Super guilds in the virtual gaming world were exceedingly rare.
Among them, King's Return was one of the super guilds, and their annual recruitment tournament was always a major event in the virtual gaming world.
With the opening of Divine Realm, such a grand occasion had become even more heated.
However, the number of players wanting to participate in the evaluation was far too many to be accommodated at the guild's base. King's Return had come up with a solution: using the God and Demon Arena to hold preliminary rounds.
The Imperial Capital's God and Demon Arena was nothing like the one in White River City. It floated above the Holy Light City in a state between real and illusory, as though it existed in a different world entirely.
"The requirements for these prelimaries are ridiculously high — you have to clear the sixth floor of the Trial Tower! The best I ever managed was the fifth floor. I don't even know if I can pass the fifth this time."
"You're telling me! The bar is way too high. In my city, the strongest players have only reached the sixth floor, and that's just the entry threshold. They're not even giving us a chance!"
Players who arrived at the God and Demon Arena and saw the requirements set by King's Return grumbled one after another.
The Trial Tower inside the God and Demon Arena didn't care about a player's level or equipment — it only judged skill. But the real kicker was the tower itself: participating required a Magic Crystal.
Magic Crystal was a scarce commodity throughout all of Divine Realm. Ordinary players found it incredibly difficult to obtain even a single one, and even top-tier players didn't have many. People usually used them sparingly, yet now they had to spend one just for this test. If they didn't end up joining King's Return in the end, the loss would be enormous.
Just as everyone was buzzing with discussion, all eyes suddenly shifted to a young man walking into the hall. Every single person stared at him, their gazes filled with respect and envy.
This man was none other than Jailer Demon — the host of King's Return's recruitment tournament and also the guild's Arbiter. He was one of the very top experts in King's Return and a goal that every aspiring player dreamed of reaching.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Jailer Demon went over the rules for all the participating contestants, then walked into a VIP booth on the second floor, silently observing the preliminary rounds below.
"Jailer Demon, quite a few powerful players showed up this year. You're the host of this tournament, so you should take the opportunity to recruit several promising newcomers. They might become capable subordinates under your command down the line." From the second floor, Qi Lian scanned the crowd and noticed that quite a few of the participants were high-level. Some had even reached level 38, which was extremely difficult for independent players.
Super guilds had numerous factions within them, and every year's recruitment drew intense attention from the higher-ups. Securing the role of host was especially difficult — it had taken all kinds of negotiations and trades before Jailer Demon finally obtained the position.
As the host, he could recruit promising contestants during the tournament and even pick out the most promising newcomers first after the selection concluded. After a period of special training, these newcomers would quickly become top experts or even officers in King's Return, which would be enormously beneficial for Jailer Demon's future standing. He had to choose carefully.
"Don't worry. I've already investigated the strong players participating in these prelimaries. I won't let anyone else get even half of a promising newcomer." Jailer Demon smiled, exuding confidence. "If those old fogeys find out how many high-potential recruits there are this time, they'll definitely regret making this deal."
Before King's Return's selection officially began, he had already sent his subordinates out to gather the list of top participants.
So he knew exactly who was showing up for the preliminary rounds.
Eight people in particular had caught his attention.
All eight, whether in age or current strength, were ranked as S-rank on the evaluation list.
In previous years' selections, having three or five S-rank evaluations would have been impressive. This time there were a full eight. Just thinking about it filled Jailer Demon with indescribable satisfaction. To become the host, they had paid a steep price — they had even given up their slot on the stone tablets.