This was the Lockbreaker Competition, and even if the Innerverse and Outerverse were separated, any Lockbreaker with stars would be a distinguished guest of the numerous powers. However, so many of them had been eliminated in just an instant.
Before too much more time passed, Lu Yin saw Felynn’s rune lines gradually dissipate. The second round had ended. It had been quick yet cruel, and many people had been eliminated. Only sixteen competitors remained.
The one who had had the easiest time had not been Cai Jianqiang but rather Deng Pu. He had almost never been targeted throughout the whole process, causing many of the audience to be disgruntled. Rumors even began spreading that it had already been internally decided that Deng Pu would be this season’s champion.
The people in the Hall of Insight also heard of such rumors, and Saul’s face turned ugly.
Evidently, someone had purposely planted such rumors, or else they would not have spread all the way to Hall of Insight in such a short amount of time.
After Felynn returned to the Hall of Insight, Saul wanted to say something, but he could not speak up. After all, Felynn had seemingly helped him on the surface, and he could not offend too many Lockbreakers if he wanted to eventually hold the position of president.
Mr. Jun felt strange; was Felynn also working for Saul? If so, that move just now was a bit too stupid.
The venue for the competition’s third round was an altar tens of thousands of kilometers away from the Hall of Insight. For each massive event, countless people from Sourcepeak Planet would assemble at this altar. Since ancient times, Sourcepeak Planet had been the Lockbreaker Society’s Outerverse headquarters; nobody knew when this tradition started, but many Lockbreakers would pray and offer sacrifices at this place before making their Lockbreaking attempts.
At this time, there were already sixteen cases placed atop the altar, each containing its own sourcebox. There were both large and small ones, and countless people filled the area below the altar as they waited in excitement.
This was the location for the Lockbreaking Competition’s third round, and this stage was the one that would truly evaluate their lockbreaking abilities. The sixteen finalists would draw lots that corresponded to the sourceboxes on the altar, which were of varying grades. There could even be Perceptive Intermediate sourceboxes here, but there were also Discerning Elementary sourceboxes, and even possibly Boundless Advanced sourceboxes.
Luck was a prerequisite that Lockbreakers could not be lacking in, and there were even some people in the higher levels of the Lockbreaker Society who valued luck over personal talent.
The third round would evaluate their lockbreaking ability as well as their luck.
Saul and the others all arrived at the altar while Lu Yin and the others were waiting below it.
Not long after the elders arrived, Yi Feng descended and raised a hand, causing sixteen bamboo sticks to fly into the air. “Each of you may choose one.”
The contestants casually chose a stick, as they simply had no way of knowing what sourceboxes the cases contained. And so, they had no way to contest over anything.
Lu Yin received the stick with the number five. When he looked at the altar, the sourcebox case that was labelled “5” was neither large nor small.
The other contestants all looked at the altar as well.
One’s face went dark, as he had picked “12,” whose corresponding sourcebox case was dozens of meters high, and it was rather impressive looking.
Although sourceboxes were not classified by size, it was certain that larger sourceboxes would have correspondingly more energy. Comparing similarly graded sourceboxes, a larger one would be more exhausting to unlock than a smaller one.
Many rejoiced in this person’s misfortune.
Ku Wei laughed out loud, and the Lockbreaker turned to glare at Ku Wei before his expression became that of apprehension. He could only hope that the sourcebox within this chest was a Discerning Elementary one.
“Ha, unlucky bugger!” the fish shouted as it swatted its tail.
Xi Qi hurriedly apologized to the person.
The fish was dissatisfied with her attitude. “Why apologize? He’s unlucky, and he’ll one day die while lockbreaking.”
That person grew furious. “Shut up!”
The fish stood up and arrogantly lifted a fin. “What? Do you want to fight me? Bring it on! That fellow taught me all these words, so just fight him if you are capable.” The fish then pointed towards Ku Wei.
Ku Wei blinked; what did any of this have to do with him? That fish really knew how to hold a grudge!
The person snorted and stopped speaking.
