Chapter 82. The Trial of the Prodigies, Round One...
From the moment you enter the Trial Grounds of Prodigies.
Xiao Weizhi then led all the members of Longya to quickly occupy a corner position.
Have Lin Xiaoxiao, Cheng Cheng, Huang Yuwei, Chen Yijin, Wang Hao, and other fragile professional players stand in the middle, while the others stand on the outside, blocking them behind them.
The ground beneath the trial grounds was paved with huge bricks of a color similar to white jade. The sky was a hazy gray, and the boundary lines were not visible, making it impossible to guess how big this place was.
All that could be seen was a huge light screen floating in mid-air.
The rules for the first trial were written on the screen:
{1. This trial will last for twenty-five days. Those who score less than 10,000 points will be eliminated from the trial at the end.}
{2. Combat time is from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM daily. All other times are ceasefire time. During this period, players are prohibited from attacking each other. Violators will be forcibly removed from the training grounds.}
{3. Points earned: 3 points for Gold-level monsters, 12 points for Diamond-level monsters, and 25 points for Epic-level monsters}
...
{22. Many treasure chests are hidden throughout the area as Easter eggs, containing many surprising resources.}
Lin Xiaoxiao looked at the long list of trial regulations and scoffed. There were quite a few traps in the wording of these regulations.
Professionals cannot attack each other, but it doesn't say that monsters cannot attack professionals during the ceasefire; the points system only mentions monsters, not professionals... Ha.
Clearly, Xiao Weizhi, Chen Feng, and Liu Huihui from the Dragon Fang Squad also noticed the wording traps in these clauses.
Xiao Weizhi reached out and took off his glasses, put them in the glasses case, and put them back into his spatial storage. He whispered a reminder: "Keep your distance from all professionals."
Wang Hao grinned and said, "No problem, boss."
Xiao Weizhi looked at Wang Hao and stared at him, reminding him again: "Keep your distance from all professionals."
Even if Wang Hao was completely oblivious, he could tell that Xiao Weizhi was reminding him, and he chuckled awkwardly, "Got it, boss."
Lin Xiaoxiao and Cheng Cheng exchanged a glance and burst out laughing.
Wang Hao's habit of striking up conversations with people was known to everyone in the team.
The professionals who came in together from the capital also stood together in groups. Even those who couldn't come in as a whole team would find temporary teams to accompany them before they entered.
More than an hour passed quickly.
The text on the trial rules on the light screen flickered a few times, then began to blur and disappear, transforming into rows of names.
One hundred thousand points of light floated out from behind the names on the light screen and landed on the back of the professional's right hand below, forming an illusory number.
This is the proof of points recorded by professionals.
Before long, the entire space began to shake violently, with a clattering sound like an old machine turning. The ground began to crack and split, forming uneven terrain in the blink of an eye.
Many workers who lost their footing fell directly into the cracks in the ground and were quickly buried deep underground by the closing ground.
In the swaying motion, Lin Xiaoxiao, who was unable to stand steadily, was pulled into Xiao Weizhi's arms.
In the first three seconds before the shaking began, Xiao Weizhi quickly petrified his legs with earth element, then broke through the ground and rooted his legs deep into it. He then covered his face with earth element, firmly fixing himself in place.
"Boss, help!" Wang Hao lost his balance and was thrown out, about to fall into the crevice in the ground.
Xiao Weizhi reacted quickly, forming a hand seal and whipping out an energy whip that pulled Wang Hao back.
Then they tied all of Longya and Gu Qingqi together, holding them firmly to one hand.
Gu Qingqi was tied up like a dumpling, making it difficult to even turn his head, let alone turn around. He complained helplessly, "Weizhi, could you please use a different method next time? It feels weird to be face-to-face with several grown men."
Li Junxuan asked with a smile, "Captain Gu, there are only three girls in our team. Who do you want to stick with?"
Gu Qingqi glanced at Lin Xiaoxiao, who was being held tightly in Xiao Weizhi's arms, Cheng Cheng, who was being held tightly by Chen Feng, and Huang Yuwei, who was clinging to Liu Huihui's neck with both arms. He chuckled and said, "Well, I don't think before I speak, so don't take it seriously."
Pei Shuyan looked at Xiao Weizhi, remembering his sister's instructions, and wanted to sigh. Stare? With what?
Shen Bi'an chuckled and replied, "It's a good thing Fei Fei isn't here, otherwise you would have gotten pinched again."
Lu Xumo...
The ground tremors passed amidst everyone's jokes, and in just five minutes, more than 600 professionals from the Dragon Kingdom perished in this incident.
When people in China, far away, saw this turn of events through the live broadcast, they all clenched their hands with unbearable pain in their eyes.
The highest commander of the Imperial Capital Operations Department, upon witnessing this scene, was somewhat dejected, sighed, and closed his eyes. It had happened again.
