Dragon Transformation in the Apocalypse

Chapter 245 Preliminary Round of the Exchange Competition (Part 2)

It was just before 2 PM. Li Chenglong and Yun Lan had already brought everyone from Dawn City to the competition venue. The second round of matches was halfway through that morning, and the remaining parts of the second round and the third round would be held in the afternoon. The most anticipated match in the second round was undoubtedly the level 9 Mermaid Spirit Awakener versus the level 10 Lightning and Wood Dual Ability User, Xu Chu.

Among the top combatants in the Central Theater Command, there is considerable debate about who ranks first. Some say it's Xu Chu, a level 10 dual-elemental ability user, while others say it's Shangguan Jingyun, a level 9 killer whale spirit awakener. However, the two have never fought, so a definitive conclusion has remained undetermined.

The second round of six matches in Groups G, H, and I was held simultaneously. The match between Li Xue and Xu Chu attracted the most attention. In the two matches in Group H in the morning, both Li Xue and Xu Chu easily defeated their opponents. Xu Chu, in particular, defeated an 8th-level ability user in the same group in less than 40 seconds.

Looking at the arena, Li Chenglong said to the others, "Lightning-type abilities are still extremely rare. Dawn City has more than 4000 ability users and awakened individuals, but only four of them have lightning-type abilities. Lightning-type ability users are generally fast and have high skill damage. In addition, Xu Chu also has a wood-type ability, which allows him to recover during battle. Xue'er has recently gained support skills in her two upgrades. This match is really going to be tough."

The tall Xu Chu slowly walked to the designated arena, while Li Xue gracefully stepped forward. Cheers erupted from the audience as soon as Li Xue appeared. This was mainly because Li Xue was incredibly beautiful; her strength and looks made her a popular choice. Many talented young men, after the morning's matches, inquired about Li Xue, hoping to invite her to lunch.

Xu Chu smiled and said, "I might be quite swift and decisive when I fight, Li Xue, you'd better be careful." Li Xue smiled and said, "Okay, I'll do my best too." Chen Guoqiang, Sun Tianlong, Shangguan Jingyun, Ding Hai and others all focused their attention on this match. In the two rounds of the morning's competition, Shangguan Jingyun easily defeated her opponent and scored 6 points.

Because no weapons could be used in the match, Li Xue couldn't use her Azure Staff. The referee blew his whistle, and the battle officially began. Xu Chu immediately dropped his relaxed expression, slamming his palms forward. Two black lightning bolts shot out from his palms, striking Li Xue at incredible speed. Li Xue remained calm, her entire body glowing with azure energy. Suddenly, several giant shields made of solid ice descended from the sky, easily blocking the lightning.

Xu Chu was somewhat surprised by this move. He had seen ice-type ability users before, but Li Xue was the first to be able to create an ice shield. Just as he was about to unleash his next skill, he suddenly sensed a dangerous aura, and saw several huge ice arrows shooting towards him. Xu Chu acted decisively, shouting, "Break!" Instantly, a large tree made of energy appeared behind him, its roots rapidly extending and clashing with the ice arrows. Fragments of the ice arrows and tree roots scattered all over the ground.

Taking advantage of the chaotic scene, Xu Chu accelerated and rushed towards Li Xue. Based on his observations this morning and just now, he felt that Li Xue was more of a support type and probably not good at close combat. Besides, he was a level 10 ability user, tall and strong. Even if Li Xue was good at close combat, he would still have the advantage.

Xu Chu's assessment was actually correct. As a level 9 A-rank Awakened, Li Xue's attributes weren't as high as those of S-rank or SS-rank Awakened, and their distribution wasn't as even. Many level 9 ability users had higher attributes than Li Xue, let alone the level 10 Xu Chu.

Seeing Xu Chu trying to close the distance, Li Xue retreated while unleashing water and ice arrows, attempting to halt his advance. However, Xu Chu withstood the attacks, quickly closing the distance and engaging Li Xue in close combat. After a while, Xu Chu was surprised to discover that Li Xue's close-quarters combat ability was quite formidable, at least significantly stronger than many of his army's level 8 fighters.

The two fought for eight minutes. By then, the other five matches that started at the same time had already ended, but their battle was still ongoing. After Li Xue blocked another of Xu Chu's skill attacks with her ice shield, she said to the referee, "I can't hold on any longer, I concede." The referee immediately stopped the match and declared Xu Chu the winner.

