Chapter 56: First in the Rankings!
Translator: Strivon / Ash Editor: Geoffrey / Lancent
First in the Rankings!
He did not have as much luck at the second supply point. Quite a few competitors had already arrived and snatched stuff first.
Several weapon crates were already opened. Some artifact components were already used by other competitors; however, most of the weapon crates were still relatively intact.
Afterall, when compared to fighting prowess, there weren’t that many youths who possessed a gift for artificing.
Although the majority of youths had studied the basics of artificing knowledge, the extent of that knowledge only covered a few dozen rudimentary artifact compositions and assembling procedures. They did not have Li Yao’s abundance of hands-on working experience.
Modern artifacts differ from ancient artifacts. Even the most rudimentary of cold weapons would be composed of over a hundred parts.
When assembled by a novice, aside from the slow assembling speed, whenever a part wasn’t carefully installed, there would likely be problems arising during battle. Best case scenario, the artifact would suddenly fail. Worst case scenario, it would explode on the spot, causing the spiritual energy to backfire from the inside, creating an incomparably dangerous situation!
Therefore, the majority of youths who weren’t good at crafting still chose to use ordinary swords to fight.
Li Yao began doing procedures, starting the second round of crazed assembling!
In the beginning, the trading went rather well at this supply point. But after selling his 20th artifact, Li Yao finally hit an iron wall.
“If you want money, I have none. If you want life, I have one. I’m gonna take and walk away with this Burning Sky Battleaxe. Go ahead and set off the explosion. The worst thing would be mutual defeat!”
It was a male youth with dark skin, the height of a cow, and the size of a horse. He looked to be a demon as he spoke fiercely.
Li Yao had somewhat of a toothache.
“Fellow Student, don’t be so stubborn. I already gave you 10% off. You can buy such a great battleaxe for only 270 points! It’s simply a blood-spitting price reserved for family! Or does it mean that you really don’t believe I will set off the bomb?”
“You’re correct. I was stubborn since birth. Other people call me ‘The Stubborn Bull’ at school.
I just don’t believe it. If you have guts, then just set it off!”
The tanned male laughed loudly, hefted the Burning Sky Battleaxe, and turned around to leave without looking back.
Li Yao sneered as he looked at the male’s back. A trace of ferocity exuded from Li Yao’s eyes.
Before the tanned male could walk outside the supply point, a gale of wind blasted suddenly against his back. Without even the time to react, his body turned wet from a blob of pink gel that bound him firmly.
The tanned male was encased in the pink jello with an expression of shock and grief as he sadly left the competition!
“That’s what I’m talking about. This kid is suited to be an assassin. Think about it. He doesn’t need to be supplied with weapons when he hides behind enemy lines. He can craft and maintain any sort of artifacts himself. This kind of fellow is an existence that will cause headaches for the enemy no matter where he’s placed!”
A cultivator could not help speaking out in the monitoring center.
“How ruthless and merciless. It’s true that there’s nothing preventing competitors from attacking each other in the preliminaries, but to use this kind of deathly back-to-the-head sudden attack means that he has a strong mental fortitude. That kind of fortitude isn’t typical of a high school student. He’s good. He’s really good!”
A cultivator with a shriveled, skinny figure and cold eyes also chuckled, nodding his head repeatedly.
The competitors like the Stubborn Bull, with a block-headed behavior/one-track mind of walking towards doom, are few in number. Most of the competitors straightforwardly chose to trade with points after weighing the pros and cons.
As the competition went on, the number of Demon Beasts slain by everyone grew larger and larger. The competitors with stronger strength had over a thousand points each.
Even though Li Yao played things by ear when increasing his prices slowly, his prices were still quite fair. Most of the competitors did not want to get caught in hassles, for it would be much more delightful and easier to kill Demon Beasts with a better weapon.
The second supply point was swept clean in no time. And once again, Li Yao headed out towards his third supply point.
It took a full two days for him to sweep all of the supply points on Devil Flood Dragon Island clean. He had assembled several hundred rudimentary artifacts in succession to trade with other competitors.
Later on, he even sent a message through his Puji Critter on the public channel meant for communication between competitors. He broadcasted an advertisement:
“Great amounts of Chainswords, Thunder Blades, and Burning Sky Battleaxes are available for sale. They are mighty and very powerful. Their quality is solid. The prices are cheap. They are essential treasures for slaying Demon Beasts and earning a great amount of points. If you wish to buy, please come post haste to ‘so and so number’ supply point.”
