CHAPTER 260: CHAPTER 254: PRELIMINARY ROUND (PART 1)

Second, when entering the tower, no weapons or equipment that can increase combat power should be used, including Guardian Beast and Soul Device.

Related matters are relatively simple; there is a ten-minute rest period after passing each level.

As for the number of people passing the preliminary round, only 800, which means over 90% will be eliminated.

If the level is the same, it depends on the battle performance and the number of Star Beasts killed at the current level.

As for rewards, they are quite generous; those in the top hundred receive monetary rewards ranging from 100 million to 100 thousand, and the top ten can select one to three treasures from the treasure vault shared by the Five Great Daoist Schools.

Undoubtedly, the number one gets to choose three treasures, second and third two, while fourth to tenth choose one, and the order of selection is based on ranking.

At this moment, Zhao Qianshan spoke again, "The Trial Tower can be entered by a hundred people at a time; let’s start calling names."

As his voice fell, a middle-aged man walked forward carrying a thick name list.

"Those whose names are called, please come forward for bone age testing; those over eighteen will be disqualified," the middle-aged man said solemnly.

The crowd remained quite calm upon hearing this; the bone age test is a fixture at the annual exchange competition, and while some tried to be cunning during the initial few rounds, they were eliminated early on, hence such incidents have become rare.

"Number one Celestial Blue City Shen Zhong, number two Earth Python City Qu Xin... eighty-seven Celestial Star City Li Gang... one hundred Black Tiger City Chen Hu."

Chu Chen and others encouraged loudly, "Gangzi, good luck, put on a good show, don’t be nervous..."

Gangzi took a deep breath, nodded solemnly to everyone, and said: "Don’t worry, I will give it my all." After saying this, he resolutely headed to the Trial Tower.

Quickly, these hundred people came to the Trial Tower and lined up in pairs for bone age testing.

The bone age detection instrument was similar to a thermometer; it only needed to be scanned on the wrist to show the bone age.

The process went quickly, and ultimately, the team was led inside the Trial Tower by staff.

At this moment, a giant projection of about a hundred meters square appeared above the Trial Tower, and as everyone looked carefully, they noticed the large projection was divided into a hundred sections, each section of the projection had a number in the top left corner.

At this moment, Wang Lu pointed to the bottom left of the projection and said, "Number eighty-seven is there."

Upon hearing, Chu Chen and others hurriedly looked towards number eighty-seven and found that Gangzi had appeared in the center of the first level.

He had just entered the first level and summoned his Guardian Beast,

when a flash of white light revealed the figure of the Iron Armor Giant Lizard in the projection.

The Iron Armor Giant Lizard had already entered the mature stage, its size only slightly smaller than Lei Yao, and its whole body scale armor became thicker and harder, currently at the Peak of War General Level.

Not long after, a virtual image of a Star Beast appeared opposite the Iron Armor Giant Lizard.

Upon seeing this, Gangzi immediately entered battle mode and raised his hand, producing a Soul Seal.

At this time, the virtual image had solidified, and everyone could finally see its form clearly.

It turned out to be an Ordinary Quality Gale Wolf, even though its Realm was also at the Peak of War General Level; it was not on the same level as the Iron Armor Giant Lizard.

When Gangzi saw his opponent’s form, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief; it seems Cyan Dragon Academy was quite considerate, not raising the difficulty directly, but allowing contestants to have an adaptation process.

Without hesitation, Gangzi directly commanded the Iron Armor Giant Lizard to launch an attack.

The battle ended quickly, with just a single confrontation; the Gale Wolf was burst apart by the Iron Armor Giant Lizard’s tail, as if made of steel.

After killing the Gale Wolf, the entrance to the second level opened.

Seeing this, Gangzi did not immediately go to the second level but sat cross-legged and began cultivating, while the Iron Armor Giant Lizard also lay nearby for a brief rest.

Although the recent consumption was small, it was consumption nonetheless; after all, further battles will be more intense, posing a huge test to Star Power and stamina.

To reach higher levels, it’s essential to make the most of every rest period to restore as much Star Power and stamina as possible.

Of the hundred tower climbers, ninety percent were like Gangzi.

Quickly, Gangzi recovered and moved to the second level.

This time, his opponents were two Elite Quality Tusked Pigs.

The Iron Armor Giant Lizard put in an effort before dealing with the two Tusked Pigs.

