Entering the mist, Qin Hao felt his vision blur, with visibility reduced to only about a thousand meters, and a gravitational pull immediately followed, causing his body to fall.
However, Qin Hao quickly adjusted, following the direction of gravity, descending rapidly, and soon landed on Cloud Top Star.
Though perennially shrouded in mist, Cloud Top Star's vegetation was not significantly affected, with strange rocks, plants, and various mosses visible everywhere.
Qin Hao also sensed the surrounding mist, which, unlike ordinary water vapor, contained a peculiar energy.
"Even a World Lord couldn't sustain the power of a law for such a long time, let alone a World Lord who is already dead," Qin Hao mused, combining the state of the surrounding mist with the Water Law he had comprehended. However, he couldn't replicate it.
"It seems this Cloud Top World still holds some secrets," Qin Hao thought, then began searching for the entrance to Cloud Top World.
The entrance to Cloud Top World was mentioned in the mission description, but a damaged world is not entirely stable, and the world's entrance can change, though not too frequently.
"Hmm," Qin Hao thought, surprised that the competition among the assessors had already begun before even entering Cloud Top World or encountering any space pirates.
Not far from the world entrance, Qin Hao discovered a hidden team, and their target was clearly Qin Hao. They had ambushed him from a great distance, and it was on the only path Qin Hao could take to the world entrance.
Qin Hao paid no attention to them and continued forward. When he was within a hundred meters of them, they began to act. In the mist, a hundred meters was the maximum visible range for an Astral Rank, and Qin Hao's powerful genes and energy allowed him to see much further than others.
These people evidently had detectors, but the detectors could only determine approximate locations. Moreover, the detection range of detectors available to Astral Rank individuals was relatively limited. This group had already targeted Qin Hao when they discovered him acting alone.
They had continuously tracked Qin Hao's position and chosen to ambush him at the entrance to the world.
"Haha, kid, we'll take your life and your wealth!"
"That's right, blame yourself!"
"Finish him quickly, don't let him send any message!"
A five-person team attacked Qin Hao with extreme coordination, locking down all his escape routes. It was clear they had done this many times before and were highly skilled.
The five individuals consisted of two Stellar Ninth Ranks, one Stellar Eighth Rank, and two Stellar Seventh Ranks, making them an above-average presence among the assessors.
However, such power was far from enough to contend with Qin Hao. As their attacks arrived, Qin Hao's mind stirred, and the Water Domain was released, quickly gathering and mobilizing the surrounding mist.
The five individuals' vision was completely obscured by the mist, their visual range rapidly shrinking until they couldn't even see a meter around them.
"Not good, quick, escape!" The leading Stellar Ninth Rank, seeing this situation, knew they had hit a tough opponent. He shouted and quickly retreated, trying to escape.
However, Qin Hao gave them no chance. A five-colored ring appeared in his hand, quickly splitting into five parts and attacking in five directions. In an instant, the five powerful Astral Rank cultivators were directly beheaded, their bodies tumbling.
"Still too weak, I can't even test the power of the Five Elements Ring," Qin Hao said, slinging the Five Elements Ring behind his back.
The Five Elements Ring was a weapon from the Source Star King's treasury, forged by the Source Star King using the Five Elements Laws. It could be used with a single law or in conjunction with all Five Elements Laws. After obtaining this weapon, he immediately gave it to his First Clone to use.
After all, the First Clone's main focus was the Five Elements Laws, making him the most suitable for this weapon.
Having dealt with the five individuals, Qin Hao continued forward and soon arrived at the entrance to Cloud Top World. Stepping into the world entrance, Qin Hao immediately sensed danger and moved swiftly, disappearing from his original spot.
"Quick, go after him, don't let him escape!"
"Haha, he can't escape! Thinking of leaving after entering Cloud Top World?"
"How daring! An Astral Rank First Rank actually dares to come to Cloud Top World. The Universe Mercenary Alliance's intern mercenary assessment threshold is getting lower and lower."
With bursts of wild laughter, over a hundred space pirates charged towards Qin Hao.
Having been entrenched in Cloud Top World for countless years, these space pirates were very familiar with every entrance to Cloud Top World. They could not resist the Universe Mercenary Alliance using Cloud Top World as a training ground for intern mercenaries, but it also became one of their opportunities to acquire wealth.
The mutual hunting between assessors and space pirates was the main theme of every assessment. This assessment was a cleanup of the space pirates and also an assessment for the intern mercenaries.
However, the space pirates guarding the world entrance were often relatively weaker, unable to occupy resources and territory within Cloud Top World. They could only guard the world entrance and take advantage of opportunities. They chose to hide from strong individuals and relied on numbers to seize resources from weaker ones.
But clearly, this time they had miscalculated. The hundred-strong pirate gang, though numerous, consisted mostly of Planetary Level individuals, with less than two-tenths being Astral Rank, and those were all low to mid-tier.
The hundred individuals had no chance to attack. As soon as the shouting began, the Five Elements Ring on Qin Hao's back had already transformed into flying blades, rapidly harvesting the lives of these space pirates.
Although Qin Hao's clone was not a Psycher Master, the power unleashed by the Five Elements Ring through the external release and control of genetic primal energy was no less than that of any Psycher Master.
"A hundred-strong pirate gang, and their total bounty is less than 10,000 black dragon coins. They're really weak," Qin Hao muttered, looking at his accumulated bounty.
A million black dragon coins might not seem like much, but for an ordinary Astral Rank, it was already a considerable fortune.
"It seems I need to find some larger pirate gangs," Qin Hao decided, heading deeper into Cloud Top World.
Upon entering Cloud Top World, Qin Hao also felt the difference of a World Lord's world. The pervasive mist was even denser, and Qin Hao could even sense a peculiar fluctuation. It was this peculiar fluctuation that caused the unusual state of the surrounding mist.
It was precisely because he sensed this difference that Qin Hao decided to quickly complete the assessment mission and explore the unique aspects of Cloud Top World.
Quickly leaving the entrance, Qin Hao headed towards the location of a large space pirate gang within Cloud Top World. Before the assessment, Qin Hao had spent a good deal of money to understand the distribution of space pirates throughout Cloud Top World.
This current target had multiple Stellar Ninth Rank individuals and over a thousand space pirates, with a total bounty exceeding a million. If he eliminated all of them, this assessment objective would be completed.