Chapter 286
At this moment, in the conference room on the top floor of the Jiangcheng Handling Bureau.
Elder Wang, Jiang Rong, and others were waiting anxiously.
A moment later, the burly man sitting in the main seat opened his eyes.
"Director, how did it go? Did they get in?" Jiang Rong asked impatiently.
Zhang Yu was silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head and said, "No, the monsters in the Master Arena are too strong. I encountered a large number of Leader Rank Water Elemental, including some Overlord Rank creatures."
"The battle wasted too much time, preventing them from making the top ten."
Deputy Director Liu next to him also opened his eyes and shook his head regretfully. "I didn't make it into the top ten either. There are too many monster lords in the expert arena. Everyone has several Master Rank units. We simply can't compete with them."
Everyone sighed slightly upon hearing this, and the atmosphere in the conference room fell into a silence.
"Don't be discouraged, everyone. This is already a very good result," Elder Wang said with a smile. "As long as I live another year, there's no need to invest any more resources in me."
"Elder Wang..." Jiang Rong murmured, just about to say something.
At this moment, Zhou Zheng, who had been silent all along, opened his eyes, a slight smile appearing on his lips, "Everyone, I have entered the fifth level of the expert arena."
"Um?"
A look of surprise flashed in everyone's eyes, and they all turned to look at the man in the trench coat.
When Shen Xing regained his sight, he found himself in a world that was both familiar and unfamiliar.
It felt familiar because huge lotus leaves grew nearby, suggesting that the area was still within the 'Lotus Pond' secret realm.
It felt unfamiliar because he wasn't standing on a lotus leaf, but on a huge stone bridge.
The stone bridge appears to have been recently built; the patterns on it are clearly visible, and the bridge surface is spotless.
Standing on high ground and looking out, you can see more stone bridges extending from all directions.
Like stars surrounding the moon, or a blooming lotus flower, it was built around the huge platform in the center of the Lotus Pond.
This place feels like some ancient sacred site.
One can vaguely imagine that countless living beings once crossed these stone bridges to reach the central platform.
However, the platform was broken, as if it had been crushed in the middle by some kind of creature, turning into countless fragments floating on the water.
Like Shen Xing, the other players led their respective units and stood on the stone bridge, gazing into the distance.
[Lotus Pond Secret Realm - Fifth Floor (All Attributes -25%, Movement Speed -25%)]
[First Place: Thor Jensen, Survival Time: 0 minutes 05 seconds]
[...]
[27th Place: Yu Feifei, Survival Time: 0 minutes 05 seconds...]
"There are only 27 names on the leaderboard, which means there are 27 Tier Two players who have reached the fifth level."
Shen Xing analyzed in a low voice, "If we calculate it this way, there are probably more than 200,000 Tier Two lords who entered the secret realm this time."
"Besides, the leaderboard points have also been changed to survival time... What's going on?"
Not only Shen Xing, but the other players also had some doubts.
The forum also sparked a great deal of discussion.
"Brothers, I've entered the fifth level of the newbie dungeon. There are so many people, seventy or eighty of them! Does that mean the number of newbie players worldwide has exceeded one million?"
"It's not just this number; many more new players don't even have the 'Rain and Dew Pearl,' the entry ticket. According to incomplete statistics, there are at least three million new players worldwide."
"Wow, there are only a dozen or so people in the expert arena on the fifth floor. Doesn't that mean we only need to eliminate a few to guarantee advancement?"
"What are you thinking? The fifth level is already the limit of this secret realm. The rules are different from the previous levels."
"..."
At this moment, all lords of ranks 1-4 who entered the fifth level saw a new notification appear before them.
[Attention, Pioneer! You have entered the fifth level of the Lotus Pond Secret Realm.]
[Challenge rules changed.]
[Next, all lords will use the stone bridge as a base to defend against the Water Elemental armies attacking from both ends.]
[As time goes on, the attacking Water Elemental will gradually become stronger, and even more powerful individuals will emerge.]
[If the lord is killed or falls into the water, he/she will be considered eliminated and teleported back to his/her territory.]
Lords can move to other stone bridges to fight alongside other lords, but the attacking Water Elemental army will increase several times over.
[Please get ready in five minutes. Time remaining: 04 minutes and 59 seconds...]
When the notification ended, Shen Xing's phone vibrated again.
The team members all sent messages.
Cilantro Who Loves to Play: "Holy crap, the rules for the fifth floor have changed! It's gone from a sweep mode to a defense mode!"
