207: Chapter 206: The War Begins!

At this time, there were still thirteen and a half hours left until the end of the first stage of the competition, but more than half of the contestants had already been eliminated.

There were only a sparse dozen or so contestants' battle screens left, and every contestant who had not yet been eliminated was among the top twenty strongest globally below intermediate Card Makers. No one doubted that any of the remaining contestants were weak.

Especially Sun Po, who came from a civilian Card Maker background. After a series of eye-catching operations, his solid top-twenty ranking finally shut everyone's mouths. On the internet, Sun Po was called the biggest dark horse of this global competition, and his rise to prominence began to be frantically dug up.

Although the [ Yang Guang ] incident caused basically no citizens to know about Sun Po's contribution due to time reversal, in the [ Huzhang ] incident, Sun Po summoning the nether god to devour the Huzhang ghosts without harming the lives of citizens and eliminating harm for the people was solid.

Of course, speculations about Sun Po's rapid rise also began to become a hot topic. All citizens now knew that in addition to [ Wuzhiqi ] and [ Overlord Xiang Yu ], Sun Po also held a nether god card of extremely high quality.

For a time, Sun Po once again became the biggest favorite to win the championship in the hearts of the audience.

Especially since at this time, the battle screens of other contestants were still fighting against the orange monster tide, or had just finished fighting like Li Tiance.

And in Sun Po's screen, the original giant tree jungle had all disappeared, and what appeared in the lens was the boundless [ Sæhrímnir ].

Although the vast majority of the public and even professional Card Makers did not know what grade such a monster was, because this was beyond the scope of their cognition.

But most people had a cognition: those with small sizes were not necessarily weak, but those with large sizes were definitely not weak. This was a truth that human beings had known since ancient times.

The size of [ Sæhrímnir ] could no longer be described as large; its spine was a mountain peak, and the jungle of giant trees a hundred meters thick was merely the mane on its body.

When the full view of this monster was displayed for the first time on the screen, a thought began to rise unanimously in the hearts of all the audience.

"Can such a monster really be killed?"

"Even not to mention killing it, can a monster almost equal to the size of a continent really be defeated?"

At this moment, the screens of the other contestants were still mumbling incoherently, but Sun Po's screen had already entered the next dimension.

Anyone with a discerning eye knew that this was probably what all contestants would face in the so-called next stage, and the true challenge of this terrifying secret realm.

After all, when first entering the secret realm, the scenes where all contestants were located were different, coupled with the vastly different styles of monsters each contestant faced, which also aroused many viewers' doubts.

But within just a few hours, the second wave of monsters had reached the point where monsters of the orange grade swarmed in groups, and even eliminated down to only a dozen or so contestants left. So what about the next? What changes would happen to this competition after the countdown ended? What would these contestants face next?

Now, Sun Po's battle screen had perhaps given the answer: gold-quality monsters!! This was the monster that all contestants needed to face in the next stage.

This was the real challenge, and also the strong ones among the monsters that extraterritorial warriors needed to face in combat.

Yet Sun Po and the others were still proud sons of heaven, possessing orange or even gold cards, while the Heavenly Soldiers relied upon by those warriors were mostly only of purple grade. Even Heavenly Generals would find it difficult to contend against such monsters.

Such voices had already appeared among the audience, and they began to question the organizers' motives.

"For such a secret realm, let alone high school students, even those university teachers with orange-quality cards entering, I'm afraid it would be hard to be sure of coming out alive, right?"

"Remove the 'hard to', it should be completely impossible to come out alive. You wouldn't think that the card combat power of university teachers from ordinary universities can compare to these contestants, would you?"

"My brother-in-law is a combat department teacher at the academy, but his card is only a [ Millennium Tree Spirit ] that has just entered the orange quality. Facing this kind of secret realm? I guarantee my brother-in-law can barely even survive the first wave."

"Teachers' cards in ordinary undergraduate colleges are about at the orange level. After all, wouldn't it be better for genuinely capable people among civilians to become material hunters, join those large material hunter groups, and live in luxury? Why be a tiny teacher at an academy?"

"Yeah, the quality of teachers in family academies of those major noble clans might be a bit higher, but I think coping with this secret realm is still a stretch."

