“Attention contestants, attention contestants. Passionate Fire Elements will arrive on the battlefield in ten seconds. Slaying a Fire Element will grant a massive amount of points. We wish you the best of luck in the tournament.”
All contestants: “???”
“3, 2, 1. They're here!”
Contestants: “!?!”
In the next instant, countless spatial gates opened across tens of thousands of tournament worlds, and one Fire Element after another floated out.
The Fire Elements had an extremely clear objective. Ignoring the undead and the demons, they locked directly onto the other contestants.
They were going to completely vent all the stifling heat they had endured over the past few days.
While the Fire Elements were still falling from the sky, they used their altitude advantage to lock onto many of the contestants.
Without a moment's hesitation, head-sized fireballs condensed one after another, raining down from the heavens toward every lucky soul marked by the Fire Elements.
Many of those contestants were still pondering this suddenly added event when, in the next second, they felt a wave of heat from above.
They abruptly looked up.
“Holy crap!”
Only then did they realize a series of head-sized fireballs was raining down on them, sending them scrambling to dodge.
But merely dodging and repositioning could not solve the problem forever.
The Fire Elements, carrying a deep resentment, possessed an absurdly high desire to fight.
Though the fireballs were not as dense as raindrops, they were easily comparable to a hailstorm.
Furthermore, the Fire Elements were highly organized and disciplined. They were not arrogant; they did not rely solely on their advantage at the Transcendent Rank to engage in single combat or fight multiple opponents alone.
Instead, they quickly grouped up, forming teams of three to five to hunt down the contestants.
This situation made things extremely difficult for the Transcendent Rank contestants, especially the water- and ice-attribute mages and cultivators, as well as those who could only rely on physical attacks.
Splash!
Yet another contestant was chased by the Fire Elements and forced to leap into a river.
When Chen Xu created the terrains, he had still shown some consideration for the lower-ranked contestants. Even in the scorching deserts, there were plenty of oases.
Even in the lava-filled volcanic terrains, there were plenty of bubbling hot springs.
At this moment, these sources of life once again played their role, providing shelter and preventing those vicious Fire Elements from harming them.
“Hahaha! As we can see, most of the contestants have chosen to flee into the nearest body of water. Only a small number of contestants who cultivate fire-attribute power can gracefully maneuver through the mobs of Fire Elements and even rack up points!
“Ah, speak of the devil! Assisted by the 18th-ranked hot favorite to win, Little Flame King, the livestream room has once again gathered ten Fire Element Cores!
“Everyone can send the message Go Little Flame King, go contestants to enter the lucky draw!”
Tie Gelei was highly skilled at his job, completing the lucky draw task while simultaneously commentating on the match.
“As the viewers can see, the tournament has entered a rather awkward phase. The contestants who do not possess fire-attribute abilities and lack the corresponding countermeasures can only hide in the water, turning into water ghosts to hunt the demons that come to the water's edge.
“On the shore, however, those who have fire-attribute abilities or possess sufficient raw strength are constantly slaying Fire Elements. While harvesting a massive amount of points, they can also use the Fire Element Cores to boost their own strength.
“With one side waxing and the other waning, hiding in the water is practically no different from voluntarily giving up on the tournament.”
The Hand Behind the Scenes: Old Tie makes a lot of sense. Just look at the leaderboard—the gap between the top contestants and those at the bottom is already dozens of times over.
Young God of Magic: Holy crap, is this even a tournament? This is practically a shopping spree! In just a short while, that Little Flame King has already absorbed dozens of cores. My hands are practically itching just watching this.
Black Magic Master: Go Little Flame King, go contestants
Please Call Me Top Scholar: Go Little Flame King, go contestants
...
Myriad Manifestations: If your hands are itching, why didn't you join the tournament?
...
Black Magic Master: Go Little Flame King, go contestants
Please Call Me Top Scholar: Go Little Flame King, go contestants
Young God of Magic: I did sign up, but I'm not in the Transcendent Rank. What about it? Also, Brother Black Magic and Brother Top Scholar, can you two show a bit of dignity as experts? You're already Mythic Rank big shots, so why are you still trying to snatch a few Fire Element Cores here?!
Young God of Magic: Go Little Flame King, go contestants
“Oh!”
Tie Gelei's eyes lit up. He finally saw a variable.
“It seems the contestants at the bottom of the water have reached a consensus. They've decided to make a move, refusing to just wait for a slow death.
