Chapter 545: A Bigger Stage

As previously mentioned, the competition was split into two main events: StarCraft and Dungeon & Fighter. Upon clicking the link within the game interface, the two individuals found indeed two registration options—one for the Dungeon & Fighter F1 King Championship and the other for the StarCraft World Championship Series, or WCS.

Naturally, these names were somewhat incomprehensible to the inhabitants of this otherworldly realm, but with the overarching tournament designated as the Grand Martial Arts Assembly, they paid little heed to why the individual contest names sounded so peculiar.

They were far from the only ones; at this moment, across the Jiuhua City branch and the Half-City branch, nearly every player was receiving this identical correspondence through their Penguin Communication accounts and within the games themselves.

One only needed to sign up and then participate either in the StarCraft ladder matchmaking or the ranked arena matchmaking in Dungeon & Fighter to take part in the open qualifiers.

It was worth noting that this competition was vastly different from the previous Diablo and King of Fighters tournaments; back then, the combined player base of both shops amounted to a mere few thousand, barely reaching ten thousand people.

But now, the number of registered members at the Jiuhua shop alone exceeded the grand total of both shops combined from that previous era!

Furthermore, the earlier events had seen participation only from a limited few factions, such as the Wuwei Daoist Alliance and the Morning Star Sea, whereas the current roster extended as far as the Cloud-Yun Territory, spanned all the major sects, and even included cultivators from the prosperous land of Lingzhou—a place they had previously never even encountered.

There were even denizens of the Western Polar Region, who had emerged from the distant, snow-capped mountains of the far west, renowned throughout the world for their martial prowess.

And then there were the Xuanyuan and Qingqiu clans, ancient lineages stretching back into the deepest recesses of antiquity, recognized as the oldest known tribes.

Perhaps they, too, would join the fray this time.

For the original patrons of the Jiuhua City and Half-City shops, this was absolute proof of an unprecedented and magnificent grand event.

As for Fang Qi, watching the players in the shop discussing the matter with immense fervor, he realized that the tournaments held in the past had truly been nothing more than minor skirmishes; only now did things genuinely begin to resemble a true competition.

...

The Jiuhua City branch.

Nalan Mingxue sat upon the sofa, cradling a bottle of Coca-Cola in her hands.

Her snow-white attire served to make her countenance, which resembled carved ice and sculpted jade, appear all the more breathtakingly beautiful.

She had also just received the message via her Penguin Communication on the communication jade, and as a player who had already claimed more than one championship title within the shop, she found herself utterly devoid of interest in those so-called past triumphs.

Compared to the current F1 King Championship and the StarCraft WCS, she was overcome by an inexplicable sensation that those past victories truly amounted to nothing at all.

She had a faint intuition that what now lay before her eyes was the first genuine, exclusive stage belonging entirely to these games!

In the past, her opponents had comprised the same few recurring faces, to the point where she knew precisely whom she would encounter in each match and who would advance to the final rounds.

She could even anticipate a portion of the outcomes.

But this time was entirely different.

She could not even fathom, should she truly participate, where her opponents might come from or what manner of adversaries they would be.

Every single shop possessed factions from all over, and after such a vast stretch of time, it was entirely possible that a previously unrevealed genius might suddenly emerge from among them.

In truth, by this point, even Fang Qi remained unaware of all the hidden masters within the shops; take that Spitfire with the username Master Zhou whom he had encountered last time—he had never even heard of the man before, yet the player's coordination during the King's Relic run had been remarkably precise, and despite possessing average equipment, his rank remained near the top, marking him clearly as an expert.

Never before had Nalan Mingxue experienced a sensation quite like this; at this moment, what lay before her was the truly unknown, and a genuine challenge.

Unlike the newer patrons, these veteran players of Jiuhua City had arrived having listened to Boss Fang’s legends regarding competitive tournaments.