A round of enthusiastic applause and cheers erupted from the crowd. Xu Chu praised Li Xue's performance highly: "I only won by a narrow margin. We should spar again next time." Li Xue smiled and said, "I know you were holding back, Commander Xu Chu. Otherwise, with your speed and strength, plus your terrifying wood-type recovery ability, I probably wouldn't have lasted five minutes." The two chatted casually for a bit before walking to their respective resting areas with smiles.

Li Chenglong was very satisfied with his sister's performance. Her grasp of spiritual energy and use of skills had reached a level of consummate skill. If she were a combat-type Awakened, Xu Chu would have lost long ago. Chen Guoqiang, Sun Tianlong, and the others also nodded in satisfaction.

The subsequent matches didn't cause much of a stir. After an afternoon of intense competition, the three rounds of matches in the 12 groups were completed, and the 24 participants who advanced were selected. Among the four contestants from Shuguang City, Yun Lan and Han Xiaoling both won all three matches and scored 9 points, while Li Xue and Yang Liu both had two wins and one loss, scoring 7 points. However, 7 points were more than enough for them to advance to the semi-finals.

After a while, the list of the 24 finalists was sent to Chen Guoqiang and Zhao Wannian. In front of everyone present, the two personally drew lots for the 24 finalists. The semi-final rules were that there were three people per group, with eight groups in total. The competition rules were also simple: each group's members would compete against the other two members in their group; a win earned 3 points, and a loss earned 1 point. The top two from each group would advance to the round of 16.

The semi-finals will also be completed on the same day. The matches for groups A, B, C, and D will be played in the morning, and the remaining four groups will play in the afternoon. Each person in each group only needs to play two matches. For example, if Xiaoming, Xiaohong, and Xiaoli are in the same group, Xiaoming will first play against Xiaohong, which is equivalent to each of them playing one match. Then Xiaoming will play against Xiaoli, and Xiaohong will play against Xiaoli, each playing against Xiaoli. Each person will have a total of two matches, and points will be awarded based on the wins and losses.

The semi-finals will be held simultaneously for two groups, totaling three rounds. Each player will only need to play two rounds against their two group opponents. The order of play will be determined by drawing lots.

Soon, the group assignments were announced, and the four were fortunate enough not to be grouped together. Moreover, apart from Yun Lan, the other three didn't have any particularly strong opponents in their groups, giving Yang Liu, the weakest of the four (an 8th-level wood-type ability user), hope of advancing to the top 16. Yun Lan's Group A could truly be called the group of death. She was grouped with Ding Hai, a 10th-level three-element ability user from the Northern Theater Command, and Pang Zihan, a 9th-level speed and strength-type ability user from the Central Theater Command. This meant that, regardless of the outcome, at least one ability user of level 9 or higher would be eliminated from this group.

Han Xiaoling was assigned to Group C, which included one level 9 and one level 8 user. Li Xue was in Group H, which also included one level 9 and one level 8 user. Yang Liu's Group F was the easiest, consisting entirely of level 8 ability users. The battle order for Yun Lan, Ding Hai, and Pang Zihan was as follows: Yun Lan would face Ding Hai in the first round, Ding Hai would face Pang Zihan in the second round, and Yun Lan would face Pang Zihan in the third round.

After the draw ceremony, the day's matches concluded, and the audience began to leave. Li Chenglong looked at the list that had just been delivered and noticed that of the 24 people who had advanced, 6 were from the Northern Theater Command, 10 from the Central Theater Command, and 8 from the Eastern Theater Command. Of the 8 people from the Eastern Theater Command, in addition to the 4 from Shuguang City, there was 1 from Qianyun Base, 1 from Feiyun Base, and 2 from Qingshui Base.

However, this doesn't mean much. It's important to note that many bases' top combatants didn't participate, such as Sun Qingpeng, Gao Shixin, Xu Limin, and Wei Jing, all Level 9. Furthermore, Li Chenglong also spotted some Level 9 ability users among the delegations from other war zones. The oldest participant is Shangguan Jingyun, who is 45 years old, while the youngest is Han Xiaoling, who is 14. The rest are mostly around 30 years old.