Among the exchange students from Kalentia, Dorian, with his dazzling blond hair, strolled leisurely, complaining to Charles beside him:
"Charles, I told you so, we should have come a day earlier."
"A day in advance? Please, have mercy on me! In a rural place like this, you expect me to stay here overnight?"
"Oh, you don't understand. The countryside has its own advantages!"
Dorian shook his finger, sharing his experience with an air of knowing what he was doing.
The girls of Kalentia were all so skilled, as if they had been in love since birth.
But girls in these small towns are different; they are conservative and reserved, and they blush for ages just to hold hands!
That innocent and adorable naiveté is an experience that money can't buy in Beijing!
Charles frowned as he listened to this notorious playboy from the capital talk eloquently about women.
He glanced at Dorothy behind him out of the corner of his eye, inwardly cursing Dorian for being such a pig and having to talk about women now of all times.
In order to distance himself from this man in front of Dorothy, Charles immediately spoke up righteously:
"Dorian, I have no interest in your private life! We're here for the competition, can't you be serious for once!"
You must understand, our every word and action represents the great Kalentia!
As soon as he finished speaking, Charles glanced at Dorothy, his expression conveying an air of righteous indignation that said, "I'm not on the same wavelength as this scumbag."
Dorothy didn't react to their bickering, but Yate interrupted impatiently:
"Enough! Let's get to the stadium! I can't wait to beat that guy to a pulp!"
After waiting a while longer, the group of exchange students from Kalentia finally arrived late.
The team leader's apology was well-spoken, but he showed no remorse whatsoever, and his tone was filled with an undisguised arrogance.
Dean Xia Ming was seething with anger. If it were his own student who dared to be late for such an important occasion, he would have already lost his temper and fired the student.
However, faced with this group of distinguished people from Kalentia, he could only tolerate them and silently waved for them to enter.
The candidates took their seats in the square according to their assigned numbers.
After Xia Ming's brief speech, the competition officially began.
The faculty and staff simultaneously constructed circuits, Heart Essence surged into the ritual array inscribed on the plaza like a tidal wave.
In an instant, the ground trembled and the sky changed color!
A rift tore open in the void, and the boundary between the Sea of Consciousness and the real world appeared out of thin air!
From within the rift, pure, visible streams of spiritual light cascaded down like a waterfall, enveloping the entire plaza.
The sky overhead vanished, replaced by an inverted, shimmering Sea of Spirit Matter.
At the same instant, all the participants slumped to the side, fell asleep in their seats.
That feeling was like logging into the Sea of Consciousness.
The Sea of Spirit Matter shifted and flowed, spreading out across the entire City of Kindling.
Anyone within the City of Kindling can see everything happening in the Grand Tournament Arena in real time simply by looking up.
From that moment on, the school was no longer able to intervene in the slightest.
Not only were they unable to determine the results, they didn't even know the specific details of the competition beforehand.
The format and procedures of each Tide Grand Competition differ, but one thing remains the same—
The ten people selected by the Sea of Consciousness are undoubtedly the ten strongest among all the contestants!
The viewers watching the magnificent scene of the Sea of Spirit Matter suspended upside down were also awestruck.
"Is this the Sea of Consciousness?"
"Finally, the Sea of Consciousness is being streamed live!"
"The big competition I've been waiting for all week is finally here! Let's start the prediction contest! Let's start the prediction contest!"
This time, there's no need for Qiji to host the prediction contest, as all the live streaming channels opened the prediction function at the same time.
However, unlike in the past when Qiji always topped the list whenever voting started, this time, Qiji's votes fell out of the top three.
Current real-time ranking:
The first person to Suyo.
Second Charles.
Third place: Huomu.
Fourth place: Dorothy.
Fifth place Qiji.
"Brothers, this time Suyo-chan is really showing his true colors! Myth Fragment! King of Kindling! Let's charge in blindfolded!"
"Let's be cautious and observe. I feel like the next step will be for Charles to take first place with an overwhelming advantage, and then naturally start the Kalentia storyline..."
"Charles? Suyo-chan is his 'brother-in-law,' which directly puts him at a disadvantage in terms of seniority!"
"No way, do you guys really not take my anime protagonist Huomu, seriously? With a single Mirror Break, he's stormed the top!"
"Why does Dorothy have so many votes? Who cast them?"
"Looks like it's Lao Yue (doge)"
"Then it's not surprising..."
"Hajiqi, although it seems like you're really not up to par this time... I'll still give you a friendly vote."
