High Martial: I Grind Professions

Chapter 551: Chapter 339: Fighting Saphis

Then, Flame Ashes began to announce the rules, his voice reaching everyone’s ears with perfect clarity:

”Phase Three: The Ranking Finals! The rules are as follows:

”The two thousand contestants will be randomly sorted and numbered. The format is one-on-one arena battles! For each battle, the winner will receive one point, and the loser will receive zero.”

With a grand wave of his hand, a holographic demonstration of the match pairings materialized in the air:

”Round One: Number 1 versus Number 2, Number 3 versus Number 4, and so on.”

”Round Two: Number 1 versus Number 3, Number 2 versus Number 4, Number 5 versus Number 7, Number 6 versus Number 8...”

”This cycle will repeat until everyone has fought the other 1,999 contestants once!

”Finally, based on total points, we will determine the top one thousand contestants in the Alka District and your final rankings!”

Ice Soul added with emphasis, ”Furthermore, for contestants belonging to the Source Net, this phase will also determine the weight of your future resource allocation. You must take this seriously!”

Although everyone had already known the rules, a quiet uproar still rippled through the massive space when Flame Ashes repeated them with such clarity, especially upon hearing that ”each person must fight 1,999 matches.”

Even Li Wen, who earned Martial Dao experience points with every victory, couldn’t help but frown slightly.

He thought to himself, ’1,999 matches... Even if I can end each one quickly, the amount of time that will take is still considerable.’

’Besides, the pittance of experience points from each match is just a drop in the bucket compared to the fifty million I got all at once at the end of the first phase.’

Having grown accustomed to massive windfalls, Li Wen was genuinely impatient with this slow-and-steady approach.

But those were the rules, and no one was exempt.

He suppressed his reluctance, his gaze turning resolute once more.

”The rules are clear. Let the drawing begin!” Flame Ashes wasted no more words. As he raised his hand, a massive holographic screen materialized in the center of the space.

The screen clearly displayed two thousand names, each followed by a frantically spinning number.

Two thousand pairs of eyes focused nervously on the screen.

A dozen seconds later, as if the wheel of fate had ceased to turn, all the high-speed numbers abruptly locked into place!

Before Li Wen’s name, a clear number appeared: 23.

Li Wen calmly scanned the screen, immediately looking for the adjacent number: 24.

’Number 24... Kelvin Norton?’ Li Wen quickly searched his memory for the name. It wasn’t anyone he’d been paying attention to.

’Just some mid-ranked contestant on the overall leaderboard, it seems.’

Realizing this, he casually withdrew his gaze.

However, in another corner of the space...

...the contestant who had just confirmed his number was 24, Kelvin Norton, was not looking very well.

’Damn it! How could it be in the very first match...’ Kelvin wailed internally.

He was well aware that in this long, 1,999-match round-robin tournament, he would have to face monsters like Li Wen and Barton sooner or later.

But everyone hoped that would be in the later stages.

Not in the very first match, under the watchful eyes of all, becoming the first sacrificial lamb for the God of Slaughter Li Wen’s warm-up.

...

As the first-round pairings were announced, the two thousand top geniuses who had advanced to the third phase were instantly teleported to a vast battlefield in the void.

The layout of the space was identical to the Extreme Combat Arena Li Wen was familiar with, yet it was countless times more magnificent in scale.

A thousand massive arenas, gleaming with a metallic luster, dotted the space like floating stellar islands.

They were scattered throughout the void in an orderly arrangement, each separated by a safe distance.

A pale blue energy shield flowed along the edges of the arenas, ensuring that the aftershocks of battle would not spill into the surroundings.

Li Wen’s figure materialized on one of the arenas. Beneath his feet was a hard alloy floor, cold and smooth to the touch.

At the same time, on the massive, ring-shaped spectator stands surrounding the arenas, countless figures arrived in flashes of teleportation light.

The Source Net’s fair settings ensured that the number of spectators supporting each combatant was roughly equal.

However, the atmosphere in the two sections of the stands couldn’t have been more different.

The section of the stands for Li Wen’s supporters was already drowning in a deafening roar.

”GOD OF SLAUGHTER! GOD OF SLAUGHTER! GOD OF SLAUGHTER!”

The unified chants, full of fanaticism and adoration, converged into a formidable wave of Spiritual Power.

The spectators from the Lain Empire waved their flags, their faces beaming with excitement and pride.

In contrast, the opposing stands, though just as crowded, were shrouded in a dull, oppressive atmosphere.

The few scattered cheers were quickly drowned out by the tidal wave of support for Li Wen, sounding utterly feeble.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to cheer for their own genius, but the difference in strength between the two combatants was an insurmountable chasm.

The ”God of Slaughter” Li Wen, ranked third on the overall leaderboard, versus a contestant ranked beyond one thousandth place. The outcome was a foregone conclusion.

Things unfolded exactly as everyone had predicted.

The moment the countdown hit zero, the battle began.

Li Wen didn’t even move. He simply raised his right hand calmly.

An imperceptible glint of silver flashed at his fingertip, and silent ripples of the Time Law spread outward.

”Temporal Gap: Freeze!”

His opponent, a contestant at the Peak of Saint Realm, froze mid-charge as if someone had pressed a pause button.

The determined expression of his charge remained on his face, but his eyes were filled with horror.

The space around him seemed to have frozen solid, and even his thoughts grew sluggish.

In a flash, Li Wen appeared before his opponent.

He simply curled a finger and flicked it.

HUM!

A blast of air, condensed from his finger to its absolute limit, precisely struck the armor on his opponent’s brow.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a crisp CRACK!

The high-density alloy armor over his opponent’s brow shattered on impact, turning to dust.

An immense power passed through his body, instantly destroying his virtual consciousness.