Chapter 781 – First Preliminary Battle

As the loud voice echoed across the plaza, everyone felt the power of space and time restraining their bodies. Even those with Basic Attributes as strong as Tier 6 Gods found themselves immobilized completely.

Immediately afterward, 120 miniature worlds materialized above the plaza, each encompassing a 1,000-meter radius. Then, as soon as these miniature worlds appeared, the 2,520 players in the plaza were randomly assigned into groups of 21 and drawn into these miniature worlds.

“Heaven’s Blessed, you have been separated from your parties and assigned to one of 120 groups. In each group, you are required to fight your fellow contenders in a round-robin tournament, and each victory you achieve will influence the points you receive at the end of the preliminaries. If you wish for your party to pass the preliminaries, your party’s total points must be within the top 32. Parties who fail to rank among the top 32 will be disqualified, but those who rank among the top 64 may stay behind to spectate. Everyone else will be teleported back to where they came from.

“Now, without further ado, I announce the start of the Continental Championship’s preliminaries! May each group’s selected contenders step onto the ring!”

When the players who were drawn into the miniature worlds heard the deafening voice’s announcement, they started to scrutinize the players around them, fighting spirit burning in their eyes. They obviously understood that all the players drawn into the same miniature world were their opponents.

“Are these newcomers my opponents this time?”

“What the hell! This isn’t fair! Why did I get assigned to the same group as Garuda?!”

“You’re saying that’s unfair? How about you take a look at my group? My group has ten members of parties who made it past the preliminaries last time!”

When the players in the 120 miniature worlds were done inspecting their opponents, some grew excited, while some had the urge to cry.

When it came to parties capable of passing the Continental Championship’s preliminaries, not a single one had any incompetent party members. After all, parties were ranked based on their total points in the preliminaries. If a party member did poorly in the preliminaries, it would severely impact the party’s overall performance. Because of this, the members of such qualifying parties could typically rank among the top ten of their respective groups in the preliminaries, even if they were put against strong opponents. If they got put against weak opponents, they could even try to get into the top six or seven.

After the major system update, players would expend a considerable amount of Stamina and Concentration in every battle. Although players could not truly die in the Continental Championship, they would still consume Stamina and Concentration in every match they fought, and none of it would be replenished. If they encountered a tough fight in their first few matches, it would adversely impact their performance in subsequent matches.

Of course, participants could also forfeit a match outright to conserve their Stamina and Concentration. But for those capable of participating in the Continental Championship, who would be willing to give up without a fight?

How interesting. I didn’t think we would be assigned to the same group.When Venom Tail saw Shi Feng similarly assigned to Miniature World 085, he felt pleasantly surprised and nervous at the same time.

Previously, Venom Tail had taken a huge hit to his reputation in Sovereign Mark because of Shi Feng. The encounter in Shadowring Town had even allowed Chalk Splendor to make fun of him. Yet, all he could do at the time was grind his teeth in anger and frustration. Now, though, not only did he come across Shi Feng again in the Continental Championship, but they were also assigned to the same group in the preliminaries. This was undoubtedly a good opportunity for him to get revenge.

As for why Venom Tail felt nervous, it was because he would be fighting Shi Feng in his tenth match. In a situation where they were both individuals ranked on the Transcendent List, he couldn’t confidently say he could defeat Shi Feng.

…action

After the various parties learned of their party members’ grouping, Verdant Rainbow’s expression turned a little ugly.

Dammit! How are we so unlucky?!Verdant Rainbow had the urge to curse out loud when she saw the groups her party members were assigned.

The groups she, Shi Feng, and Death Wind were assigned were still relatively normal. The strongest member of their groups was only a member of a top 16 party. Their groups also only had up to two members of parties that had made it past the preliminaries in the last Continental Championship. Moreover, none of them were key members of their parties. As for the rest of their group members, they were relatively unknown experts among the three races.

However, it was a different story for Gentle Snow, Fervent Samsara, and Heavy Abyss. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to consider their groups as hell. Each of them had to face anywhere from seven to ten members of parties that had made it past the preliminaries.

The situation was especially bad in Miniature World 006, the world Gentle Snow was assigned. In addition to having to face ten contenders who had successfully made it past the preliminaries in the past, she also had to face a key member of the previous championship’s top 8 party.

Returning Blade the Soul Breaker!

In terms of individual strength, Returning Blade could rank among the top 20 in the last Continental Championship. His ability to transform into a Soul-Breaking Beast made it life-threatening for his opponents to face him head-on. Anyone struck by the Soul-Breaking Beast would not only lose HP but also have a portion of their souls devoured. Moreover, the Soul-Breaking Beast would usually remain in an ethereal form and only materialize when launching an attack, making it immune to attacks most of the time.

To make matters worse, Gentle Snow’s first battle in her group was against Returning Blade. Should Gentle Snow refuse to forfeit her match and insist on fighting Returning Blade, she might as well not fight in the remaining nineteen matches.

“Guild Leader Black Flame, how about advising Gentle Snow to forfeit her match against Returning Blade? Returning Blade is no ordinary expert. After the major system update, the threat of his Soul-Breaking Beast has most likely risen to a whole new level. Even trading blows with him would severely impact her performance in subsequent matches!” Verdant Rainbow hurriedly said after contacting Shi Feng.

Gentle Snow was Zero Wing’s Vice Guild Leader, so Verdant Rainbow didn’t think it would be appropriate for an outsider like herself to persuade the other party. After all, the Continental Championship was a precious opportunity for expert players to clash with apex experts of foreign races in a one-on-one scenario.

Thus, only Shi Feng, the Guild Leader of Zero Wing, had the qualifications to dissuade Gentle Snow from proceeding with her fight with Returning Blade.

“Miss Rainbow, I think we should leave this decision to Snow’s judgment. While Returning Blade might be a powerful foe, Zero Wing’s Vice Guild Leaders are no pushovers, either,” Shi Feng said. Despite seeing the worry on Verdant Rainbow’s face, he had no intention of intervening in Gentle Snow’s decisions.

Ever since Gentle Snow had been chosen by Fate’s Guidance[1], her strength had improved by leaps and bounds. Now that she had equipped the new God Chaser Set, even Shi Feng had no idea how strong she had become. Although there was still a possibility Gentle Snow might not be a match for Returning Blade, he doubted she would be outright defeated.

Meanwhile, Verdant Rainbow was at a loss of words after hearing Shi Feng’s refusal. At this rate, their party might not even be able to make it past the preliminaries, let alone enter the championship’s top 4.

At the same time, Death Wind couldn’t help but smile when he was done inspecting the groups to which he and his party members were assigned. Setting Gentle Snow aside, it would be a miracle if Fervent Samsara and Heavy Abyss could place fifth in their respective groups. Now, all he had to do was place tenth in his group to win his bet with Shi Feng.

…

“Miniature World 006’s second match is over! Winner: Black Jade of the Holy Race!”

“Miniature World 006’s third match will now begin! May the Holy Race’s Returning Blade and the Human Race’s Gentle Snow take the ring!”

…

TL Notes:

[1]Fate’s Guidance:

To recap, Fate’s Guidance is referring to the Goddess Armament Set that appeared in Chapter 554.

I don’t know what “Gentle Snow had been chosen by Fate’s Guidance” means exactly, but I doubt Gentle Snow has already conquered all twelve trials as she still needs to equip the God Chaser Set. A more likely scenario is that she has cleared one or two trials and obtained some of the Goddess’s Legacy.