Chapter 467: Crushing
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Chen Fei’s brow furrowed slightly as he looked at the radiance not far from him, which had just emanated from a soldier he had just killed.
Just moments ago, there was nothing unusual, but as the Haiyue Cave trembled, the radiance rose from that spot. Clearly, the trial’s rules had changed once again.
“Does the power of the killed soldier transfer to the ones who are still alive?”
Various thoughts raced through Chen Fei’s mind, as it seemed like the only explanation for what had just occurred.
Before this, Chen Fei had killed many soldiers without any such phenomenon occurring, indicating that this was a new occurrence after a certain number of soldiers within the cave had been lost.
Previously, Chen Fei had been thinking that as the scrolls were continuously acquired, the strength of all partic.i.p.ants would steadily increase. It appeared that even though there seemed to be a vast number of soldiers, they would ultimately meet their end at the hands of the partic.i.p.ants.
Except for a few extremely unlucky ones who encountered a large number of soldiers and were besieged, everyone’s strength was bound to continuously improve.
But now, with the introduction of this new rule, the situation had suddenly changed.
As the soldiers continued to diminish, the strength of the remaining ones increased. In the end, if the number of soldiers decreased significantly, the pressure on everyone might actually become greater.
In the world of martial artists, extremely powerful individuals couldn’t be overcome by sheer numbers. If the number of soldiers dwindled to a certain extent, there might even emerge exceedingly formidable beings among them.
When it reached that point, everyone would face the fate of being slaughtered.
However, refraining from killing these soldiers meant that the partic.i.p.ants’ strength couldn’t improve, which was also a dead end. One couldn’t just keep taking hits without fighting back, right?
Balancing one’s own power and the eventual number of soldiers was a dilemma.
The problem was compounded by the fact that there were plenty of partic.i.p.ants, and there was no unified way of thinking to solve this issue.
Suddenly, Chen Fei’s expression shifted slightly as he looked up into the distance, where the sky seemed to have drawn closer?
Chen Fei squinted his eyes slightly, earnestly gazing into the distance. After a moment, he finally confirmed that it wasn’t just his imagination; the distance was indeed getting closer.
Or, to put it another way, the Haiyue Cave was shrinking. The consequence of this shrinkage was that the likelihood of everyone encountering the soldiers was gradually increasing, and in the end, there might be no escape.
“They’re really pushing us step by step,” Chen Fei lightly chuckled, looking at the military camp ahead. Instead of retreating, he slowly infiltrated closer.
At this moment, everyone had noticed the new changes in the cave, and considering the various situations they had encountered, they were gradually grasping the new rules of the trial.
Many people began to curse under their breath, but they felt helpless nonetheless.
The rhythm of slaughtering soldiers did not slow down; after all, if one refrained from killing, others would undoubtedly continue, and in the end, it would still be their own demise.
However, the number of people forming alliances with each other continued to grow. After all, with the soldiers’ strength increasing, working together provided more security.
Outside the Haiyue Cave,
Everyone watched the changes in the light points on the water curtain, and the breath of the partic.i.p.ants was almost completely overshadowed by the soldiers’ presence.
Suddenly, the light curtain trembled slightly, and then it dissipated. The details of the trials inside the cave were no longer disclosed.
“So we’ve already entered the third level of the trial so quickly. This time, it’s faster than before,” many people remarked, still not having had their fill of excitement.
In the Haiyue Cave trials, only the details of the first two levels were publicly disclosed. The subsequent trials were completely concealed, naturally to protect the safety of the partic.i.p.ants.
After all, the partic.i.p.ants’ presence was fully displayed on the water curtain. Even though those outside didn’t know what was happening inside the cave, many things could be deduced from the details.
Not every partic.i.p.ant had a deep background. If those with influential backgrounds excelled in the trials, there was nothing to worry about.
Because even if these individuals gained a lot inside the Haiyue Cave, others wouldn’t dare to scheme against them.
However, for those without significant backgrounds who excelled in the Haiyue Cave, they would immediately become the target of others’ attention.
Human nature can’t withstand any test, let alone matters of substantial profit; it inevitably arouses people’s curiosity.
Therefore, when the Haiyue Cave trials reach a critical point, they are directly concealed, a practice that has continued for many years.
Outside the Haiyue Cave, the onlookers gradually dispersed, and many people rushed to various betting establishments. In the world, as long as one is willing, they can make bets.
Several major betting establishments are set up to determine which individuals can advance to the second level of the trial without being eliminated. Now that the second level of the trial has ended, the results are already known.
While there is commotion outside the Haiyue Cave, inside the cave, the battles have become more intense.
As the number of soldiers dwindles and the remaining soldiers grow stronger, the partic.i.p.ants are no longer finding it as easy as before, and the speed at which they obtain scrolls is decreasing.
This forces more partic.i.p.ants to join forces to combat the increasing pressure, and one of the most significant forces at this moment is under Zhuo Tianying’s command.
Compared to Teng Daoxuan, Zhuo Tianying has a relatively mild temperament and handles matters fairly.
Geng w.a.n.gsheng stood in the queue, glanced at Du Guman beside him, and then looked ahead at Zhuo Tianying.
Back when he challenged Zhuo Tianying on the Hidden Dragon and Young Phoenix Ranking, Geng w.a.n.gsheng failed and then promptly withdrew, choosing not to challenge anyone else on the ranking. Therefore, Geng w.a.n.gsheng has some unresolved feelings towards Zhuo Tianying.