When she had claimed her very first championship, she had once wondered if perhaps, one day, the stage she stood upon would not merely be surrounded by a tiny crowd, but would instead be just like the stories described—the focal point of tens of thousands of eyes.

...

Meanwhile, the people of the Western Polar Region had gathered inside the shop.

Evidently, the Lingzhou cultivators were looking at them with thoroughly darkened expressions; this group of people not only constantly hogged the seats, but they were also exceptionally ostentatious.

Particularly that fellow named Gabriel, who had spent a considerable amount of time bedridden; though his wounds had healed, it seemed he still lacked a proper memory of the lesson.

"Look at what this fellow is doing again!" Elder Yu, an elder from the Haotian Academy, watched the in-game interface with his face practically distorted in exasperation.

Dungeon & Fighter differed from the Legend of Mir 2; in the latter, if one wished for the entire world to see their words, they had to resort to the Legend regional channel on Penguin.

For reasons unknown, Dungeon & Fighter lacked that specific function, featuring instead a unique display added to the game interface.

Players could choose to bind it to their arms, storage devices, or similar objects; it was an apparatus known as the Magic Communicator.

This device possessed the capability to record certain in-game information, such as what equipment had been acquired, friend requests, party formation details, and particular game announcements.

If someone spoke within it, every single person inside the game could see the message, but it was not a platform where just anyone could speak at whim; one was required to purchase an item called a Magic Megaphone from the item shop, and a single megaphone permitted only one broadcast.

Consequently, unless it was highly important information, people rarely spoke through it, and the average cultivator would leave the communicator's notifications active to stay informed of the latest crucial updates.

Yet now, visible upon this very interface, a player with the username Asura Gabriel had posted: "That person just now, how dare you act so insolently! Come on! Why are you silent now? If you have the ability, kick your grandpappy from the party again! Are you too poor to afford spirit crystals to speak up?"

Several similar messages had already been sent consecutively.

Finally, a player with the username Hidden True Dragon could bear it no longer: "Everyone, do not party with this person in the future. When encountering a Hell Mode in the dungeon, he completely ignored commands, fighting blindly on his own and causing the entire party to perish!"

Asura Gabriel replied: "The strength of you few is far too pathetic; it was already a blessing that this master carried you, yet you dare accuse me of fighting blindly?!"

"..."

Everyone could only watch as message after message virtually flooded the screen of the Magic Communicator at that moment.

The argument escalated from the dungeon run to the matter of spirit crystals, until finally...

"Didn't you claim you don't lack spirit crystals? Come on! Keep the megaphones going! 320!"

"As if I fear you! 320!"

"321!"

"321!"

Asura Gabriel sent: "322! This master has megaphones to spare!"

Hidden True Dragon replied: "Do you truly think you possess so many spirit crystals?! 322! Bring it on!"

By this time, it was no longer just the Lingzhou cultivators; the faces of the cultivators and warriors from the other shops had also turned thoroughly sullen.

Dammit, are these two complete fools?!

An hour later...

"3264! Do you have any megaphones left?!"

"...Have these people already burned through thousands of spirit crystals just on megaphones?!"

"Why are they still going?"

All the cultivators and warriors currently playing Dungeon & Fighter had transitioned from anger to a state of simply watching the spectacle.

"These Magic Megaphones cost one spirit crystal each, do they not?!"

"Indeed... they are exceptionally expensive!"

"With this many spirit crystals, if one's luck were a bit better, they could have probably synthesized an entire Rare Avatar Set!"

At this point, even Luo Piaoling’s face was dark; of all the things to compete over, why compete in broadcasting megaphones?!

Looking at the reddish-brown haired youth sitting nearby, the fellow seemed to grow increasingly energized the more he broadcasted.

Dammit, a absolute lunatic.

Cursing silently in his heart, he shook his head, clicked on the F1 King Championship, and proceeded to register for the tournament.

.

.

PS: Raise your hand if you have ever done something like this.

.