73: Su Bai's scheme to shift the blame eastward left the crowd stunned.

Looking at the data card's introduction to the Dragon King Egg, Su Bai smiled slightly.

As expected of a dragon egg guarded for generations by the Sea Dragon Clan, its potential is truly extraordinary.

Once it transforms into a true Dragon King, even the hidden ruler of this world, Leviathan, would not dare to underestimate it.

At that time, the Sea Dragon Clan would also be able to ascend to the top of this world's food chain, lording over countless Sea Beasts!

"Speaking of which, Boss, how do you plan to deal with the Sea Dragon Clan's wrath?" the chubby guy's questioning voice rang out.

Su Bai didn't even turn his head: "Don't call me Boss."

The chubby guy chuckled, "Anyway, I've decided you're my Boss. After you become the ruler of a Divine Realm, don't forget about me, your little brother."

The reason the chubby guy acted this way was, on one hand, because he saw Su Bai's potential.

By now, any normal person could see Su Bai's immense potential, and that he was very likely to become a true god in the future.

On the other hand, he also recognized Su Bai's character.

Previously, his public offering of the dragon egg to Su Bai was a test.

If Su Bai were purely self-interested, he would absolutely not have accepted the dragon egg in public.

This would have been equivalent to transferring the potential risks from the chubby guy to himself.

After all, as long as the Creators present thought carefully, they would understand the astonishing value of this dragon egg, which was found by digging up the Sea Dragon Clan's ancestral grave.

If Su Bai hadn't accepted the dragon egg, or even rebuked him publicly, the risk could have been minimized.

Afterward, with his strength, even if he forcibly snatched it, the chubby guy would not have been his match.

But Su Bai did not do that.

Instead, he naturally accepted the dragon egg, not making the chubby guy a scapegoat, and sharing a considerable portion of the potential threat.

This showed that, at the very least, Su Bai was not a treacherous villain, and his character was trustworthy.

However, this view only lasted for one second for the chubby guy.

"You asked how to deal with the Sea Dragon Clan's wrath?" Su Bai's eyelids didn't even lift as his faint voice sounded: "Aren't there other islands?"

The chubby guy hadn't yet reacted to what was happening.

Then, he heard Su Bai's face reveal a meaningful smile: "This world isn't just populated by our group of examinees..."

Hearing this, the chubby guy's expression instantly changed, his pupils widening as he looked at Su Bai in shock.

Holy cow!

There's a schemer!!!

...Diverting trouble to others, this was a method Su Bai had thought of long ago.

Even before the first Sea Beast Tide, after understanding the rules, he had a vague suspicion.

Perhaps, the assessment in this world was not as simple as the rules stated!

At first glance, it seemed that one only needed to hold out for three minutes and collect all the ark fragments.

However, the subsequent arrival of the first Sea Beast Tide, and the message after its end, further confirmed Su Bai's conjecture.

[Countdown to the next Sea Beast Tide: 30 minutes]

Half an hour, with no defined end time, only an early warning for the next Sea Beast Tide.

What did this signify?

Su Bai's gaze was cold, "If I'm not mistaken, the key to this stage, whether it was the previous struggle for the island master position or the 31 ark fragments..."

"...and even now, this increasingly rapid Sea Beast Tide..."

"The purpose behind it all is only one!"

"That is, to force the examinees within this world to engage in battle in the shortest possible time, thereby selecting this year's top scholar of the province and the ultimate top scholar of great xia!"

At the very top of the Crystal Fortress, Jiang Ruyue, the chubby guy, and the other Creators, listening to Su Bai's calm analysis, all changed their expressions slightly.

Some of the more impatient individuals immediately asked nervously:

"Does that mean we're forced to fight against all the provinces?"

Su Bai nodded, "There's no doubt about that."

Immediately, these Creators turned ashen.

With the strength of just one province, they had to contend with 30 other provinces, including a mysterious prodigy whose points even surpassed Su Bai's!

They learned this after checking the leaderboard.

What's more, besides facing competition from other provinces, they also had a group of Sea Dragons lurking underwater, ready to retaliate at any moment!

With internal and external troubles, this group of people couldn't think of any chance of winning.

So, they all began to have thoughts of giving up:

"Why don't we just surrender?"

"Yeah, at this point, with our current performance, even joining a top-tier intermediate academy wouldn't be a problem!"

"That's right, what's more, Su Bai, School Beauty Jiang, and the chubby guy, your three scores are also at the top, even if you don't participate, you're guaranteed admission to a senior academy!"

"That's right, Su Bai, why don't we just surrender?"

...A group of people actually started to persuade Su Bai to surrender.

Morale was low, and they had no thoughts of winning.

Su Bai, however, was not in a hurry at all.

He calmly put forward his solution:

"It's not impossible to win, look here."

Mental power surged, carving a rough map onto the crystallized ground.

The map was densely dotted with islands, including Su Bai's current island and those of the other thirty provinces.

It seemed the World Tower had deliberately arranged their islands so closely, which aligned with Su Bai's previous guess.

The World Tower's goal was to make them fight each other, to quickly determine this year's top scholar of great xia!

The reason Su Bai obtained this map was by chance.

Earlier, the chubby guy had stumbled upon it by accident while fleeing.

Thinking of this, even Su Bai couldn't help but marvel at the coincidence of the situation; it was simply too perfect.

However, it wasn't unimaginable.

After all, in the face of the terrifying Sea Beast Tide, who else but an eccentric like the chubby guy would dare to venture beyond the island's perimeter and actively explore the nearby sea?

When the map appeared, everyone still didn't understand Su Bai's meaning.

Su Bai stretched out a finger, pointing to the island closest to them, and chuckled:

"You're right."

"If things proceed normally, we'll not only face continuous Sea Beast Tides but also need to guard against potential sneak attacks from other provincial islands."

"But what if we change our way of thinking?"

"Change our way of thinking?"

The chubby guy played the role of a good straight man, successfully drawing everyone's attention to Su Bai's upcoming words.

Su Bai gave the chubby guy an appreciative look, then continued:

"Exactly, change our way of thinking!"

"Since staying put will only lead to internal and external troubles, what if we take the initiative to attack?"

This completely bewildered everyone; they had no idea what Su Bai was planning.

Jiang Ruyue, however, showed a thoughtful expression, then a hint of realization, and said happily:

"Mu Tou, do you mean to lure the tiger out of its mountain lair?"

Su Bai stroked Jiang Ruyue's little head; it was soft and felt good to the touch.

He smiled and said, "You're teachable."

Jiang Ruyue pouted, struggling a bit in dissatisfaction, but no matter what, she couldn't escape Su Bai's grasp.

Finally, she could only resignedly let Su Bai 'torment' her in his palm, looking at him with resentful eyes...

Ten minutes later, the entire army assembled!

The ice and snow goddess walked at the very front, and with a command, her Silver Rank frost power was unleashed without reservation!

Paired with the numerous ice-attributed transcendent creatures behind her, she actually froze a thousands-meter-long ice and snow corridor directly on the vast sea surface!

And at the end of it, was precisely the island that was not far from Su Bai in the previous map!