Fight on... Fight on...
Cowardice and incompetence cannot change the status quo.
Li Chen glanced indifferently at the surrounding teams whose fighting spirit had been aroused, and chuckled softly.
"Interesting, but not much..."
"The gap is too big. Is their fearless courage really their source of confidence?"
He looked at the rules explainer, and although the man's expression was serious, Li Chen could sense that this guy just wanted to achieve his goal.
In his eyes, perhaps the importance of other teams is less than that of a small dog... It's all fake.
At this point, the man continued, "Alright, since you haven't chosen to withdraw..."
"Each team will receive a distress token, which is your safety token. You can choose to enter and then leave the competition, but if you lose your token inside, you will have to seek help from other teams."
"Secondly, after the Academy Tournament begins, each team member will be given a watch with two functions: scoring and timekeeping."
"Thirdly, this competition is divided into three stages. Golden Peak is only the first stage. Of course, the latter two stages are only related to the champion, which is the Path of the Kings... There is one more, but I won't go into details."
I wish you all the best in achieving the rankings you desire.
The man snapped his fingers lightly and chuckled, "Then, let the feast begin!"
One magic array after another appeared in the sky.
A small crack appeared in the ground in front of all the teams, from which watches and distress tokens floated out.
As they prepared to depart, the magic array in the sky began to fluctuate, and a pillar of light shone down to the ground, illuminating each team.
Teleportation array...
Unsurprisingly, Li Chen and his companions were also bathed in the beam of light, each with a different expression, all showing a hint of tension.
After glancing indifferently at the magic array in the sky, Li Chen's figure gradually disappeared.
In the darkness.
In the familiar environment of the Secret Realm, Li Chen and his companions had been teleported to an extremely spacious area.
The darkness had little effect on them; Ji Shao flicked his finger, and flames spontaneously arose.
With a "bang".
Ji Shao threw the flame from his fingertips.
In an instant, the entire space seemed to come into contact with the energy of the flames, and sparks began to flicker in the surrounding darkness.
With a whoosh...
The entire space was illuminated.
Su Zhe looked around and said, "Holy crap, this place is huge!"
This wasn't a lie; they had likely been teleported to a small corner of the world, a very large but sealed space.
The surrounding walls were also covered with many strange patterns.
Su Xian squinted, glanced around, and immediately asked, "Something's not right. Where are the other teams?"
"Now that we've reached a small corner, there should be other teams around. Why haven't we made a sound?"
The others were also unsure, having just entered.
Empty~
A whooshing sound rang out.
Suddenly, a dagger shot towards the group, accompanied by a streak of purplish-red energy.
Clearly, someone has made a move against them!!
Li Chen calmly looked in the direction from which the attack came, but as soon as he frowned, the dagger encountered some resistance and fell to the ground instantly.
Several men dressed in black combat uniforms, lurking in the shadows, sensed something was wrong as their daggers were blocked.
It was too easy; almost no one who blocked their attack saw how it was launched!
"Run!"
"These people are not to be trifled with!"
Li Chen looked in that direction and slightly raised his hand to clench it.
With a loud "boom".
It was as if they were grabbed by an invisible hand, and along with the stones, the men were lifted into the sky.
No matter how much energy they poured into that giant energy hand, it was to no avail, causing almost no damage.
"Damn it!!" one of the men cursed, looking somewhat flustered.
They were captured like chicks; the difference in strength was too great.
Li Chen clenched his fist, then turned to Su Xian and asked, "Kill them? Or leave them alive?"
Su Xian's lips twitched, and she said, "There's no need to kill them. After all, this is the Academy Tournament, and these people are all students. Why kill them?"
"Perfect opportunity to ask them how long they've been here."
"I've noticed that the teleportation times seem to be different here; it's like the arrival times for each team have been scrambled!"
"Oh?" Li Chen frowned. Had the timeline been disrupted?
But he quickly realized why.
This approach is naturally correct because the strength of each team is not evenly distributed. Just like if they were to meet ten other teams at the same time, a major battle would be inevitable.
After all, they're all after the map, and there has to be a winner among them, but that starts with finding the map.
However, for strong teams, it's not recommended to defeat all teams first before starting to search.
That's why there's a time discrepancy.
This is an advantage given to weaker teams.
Because they are weaker, they can be allowed to enter first.
How much time has passed since Li Chen and the others entered?
After giving those people a cold look, Li Chen slowly floated the giant energy hand in front of them.
"From this perspective, these people do seem to have some use."
With a loud "boom".
Those people, accompanied by the giant energy hand, fell down.
The men were deathly pale, their lips trembling.
At this moment, Su Xian squatted down, looked at the group, and asked, "How long did it take you to enter the Secret Realm?"
One of the men glanced around, looking somewhat flustered, and said, "We've been inside for three hours already!!"
"Did you just enter?"
Three hours? That long?
Not only was Su Xian surprised, but the others were also somewhat bewildered.
Three hours? Isn't that a bit too late?
Some people might have already started climbing upwards with maps, while they're still stuck at the starting point.
Su Xian frowned and continued, "Since three hours have passed, why are you still here?"
"Was the emergency call sign stolen?"
This was Su Xian's idea, because the rescue command token could be stolen. This wasn't just his guess, as this rule was allowed in previous Academy Tournament.
The man gave a wry smile and said, "You guys are strong, so naturally you got in a little later. Otherwise, what would we weaker teams do?"
"There were five teams that entered first, and we came in later, but the situation was already terrible."
"Students from almost all other academies have died."
"We were attacked as we were coming in, and we lost. Several team members were scattered, and the distress token was among those who got separated."
"Right now, I just want to go back and get the distress token."
Li Chen walked up to the man, his cold gaze falling on the man's panicked eyes, and said, "So, you've set your sights on us?"
"You want to get our distress token and go back?"
"End this game?"
The man felt a nameless fear coursing through his body, and stammered, "I won't do it again, I won't do it again!!"