Chapter 93
Even Jiang Xiangyang's score fluctuated so much; they'll probably be the same way later.
Soon, the second contestant went up.
He didn't even make it to the second attempt; during the first attempt to fire the turret, the Lock-On Inscription exploded due to insufficient strength.
"Beep beep, inscription detected as invalid. This round of turret firing test has failed."
Then, a notification appeared on the floating light screen: "[Zero Score]".
Xu Jintang looked surprised.
It actually failed?
The other contestants nearby started discussing among themselves:
"What a pity. Even if they could have held out until the first turret firing, they would have at least scored some points."
"It's probably because the energy injected during the creation of the inscription wasn't enough."
"High-precision, high-powered turrets require even higher quality and precision inscriptions."
After listening to everyone, Xu Jintang finally understood.
Not just any Lock-On Inscription can be placed on the turret and used. If the inscription's energy is insufficient, it will explode when the turret is activated due to insufficient strength.
Xu Jintang withdrew his gaze and weighed the inscription in his hand.
She shouldn't have any major problems, right?
Soon, the third and fourth place contestants stepped forward to begin the experiment.
One scored 65, while the other, despite having an overpowered inscription, received zero.
It wasn't until Xue Zhongqi was in the middle of the line, stepped forward to participate in the firing experiment.
[Attack Damage: 70]
[Evaluation: The turret's flexibility has been improved to some extent, but it's still far from perfect. Please keep up the good work.]
The second high scorer, after Jiang Xiangyang, has been announced.
This attracted the attention of many contestants on site.
Xue Zhongqi breathed a slight sigh of relief and turned to walk down. He stopped as he passed Xu Jintang, "Miss Qian."
Just as he was about to continue speaking, a staff member came over and, with a smile, asked him to leave.
"Hello, this way please."
Xu Jintang gave him a reassuring look, waved his hand, and returned to the team to wait.
[Is Jiang Xiangyang probably the highest scorer in today's elimination round?]
[Not necessarily, there are still several contestants behind.]
[Those ranked lower are the slowest at crafting inscriptions, and they probably won't have any outstanding performances.]
[Let's go, let's go! The Ability User Competition is much more exciting and fun; this place is completely boring.]
Another group of viewers left the live broadcast room due to boredom.
It was already quite late when it was Xu Jintang's turn to conduct the experiment.
All the previous contestants were then asked to go to the adjacent rest area to await the final scores and rankings.
Xu Jintang has once again become the focus of attention.
She walked to the gun emplacement, cleared her throat, and bent down to install the two inscriptions onto the emplacement.
The actions were all quite ordinary and did not attract much attention.
The contestants in the adjacent rest area weren't paying attention to her either; they were all chatting in small groups.
Only Xue Zhongqi kept his eyes fixed on the gun firing test area, not looking away for a moment.
"The turret firing procedure has been initiated..." The electronic prompt sounded in my ear.
Xu Jintang bent over and reached out to press the turret's fire button.
In an instant, a blindingly bright white light erupted from the gun emplacement.
The commotion immediately drew the attention of everyone present.
President Wang, who had been absent-minded, frowned and turned his head with a puzzled look.
The cannon in front of Xu Jintang fired a cannonball with a "bang." Unlike the other contestants, her cannonball actually turned in the air and then flew towards the ten-meter-long suspended ball.
Upon sensing the threat, the enemy's hovering ball automatically activates evasion mode.
The hovering ball's dodge direction and distance were perfect, just enough to avoid the core area of the shell's explosion.
However, the shell veered off course as it flew towards the enemy's hovering sphere, before continuing its precise trajectory.
Two seconds later, a violent explosion rang out.
The proctoring system also popped up a notification:
[Attack Damage: 100 points]
[Evaluation: Congratulations! You have perfectly improved the turret's lack of flexibility!]
[You have one more chance. Would you like to continue?]
Xu Jintang snapped out of his daze and raised his hand to press [No].
If you've already gotten full marks, there's no need to try a second time.
"The turret firing experiment for this round of elimination matches has concluded. Rankings will be automatically generated in ten seconds. Thank you for your participation and trust. We look forward to seeing you again next time."
The electronic notification sound from the proctoring system rang.
Meanwhile, everyone in the athletes' rest area stared at Xu Jintang in shock and couldn't help but start discussing among themselves.
"Was that... the effect of Lock-On Inscription?"
"One hundred points?! That would only get you that score if you hit the floating ball directly."
"No, this isn't Lock-On Inscription."
The few remaining viewers in the live stream were also expressing their surprise:
[Luckily I didn't leave, otherwise I would have missed this turret firing.]
[Could this be the Tracking Inscription that some random passerby was talking about? It can actually track enemies with pinpoint accuracy; this effect is several times stronger than that Lock-On Inscription!]
[This year's Inscription Master Competition is impressive! Some contestants can even create Tracking Inscription!]