Gangzi didn’t dare to delay and once again sat cross-legged to start recovering.

Upon reaching the second level, the difficulty noticeably increased; the number of opponents rose to two, and their quality also improved by one rank.

When Gangzi reached the third level, the opponents became four, and their quality had reached the Excellence Level, and Skill Level had also improved.

This battle took the Iron Armor Giant Lizard a full ten minutes to resolve.

At this moment, the Iron Armor Giant Lizard had more than a dozen wounds of varying depths on its body, and its stamina was nearly exhausted.

Gangzi’s situation was also not optimistic, his face pale, his breathing extremely heavy, and his Star Power had already been depleted.

The difficulty of this third level can be said to have skyrocketed, directly eliminating over seventy people, and most of the remaining twenty shared similar situations with Gangzi.

Chu Chen could foresee that all the hundred would stop at the fourth level.

Ten minutes later, Gangzi reached the fourth level, his opponents increased from four to eight, and their quality had reached the extraordinary Perfect Level, their skill level and intelligence both improved.

Against such opponents, the Iron Armor Giant Lizard had no chance of victory, even facing a single one would be tough, let alone eight.

In just one confrontation, the Iron Armor Giant Lizard was severely injured.

Gangzi did not hesitate for a moment, choosing to abandon the challenge immediately.

From entering the tower to finishing, Gangzi spent less than half an hour.

After everyone exited the Trial Tower, the staff summoned healing-type Guardian Beasts to start treating these injured beasts.

A moment later, Gangzi walked back, dejected.

Apparently, he was not very satisfied with his performance.

Seeing this, Chu Chen smiled and consoled, "You’ve performed well enough; the difficulty of the Trial Tower is too high, only a few can get past the fourth level."

"Exactly, you didn’t see how many couldn’t even get past the third level," Wang Lu also chimed in to comfort.

Gangzi still felt discouraged, knowing that with his capability, he would likely stop during the preliminary round, as his score barely ranked in the top ten among this hundred people.

"Don’t be disheartened, perhaps your group is generally stronger," Zhang Yuyan also comforted.

Zhang Yuyan’s words seemed more convincing, and upon hearing, Gangzi’s complexion immediately softened a lot.

Soon the second group began, this time Celestial Star City’s Ji Mingyue was called.

With everyone’s encouragement, Ji Mingyue nervously entered the Trial Tower.

Ji Mingyue’s Guardian Beast was a Windburst Sparrow, reaching Outstanding Level Upper Grade, and its Realm already achieved First Rank Commander Level, obviously her second contracted beast.

Ji Mingyue’s strength was much stronger than Gangzi, the first two levels posed no difficulty for her.

However, the third level posed quite a challenge.

Though the Windburst Sparrow remained unharmed, its consumption was substantial, with stamina and Star Power depleted by over seventy percent.

Ji Mingyue dared not dally and hurriedly began recovery.

After ten minutes, she reached the fourth level.

At this point, her expression was extremely solemn; after ten minutes of rest, stamina and Star Power barely recovered to around forty percent.

At this time, her opponent appeared, eight Perfect Quality Clear Water Carvings.

Both in quality and attributes, Clear Water Carving held a considerable advantage.

Seeing this, Ji Mingyue’s face turned exceptionally ugly; she gritted her teeth and said, "Let’s go for it."

As her voice fell, the Windburst Sparrow suddenly let out a cry, and dense wind and fire elements quickly converged towards it.

Its aura began to surge and reached Fourth Rank Commander Level in a blink.

Seeing this, Chu Chen couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow; he was familiar with this method; it seems the opponent was lucky to find the Secret Technique of the Windburst Sparrow clan, apparently giving a chance to pass the fourth level.

The Windburst Sparrow cried out, its figure flickered, and it charged into the Clear Water Carving group,

After using Secret Technique, both its speed and attack power increased by about forty percent.

The Windburst Sparrow utilized its own speed to maneuver through the Clear Water Carving group; whenever the opponent exposed a flaw, it would promptly attack.

After several rounds, it finally killed the first Clear Water Carving, then followed by the second, third.

Two minutes later, the Windburst Sparrow, using its last bit of strength, killed the eighth Clear Water Carving.

At this moment, the Windburst Sparrow fell from the air, evidently exhausted of its flying strength.

Ji Mingyue’s Soul Power was also completely depleted.