Chapter 121 The Arrow and the Assassin

On the vast land, it was divided into tens of thousands of grids, each grid being twenty meters by twenty meters in size.

Xu Jingming and tens of thousands of other experts stood in the center of each grid.

"Hmm?" Xu Jingming could see that his grid was covered by a translucent barrier, preventing the contestants from interfering with each other.

"The preliminaries are divided into two rounds," a booming voice echoed across the vast land. "In the first round, you will face arrows! The arrows will appear from the barrier and shoot towards your heads! The speed of the arrows will increase. Being shot means elimination! The first round begins!"

Xu Jingming immediately saw a translucent arrow condense on the translucent barrier, and then it shot towards his head with a whoosh.

"So slow," Xu Jingming observed.

This arrow was ten meters away from him! The flying speed was estimated to be only one hundred meters per second, too slow.

"An arrow this slow wouldn't even pierce my facial muscles if it hit my face," Xu Jingming knew very well how strong a perfect planetary lifeform's body was, but he wouldn't be foolish enough to use his face to catch the arrow. He took a step, and his walking speed was faster than the arrow's speed! The arrow slowly flew past his side.

With Xu Jingming's nerve reaction speed, watching an arrow traveling at one hundred meters per second was like an ordinary, unevolved person watching an ant crawl—it was simply too slow.

An arrow traveling at one hundred meters per second, even if it was shot from a distance of ten meters, posed no threat to Xu Jingming, not to mention the tens of thousands of other contestants present.

Li Miaomiao also dodged it easily.

"Swish."

The second translucent arrow condensed faster, and its flying speed also increased.

Time passed by, second by second.

"These arrows are condensing faster and faster, and there's no pattern. Many of them are coming from behind," Old Master Xu had already taken off his light armor because the arrows were all aimed at the head. Wearing armor wouldn't help much and would only affect his speed and agility.

Each time, there was only one arrow!

But it could appear from the front, above, behind, and even shoot out the moment it appeared! The speed was also getting faster and faster.

"I can't do it anymore." Old Master Xu sensed a fluctuation from his side and rear. He tried his best to dodge, but an arrow still shot in from the lower jaw on his side, and Old Master Xu's body turned into an illusion.

Ordinary third-order contestants were being eliminated one after another.

Because Li Miaomiao practiced swordsmanship, she paid great attention to her footwork, and with Xu Jingming's guidance, she lasted longer. But as many high-end third-order contestants were eliminated, she was also taken away by an arrow.

…

"A large number of contestants have been eliminated," the female host said, watching the figures turn into illusions in the live broadcast.

"Even if you stand in the center, the arrows are only ten meters away! Ten meters is too close, and the arrows are getting faster and faster. Moreover, many of them are coming from the side or even behind. You can't rely on your eyes! You can only sense the fluctuations in the air, which requires a very high level of perception," male guest Owen sighed. "There are fewer and fewer contestants on the field. I estimate that those still on the field are at least at the fourth-order level."

1201…1156…1083…988…

The numbers displaying the number of contestants kept jumping and decreasing.

"These arrows are too hard to dodge." Xu Hong felt a pain in his ear, and his body began to turn into an illusion.

…

"I'm good at footwork, but I can't hold on much longer." Dai Xiaoqing relied entirely on sensing the air fluctuations to resist the increasingly terrifying hidden arrows. Finally, an arrow took her away as well.

…

"Too difficult." Yang Qingshuo also felt increasingly strained, feeling like he could make a mistake at any moment. Suddenly, the arrow attacks stopped.

Yang Qingshuo was a little stunned.

"Congratulations to the 500 of you who have passed the first round of the preliminaries," a booming voice echoed across the vast land. "Of course, this first round was just a warm-up. The second round of the preliminaries is the most brutal, and we must select the strongest 32."

"In the second round, assassins will appear around you, either individually or in groups! The assassins will do everything they can to besiege you, and what you need to do… is survive as long as possible."

"The second round will end when there are 32 people left on the field."

"Reminder: Don't think about defending. Try to kill as many enemies as possible! Otherwise, the number of assassins will increase, and the threat will become greater and greater."

"The second round begins!"

