The Dragon Sea City tavern, Chen Tian, Chen Ling, and Qing Ling walked out of the main entrance. Chen Tian led the two women for a stroll. After days of fighting, they needed a good rest. Besides, Chen Tian had never experienced the customs of a complete city before.
Walking on the street, the three of them looked around. Chen Ling asked curiously, "Brother, what is that over there?"
"That's a dueling arena. Any player can fight and bet there for a spar."
Chen Tian looked at the building nearby, a huge silver arena, present in every city. Chen Tian was quite curious, and then he said, "Sister, how about we go watch the excitement? It looks like someone is fighting."
"Okay! Okay!"
Seeing that there was something fun to watch, Chen Ling clapped her hands, looking very happy. Qing Ling had no objections. Having never leisurely strolled through a city in this fragmented Divine Realm, she was eager to experience the customs and enjoyments of city life.
Chen Tian and the two women arrived at the arena. On the stage, two young men faced each other, one in silver armor and the other in bright golden armor, holding a spear in one hand and a sword in the other.
Chen Tian’s Divine Eye activated, and the players' information entered his mind. Both players were Level 30 White Blazing. They likely had some grievance they wanted to settle on the arena.
One of the youths was named Qing Feng Mie, and the other was called Long Yu Jian. Qing Feng Mie wore silver armor, while Long Yu Jian wore bright golden armor. Long Yu Jian spoke, "How about it? Wanna fight? Wanna bet?"
"You think I'm afraid of you? Bet! I want that piece of metal you have."
"Fine, I want the God-Slaying Shield you obtained a few days ago."
"Don't celebrate too early. It's not certain who will win."
Long Yu Jian and Qing Feng Mie spoke, as if neither of them wanted to lose to the other. Long Yu Jian attacked first, his long sword in hand, its edge sharp and imposing. As he wielded the sword, sword light crisscrossed the air.
Chen Tian immediately recognized the opponent's profession as a "Romantic Swordsman." The most powerful characteristic of this profession was its swift, precise, and fierce attacks, with unparalleled speed and power. The swordsmanship of a Romantic Swordsman emphasized one thing: flair.
"A man without flair is not romantic!"
This saying was not without merit. Seeing Long Yu Jian's swordplay, ethereal and seemingly random, Qing Feng Mie felt insulted. This was a duel! How dare you use such unrefined sword moves to look down on me?
"You're asking for death!"
Qing Feng Mie was enraged. He gripped his spear tightly and thrust it forward, transforming into a hundred spears that clashed loudly on the arena.
"Who do you think will win between Qing Feng Mie and Long Yu Jian?"
"I'm not sure, they are both on the Player Rankings."
"But it seems Qing Feng Mie's ranking is a few spots higher than Long Yu Jian's."
"Indeed. Long Yu Jian is ranked at three thousand, while Qing Feng Mie is at two thousand nine. The difference is quite significant."
"Who knows? Besides, these rankings are based on primary professions. They haven't revealed their secondary professions yet. Let's wait and see."
"I really don't understand, why is Qing Feng Mie challenging Long Yu Jian to a PK for a bet?"
"I heard he fancied a metal material that Long Yu Jian has."
...
Chen Tian listened to the surrounding conversations and approached a young man, asking, "Excuse me, brother, sorry to bother you. Could you tell me what the Player Rankings are?"
The young man Chen Tian spoke to was named Nie Shen. His level was 33 White Blazing. Nie Shen turned to look at Chen Tian, his face filled with shock, "You don't know about the Player Rankings?"
"I don't. I haven't heard of it."
"Uh!!!"
What kind of freak is this? Playing a game and not even knowing about the rankings.
"Friend, just look at the announcement. You'll know."
Nie Shen patted Chen Tian's shoulder, but Chen Tian pushed his hand away indifferently, "I don't read announcements. I never read update content when I play games."
"Huh?"
"Brother, what are you kidding about? If you don't read update content or announcements, how have you kept up with the times? You know, every update in the game brings changes, even a tiny change can make us players much stronger."
"If you don't read updates and announcements, you'll fall behind the times, you'll be abandoned by the era."
"Then friend, can you explain it to me? I won't go read it."
