108: Chapter 108 Server-wide Tournament? A Casual Player Wins the Championship

The red maples of Luofeng Village swirled and landed on the stone table on the earthen slope. A breeze carrying a faint trace of Natural Divine Power swept through the Elf District, while the soft glow of the Laurel Lamps made everyone feel warm and cozy. Lin Chen was nibbling on half a piece of Osmanthus Spirit Honey Cake, his short little legs dangling and swinging. Before him floated a pale gold screen where the combat power data of players across all Novice Areas flickered densely. Nearby, Lin Yueyao held a high priests scepter that was taller than she was, squatting on the ground to poke at a Thousand-Year Fire Dragon Egg for fun. The eggshell made thumping sounds as she poked it, making the Great Elder of the Elves, who was watching from the side, break into a cold sweat, fearing this little ancestor might poke the dragon egg into pieces if she used too much force.

“There are still so many complaints about solo players being bullied by guilds lately.” Lin Chen chewed on his Spirit Honey Cake, his little brow furrowing as he spoke in a milky, childish voice. “I want to hold a server-wide Novice Martial Arts Tournament to give benefits to solo players. I also want to reward the strongest person so those bad guilds won't dare to bully people randomly anymore!”

Lin Yueyao raised her little head, her light brown deer-like eyes sparkling. She shook the scepter in her hand and chimed in with her milky voice, “Add a fairness buff to stop cheating!”

Lin Chen clapped his small hands and laughed. With a wave of his soft little paws, pale golden Threads of Rules instantly surged into the server-wide announcement backend. In the next second, a bright gold pinned announcement popped up in the vision of all online players simultaneously, staying lit for a full fifteen seconds before disappearing:

[Server-wide Announcement: The 1st Server-wide Novice Area Martial Arts Tournament has officially begun! All players below Level 20 can sign up for free. The tournament will be fair and just throughout; any form of cheating is strictly prohibited, and violators will be permanently banned from all Novice Area privileges!

Tournament Rewards:

3rd Place: 3 free entries to the Elf Secret Realm, 10% All-Drop Rate Buff (30 days)

2nd Place: 5 free entries to the Elf Secret Realm, 15% All-Drop Rate Buff (60 days)

Champion: 10 free entries to the Elf Secret Realm, Permanent 20% All-Drop Rate Buff, and one week of exclusive mining rights for the Shadow Crystal Mine in Luofeng Village (can mine 10 High-grade Shadow Crystal Cores daily)!

The final right of interpretation for this event belongs to the Archon of Luofeng Village, Lin Chen!]

The entire server was dead silent for three seconds, and then it completely exploded!

The messages on the world channel were so frequent that the server lagged for three seconds. Tens of millions of messages stacked together, all of them being howls of pure ecstasy:

“Holy crap? A permanent 20% drop rate buff? And mining rights for the Shadow Crystal Mine? A High-grade Shadow Crystal Core is worth three thousand copper coins each! That’s over two hundred thousand copper coins in a week! This is hitting the jackpot!”

“Sign up! I have to sign up! That bastard Tiger Alliance stole my Blue-tier equipment three times before. If I win a prize this time, I’ll slap them until their faces are swollen!”

“Lord Lin Chen is the GOAT! These benefits are way too good! The official competitions are so stingy, only giving out some trash Green-tier equipment. Compared to this, they aren't worth a damn!”

The high-level members of the major guilds also instantly turned red-eyed with greed. The Shadow Crystal Mine was a unique and scarce resource in the entire server. If they could get the mining rights, they could make over a million copper coins just by selling the cores, not to mention the permanent 20% drop rate buff. If stacked on core members, their equipment farming speed would be twenty-five percent faster than others!

The leader of the War Soul Alliance immediately ordered in the guild channel that all core members Level 19 and above must sign up; if they didn't win the championship, everyone would have three months of benefits deducted. Lingxiao Pavilion directly selected five top-tier Assassin players and spent a week practicing specific combat routines, declaring, 'The championship definitely belongs to Lingxiao Pavilion. Whoever dares to snatch it, we’ll block their leveling spots directly.' Other guilds, large and small, also sent out their strongest combatants, one by one rubbing their hands in anticipation of claiming the championship.

Just three hours after the registration opened, the number of applicants surpassed one million. The officials had to temporarily open ten additional sets of tournament servers just to barely stabilize the lag. The entire tournament was broadcast live across the server, with tens of millions of players watching in the stream, the gifts flooding the screen until it was almost impossible to see.