Xue Zhongqi breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Sure enough, he wasn't mistaken; that was indeed the array diagram for Tracking Inscription.
Jiang Xiangyang looked up in disbelief, his gaze falling on Xu Jintang, and he couldn't think of anything to say for a long time.
This firing situation is clearly not an effect that can be produced by Lock-On Inscription.
Therefore, she created a Tracking Inscription.
At this point, the rankings for this round of elimination matches were released.
Qian Duoduo's name is very prominent, firmly holding the number one spot.
Following them were Jiang Xiangyang in second place and Xue Zhongqi in third place.
Next up are the contestants with even lower scores.
Those players who failed to land their inscription explosion shots all ranked at the bottom.
President Wang snapped out of his daze, gave Xu Jintang a serious look, then looked away and announced the end of the competition.
"This round of elimination matches has now concluded. Congratulations to the top eight players who have successfully advanced to the next round. To the other players who were unfortunately eliminated, we look forward to seeing you all again in the next competition."
Xu Jintang clapped his hands, feeling a sense of relief.
Luckily, she knew this skill; otherwise, if she were forced to create that Lock-On Inscription, she would have had to learn it on the spot.
Having calmed down, Jiang Xiangyang walked over, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "Miss Qian is truly a hidden talent; I am deeply impressed by your ability to Tracking Inscription."
Xu Jintang replied politely, "I truly admire the test question posed by your association's President Wang."
She remembered what Xue Zhongqi had just said: that President Wang might be targeting her with a question.
Jiang Xiangyang is President Wang's apprentice; she naturally doesn't believe that the two of them didn't collude.
Jiang Xiangyang's smile froze, his clasped hands hanging in the air, looking slightly embarrassed.
At this moment, Xue Zhongqi walked over, raised his hand and patted Xu Jintang on the shoulder, "Miss Qian, it's truly admirable that you were able to advance with first place."
Jiang Xiangyang coughed lightly, feigning ignorance, and asked, "What do you two mean by that?"
Xue Zhongqi smiled slightly, "Miss Qian just joined our association this year. Before that, she had never taken any of the association's courses. So when I saw this test question today, I was worried about her for quite a while. Now it seems I was overthinking it."
"I see." Jiang Xiangyang smiled and continued to pretend to be unaware.
Seeing that he was unwilling to admit it, Xu Jintang didn't bother to pay any more attention and turned to walk towards the exit.
A moment later, Xue Zhongqi caught up from behind. "Miss Qian, so you know how to make Tracking Inscription. No wonder you were so knowledgeable when I consulted you about related issues."
Xu Jintang checked the time. "It's getting late, I need to head home."
Xue Zhongqi understood the other party's intention to leave, and could only nod, "Okay, see you next time."
Xu Jintang nodded and left first.
Xue Zhongqi watched her figure gradually disappear from sight and let out a long sigh.
I was thinking of asking Miss Qian for more advice on Tracking Inscription.
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
There is only one day left until the round of 16 in the Ability User Competition.
At noon, the sun was extremely scorching and blinding.
Xu Jintang leaned back on the living room sofa and closed his eyes to rest.
"Brothers! I've reached Third Tier!" Song Tianqi roared from upstairs.
Immediately afterwards, the sound of hurried footsteps rang out.
Song Tianqi jumped excitedly to the first floor, "Squad leader, squad leader, I've reached Third Tier!"
Xu Jintang rubbed his temples and replied wearily, "Congratulations, congratulations."
Song Tianqi has been at the Peak Second Tier for some time now, and a breakthrough is only a matter of time.
"Quick, let's go to the arena and have a match, so I can show you the effects of my evolved skills after reaching Third Tier." Song Tianqi couldn't wait and pulled Xu Jintang upstairs.
Chapter 93
On the second floor, in the arena area, the safety shield slowly rose.
Hearing the commotion, Yan Yuting and Xue Zhongqi also came out of their room to join in the fun. The two squatted in a corner, hugging their knees, looking like onlookers.
"How long do you think Song Tianqi can hold out against the class monitor after he advances to the Third Tier?" Yan Yuting asked curiously.
Xue Zhongqi stroked his chin and clicked his tongue, saying, "Hard to say. Song Tianqi's ability does have the bloodline of a divine beast, so reaching the Third Tier will definitely be a qualitative leap. But the class monitor's strength is so abnormal, I estimate he can only last five minutes at most."
Yan Yuting smiled slightly, held up a finger and shook it at him, "You still don't understand the squad leader. I think Song Tianqi can only last three minutes at most."
On the ring, Xu Jintang clasped his hands together and began to loosen his wrists.
Song Tianqi had just advanced to the Third Tier and was still in high spirits. He put one hand on his hip, beckoned to Xu Jintang, and said, "Come on, I'll let you have a turn."