Chapter 84. Trial of the Prodigies, Round Two...
From the moment Lin Xiaoxiao revealed her identity to the end of the live stream of the Trial of the Prodigies, only three and a half hours had passed.
During this period, a fierce struggle, both overt and covert, took place between various external forces.
If it weren't for Jiang Dehai, the shrewd and calculating head of the Capital Operations Department, who immediately contacted people to protect her relatives in City A upon discovering Lin Xiaoxiao's identity, it wouldn't have been for his actions.
Those loved ones may have already turned to dust in the darkness of assassination, or become tools to threaten or entice a new agent in the future.
After they successfully evaded the first few waves of pursuit, Jiang Dehai secretly made arrangements to have people protect Lin Xiaoxiao's relatives and rush to the capital.
Because they completed the first round of the Trial of the Prodigies ahead of schedule, the professionals in the Dragon Kingdom were granted a short 7-day vacation.
After emerging from the Holy Pool of Life, their bodies had returned to normal.
Moreover, in the secluded realm devoid of any demonic beasts, they recuperated and prepared to face the second trial in the best possible condition (originally, the professionals from the Dragon Kingdom were supposed to stay in the void of the dark secret realm to wait, but this was a benefit that Lin Xiaoxiao and Hanjiao negotiated for a full minute).
But all the professionals subconsciously chose to stay away from the territory where the Dragon Fang Squad was located.
Even Shen Bi'an, Pei Shu'an, and Lu Xumo subconsciously avoided Lin Xiaoxiao's location.
Lin Xiaoxiao's gaze swept over the three people sitting in the corner a few meters away. They were startled and kept looking away, not daring to meet her eyes.
She leaned against Xiao Weizhi's chest and asked with a smile, "Weizhi, am I scary?"
Xiao Weizhi put his arm around her waist and followed her gaze to the three people in the corner who looked like thieves. He smiled gently and said, "They're not scary, they're quite cute."
Lin Xiaoxiao glanced at him, raised her chin arrogantly, and smiled slightly: "I'm cute? Xiao Weizhi, tell me what you think is cute about me?"
Xiao Weizhi tightened his arms, placed a kiss on her brow with his thin lips, and looked down from her eyes to her crimson lips. He lowered his head and slowly leaned closer, their breaths mingling, ambiguous and alluring: "You're adorable in every way. Seeing you smile makes me happy."
Lin Xiaoxiao slowly closed her eyes, just as their lips were about to touch.
Gu Qingqi suddenly appeared from the side, interrupting with a mischievous grin: "Weizhi, Xiaoxiao, stop being so affectionate. Yijin has finished cooking, let's eat first."
Xiao Weizhi paused in his approach, quickly stood up straight, his eyes filled with murderous intent, and coldly stared at Gu Qingqi, who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Gu Qingqi was not afraid of Xiao Weizhi's piercing gaze at all. Instead, he cheerfully invited Lin Xiaoxiao to have dinner together.
On the dining table were dishes of delicacies carefully prepared by Chen Yijin.
Everyone's chopsticks moved quickly and ruthlessly, grabbing at their favorite dishes. Before long, everyone was grabbing at the food without any regard for appearances.
Xiao Weizhi had just put the last piece of roasted meat into Lin Xiaoxiao's bowl.
Then Gu Qingqi, who was standing next to him, asked, "Weizhi, the second trial is about to begin. What are the arrangements?"
Xiao Weizhi replied in a deep voice, "I don't know, we'll see how things go."
There is very little information about the Trial Grounds of the Prodigies. Even going back a hundred years, each trial was different, so there is no reference value at all. Nobody knows what the next one will be like.
Is this the second match?
Lin Xiaoxiao slowed her chewing, recalling the second round of the Trial of the Prodigies in her previous life, which was a naval battle. She wondered if it would be different in this life.
Wang Hao hadn't swallowed the food in his mouth yet, and his voice was a little muffled: "Old Boss You and Xiao Xiao are here, they must have gotten through this safely."
Cheng Cheng nodded: "That's right, we have Boss and Xiaoxiao, no matter what the second round is, we'll definitely get through it safely."
Cheng Cheng's words seemed to resonate with everyone in the team, who all agreed and agreed.
Jiang Tao quickly grabbed the last chicken wing: "That's right, that's right."
Li Junxuan swept away a piece of steak from behind: "That's right, with Boss and Xiaoxiao here, no difficulty is a problem."
Liu Huihui was a step too slow in picking up the steak, so she quickly turned to the ribs next to her, picked them up, and put them into Huang Yuwei's bowl: "Mmm."
Gu Qingqi twirled his chopsticks, managing to snatch a few pieces of meat from the jaws of the Dragon Fang team, and said with a wry smile, "Hey, hey, hey, don't you guys have any sense of unity and friendship?"
