147: Generous special rewards

Inside the "Trial Grounds" Secret Realm.

(The number of contestants remaining is 100. Triggering Secret Realm rules: the Preliminary Round has officially ended. Closing Secret Realm!)

...

When the Secret Realm's notification sounded in their ears, Zhao Mingkong and the warrior-class contestant stopped their movements with ugly expressions on their faces.

"Bastard!"

"Consider yourself lucky this time. When the arena matches start, you won't have the Anti-Magic Domain to rely on. I'll deal with you properly then."

Zhao Mingkong glared fiercely at Wang Chen, his tone incredibly cold and unwilling.

In his view, if it weren't for the Holy Mountain's Anti-Magic Domain, Wang Chen would have long been turned into a barbecue by his fire magic.

However, Wang Chen didn't care about his words at all.

He just gave a faint glance at Zhao Mingkong, who was dissipating into spots of light, and withdrew his gaze.

At this moment.

The Secret Realm notification sounding in his ears was somewhat different from the others.

(Congratulations to contestant Wang Chen for ranking first on the points leaderboard. Rewards are now being distributed!)

(Distributing rewards...)

(Please wait!)

Hearing the notification, Wang Chen's eyes held some anticipation.

Soon.

A treasure chest emitting multicolored light appeared before him.

Without hesitation, Wang Chen chose to open the treasure chest directly.

In an instant, dazzling light filled his vision as items emerged one by one.

The Investigation technique swept over them...

[200 million Experience Points.]

[200 Free Attribute Points.]

[200 Free Skill Points.]

[Platinum Grade Equipment: Gale Boots.]

[Special Title: Reapers.]

...

Seeing the information returned by the Investigation technique, Wang Chen nodded in satisfaction.

These rewards, exclusive to the first place, were indeed generous.

The 200 million experience points were directly absorbed by him, causing his and the two little ones' Ranks to jump straight to Rank 70.

[Beast Pet: Nine-tailed Celestial Fox.]

[Nickname: Su Su.]

[Gender: Female.]

[Age: One month (Juvenile stage)]

[Rank: Rank 70.]

[Tier: Ancestral Divine Beast.]

[Talent: Infinite Growth (SSS)]

[Four-dimensional Attributes: Strength 3450; Wisdom 4150; Physique 3450; Agility 3550. (Without any BUFF, equipment, or item enhancements.)]

[Skills: Illusory Body (SSS), Scarlet Eyes (SSS), Bewitching All Living Things (SSS), Nine-tailed World Destruction (SSS), Mark of Enslavement (SSS).]

[Loyalty: 100.]

[Equipment: None.]

[Description: Omitted.]

...

[Beast Pet: Ancient Overlord. Extremely Cold Dragon.]

[Nickname: Ice Purity.]

[Gender: Female.]

[Age: Two months (Juvenile stage)]

[Rank: Rank 70.]

[Tier: Ancestral Divine Beast.]

[Talent: Infinite Growth (SSS)]

[Four-dimensional Attributes: Strength 3650; Wisdom 3650; Physique 3650; Agility 3650. (Without any BUFF, equipment, or item enhancements.)]

[Skills: Frost Body (SSS), Extreme Cold Breath (SSS), Ice Hell (SSS), Dragon Might (SSS), Frost Fury (SSS)]

[Loyalty: 100.]

[Equipment: None.]

[Description: Omitted.]

...

[Name: Wang Chen.]

[Class: Giant-Beast Master.]

[Rank: Rank 70]

[Talents: Affection of Myriad Beasts (SSS), Beast Pet Fusion (God).]

[Skills: Beast Taming Art (S), Beast Taming Rejuvenation (B), Bloodline Identification Technique (God), Contract Summon (B), Instant Sword (D), Wind Blade Technique (C), Bloodthirsty Berserk (B), Beast Pet Amplification Technique (B), Crescent Moon Slash (A), Lightning Step (A), Charged Strike (A).]

[Strength: 1605+630 points.]

[Wisdom: 1745+100 points.]

[Physique: 1605+450 points.]

[Agility: 1625+250 points.]

[Unassigned Attribute Points: 0 points.]

[Unassigned Skill Points: 0 points.]

...

Wang Chen distributed the attribute points evenly. As for the skill points obtained from leveling up and rewards, he added them to Lightning Step.

This raised the skill level of the A-grade skill, Lightning Step, to Level 3, increasing its effect by ten percent.

Now, even disregarding his actual strength and just looking at his Rank, he had already reached the top tier among all contestants.

Having settled those, his gaze shifted to the last two items.

[Equipment: Gale Boots.]

[Type: Armor.]

[Grade: Platinum.]

[Rank Requirement: Rank 70.]

[Attributes: Agility +300.]

[Enchanted Effects: 1. Increases movement speed by 20%. 2. Water Walk: Actively activates the effect, allowing the wearer to walk on water as light as a feather.]

...

Seeing the attribute information of this piece of equipment, a flash of satisfaction appeared in Wang Chen's eyes.

Whether it was the increased attributes or the enchanted effects, both were quite useful to him.

Directly swapping the equipment, he focused his attention on the final item.

[Special Title: Reapers.]

[Title Effect: Increases attack power by 10% when facing humanoid enemies.]

"Hiss!"

Seeing the title effect, Wang Chen couldn't help but suck in a breath.

Although the effect was simple, the boost was incredibly powerful. This would make it much easier for him to win against other opponents in the future, especially the contestants he would encounter in the upcoming arena matches.

"Now that my Rank has reached the limit of the Second Awakening, I'll have to start preparing for my Class Advancement once the Freshman Championship ends."

"When I have time later, I'll also need to visit the Trading Market to pick out my third beast pet in advance."

After checking his gains, Wang Chen thought with some anticipation.

At the same time, the power of rules in the Secret Realm surged, and he began to be teleported away.

...

...

"It's over!"

"I really didn't expect that the first place in the preliminaries would be taken by Wang Chen, who has the lowest Rank among the contestants."

"Indeed, who would have thought that at Rank 65, his strength would be so beyond the norm!"

"Even the Rank 70 Zhao Mingkong couldn't take him down!"

"However..."

"The Rank gap between Wang Chen and the others is likely to be leveled now!"

"I remember that the first place in the Preliminary Round gets a special reward from the Secret Realm, and it's extremely generous!"

"..."

In the Grand Stadium, as the image on the circular screen froze, all the spectators couldn't help but start discussing.

This year's preliminary results could be said to have exceeded their expectations.

First place was taken with an indisputable advantage by Wang Chen, who had the lowest Rank among all contestants.

At this moment.

While the audience was buzzing with discussion, the image on the circular screen dimmed, and the avatars of the contestants appeared one after another.

The Preliminary Round ended, and the determination of slots for the Official Tournament began.

For a moment.

Everyone subconsciously held their breath, their eyes fixed on the screen.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Soon, the screen's image froze again, and the freshly released preliminary rankings appeared before everyone's eyes.

[1st Place: Blazing Dragon University.]

[2nd Place: Huaqing University.]

[3rd Place: Southern Saint University.]

[...]

[58th Place: Yanhua University.]