During the change of terrain, Lin Xiaoxiao had a brief moment to see through the deep crevice the core of the secret realm buried deep in the earth, and also the demonic beast BOSS lying on the core of the secret realm, radiating a powerful aura.
'Awooo...', 'Chirp-', 'Ooh-'...
Heavy thuds pounded the ground, accompanied by various cries, as a massive, dark army of monsters charged rapidly toward the human professionals.
Xiao Weizhi's gaze fell on the monsters on the ground and in mid-air ahead, and he commanded in a deep voice: "Junxuan, activate your shield; Wang Hao, Xiaoxiao... play it safe in the early stages, prioritize your own safety, and retreat to rest when your mana reaches 20%!"
"Received!" The reply was perfectly synchronized*9.
"Received." The four voices replied, a beat late and somewhat disjointed.
Immediately afterwards, the entire training ground was covered by a large number of skills, and howls, explosions, roars... formed the prologue to this battle.
Lin Xiaoxiao, holding her weapon in both hands, sat on a high stool and slowly fired at the monsters in mid-air. Each gold coin, trailing a golden glow, landed on the monsters and turned into a series of explosions.
Xiao Weizhi didn't even take a staff; he controlled the magic entirely by making hand seals. A 3-meter-long fiery red magic circle floated three meters in front of him, and basketball-sized fireballs transformed into rapid-fire projectiles that struck the monsters in sight.
Wang Hao held a pair of blue-green pistols in both hands, and all his skills were aimed at the monster's neck, eyes, and joints, with each shot dealing exaggerated damage.
...
[Congratulations to Wang Hao for defeating the (Gold-level) Level 73 Withered Crow Beast BOSS, earning: 3 points]
[Congratulations to Xiao Weizhi for defeating the level 142 Raid Howling Beast BOSS (Diamond difficulty), earning 12 points]
Congratulations to Lin Xiaoxiao for defeating the (Gold-level) enemy...
A series of messages about the annihilation of monsters flashed across the screen in the sky, and then the zeros following the names on the screen began to jump rapidly.
A few minutes later, the first place went to a professional named Jian Yue, who had 32 points.
Seizing the opportunity, Li Junxuan used his large shield to slam it down on the monster in front of him, which was only left with a sliver of health. In an instant, the monster fell down and turned into the score number on the back of his hand.
Li Junxuan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and sighed, "This trial is really unfriendly to a shieldman like me."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Cheng continued stabbing the monster with his knife, rolling his eyes in annoyance: "Brother Xuan, come on, turn around and look at me and Yuwei. Who are you being unfriendly to?"
Li Junxuan was at least able to use his large shield to kill the monster that Xiao Weizhi and the others had deliberately beaten down to a sliver of health before placing it in front of him.
Cheng Cheng and Huang Yuwei could only sit on small stools and use small knives to stab the monster BOSS until they were beaten down to a sliver of health, tied up like dumplings and thrown back.
Even if they only have a sliver of health left, it will take them a long time to kill them, especially for support classes like them.
Unfortunately, this trial only recognizes the final blow.
Whoever lands the final blow gets the monster's points by default. As a result, many less skilled players will try to seize the opportunity to steal other players' monsters.
Once or twice is fine, but if it happens repeatedly, the victim will inevitably retaliate against the robbers.
Longya's side also suffered several losses, but Xiao Weizhi stopped them from causing trouble, saying, "Today is only the first day, there are still 24 days left. No rush, take your time. There's no need to rush and try to grab first place now."
Li Junxuan glanced back at Cheng Cheng and Huang Yuwei, who both looked resentful, and chuckled awkwardly. He had forgotten that their team had two support characters who didn't have any offensive skills, and saying that would only provoke more hatred.
Xiao Weizhi glanced back and saw Cheng Cheng and Huang Yuwei kill the monster. He immediately used an energy rope to tie up the now-dead monster and threw it outside. Then he replaced it with another monster that was tied up like a dumpling and had only a sliver of blood left and threw it in.
Then, another boss, tied up like a rice dumpling, was thrown at Pei Shuyan, who was standing to the side.
Pei Shuyan is a hidden support class: Mana Restorer (most of his skills are mana regeneration, a few are restoring his own status and health... This class is also known as a mobile mana regeneration fountain).
Lin Xiaoxiao sat on a high stool and yawned, looking a little bored.
Xiao Weizhi asked in a low voice, "Are you bored?"
Lin Xiaoxiao gently shook her head: "It's alright."
My fingers got a little sore from constantly pulling the trigger while maintaining the same position.
Longya's battle strategy is to first gather the 10,000 advancement points needed for Cheng Cheng, Huang Yuwei, Chen Yijin, Li Junxuan, and Pei Shuyan, and then slowly fight for the others.