Chen Feng's lips twitched slightly. Talk about unity and friendship with this bunch of gluttons at the dinner table? Unless the whole table is vegetarian, then they will be polite to each other.
After a chaotic dinner, everyone went back to their own tents to rest.
At night, after washing up, Lin Xiaoxiao sat on her small bed, lost in thought, recalling the events of the past few days, wondering what she had overlooked because they seemed unimportant...
Xiao Weizhi returned from outside and saw her lost in thought. He took off his robe and placed it on a chair beside him, sat down, put his arm around her waist, and asked in a low voice, "What are you thinking about?"
Lin Xiaoxiao leaned her head on his shoulder and asked, "How are Redtail and Treasure Hunt doing lately?"
Pets weren't allowed in, so before entering the Trial Grounds for Prodigies, Xiao Weizhi and Lin Xiaoxiao sent them back to the Xiao family, asking Uncle Jiang and Sister Luo to take care of them. Of course, there was also Hill hiding in the shadows.
Xiao Weizhi patted her head and said gently, "Sister Luo and the others will take good care of them, don't worry."
The next morning, around 8 a.m. Beijing time.
After everyone finished breakfast, they packed up all the equipment in the camp and waited for the second trial to begin.
As the clock struck noon, everything around me began to disappear and become unreal, accompanied by a strong sense of weightlessness.
The 7,000 professionals from the Dragon Kingdom were teleported to a huge, gray door.
This door is 70 meters high and 29 meters wide. It is made of bronze-colored metal and is carved with many ferocious animal heads. Some of the animal heads have a fist mark, a footprint, and a lot of rust on them.
The screen in the sky flickered a few times and reappeared, displaying the rules for the second trial:
{1. This trial will last for forty-five days, and the trial venue is called: Wilderness Maze}
{2. You need to find the exit or the core of the secret realm to complete the trial.}
{3. The maze contains many treasures and monsters; please try your best to find them.}
...
{12. The ten countries with the lowest rankings will be eliminated from the third trial.}
Points are earned by defeating monster bosses or finding treasure chests; the higher the level of either, the more points you will receive.
Along with the rules, a pop-up notification screen appeared in front of each person:
[Do you wish to withdraw from the Trial of the Prodigies?]
[Quit now and you can leave with the rewards you earned in the previous round.]
Before long, more than 3,000 professionals chose to leave the Trial Grounds of the Prodigies with the resources they had acquired.
Only 3,000 professionals remained on site, waiting for the second secret realm to begin.
A professional, dressed in dark green tight-fitting leather armor, wearing a ranger's hat with a forearm-length, shimmering bird feather pinned to the front of the hat, and carrying a longbow taller than a person on his back, slowly approached with 19 people behind him.
He took off his hat with his left hand and hid it behind his back. He placed his right hand on his left chest, near his heart, bent over at a 65-degree angle, and fixed his gaze on Lin Xiaoxiao's feet, 30 centimeters in front of her. In a deep, bubbly voice, he introduced himself: "Hello, Miss Lin, I am Mu Qingfeng from the Mu family. It is an honor to meet you here."
Lin Xiaoxiao crossed her arms over her chest, turned around, and coldly observed Mu Qingfeng with a scrutinizing gaze, a very standard greeting from a deity.
Mu Qingfeng did not straighten up when he received no response, and remained bent over.
After waiting for a while, Lin Xiaoxiao nodded: "Hello, Mr. Mu."
After receiving a response, Mu Qingfeng slowly straightened up and looked at Lin Xiaoxiao with gentle, admiring, and expectant eyes, as if a little fanboy had met his long-awaited idol.
Xiao Weizhi's face darkened when he saw Mu Qingfeng, who resembled a peacock spreading its tail feathers.
'Boom!' Just then, the door slowly opened.
He put his arm around Lin Xiaoxiao's shoulder, turned around and left with her, directly bypassing Mu Qingfeng and his team, and also passing by Li Youran, who had come to greet them.
Li Youran smiled gently as she watched Lin Xiaoxiao leave.
Only after Lin Xiaoxiao's figure disappeared through the gates of the wilderness maze did she turn to look at Mu Qingfeng with a cold smile, her voice full of sarcasm: "Young Master Mu, it seems your good looks haven't won you her favor. What a pity."
A chilling glint flashed in Mu Qingfeng's eyes, but he smiled warmly at Li Youran: "You Ran, with Miss Lin's status, it would be my honor to gain her favor; if not, it's normal, and I will still hold her in the highest esteem."