"At least look at what kind of contestants are in here! The young masters of the Qin Family, Li Family, and Yuan Family among the Five Surnames and Seven Clans, among whom the Yuan Family young master has even been eliminated. What about the rest? Jiang Cha of the Jiang Family is also from the Jiang Family, one of the Five Surnames and Seven Clans. Including foreign contestants like Black Dragon Knight Nefarian, Black Pharaoh, Red-Bearded Eric, and Yushou Qingming—anyone with a slight channel to understand international news knows that these few are also major leaders in their respective countries. To be precise, among the dozen or so remaining contestants now, only Master Sun and Liu Jianren come from a civilian background, and what's even more amazing is that these two actually come from the same high school and the same class."

"When you put it that way, this school and this head teacher really feel like they have some substance!"

"Far from just having some substance, this head teacher herself is also an orange card, and not some stinky fish and rotten shrimp like the Three Families, but a real [ true name card ]."

"No. 2 Municipal High School in Gaoping City, the head teacher is called Yang Xinyue. When my child goes to high school next year, I will send him there."

"The spots were sold out long ago. That principal clearly marked the price, starting the bidding at 100,000 per spot, with the highest bidder winning. They were already sold out during the provincial competition."

"Damn it, as expected, good educational resources are not circulated on the market. I acted too slowly again."

Under the global live broadcast, the audience watching the competition included all kinds of people, and the topics they cared about were naturally bizarre. Of course, besides those worrying about educational issues here, there were also those who were truly using their brains.

"Judging from the current situation, for a secret realm of this intensity, if every contestant wants to reach Sun Po's level, they must at least have the ability to contend against monsters above the gold quality."

"This is impossible. I think the officials must still have backup plans. Among the contestants who entered, there are only two commoners. Which of the rest is not either wealthy or noble? Take Yuan Zongli, the young master of the Yuan Family, the confirmed heir of the Yuan Family. If he just dies like this, will the Yuan Family let it rest?"

"Although the heirs of these noble clans are not easily chosen, none of them are softies. Every single one of them rose to power amidst life-and-death crises. Haven't quite a few previous heirs died halfway through?"

"In my opinion, the Five Surnames and Seven Clans are inherently the most prosperous families among the noble clans. To guard this prosperity, their descendants naturally have to undergo tempering through life and death. If they die, it means their destiny is not enough, and they are not sufficient to lead the family to continue standing proudly in the forest of these noble clans."

These words were resounding, and it could be heard that the speaker had given it some thought. However, under the condition of insufficient information and limited knowledge, these ordinary citizens were simply not enough to judge what was reasonable and what was unreasonable.

For a large secret realm packed with gold monsters like the one before them, if there were no backup plans, it could actually be said not to be a trial, but already courting death.

Below intermediate Card Makers, at the level of high school students, to explore a secret realm where purple is everywhere, orange is as common as dogs, and there is more than one gold?

This is not a nine-deaths-and-one-life situation; this is almost ten deaths and zero survival. It can be said that except for a few contestants, most contestants completely lack the possibility of engaging with gold-quality monsters.

But among these contestants, if anyone currently looked most likely to contend against gold-quality monsters, it was Sun Po, who pushed forward the competition's progress the fastest.

Especially when all the viewers saw [ Wuzhiqi ] condense the cyan [ Ren Water Divine Power ] in his hand once again to punch a crack into the void, their hearts became even more certain of this point.

"Master Sun is still fierce. As expected of a gold card, though I don't know what kind of card it is, it can shatter the void with a casual wave."

"I was speaking too loudly earlier. Master Sun's big monkey card feels way too comprehensive. Earlier it communicated with that group of big monkeys, then those armored soldiers also seemed to be its summons. Just now, a single strike startled this big wild boar, pushing forward the competition's progress, and now it can shatter the void with just a casual move or two. How can a mere monkey be so ridiculously perfect?"

"But I heard that a year ago, Master Sun's card in hand was still a [ Gray 1-Star ] [ Spirit Monkey ]. This is also a monkey, I wonder if there's any connection."

"You're comparing the disgrace of the Three Families to Master Sun's gold card? This is the funniest joke I've heard this year."

"Master Sun has moved. How does he still have a card? Where did this crimson-armored person come from? Is it part of the same series as the black set on Master Sun?"

"Whoa, Master Sun's big monkey is truly comprehensive. It can grow this big in an instant? That height must be more than three hundred meters, right?"

"Although it's still a little one compared to that wild boar, why do I feel that this big monkey's momentum is not much weaker than that wild boar? Wait, where is Master Sun?"

"This black-armored person and red-armored person? This water cloud? How did Master Sun get into Li Tiance's screen?"