Wang Hao called out to Pei Shuyan behind him, "Captain Pei, you're out of mana, give me a skill."
Pei Shuyan stopped poking the BOSS, smiled wryly, picked up the staff placed to the side, and cast a spell on Wang Hao that would continuously restore mana for 5 minutes - [Continuous Mana Regeneration].
If we were to ask who in the Dragon Fang team was the happiest about Pei Shuyan's arrival, Wang Hao would definitely be one of them, as he and Xiao Weizhi were the only two with the greatest need for mana.
The battle ended quickly, and the monsters retreated as if they had received some kind of command.
Today, the highest score is Xiao Weizhi's 2080 points, and the lowest is Huang Yuwei's 340 points.
The other participants are: Wang Hao (1820), Gu Qingqi (1630), Shen Bi'an (1437), Lu Xumo (1332), Lin Xiaoxiao (1270), Jiang Tao (1112), Chen Feng (1009), Liu Huihui (1001), Chen Yijin (980), Li Junxuan (894), Pei Shuyan (413), and Cheng Cheng (380).
The group of fourteen people sat around a folding dining table, enjoying the delicious food prepared by Chen Yijin while reviewing the events.
Chen Feng said with a headache, "Wei Zhi, this won't work. At the speed of Cheng Cheng, Huang Yuwei, and Captain Pei, they may not be able to gather the 10,000 points needed to advance to the next round."
According to their plan, they would gather the necessary promotion points for three auxiliary systems in the first eight days to secure their promotion spots, and they would not participate in the later chaotic battles.
But with the current points situation, let alone 8 days, even 25 days would be difficult.
Xiao Weizhi picked up a large piece of stewed meat for Lin Xiaoxiao: "Eat some meat, don't just eat your chili peppers."
Lin Xiaoxiao paused with her chopsticks, which were reaching for chili peppers, then suddenly picked up a large clump of boiled vegetables covered in chili peppers: "Just one last bite, I'm done eating."
Xiao Wei chuckled and placed a fruit drink next to her, then turned to Chen Feng and replied in a deep voice, "Find a way to speed things up."
Upon hearing this, the three people with the lowest scores immediately lost their appetite.
The three of them didn't dare to stop at all. They kept poking the monster's arm until it was almost smoking, and they barely managed to get their score to over 300.
Gu Qingqi suggested, "How about we get a better weapon?"
Jiang Tao and Wang Hao immediately looked up and stared at Gu Qingqi with eyes that looked at an idiot. If the three of them could wield other weapons, why would they be struggling to stab the BOSS with a bronze-level knife?
Putting everything else aside, Wang Hao's energy guns not only require a suitable class, but also a certain level of strength.
The only special weapon belongs to Lin Xiaoxiao, but her weapon is customized to match her skills, and no one but her can use it.
They did try using Chen Yijin's alchemical bomb, but the final score still went to Chen Yijin.
Just when everyone was at a loss, Lin Xiaoxiao suddenly remembered the dozen or so 'silver-level toys' she had bought in Yorband City.
【Energy Training Gun (Silver Grade): By drawing upon its own mana, it converts it into energy bullets that can deal minor damage. It is the best auxiliary training tool for children... (No attribute requirements for use; it is a favorite toy for children aged 3-6)】
The dozen or so toy guns were set up by a boy. Lin Xiaoxiao saw that he had been standing in the sun for more than two hours without anyone buying his things, and she felt sorry for him. Since the items were not expensive, she simply spent money to buy them all and told the boy to pack up his stall early.
She put down her rice bowl and tentatively asked, "I suddenly remembered that I have a few silver-grade weapons with no requirements. Would you like to give them a try?"
That attribute description panel is a bit discouraging to look at.
After the meal, Cheng Cheng and Huang Yuwei received the weapon, which looked like a toy gun, about the size of two palms, with cute patterns painted on its surface. Their expressions didn't change, and they accepted it well.
On the contrary, Pei Shuyan's face turned from blue to purple, then purple to red, like a palette of colors, changing for a long time before returning to normal.
During the rest period, at 5 a.m., just when all the professionals relaxed and thought that the monsters would not appear, they appeared ahead of time and started attacking, as if they had made an appointment.
Hundreds more professionals fell on this trial battlefield.
A day and a night passed, and of the 100,000 professionals from the Dragon Kingdom who participated in the Trial of the Prodigies, only 93,000 remained.
With the toy weapons supported by Lin Xiaoxiao, the three support characters successfully broke through the 1300 mark that day. With a little more effort, the goal of reaching 10,000 points in 8 days is within reach.
Day 3: On the battlefield, the situation between the professionals and the monsters was once tense, but they were still evenly matched; there were 90,000 professionals remaining in the Dragon Kingdom.
Day 5: All the Gold-level BOSSes have been wiped out, leaving only Diamond-level and above BOSSes on the field, with one or two Epic-level BOSSes occasionally appearing; 83,000 Dragon Kingdom professionals remain.
