Chapter 78

Wu Jinghong placed her hands on the edge of the table, her gaze sweeping over everyone. "A smart person will anticipate the opponent's intentions first, and then reveal their own trump card after the opponent has played all their cards. Therefore, in every battle from now on, the five of you must act with extreme caution."

Xu Jintang took the lead and replied, "Yes!"

After the meeting, the five individuals dispersed and returned to their rooms to reflect and review their performance.

After returning to his room, Xu Jintang locked the door, quickly put on a disguise mask, opened the window, jumped out of the window, and rushed to the Inscription Master Competition venue.

Half an hour later, Xu Jintang arrived at the competition venue.

Xue Zhongqi was waiting for her at the door. Upon seeing her, he quickly waved, "Miss Qian, over here."

Xu Jintang walked towards him, stopped, and before she could speak, Xue Zhongqi took out a ghost mask, put it on, and explained, "Miss Qian, I have a special reason, so I need to wear a mask to participate in the competition."

"I understand," Xu Jintang replied calmly.

Xu Jintang and the other walked into the competition venue side by side.

The Inscription Master Competition was held in another venue, which was not very large, with the surrounding stands only able to accommodate about one or two thousand people.

The number of participants waiting for the competition to begin was also very small, roughly estimated to be only around one hundred.

"The Inscription Master Competition doesn't attract as much attention as the Ability User Competition, and there are fewer inscription masters who sign up, so our competition schedule will be shorter. The first round is also a points-based competition. After two rounds of inscription creation competition, the top thirty-two will advance to the next stage," Xue Zhongqi explained the Inscription Master Competition format to Xu Jintang as they walked.

Xu Jintang asked, "What do they usually compete in?"

Xue Zhongqi cleared his throat and continued, "The competition organizers will provide a fixed inscription theme, requiring all contestants to create inscriptions of the same type. The final score will be based on a combination of the quality of the completed inscriptions and the time taken."

Upon entering the waiting area, the surroundings immediately became quiet.

The atmosphere here is different from that of the Ability User Competition. Each participating Inscription Master stands on their own side, and there is no probing or observation of each other, making the atmosphere much more subdued.

A moment later, a staff member from the competition came over with a roll call sheet. "Let's begin the roll call now."

One name after another was called out by the staff.

"Big Watermelon?" the staff member read hesitantly.

Xue Zhongqi immediately looked up and said, "Here."

Many questioning glances were cast at them from the surrounding area.

When registering for the competition, the competition organizers will verify the identity of the participants. Once it is confirmed that the participants have no criminal record, the organizers will issue an approval notice. As for what name the participants will ultimately use to participate in the competition, that is not the organizers' responsibility.

Those around him were only surprised for a moment, but after realizing that "Big Watermelon" was probably his pseudonym, they looked away.

"Qian Duoduo."

Xu Jintang immediately replied, "Here!"

Half an hour later, after the staff finished taking attendance, they announced that the preliminary rounds would begin in half an hour.

Xue Zhongqi suddenly leaned closer, "Miss Qian, do you see that man in the white robe over there? He's the champion of last year's Inscription Master Competition. He's only seventeen and has already reached the level of a second-tier Inscription Master. I estimate his skills have improved quite a bit this year."

Xu Jintang turned his head to look over.

The man in white robes was surrounded by many contestants, all of whom were smiling and treating him with great respect.

During this period, she studied some basic knowledge on her own within the Inscription Masters' intranet.

To reach the level 2 Inscription Master, the most basic requirement is being able to create level 2 inscriptions, followed by the success rate of creating level 1 inscriptions.

If only level 2 inscriptions can be produced with great difficulty, but the success rate of level 1 inscriptions is extremely low, such works will not be recognized by the association.

Xu Jintang pondered for a moment, then asked hesitantly, "So, a seventeen-year-old level two Inscription Master can win the championship?"

She had always thought that a level 2 Inscription Master was just an average level.

Xue Zhongqi was taken aback, then turned to look at him. "Our President Sun is over fifty years old, and he's only a level five inscription master."

Xu Jintang then realized what was happening.

Most people awaken their special abilities at the age of fifteen, so to be able to cultivate to the level of a second-level inscription master at the age of seventeen is indeed the mark of a genius.

So she... was able to create level two inscriptions, or even more advanced tracking special inscriptions, at the age of sixteen...

Xu Jintang stroked his chin, and he understood what was going on.

However, these are probably mostly influenced by Libra.

Because when she was creating the inscription, it was clear that even if she just casually flicked her wrist, the spiritual energy threads would be very full and solid, which really had little to do with how hard she tried.

"What privileges do Level 2 Inscription Masters have?" Xu Jintang asked again.

Xue Zhongqi pondered for a moment, "After advancing to the second-level Inscription Master, more tutorials will be unlocked within the guild, and when accepting guild missions, you can choose some more challenging ones, which will yield more contribution points."

