Chapter 164: The Hundred Strong Competition Officially Begins, a Formidable Opponent with Combat Power Exceeding 1 Billion!

Zhou Yuanchen's appearance made the many contestants gathered on the broad lawn truly feel a heavy pressure, as if tangible.

Behind him was a taking-off helicopter, its rotors spinning rapidly, whipping up a strong wind pressure that sent grass clippings dancing wildly and clothing billowing.

But this top favorite for the championship stood with an upright posture, unmoving; that surging life force erupted like flame, distorting the surrounding space.

"Zhou Yuanchen... I remember he already graduated from Qiguang Heng University, how can he still compete! Isn't this fishing behavior!"

Amidst the shifting crowd of heads, a questioning voice rang out.

Life force radiating from inside out, emitting an aura, represented that Zhou Yuanchen's "seed" had already been nurtured to the extreme, about to condense into a crystal.

He only needed to take one more step to become a professional-grade Martial Artist, and moreover could claim an Honorary Title.

An Overlord Dragon of this caliber had no business being placed in the Hundred Strong Competition's pool.

"His age qualifies, just barely making the cutoff, no violation. But the Martial Association changed the rules this time, placing contestants in zones according to life force level; Zhou Yuanchen will likely go straight into the Great Rift Valley's Core Circle."

Someone well-informed took the initiative to explain.

"The Martial Association finally acted like decent people once; the Wilderness Trial is dangerous enough as it is, add another ferocious boundless Overlord Dragon, and us cannon fodder might as well withdraw directly."

Someone secretly breathed a sigh of relief; the top three rewards of the Hundred Strong Competition were the richest, but the difficulty increased correspondingly.

Many contestants participated actively, not aiming for the championship, but just wanting a relatively outstanding ranking to get bonus points in the College Entrance Exam.

This kind of publicly organized competition led by government agencies, with quite high specifications, has always used College Entrance Exam bonus points as the basic reward, stimulating top students from major schools to sign up enthusiastically.

"Right, did you guys see that Nanhuang Dojo Disciple?"

Someone suddenly asked.

Like a stone stirring up a thousand waves, the shifting heads all looked around, gazing at each other.

"You also 'took the order'?"

"Free profit for the taking, why not take it?"

"The Ying Clan is generous; just stop that Nanhuang Dojo Disciple and they'll give cultivation resources. If you inflict injury or eliminate them, you directly get a huge contract worth over 1.5 billion..."

Amidst the whispered exchanges, everyone's attention shifted away from Zhou Yuanchen and they began searching for Qin Shi.

"Let that Qin-surnamed kid steal my limelight. For the sake of 1.7 billion, forget it."

Zhou Yuanchen considered his hands-in-pockets stance handsome and compelling, enough to make these mediocre goods pay respect and look up in worship; he didn't expect everyone to care more about the Nanhuang Dojo Disciple.

Gaze after gaze intersected, converged, and transmitted, like a gurgling stream flowing toward a river mouth, finally settling on the tall figure outside wearing a long windbreaker, holding a black-sheathed red-handled military knife.

"Patrol Department's Level 3 Bulletproof Vest, inner lining is a Stab-proof Vest; this guy is certified, grade isn't low either."

Someone with sharp eyes could tell Qin Shi's getup was fully armed to the teeth.

"What about that knife? Could it be made of some high-spec alloy material? The Legion's exclusive Iron-clad Tactical Straight Knife?"

Someone asked sneakily, evaluating this Nanhuang Dojo Disciple who had become the Hundred Strong Competition's sole hunting target due to the Ying Clan's bounty.

"Doesn't look like it. This money from the Ying Clan seems pretty easy to earn."

Someone examined for a long while, feeling Qin Shi looked harmless, not threatening at all.

"The competition hasn't even started, and over half the contestants have already become my enemies."

Facing numerous gazes mixed with scrutiny or ill intent, Qin Shi remained quite calm.

He had already learned on the "Killed It" software that the Ying Clan issued a "bounty," using money-throwing tactics to rope in a large batch of Hundred Strong contestants.

