He Might Yet Be Able to Compete with Su Mu

The moment the words were spoken, the clouds beneath everyone's feet began to disperse.

Like a curtain being slowly drawn back on a stage, the endless white clouds receded from the center to both sides, revealing the earth below.

Su Mu looked down and his pupils suddenly contracted.

Beneath the clouds lay a vast, breathtaking expanse of land.

The horizon curves slightly in the far distance, giving the illusion that "this land has no end."

The land has mountains, rivers, forests, swamps, as well as vast stretches of wasteland and ruins.

And in those ruins, one can vaguely make out ancient city walls, collapsed towers, broken stone bridges, and scattered, rusty remnants of weapons.

But what truly sends chills down your spine are the countless monsters swarming among the ruins.

Endless.

They spread across the entire land like a tide, stretching from the horizon to your feet.

Some are enormous, like moving hills; some are as small as dogs, running in packs; some hover in the air, their wings obscuring large swaths of sky; some lurk in the depths of rivers, occasionally churning up huge waves.

Their levels varied, but the lowest was above level 20, and the highest could be vaguely sensed to be level 30. They were densely packed together, so numerous that they were impossible to count.

The cloud platform is located on the very edge of this ancient battlefield.

The voice rang out again.

"What you stand on is just a corner of the ancient battlefield. The monster density here is only one percent of that of the real ancient battlefield, and their strength is limited to level 30 or below."

"What you have to do is hold on down here and live as long as possible."

"The secret realm will score you based on your performance and award you points."

"Everyone, choose a location to release your instance. This location will map your instance. Monsters will then target and attack your instance."

"No communication allowed before making a selection. Three minutes countdown."

Su Mu found himself unable to speak again.

He tried, and his mouth could move, but the sound seemed to be swallowed by something.

He looked down.

Looking down from the cloud platform, the terrain at the edge of the ancient battlefield is clearly visible.

In some areas, monsters are sparse, with only a few dozen scattered throughout; in other areas, monsters are densely packed, a dark mass like an ant colony.

Su Mu's gaze quickly swept across the entire area.

He needs to choose a location to release the copy.

This location determines the density and intensity of the monster attacks that follow.

The area is too sparse; the monsters are arriving slowly, and we might not be able to hold out long enough.

It's too dense, with monsters coming in waves, the pressure is too great, and it's easy to collapse prematurely.

But he has Little Drill Wind and White Bone Spirit.

Su Mu's gaze finally settled on an area with a moderate density of monsters.

There are monsters around level 17 gathered there, quite a few, but not the densest. The terrain is a rolling hilly area with mountains and valleys, suitable for his dungeon runs.

With a thought, the Dungeon Space unfolded from the depths of his soul.

A hazy sky spread out above the three mountains, with Flower-Fruit Mountain, Lion Camel Ridge, and White Tiger Ridge appearing in turn.

On Lion Camel Ridge, Little Drill Wind leaned against the stone tablet at the mountain pass, his short knife tucked diagonally into his waistband.

On White Tiger Ridge, the White Bone Spirit stood quietly by the mountain path in human form, dressed in plain clothes. At the bottom of the Jade Wave Pool, Benbo'erba and Babo'erben swam among the water plants.

At the summit of Flower-Fruit Mountain, the Stone Left Over from Mending Heaven gleams with a warm light, its seven-colored patterns slowly flowing.

The Green Lion King, still a semi-transparent golden lion shadow, lay prostrate on the main peak of Lion Camel Ridge, the dark golden flames in his mane flickering on and off.

The moment the instance landed, the hilly terrain was completely covered.

The gray sky, the three great mountains, the surface of the Jade Wave Pool, the skeletons of Lion Camel Ridge, and the solitary peak of White Tiger Ridge were all projected onto the edge of the ancient battlefield.

The once flat hills were lifted up, mountains rose abruptly from the ground, valleys sank, and rivers changed course.

Meanwhile, others also released their own instances.

One thousand and sixty-five instances were simultaneously projected onto the edge of the ancient battlefield.

The once flat wasteland instantly transformed into a landscape of rolling hills, dotted with mountains, lakes, forests, swamps, volcanoes, and ice fields.

The diverse terrain creates a varied landscape, and the weather changes accordingly in different areas: some places are shrouded in dark clouds, others are bathed in blazing sunshine, and still others are blanketed in snow.

Each projection copy is engraved with the ranking and the name of the corresponding person.

From a high vantage point, one can clearly see the complete replica of each person.

On Su Mu's copy, it was clearly engraved "Top Ranked Player - Su Mu - Rongcheng No. 1 High School".

After the projection is complete, the countdown resumes to three minutes.

On the cloud platform, more than a thousand people began to look at each other.

Most people's first reaction was to look in Su Mu's direction.

Not only because Su Mu ranked first, but also because his dungeon was too conspicuous.

The other people's projections mostly covered an area of one or two kilometers, or two or three kilometers, like isolated islands scattered along the edge of the ancient battlefield.

From a high vantage point, Su Mu's instance looked like an entire continent.

Spanning hundreds of kilometers, three towering mountains echo each other across the landscape. At a glance, the area of his instance is almost the sum of all the others combined.

"How many kilometers is this?"

"At least a hundred kilometers. Look at that biggest mountain; its area alone exceeds eighty or ninety kilometers."

"Where did he get so much Soul Power? He's only been awakened for a few days. Even if he meditates to recover every day, it's impossible for him to create a dungeon spanning hundreds of kilometers, right?"

"And look at the terrain in his dungeon, there are mountains, water, and bone forests, it doesn't look like what you'd expect from a theme. Aren't normal themes all the same style? This is all green mountains and skeletons, what kind of theme is this?"

"His core card is an F-rank stone, with a special theme called Journey to the West. I've never heard of that name before."

"Special type? No wonder. But even special types can't accumulate such a large territory in the early stages. He used all his Soul Power to expand his territory, so how did he cultivate his cards? How did he get first place?"

"I don't know. But his copy says he's number one on the overall leaderboard, so it should be true."

"The dungeon is hundreds of kilometers long; the monsters would take half a day just to run around in there. No wonder he got first place in the first level; he could outlast the monsters just by using distance."

The crowd buzzed with discussion, their eyes repeatedly scanning Su Mu's instance.

Zhao Wuji stood in the crowd, staring at Su Mu's hundreds-of-kilometers-long projection of the instance, and remained silent for a long time.

Then he nodded slightly, realizing something.

Why did he lose to Su Mu in the first round?

The answer is right in front of you.

With such a large dungeon and such a long depth, the monsters would have to travel at least tens of kilometers from the entrance to the core card location.

Su Mu's card monsters can completely utilize the terrain to control the enemy and continuously spawn more monsters. Distance is his weapon.

Zhao Wuji clenched his fist, and surprisingly regained some confidence.

The first level was lost due to the lack of depth, and the second level was lost due to the boss battle.

But the fourth stage is different. The fourth stage tests perseverance, defense, and comprehensive abilities.

His Nine Nether Sword Master is second to none in group attacks. As long as he finds a suitable position to deal damage, he may be able to compete with Su Mu.