Chapter 169: 169 Chapter 169: The Ultra-High Elimination Rate is Not Just Talk The owner of the voice had a huge sword on his back and stood at least two meters tall. He looked like a warrior-type career holder. He glared at Lin Moyu and Ning Yiyi with dissatisfaction. There were too many people, and Lin Moyu and Ning Yiyi standing there blocked part of the path. This guy was too bulky to pass through. But if he couldn’t pass, he could have just said so politely. Now though... Lin Moyu looked at him coldly. The ice-cold gaze made the big guy shiver. The aura around Lin Moyu made him feel frightened. This was the gaze of someone who had killed before - cold, with killing intent. As if he would draw his blade and kill at the slightest provocation. The big guy instantly cowered, "What are you doing? Fighting isn’t allowed here, or you’ll be disqualified." Ning Yiyi blushed and tugged at Lin Moyu, "Let it go." Lin Moyu nodded and stepped aside. The big guy hurried past, muttering as he went, "What kind of person is that, with such a scary look." He walked faster and faster, disappearing in the blink of an eye. Jiang Taotao and the others came back, "We found out that tomorrow’s preliminaries will be held by the sea. The empire has built a huge plaza there by reclaiming land from the sea." Miao Yu said, "Not just the preliminaries, but the later matches will be there too." Ning Yiyi quickly said, "Then let’s go take a look!" Jiang Taotao shook her head, "We can’t. It’s closed off. No one can enter until tomorrow." This was to prevent sabotage. Everyone could understand. Ning Yiyi’s eyes lit up, "Then let’s go eat something and taste Nanhong City’s delicacies." Food held absolute allure for Ning Yiyi. Miao Yu agreed, "Sure! I just heard the empire prepared lots of delicious food. You can find specialties from all over the country here, and it’s all free." "What!" Ning Yiyi let out a shriek. Many people nearby looked at Ning Yiyi strangely, thinking something had happened. Ning Yiyi quickly lowered her voice, "Sister Miao Yu, did you say free?" "Mm-hmm, I just found out too. Food and lodging here are all free, paid for by the empire." Ning Yiyi looked crestfallen, "If I’d known earlier I wouldn’t have bought so much." Lin Moyu couldn’t help laughing, patting Ning Yiyi’s head, "It’s okay, we’ll eat it slowly." For this tournament, the empire had mobilized many life-type career holders. These delicacies were provided by food career holders. It could be said to encompass everything, with specialties from all over the country. Ning Yiyi was dazzled, not knowing what to eat first. "Too bad people here can only eat for two days." Today and tomorrow. After tomorrow, those eliminated would have to leave the residence area. After tomorrow, the whole residence area would quiet down. An elimination rate of over 90% was no joke. ... The sound of waves came in bursts. Looking into the distance, one could see the blue ocean. A light screen covered the ground like an inverted bowl. It blocked everyone’s steps forward. The light screen wasn’t transparent. The inside couldn’t be seen. The plaza was packed with people. As far as the eye could see, there were countless heads, impossible to count. The Divine Summer Empire had announced over 100,000 participating teams. This number was likely an underestimate. The rules for the preliminaries were very clear - enter the light screen as a team. Those who passed successfully could stay. Those who failed would be directly eliminated. The rules were very simple but also very cruel. All teams were divided by level groups. Teams in the same group would face exactly the same difficulty. Levels 20 and 29 would encounter the same challenges. There would be no difference. Generally speaking, within the same group, higher levels had an advantage. But skills, equipment, adaptability, career composition, and team synergy also had to be considered. So everything was unknown. From an outsider’s perspective, Lin Moyu’s team had a very standard composition. Knight, double support, ranged mage, melee assassin. Following the pre-established channels, all teams entered the light screen in order. Stepping into the light screen meant the assessment had begun. There were two preliminary rounds today - team preliminaries in the morning, individual preliminaries in the afternoon. Lin Moyu would participate in both. After the team entered the light screen, the scene before them suddenly changed. A long passage appeared in front of them. Lin Moyu felt a sense of déjà vu. He had encountered the aura permeating the passage several times before. The first time was during the big exam, the second during the mermaid island trial mission, and most recently when Meng Anwen helped him make the Abyss teleportation stone. "So the empire is using the Divine Summer Tower for the assessment." Now the assessment appeared before everyone. Follow the passage and defeat the boss at the end to pass. The rules were simple, with no extra requirements. But in practice, it certainly wouldn’t be easy. