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

Although the current rally cores are of low level and low quality, they provide very little bonus.

Even a mosquito's leg is still meat, and the clones all eagerly bound themselves to it.

Moreover, experience boosts are an effect that is difficult to obtain through equipment.

Don't let their carefree and playful demeanor fool you; deep down, they're quite cunning.

Everyone wants to be a superior being, a clone of someone else.

Ultimately, due to the limited number of people, they could only be allocated based on strength and status.

The Song hexagram binds the leader.

Huozi and Houge have been paired with two first mates.

Blood Brother is temporarily tied to the council; he will be promoted later when there are more positions available for first mates.

The Netherfire Enhancer, the Rhythm Mage, the Storm Knight, and that brilliant strategist who infiltrated the mental hospital have secured the other four council seats.

Ten elites and twenty members were given to the thirty main clones who were currently at the highest level.

The main force of the Song hexagram, or rather, the clones worth cultivating, actually number in the hundreds. These clones would never self-destruct unless absolutely necessary.

"There are still too few slots. We should acquire some upgrade materials for the Gathering Core to level up our character."

"It's too expensive. Core advancement crystals and core upgrade crystals are all in the tens of millions, and they're all out of stock. As for the core itself, it's not available for sale at all."

"Then we'll have to fight the world bosses."

"Monsters in the restricted area also drop them, but the drop rate is low, unlike wild bosses which always drop them. Besides, the monsters in the restricted area are not easy to defeat, and the restricted area itself is dangerous, so we can forget about going there now."

"No wonder the guild cares so much about world bosses; it's related to the strength of their rally core, which affects the interests of many people."

Song Gua picked up a crystal-like item from the BOSS that had fallen from the ground.

"This Walker dropped a core upgrade crystal. As long as we fill up the core's experience bar, we can still level it up."

Song Gua instructed his clones to extract all the logistical resources they had plundered from the eight major guilds during the chaos.

He took out the valuable and useful items, and threw the rest into the gathering core.

The current gathering core is only the size of a palm, spherical, and surrounded by a ring of light like a star, slowly rotating.

I've heard that the core members of world-class guilds are so large and high-level that they can no longer fit into a professional's backpack.

The experience bar for gathering cores was quickly filled up, and Song Gua used a core upgrade crystal to upgrade it to Lv2.

[Your Gathering Core has been upgraded from Lv1 to Lv2!]

[Enhanced Effect:]

[Experience gain 1% -> Experience gain 2%!]

[All attributes +1 -> All attributes +2!]

[Number of participants increased:]

[Elite 10 -> Elite 12!]

[Member 20 -> Member 25!]

[The core upgrade is complete and has entered a cooldown period. You will be able to gain experience again after 7 days.]

Seven more key players have been bound to the rally core.

"This is also a money-burning project. No wonder large guilds need investment to develop faster."

Song Gua will not consider donating his own experience points.

The low-level resources sold by weight in the market are perfect for replenishing the core of the gathering.

Alternatively, having logistics professionals use cheap, low-grade materials to manufacture and smelt low-grade resources is also a cost-effective approach.

Because materials are transformed into resources, their value increases, and consequently, investing them in the core can provide more experience.

That's what big guilds do, which is why they employ many support-oriented professionals.

However, there are many places where Song Gua needs to spend money now.

Gathering core members requires a lot of investment to see noticeable results, so it can't be his primary focus right now.

We should wait until we obtain core upgrade crystals, which are crucial training items, before considering it again.

The experience gained from the battle against the wild BOSS leveled Song Gua to level 20, but it also brought him back to a state of complete experience fatigue.

Yeah.

Tomorrow is the mock exam. It will take two days for humanities subjects and one day for martial arts subjects. I can't go outside to practice anyway.

Song Gua had already bought himself a set of level 20 equipment, and now he put it on to see the effect.

[Name: Song Gua]

Age: 19

[Level: 20 (39%)]

[Class: First Job Advancement - Bondage Master [A, Combat, Commander Sequence]]

Professional Talents:

—Simple and unadorned: (omitted)

—The Power of Unity: (omitted)

Weapon Specialization: None

[Armor Specialization: Light Armor (Strength +10%, Agility +10%)]

Strength: 215+22

[Physical Fitness: 92]

【Spirit: 91】

Agility: 217+22

[Growth: 2.0]

【Skills (6/7): Serious Punch [Normal, Lv2], Eight-Stage Fist [Excellent, Lv2], Wind Fist [Good, Lv1], Limit Break Fist [Flawless, Lv1], Offense and Defense Switch [Flawless, Lv1], Arm Raise [Excellent, Lv1]】

【Equipment: Weapon - None, Upper Armor - Snow King Light Armor [Flawless, Lv20], Lower Armor - Snow King Leg Armor [Flawless, Lv20], Feet - Snow King Boots [Flawless, Lv20], Head - Snow King Helmet [Flawless, Lv20], Ring - Yeti Ring [Excellent, Lv20], Necklace - Cold Wind Necklace [Excellent, Lv20], Bracelet - Ice Crystal Bracelet [Excellent, Lv20], Cloak - Frost Cloak [Excellent, Lv20]】

This flawless protective gear didn't come cheap; it cost Song Gua one million.

Flawless equipment is mostly obtained from Nightmare and Hell difficulty dungeons.

Not every professional player at level 20-25 can clear this level of difficulty dungeon.

Even if it's a clone of Song Gua, it won't be able to unleash the level of the Great Three Yuan or the Great Four Joys.

With only five regular main forces, it would be difficult to even clear a Hell difficulty dungeon. For safety reasons, Song Gua usually tells them not to push themselves.

Therefore, the higher the level, the higher the price of high-quality equipment.

The experience given by the Deadly Pig Butcher not only raised Song Gua from level 19 to 20, but also gave him an extra 39% of the experience needed to reach level 20.

Song Gua has upgraded some skills, but they are all of low quality.

Higher-quality skills require greater proficiency and are more expensive to upgrade.

Blood Brother looked at Song Gua with envy as he put on his new gear.

"Boss, I've been level 20 for days now, when are you going to get me a set of flawless gear?"

"How about I get you a rare set?"

"That's great!"

"Go call it yourself."

"Well……"

A single set can easily cost over a million, but Song Gua doesn't have that kind of money to build such a set.

After level 20, you'll have to farm dungeons to upgrade your main equipment.

Changing equipment every five levels is something only rich people can do.

It's perfectly normal for a professional with an ordinary background to wear equipment that's lower than their own level.

The difference in a professional's combat power lies in various details such as equipment, skills, gathering cores, spiritual dew, and growth.

Level is just a stepping stone; a high level does not necessarily mean high combat power.

"Brothers, the next three days are crucial. Are you ready?"

"Always be prepared!"

"Great! Very energetic!"

With the core of the rallying cry, these guys seem to have become even more proactive.

"Big Congming, how's it going on your end? Have you found Bing Shen yet?"