However, compared to before, Geng w.a.n.gsheng’s resentment towards Zhuo Tianying has lessened considerably because he suffered a far more devastating failure in the Misty Sea not long ago.
Geng w.a.n.gsheng had never considered that, under the circ.u.mstances of teaming up with others, he could be defeated by a peer-level martial artist. However, in the Misty Sea, Geng w.a.n.gsheng experienced it vividly.
In fact, if the other party hadn’t been too busy to chase them, Geng w.a.n.gsheng wasn’t even sure if he could have made it out of the Misty Sea alive.
Compared to such an experience, the previous failure of challenging Zhuo Tianying on the Hidden Dragon and Young Phoenix Ranking didn’t seem like such a big deal.
“The first-place in the first level wasn’t Zhuo Tianying. Do you think it might be that person?” Geng w.a.n.gsheng looked at Du Guman and transmitted his thoughts in a low voice.
“Still haven’t seen Teng Daoxuan, maybe it’s him,” Du Guman responded.
“I saw Teng Daoxuan half an hour ago; it’s not him,” Geng w.a.n.gsheng shook his head.
Du Guman’s expression twitched but she remained silent. At this point, whether it was that person or not was no longer important. The key was how to survive the current trial.
Because the first-place finisher in the first level had quickly reached the Visceral Tempering realm, the cultivation levels of the others hadn’t kept up, leading to the somewhat awkward situation they now faced.
Otherwise, if everyone’s cultivation had been at the Marrow Tempering realm at that time, the situation wouldn’t be this dire.
In previous Haiyue Cave trials, there had never been reports of partic.i.p.ants uniting like this.
“There’s a military camp ahead, everyone follow me!”
Zhuo Tianying looked ahead and suddenly spoke in a low voice. The next moment, his figure flickered and disappeared from the spot. The others followed behind without a word.
Before entering the Haiyue Cave, they were all Marrow Tempering realm martial artists. Many things didn’t need to be said; everyone understood how to handle situations like this.
On the other side of the cave, near the location of the largest military camp, Chen Fei’s figure moved around the camp, and the arrows in his hand turned into streaks of lightning, continuously shooting towards the pursuing soldiers.
Chen Fei’s cultivation had long reached the Visceral Tempering realm, and he possessed dozens of martial arts techniques in his mind.
Killing, picking up the drops from the soldiers, and absorbing the proficiency orbs directly, he simplified the scrolls and immediately incorporated them, allowing his cultivation to rise once again.
Although the surrounding soldiers grew stronger as their comrades died, they couldn’t catch up with Chen Fei’s pace of improvement. In just a short while, Chen Fei had already taken down more than a hundred soldiers one by one.
“Who dares to be so audacious!”
A loud shout came from inside the military camp, and a lieutenant led a group of soldiers charging out. However, before they could get close to Chen Fei, an arrow pierced straight through his skull.
This lieutenant was not weak; his strength had reached the early stages of the Marrow Tempering realm. However, Chen Fei had already advanced to the mid-stages of the Marrow Tempering realm.
Under the electromagnetic cannon, it only took a single arrow to kill a lieutenant of this caliber.
Chen Fei didn’t have any immediate plans to charge directly into the military camp. Compared to other partic.i.p.ants, Chen Fei’s speed in killing soldiers was much faster, and his rate of strength increase far exceeded the soldiers’ amplification.
Therefore, Chen Fei didn’t need to take unnecessary risks at the moment. He could wait until his strength reached a certain level before entering the military camp to slay the enemy officers.
As Chen Fei killed the lieutenant with a single arrow, the entire military camp shook, and more and more soldiers began to mobilize. The experts within the camp also started to pursue him.
However, all of Chen Fei’s proficiency orbs were invested in his Thunderous Fist and a footwork technique called “Floating Light and Shadow.” Coupled with Chen Fei’s current cultivation level, these soldiers couldn’t even get close to him and were systematically taken down one by one.
As for the archers within the camp, as soon as they dared to show themselves, Chen Fei promptly eliminated them, leaving them with no chance to retaliate.
This was an absolute display of power, and in front of Chen Fei, the large military camp had no way to counter him. If anyone else were to witness this scene, they would likely be left jaw-dropped. Their biggest feat was to a.s.sault a military camp with dozens of soldiers, while Chen Fei was single-handedly crushing a camp of over a thousand soldiers.
If it weren’t for Chen Fei’s goal of obtaining various treasures dropped within the Haiyue Cave, he could have single-handedly killed all the partic.i.p.ants by now.
However, if Chen Fei were to do that, the trial would end immediately, and the final treasures would remain at their current level.
After all, this Haiyue Cave trial wasn’t about b.l.o.o.d.y slaughter but a compet.i.tion of talent and insight. There would be battles, but that wasn’t the ultimate goal.
In other parts of the Haiyue Cave, everyone noticed that the soldiers were gaining strength at a faster rate, likely due to the large number of casualties.
No one knew who was responsible for this, and all they could do was to kill the soldiers in front of them to boost their own strength.
As time pa.s.sed by,
“Hum!”
Suddenly, the entire Haiyue Cave trembled slightly, and a beam of light appeared in mid-air, shrouding the entire Haiyue Cave.
A message appeared in everyone’s minds: “Someone has killed the enemy camp’s commanding officer, and a new mode is initiated.”
All the soldiers disappeared from view, and everyone involuntarily stopped their actions, wearing puzzled expressions and question marks all over their faces.
How could the enemy camp’s commanding officer have been killed? They were still struggling to kill soldiers!
Who was it? Who did it?