"Your blood pressure is rising!"
"Even among viewers, there are differences! The viewers in the show are so inferior! They're not even as good as one of the viewers in our live stream!"
"To be honest, that's true!"
Unbeknownst to Qiji, while he was fighting for the City of Kindling, he was being verbally attacked by a large number of viewers of the City of Kindling.
However, even if he knew, he would at most just laugh it off.
Because this scene, if viewed solely from the perspective of the awakening Echo, is precisely the kind of sight he hoped to see.
One of his three rituals requires hundreds or even thousands of people to reach a consensus, thereby converging "two opposing sides" in the Sea of Consciousness—
[Falsehood Believed to Be True]
Following this trend, the second ritual should be completed in no time!
Liuli handed the prop card to Qiji, and casually placed her hand on the armrest of Qiji's wheelchair.
At that Setsuna when she unintentionally stole her "official position," she revealed an impeccable, perfect smile and said:
"Setsuna -kun, thank you for your hard work. Let me do it."
"It's alright, I'll take care of it."
"I'll do it."
Liuli's smile remained flawless, but for a Setsuna moment, she seemed to be stung by something inexplicable in the girl's smile.
He subconsciously let go of her hand, making way for the wheelchair.
In the following time, more and more candidates who passed the preliminary selection were sent to the square.
To their surprise, the group discovered that the pass rate on the East Island was far higher than that on the other three small islands.
However, after a little thought, I understood.
The pioneers who landed on the other three islands must have shared the same thoughts as Kalentia and her group.
The difference is that they thwarted Kalentia's interception on the East Island, but succeeded on the other three islands.
Especially in the North Island, it took a very long time before someone finally teleported over.
There are five people in total.
After that, the teleportation array never lit up again.
In other words...
Only five people from the entire North Island passed the preliminary selection!
Seeing this, even the proctors outside the exam hall couldn't help but whisper among themselves.
Teacher Jing from Class 3, in particular, looked the worst.
Almost all of her students chose North Island as their landing island.
However, at this moment, the entire army was wiped out, with not a single survivor.
Looking at the leader of the five from North Island.
The teachers exchanged glances.
"This guy... could he be the legendary figure from Kalentia...?"
"That's right, it's her... that princess who should never have been born, Sibel Oberon."
Being sent to a declining city like the City of Kindling to participate in the grand competition should, in theory, mean being a loser in the internal competition within Kalentia.
For example, Charles lost the competition with his younger brother within the family, and his own strength was not enough to guarantee a place in the Grand Tournament of Kalentia. That's why he was sent to the City of Kindling to try and secure a simpler spot.
But Sibel Oberon was different.
As a princess and a member of the royal family, she should never be here.
More importantly, her own strength is not bad, and even if she participates in the Kalentia Grand Competition, winning a place is almost a certainty.
It's important to know that the number of seats in Kalentia is far greater than that in the City of Kindling; it boasts a staggering sixty seats!
Although the competition is fiercer, there are six times more spots available than in City of Kindling.
Therefore, there is only one reason why Sibel was sent here—
That's because the people of Kalentia didn't want to see her at such a national celebration.
All those who passed the preliminary selection had arrived at the square.
The Sea of Consciousness has finally revealed the winning rules for the second level!
Teams of five compete against each other!
The first eight teams to win three rounds within the allotted time will advance to the final battle!
Similar to the first challenge, the Sea of Consciousness is now giving advance notice of the third challenge.
Unlike previous teasers, this time, the entire situation is revealed directly.
The third stage isn't complicated; it's simply a battle where whoever fights to the end wins!
That's right, the final battle is Brawl!
Of course, it's too early to consider a decisive battle now.
The crowd in the square is currently in chaos because of the team formation issue.
Clearly, the second round, in addition to testing the candidates' individual abilities, also tests their teamwork and ability to select teammates.
In this stage, the Sea of Consciousness offers the following advice:
Those who think they are powerful enough on their own are not qualified to be powerful.
Teams are divided into groups of five. Teams with fewer than five members will be automatically disqualified at the start of the game!
