After the twenty-eighth rule was issued, it immediately stirred up a huge uproar across the world.
Not just because of the rule itself, but also because starting from the Star Sea Access rule, ordinary Ascendants realized that their importance was rapidly declining.
Before Star Sea Access, most rules required each Ascendant to face challenges and bear consequences on their own.
But after that rule, most Ascendants gradually became supporting characters, marginalized, their fates now tied to a handful of top-tier powerhouses.
With the current new rule, all ordinary Ascendants could do was vote and spectate.
Whether they could pass the rule challenge was no longer up to them. They could only pin their hopes on the nine participants chosen by vote.
Some Ascendants liked this, feeling that if the sky fell, the strong would hold it up, so they didn't need to bear too much pressure.
But other Ascendants disliked it, feeling this meant they couldn't control their own fate and lacked sufficient agency.
However, this time the loudest voices online weren't ordinary Ascendants, but the common people.
There was only one reason: this rule had absolutely nothing to do with ordinary people. They didn't even have spectator qualifications.
"Is the Fire Thief completely dropping the act? Totally excluding ordinary people from the rules?"
"Indeed, whether we win or lose seems to have nothing to do with non-Ascendants..."
"No wonder that alien mantis-person looked down on everyone except Awakened Ones. I bet in its Yinluo Civilization, ordinary mantis-people have it even worse."
"Since it has nothing to do with us, then winning or losing doesn't matter at all."
In contrast, some rational ordinary people spoke up in rebuttal.
"No need to make it so divisive. I'm an ordinary person too, but I still hope the nine participants can win. After all, they represent our entire Tianshui Star Civilization."
"Of course winning is better! If they lose, all Ascendants' Mind Power upper limits will drop drastically, which only increases the probability of civilization's destruction!"
"A strong civilization of Ascendants benefits ordinary people. As long as they keep promoting technological progress, ordinary people can share in the benefits."
Besides the voices from ordinary people, on forums like Ascendant Home, the discussion focused more on the question of candidates.
Many people who were usually active on the forum started threads with analysis. One thread already had over ten thousand replies.
The poster's nickname was "All-Knowing Ascendant," which seemed to be a team-operated account. Sometimes it could post dozens of threads a day, with comprehensive information and a large following.
Thread title: "Everyone Come Permutate and Combine – Let's See Which Nine People Tianshui Star Civilization Should Send to Form a Dream Team That Can Win the Rule Challenge"
Thread body: "Long post warning. The OP will first give his own list.
Number one is definitely 'Shadow' Guan Tong. This should be completely uncontroversial. He's had the title of 'World's Number One Ascendant' since the first year of the Doomsday Rules, and he's still active on the world stage in this third year. Not long ago he even killed Bruce. His track record is too verifiable.
Number two, I'm giving to Shi Jingyi. Originally I didn't plan to give her a spot, but since she's now the only Awakened One certified by 'Mr. Ga,' for emotional and logical reasons she has to be ranked here.
Number three goes to Han Qiu. Although his Awakened One identity is heavily questioned, I think without some real skill he wouldn't dare be so arrogant. Moreover, if he had no ability, it would've been impossible for him to survive that bloody wedding. And based on various sources, he's suspected of controlling a very large secret organization.
With the first three done, the remaining six are much more contentious. If Ye Dang were still alive, I'd definitely rank him fourth. Unfortunately, he's gone, so forget it.
As for the super-genius male who inherited my ability (or should I say Bruce's son?), his current situation is unclear, so he's excluded.
So if the first eight are ranked, your candidates are: Sisiya's Karlovska, Bai Xuewu, Gilal, Sigaochin, Dragon Soul, Lucifer.
Among the outer group, the one everyone's most familiar with is probably only Bai Xuewu. She's been on several episodes of the Battle of the Ascendants show, so she's very famous and I don't need to introduce her.
Let me introduce the other five.
First is Sisiya's Lovska. Everyone still remembers the sixteenth Doomsday Rule, the Death Race, right? Many people thought the one who scored the most points in that rule was that traitor Peter from Suroma. Actually, that's not the case.
In the final tally of that rule, the one with the most points was Lovska. He took first place and even publicly displayed the [Gold Medal Hunter] title reward he obtained from it.
As for the identities of second and third place, they're unknown. Some speculate one of them was the homicidal maniac Lucifer, but according to reliable information, Lucifer died long ago in Sisiya, so he's excluded.
Lovska being able to score first place in a pure combat rule is enough to prove his arena combat ability, so I'll add him to the dream team.
Now let's talk about Gilal. People from Namelica should all know this name. Although not very famous globally, she's the chief Ascendant trained by Namelica's officials. Her ability is said to be very unique, and she's extremely skilled at combat.
The reason I included her in my dream team list is because I know she has a verifiable battle record. She once single-handedly wiped out a mercenary group composed of over a hundred Ascendants!
Some people may have heard of this mercenary group. It's called the "Black Flag Brotherhood," made up of Ascendants who committed crimes in various countries, committing multiple crimes across small nations.