"Fortunately, we can continue to team up. Shen Xing, Jiayi, what do you say?"
Shen Xing hesitated for a moment, then replied, "We are all positioned on different stone bridges. The system has given us five minutes to prepare."
"In that case, let's continue fighting as a team."
"Let's meet up at the stone bridge where Wanyin is and see what's going on on the fifth level."
"No problem!" Qin Lang replied immediately.
Xu Jiayi also sent an 'OK' emoji.
Next, Shen Xing sent messages to Yu Feifei and Xia Wanyin, and then switched back to 'Land of Mist'.
He led Hellscream and the others to jump onto the surrounding lily pads and quickly regrouped with his team.
Other lords also began to take action.
Some, like them, chose to fight in teams, while others fought alone.
The five people quickly regrouped.
At this moment, they gathered in the center of the stone bridge.
Shen Xing quickly took stock of the combat strength.
Besides main damage dealers like Leina and Hellscream, there are also Light Knight Xiao Guang, Half-body Master of Shadows, and White Tiger Knight Yu Feifei, who can contribute a lot of damage.
The front-line tanks include Old Knight Fordring, Stone Golem Xiao Xiao, and Steelback Steel Fang.
Support characters include Death Knight Xiao Hei, Sacrifice Knight Qin Lang, and Sister of Condemnation Xu Jiayi, among others...
As for Shen Xing himself, and Onyxia, they were kept as hidden trump cards.
With this in mind, he gradually gained a better understanding.
The five-minute preparation time passed quickly.
The entire Lotus Pond Secret Realm underwent a dramatic transformation at this moment.
"Splash... splash..."
The black lake water churned violently, and the water level rose rapidly, submerging both ends of the stone bridge.
Immediately afterwards, a large amount of Water Elemental emerged from the dark lake water.
They dragged their long arms and surged toward the stone bridge in droves, their sheer numbers enough to make one's scalp tingle.
"Good heavens, this number is outrageous!"
Qin Lang's face turned pale as he stared at the densely packed army of Elite Three Stars Water Elemental ahead.
"That's not all, there's more to come," Shen Xing said casually.
Everyone turned around and saw an equally dense army of Water Elemental surging in from the other end of the stone bridge, and immediately felt a tremendous pressure.
"Holy crap..." Qin Lang swallowed hard. "So many monsters, and they're attacking from both sides. We can't hold out for long."
Even Yu Feifei and Xu Jiayi frowned.
Although Xia Wanyin couldn't see it, she could still sense the overwhelming aura of Water Elemental, and her face turned slightly pale.
"What's there to be afraid of? Just do your best," Shen Xing said with a smile. "Even if we're eliminated right away, we've already made a profit."
Everyone paused for a moment, then realized this.
Yeah, even if you get eliminated now, you can still get the fifth-level settlement reward, it's an absolute steal!
They also knew that it was thanks to Shen Xing's powerful combat strength and Xia Wanyin's terrifying detection ability that the three of them had been elevated to a level that was beyond their own.
"Alright, let's begin assigning combat tasks."
Shen Xing clapped his hands and ordered, "Jiayi, send out your Xiao Xiao and Feifei's Steel Fang to guard the bridge at the back."
"Fordring Fording, you're in charge of defending the bridge ahead."
"Everyone else, unleash your full power!"
(PS: The event dungeon ends tomorrow!)
Chapter 189: Something's happened! The first lord in the entire server to enter the hidden level!
Following Shen Xing's series of instructions, the team members immediately began their operation.
Xu Jiayi planted the cross on her back directly into the ground, and invisible red ripples spread out, covering the entire bridge surface.
Qin Lang raised his longsword again and began to apply buffs to everyone.
The stone Xiao Xiao transformed into Golden Stone Giant and charged towards the Water Elemental army behind it, with a giant bear close behind.
The old knight Fordring raised his scaled shield and met the monstrous army ahead.
The other team members also entered battle mode.
"Boom! Boom boom!"
Fireballs exploded among the monsters, clearing out swathes of Water Elemental.
But soon more Water Elemental emerged from the icy lake water, launching a continuous attack on them.
From the very beginning, the battle was a relentless tug-of-war with no respite, and the intensity was astonishing.
Occasionally, a few Leader Rank Water Elemental would appear and launch ranged attacks from a great distance.
Other players also experienced the challenge of the fifth floor, and a tremendous pressure descended upon them.