The entrance to the Ice Fortress was bustling with noise, as deep-sea creatures, sea beasts, and merchants of various races flocked in. Gu Xi stood on the high platform, his sharp gaze sweeping over the throng of people below.

"Welcome everyone to the Ice Fortress of the Future!" Her voice, imbued with mental power, instantly drowned out all the noise.

The deep-sea creatures fell silent, all eyes focused on the powerful woman.

A burly deep-sea creature with fish fins shouted, "What are the rules of this competition?"

Gu Xi's lips curled up slightly, and a glint of light flashed in his eyes.

"The rules are simple. First, the use of mental power is prohibited. Second, points are accumulated based on ranking in each round. Third, participation is open to all races."

As soon as he finished speaking, the audience erupted in chaos.

"What? Without using mental energy? How are we supposed to fight then?"

"No race restrictions? Does that mean even low-level sea beasts can participate?"

Angered shouts rose and fell. Gu Xi didn't urge them, but instead had Ai Si, who was standing nearby, add a piece of ice to everyone's head.

"I see everyone is hot, so let me cool you down," she said with a smile. "Are you feeling cooler now? Do you want to continue listening to me?"

The deep-sea creatures fell silent instantly.

Gu Xi continued, "As for the reward..."

She deliberately dragged out her tone, causing the audience to hold their breath.

"Every participant receives 1 gold coin. First place receives an Abyss Tier weapon plus 500 gold coins. Second place receives 300 gold coins, and third place receives 200 gold coins."

A gasp and cheers erupted from the audience, completely masking their earlier anger.

"But!" Gu Xi suddenly raised his voice, "The last 10 will have to lend their sea beasts to the top-ranked deep-sea tribes for a year. If the top-ranked deep-sea tribes are unwilling, I, as the middleman, will take over and manage them for a year before returning them to the beasts."

As soon as Gu Xi finished speaking, the deep-sea creatures below the stage erupted in excitement. Some jumped up and down with excitement, while others frowned and fell into deep thought.

A deep-sea creature with a shark's head grinned, "Haha, this competition is interesting! I'm going to participate and show those stupid deep-sea creatures what I'm capable of!"

A deep-sea creature with an octopus head hesitated, "Competing with sea monsters? Wouldn't that lower our status?"

"Are you scared?" the shark-headed man sneered. "Even sea beasts don't dare to compare themselves to you?"

The octopus-headed man was immediately enraged: "Who said I'm scared? I'm going to sign up right now!"

A young businessman squeezed through the crowd.

His eyes gleamed with excitement: "I want to sign up too!"

He wasn't there for the reward; he simply wanted to see the gap between himself and the Deep Sea Clan, since the experiences of the past two days had been too much of a blow to him.

He thought about it all night and realized he couldn't go on like this, so he made up his mind to play games with the deep-sea creatures and sea monsters.

Games are always better than the fighting and killing we did before.

Besides, you might even meet some friendly Deepsea Clan members through the game, which could open up business opportunities. Taking the initiative is better than being passive.

Several deep-sea creatures glanced at him disdainfully, but refrained from saying anything due to the rules.