Gilal single-handedly annihilated this mercenary group. Her strength is beyond doubt, so I put her in.
Three spots remain. Among them, Sigaochin was once the personal guard of Sisiya's current Administrator. Now she holds multiple positions and is very strong.
For Sisiya's current Administrator to successfully rise to power and secure her position, her combat power was indispensable, so I'll rank her in.
Dragon Soul is a key cultivation target of Beixing's officials, the leader of several 'captains' originally selected by Beixing's officials. Although this person is quite mysterious and rarely appears publicly, I believe his strength must also be top-tier.
The last one, Sandro. This person must be the one everyone's least familiar with, which is also why I saved him for last.
Why has no one heard of him? Because this Sandro only recently rose to prominence. He's an Ascendant from Luruiguo and the biggest beneficiary of Luruiguo's Blueprint Project.
Everyone should still remember the Blueprint Project, right? That's the series of genetic optimization experiments Luruiguo conducted. As far as I know, after the experiment's iteration matured, Luruiguo's officials began applying it to Ascendants.
Quite a few Luruiguo Ascendants quickly enhanced their strength through this method, and the one with the best results is this Sandro.
According to reliable sources, after completing genetic optimization, in less than a month he jumped from being a mediocre Ascendant in Luruiguo's officials to rising dramatically, defeating a group of key cultivated Ascendants from Luruiguo's officials in practical combat tests.
This kind of exaggerated improvement, although possibly having an element of forcing growth, as long as he can win, it's correct. So I ranked him last on my list.
This is my permutated and combined dream team, nine people in total. Actually I also have a bigger twenty-person roster, but it's too long so I won't post it for now.
What do you all think of my list? If you were to permutate and combine, who would you choose?"
This long post's comments exceeded ten thousand, with most expressing strong approval.
"Old All-Knowing's dream team is quite objective. Five or six match up with what I thought."
"Looking at the introductions, these nine are indeed viable. Just not sure if those unfamiliar ones are reliable."
"?? I just found out Lucifer actually died? I originally wanted this lunatic to go fight some aliens."
"This batch of the most famous Ascendants from the first year seem to have died off quite a bit. What's-his-name Lofs, Adam, alpha wolf... only Shadow is still standing strong."
"Sakura Prayer Country's Shangyuan Zi isn't listed either. What a pity. If you were alive now, you should've been able to get a participant spot. I think you're pretty strong."
"Seeing them talk like that, I suddenly realize being slightly weaker isn't bad either. Staying out of big matters lets you live longer than those weaklings..."
"I've already finished voting anyway. As a loyal fan of Shadow the Little God, I have to vote for him!"
"Doesn't the fan who commented later think going to compete is a bad thing? I actually think, never mind the pressure, losing might have even more terrifying consequences."
"You guys are already doing permutations and combinations? The first fifteen days of the rule are voting period. No need to rush."
"I also think there's no need to rush the vote selection. Let's see what the officials say. Didn't they say the Joint Government is being established in April? The various nations will probably come up with a plan soon."
"Not a single person from Manchidon in this OP's list? You look down on our country that much!"
"None from our Heilanja either... Actually, outsiders may not know, but Heilanja does have some top-tier Ascendants. They're just not very famous."
"Heilanja having top-tier murderers is more like it. I'm a local. Before, people kept dying in the middle of the night, making no one dare go out. The officials are pure trash, never able to catch anyone."
"I also know about the Heilanja midnight serial killings. I heard someone once caught a glimpse of the killer's shadow. It looked like a big cat."
Aside from a few uncontroversial candidates like Guan Tong, when it came to the remaining participant spots, everyone had their own opinion.
But compared to Ascendants who cast their representative votes right when the rule started, most Ascendants were still watching and waiting.
Some wanted to see what suggestions the officials would give. Even those who usually disliked the officials would wait this time.
Because in past Doomsday Rules, official interests and individual interests could sometimes conflict, which meant official interests might need to be guaranteed at the cost of sacrificing a minority's interests.
But under this rule, everyone's interests aligned. They had to jointly resist the Ascendants of other civilizations.
In this situation, based on rational consideration, the candidates recommended by various nations' officials, who held more comprehensive intelligence on Ascendants, should have a higher probability of winning.
So keeping the vote and waiting for the officials to release a "candidate roster," then picking someone you trust from that list to vote for, was more reliable.
Additionally, another portion of those waiting were playing the market, thinking the vote in their hands might still generate some economic benefit.
What if someone desperately wanted to compete and was willing to spend Ascension Coins to buy votes? At first glance, such a situation seemed unlikely, but if it happened, then those who kept their votes could make a profit. Why not?
Amid the public discussion, a "participant discussion conference" jointly attended by various nations' officials was also being held.
Meanwhile, on the other side, some Ascendants with hopes of becoming participants had very different thoughts in their hearts.
Some hoped they could compete, representing civilization in battle to seize victory, while others, for various reasons, didn't want to participate.