Free Web NovelChapter 391: Chapter 391: A Killer Opening
The Endless Sea was vast and all-encompassing.
Sometimes, its surface was peaceful, caressed by gentle breezes.
Other times, it raged with terrifying, world-ending tempests.
Upon one of its calm expanses stood a solitary island.
For centuries, the island had not seen a single new life.
But today, something momentous was about to happen.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Dozens of figures appeared in the sky above the waters surrounding the island.
Bringing new life to this island, which had been sealed off from the world for a millennium.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
The contestants all used their own methods to fly toward the island.
Even the weakest contestants were Tier Four Great Mages; it would be humiliating not to be able to fly.
Still, there were indeed some who couldn’t.
Summoners couldn’t fly, but they could summon flying mounts.
The Space Mages made the most stylish entrance.
The moment they appeared in the Secret Realm and began to fall, a silver light flashed. They vanished, only to reappear on the distant island.
Everyone flew toward the arenas on the island.
Li Wei, however, wasn’t in a rush to land. He floated in the air, observing the entire island.
It was an island of Twin Peaks.
Two massive peaks rose on either side of the island, connected by a narrow, natural stone bridge.
The twenty-five arenas were scattered across the Twin Peaks.
So far, Li Wei had already spotted twelve of the more conspicuous arenas.
Two arenas sat atop the Twin Peaks.
The other ten were scattered around the mountainsides, circling from the midpoint down to the base.
The remaining thirteen were likely hidden within the island’s dense jungle.
Finding their exact locations would require a more thorough search.
Li Wei looked down. The vast majority of contestants were rushing toward the clearly visible arenas on the Twin Peaks, hoping to gain an early advantage.
’The competition there will be the most intense,’ he thought.
Suddenly, an ethereal, magical voice echoed in their ears.
It conveyed the more detailed rules of the competition to all the contestants.
In addition to the general rules Li Wei had learned from Eiris... freewebnøvel.com
...there was now a more detailed system for scoring Points.
Within the Secret Realm, the closer an arena was to the summits of the Twin Peaks, the more Points one could earn over the same period, and the better the items one could exchange them for.
Certain items could only be unlocked by reaching specific arenas.
The Space Tower had already announced one such item: the Arena Space Barrier.
Once used, the Arena Space Barrier would prevent anyone from entering the arena to challenge its master for six hours.
Undoubtedly, this was a critical item to be saved for the final moments of the competition.
It could lock in a victory a full six hours early.
According to the announced Rules, this item could only be unlocked at the two arenas atop the Twin Peaks.
Upon hearing the Rules, Elfa shouted, "Don’t fight for the summit arenas! Go find and capture the ones in the forest first. Try to stay hidden!"
"The Arena Space Barrier is powerful, but its supply will be limited. It’s likely only two can be obtained for the entire competition."
"So don’t worry too much about its threat."
"Based on past competitions, there are bound to be items in the Secret Realm that can counter the barrier."
After Elfa’s analysis, everyone agreed that it made sense.
Thus, they all scattered, descending into the forest to search for the hidden arenas.
Once an arena was found, one could even try to conceal it.
The competition Rules didn’t forbid this.
In addition to gaining Points by occupying arenas to purchase items...
...hunting the Ancient Fierce Beasts within the Secret Realm also awarded Points.
As did defeating other contestants.
However, the number of Points from these latter two methods was far less than what could be gained by occupying an arena.
Finally, the Space Tower organizers announced one last thing.
Of the twenty-five arenas, only twenty-four were in plain sight.
There was also one hidden arena.
Capturing the hidden arena would grant access to a hidden competition item.
The effect of this hidden item was not specified.
But everyone understood: the hidden arena was the absolute key to victory.
Li Wei glanced around. Seeing the other members of the Elemental Tower descending toward the forest, he followed Eiris down in the same direction.
Suddenly, a swarm of Flying Magical Beasts materialized in mid-air and attacked the crowd.
Li Wei quickly dodged and counter-attacked the sudden appearance of Flying Magical Beasts.
He sensed a Magic Fluctuation and looked off into the distance.
"It’s Summoning Magic!"
Li Wei said.
Eiris nodded, casually swatting a Flying Magical Beast out of the air. "The Summoning Tower has made its move," she said.
VWOOM!
A pillar of light shot up into the sky.
Li Wei looked up. Someone had already claimed an arena on one of the Twin Peaks’ summits.
"It’s a Mage from the Space Tower. They’re so fast!"
While everyone else was still en route, a Space Mage had already claimed a summit arena.
Eiris chuckled. "Don’t worry. The first one to grandstand never has the last laugh."
Li Wei looked up, nodded, and smiled. "Look. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down."
WHOOSH!
The sky turned red as a blazing meteor, trailing a long, fiery tail, streaked across it.
It plummeted from the heavens, crashing down toward the arena on the summit.
The arenas only allowed two people to enter at a time for a challenge.
But the Rules never said that people outside couldn’t gang up on a lone occupant.
Against a stationary target on an arena, the Meteor Skill was a guaranteed kill.
KABOOM! BANG!
A massive mushroom cloud of smoke and dust billowed up from the summit.
When the dust settled, the once-lush summit was barren, all vegetation annihilated by the Meteor Skill.
Only the indestructible arena remained.
The pillar of light in the sky had also vanished.
This meant the arena was now unoccupied.
Watching from a distance, everyone instinctively slowed their flight.
They were all afraid of being the next to stick out.
Li Wei glanced down at the island below.
’If it were me,’ he thought, ’one Meteor Skill could probably sink this entire island.’
His most powerful spell, the Meteor Fireball Technique, had a staggering attack radius of twenty kilometers and a splash radius of forty.
The island itself was no more than twelve or thirteen kilometers from east to west.
In other words, the entire island was well within his attack range.
SPLASH! ROAR!
The sound of a monstrous, surging wave came from behind them.
Everyone instinctively turned to look.
Their faces filled with shock.
"Holy shit! You Mages from the Elemental Tower are taking things too far!"
"You’ve got it wrong! None of us have the power to create a tsunami this huge!"
RUMBLE!
The water on the calm sea surface began to surge, climbing higher and higher.
It eventually formed a hundred-meter-tall giant wave that crashed toward them, blotting out the sky.
As far as the eye could see, the sky was gone, replaced by a colossal wall of water.
Even Li Wei felt the urge to curse.
’A wave this big will probably submerge the entire island,’ he realized.
At that thought, he had a sudden realization. ’This must be someone’s strategy. Although there are twenty-five arenas in the Secret Realm, the final results are based on the number of arenas one holds. By raising a giant wave to submerge the whole island, they can force everyone else to fight for the few remaining arenas on the peaks. Then, those who excel in water-based magic can monopolize the rest. A blatant, open gambit.’