Lu Yin pursed his lips. This fish was still so coarse.
“Seventh Bro, this monkey wants to drink fish soup,” the monkey said in a sinister tone. If he could take action on his own, then Lu Yin did not doubt that the monkey would try to stew the fish.
“What are you looking at? Haven’t you all ever seen such a handsome fish before? Bunch of ugly, two-legged beasts.” The fish atop Xi Qi’s head leaped into the air and seemed to pass judgement on everyone present.
Xi Qi was helpless, but she had long since become accustomed to this fish’s behavior.
“Oh, there’s another familiar person—that two-legged beast over there. Why didn’t you greet Lord Fish when you saw me?” The fish stared at Lu Yin and continuously swatted its tail about.
Lu Yin’s lips twisted, as he had been recognized.
“Seventh Bro, let me go over there and stew it! I want to drink some fish soup.” The Ghost Monkey was furious. Every time he encountered this fish, he just could not control his temper.
Above the altar, Felynn’s eyes flashed, and she immediately stood up. “Alright, stop bickering. Get into your respective positions based off of your drawn lots. You will be allowed to rest until tomorrow morning to recover your spirits. You will then have twenty four hours to unlock your respective sourceboxes. Of course, you can also begin lockbreaking right now, in which case the twenty four hour time limit will start tomorrow morning.”
Lu Yin immediately rushed over and stood next to the fifth sourcebox case, and the others also ascended the altar as well.
Xi Qi was quite a distance from Lu Yin on the altar, and since there were people who quickly opened their cases, the fish had no more time to bother with Lu Yin.
Lu Yin relaxed. He had used his domain to alter his appearance, so not even Saul could see through his disguise, but that fish had. That fish was really strange, and it was no wonder why Xi Qi had been able to reach the level of a Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreaker with its help.
Lu Yin had not even opened his case yet when the Lockbreaker on his right suddenly wailed. The Lockbreaker’s case split into pieces as the surging sound of multiple astral beasts shook the altar and a harsh aura appeared. Everyone looked over to see the phantom image of a strange astral beast that had one body but ten heads. All ten of its heads rose high to roar.
Yi Feng immediately appeared on the altar and stretched out a hand. The phantom image of the beast cried out even louder, but then it dissipated with a thump. Yi Feng took out another case to seal the sourcebox and then announced that the Lockbreaker had been eliminated before leaving the stage.
Lu Yin shifted his gaze, as that sourcebox’s danger had not been too strong, roughly reaching the same level as a Cruiser’s attack. However, that Lockbreaker was just an Explorer, and they also lacked battle experience, which meant that they had been easily eliminated. If Lu Yin had been the one to open that case, he would have been able to easily dispel that danger. It was a pity, as that sourcebox was just at the four star Discerning Elementary level, so it was not too difficult.
Lu Yin looked at the others, and saw that quite a few people had already opened their cases. Apart from the unlucky fellow to his right, the rest were fine, and there was only one Discerning Elementary Lockbreaker who had encountered a Perceptive Intermediate sourcebox. Fortunately, there was no danger in that sourcebox, so that person could try lockbreaking it.
Further away, the man who had drawn the largest sourcebox case hesitated nervously, but then he accepted his fate and opened it. Countless were drawn to his actions, as his chest was way too large, and it made even the spectators feel nervous for the man.
Xi Qi also stared at him.
As the chest opened, the sourcebox was revealed, and many watched on with bated breath. Surprisingly, they did not see the expected enormous sourcebox, but instead, there was a strange, rock-looking sourcebox that was only the size of one’s palm.
The crowd was stunned.
The Lockbreaker was stunned as well.
What was this? The difference was just too great. If the crowd did not look carefully, they might not even be able to see the sourcebox, which was just too small! Who would place such a tiny sourcebox in such a huge case?
In the distance, one Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreaker indifferently asked, “Are we so lacking in Spiritual Thread cases that we can only pack them like this?”