"Things are getting exciting. This big monkey is also so fierce, but the flesh growth speed of this wild boar makes it feel like it can't be killed at all."

"I understand a bit now. These secret realms are like small scenes, and these contestants are inside these small scenes. I'm afraid only by startling that kind of large monster in the small scene, thereby breaking the small scene to enter the void where Master Sun is, can it be considered truly entering the second stage. Master Sun was the first to break this small scene and enter the large scene, and Master Sun even went from the large scene into a teammate's small scene to help the teammate. I'm crying to death."

"No, is Master Sun really this strong? Who on earth is the noble family heir, and who is the civilian Card Maker?"

"All I can say is that the gold content of Master Sun as a captain is still rising."

And Li Tiance's shock upon seeing Sun Po was not a bit less than the audience's.

Although he couldn't see the battle screens of all contestants, he also deduced some truth through the elimination screens projected by his watch.

He understood that this secret realm was probably frighteningly large, and every contestant was separated. He feared it would be very difficult to reunite with Sun Po in a short time.

He had also imagined the scene of meeting with Sun Po—perhaps at the end of the magma, patch after patch of new continents would appear, and Sun Po would be on one of those continents.

Perhaps beneath this abyss, leading to a new world, and only by passing through their respective scenes could they reunite in that new world, and Sun Po would be waiting for him in that new world.

But Li Tiance hadn't expected it to be this kind of meeting way.

When he was facing a formidable enemy and about to exhaust all his trump cards, Sun Po brought a person he had never seen before, stepping on a cloud and drifting down from a crack in the sky.

Meanwhile, seeing the array set up by Li Tiance, Sun Po also sighed inwardly: as expected of the Li Family's heir.

When seeing him at the provincial competition, [ Yuchi Yigde ] and [ Qin Qiong ] were still purple cards, and the Door Gods state used against [ Yang Guang ] looked not very solid either. A single shot of the golden bow and white arrow was enough to completely paralyze him.

Now, Li Tiance could summon an even more solid Door Gods army, and could even simultaneously use the more powerful golden bow and white arrow.

Especially the figures filtering out from the palaces behind [ Xuanwu Gate ] looked quite formidable.

One could only say that it was not just himself who was progressing; but if it came to who progressed the fastest, I'm afraid no one else fit that description better than himself.

Sun Po dispersed the water cloud and landed beside Li Tiance along with the [ flame dragon armor ] by his side.

Sun Po transmitted his voice in his heart: "Brother Tiance, don't waste your energy on this guy. There will be places where you need to exert your strength later. As for this one, leave it to me."

Li Tiance knew that Sun Po's [ Wuzhiqi ] was a water-attribute ancient deity, which had a relatively restrictive effect on the fire-attribute gold monster before him. Therefore, he did not decline politely, merely expressed his gratitude, and dispersed the life-or-die arrow in his hand.

Even though Li Tiance had many questions in his heart right now, the monster beneath the abyss had revealed its full appearance.

That was a giant whose whole body seemed to be condensed from flames and magma, and the previous lava stone pillar turned out to be merely the massive lava sword in its hand.

Although the size of this monster was far from as huge as [ Sæhrímnir ], judging from the aura it exuded, it was not weaker than [ Sæhrímnir ].

And it was only smaller than [ Sæhrímnir ]; its body, thousands of meters tall, still stretched endlessly out of sight. Even compared to [ Wuzhiqi ] who had used [ Lawful Embodiment of Heaven and Earth ], it was much larger, let alone Sun Po and Li Tiance.

At this time, the magma secret realm had also become fragmented, and the entire [ Xuanwu Gate ] was immersed in magma. Both Sun Po and Li Tiance needed to expend more spirituality to cope with this harsh environment, and both knew it was not the time for pleasantries.

But strangely, Li Tiance did not see [ Wuzhiqi ], and that crimson armor was something Li Tiance had never seen before. Just as he was still guessing, Sun Po had already patted the shoulder of the [ flame dragon armor ], pointed at the lava giant in front of him, and said: "Go. This is your first battle. Let me see the power of the Chaos Fire."

From the moment it entered this magma secret realm, the [ flame dragon armor ] constantly emitted joyful sounds, and upon seeing this huge lava giant, it transmitted an extremely strong yearning emotion to Sun Po.

Now, at Sun Po's command, the [ flame dragon armor ] was completely free of shackles. It leaped up abruptly and charged towards the huge lava giant.