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The train departed once again. After a day, the news from Hang City had been distributed to everyone; Lei Zhongyuan had announced it to the students on the train. “Everyone listen up! There’s been changes to the tournament rules in Hang City. We won’t be running the elimination rounds. Please prepare yourself.”
“Instructor Lei, why did the rules change? Did something big happen?” Liu Ruoxue asked.
Theirs was a tournament that everyone was paying attention to. If there was a sudden change in the rules, that meant something big had happened.
Lei Zhongyuan looked at them before telling them, “I’m not sure if it’s good or bad news for you guys. The good news is that you’ve experienced it once. The bad news is that it's dangerous.”
Xiang Ning furrowed his brows. Something we’ve experienced before? The danger that Dong Qianyi mentioned… it isn’t something that everyone could’ve already experienced.
Looking at Xiang Ning’s worried face, Lei Zhongyuan explained, “That’s right. It’s just like what Xiang Ning is thinking now. It’s very possible that a stampede will occur in Hang City. The scale of the stampede is on par with the one that recently attacked Tranquil City. As for the change in the tournament format, it’s most likely going to be a beast elimination format. The more beasts you kill, the more likely you’ll be able to advance into the next city.”
Everyone was worried when he said that. While they had experienced a stampede once, they didn’t want to fight in another so soon. The pressure was too intense; not because of the beasts, but because of the deaths of their comrades. They didn’t want to witness it again.
Only Xiang Ning was confused. Stampede? Isn’t it an invasion from another civilization through the dimensional rift? He couldn’t wrap his head around it.
Lei Zhongyuan patted his shoulder and reassured him. “No need to feel stressed about it. I think the change in format is also an excellent chance to improve yourself. You should be stronger after the stampede.”
“A stampede could last for months. Do we need to stay in Hang City for that long?”
“Relax, it won’t be as complicated as the situation with the Octoviolet Silversnake last time. The stampede this time is being led by a single Beast King. As long as we kill it, the stampede will end,” Lei Zhongyuan explained.
Everyone was even more worried. A Beast King! Those were tier seven beasts capable of destroying entire cities!
“Does that mean there’ll be many high-tier beasts appearing this time?” Xiang Ning was worried. A high-tier beast was like a treasure to him; it’d been quite some time since the Devourer had eaten anything.
“Yes. There’ll be more than in the previous stampede in Tranquil City. A single Beast King can command at least thousands of tier four Beast Generals. It should be stronger this time.”
The previous stampede in Tranquil City had been caused by the miasma from the Octoviolet Silversnake. While there were many beasts, most of them were low tier. The only reason why there had been so many casualties was that Tranquil City was only a border city without many resources. They were unable to train many tier four martial artists. It was already a miracle to have even the few that they did.
Everyone had the same feeling in Heavenly Star City. There were many martial artists in Marsh and Tranquil Cities, but only a handful of them were tier four and above. In contrast, there were numerous tier four martial artists in Heavenly Star City. There were so many that most of the people on the street were even tier four.
While Hang City wasn’t as prosperous as Heavenly Star City, it had a unique history. Hundreds of years ago it was the ideal location for humans and had birthed many geniuses and prodigies, second only to North Star City. The number of experts there was no less than those in Heavenly Star City. Additionally, the tournament had gathered all of the experts in China. It was like a fresh blood transfusion!
Everyone calmed down after sorting out the details. They had already experienced a stampede once so they more or less knew what to expect. Just as Lei Zhongyuan had said, they had the advantage this time.
Some of them were worried, while others were hopeful as they looked out of the train. The distance to Hang City was quite long, and they wouldn’t arrive until dusk. That was why most of them were purchasing equipment online through Planet Home. None of them had prepared any equipment to fight against beasts or camp in the wilderness.
“Hey, aren’t you still searching for a breathing technique? Come look at some of them with us. With your talent, you’ll exponentially grow through this stampede,” Fang Rou invited Xiang Ning.
His squad had already chosen some items and techniques to increase their strength, but the fastest way to grow was through life-or-death battles.
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Xiang Ning smiled and waved his hand. “No worries, I’ve already got everything I need.” He already had the Eight Gates. If he used a breathing technique on top of that, he would only suffocate. The Eight Gates was a savage technique, even though it wasn’t technically a breathing technique. Unless he found a stronger one, he would continue using it.
“Alright.”
Everyone was busy preparing their equipment—even Xiang Xiaoyu, since she was already both a martial artist and spiritual cultivator. There was no reason not to do so.
Only Xiang Ning was just idly sitting by the window admiring the view.
......
Dusk soon came and Xiang Ning and the rest disembarked in Hang City. They thought that they had been transported to a new world. It had been cold in Heavenly Star City, but it was snowing in Hang City.
“Big brother, is this snow?” Xiang Xiaoyu saw the fluttering snowflakes and her eyes were shimmering in excitement.
“Looks like it.” Xiang Ning was touching the snowflakes. He wanted to test and see if the rumors about snow being soft to the touch were true. It was the first time he had seen any.
Because the new year was coming up, many of the trees had red paper cutouts tied to them. It was a tradition that had survived into the modern era, even though humanity had gone through the Great Disaster.
“Alright, we’ll rest in the city tonight. Once everyone else has gathered, we’ll head to the front line. Prepare yourselves.” Lei Zhongyuan had just finished talking when the cars arranged by the committee arrived.