Chapter 788 – Sixth-Floor Existence

“I must be hallucinating!”

“How did half of the top 10 seeded parties get replaced?”

“Didn’t the Eight Paths Party rank in the top eight last time? How did it end up in tenth place?”action

“Crap! What’s up with that Verdant Rainbow Party and Ink Crystal Party?!”

A huge scoreboard appeared in mid-air when the preliminaries concluded. When the participants saw the information listed, gasps echoed across the Crucible.

While not a perfect indicator of strength, the rank and score each party secured in the preliminaries allowed other participants to gauge the party’s overall strength. Meanwhile, the top 10 parties in the preliminaries were traditionally regarded as the top 10 seeded parties.

In past championships, although it wasn’t uncommon for new names to appear among the top 10 seeded parties, the number was typically limited to just one or two. Yet, now, not only did the top 10 seeded parties welcome five new names, but two of them even entered the top 5.

Firstly, it was the human race’s Verdant Rainbow Party. Five of its members became group champions of their respective groups and earned 20 points each, while the last member came in eighth place and earned 4 points, putting the party’s total at 104 points. In the past, such a total wouldn’t even be enough to put a party in the top 10. Yet, the Verdant Rainbow Party managed to come in fifth place. This was simply unbelievable.

However, what was even more astonishing was the Crystallians’ second-ranked Ink Crystal Party. All six party members ended up as group champions, putting their total points at 120. This was the same as the total score the third-ranked Earthen Princess Party secured, and the fact that the Ink Crystal Party managed to rank above the Earthen Princess Party was the part that shocked everyone.

It wasn’t uncommon to see multiple parties score the full 120 points in past championships. In such situations, time would become the tiebreaker, and these parties would be ranked based on the time they spent on matches in the preliminaries. In other words, the Ink Crystal Party’s members completed their matches faster than the members of the former second-ranked Earthen Princess Party.

“I’m a chosen one from a Crystallian power, but why haven’t I heard of any of the Ink Crystal Party’s members before?”

“What?! The Ink Crystal Party’s leader is just a little girl! Going by her looks, is she even eighteen?”

“Hahaha! What an amazing little girl! It’s only her first time participating in the Continental Championship, yet she’s already made such an incredible achievement! Our race has a bright future ahead!”

“The humans aren’t doing too bad this time, either. One of their parties actually squeezed into fifth place. It seems they’ve made a lot of progress during this period.”

Upon seeing the results on the scoreboard, some participants celebrated, while some grew anxious. In the case of the Holy Race’s participants, most of them wore gloomy expressions.

In the last championship’s preliminaries, the Holy Race occupied 19 out of the top 32 positions, while the Crystallians occupied 10 and the humans occupied 3. This time, however, the Holy Race only had 15 parties in the top 32, while the Crystallians had 12 and the humans had 5. This indicated that the Holy Race’s overall development was starting to lag behind the two other races and even risked being overtaken by the Crystallians.

The Holy Race’s performance was even worse when looking at the top 5 seeded parties. Of them, only two parties were from the Holy Race, while two were from the Crystallians, and one was from the humans. This outcome was utterly disheartening.

…

“Although it’s a pity we didn’t get through the preliminaries this time, the Verdant Rainbow Party has earned a lot of prestige for us humans. We’ll also get assigned more admission tickets for the next championship.”

“Indeed. I really didn’t expect to see five of our parties making it through the preliminaries this time. It’s a pity my party doesn’t even have the qualifications to spectate…”

When the many human parties that failed to rank in the top 64 saw the main event’s name list, they couldn’t help but rue over their inability.

The Continental Championship’s main event was a clash between the apex existences of the Eternal Realm’s three continents. Fights of such caliber could rarely be seen, even in the Greater God’s Domain. In a certain sense, players could gain more from spectating such fights than personally participating in the Continental Championship’s preliminaries. After all, if a player had never seen the apex of God’s Domain, how were they supposed to know if they were halfway there or still wasting their time at the starting line?

Although the various human powers would often host combat competitions across the Greater God’s Domain, none could compare with the Continental Championship. After all, the majority of the participants in these competitions would be at the fourth-floor standard, while only the strongest participants would be at the fifth-floor standard. Even then, these fifth-floor experts could only be considered mediocre at best. In contrast, even the weakest participant in the Continental Championship was a fifth-floor expert.

…

Shortly after the preliminaries’ results were announced, the parties that failed to rank in the top 64 were teleported out of the Crucible of the Ancients. Simultaneously, the top 32 parties were teleported to the main event’s venue, and everyone promptly began scrutinizing each other.

Is she Ink Crystal?Rin, the Earthen Princess, revealed an astonished expression as she looked at a Crystallian girl who was only a little over five meters tall.

At first glance, the Crystallian girl named Ink Crystal looked adorable. However, whether it was Rin or Garuda, a hint of fear quickly surfaced in their eyes when they finished scrutinizing Ink Crystal.

A pseudo-sixth-floor expert?Garuda smiled when he finished scrutinizing Ink Crystal.Interesting! How interesting! My trip here this time wasn’t a waste after all!

Aside from Rin and Garuda, Shi Feng was also staring at the adorable Crystallian girl named Ink Crystal.

What’s going on?Shi Feng couldn’t help but be dumbfounded as he looked at Ink Crystal.

While Shi Feng couldn’t say the same for the other participants present, he knew exactly what Ink Crystal’s combat standard was. This was because he had personally seen experts of Ink Crystal’s caliber in his previous life.

A sixth-floor expert!

Ink Crystal was a bona fide sixth-floor expert!

She was a peerless monster who could reach the Tower of the Abyss’s sixth floor and single-handedly defeat Gods!

However, as far as Shi Feng could recall, he had never heard of any Crystallian girl named Ink Crystal in his previous life. Not to mention, despite being so young, the girl had already achieved such a frightening standard.

Before Shi Feng could snap out of his daze, a voice echoed across the Crucible of the Ancients.

“The Continental Championship’s main event has begun! May the Verdant Rainbow Party and the Holy Guard Party step forward to start the first match!”

…