The qualifying rounds were fought with intense heat. Many solo players who were usually oppressed by guilds suddenly erupted, relying on their solid skills to topple many guild players wearing full sets of Blue-tier equipment. The cheers in the livestream rose wave after wave. Soon, the top eight list was released; seven of them were core members of major guilds, with the only exception being a player with the ID [Night Shadow]. He was a solo player Assassin without a guild, wearing a mix of White and Green-tier equipment that looked incredibly shabby. Yet, he relied on his elusive Stealth and precise critical hits to defeat seventeen guild players in a row to advance, without losing even a single drop of health.

“What the hell? A solo player can make it to the top eight? He must be using cheats, right?”

“Lingxiao Pavilion's seed player is already waiting for him in the semifinals. Just wait to see him get turned into dust in a second!”

Before the mockery on the world channel could finish scrolling, the semifinals had already begun. Night Shadow faced off against a Level 19 elite Assassin from Lingxiao Pavilion. The opponent wore a full set of +5 Blue-tier equipment and had even consumed a potion that temporarily increased Agility by 10%. As soon as the match started, he activated a speed buff and charged, his dagger glinting with cold light as it aimed straight for Night Shadow's throat.

Just when everyone thought Night Shadow was about to be killed instantly, his figure suddenly vanished from the spot. His top-tier Stealth skill was used flawlessly. In the next second, he appeared behind his opponent, his poisoned dagger precisely stabbing into the weak point of the back. Three red critical hit numbers floated up in succession: -287! -312! -298!

The elite Assassin from Lingxiao Pavilion didn't even get to release a skill before his health bar was emptied, and he was eliminated on the spot.

The entire arena was silent for three seconds, followed by a deafening eruption of cheers. The gifts in the livestream directly crashed the server, and the world channel was filled with the ecstatic howls of solo players:

“Holy crap? A triple crit? What kind of god-tier operation is this! solo player daddy is awesome!”

“Lingxiao Pavilion's face has been slapped until it's swollen! They were just talking about an instant kill, and then they got instant-killed themselves! Hilarious!”

In the finals, Night Shadow faced a Level 19 Heavy Knight from the War Soul Alliance. The opponent wore +7 Blue-tier heavy armor, had an absurdly high health pool, and even carried a damage reflection buff. Everyone thought Night Shadow couldn't win. However, he relied on extreme positioning to dodge the Knight's Charge skill three times. Taking advantage of the opponent's skill cooldown, he used a combo to strike directly into the gap in the Knight's helmet. Another three critical hits followed, instantly emptying the Knight's health bar and securing the championship!

The entire livestream exploded. Tens of millions of players were spamming the chat simultaneously, causing the server to lag for a full five seconds.

The award ceremony was held in the central square of Luofeng Village. Lin Chen, nibbling on a piece of Spirit Honey Cake, swung his little feet as he handed the rewards to Night Shadow. Seeing his shabby equipment, Lin Chen pulled out a +8 poisoned dagger shimmering with a faint blue cold light and handed it over, smiling in a milky voice: “You fought very well! This extra reward is for you! If any guild bullies you in the future, just give them my name!”

Night Shadow gripped the dagger, looking at the permanent drop rate buff and the mining rights in his inventory. He was so moved that he fell to his knees with a 'thud,' his voice trembling: “Thank you, Lord Archon! From now on, I will definitely lead my solo player brothers to maintain the order of the Novice Area!”

A server-wide announcement followed, spreading the news of Night Shadow's victory across the entire Aethera Continent, specifically highlighting the words 'solo player' in large letters. All solo players instantly boiled with excitement. The frustration of being bullied by guilds was swept away. Many solo players quit their exploitative guilds on the spot and spontaneously organized a Solo Player Alliance to look out for one another.

The high-level members of the major guilds were scared out of their wits. The guilds that had previously engaged in monopolies and snatched loot from solo players issued announcements that same day, promising never to bully solo players again. They even returned the entrance fees they had collected and the equipment they had stolen, fearing that the solo players would band together to report them to Lin Chen and end up with the same fate as the Tiger Alliance.

Far away on the road to Holy Light City, Lin Zhe's fingertips moved slightly as he received a system prompt: [Ding! The 1st Server-wide Novice Area Martial Arts Tournament has concluded successfully. The Awe Value from solo players has risen significantly. Host's Power of Rules +1%, current progress 94%!]

He looked up at the golden spires of Holy Light City faintly visible on the distant horizon, a very slight curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.

Xing Jianwan walked beside him holding her staff, smiling as she shook the terminal in her hand. The screen was filled with messages from the world channel saying 'Lord Lin Chen is awesome.' “Chenchen is becoming more and more reliable in his work. Now all the solo players in the server see him as a living Buddha.”

Lin Zhe gave a faint “Mhm.” His fingertips lightly tapped the saddle as his Rule Perception spread out for thousands of miles. He could clearly feel several malicious auras stirring restlessly from the direction of Holy Light City.