Those who heard him had an impulse to beat the man. They would gladly swap a smaller case for a larger one, as some of the cases were barely able to contain their sourceboxes. Such a puny sourcebox had been placed inside such a huge case that could contain a few hundred more sourceboxes of the same size.
That competing Lockbreaker nearly fainted, as he had almost given up, but fortunately, he hadn’t. At a glance, such a small sourcebox would be easily unlocked, and the rollercoaster ride of emotions that he had just gone through was so intense that he did not carefully observe this sourcebox. In his ecstasy, he leaped into the case to retrieve the sourcebox, only to be sent flying away by a hurricane that had appeared inside of the case. Although the range of the hurricane was small, it was intense enough to tear the void apart, and it even surpassed a Hunter’s strength.
Once again, Yi Feng raised a hand to close the case. “Eliminated.”
The crowd was stumped, what had just happened? Many people still had not been able to react.
Lu Yin sympathized with the disqualified Lockbreaker, as that fellow had been toyed with. That hurricane had the strength of a predecessor, and although that sourcebox was small in size, it was definitely an extremely difficult one to unlock as any sourcebox that carried the strength of the predecessors was not simple.
The fish atop Xi Qi’s head waved its tail happily. “Idiot, idiot, hahaha!”
Deng Pu indifferently observed the incident, as that Lockbreaker had just been a piece of trash who could not even recognize a five star Perceptive Intermediate sourcebox.
That fellow had definitely been toyed with, and many looked at him in sympathy, but he had already fainted long ago and even sustained some injuries.
On the other side of the altar, Tong Mi’er waved his hand to open his case, and the crowd watched him act. A vast fluctuation swept out across the altar that caused the void to distort, and it even produced an illusion.
Upon seeing this scene, Tong Mi’er jumped off the altar without any hesitation, as this was a Boundless Advanced sourcebox.
Fiend Li nodded in satisfaction. “He was able to discover the level of the sourcebox instantly and made the correct judgement. Felynn, your disciple is pretty decent.”
Felynn smiled. “Thank you for the compliments, Senior.”
Lu Yin looked at the case in front of himself, but he did not rush to open it himself. Half of the people on the altar had not opened their chests. It was not because they didn’t dare to, but rather because there was no need to do so. To these people, it would not take them twenty hours to successfully unlock a sourcebox, and those who did need more than twenty hours would not be able to successfully finish unlocking their sourcebox. Thus, there was no need to start lockbreaking already.
These people had a clear understanding of their own abilities.
Of course, there were also those who were in more of a rush, such as Tong Mi’er. However, Lu Yin felt that the man had done so in order to give up earlier.
The crowd that had gathered around the altar looked at the sourceboxes. Four of the finalists had already been eliminated with only twelve remaining. Of those twelve, five had already started lockbreaking. The other seven had not started yet and were more calm, though this did not include the fish.
Xi Qi had not opened her case, and the fish atop her head urged her constantly to do so.
“There’s no rush—twenty hours is plenty. I’m tired and I I want to rest,” Xi Qi said.
“Hurry up and open it for Lord Fish! Lord Fish is very curious.”
“No, I want to rest.”
“You can still rest. You can just open it and not lockbreak it.”
“No, that would be tempting myself.”
“Two-legged beast, you must have not tasted Lord Fish’s awesomeness in a long time.”
“I’m truly tired,” Xi Qi grudgingly responded.
On the other side of Xi Qi, Ku Wei beamed and beckoned to the fish. “Hey fish, come over here to Brother Wei. Brother Wei will open mine for you.”
The fish glared at him in fury. “Two-legged beast, just you wait! Lord Fish has not settled things with you yet. We’re eternal enemies.”
Ku Wei smiled happily. “Alright. Ah, right. Let me ask you, do you like chilli powder?”
The fish grew angry, and it swatted its tail around even stronger, which annoyed Xi Qi. She looked over at Ku Wei with a miserable expression on her face. “Stop talking.”
Ku Wei laughed.
In the distance, Deng Pu frowned. What a bunch of idiots.