Li Yao killed a total of four Demon Beasts. One was from the three-eyed ape in the beginning. The others happened when he had accidently revealed some tracks when moving around, so he was forced to kill three Demon Beasts.
But when the competition entered its 49th hour, Li Yao’s name had actually inconceivably appeared in the first place spot on the rankings, even placing above Helian Lie’s name!
This was unprecedented in the history of the Limit Challenge Competition.
But top place ranking lasted briefly; it’s hard to be sustained for long.
This was because all of the supply points on Devil Flood Dragon Island were swept clean by the end of the second day.
At his first supply point, there were a lot of artifact components for him to assemble.
But after all, there were still quite a few people among the competitors who knew how to assemble artifacts. All the artifact components in the last few supply points were already consumed and exhausted.
Additionally, quite a few competitors who dealt with Li Yao earlier suffered from fatal attacks later and were forced to retire. Great amounts of Chainblades, Thunder Blades, and Burning Sky Battle Axes were lost in the forest and found by other competitors… This was something that Li Yao was utterly unable to prevent.
By the end of the second day, Li Yao’s business had already become very difficult to maintain.
Li Yao didn’t give a damn. He chose a rather warm and dry supply point and began… Sleeping!
While the other competitors were battling endlessly in the forest, being soaked in blood, gaining scars all over their bodies, and using up all their energy, Li Yao snored in deep sleep. He was conserving every last ounce of precious strength.
His name fell, sliding down on the ranking board. By noon of the third day, his name had dropped outside the top 100.
By the end of the third day, his ranking fell all the way down to 293rd.
Li Yao still didn’t give a damn… As long as his ranking was within the top 600, he would still enter the finals.
He was waiting for the finals to put on a good show!
“Pop!”
Li Yao opened a pressurized tin can in the supply point and ate big mouthfuls of food that he chewed over and over.
“BZZ! BZZ! BZZ!”
A strange vibration spread all throughout Devil Flood Dragon Island. Powerful restriction arrays had been initialized. The once vicious and fearsome Demon Beasts seemed to go fixed like statues. All of them turned rigid and motionless.
“Congratulations, Student Li Yao. You have entered into the final stage of the Limit Challenge Competition!”
“Please rest for three hours. All Demon Beasts will be shackled during this time period, they won’t attack you.”
“The finals will begin in three hours. There will be even more powerful Demon Beasts released onto the field during that time. At the same time, you will have 300 competitors as enemies and 299 competitors as allies. Good luck!”
The white Puji Critter orbited around Li Yao’s head dancing elegantly. It seemed to be happy for Li Yao.
A thousand or so beams of light rose from Devil Flood Dragon Island, flying towards the Distant Expanse.
Li Yao knew that those were the competitors who ranked below 600th place. None would have a chance at the finals.
The remaining 600 competitors on Devil Dragon Island were the powerful who managed to survive for three days and slew countless Demon Beasts!
The true battle just started from this moment!
Li Yao chuckled, keeping his head down and eating without a single worry in the world.
Right at this time, Small Ji’s pink antenna at the top of his head swayed slightly, casting a 3D figure in front of Li Yao. It was someone that Li Yao was familiar with.
“Headmaster Zhao!”
Li Yao was struck dumb. Appearing in front of him was the Headmaster of Crimson Nimbus Second, Zhao Shude, who was also a core member of the Crimson Nimbus Guild, a high-level Foundation Stage cultivator.
This ordinarily mysterious bigwig headmaster had a kind expression piled on his face. He repeatedly nodded his head as he spoke, “Student Li Yao, your performance has been outstanding. Speaking of which, have you thought about which university you want to attend?”
“Many thanks for the concern Headmaster Zhao. I’ve already made up my mind. I want to apply for Deep Sea University and become a Refiner!” Li Yao puffed up his chest.
“Deep Sea University is quite good. However, Star Nebula University also has quite a decent Artificing Department. Are you interested? If you want, I can represent the Crimson Nimbus Guild and have you sign an “Entrusted Education” contract. You won’t need to go through the entrance exams. You can directly enter Star Nebula University!”
Zhao Shude had spoken astonishing words.