The participants have very little time to prepare; they only have one week.
In the past, this timeframe would have been practically useless; a week wouldn't have been enough to even produce a single armor plate. But in modern Divine Land, a week is more than enough time for them to forge a set of protective gear that meets their requirements.
Time flew by. Although Li Xingkong didn't practice Sword Control Technique with the same intensity as before this week, he still made some progress. If he couldn't practice long-distance sword flight, practicing agility was still good. At least now, when he reaches speeds of over Mach 100, his control over the sword is constantly improving.
Previously it was just about speed, but now it's moving towards being both accurate and fast.
Of course, practice can't be mastered in a day or two. Mastering sword control requires a considerable amount of time to practice. However, Li Xingkong wasn't in a hurry. There weren't many people on Earth Star worth him using this move on.
After days of practice, the time for the main competition finally arrived.
The preliminary rounds were held in provincial capitals across the country, while the main competition was held in Imperial Capital. The number of participants was small, only a little over 100, after the preliminary rounds. With so few people participating, the venue in Imperial Capital was naturally well-equipped.
The organizing committee of the competition gave them plenty of time, and in the past few days, almost all the participants have arrived at the location arranged by the competition and checked in. Along with them came their specially customized first-class seats.
Of the more than 100 people, the vast majority had made the necessary preparations for their armor. Some even started live streaming during the preparation period, showing everyone the entire process of forging their armor, which naturally attracted the attention of countless people.
However, most people still keep their appearance and choice of armor a secret. After all, armor has its weaknesses, and no matter what kind of armor it is, there are corresponding weapons that can break it. Openly displaying it would be like revealing one's weaknesses to everyone, and they wouldn't do something that would cause them trouble.
The main competition still uses a single-round elimination format. Fighting in armor, many people don't have the stamina to play three rounds in a row. Basically, if you can't win the first round, your stamina will drop significantly in the next two rounds, and you won't have much of a chance to turn the tide.
Just as the host was warming up the crowd, the contestants began to put on their armor and head to their designated waiting positions on the ring.
When the live stream camera focused on the contestants, viewers who initially thought it was just an ordinary family fight discovered that the contestants' imaginations were far more exciting than they had imagined.
Only about half of the people chose traditional armor that had played a significant role in history, including infantry armor, iron pagoda armor, plate armor, etc. Their attire was that of traditional fully armed heavy warriors, and their weapons were also relatively traditional, mostly long-handled weapons such as long-handled swords, halberds, spears, long hammers, and longswords. Basically, they were either focused on armor-piercing or heavy blows.
As for the ordinary people, they were quite something. It was as if demons and monsters had entered the village. They combined their own ingenious ideas with the competition rules, and the things they brought were truly bizarre.
The first thing they saw was someone crouching down, pushing something that looked like a small cart. If you didn't look closely, you might mistake it for a man-made tank from World War II. It only had a frontal armor plate, and the rest of the interior was propelled by human power. Although it had wheels and extremely thick frontal armor, pushing it from inside would take up both hands. How could it possibly attack? The audience was quite confused.
There was another person dressed in full armor, probably from some game. Their body was covered in sharp, jagged edges, and if you didn't look closely, you might mistake them for the Demon Clan from some game. Their entire body was covered in thorns, and even their weapon was made of thorns—they were practically a reincarnation of a hedgehog.
Of course, besides these oddly shaped armored figures, there was also a small group of people, probably only 5 or 6, who were completely unarmored. They were just wearing relatively traditional training clothes and stood on the preparation platform.
The audience immediately ruled out these individuals, either because they were confident in their moves or because they couldn't afford armor. Before the advent of firearms, the difference between having armor and not having armor was like heaven and earth for ordinary people.
It's practically impossible for someone without armor to fight someone with armor; this is a bloody lesson learned from thousands of years of historical development.
Of course, this view will change dramatically after this match.
There were so many highlights and so much to criticize that the audience didn't know where to start. But time flies, and before they could even take a few more glances, the competition officially began.
With over 100 people participating, it's impossible to hold matches one by one, as that would take too long. The first match was naturally played simultaneously by everyone.
Guided by the referee, each contestant stepped onto the ring. Unlike the preliminary rounds, this competition had several staff members dressed in white next to each ring, making it look like an emergency response team.
It makes sense. In full-armor combat, once the armor is breached, the people inside will either die or be seriously injured. Without a professional medical team, the match couldn't be broadcast.
With the sound of a whistle, the competition officially began. On the field, over a hundred people immediately began their head-on confrontation.
In traditional heavy armor combat, weapons don't play a significant role; it's often a contest of physical strength. This makes most arena matches particularly laughable. You strike with your sword, but it doesn't break through their defenses; they strike with their hammer, but it doesn't hurt either. The two just stand there watching, and then the traditional headbutt begins—a real test of strength.
Forget about techniques; wearing this armor that weighs dozens of kilograms, none of them are very effective.
In the past, armor made with traditional techniques might have had various flaws, such as being easily pierced and being penetrated by blunt force, allowing direct attacks to reach the interior. But what era are we living in now? If we were to use modern technology to create an extremely sophisticated suit of armor, without pursuing an antique style, the defensive power would be unimaginable to ordinary people.
Let alone cold weapons penetrating armor, even firearms might not be able to penetrate it.
Two heavily armored individuals wrestling on stage doesn't look very exciting, but at this point, those strange and unusual armors start to attract attention.
First up is the contestant with the artificial tank. As soon as he stepped onto the stage, he started pushing his little cart, facing the enemy head-on with his armor. His opponent was a heavily armored warrior with full plate armor, wielding a two-handed greatsword that was nearly 2 meters long.
The weapon itself is indeed quite powerful, and as the last armor of the cold weapon era, plate armor also has high defensive capabilities. But unfortunately, he really has no way to deal with such a cart.
Wearing the armor reduces his mobility, making it impossible for him to flank him from behind. And facing him head-on, no matter how strong his two-handed sword is, he can't tear apart tank armor with his bare hands, which is rather awkward.
But he didn't hesitate. He charged forward with his sword and unleashed a sweeping attack. No matter what, he had to fight.
The contestant with the artificial tank was different. He wasn't there for the battle; his tank was designed for ramming. When he saw the plate-armored warrior charging at him, he slashed at the tank with his sword, but the tank didn't budge. He immediately grabbed the handle, pushed off with his legs, and rammed the tank into the plate-armored knight.
The ingenuity of this vehicle's design is revealed here: the front of the vehicle is designed in an inverted V shape. After the vehicle rammed into the plate-armored knight, the impact force was so great that the plate-armored knight was unable to detach from the front of the vehicle, unable to dodge left or right, and could only retreat if he wanted to avoid it.
But how could his backward speed keep up with the speed of the push and impact? In just an instant, he was scooped up by the vehicle, and then he could only watch helplessly as the vehicle pushed him off the stage.
"Holy crap, this guy's a tactical genius!"
His swift and decisive resolution of the battle naturally attracted a lot of attention. While others were still locked in fierce combat, he had already finished his fight; how could he not draw attention?
"This car didn't consider anything else; it was just designed to run people off the road. Insidious."
"The dump truck is here!"
My car lights aren't working, could you come and take a look?
Netizens quickly started making fun of the Dayun meme.