You should have said so earlier; she should have reached the level of a second-tier inscription master a long time ago.

But I thought upgrading was pointless, so I never really looked into it.

Xu Jintang rubbed his hands together.

After this competition ends, she needs to find some time to upgrade to a level 2 Inscription Master, and then ask President Sun about the exclusive Star Attribute cultivation technique.

About half an hour later, the group assignments were announced.

Xu Jintang was assigned to the third group.

Each group consists of eight participants competing against each other, with the top three advancing to the next round.

The margin for error is still quite high.

"Oh no, Jiang Xiangyang is in our group, and another person who placed in the top ten in last year's competition is also in our group. Just these two people will take up two spots, which means we can only compete for the last spot."

As Xu Jintang walked toward the competition area, he overheard two contestants talking behind him.

Xu Jintang glanced behind him out of the corner of his eye.

The Jiang Xiangyang that the two players were just discussing is the previous champion that Xue Zhongqi mentioned.

Jiang Xiangyang walked alone at the back of the group, surrounded by a circle of people, but they all consciously kept a distance from him, their expressions showing more or less respect.

Just then, Jiang Xiangyang seemed to realize that someone was watching him.

He immediately looked up and met Xu Jintang's gaze.

Xu Jintang smiled at him, slowly withdrew her gaze, and continued walking forward.

Jiang Xiangyang sensed something was wrong and glanced at Xu Jintang's back a few more times.

Most of the contestants looked at him with some degree of respect.

But the way this girl looked at him just now was full of a challenging desire?

Upon entering the competition venue, Xu Jintang was seated in the first row.

Similar to the Inscriptionist Association assessment I took before, a monitoring system was installed on the table, and all scoring and assessments were completed and conducted by the monitoring system.

"The Inscription Master Competition, Preliminary Round 1, has officially begun."

The challenge for this round is: Create three Level-One Fire-Attribute Attack Inscription and one Level-Two Teleportation Inscription.

After the rules were announced, the monitoring system on each table immediately started a countdown.

Xu Jintang took out the Yellow Sand Fire Cloud Brush that he had bought at a huge expense. The brush body was outlined with several mysterious patterns in gold thread, which could be vaguely seen as auspicious cloud patterns.

[The timer has started. Inscriptionists, please hurry up and complete your inscriptions.] The monitoring system automatically reminded us.

Xu Jintang took a deep breath, gripped the inscription pen, calmed his mind, and began preparing to create his first fire-attribute Attack Inscription.

He channeled all his spiritual energy into the inscribed pen from his palm, and the pen slowly emitted a faint glow.

The satellite system responsible for live streaming began filming the entire stadium.

A large number of viewers gradually entered the live stream room.

[Huh? There's even Inscription Master Competition?]

Why are there so few people at the Inscription Master Competition? Did they all go next door to watch the superpowered individuals fight?

Chapter 78

In comparison, the battles in the Ability User Competition are more visually appealing and exciting.

The atmosphere at the Inscription Master Competition was relatively quiet, with little to see, so naturally fewer people paid attention.

Time ticked by, second by second.

The Inscription Talisman written by Xu Jintang shone brighter and brighter, containing a faint red glow, which was the fire element attached to the inscriptions.

The satellite system sphere happened to fly over here and broadcast the image of Xu Jintang's inscription to the live broadcast room.

Many knowledgeable inscription viewers were surprised when they saw it.

[This girl's spiritual energy threads are very solid; it's clear she's put in a lot of practice.]

[And only five minutes have passed since the timer started, it looks like the inscription in her hand is almost complete?]

Xu Jintang has no intention of holding back in this competition.

Anyway, she was using a fake identity, so even if she was a bit high-profile, it wouldn't have much of an impact on her.

Moreover, if she can win this competition, she will be able to ask President Sun for the Star Attribute Cultivation Technique, so she will naturally give it her all.

Two minutes later, Xu Jintang completed his first level-one Level-One Fire-Attribute Attack Inscription.

A faint light burst forth from the Inscription Talisman.

The monitoring system on the table immediately scans and scores:

[Type: Level-One Fire-Attribute Attack Inscription]

[Quality: Perfect]

[Completion Time: 8 minutes 15.7 seconds]

[Points earned: 200]

[Scoring criteria: Base score is 100 points; 50 points for perfect quality; 50 points for completion within 10 minutes; total 200 points.]

The monitoring system alert popped up just as it was captured by a nearby satellite.

The viewers in the live stream were all shocked.

[Which Inscriptionist Association does this person belong to? I've never heard of him before.]

[With this level of skill in creating inscriptions, they shouldn't be completely unknown.]

Xu Jintang was unaware that people in the live stream were talking about him.

She quickly picked up her pen and began working on the next inscription.

Soon, less than ten minutes had passed again.