The first round of matches ended quickly.
A total of fifty contestants advanced to the second round, which would continue at 2:00 PM.
The host announced the results of the first round and gave a brief summary.
“I’m sure you all witnessed the exciting matches of the first round.”
“Truly worthy of the elites recommended from all across Longxia—the battles were absolutely spectacular!”
“To those who lost, don’t be discouraged. It’s not that you weren’t strong enough—it’s just that your opponents happened to be a little more outstanding.”
“To those who won, don’t get cocky either. Your journey has only just begun!”
“Of course, this competition also had a few dark horses that caught everyone’s attention, making our matches even more thrilling.”
“I’m just like all of you—I can’t wait for the second round this afternoon.”
“At 2:00 PM, let’s meet again—don’t miss it!”
……
To be honest, the host hadn’t even watched the matches that closely.
After all.
It was impossible for one person to keep an eye on everything happening across every arena at once.
This speech was also pretty much the same one repeated every single year.
But this year was different.
There really was a dark horse that had sparked widespread discussion!
That dark horse was Lu Ran, a Necromancer from Blackfire City!
In truth, many of the spectators present hadn’t even seen Lu Ran’s match, because it was over far too quickly.
Besides, a fight between a Necromancer and a Mystic Armor Berserker wasn’t exactly anything special to watch.
Still, the news that he had finished his match faster than anyone else spread everywhere.
A Necromancer who technically shouldn’t even have qualified for the Hundred Cities League not only participated—he defeated his opponent in record time!
And that wasn’t even the crazy part—his opponent happened to be a Mystic Armor Berserker, a class that completely countered Necromancers!
Given all these disadvantages, how on earth did he manage to take the guy down so quickly?
In no time, rumors started flying everywhere!
“Must be a nepotism hire, right? Since when can Necromancers join the Hundred Cities League?”
“What good would connections do? His opponent was a Mystic Armor Berserker—the hard counter to magic classes!”
“Like I said, he’s got connections. It’s not that hard to have his opponent throw the fight and show up in crap gear, is it?”
“Corruption! Favoritism!”
“I’m seriously starting to doubt the fairness of the Hundred Cities League now.”
“Damn it. Which rich kid’s son is this, coming in here to compete? What a joke!”
“In the second round, I’m keeping my eyes glued on him!”
……
Unsurprisingly, this was followed by a flood of skepticism aimed at Lu Ran.
That was only natural—if there wasn’t any doubt, that would have been weird.
After the matches ended.
Cong Shuang returned to the Cong family estate.
“Xiao Yu, before the match, you said your friend—that Lu Ran—was really strong. Strong how? Tell me in detail. What exactly did you two do yesterday?” Cong Shuang asked impatiently.
“Oh, nothing much yesterday—just went on a mission,” Cong Yu said hesitantly, glancing cautiously at Cong Jixian.
“Tell the truth,” Cong Shuang said, rolling her eyes at her sister.
She knew her little sister all too well.
Especially when she was lying—she always had the habit of sneaking a look at their father, Cong Jixian, for reassurance.
“Ugh, fine, it really was just a mission. The mission was pretty dangerous at the time, so I asked Lu Ran for help. And sure enough, it was dangerous. Basically…”
Cong Yu recounted everything that had happened during the mission the day before in full detail.
The moment Cong Shuang heard it, she immediately understood why Cong Yu had been so hesitant to speak up.
Cong Jixian was the first to react.
His eyes wide, he said, “Second daughter, you completely ignored what I told you? You took on such a dangerous cross-level, high-difficulty mission? If it weren’t for Lu Ran, do you have any idea what would have happened to you?!”
It was clear that Cong Jixian was furious.
Cong Yu knew she had made a mistake—she’d been reckless and impulsive—so she kept her mouth shut and didn’t dare say a word.
Cong Shuang, on the other hand, stared at her sister in astonishment.
After a moment, she asked slowly, “A Titan Python? That should be a boss-level field creature, right?”
Just then.
A young man wearing glasses beside her spoke up. “I looked through the records. It should be a ruin boss, located in the Southern Wastelands.”
Cong Shuang’s head was practically spinning after hearing that.
A ruin boss!
And from the Southern Wastelands at that! And a Necromancer could actually summon something like that during battle?
A Necromancer and a ruin boss—how were those two even connected?
“Anything else?” Cong Shuang pressed.
“That’s it. The rest were just the undead summoned by Lu Ran’s Legion Guard skill. But I don’t know if it’s just my imagination—the skeletons his Legion Guard summoned were incredibly powerful. Their stats seemed way beyond those of other Necromancers’ skeletons, even way stronger than the skeletons of the high-level Necromancers I’ve encountered before!” Cong Yu said thoughtfully.
Cong Shuang didn’t dismiss Cong Yu’s “imagination” as trivial.
She turned to look at the Cong family members they had brought along.
Pointing at one of them, she said, “You’re a Necromancer. Go ahead, use Legion Guard.”
The servant obeyed without question.
Immediately.
Ten skeletons appeared before them.
Cong Shuang then turned to Cong Yu and pointed at the skeletons. “Take a look at these skeletons’ stats. How do they compare to Lu Ran’s skeletons?”
Cong Yu glanced over, especially focusing on the skeletons’ stat panels.
Then she said, “When Lu Ran summoned his, they exploded into corpses right away, so I don’t remember the exact numbers. But they were definitely way more powerful than these skeletons here—by a long shot.”
Cong Shuang’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Cong Ji—that Necromancer—was level fifty-one!
And his gear was all top-tier, too.
Yet even his summoned skeletons couldn’t measure up to Lu Ran’s?
And according to Cong Yu, Lu Ran’s skeletons weren’t just a little stronger—they were far and away superior!
“Oh, by the way, did you see what happened on Arena Number Six just now?” Cong Shuang asked further.
“Not closely, but I had someone keep an eye on it. Lu Ran used Blood Lance,” Cong Yu said.
Cong Shuang waited for Cong Yu to continue.
But soon realized her sister didn’t seem to have anything more to add.
Suddenly catching on, she asked in confusion, “That’s it? Just one Blood Lance?”
“Uh-huh. Just one Blood Lance,” Cong Yu nodded.
“And that one Blood Lance one-shot the opponent? What class was the opponent?” Cong Shuang asked hurriedly.
“I remember that—he was a Mystic Armor Berserker,” Cong Yu said honestly.
Cong Shuang found it hard to describe what she was feeling at that moment.
A Necromancer threw a single Blood Lance and one-shot a Mystic Armor Berserker—a class renowned for its magic resistance and notorious as the bane of magic-based classes!
In just a few seconds, the fight was over.
“As I thought. That Lu Ran is definitely not right,” Cong Shuang murmured.
She had even been hoping, just moments before, that maybe Lu Ran had simply gotten lucky and run into some weakling from a no-name academy.
Or maybe.
His opponent had withdrawn or forfeited due to some accident or reason.
But the truth had slapped Cong Shuang right across the face.
“First daughter, don’t pay him too much mind. Even if there’s something strange about this Lu Ran, he’s still just a Necromancer. The championship will be yours. Becoming a core member of the Heavenly Alliance is your ultimate goal,” Cong Jixian said to Cong Shuang.
Core member of the Heavenly Alliance…
Cong Shuang felt a tinge of bitterness in her heart.
She handed a document to Cong Jixian and said, “Well, before that, Lu Ran is already a core member of the Heavenly Alliance. And… it doesn’t stop there.”