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎 Jiang Taotao called out softly, "Duan Gao, buff us!" Duan Gao responded immediately, quickly applying buffs to everyone. Halos appeared on everyone one by one. Strength Enhancement! Agility Enhancement! Defense Enhancement! Mana Activation! Speed Activation! Berserker Soul! With these buffs applied, everyone’s attributes increased greatly. Strength, agility, constitution and spirit all increased by 30%. And this 30% was calculated after equipment bonuses. The better the equipment, the greater the amplification. Mage skill power increased by 20%. Unfortunately these buffs had no effect on Lin Moyu. Speed Activation increased attack speed by 30%. Berserker Soul increased skill damage by 30%, reduced damage taken by 20%, and lowered pain sensitivity by 50%. These two skills were godly for physical careers. All buffs could last for one hour. With these buffs, Jiang Taotao and Ning Yiyi’s combat power increased by at least 200%. As for Lin Moyu... It made no difference whether he had them or not. Lin Moyu looked at the long passage, "Should we..." Jiang Taotao interrupted Lin Moyu, "Let’s try ourselves first. If we can’t make it, then you can step in." Ning Yiyi agreed. This was a team competition. They couldn’t always rely on Lin Moyu alone. Though they would ultimately need to rely on him, this was just the preliminary round. They could try themselves first. "Alright." Lin Moyu didn’t insist, following at the back of the team. If there was a problem, he could step in then. The passage was very long, about 5 meters wide. As they stepped into the passage, a monster appeared before them. Lin Moyu’s pupils contracted slightly. The monster’s appearance was exactly the same as an Abyss Hellhound. But its aura wasn’t as strong as a real Abyss Hellhound. This was a copy created by the Divine Summer Tower based on Abyss Hellhounds. "If so, could the final boss be a Dog Demon?" Jiang Taotao took a fighting stance and cast Detection. [Abyss Hellhound (Fake)] [Level: 27] [Strength: 2800] [Agility: 3500] [Spirit: 1000] [Constitution: 2000] [Skill: Bite] Its level was 4 lower than a real Abyss Hellhound. Real ones were level 31, this was only 27. All its attributes were greatly reduced. It wouldn’t be difficult to deal with. Even though Jiang Taotao was only level 24, with full buffs her attributes already surpassed the level 27 Abyss Hellhound. It wouldn’t be difficult to handle. Jiang Taotao let out a shout and charged forward with her rush skill, the powerful impact crashing into the Abyss Hellhound. Skill: Shield Bash! The skill activated as her shield swung up to hit the Abyss Hellhound’s head. The Abyss Hellhound was not only injured, but also stunned. At this moment, a faint light flashed behind it. Ning Yiyi had unknowingly snuck behind the Abyss Hellhound. Skill: Deadly Strike! Her dagger stabbed out, piercing into the hellhound with a thud. The hellhound let out a miserable cry and fell to the ground motionless. In terms of burst damage, assassins were second to none. Mages’ high-power skills all required charging and preparation. At least 10 seconds, sometimes dozens of seconds. Unlike assassins who could burst instantly. It didn’t seem too difficult. The group’s faces showed some relief. But Lin Moyu smiled inwardly. How could it be this simple? Having gone through the big exam, he knew all too well how these things worked. This assessment had only just begun. Outside the light screen, it was now empty. All teams had entered and started the preliminary assessment. Dense text appeared on the huge light screen, showing the names of each team’s leader. Lin Moyu’s name was among them. Originally there was a 0 after the team name, now changed to 1. [Lin Moyu’s Team, 1] This 1 represented their current score, having killed one hellhound. As the scores changed, the team rankings also changed. In the level 20-29 group, there were over 30,000 participating teams in total. Now Lin Moyu’s team ranked around 10,000th, neither good nor bad. Many people were paying attention to this competition. The Divine Summer Empire had opened video livestreams to the whole world. Every country could watch this competition. As the preliminaries continued, team names changed in real time. Suddenly, one team’s name turned gray and dropped to last place. This meant the team had been eliminated. The preliminaries had only begun 5 minutes ago, yet the first team was already eliminated. It showed the preliminaries were far more difficult than imagined. A worldwide discussion was taking place heatedly. "It’s only been a few minutes, how is someone already eliminated?" "Looks like these preliminaries are very difficult." "Of course they’re difficult. The Divine Summer Empire officially said over 90% of teams would be eliminated in the preliminaries." "How else could they do it? Over 100,000 teams - they couldn’t get results even if they competed until next year." "I think 90% is conservative. The preliminaries will probably eliminate over 95% of teams." "Look, more teams have been eliminated!" Three more team names turned gray simultaneously, eliminated. The eliminated people appeared outside the light screen, looking dejected. They had lost the chance to continue. They didn’t even get to see the real competition venue. Those who couldn’t pass the preliminaries had no right to enter the real arena. The rules were cruel, but also realistic.