exploration suits, and each of them had a cold expression and a competent demeanor, clearly the result of repeatedly facing life-and-death crises.
Lena answered with a look of envy.
"Sir, they are 'Explorers' returning from exploring the 'Tower'."
"The Tower? Isn't it a building?"
Chen Kong was momentarily surprised, as he had always thought the Kirin Tower was an ordinary tall tower.
Lena shook her head, pulling Chen Kong to the map next to the platform and pointing at the holographic model above it.
The Heavenly Martial Arts Kirin Tower in the holographic model was not a 'tower' at all; it was clearly a series of special regions separated by vast distances.
The function of the Heavenly Martial Arts Kirin Tower was a transit point, responsible for transporting them to the corresponding locations.
Seeing this, Chen Kong finally understood.
The lower tower floors were low-risk areas, and the higher tower floors were high-risk areas.
The topmost tower floors corresponded to 'Fallen Zones' and 'Forbidden Lands.'
The higher the floor, the more precious the resources that could be found in the corresponding area, but also the more dangerous it was.
The condition for 'reaching the summit' was to return alive from exploring a 'Fallen Zone.'
Lena nodded.
Upon receiving this answer, Chen Kong realized.
He had initially thought the words Starry Sky Ladder Ranked Match' were one continuous phrase.
He hadn't expected 'Starry Sky' to refer to the train, and 'Ladder' to refer to the difficulty gradient of the different areas.
Only the three words 'Ranked Match' referred to the competition among the students.
However, after understanding all this, Chen Kong suddenly had a question.
"Since climbing the tower is exploring high-risk areas, shouldn't some people never return after each climb?"
After hearing these words, Lena was silent for a moment before giving her answer.
"Yes, Sir, and for 'newcomers,' the 'mortality rate' and 'dropout rate' in the first year are often the highest."
Chen Kong was silent for a long time, finally understanding the profound expression the otter administrator had when looking at everyone earlier.
He also understood why the administrator said that 'elimination' basically doesn't look at 'ranking' but at the 'tower climbing floor'.
After all, not everyone can guarantee that they will return alive after entering a 'high-risk area exploration.'
Thinking of this, Chen Kong looked again at the people walking out of the Starry Sky Train station.
If he hadn't guessed wrong, these people... must be the 'students' from the previous term.
The so-called seniors.
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