This kind of open and aboveboard money-smashing behavior, the Nanhuang Dojo was relatively silent about; although Third Senior Sister Yu Weiwei, Fourth Senior Brother Nie Zongwen, including the supposedly rich Eighth Senior Sister Jian Yuzhu, were all willing to clash head-on with the Ying Clan, they were stopped by Qin Shi.

This behavior was meaningless; wealth to the "Nine Surnames" of Dongxia's highest echelon was practically a blank check they could fill out at will.

Emptying the Nanhuang Dojo's reserves just to make the Hundred Strong Competition a bit fairer would be a loss outweighing the gain.

Before he departed, he saw Lao Zhang, who appreciated this move very much; a true strongman must possess the courage and guts to break through everything.

"This person is the Nanhuang Dojo's gate-closing True Disciple?"

Zhou Yuanchen, standing alone at the front, likewise watched the particularly conspicuous Qin Shi in the crowd.

"Physical body, breath, spirit... stronger than these mediocre goods by more than a level. Although we haven't exchanged blows, judging from overall quality, he counts as a formidable opponent worth 1 billion!"

He couldn't help but feel full of anticipation; scanning the entire Center City, geniuses at the 1 billion level weren't many.

"Besides Qin Shi, this Nanhuang Dojo True Disciple, there's also Qiguang Heng University's Ji Yuqi, Pei Han, roughly all at this tier."

The corner of Zhou Yuanchen's mouth hooked up; on the Martial Path, who doesn't hope to have evenly matched strong enemies as whetstones to hone themselves and increase their cultivation?

The brilliant Heavenly Road, if only oneself walks it alone, is not only lonely but also lacks motivation.

But if a group of pursuers and fellow travelers competing together appear, it will spur one to strive forward and vie for the top.

"All contestants, please be quiet."

A dark-faced man in combat uniform stood like an iron tower; his voice was sonorous and bright, like muffled thunder rolling past, shaking everyone's eardrums until they bulged, buzzing.

Judging from the full vigor of his speech alone, it wasn't hard to tell this man was a professional-grade Martial Artist.

"Taking the Ghost Crying Grand Canyon two hundred li away as the battlefield, we've divided three zones: Outer Ring, Middle Layer, Core. In the next two hours, you will be deployed to different zones.

According to life force scores high or low, enter different areas, complete missions."

The dark-faced man should be a soldier; he spoke and acted with thunderous swiftness. He pointed at the hundred-odd tactical backpacks piled like a small mountain and said with resounding finality:

"Inside are water canteens, anti-radiation medicines, and the most ancient positioning tool, a portable compass. As for rations, protein bars and nutrient paste lasting just under two days.

No time requirement; as long as you can complete the mission, even if you blast through this Great Rift Valley in one day, it counts as winning the championship.

The backpack interlayer holds the mission manual, recording in detail the materials you need to collect; read carefully, every single one relates to points.

The highest final points is the Hundred Strong Champion, Hengzhou General Champion... Now, line up and come forward to receive tactical backpacks!"

The contestants were all top students, outstanding talents, put forward by major schools or government agencies.

They quickly lined up, picked up the equally weighted tactical backpacks, then checked resources on the spot and conveniently flipped through the mission manual.

After all, paper texts are easily damaged and hard to preserve, so it's best to memorize them in the brain, lest one not even know what the mission is.

The dark-faced man scanned the crowd; everyone was very orderly, valuing efficiency. Upon receiving tactical backpacks, they immediately opened them to inventory water canteens, anti-radiation medicines, and individual combat rations.

He couldn't help but nod; these contestants were indeed elites of the Martial Path, overall quality quite high. He believed after this Wilderness Trial, quite a few good seedlings capable of impacting the professional grade would surely emerge.

Qin Shi stood in the middle, picked up the tactical backpack on the ground, then sat down on the floor and opened it to check.

As the black-faced man had said, there wasn't much stuff, only enough to sustain survival needs for two to three days.

In other words, unless he punched through the Great Rift Valley within this period, completed the final mission, and ended the trial assessment.

Otherwise he would have to consider how to make a plan for surviving in the wilderness.

"For me, it's not a problem. I can even digest Third Senior Sister's dark cuisine; relying on the Guo Sheng Zhang Achievement Trait, I can survive even eating soil."