Upon hearing this, Li Youran felt that Mu Qingfeng's hypocrisy had reached a new level, and sneered, "Oh, it seems that my level of thinking is completely inferior to that of Young Master Mu."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two brushed past each other, both thinking to themselves: vixen (little jackal).
The entire maze, as far as the naked eye can see, is constructed of a bluish-yellow rock brick.
The Dragon Fang team, having already passed through the gate and entered the secret realm of the Wilderness Maze, walked along a maze path that was more than five meters wide, with walls and the ground all in perfect unison.
After entering the maze, the door behind you disappears.
The points display in the sky also changed to a points ranking of 53 countries.
Currently, the highest scorer is the United States Eagles with 3 points; followed by Australia with 1 point... China is ranked third from the bottom.
Gu Qingqi walked beside Xiao Weizhi and whispered, "Weizhi, did you see that? Behind the Mu family are those Wang family members: Wang Qi'an, Wang Qifu, and Wang Xudong. It's just strange that I didn't see the Mu brothers, Mu Yunzhi and Mu Qingfeng."
Xiao Weizhi nodded expressionlessly: "Yes, it's probably an arrangement by the Mu family."
Lin Xiaoxiao chuckled. This wasn't the Mu family's arrangement at all; it was clearly a twist of fate.
Mu Yunzhi was severely injured by several wind elemental balls in the S-level secret realm, and is probably still lying in the Mu family's residence.
If Mu Yunxiao, that spoiled brat, hadn't been accompanied by his older brother, no one would have been willing to protect him upon entering. It would have been like handing him over for free, and the Mu family would never have allowed him in.
After walking for a short while, we came to a fork in the road with three paths.
The group stood at the crossroads, hesitant, unsure whether to turn left, right, or continue forward.
Just then, all of Longya's friends surrendered to Lin Xiaoxiao with expectant eyes, waiting for her to take out the divination tube to determine the direction.
Lin Xiaoxiao smiled helplessly. The fortune sticks were completely useless in this secret realm, as it was full of dangerous places and the fortune sticks could not give accurate directions.
She closed her eyes, activated a special perception technique, and used her mental power to extend and explore the path ahead.
Within three kilometers: On the left road: there are three treasure chests, five diamond-level monster bosses, and traps everywhere;
The road on the right: There are two treasure chests, two diamond-level bosses, one epic-level boss, and five traps;
The middle path contains four treasure chests, zero bosses, eight traps, and three divine favors lurking in the shadows...
Wait, three chosen ones lurking in traps, shadows, and corners?
No wonder the second trial was changed from a naval battle to a maze. The maze could be cleverly used to send divine favors in as part of the trial, and then take her down along the way.
That's a great idea.
Lin Xiaoxiao slowly opened her eyes, a playful smile appearing on her lips.
Seeing her smile, everyone present assumed she had found the key to success and excitedly bombarded her with questions:
Wang Hao darted in front of Lin Xiaoxiao, his face full of anticipation: "Xiaoxiao, which way should we go?"
Jiang Tao shoved Wang Hao aside: "Shouldn't we go to the left?"
Li Junxuan grabbed Jiang Tao by the collar and pulled him away: "Nonsense, we're definitely going to the right."
Gu Qingqi rested her fingers on her chin: "The middle is not bad either."
Cheng Cheng supported Li Junxuan: "I think the right side is good."
...
Everyone wanted to know if Lin Xiaoxiao had chosen the right path in their eyes.
Only Shen Bi'an, Lu Xumo, and Pei Shuyan, like outsiders, did not join in the speculation, but instead stood aside somewhat awkwardly.
Xiao Weizhi lowered his head, pinched the bridge of his nose, and whispered to stop the group of people who were about to start arguing: "Be quiet."
After they all quieted down, Lin Xiaoxiao briefly explained the situation of the three paths and said, "If I had to choose, I would prefer to take the middle path."
These words elicited mixed reactions, with some rejoicing and others expressing their sorrow.
Gu Qingqi chuckled and reached out to the Dragon Fang team: "Come on, Xiaoxiao chose the middle path, one gold coin each, pay up."
Lin Xiaoxiao watched Gu Qingqi collecting money everywhere and asked Xiao Weizhi beside her with a smile, "Did they make a bet?"
Xiao Weizhi lowered his head slightly, touching the tip of his nose with a somewhat unnatural expression: "Hmm."
Just as Lin Xiaoxiao closed her eyes and used her mental power to explore the differences between the three paths, Gu Qingqi brought up the topic of a one-gold-coin bet.
They said they were bored anyway, so they made a bet on which path Lin Xiaoxiao would choose to take later.
Gu Qingqi approached Xiao Weizhi and shrugged, "Here you go, Weizhi, one gold coin."
Xiao Weizhi took out a gold coin from his spatial storage and tossed it to Gu Qingqi.