Therefore, at this very moment, many lone wolves and small teams that haven't yet gathered enough members are anxiously searching for others.
Liuli performed exceptionally well in the first round and whose name was ranked high on the leaderboard, naturally became the object of everyone's eagerness to win her over.
Many self-proclaimed strong Echoer have extended olive branches to Liuli or applied to join Liuli team.
Especially when she saw that Liuli's team included a sick person like Qiji, she felt there was an opportunity and her confidence increased.
"My name is Bai Shi, a third-order Echoer, with complete mastery of Armament, and a lineage that leans towards pulling and restraining."
This is my brother, also at level three.
I think your team still has room for improvement. How about we join the team and optimize the composition a bit?
As Bai Shi spoke, besides clearly looking at Qiji, his gaze also intentionally or unintentionally swept over Huomu and Bai Lili.
Bai Lili was stunned for a moment.
After learning the rules of the second level, even someone as slow-witted as her could figure it out.
In teamwork, the worst thing is to have a weak link in the team.
If it becomes a weak point, it will affect the entire team.
Bai Lili bit her lip, hesitated, and took a step, intending to back out voluntarily.
She's still only a second-tier Echoer, and without the help of Huomu and Setsuna, she'd have trouble even passing the preliminary rounds.
Her very existence is a burden.
However, before she could speak, Liuli had already gripped her wrist tightly.
Liuli looked at the two people, her face still displaying a flawless smile, but her tone was icy cold:
"Excuse me, this way, please get out of here."
Perhaps it was Liuli's signature fake smile that gave the two of them the wrong impression.
They thought Liuli just didn't want to speak up and be the villain who kicked out her teammates.
After all, this competition will be broadcast live throughout the city, and there will always be people who care about their reputation.
Bai Shi mistook Liuli for that kind of person and relentlessly continued to promote himself.
Then, the girl's smile vanished completely, "Aren't you going to get lost?"
Liuli didn't understand, neither the previous Dorian nor these two before her—
Why are there always people so blind?
Can't they see just how important Qiji is to her?
Seeing Liuli's assertiveness, the crowd that had wanted to approach her quietly dispersed.
Huomu breathed a sigh of relief and immediately looked at Liuli with gratitude:
"That's great, Liuli! I almost thought I was going to be eliminated... I wasn't even daring to breathe..."
Seeing Huomu's serious expression of having narrowly escaped death, Qiji felt a little uneasy.
Before the competition, Mingming was still full of confidence, saying she was going to give herself a big surprise...
What was the atmosphere like back then?
Cheer up, don't embarrass yourself, you're the main character!
Three minutes is simply too short to form a team.
As the countdown gradually reached zero, those who hadn't yet formed teams panicked and could only haphazardly piece things together.
Of course, a hastily assembled, disorganized team like this is unlikely to go far in this stage.
Time's up!
Those who had not yet formed teams were immediately and ruthlessly kicked out of the square by the Sea of Consciousness.
The second stage has officially begun!
Without a doubt, for the vast majority of participants, this is the decisive hurdle!
Not everyone who participates in the competition is aiming for the final ten seats.
Rather, it's more accurate to say that the vast majority of participants are there to showcase their abilities in the competition in order to secure better futures for themselves in academies, associations, or the military.
This second hurdle is their best stage to win the future!
Chapter 112 Battle Begins! Battle Ends! (3-in-1)
As the spiritual light showered down, a teleportation array emitting a faint white glow appeared in front of each team.
Once you enter, you will be sent into the corresponding battle situation.
The matched teams are completely random.
There are five battle modes, all of which are randomized.
They are:
Round-robin, team competition, best-of-five, single-game elimination, and free agreement.
In order to win the three matches as quickly as possible, most teams stepped into the teleportation array immediately.
However, Qiji and the others did not do that, but instead gave some time to wait for Liuli's Heart Essence to recover.
There were three teams in the square who, for various reasons, did not enter immediately.
One of them was the team that Bai Shi belonged to, the one who had previously tried to join them but was rejected.
Having reached the third tier and mastered the Armament, Bai Shi is considered one of the top contestants in the City of Kindling.