88: Covering the sky with a dark curtain

Xu Le opened the details of the "Hope Cup" competition.

He discovered that this was a nationwide competition hosted by the Great Zhou official authorities for excellent Professionals under the age of 40. It is held every three years with the goal of selecting the best talent for centralized training to accumulate strength to resist monsters.

The rewards were exceptionally generous; as long as one entered the top 1,000, they could earn back the entrance fee.

Entering the top 100 would not only yield 200 xiaoyao coins, but also offer a large selection of legendary grade Skills, equipment, and SS-grade pets.

Entering the top 10 would grant 500 xiaoyao coins, with the option to choose mythic-grade Skills, equipment, and SSS-grade pets.

If one could enter the top three, the rewards were so generous that they made Xu Le drool.

Must sign up!

As Professionals, we should care about the common people and take the annihilation of monsters as our own duty.

Pay the coin and sign up.

【Ding, you have successfully signed up for the "Hope Cup" competition. Please participate on time at 9:00 AM on July 14th.】

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, it was July 14th.

Over these past few days, Xu Le had searched for information for a long time but simply could not find a trace of the "Hope Cup" competition.

He then remembered that when confirming the registration, he had signed a non-disclosure agreement, prohibiting him from discussing or mentioning the competition anywhere.

It had to be said that the confidentiality work was done very well.

Even Hong Yuantai, who would reply to his messages in seconds, was evasive when asked, telling him to experience it for himself.

8:50 AM.

Xu Le entered the Xiaoyao Realm early.

He discovered that there were far more people who had arrived early than he had imagined.

On the streets, there were dense crowds of people. Looking over with the Divine Eye, they were all at least level 60 or 70.

He even saw an 80th-level big shot.

One had to know that the difficulty of leveling up became greater and greater later on; someone like Zhu Daxiang was only level 72, yet he could already be an admissions teacher at Blue Star University.

It was easy to imagine that being able to reach level 80 before the age of 40 was absolutely a Genius among Geniuses.

Time passed.

It was almost nine o'clock.

A five-second countdown appeared before Xu Le's eyes.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Whoosh!

His body was instantly teleported into a lush forest.

The dense crowd immediately erupted in chaos.

"Where is this?"

"Is this the Fallen Zone? Why doesn't it look like it?"

"What Fallen Zone? There isn't even a trace of Devilish Qi here."

"I guess it's a fictional dungeon map. I've been to the dungeons of the nine great cities and have never seen a forest like this."

"Don't guess randomly, observe. Look at these trees and leaves, and combine that with the knowledge you've learned; it's easy to know what kind of place this is."

Ignoring the showing off and preaching of others, Xu Le looked around. Most of them were Ailanthus, Camphor trees, and Palm trees—a very obvious evergreen broad-leaved forest belonging to a subtropical climate.

So, why teleport them here?

"Eh, it's getting dark."

Someone in the crowd exclaimed.

Everyone looked over and discovered that the sky was being covered by a black curtain, spreading from the south, covering the sky bit by bit.

Everywhere it passed, it was all cool and shady.

No!

Xu Le's pupils constricted. The places covered by the black cloth didn't become cool and shady, but desolate.

All the trees withered and died; the occasional ones that survived became bare, strange trees.

Without a single leaf, the vigorous branches were sharp and pointed, as if they wanted to pierce people's eyes.

The others also noticed something was wrong and began to shout out their discoveries.

"It's not cool and shady; it's Primal Devilish Qi!"

"Yes, it's exactly Primal Devilish Qi! I remember the books recorded that the initial Devilish Qi contains intense corrosiveness, capable of annihilating all life; touching even a trace of it means death."

"Run, run, run..."

Everyone panicked and fled north desperately.

However, the speed at which the Devilish Qi spread was very fast, far exceeding everyone.

A few "short-legged" Professionals shouted on the spot: "Teleport, teleport! I have over a thousand xiaoyao coins, don't tell me you're going to embezzle them!"

Someone kindly reminded them: "Brother, this is an assessment. We have been thrown into a super-sized dungeon, how could we still have the convenience of the Xiaoyao Realm?"

When those few heard that, they became even angrier.

"Damn it, what kind of sausage Hope Cup is this? It's blatant discrimination!"

"Yes! It's too unfair!"

"Exactly, it's too unfriendly to us magic-type Professionals. If you have the guts, let's compete on damage!"

"Return the money, damn it!"

"Complain, must complain!"

The more they talked, the more excited they got, lying directly on the ground, waiting to be disqualified.

Soon, they were caught up by the Devilish Qi, and their health bars plummeted instantly.

One by one, they immediately jumped up, as if electrocuted, trembling all over, jumping up and down, wailing in pain.

Later, they rolled on the ground, and after a while, they stopped breathing.

Several magic-type Professionals in their sixties just fell to the ground like that.

This was just the beginning. More and more "short-legged" Professionals were caught up by the Devilish Qi. Large swaths of Advanced Professionals were just casually swallowed by the Devilish Qi like that, without even a splash.

Some cursed, some wept, some felt this was a god-given opportunity, and even took the initiative to attack those around them.

By eliminating others, it would be easier for oneself to enter the top 1,000.

The dense Devilish Qi raged, and countless Advanced Professionals fell into the Devilish Qi without casting a single Skill.

Hmm, it was a bit like an otherworldly version of running from the poison circle.

The difference was that this circle spread from only one direction.

Xu Le took a deep breath and flapped his wings to fly north.

"Brother Turtle, Brother Turtle, take me with you."

As Xu Le was flying, his originally somewhat gloomy mood almost made him burst out laughing when he heard this address.

He turned his head to look and saw a somewhat familiar, slender figure jumping and bouncing over there.

The scene was so alluring that a large group of sprinting Professionals stopped to watch the performance.

Xu Le suddenly remembered that the person was Zhu Yuyao, who had a large group of simps and sought him out for life-or-death duels every day. He had earned quite a few xiaoyao coins, but she was truly annoying.

Wait, why was the direction she was waving...

Zhu Yuyao felt the fiery gazes of the people around her, her face turned red, and she stopped jumping around, only waving continuously.

Xu Le flew over with a dark face: "My name is Xu Le."

Zhu Yuyao acted coquettishly: "Brother Le, take me with you!"

"Where is that group of simps of yours?"

Xu Le didn't believe it; so many simps could come to find him for a duel, yet wouldn't come to fawn over Zhu Yuyao.

Zhu Yuyao pouted: "Brother Le, they are all my friends, don't misunderstand! Can you take me with you? If we team up, we will definitely be able to enter the top 100!"

"You're an assassin, yet you still need me to carry you?"

Xu Le was disdainful. He didn't know why the other party would treat him as a simp? Could it be that her fishpond was too empty?

"Oh, Brother Le, this mountain road is too hard to walk on. I just twisted my ankle and can't walk anymore. Can you help me?"

Zhu Yuyao looked at Xu Le pitifully, like an abandoned Little Dog.

"Really?"

"Really!"

Zhu Yuyao nodded, her eyes even turning red.

"Then just wait to die!"

After Xu Le finished speaking, he flapped his wings and flew north.

Zhu Yuyao stamped her feet in anger. Seeing the Devilish Qi approaching, she ran forward rapidly.

You dog of a man, I hope you never find a girlfriend in your life.

Not helping was one thing, but he even chatted with her, wasting time and expressions.