Lin Xiaoxiao raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile, "Which path did you choose?"
Xiao Weizhi coughed lightly twice: "Left side."
Ten people made a bet, and people on both sides made the same choice, but only Gu Qingqi chose the middle path.
After playing around, the group, armed with weapons, cautiously walked towards the middle of the road. Lin Xiaoxiao, holding a cane, slowly led the way at the front.
After walking only thirty meters, she took out an ordinary ceramic teacup from her spatial storage and threw it two meters to her left and forward onto a brick.
The teacup landed on the brick with a click, and then thousands of steel needles, each 40 centimeters long and emitting a ghostly green light, shot out, piercing directly from the left to the right, densely embedding themselves in the right wall.
Just when everyone thought the trap was over and was preparing to move forward.
Lin Xiaoxiao raised her cane to block them, then took out a teacup from her spatial storage and threw it forward.
The next second, a violent tremor occurred, and the road more than 100 meters ahead sank directly. Looking down, the bottom was not visible to the naked eye, leaving only a row of stones floating in the air. Each stone was about half the size of a person, with the shortest distance between them being 60 centimeters and the longest being more than a meter apart.
Xiao Weizhi, with his back to Lin Xiaoxiao, half-squatted down: "Come here."
Lin Xiaoxiao leaned onto his back, put away her crutch, and held an ordinary cup in her hand again. She walked a short distance and then tossed one out.
The stones that come into contact with the cup either sink rapidly, turn into powder, or suddenly spew out a cloud of poisonous mist or a fireball...
It took them nearly twenty minutes to walk a distance of just over a hundred meters.
[Congratulations to Long Guoxiao Weizhi, Lin Xiaoxiao... (twelve names omitted below) for safely passing the first trap. Reward: 10 points]
Gu Qingqi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead: "This kind of series of traps is really treacherous."
Hearing this, Lin Xiaoxiao, who was perched on Xiao Weizhi's back, raised an eyebrow. This was just the appetizer; the real trap was yet to come.
She reached out and patted Xiao Weizhi's shoulder: "When I get down, I'll walk by myself."
Xiao Weizhi carried her on his back, bouncing her up a bit to keep her steady: "The road is difficult to walk on, I'll carry you."
After saying that, Xiao Weizhi carried Lin Xiaoxiao on his back and walked forward step by step. The Dragon Tooth team members all watched their backs with smiles.
The next kilometer was almost entirely filled with small traps every fifty meters and large traps every one hundred meters.
Lin Xiaoxiao forcibly triggered each trap by blowing it up with a teacup or a gold coin.
At the 1400-meter bend, the Dragon Tooth team spotted their first treasure chest, a diamond-level treasure chest.
The wall in the corner not far away began to slowly twist and deform, as if someone was quietly opening a hidden door, which could not be seen at all without careful observation.
Lin Xiaoxiao took out a 2000-value experience coin, which she had accumulated using her own experience, and threw it in that direction.
Then, he used a [Sealing Spell] on the wall, forcefully sealing the God's Chosen One who was trying to sneak up, along with the experience coins that were about to explode, inside the wall.
Thirty seconds later, the experience coins exploded, and the entire road shook for more than ten seconds, but the walls were not damaged at all, and not even a speck of dust fell.
[Agent of the Goddess of Fortune: Lin Xiaoxiao, execute the servant of [Wild God - Morata], and obtain: 1 Divine Fragment]
Xiao Weizhi turned his head and asked in a low voice, "Is there an enemy?"
Lin Xiaoxiao wrapped her arms around his shoulders, swung her left leg, and didn't seem to care about the incident at all. Her voice was calm: "Yes, it's been resolved."
While they were chatting, Wang Hao and his friends had already opened a diamond-level glove from the treasure chest.
[Congratulations to Long Guoxiao Weizhi, Lin Xiaoxiao... (twelve names omitted below) for opening the first Diamond-level treasure chest. Reward: 10 points]
Lin Xiaoxiao looked up and glanced at the light screen in the sky.
The Dragon Kingdom currently has 340 points, ranking 42nd. If it is not careful, it will be overtaken and surpassed by the countries below it.
They then continued forward, using the same method to pass through this section of the road without sustaining any injuries.
I received four treasure chests (three diamond-grade equipment pieces and one diamond-grade accessory), and 210 points.
Before they could make a move, Lin Xiaoxiao had already dealt with the three God-chosen ones who had launched the sneak attack, and obtained three fragments of divinity.
After a whole day, Longya and his group hadn't used many of their skills. They had covered several kilometers, wasting half a day's time, their energy, and three bowls of rice.
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Author's note: Sorry, it's a little late today too.
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