Chapter 162 - 119: Far Ahead, Teleportation Gate’s Evolution

Chapter 162: Chapter 119: Far Ahead, Teleportation Gate’s Evolution

But by comparison, Shen Xing from the Celestial Star Country was on another level.

His score jumped by a huge chunk nearly every few minutes.

It only took him two hours to reclaim the top spot.

And with a score of 15,500, he was a full 500 points ahead of Lachlan.

Right now, the Pioneer forums in every country were exploding with heated discussions, all speculating on who would ultimately be crowned the champion.

"The competition for the top three is really fierce this time."

"Yeah, it feels like there isn’t much of a power gap between the three of them. It’s impossible to tell who will have the last laugh."

"I think first place will go to either Lachlan or Shen Xing. Dolores is probably out of the running."

"Bullshit! Dolores still has plenty of trump cards up her sleeve. She can definitely take second place, no problem."

"Stop arguing, all of you. Shen Xing will definitely get first."

"No way! Lachlan is guaranteed to win!"

...

...

[Ding! Your rank has risen to #1. Please keep up the effort to maintain your position.]

In the underground Lava Cave, Shen Xing sat atop a Horned Eagle, circling in mid-air.

Hearing the system notification, he pulled up the leaderboard for a look.

He was currently in first place, and the gap between him and Lachlan was widening. He was already ahead by nearly 700 points.

’At this rate, by midnight tonight, I should be able to pull ahead by over a thousand points. First place seems like it’s in the bag.’

’But nothing’s certain. If something unexpected happens to the Hell Teleportation Gate, or if Lachlan pulls out a new trump card, I could still be surpassed.’

’I need to keep playing it safe and steady. Can’t rush things.’

Shen Xing remained calm. He wasn’t about to get reckless and rush for a quick victory just because it was the last day.

Just then, his body in the real world suddenly sensed several terrifying auras sweeping over him.

Shen Xing instinctively tensed up, ready to flee at a moment’s notice.

Fortunately, the auras were fleeting and vanished as quickly as they appeared.

He breathed a small sigh of relief.

’Those auras just now... they felt incredibly powerful. And it seemed like they were about to make a move on me.’

’Looks like a lot of people don’t want to see me take first place.’

A cold glint flashed in Shen Xing’s eyes, his mind racing.

He knew the auras had appeared and then vanished likely because the Jiang City authorities had sent people to protect him.

Shen Xing wasn’t surprised, though. From the moment he’d decided to break into the top ten and compete for a spot on the leaderboard, he had anticipated something like this would happen.

This was the path of a Lord. To vie for more resources and become stronger, one would inevitably infringe upon the interests of others and become a target.

It wasn’t just about this leaderboard.

Later on, as his territory developed and expanded, he would inevitably have conflicts of interest with other Lords and factions.

Unless you chose a zen-like path, content to guard your own little plot of land and develop slowly, avoiding all conflict.

But even then, it was inevitable that other powers would target you for their own gain, just like people such as Gideon.

So, it all boiled down to one truth: The strong must compete, and Lords must vie for power!

’Thankfully, I have the protection of the Jiang City authorities for now, so there shouldn’t be any problems in the real world.’

’But in the end, you have to be strong yourself. They can’t protect me forever, so I still have to work hard to improve.’

’I’ll strive for a day when I don’t need anyone’s protection and can walk freely through every corner of both Blue Star and the Land of Mist.’

Shen Xing steeled his resolve and turned his gaze back to the battlefield below.

"Push forward!"

At the Lord’s command, Black Arrow, standing in the center of the formation, immediately drew its cold-iron Longbow.

Pure, chilling energy gathered on the bowstring, coalescing into a crystal-clear arrow of ice.

WHOOSH!

The arrow shot forth, landing in the middle of the monster horde and instantly exploding!

CRACK!

Like a blooming flower of ice, a terrifying frost swept outwards. The Hell Creatures within a several-dozen-meter radius were frozen solid on the spot, turning into a host of ice sculptures.

The raging Beastman army immediately swarmed forward, hacking the frozen monsters apart until they shattered into a spray of icy fragments.

After instantly killing a large number of monsters with a single strike, Black Arrow didn’t pause for a second, charging forward on its thick, bony legs.

FWOOSH...

A tangible wave of chilling energy rapidly emanated from its body.

The scorched earth was quickly coated in a layer of ice, and crystalline snowflakes began to drift through the air.

The temperature in the entire cave seemed to plummet by dozens of degrees in an instant.

[Frosty Yin Qi]—Activated!

In that moment, Black Arrow seemed to transform into a mobile font of glacial power.

Wherever it went, the ground froze over. A thick layer of frost coated the bodies of all monsters, their movements slowing to a crawl before one’s very eyes.

Meanwhile, friendly units within the aura of cold felt refreshingly cool, and a layer of hard ice even formed on their weapons.

BAM! BAM! CRACK!

The sounds of striking War Axes and shattering ice were incessant.

Vast numbers of monsters were frozen by Black Arrow’s chilling aura, only to be hacked to pieces on the spot.

Empowered by Black Arrow’s Talent, the party advanced, unstoppable.

Soon, they reached the end of the cave, standing beside a massive pool of lava.

The Flame Greatsword was still rotating slowly in mid-air, radiating immense power.

The lava boiled and churned, slowly swirling in time with the Greatsword’s rotation.

Viewed from above, it looked like a giant pot of sweet potato porridge being stirred by an invisible spoon.

Shen Xing could faintly sense a terrifying Energy gathering at the bottom of the pool.

’This aura... Is the Hell Teleportation Gate at the bottom of the pool about to advance to Three-Eyed?’