Chapter 762: Victors |
The moment the martial artists who were at the Virtual Tribulation Realm entered the red circle, they quickly charged towards its center.
This red circle was only a few hundred feet in diameter, and a martial artist who was at the Virtual Tribulation Realm would be able to cross it in just one step. From the beginning, it was clear that every martial artist who entered tried their best to occupy the advantageous center spot in order to prevent others from pushing them out.
“Get away! This is my place!” A warrior who was as robust as a gorilla roared to the others.
This warrior was the first one who was able to get to the center point of the red circle. He stood there firmly while the warriors beside him glared at him ferociously, hatred and jealousy evident in their eyes. Despite that, the warrior stood sturdily in his place, his chin up. He was at the peak-level of the late stage of the Virtual Tribulation Realm -- his temples were bulging, giving off a heavy aura, as if what he had practiced was an extremely aggressive cultivation technique. Because of that, no one dared to fight him for the central position.
Just when the thirty of them had chosen their positions, a master at the Soul Sea Realm came into view and announced, “Now the first round... begin!”
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…
As soon as the Soul Sea Realm master gave the pronouncement, the life vitality of every warriors suddenly exploded all at the same time!
Upon seeing this scene, Zen furrowed his eyebrows, and a strange look came over his face. He was confused and worried.
The reason for that was because the power of the life vitality that erupted from those warriors was restricted inside the red circle!
'If a martial artist at the Virtual Tribulation Realm were to use his or her strength in its entirety, what kind of place would be able to withstand such destructive force?' he thought, amazed by the whole thing.
If the thirty warriors at the Virtual Tribulation Realm fought each other with all their might, the Jade Martial House would surely be destroyed, let alone this plaza.
But upon closer inspection, Zen found that the floor had been embedded with all kinds of patterns. Together with the red circle, they worked to prevent the warriors and their immense power from damaging the place.
As Zen pondered over the magic that was holding the place together, the martial artists within the red circle had already begun to fight fiercely.
The rule of this competition was very simple: step out of the red circle, then one was out. The last few ones who would be standing inside the fight area would be declared the winners.
“Haha! That arrogant warrior in the middle would get ganged up on by the other warriors!” Zen said as he started cackling.
Although he said it in a very hushed voice, several martial artists at the Virtual Tribulation Realm heard him. Slowly they turned their gazes at him, disdain on their faces.
What Zen didn't know was that the sturdy warrior had the same exact background as him. He was also a famous independent warrior who had cultivated both his body and his life vitality. Moreover, the cultivation methods he had practiced were very powerful.
In the eyes of many warriors, this warrior would undoubtedly be the one who would get a Harlen Token.
Because of that, when they heard Zen's comments about him, they immediately felt that Zen was too ill-informed and considered him as an ignorant prick.
A few moments after Zen made his comment, action started happening inside the red circle.
Inside it, as if on cue, nearly half of the thirty warriors went straight for the guy at the center. All of them looked like they were ready to kill him.
No matter how powerful this burly martial artist was, how would he be able to take on a dozen Virtual Tribulation Realm martial artists all by himself?
The red circle was so small that the distance between warriors was only about half a step. The guy would not have anywhere to hide, and he would just have to face the attacks head on!
The warrior's face changed drastically at the moment he noticed that everyone was coming for him. He let out an explosive shout as he revolved his forceful energy and forcefully countered the attacks from more than half of the contestants in this round.
“Ha!”
“Bam!”
The difference in power between the two sides was evident, and it was enormous.
After a brief moment of chaos, the warrior who had been at the center of the circle was pushed out of the fighting area.
“Puff! Puff! Puff!...”
Breathing heavily, he spat out a mouthful of blood on the ground and glared at the people who had launched attacks on him.
Less than a few seconds into the round, the most promising warrior had already been knocked out. It undoubtedly surprised many spectators who were expecting him to win the whole thing.
The three powerful warriors of the Soul Sea Realm looked at each other, a faint smile gracing their lips. The three of them seemed to have expected this to happen as well.
The warriors who had mocked Zen and his comment earlier glanced back at him with a shame in their eyes. Their unwavering confidence a while back was replaced with shame and doubts. 'This fellow seemed to really have insightful observations, ' they all thought.
Amongst all the warriors present, the only ones who had predicted this to happen were the three mighty warriors of the Soul Sea Realm, and Zen.
