Chapter 72: First Time Entering a Dungeon

"Teams with the higher score would advance to the second round," the host explained. "Of course, since this is essentially a competition between the Freshmen teams, it would not just be about fighting monsters in the dungeons. There’s also a secret hidden within the rules that could be exploited. That would be left for the teams to explore!"

His words had caused the expressions of the Freshmen around to change a little, not sure if it is because they had understood the meaning behind the host’s words.

"Weapons and equipment are allowed in this competition, but nothing else besides that!"

"With that, let us first welcome the two Freshmen teams who had drawn number ’1’ earlier!" the host called out, followed by a round of applause for the audience. Then the spotlights shone on the two teams who were walking toward the center of the arena.

The host handed the two team captains a metal card with the number ’0’ marked on it. "This card will keep track of your progress. Every time your team eliminates a monster, the corresponding points will be added to this number," he explained.

Then, as a final reminder, he added, "If your team’s score remains at zero for more than ten minutes, then your whole team would be automatically eliminated, so please be careful of time."

The two team captains nodded in understanding before taking the score card.

"Shiyan... what do you think? Is there anything wrong with what he’s saying?" Jiang Zihan asked in a low voice. He watched as the two teams disappeared into the dungeon, his expression looking a bit dignified.

Mo Shiyan gently shook his head. "...Although it’s not the best way to do things, it is the fastest way to end the match," Mo Shiyan replied, without a single change in his expression.

"Why are you guys thinking so much? Even if we have to use that method, that’s something for later. Now we could just enjoy their performance," Lu Xingyue said when she joined the conversation.

Jiang Zihan gave her a glance before turning his attention back to the arena, not sure of what he was thinking by his expression.

The teams entered the dungeon one after another. Since time flowed more slowly inside the dungeon than in the outside world, the first ten teams had ended their match much faster than he thought they would take (which is in less than two hours).

Just as Jiang Zihan had expected, there were some other teams who had realized the key to the hidden rules. They knew that instead of eliminating the monsters, they could just fight the other team and steal their score cards.

Once a team successfully seizes an opponent’s card, the corresponding points will be added to their own card, while the opponent’s score would be reset to zero. If their opponent weren’t able to seize their card like the other team had done to them... or isn’t able to eliminate a monster within ten minutes, then they would be automatically eliminated.

"Now it seems like the teams were no longer willing to spend their time fighting monsters. Instead, they’re all focusing on fighting one another for the score cards. This competition had totally turned into a battle between teams," Shen Qingci commented when he let out a sigh.

Then he turned to Jiang Zihan and asked, "What should we do then?"

However, before they could come up with a plan, the host had already called their team. "Next, let us welcome the two teams who have drawn the number 5—the "Seven Flames" team and the "Moon of the Nine Heavens" team!" the host announced loudly after raising the microphone near his mouth.

"Let us look forward to their performance today!"

The group exchanged glances before they walked toward the center of the arena. A teacher handed Mo Shiyan a score card and gestured for them to enter the dungeon.

Jiang Zihan looked up and stared at the dungeon entrance. This was the first time he had been this close to a dungeon... or rather, the first time he saw a dungeon with his eyes. Although most of the high-rank monsters had been cleared out by the academy, the strong aura that spread from the dungeon entrance had still made his heart skip a beat.

He pressed a hand on his heart, feeling how fast it was beating. He took a few deep breaths before stepping into the dungeon. The second he walked inside, he felt a sense of weightlessness, scaring him a little. He frowned and tried to twist his body in mid-air and was shocked to find that he had somehow lost control of his body.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but when he opened his eyes again, he realized himself standing in an empty area, with nothing else around.

He tentatively tried to move his fingers and let out a long breath when he noticed that he could move again. The sensation from before wasn’t good at all.

Jiang Zihan looked around his surroundings and let out a sigh before murmuring to himself. "Although the chances of the entire team being teleported together were pretty low, leaving myself alone is way too..."

He didn’t finish his sentence. After standing in place for a while, he clicked his tongue before looking to the right and wanted to find his team members in that direction.

Then, his expression turned cold as he instinctively jumped backward. In the next moment, something slammed into the spot where he had been standing, shattering the ground beneath it.

Jiang Zihan: "!!!"

What kind of power was that?

He narrowed his eyes, trying to identify what had just happened when he saw a monster slowly walking out of the dust that was flying around because of his attack from before.

"What in the world... this is a C-Rank monster—?!" Jiang Zihan couldn’t help but call out. His expression suddenly became dignified when he twisted his body in the mid-air to dodge another attack that the monster struck.

"Seems to be a big trouble..."

After witnessing the power that the monster had shown, he did not want to go against it at all. He wanted to leave this place; however, the monster was not willing to let go of the prey that was almost in its mouth.

With no other way, he could only choose to fight the monster. Seeing that it was charging toward him, he raised a hand and formed a protective barrier in front of him. Before the barrier formed completely, the monster’s razor-sharp claws had already slammed violently onto it.

BOOM!

With a loud crash, a large crack appeared on the protective barrier, which Jiang Zihan immediately gathered his magical energy in order to repair the crack. However, before he was able to do so, another attack landed on the protective barrier, causing it to shatter into countless fragments.

Then his expression changed. As the monster’s sharp claws came straight toward him, he did not have enough time to dodge the attack and could only lift his arms in front of him to protect himself.

He gritted his teeth because of the pain he felt and was hit hard, rolling across the floor. He quickly got to his feet as the monster rushed toward him again.

"This is so annoying..." he murmured as he twisted in mid-air and materialized a sword in his hand before striking it toward the monster.

Without any protection, the sword stabbed directly into its body, causing it to roar from pain. Its eyes immediately turned red, and it wanted to attack Jiang Zihan when the ice crystals began to spread from its wound all the way to its entire body, causing it to freeze in place.

Jiang Zihan seized the chance and charged forward, wanting to pull the sword out of its body to give it another strike when the monster suddenly broke free of the ice, with a beam of light forming in his mouth.

What—?! That was so fast!

His eyes widened with shock when he stabbed the sword into the ground and knelt on one knee to the ground. "Domain—unleash!" he called out.

In the next moment, the domain spread outward from Jiang Zihan and the temperature around him suddenly decreased.

The temperature of the whole place immediately plummeted as there were layers of ice crystals that spread outward at a lightning speed.

The beam of light in the monster’s mouth seemed to stop forming for a second, but right after, it grew brighter and larger. Even though it only stopped for a few seconds, Jiang Zihan had caught that chance to materialize strands of thread above his palm.

The strands of thread intertwined with the ice crystals. Then they suddenly coiled around the monster from all directions, trying to control it in place again.

The monster seemed to sense the danger. Its blood-red eyes suddenly shifted as it moved its body, trying to break free from the thread, while the beam of light in its mouth released straight toward Jiang Zihan.