“Will they cooperate with one another to counter the scorching heat of the Fire Elements? Or are they only cooperating on the surface while harboring hidden motives, with their true intentions lying elsewhere?
“After all, the water is already getting a bit crowded. As everyone knows, when there are too many people, friction easily sparks some... nifty little ideas.
“Let us wait and see!”
Just as Tie Gelei said, the Transcendents hiding underwater were incredibly anxious as they watched the scores on the leaderboard soar rapidly without stopping.
Yet, suffering from their lack of ability to counter the Fire Elements, they could only fret helplessly underwater.
Ultimately, rallied by several leading figures, the underwater contestants decided to launch a counterattack and thoroughly wipe out those troublesome Fire Elements.
“Go!”
The leader was the first to leap out of the water, and the others followed his call, jumping out one after another.
However, what welcomed them was a barrage of head-sized fireballs radiating lethal temperatures.
The courage they had painstakingly gathered underwater instantly vanished the moment they saw the fireballs.
Splash!
Splash!
The sounds of splashing water rang out in succession as the underwater contestants' first wave of counterattack declared failure.
This comical scene played out across multiple tournament worlds.
Although Chen Xu had granted the contestants the ability to avoid death, ensuring they would not truly die during the tournament, the fear of death was a biological instinct, which was not so easily overcome.
In moments of crisis, the contestants had long forgotten that they would not actually die.
“Wait, aren't we immune to death here?”
“Oh, right! Didn't the esteemed Lord of the Undead promise that we wouldn't actually die during the tournament?”
“Then what are we afraid of? Waiting around will only get us eliminated anyway. Why not go up and fight those Fire Elements to the bitter end!”
“Yeah! Let's take them down with us!”
Having finally come to their senses, the underwater contestants once again leaped out of the water, launching a new round of attacks.
This time, they no longer retreated. Instead, they braved the fireballs and the intense heat, charging toward the Fire Elements guarding the shoreline.
Fists infused with inner strength slammed into the bodies of the Fire Elements, making sizzling sounds.
Ordinary Transcendent weapons were also swung, stabbing into the Fire Elements' bodies and melting further under the intense heat.
There were also swordsmen who drew their swords beforehand, filled their scabbards with water, and sprayed it out upon closing in—only to be blinded by the high-temperature steam, causing their sword strikes to veer off-course and stab their own allies.
In the Transcendent world, while courage was commendable, one's own strength was the eternal truth.
A sudden burst of courage to defeat a powerful enemy was a temporary privilege reserved only for protagonists. For this group of background-character contestants, it was merely a brief moment to salvage some dignity before their inevitable elimination.
After all, dying in battle was still better than suffocating underwater.
Of course, there were also many who intended to keep hiding in the water, hoping to stay put until everyone else was eliminated, and then see if they could luckily secure a spot to advance to the next round of the eliminations.
However, the contestants who were capable of slaying the Fire Elements did not give them that chance.
By the twentieth day of the tournament, the Fire Element event was drawing to a close.
Although the passion of the Fire Elements was highly intense, the Transcendents' desire for promotion and advancement was even more fanatical.
Over the course of twenty days, the Fire Elements were actually completely wiped out.
The hot favorites list also underwent multiple changes. The contestants who favored the fire attribute reaped massive benefits from this event, significantly boosting their strength.
But even aside from those fire-attribute contestants, the progress of the other contestants was quite decent as well.
For instance, the Daoist of Clan Corpses had gained quite a few benefits from the Fire Elements.
His grandmother zombie now had a head of fiery-red hair, with a dense fire power surging through its strands.
In an instant, she could plunge her enemies into a sea of fire.
With the Fire Elements completely wiped out, the other undead and demons naturally fared no better.
Once the ordinary monsters were cleared out, the top contestants naturally turned their sights toward the various bodies of water.
To them, the contestants hiding underwater were like a series of prepared buffets waiting to be harvested.
By the thirtieth day, only one hundred million people remained in the tournament grounds.
In other words, the contestants still left on the field were now all guaranteed to receive the baseline rewards.
Tie Gelei held his microphone and announced loudly:
“Viewers, let us welcome the next phase of the tournament, the eliminations, with warm applause and cheers!
“All contestants will be teleported once again, concentrated into ten worlds to compete for the final ten spots to enter the last round.
“Let us count down ten seconds together to kick off the eliminations!”
Rate on N.U.
