Kill The Old Ones!

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Only representatives of the cities on the upper half ranking were called up, the reason being that the cities that didn’t qualify would experience no real change; they stay as is.

The city that ranked at the very bottom, Royal City, will be punished, but their punishment won’t be made public until later. They’d go after the upper half received their blessings.

And so, the representatives got up on the stage and began rolling for their fortune—yes, rolled. They used something called the ’Wheel of Fortune’ to roll what kind of blessings their city would receive. It’s created by the world system to ensure that there will be no rigging or cheating involved.

There were tons of different blessings in there, and nobody knew where their luck would land. However, every single blessing in there was guaranteed to affect the city as a whole.

The rolls kept happening, and everybody watched as the representatives received blessings for their city.

Eventually, it was Ren’s turn to test his luck.

City Lord Gabriel, along with his retinue and the representatives who were with Ren in the finals, went up the stage with him. They were there for moral support only because it is Ren who would spin the wheel.

Ren wasn’t nervous. He literally didn’t mind which blessing lands because everything in this wheel was genuinely good for the city.

So, feeling unburdened and at ease, he spun the wheel.

The first spin happened, and it stopped on the blessing of ’Bountiful Harvest,’ which dramatically increases agricultural harvest. Central City’s crops will now grow faster, larger, and healthier. Any food shortages, if there had been to begin with, effectively disappear through this blessing.

Of course, this doesn’t end here. As the champion of this tournament, Central City receives five blessings in total, much to the envy and jealousy of the crowd who didn’t live there.

The second blessing landed on ’Blessed Vitality’—which makes the majority of Central City’s population healthier than those in other cities. Common illnesses lessen dramatically, children are born healthier, and life expectancy increases slightly. It isn’t immortality—not even the world system could bestow that—but it’s more than anybody could ask for.

The third blessing is ’Martial Talent’—this doesn’t guarantee that the next generation of Central City will be born as geniuses. What it does is to ensure that their talent and potential will be higher compared to the previous generation. It elevates the base talent parameters of the city’s general populace.

And in a world ruled by martial prowess, a blessing like this was practically a heavenly miracle. Ren could stop rolling here and nobody would’ve blamed him because this was already more than they could ask for. But of course, Ren wouldn’t stop spinning just because of that.

The fourth spin landed on the blessing of ’Resource Prosperity’—it’’s not limited to just crops this time; this practically doubled every resource that Central City produces. Furthermore, this also affects loot drops that martial artists of Central City get whenever they clear dungeons.

This means that the coffers of the city were bound to expand or practically explode from fullness. Central City won’t just have enough resources; it will have excess, which is something that not all cities could say the same.

And finally, the last spin landed on ’Blessed Environment’—this blessing ensures that the climate within Central City will always be favorable to its citizens. If the city needed rain, it would rain. If it were said that the sun would be too hot, it wouldn’t be in this city. The winds will be cool, crisp, and refreshing. Sunlight will be abundant but not scorching; nights will be cold but not freezing.

Most importantly, this blessing wasn’t just limited to climate; it also affects martial artists. The spiritual density and other criteria that would push martial artists’ progress to be faster were included here. This works in sync with the Martial Talent Blessing.

So, Ren spun the wheel five times and got the blessings of bountiful harvest, blessed vitality, martial talent, resource prosperity, and blessed environment.

Each blessing fed the other and vice versa—unlocking synergy that will elevate the citizens of his city for the next decade. Ren’s luck was truly incredible.

But just as everybody was expecting him to come down, they paused because Ren hadn’t.

They then hear him say:

”World System, I invoke the use of my 5th personal reward—the Wish Reward.”

People froze when they heard him; even Gabriel Pierce looked at Ren with incredulous eyes. They could almost guess why he did this.

[World System at your service, User Soren. What is it that you wish? ]

”I wish for an additional spin in this Wheel of Fortune,” Ren declared loud and clear. It was a simple wish, straightforward, even. Although most people could hardly believe that he’d be using his personal reward like this.

[Granted, with limitations.]

[Nobody else from your city—Central City—may wish for the same thing.]

Ren looked at his people—the City Lord, his retinue, and his fellow representatives who were on the same stage as him; they nodded at him, which said enough.

”That is fine.”

[Wish granted. You can now spin for another City Blessing on the Wheel of Fortune. Good luck! ]

Ren nodded and spun the wheel right away for the 6th blessing.

And that landed on the blessing of ’Enlightened Mind’—it doesn’t automatically make everybody a genius or intellectual, but it’s a start. Ideas will now flow smoother and easier for citizens of Central City. They will be able to solve problems that usually stumped them. This also boosts the overall productivity of the city.

Of course, this also improves martial artists’ comprehension of martial arts. They will be able to master techniques faster, adjust them to their liking, or create their own should they want to.

Everybody in Central City was buzzing in excitement. Six blessings. What a haul!

What Ren did—using his personal reward to ask for an additional spin—wasn’t really revolutionary. It has been done before. The strongest representative of R-City in the previous tournament did the same; that’s how they enjoyed six blessings as well during the past decade.

Still, it was shocking. Most people were expecting him to keep this instead, and they wouldn’t have said a thing. He could’ve used this wish to make himself stronger or improve his talent, but instead, he spent it to benefit the whole city.

Whether this was done for political reasons or genuine care, the citizens of Central City didn’t care. Six blessings were better than five, especially when all six of these blessings worked in sync with each other.

Ren came down the stage, and the city lord, Gabriel, walked up to him and patted his shoulders three times—strongly. He wore a small smile of gratitude on his face and said:

”Thank you, son. On behalf of my citizens and my team, thank you very much.”

His voice was subdued but also sounded overwhelmed. To the City Lord’s retinue, the old man might as well be shedding tears of gratitude by saying this, because this was the most genuine and emotional thing they’d ever heard him say.

Ren just smiled and replied with humility, expressing that it wasn’t really a big deal.

But then, everybody must be awakened, or reminded, that this tournament was no joke. That they should, in fact, remain aware that this wasn’t the end and reality is not all rainbows and sunshine.

Because after Ren got six blessings for his city, Royal City’s representative was called up to the stage to spin the opposite of the Wheel of Fortune—the Wheel of Misfortune.

It was humiliating.

The reigning champions are now marching up the stage to receive punishment instead. The worst part is that everybody must be present—all of Royal City’s representatives, as well as the City Lord and his retinue.

Nobody was exempt; they couldn’t even fake an illness because the World System itself would just teleport them here. Their faces will be plastered everywhere, and they will become a reminder of what arrogance and complacency do to people.

And much to everybody’s horror, Royal City had to spin the Wheel of Misfortune five times. Which means five punishments for the whole city.

Reduced National Fortune—for the next ten years, citizens of Royal City will be unlucky.

Martial Talent Suppression—it doesn’t degrade the birth of talent, just reduces the likelihood of it appearing within the citizens of the city.

Resource tax increase—the increase was 15% for the next five years.

Redemption Trials—for the next ten years, there will be an annual quest for the whole city to clear. Succeed, and they will have minimal rewards; fail, and they’ll be punished harder.

And finally, World System Priority Loss—any request from any/all citizens of Royal City will face more scrutiny and will be delayed.

All of these were painful punishments for the city, and the comparison hurts because in the previous tournament, Popular City, which became a victim of Royal City reps’ foul play, only received three punishments.

This makes it clear just how atrocious Royal City’s performance was. And now, they will suffer from it.

The worst part is that they can’t escape this. They can’t move to another city and/or change their identities because that will be strictly forbidden and will be monitored very closely by the World System itself.

Royal City had become a prime example of how this world could become so cruel to those who get complacent and lazy.