Day 9: Diamond-level and Epic-level BOSSes appear in equal numbers; 52,000 Dragon Kingdom professionals remain; the Dragon Fang team has gathered the 10,000 points needed to advance to the next round.
The thirteenth day: A ball of light, the size of an egg, appeared out of thin air, like spring rain during the Qingming Festival, and drifted down. Some landed on professionals, some on monsters, and some even landed on the ground, turning into equipment, resources, and treasure chests...
Three days after that day, a certain professional discovered that if the blade was pointed at a companion, not only could he gain that person's points, but the orbs of light that had landed on the professional would also turn into equipment and treasure chests after they died.
From then on, the training grounds transformed into a chaotic free-for-all where friend and foe were indiscriminate; 31,000 professional players remained in the Dragon Kingdom.
Day 18:
Lin Xiaoxiao raised her weapon, quickly switched to an attack mode, and pulled the trigger on a professional who was lunging at her with a ferocious expression.
A gold coin-shaped projectile, about 8 centimeters in size and wrapped up in a ball, struck the professional in the abdomen, sending him flying two meters away. The huge explosion left the professional half-crippled.
Jiang Tao appeared and disappeared like a ghost, his figure silently emerging from the shadows. With a swift movement, he slit the attacker's throat, and as blood gushed forth, a faint, ethereal voice rang out:
[Congratulations to Jiang Tao for defeating Wang Si, a level 155 (5th job advancement) professional, earning 21332 points.]
The sound drew the attention of the bloodthirsty professionals nearby, but upon seeing that it belonged to the Dragon Fang Squad, many instinctively turned their heads away.
In the past few days, many professionals have been keeping an eye on Cheng Cheng, Huang Yuwei, Pei Shuyan, and Lin Xiaoxiao.
Because they are clearly support-type professionals, they can be easily eliminated with just a flick of a finger, and then you can gain a lot of points.
Unfortunately, no one has succeeded to this day.
Lin Xiaoxiao nodded to Jiang Tao: "Thanks, Xiao Tao."
Jiang Tao, somewhat unconvinced, disappeared again, leaving behind the words: "Xiaoxiao, I'm older than you, you should call me Brother Tao."
She switched modes again, pointed the muzzle of her weapon at the monster to her left front, and pulled the trigger hard: "Okay, got it, Xiao Tao."
Xiao Weizhi stood beside Lin Xiaoxiao, holding a magic staff. More than a dozen magic circles of various colors floated in the sky. His robes and hair fluttered without wind, and dark glints flashed in his eyes.
Lightning bolts, fireballs, wind blades, and ice daggers rained down on the monster bosses below.
Pei Shuyan, who was standing behind him, was covered in cold sweat. He was drinking mana potions while desperately trying to stack mana regeneration skills on Xiao Weizhi.
After this wave of skills was used up, Xiao Weizhi's name was already hanging high at the top of the points ranking, with a gap of over a thousand points.
Not long after they stopped, a series of massive explosions occurred in the southeast direction. A dozen minutes later, Xiao Weizhi was once again pushed down to second place.
The top ten list keeps changing, but the top three have always been the same: Xiao Weizhi, Mu Qingfeng, and Li Youran, who alternate between each other.
Xiao Weizhi sat down next to Lin Xiaoxiao, wiping the dust off his face with a wet wipe, and asked, turning his head, "Your ranking is still a bit low. Shall I help you improve it?"
Lin Xiaoxiao shook her head: "No need, as long as I can advance, ranking is useless to me."
Although these points could be used to exchange for resources, she didn't want anything. The ranking of 1888 was just right; it sounded good, but it wasn't outstanding and wouldn't attract attention.
Just as the two of them were talking, an assassin dressed in pure black business attire swiftly swung a short blade toward Xiao Weizhi's neck.
The next second, the man slashed at Xiao Weizhi's petrified neck.
He was then pierced by dozens of earth-elemental thorns and died, turning into a hedgehog.
[Congratulations to Xiao Weizhi for defeating the (Sixth Job Advancement) Level 188 professional player - Mu Liu, gaining 31332 points]
This professional helped Xiao Weizhi regain her number one position.
Seeing the rankings changing on the screen from afar, Mu Qingfeng and Li Youran couldn't help but curse, "Which idiot went to deliver food to Xiao Weizhi again?"
Xiao Weizhi was originally ranked only 20th, but these pursuers forced him to the top of the leaderboard.
Suddenly, an unexpected change occurred, and a shower of light the size of a fingernail began to fall from the sky.
Upon seeing the shower of light, Lin Xiaoxiao couldn't sit still any longer. Her expression changed drastically, and she immediately pulled up Xiao Weizhi, who was sitting next to her, and called back her friends who were still playing nearby...
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