Chapter 548: Boss Fang's Tournament is Unable to Continue?

Above the vast and magnificent palace complex, a man clad in resplendent silver armor, with two peculiar golden markings between his brows, inhaled the divine nectar in his cup with a look of sheer intoxication: "Since this journey is so utterly tedious, why not fashion some amusement of our own? Watching these ignorant, primitive mortals struggle in the depths of despair must be exceedingly entertaining, is it not?"

"Should we inform the other lords?" the man in the pure white robe, his demeanor steeped in humility, inquired softly.

The silver-armored man idly swirled the wine glass in his hand, a mask of serene contentment upon his face, offering no response.

Yet the humble man seemed to catch his unspoken drift, bowing deeply before stepping away into the shadows.

...

And at that very moment, those who had just been deliberating over the live broadcast arrangements for the tournament found themselves abruptly interrupted by such an unfolding drama...

Vice-Principal Xiao, his visage pale as ash, stared blankly at Gu Tingyun: "Now... what are we to do...!?"

"What is there to panic about?!" the matron of the Qingqiu Clan interjected coldly. "When soldiers arrive, we deploy generals to block them; when water rises, we use earth to dam it!"

"You have never ventured into the Heavenly Ruins, so you cannot comprehend the sheer terror of these beings!" Vice-Principal Xiao argued vehemently. "What power do we, mere flesh-and-blood mortals, possess to contend with them?!"

Though he had picked up a minor Ice Mage in the shop himself, still...

The Four Great Blademasters and the various masters therein were indeed formidable, but the problem was they could hardly leap out from the confines of the game!

StarCraft was likewise magnificent; if he could only be granted one of the Battlecruisers or Carriers from it, he would not be reduced to such a wretched state!

But... who possessed such things?!

Vice-Principal Xiao’s heart was torn in agonizing conflict; the shop’s power still felt ephemeral and intangible, yet the enemy had already brought a very real, tangible threat right to their doorstep!

But Gu Tingyun was cut from a different cloth than Vice-Principal Xiao; having lived through the ordeal with the Nangong Clan, even though the current enemy was utterly beyond comparison to them, a glimmer of hope still flickered in his chest.

Furthermore, the time the adversary had decreed was three months from now, not the present moment.

"We must not throw ourselves into disarray," Gu Tingyun spoke, his voice carrying the steady weight of a seasoned veteran. "We shall do our utmost to suppress the news, lest it incite panic among the cultivators. In this matter... we still have time to prepare."

...

In truth, an absolute blackout proved impossible to maintain. This day dealt a crushing, agonizing blow to many ordinary martial artists and rogue cultivators who had arrived with hearts full of dreams to register for the first-ever world-class esports tournament.

At the Jiuhua City branch.

"Old Liang," a martial artist clad in tight black attire whispered to Liang Shi, "Have you heard the rumors? They say Lingzhou is about to face an unprecedented catastrophe, and it is highly likely to spill over into our Desolate Sea Region. So lately..."

He asked with utmost trepidation: "Will the upcoming World Martial Arts Tournament be affected?"

"If something truly catastrophic happens in Lingzhou, this tournament won't be canceled, will it?"

For these ordinary martial artists, no matter how grueling their efforts in reality, their resources, environment, and even their innate talent from birth were utterly eclipsed by the geniuses of the great aristocratic clans.

Yet here, things were different. In the worlds of Dungeon & Fighter and StarCraft, everyone commenced their journey from the exact same starting line, devoid of any external aid.

Even if differences existed, so long as one was willing to pour in the effort, they would never be left so far behind that they couldn't even glimpse the shadow of their peers.

This place felt like a second chance at life, waged upon the cosmic battlefields of StarCraft and across the continent of Arad.

Beside them, a young man in his early thirties, dressed in a simple grey martial arts robe, gave the group a slight nod as he walked past.

He immediately threw himself back into the arena. Upon his screen, a rather well-equipped Male Grappler stood ready, and a glance at his PvP arena rank revealed a strikingly conspicuous title: "Supreme 9."

"Old Fu went back to the arena again?" Liang Shi asked in a low voice.

"Aye, he’s been spending almost eight hours a day cooped up in there lately, probably fighting at least a hundred matches every single day..." the black-clad martial artist remarked. "You know what Old Fu is capable of, back during the Diablo individual tournament..."

Fu Jianghe was none other than the Paladin contestant who had swept through the Diablo individual tournament like an unstoppable force, only to forfeit at the very end.

The black-clad martial artist sighed: "He probably doesn't even know what's happening over in Lingzhou yet... If the tournament gets canceled because of the crisis there, all his hard work will have been for naught..."

"I heard the cultivators in Lingzhou are already mobilising for war; they have no time to spare for some game tournament..." another cultivator chimed in.

To the majority of ordinary martial artists and rogue cultivators, the actual prizes mattered little; what they truly cherished was this rare, precious opportunity to stand upon the same stage and compete on equal footing with the otherwise untouchable geniuses of the great clans.

"Yeah, I just wanted to see what that grand arena looks like..."

"After all, having stayed in this city, I've never actually been outside (laughs)." At the Half City branch, a teenage boy with a rather bright and cheerful disposition controlled a character who was quite the opposite—a despondent, leisurely Gunner with a small twig clenched between his teeth, looking thoroughly indolent.

He casually replied to a Penguin message before plunging once more into the arena.

Rangers—the gunners who survived the chaotic, lawless lands of the Empyrean, where enemies could strike at any moment, forcing them to swiftly draw their pistols and gun down their foes under any circumstance.

To survive even when their firearms failed them, some honed their close-quarters martial skills, giving rise to a unique combat style that seamlessly melded gunplay with physical strikes. These exceptional sharpshooters were known as Rangers.

Within the game, the boy executed a flawless, mesmerizing cadence of physical techniques and gunmanship. With a final, decisive Instant Kick, he abruptly shattered the opponent's attempt to unleash a Blade Master Awakening skill, kicking them dead on the spot.

Opening the game statistics interface, the record displayed a staggering history of over three thousand matches.

As he stepped down from the arena stage as usual, he suddenly noticed his Penguin communicator flashing.

"What is it?" He opened the message, the expression on his face shifting rapidly from indignation, to bewilderment, and finally to a complex cocktail of emotions. "Are the shops in Lingzhou practically deserted now... Could the King of the Arena tournament really be canceled because of this...?"

...

Countless players throughout the shops had long since perfected their preparations to participate, yet none had anticipated that events would take such a disastrous turn.

Inside the Yuanyang City branch, the player count was no longer as dense as before, bearing an atmosphere that was even somewhat... desolate.

When weighed against one's own life, most people preferred to choose the latter, even if that choice offered no true guarantee of safety.

Perhaps by fleeing this place and finding a secluded corner where no one could track them down to ride out the storm, the danger would pass over them.

Such was the wishful thinking harbored by many minor cultivators.

With a calamity of such magnitude looming, panic and anxiety rippled through the entire cultivation world of the Lingzhou continent, making it appear as though Boss Fang's grand "World Martial Arts Tournament" was on the very brink of collapse before it could even begin.