After that, Qi Ling finished another match and defeated an insignificant opponent. Fortunately, until now, Qi Ling has not encountered anyone she knows, thus avoiding internal strife.
After the competition ended that day, a considerable number of people had already lost their eligibility to compete. After all, with a total of five matches, the condition of only being able to lose one was rather harsh.
These people, who had already lost their chance to compete, came up with a terrible idea when they were desperate. Even Qi Ling, after hearing it, wondered if they had gone mad.
Their idea was that, as Alice had said before, if someone could take down the referee, they could pass the game directly. So, if they worked together to eliminate one of the referees, wouldn't they be able to pass the game?
Although they are no match for the referee in a head-on confrontation, they still have a glimmer of hope if they set a trap and take advantage of their numbers.
So Qi Ling, having finished the race, watched this group of people from a distant rooftop and couldn't help but say helplessly, "They're really crazy. How dare a bunch of domesticated rabbits bare their claws at jackals?"
Not only Qi Ling, but many other contestants in the vicinity were watching this group make a fool of themselves. Since they had already lost the competition, it meant they had lost two out of three matches. Apart from a few people who were truly unlucky, these people's strength was indeed not worth mentioning.
The onlookers weren't there to see if these individuals would succeed; they were simply there to see the competence of the referees.
Once they were ready, these losers immediately instigated a conflict between two of them to draw the referee's attention, while the others remained hidden in the shadows, waiting for the right moment.
Qi Ling originally thought that the person attracted would be Xiluo, but to his surprise, the referee who appeared this time was a different person.
It was a man dressed in white, not very tall and rather thin. What was striking was that, just like the maid who had led Qi Ling and the others before, his eyes were completely covered with a cloth.
It seems that this person belongs to another faction in the Devil Realm, and to be able to serve as a referee in the competition, one must have considerable status and strength.
"Private fights are prohibited during the competition. Anyone who stops fighting will be disqualified," the masked man said. His clothes seemed to be quite large, and his hands were tucked into the wide sleeves and held out to his chest.
Once the losers saw that they had achieved their goal and the referee had been drawn to them, they stopped pretending. The two who had been fighting each other immediately separated, and then four more people appeared from the shadows and surrounded the masked man.
Of course, the real ambush wasn't limited to just these people. The others were hidden in the shadows, preparing their own attacks. Only the six people in the open could hold off the referee, and then the others would work together to take him down.
Surrounded by these people, the masked man seemed completely unresponsive, not even moving a muscle. He remained with his hands clasped and said, "Private fights are prohibited during the competition."
"Hmph! You idiot, can't you see the situation?!" a burly man said. "We're not fighting, we're killing you! To pass the competition, you'd better surrender!"
Despite the threats from the six men, the masked man remained unmoved and simply said, "Meaningless."
"Whether it's meaningful or not isn't up to you to decide! Brothers, let's go!" the burly man said, leading his men in a charge. They figured that even if they couldn't defeat their opponent, they could at least delay him for a moment.
If they can hold off the masked man for a while, the others will attack at once, and then they will have a sliver of hope of victory.
But at that moment, everyone who was observing from a distance showed surprise, because they clearly saw that the masked man simply stretched out his hands, waved his sleeves, and then withdrew his hands again without making any further movement.
Then, the six men who were attacking him stopped all at once. What followed was terrifying: all six men's bodies shattered into countless pieces and fell to the ground.
Those who participate in the competition are not necessarily unable to accept the idea of killing, but to take a life without batting an eye is still incredibly shocking.
More importantly, neither Qi Ling nor the others saw the masked man's movements clearly; it seemed as if he had merely raised his hand, yet it produced such a terrifying effect.
Only top experts like Qi Ling and Chu Ling could vaguely see the traces of the masked man's attack with their keen observation skills, but they could only see a few blurry afterimages and could not see clearly.
After achieving this result, the masked man casually said, "If anyone else wants to make a move, please hurry up, my time is very precious."
"But you need to think this through. I can let bygones be bygones for those who didn't make a move, but anyone who makes even the slightest move will be considered to be challenging the referee, and I will kill you immediately."
The masked man's words seemed to be addressed not only to the other attackers hiding in the shadows, but also to Qi Ling and the others observing from a distance. He was ready to accept any challenge from anyone who wanted to challenge him.
But after witnessing the horrific scene, no one had any other thoughts. So, after waiting a moment, the masked man casually uttered, "How boring," and left.
Just after the masked man left, even Qi Ling had to admit that she breathed a sigh of relief. The powerful sense of oppression he brought was indeed extremely despairing.
However, it seems that the organizers of the competition also realized a problem afterward: those who had lost their eligibility had no intention of continuing to compete normally, because it was no longer meaningful.
However, this made it impossible for the competition to proceed normally. The number of players decreased too quickly, and some players even resorted to deliberately losing to others.
So after some discussion, the competition added a new rule: the number of people who will advance in the final round is 29, and if the number is less than that, the best will be selected from the eliminated contestants.
In this way, even those who have already been disqualified have a reason to continue fighting, thus ensuring the smooth progress of the competition. After all, if you eliminate someone now, your chances of advancing will increase.