The Professional Rankings, in twelve volumes, each bearing the name of my lord.

"Song Junhou, Song Huowang, Song Wangling, Song Shenpao, Song Modao... How come they are all..."

"They all share the surname Song."

"Yes, why? Do you suspect...?"

"A reclusive family is beginning to emerge."

Yue Sheng gave a bitter smile.

"No, we're not in ancient times anymore. The area outside the city is shrouded in mist. How could someone hide away and remain unknown, yet possess such immense power that their family members could rank high on various regional rankings?"

Zhang Beihai sighed.

"I don't know either. I just feel that these people with the surname Song must be connected, and Song Gua must be one of them. Otherwise, how could he have so many resources appear out of thin air to help him become the Rookie of the Year?"

"These are all just guesses... I still think it's unlikely that one would want to live in seclusion away from modern society."

What was Zhang Beihai thinking?

"Do you know what the rules are for our names to appear in the game system after 'Cleric' merges with reality? You know, after we change jobs, there isn't a step called 'enter your name'."

"I didn't really notice that. Isn't it just that whatever we're called is what's shown on the panel and leaderboards?"

"What if I change my name?"

"this……"

"The Federation has already studied these kinds of details. Regarding the name, the name 'Cleric' is actually the name your parents gave you."

"What about people who don't have parents?"

"A question mark will appear until the second job advancement, at which point you will have one more opportunity to enter your name."

Yue Sheng understood.

"Obviously, it's impossible for a group of orphans without any background to all be on the Earthly Ranking. It can only be a family with the surname 'Song' that is unknown to the public."

"That's the conclusion, but it's indeed quite unbelievable. So many powerful families that can produce so many rankings have remained unknown to the public. Their sudden surge in power suggests there might be some hidden secret behind it..."

"Should we try to contact the Song family through the Song divination?"

"We'll see. What I just told you is just my personal speculation. The Federation hasn't paid attention to this issue yet. But if these guys surnamed Song continue to rise in the rankings, or even all of them squeeze into the overall rankings, the Federation will have no choice but to take notice."

"Um……"

After leaving Zhang Beihai's place, Yue Sheng returned to his home.

He locked himself in his bedroom, without turning on the lights, and lay on the bed with a furrowed brow.

He was pondering a problem he couldn't understand.

"That shouldn't be the case. Song Gua is clearly Brother Tucker's child, so he couldn't possibly be from some reclusive Song family. But according to the teacher's reasoning, Song Gua's source of resources makes more sense... Should we go and ask this child directly...?"

Yue Sheng covered his face with his large hand and shook his head.

"Forget it, someone's already investigating me, so I'd better not drag him into it."

……

Less than two hundred kilometers east of Shangjing, you will reach the Bohai Sea.

Fly southeast from this sea, and you will cross the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, reaching the island where the Ninja Illusion is located.

Huozi was tied to the back of the hot air balloon to serve as its propulsion.

Brother Wu is at the helm inside the hot air balloon.

Another group of mage clones took turns guarding the hot air balloon's basket, providing it with flames.

The reason for letting Fog Bro take the helm is naturally because Fog Bro can control the surrounding fog.

His ability can now influence fog within a radius of several kilometers. Although the control precision decreases with distance, he can always make the fog disperse.

He can also control the fog to form a giant hand, providing thrust from behind, working with Fire Brother to make the hot air balloon fly even faster.

Huo Zi Ge's ability to transform his body into flames is a professional talent, and after the second job advancement, it has been enhanced to the point that it consumes no energy at all, and even the consumption of physical strength is negligible.

So he didn't get off the bus the whole way.

"When will we arrive?!"

Brother Wu's body turned into mist again, changing shape and shape.

"It's still early. Didn't that old thief tell us to lay eggs along the way?"

Song Gua did not allow them to fly in a straight line.

Instead, it flies close to the coastline.

Whenever it passes a coastal city, it sends down a clone to act as a teleportation anchor point for that city.

Each additional city means one more map to challenge dungeons, encounter wild bosses, and search for creatures in restricted areas.

Moreover, this can also be seen from the process of going to the ninja illusion.

If there are clones nearby, you can just swap positions; there's no need for all this trouble.

Therefore, Song Gua will never let go of an opportunity to expand its territory.

Brother Wu has a tablet in his hand with a map on it, and he uses the map to determine the direction.

"Oh? This is Shuanglian City, a second-tier city. Let one of our brothers go down."

Song Gua switched positions, released a clone, and kicked it down.

"Ah!! You old scoundrel! I wasn't ready yet! My goodness!!"

"Thump!!"

The clone fell into the sea and started dog-paddling towards the shore, swearing all the while.

In this wave, Song Gua unlocked seven cities, including Jinghai City, which is closest to the Ninja Illusion.

The fact that the clones have reached this point means that bandits could arrive at any time.

However, if the goal is to compete for resources, so many maps are not needed for the time being.

The Jiangnan urban cluster comprises seven cities; it would be enough to take over this large, lucrative area.

The number of clones is also limited, and with Glory City having to send people there every day, it's impossible to simultaneously launch campaigns in the east and west.

Finally, the hot air balloon reached the deserted island.

Huozi's hard times are over, and he has lost a lot of weight.

Song Gua arrived after exchanging positions, carrying Qin Zheng's Illusionary Divine Stele, and stepped into the pillar of light.

three days later.

The beam of light began to disappear.

A group of professionals appeared bewildered on this deserted island.

They were all professionals below level 50 who had come by boat from Jinghai City to experience this illusion.

"What's wrong? Why did I suddenly come out?"

"Where's the illusion? Where did the illusion go?"

"The illusion closed early? How can we get out?"

Most people still don't understand things like Transcendent Beings, Illusions, and Source Power.

However, there were many people at the scene from prominent families in Jinghai City, who knew some of the secrets.

They immediately realized that someone had cleared the illusion.

A long-haired man flew up and shouted to the people present.

"I wonder which expert caused the illusion to disappear. Why don't you come out and have a chat? I am Dongfang Shuo, the young master of the Dongfang family in Jinghai. I would like to befriend you."

It's not just the Eastern aristocratic family.

Many scions of prominent families who knew the inside story also began to speak out.

They even offered invitations on the spot, promising resources, status, and even a younger sister.

Unfortunately, no one responded to them.

The Song hexagram had already switched positions and returned to its original location.

This time, the number of clones increased by 500 in one go!

Song Gua discovered that the clone's sudden increase in power seemed to have nothing to do with the level of the illusion, but was purely related to the number of times the illusion was cleared, with each subsequent clear having 100 more people than the previous one.

The number of clones gained per day has increased from +4 to +5!

What does it mean to gain five clones in one day? It means you can gain ten clones in two days!

Over the course of a month, that's about 150 people!

That's 1,825 people in a year!

After clearing the illusion realm twice in a row, Song Gua's number of clones has reached 2,300!

When there are many people, it is easy for small groups to form within them, and the clones are no exception.

The art style of the bandit headquarters often looks like this nowadays...