Qi Ling wasn't the only one with this question; several other contestants also expressed similar sentiments. The person before them was a little girl with two pigtails. Although she looked incredibly cute, the powerful aura she unintentionally exuded revealed her true identity to everyone.
"Hello, the remaining eight contestants." The little girl smiled slightly and said to them, "I am your referee for the next match, my name is Shi Meng."
"Perhaps some of you have already met me, but don't expect me to show you any favoritism!" Shi Meng said, glancing specifically at Qi Ling.
That's right, this little girl is the one Qi Ling and the others met in that ruin before, and Qi Ling even drank a cup of her tea there.
Although I had guessed at the time that she must be some important figure in the Devil Realm, otherwise I wouldn't have felt such pressure, I never expected that she would actually be one of the Seven Great Devil Kings in the Devil Realm.
"After you go out, you'll meet one of the most troublesome groups in the Devil Realm," Shi Meng said. "You might feel a bit overwhelmed facing so many people for the first time, but you'll get through it. Consider this your first test in the Devil Realm."
"Remember, if you can't hold on, come behind me, and the pressure will naturally disappear. Don't try to tough it out on your own; that won't do you any good."
No one could ignore Shi Meng's words. They were about to face the most powerful force in the Devil Realm, which was no joke.
"As for the rules of the competition, Alice should have already explained them to you, right?" Shi Meng said. "As long as you don't directly borrow the power of others, there are no restrictions on any means in this competition. You only have one goal: to defeat your enemy."
"Of course, while victory and defeat are common in war, since you've all participated in this competition, I presume each of you is mentally prepared to die. However, I personally dislike such brutal competitions, so you'd better not cause any deaths. If I feel the outcome is already decided, I will intervene to stop the match."
No one objected to these competition rules. After all, no one came expecting to lose, and everyone naturally hoped to win. And if they did lose, this guarantee allowed everyone to fight with complete peace of mind.
"Alright, it seems the eight of you are ready," Shi Meng said to the group. "In that case, let's set off together."
Then, led by Shi Meng, the eight people came out of the lounge and went to the competition venue.
Just as they had envisioned, the competition venue was enormous, boasting an astonishingly large spectator seating area. However, to their surprise, there were only five people seated in the stands!
Although there were only five people, the powerful sense of oppression emanating from them almost filled the entire space, making the huge venue feel anything but empty.
When their attention was focused on a few people, the oppressive feeling suddenly became even stronger, as if it had become a tangible attack, putting the people's bodies and minds to a tremendous test.
Faced with this test, Qi Ling suddenly felt some pressure, but she was able to persevere. The others were in the same situation; although their faces were very serious, the pressure was still within their tolerance.
But at that moment, a huge, fat man in the stands stood up and said with a sneer, "Hmph, indeed heroes emerge from among the young! You all seem to be quite the heroes! In that case, let me see just how capable you really are!"
Right after the fat man finished speaking, the pressure on the group suddenly increased dramatically. Compared to the pressure before, this was a full-force attack aimed at crushing them.
Everyone's face turned pale in that instant. Although there were eight of them resisting the pressure from the other side at the same time, they had no chance of winning at all, after all, this was pressure from a Devil King.
Among the eight, the first to give up was the woman named Feiyu. She coughed up a mouthful of blood, her face pale, and then walked helplessly behind Shi Meng.
As soon as they arrived behind Shi Meng, the immense pressure vanished without a trace, as if it had never happened at all. Under the influence of Shi Meng's power, it was as if they had entered another world.
However, the others were unwilling to admit defeat so easily, so they persisted. Seeing this, the fat man let out a cold snort and continued to increase his pressure, trying to intimidate the others.
Under these circumstances, several people withdrew from this non-competition event. Kurumi, Luna, Qian Jiyin, and Cang Yue all came to stand behind Shi Meng.
Although Qian Jiyin felt extremely unwilling, he also knew that he would be competing against Qi Ling next. If he expended too much energy here, or even got injured, it would make the upcoming match more difficult.
So, looking at Qi Ling who was still standing there, he couldn't help but think sinisterly, "Hmph! Let you show off. Just keep wasting your energy like this, and it would be best if you even got injured. Just obediently hand over the victory to me!"
Although Qi Ling didn't know what Qian Jiyin was thinking, he didn't do this because he wanted to show off. It was just that his aura had always been his strength, and this little bit of pressure hadn't reached his limit yet.
Although Qi Ling didn't know what Chu Ling was thinking, Qi Ling believed that given his personality, as long as she hadn't backed down, he would never admit defeat.
As the fat man continued to increase the pressure, Qi Ling and Chu Ling were already pushing their bodies to the limit. However, Qi Ling secretly glanced at Zhen Hong and found that Zhen Hong seemed to be doing quite easily.
Qi Ling couldn't help but sigh. This guy was ridiculously strong. It seemed that Zhen Hong and the others were not even in the same league. It was impossible to fathom where her limits lay.
Seeing that he had already used so much strength, yet the three people in front of him were still persisting, the fat man couldn't help but feel angry. Wouldn't he be the one to lose face if this continued?
His original idea was to showcase his abilities to these newcomers, demonstrate his skills, and increase the attractiveness of his organization, perhaps attracting a few of them to join him.
But now, if I, as the Devil King, am unable to deal with these few greenhorns, it would be too shameful.