As soon as the voice fell, Xu Jingming saw a translucent assassin condense and appear at the barrier ten meters away. The translucent assassin was holding a single saber and pounced towards Xu Jingming the moment he appeared.

Xu Jingming held a shield in each hand. He didn't plan to use spearmanship! These challenges posed too little threat to spearmanship.

"I might as well practice my shield techniques. Besides, shield techniques are more suitable for dealing with unexpected situations." Xu Jingming watched the assassin come over and didn't dodge. He directly smashed a shield over.

Bang!

The shield smashed over like thunder, hitting the assassin's saber and colliding with the assassin's body. The translucent assassin was directly scattered by the impact.

Xu Jingming's shield techniques were learned from 'Ambrose,' the tenth-order expert he had possessed! Ambrose's shield techniques were solid and impenetrable when defending, but extremely domineering when attacking, as if carrying the power of the entire spacetime to smash the enemy. This extremely forceful shield technique suited Xu Jingming's temperament very well.

His shield techniques were also known for being forceful. According to the virtual world's assessment, Xu Jingming's compatibility with Ambrose was as high as 99.9321%.

"The battle range is twenty meters by twenty meters, which is very small for experts. Facing an assassin siege will be even more dangerous," Xu Jingming thought. Of course, it wasn't dangerous at all for him.

Two shields slammed fiercely at the enemies in all directions.

He killed one with each hit! Each one turned into an illusion! When three or five appeared, they were like a tiger's big paws continuously slapping three or five to death.

"According to the information we received from our commentators, the assassins appearing are all at the fourth-order level! Moreover, their strength will continue to increase over time," the female host said. "Now there are only three hundred experts left on the field. They are all well-known top experts from various countries. The rate of elimination is very fast now."

"The assassins are coming too fast." Although Wang Yi had reached the fourth-order limit, she also had a skill in rapid archery, shooting and killing assassins one after another.

But these assassins were also equipped with shields and heavy armor. Only their heads were vulnerable.

The range was too small! A slight mistake and she was forced into close combat.

"Pfft." A flash of a saber streaked across Wang Yi's body.

Wang Yi was eliminated.

…

"Not good." Yang Qingshuo, who was in the midst of a fierce battle, was also becoming increasingly strained. He was struggling to resist the siege of five assassins, but three new assassins appeared. Eight assassins… Some were good at hidden weapons, some were good at heavy weapons, and some were good at assassination. Surrounded, Yang Qingshuo was instantly overwhelmed.

…

There were only 103 people left on the field, and the number continued to decrease over time. Xiong Tianshan, Gao Chong, and other top experts from Xia Country fell one after another.

"I must hold on, hold on."

Li Wenxiu wielded the Bagua double axes, her footwork was ghostly, and she tried her best to kill the enemy.

Only by killing more could the number of enemies be reduced.

But the assassins that appeared were getting stronger and stronger! At least at the mid-level of the fourth order, and there were so many of them, their combined threat was too great.

"Bang, bang." Two assassins holding shields collided with Li Wenxiu, affecting her footwork. At the same time, two assassins released hidden weapons, forcing Li Wenxiu to dodge in a dangerous situation. Three more assassins attacked in close combat!

Li Wenxiu's Bagua double axes slashed across the necks of two assassins, but his chest hurt! A long spear had pierced through his chest.

"No—"

Li Wenxiu was very unwilling, but his body still turned into an illusion.

The moment he was eliminated, the number changed from 93 to 92. The weakest ones still persisting at this moment were at the fourth-order limit!

"Li Wenxiu!"

"No—"

"How is that possible?"

Countless people in Silla covered their heads, unable to believe what they were seeing.

Their Silla's number one expert, who had persisted the longest in the preliminaries, had finally fallen, still quite far from the top 32 spots.

After many top experts around the world had stagnated at the fourth-order limit, what they were competing in at this time was combat ability! Even among those at the same 'fourth-order limit,' the strength they displayed was different.

"There are only a hundred people left now. Are Miyagawa Akari and Kiyosato Toichi the only ones left in our Sakura Country?"

"This competition for the thirty-two spots is too brutal."

People in various countries were very nervous.