"Every version has its own meta, and my version, Hajiqi, is already over? Waaaaah!"
All participants ascended into the preliminary selection venue in the form of spirits.
It was supposed to be a preliminary selection, but what I actually saw was an endless sea.
The moment everyone entered, they received the preliminary selection rules announced by the Sea of Consciousness into their minds—
The first challenge is to cross the ocean and land on one of the four small islands marked by the Sea of Consciousness.
Successfully entering the teleportation array on the island is considered passing the preliminary selection.
The four islands are divided into four directions: east, west, south, and north. The top fifty from each direction are selected, for a total of two hundred. All the remaining players are then eliminated.
Everyone has three minutes to adapt and prepare.
You may withdraw at any time during the preliminary selection process.
After abstaining, the spirit will return safely.
Further down, there's a preview of the second stage.
Qiji quickly scanned the rules, then opened the system interface and glanced at it, finding that the minimap was in effect.
He immediately understood:
Although this place is the boundary between reality and the Sea of Consciousness, strictly speaking, it belongs neither to the Sea of Consciousness nor to reality, but in the system's eyes, it is no different from the Sea of Consciousness.
Thinking of this, Qiji quickly reached out and touched the mask on his face. When he found that it was his own original Mask of Miracles, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Otherwise, it would be awkward if he logged in as [Thousand Faces].
Don't forget, this is being broadcast live across the entire city!
What if Suyo rushes up and hugs him...
His real younger sister is watching!
It's impossible to explain!
Overall, it's alright.
Now that he had opened the system interface, Qiji casually glanced at his own live stream.
The betting was in full swing, and Qiji glanced at his odds—
Good heavens, that's the highest ever!
It's a pity this isn't a real gambling game, otherwise he would have borrowed several million Popularity Points from the system and bet everything on himself to win.
"Qiji- san!"
Qiji was editing the comments and trying to get votes for himself in the live stream when a pleasant, familiar voice suddenly came from above his head.
It is like a piece of Armament Liuli that has been unfurled.
This is where the advantage of having the ability to fly becomes apparent.
Liuli ascended to a high altitude and with just a glance, she located the positions of everyone in Class 8.
Then, Liuli activated the Mind Echo, gathering everyone around Qiji.
Liuli had her own reasons for doing this.
Since Qiji also participated in the competition, in Liuli's eyes, Qiji's performance was above all else.
Even if Qiji is in such a sick body, she will do everything in her power to carry him into the finals!
But to achieve this goal, she alone certainly wouldn't be enough—
Teamwork is more important than going it alone; she must rely on everyone's strength.
After a brief discussion, the five decided to land on East Island.
Preparation time flies by.
All the candidates rushed to jump into the sea.
The scene was like dumplings being dropped into a pot; to be honest, it was quite a spectacle.
The sea area where the preliminary selection took place was of the same origin as the Sea of Consciousness, and the seawater was also corrosive. Immediately, countless contestants with weak spiritual bodies screamed and crawled back to the shore.
As for ordinary people who haven't awakened their spiritual Echo and are just trying their luck, their spiritual bodies are extremely fragile. They start to hiss and smoke just from touching the seawater, let alone swimming to the distant destination.
Forced to face reality, they had no choice but to withdraw from the competition.
Huomu watched those who, like him, had not awakened their Echo leave one after another, he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.
He carefully reached out his hand and gently touched the surface of the sea with his fingertips.
We are prepared to retreat at any time.
However, in the next instant, flames ignited at his fingertips.
The seawater swarmed away the moment it touched the flames.
Huomu hesitated for a moment, then became bolder and inserted his entire arm inside.
The seawater once again yielded, as if pushed aside by an invisible hand.
What's going on?
Huomu was full of questions. Although he didn't know what had happened, he was sure it was a good thing!
He quickly shared this surprise with his teammates:
" In Setsuna, Bai Lili! Come here! Come here!"
What? You're asking why we didn't call out Qiji and Liuli?
Of course, it's because those two are currently ranked first and second on the real-time leaderboard.
Liuli fluttered her butterfly wings, carrying Qiji and his wheelchair, and flew across the sea, a butterfly leading the way!
The comments section was filled with exclamations:
"Liuli, Prisoner Ji really didn't save you for nothing!"
"This is our Ji Li CP!"
"Hajiqi: Liuli is my wings!"
Charles, who had moved from the "West Sea Arena" to the "East Sea," was stunned as he watched the person and wheelchair flying at the forefront.
"Wait, how come someone brought a wheelchair into the exam room?"