Aside from being strong, another thing that would help a warrior win this whole thing was wisdom. It might go unsaid, but it was the most important rule of the fight.
From all the people that were inside the red circle, only three people would remain at the very end. None of them were willing to be pushed out, and many of them shared the same tactic -- eliminate the strongest one first!
Every martial artist had already evaluated each of their opponents the moment they saw them. 'You look weaker than me? Alright, since you don't pose much of a threat to me, I won't bother to wipe you out myself. You will either be knocked out by others, or when there are only a few people left in the circle, I will deal with you then! In any case, you are weaker than me, and it is only a matter of time before I defeat you. Why should I bother to waste my energy and time on you?' That was a typical thought of many of the contestants in the red circle.
Thus, everyone's goal from the very start wasn't to squeeze out the weakest, but the strongest!
With such logic, who would be the first to be wiped out?
Of course, it would be the fellow who looked the strongest! And it was exactly that arrogant guy who dared to occupy the most advantageous position inside the red circle!
The moment he decided to take that center position, he already doomed himself to lose. The attack on him was instantaneous, and it was all his fault.
It was out of instinct of survival that these martial artists chose to join hands against him.
This test's main goal was not to pick the strongest among the fighting warriors. It aimed to see who was the best at making decisions, and maximizing his or her strength according to that. Being strong was a plus, but only if you played the game right, otherwise you would be under attack on all sides right from the start.
Upon watching what was happening, Zen was able to realize why Jade Martial House organized such a test.
A martial artist's overall strength didn't only include one's cultivation level and power. His or her real strength also had something to do with luck and wisdom. In many occasions, even if someone was the strongest warrior in the field, that person would be easily killed by the tricks played by the enemies. Unfortunately, the guy who was kicked out first had only strength, but no brain.
Of course, it was not appropriate to say that he was completely brainless. After all, there weren't many martial artists who would be able to see the logic behind the fight's rules. If that were the case, wouldn't everyone be brainless?
So in the end, the lesson that everyone should learn was -- arrogance, having too much of it, would only end up as a disadvantage to someone. One must keep a low profile if one wished to accomplish high profile jobs.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
After the first guy was out, the fighters left inside the red circle began to fight each other. The battle was chaotic.
The mighty warrior at the Soul Sea Realm who had announced the rules had clarified that killing was forbidden in the red circle, so everyone restrained themselves as they attacked their fellow warriors. Fortunately, no casualties were caused, thanks to the fact that no one had used a weapon in the fight and everyone's main goal was to force each other out of the red circle, not to kill.
Despite those clear rules, in a fight among martial artists, it was virtually impossible to avoid sustaining injuries. Some martial artists were knocked unconscious under the combined attacks of several people, and then they were kicked out of the red circle like rice sacks.
This scuffle lasted for about five minutes. A huge lump of the warriors had been thrown out at the beginning of the competition-- some were directly thrown out, some were knocked out unconscious, and some timid ones had no choice but to leave the red circle due to the intensity of the fight.
When only ten fighters remained inside the red circle, they started being more careful. Slowly, they moved around carefully planning out their attacks. They were looking for opportunities to push the others out of the red circle, and also to prevent themselves from being thrown out.
The speed at which a Virtual Tribulation Realm martial artist moved was extremely fast. The ten figures were zooming back and forth, and their figures started to look more like shadows. However, from time to time, someone would be thrown out of the red circle.
When there were only six martial artists left, the rate at which people were thrown out of the red circle slowed down. At this time, everyone was even more cautious! Among the six martial artists, three of them would be able to stay and win the round. So every one of them had half a chance of passing the test!
A few of them were fighting, but some were not and were just looking for the most advantageous moment to attack.
However, if these Virtual Tribulation Realm martial artists did not fight, the Jade Martial House would have a way to make them fight! Suddenly, the red circle began to shrink!
First, it trembled slightly and started to close up towards the center. The way it was narrowing was slow, so the warriors inside had the time to plan their next move.
Despite the time that was being given to them, they couldn't help but panic. The fighting area was getting smaller and smaller, and they would have to make a move in the next moments!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The first martial artist who had lost his patience was the first to be thrown out of the red circle.
Following that, two other warriors were also instantly driven out.....
The battle had come to an end, and the remaining three martial artists became the victors of the first round.