71: Chapter 71 Doomsday City

Chapter 71: Doomsday Urban Area (Seeking Subscriptions)

When the piercing white light receded like a tide, Li Wen opened his eyes again, and a smell of gunpowder mixed with rust and damp decay rushed into his nostrils.

He found himself kneeling on one knee on a small hill made of rubble.

In his field of vision was a giant city ruin that had experienced an apocalyptic catastrophe—the 【Doomsday Urban Area】.

A broken overpass, like a dying steel python, twisted and smashed into the cracked asphalt road surface, exposing rusty rebar skeletons.

Half-collapsed skyscrapers had remaining glass curtain walls reflecting an eerie light in the dim illumination, mirroring the wreckage of burning cars and overturned GG signs scattered on the street below.

A faint gray dust permeated the air, and a tattered neon sign flickered with the words "Star Department Store," its light intermittently flashing against the backdrop of scorched, pockmarked walls, looking exceptionally desolate.

The street was blocked by debris and concrete fragments, and discarded newspapers spun in the howling wind that rushed through the gaps in the high-rises.

Further in the distance, the "New Era Energy Tower," which pierced the clouds like a giant sword, stood in the city center, emitting a faint blue light. Something seemed to flicker in and out of sight in the shadows at the top of the tower.

The bloody light of the setting sun slanted through the collapsed skeleton of the city, outlining the ruins with a ferocious silhouette, and also stretching out the shadows of countless lurkers on the ground.

In the silence, only the mournful sound of the wind and the creaking of distant metal under stress could be heard, and a sense of crisis weighed heavily on his heart.

Reality · Qingshi County · Observation Areas of Various High Schools

At the same time, on the sports fields or in the large auditoriums of every high school in Qingshi County, huge light screens flickered to life, divided into hundreds of constantly switching sub-screens, live-broadcasting the figures of every top candidate from Qingshi County in the virtual battlefield.

Students from the first and second years of high school were packed shoulder-to-shoulder, and noisy discussions filled every corner.

Everyone craned their necks, cheering on the seniors and senior sisters they were familiar with.

Qingshi No. 1 Middle School:

Huge cheers erupted one after another in the observation area of the First Middle School.

"Look! It's Senior Jiang Lingyun! His swordplay is so cool!"

"He's on the roof of an apartment building, quick, look! Two Blue-Clothed and one Azure-Clothed are pouncing on him together!"

"Wow! The Shadow-Slicing Sword Technique! So strong! He wiped out three instantly! His points are rising so fast!"

All eyes focused on Jiang Lingyun, dressed in snow-white robes, whose movements were graceful and unrestrained. He moved through the perilous ruins like an immortal swordsman; wherever his sword light passed, low-level virtual enemies fell one after another.

Qingshi No. 2 Middle School: "Charge, Brother Tang! Smash them with your chain hammer!" The atmosphere in the observation area of the Second Middle School was enthusiastic and fierce.

In the screen, the burly Tang Jin was swinging his chain hammer and charging into a overturned bus. With a heavy smash of the chain hammer, the vehicle deformed, and the two Blue-Clothed Blade Technique wielders ambushing inside instantly dissolved into data streams, causing his points to rise steadily.

"The Muscle Man of the Second Middle School lives up to his reputation!" The students clapped excitedly.

Qingshi No. 3 Middle School:

The atmosphere on the Third Middle School's field carried a long-suppressed longing and excitement on the verge of eruption.

Most of the eyes, whether students or teachers, were tightly locked onto a few sub-screens.

Especially that figure—"Senior Li Wen! He's there!"

A freshman pointed at the top-left sub-screen and shouted excitedly.

On the screen, Li Wen was crouching behind a low wall, sharply scanning the street ahead.

"It really is him! Unity Realm! How many years has it been since our Third Middle School finally had another Genius graduate who reached the Unity Realm!"

A second-year student clenched his fist, his voice trembling with pride.

"Do you think Senior can break into the top rankings in the county this time?"

"Top thirty is definitely stable! In the past, that was basically the First Middle School's exclusive territory!"

"Top thirty? You underestimate the Unity Realm too much! Currently, there are at most a dozen Unity Realm students publicly known in the county! Senior Li Wen can definitely make the top ten!"

A bespectacled boy pushed up his glasses, stating with certainty.

"That's right! Have you forgotten the Physical Body test just now? He achieved a terrifying punch force of 10.8-level with an 8.0-level Physical Body!"

"This indicates that Senior Li Wen has already walked a great distance on the path of the Unity Realm. Making the top ten is definitely possible! Otherwise, just having just entered the Unity Realm, he would at most aim for the top twenty."

Someone immediately chimed in beside him, speaking excitedly.

"Exactly, top five is even possible!" More people were ignited with confidence, staring intently at Li Wen's sub-screen.

The Third Middle School had been silent for too long; they desperately needed a banner figure like Li Wen to appear.

Time jumped back a few minutes.

Virtual · Doomsday Urban Area · Core Rules Activated

A cold, emotionless mechanical prompt sounded in the minds of all candidates:

"Assessment Mode Loaded: Sharpening the Blade on the Battlefield (Melee)"

"Terrain: Doomsday Urban Area (Random Generation)"

"Enemy Grading (Attire/Strength, the deeper the color, the stronger the strength):

Black (Advanced Blade Technique entry-level)

White (Advanced Blade Technique Minor Achievement)

Red (Advanced Blade Technique Major Achievement)

Orange (Advanced Blade Technique Perfection)

Yellow (Top-tier Saber Technique entry-level)

Green (Top-tier Saber Technique Minor Achievement)

Azure (Top-tier Saber Technique Major Achievement)

Blue (Top-tier Saber Technique Perfection)

Purple (Unity Realm)

Additional Threat: 【Black and White Duality Stance】 (Simulated Momentum Realm Experts × 3, Ultimate Hunters, refresh stronger upon death!)"

"Mode Selection: Point System (Prioritize killing high-value targets), Active Hunting (Enemies will actively search for and surround candidates)"

"Assessment Countdown: 119:59————"

Almost simultaneously, in the previously empty city corners, shadows, and behind broken walls, figures of various colors emerged like ghosts.

Virtual enemies dressed in black, white, red, orange, and other colors held cold standard long sabers, their vacant eyes locking onto the scattered "Life Sources" on the battlefield.

Like activated killing machines, they began moving toward nearby candidates at different speeds and with different strategies.

They made no sound, only the faint whistling of blades cutting through the air and the sound of footsteps crushing gravel, causing the already tense atmosphere to snap to an extreme.

"Active Hunting Mode? Interesting!"

At a street corner, Tang Jin from the Second Middle School licked his lips and instead actively charged toward a group of three rapidly moving Green-Clothed enemies while carrying his heavy shield.

Time quietly slipped away.

Divine Ability Manifests from All Directions, Melee Begins.

Qingshi No. 1 Middle School · Jiang Lingyun (Real-time Points: 1520)

He moved between the faces of the high-rises like a white phantom, his movement technique incomparably light.

— —

Three Azure-Clothed figures had just leaped out of a broken window when sword light swept over them like flowing clouds.

Pfft, pfft, pfft! Three heads flew up, and the corpses dissolved into light before hitting the ground.

The movements were fluid, full of a transcendent rhythm. His points on the light screen instantly jumped up.

The observation area of the First Middle School erupted in even louder cheers. "Sword God! Lingyun Sword God!"