Qin Shi flipped through the mission manual, which recorded the materials that needed to be collected in the Outer Area, Middle Layer Area, and Core Area respectively.

"Crystal Cluster Core, Blood Flesh Active Gland... all rare items."

Qin Shi estimated that he himself should have landed in an area near the Middle Layer in the Outer Ring; judging by Qi Life Force alone, he indeed wasn't outstanding, at seventy-something points, close to eighty points, and among all participants in the Top Hundred Competition, he was just barely at an average level.

Compared to Zhou Yuanchen's ninety-nine points, Ji Yuqi's ninety-two points, and Pei Han's ninety points, the gap was not small.

Only these championship favorites could be directly dropped into the Core Area to face more challenging high-difficulty missions.

Qin Shi was pondering how to punch through the Great Rift Valley and kill his way into the Core Area when several young men and women who knew each other came over.

The leader among them was a long-haired man named Wang Xuan, who revealed a kind smile:

"Hey, bro. I'm from the Hengda University Martial Arts Department, a third-year student, Wang Xuan. Interested in forming a team? According to the rules, to get College Entrance Exam bonus points, you have to at least get through the Middle Layer Area; with more people there's more strength, and only by sticking together do we have hope!"

Qin Shi really wanted to scratch his head; he didn't know if this brother was out of the loop, or had hidden malice and was deliberately putting on a pretense.

"Are you sure you want to team up with me? Are you sure you want to make enemies of at least fifty participants?"

Wang Xuan was stunned for a moment, and asked in confusion:

"Bro, what do you mean by that?"

Qin Shi shrugged and said:

"Didn't you hear just now? I am the Nanhuang Dojo Disciple they were talking about; half of the participants in the Top Hundred Competition would rather give up rewards and College Entrance Exam bonus points than not kick me out.

So teaming up with me is definitely much harder than you huddling together to survive until the Middle Layer Area."

Wang Xuan's facial color changed slightly; as expected, when this small group of theirs approached Qin Shi, they instantly attracted numerous gazes, both open and hidden.

"Bro, good luck to you! I can't afford to offend you..."

He and his other teammates hurriedly left.

Besides dealing with the Vassal Creatures and mutated natives of the Great Rift Valley, he also had to settle a full fifty participants.

This difficulty was comparable to hell level!

If he were dropped into the Core Area, it might be better, after all there were fewer people and he wouldn't face a siege.

But landing in the Outer Area, there was a high probability of encountering large-scale "Group Hunting."

"That's more like it; stay away from me, it's safer."

Qin Shi grinned and said.

He originally had no intention of teaming up; without a solid Trust Foundation, teammates would only become a burden and a liability.

"Team up?"

Just after seeing off Wang Xuan, someone else came over.

The other party wore glasses, was similarly fully equipped, with the latest bulletproof vest plus a stab-proof vest; setting aside this combat gear, he looked refined and scholarly.

"Hengda University Martial Arts Department, fourth-year student, Pei Han."

Hearing the other party's self-introduction, Qin Shi was surprised.

He remembered this person was also a championship favorite, a strong enemy with hopes of competing with Zhou Yuanchen.

"The two of us probably won't be dropped into the same area."

Qin Shi's refusal was very obvious.

"I can wait for you in the Core Area; I think with your ability, getting through the Middle Layer Area isn't difficult. I know a student named Lin from the Spiritual Path, and she asked me to look after her."

Pei Han spoke slowly and unhurriedly, as if even if something earth-shattering happened, he would be the same.

"Oh, Teacher Lin. No need, Pei Xuezhang; the Core Area is very dangerous, you should focus on accumulating points and strive for first place."

Qin Shi's smile was brilliant, very likable.

"Since Pei Xuezhang knows Teacher Lin, if we meet in the Core Area later, if there's anywhere I can help, I definitely won't decline."

Pei Han smiled gently, the corners of his mouth curving up, and said gently:

"Then... thank you, Classmate Qin; we'll meet again in the Core Area."

He had looked into Qin Shi's data and knew the other's actual combat far exceeded his Qi Life Force value.

But compared to himself, including Ji Yuqi and Zhou Yuanchen, these "Reserves" who had touched the threshold of Professional Level, there was still a considerable gap.

Help?

Pei Han shook his head, merely taking it as young people's blind self-confidence.

In the next forty minutes, no one came to disturb Qin Shi again.

"Rest complete!"

The black-faced man was like a Drill Instructor, his voice like a great bell:

"Those whose names are called, board Transport Plane No. 1! Zhou Yuanchen, Ji Yuqi, Pei Han..."

The championship favorites heading to the Core Area all obeyed commands, stepped into the cabin door of the transport plane, and sat down steadily.

Then he began calling the participants dropped into the Middle Layer Area, and they filed into Transport Plane No. 2 one by one.

Only when the sun gradually sank below the horizon did it come to the outermost area.

Qin Shi counted the people; the Top Hundred Competition had a total of one hundred participants.

Those who could enter the Core Area were probably fewer than ten, and the Middle Layer Area was around thirty people.

The rest were all in the outermost area.

"It might be that we get swarmed as soon as we land. A perfectly good wilderness survival instantly turns into a battle royale, and the risk of landing as a box is very high."

Qin Shi carried the tactical backpack in his right hand and the Perfect Grade Electric Shock Military Saber in his left, following the large group to Transport Plane No. 3; he leaned tightly against the seat by the cabin wall and fastened his seatbelt.

The atmosphere was stifling; everyone seemed disinclined to speak, each closing their eyes and waiting to arrive at the Great Rift Valley two hundred li away.

……

……

At the command base not far from here, Chen Ruofu and Education Committee head Fang Butang held the fort, along with two "Chief Examiners" who had come from Center City — one a Martial Association Representative, the other an Education Bureau Representative.

"This Top Hundred competition has mobilized a massive effort; the Martial Association must be under considerable pressure. Representative Li, can you level with us — exactly how many death quotas have been secured?"

Chen Ruofu tapped his fingers on the tabletop; the three transport planes followed their preset flight path through the dense black clouds above the Great Rift Valley, and in ten minutes they would begin the drop. He looked at the middle-aged man wearing the grey turnover collar clothing, hoping for an answer.

Representative Li silently extended one hand, then spread it open.

"Five?"

Fang Butang let out a breath of relief; these good seedlings were all the Education Committee's "political achievements."

If only five were lost, it was still within an acceptable range.

But then he saw Representative Li shake his head with difficulty and utter two words:

"Fifty."

Fang Butang's eyes bulged, shocked beyond words:

"The Martial Association has gone mad! Fifty? How do I answer to the Education Bureau! This counts as a malicious event — the Martial Arts Association Headquarters of Dongxia will definitely demand accountability!"

Representative Li said in a low voice:

"We have already obtained permission from the Martial Arts Association Headquarters."

Fang Butang badly wanted to slap the table; his gaze turned to Representative Zhou of the Center City Education Bureau.

The latter remained perfectly calm, sipping his tea and saying slowly:

"The Education Bureau also agreed. Since the Wilderness Trial has been restarted, then to achieve the same results as before, necessary sacrifices are unavoidable.

Recently, the military held a meeting; they believe that while the popularization of New Martial Arts has indeed supplied more fresh blood for the Great Expedition, judging from the great and small encounter battles, ambush battles, and group army battles over the past four hundred years, both combat power and survival rates seem to have declined.

Moreover, fewer and fewer new recruits are able to be selected into the War Corps; the military brass have spoken — they do not want the war bases on every Ancient Star to be raising nothing but young master soldiers."

Chen Ruofu kept a straight face and said:

"So that's why the Martial Arts Association Headquarters and the Education Bureau are willing to open a back door, using Hengzhou as a trial point, to see if restarting the Wilderness Trial with more brutal methods can temper even more formidable geniuses?"

Representative Li nodded and said:

"Correct. Two months from now, the Fourth War Corps stationed in the Borderlands will arrive at Hengzhou.

The prolonged blockade of Hengzhou will also be lifted that day; we hope to show the military that even the Fourth War Corps, with the strictest selection conditions, still recognizes the local genius seedlings of Hengzhou."

(Chapter End)