Nie Shen was a chubby fellow, dressed in simple, unpretentious clothes. If Chen Tian hadn't possessed his Divine Eye, he would have truly believed Nie Shen was just a simple, unpretentious little胖墩.
"Alright. The Player Rankings appeared in an update a few months ago. Each world has a Player Ranking. The Player Ranking has three thousand spots. If a player makes it onto the list, they receive immense experience and rewards. However, to get on the list, one needs to make significant contributions and have their combat strength recognized by the system."
"It can be said that everyone on the Player Ranking is an veteran player. New players can also get on the list, but they will be challenged by other players and kicked off. "
"Players can challenge the Player Rankings. Those with lower ranks can challenge players ahead of them. If they win, their rank increases. If a high-ranked player loses, their rank decreases. The Player Ranking is for the strong."
"So, little brother, are you interested!"
Nie Shen noticed Chen Tian's calm expression. Perhaps this young man was not an ordinary player either. He wanted to gauge Chen Tian's thoughts and strength.
"Player Rankings? Not very interesting."
Chen Tian appeared uninterested. To be honest, if Chen Tian were to get on the rankings now, he would surely be number one. Wouldn't that be bullying others?
"Look, Long Yu Jian lost."
"Alas! What a shame. We didn't get to see their secondary professions. They didn't unleash any of their skills, just a clash of combat instincts."
"Be content. Can self-created skills be used in such situations? Every skill is a trump card!"
"Long Yu Jian, you lost."
"I lost. Take this."
Long Yu Jian looked at Qing Feng Mie in front of him. He had lost. If this wasn't an arena, and if certain items weren't kept hidden, Long Yu Jian would have had a chance to defeat him. He knew Qing Feng Mie was also holding back. After the fourth layer, players were all cautious.
The game world was even more brutal. If you didn't hide your trump cards, you wouldn't know how you died. When players reach the White Blazing level, their secondary profession is unlocked, and their primary profession skills disappear, only self-created skills are used. But self-created skills are hard to create and have long cooldowns. No one uses them unless it's a critical moment.
This game world is a cannibalistic world. Players can revive after death, and there are ungrateful and despicable people. Exposing your full strength at the beginning is suicide. The more comprehensively they understand you, the faster they will attack.
You won't even know how you died. This is a world where people eat people. Even when forming a team with strangers, players need to be wary of their teammates. Some players are truly capable of killing their teammates to drop equipment.
"Here, I can't put this item in my inventory, and I don't know what use it has."
Long Yu Jian took out a piece of metal from behind him. It was a gray metal, looking like a piece of iron, with a hexagonal design.
"Ding! Detected quest item. Host, please collect."
A system voice appeared in Chen Tian's mind, and an interface appeared before him. Chen Tian was stunned.
"I'll take that metal."
Chen Tian’s eyes were fixed on the metal. As Qing Feng Mie’s hands just touched the metal, Chen Tian calmly said, "Thank you!"
"Is there anyone else who wants to challenge me? Come up if you dare."
Qing Feng Mie stood on the arena, radiating arrogance, like an invincible warrior. Sparring here had one benefit: it increased one's combat experience or improved combat awareness. Fighting against other players was the best way to identify one's shortcomings and weaknesses.
"I'll do it!"
Chen Tian's figure flickered, and he instantly appeared on the arena. An electronic screen appeared on the stage. Chen Tian was momentarily stunned, then began filling in information.
Chen Tian looked at Qing Feng Mie and said, "Let's make a bet! How about it?"
"Alright, what do you want to bet?"
"If I win, I want that metal of yours."
"If I lose, I'll give you a complete White Star level fifteen complete Azure River Spear. How about that?"
"Oh my, a White Star level fifteen weapon, complete!"
"Who is this young man? So wealthy!"
"Indeed! A complete White Star level fifteen weapon costs hundreds of billions of Epoch Coins! Even noble players have to save up for a while."
"A White Star level fifteen weapon is comparable to a Level 50 White Blazing player. This fellow is so rich."
...
Even Qing Feng Mie was shocked and stunned. A complete White Star level fifteen weapon. His own spear was only White Star level three, with seventy percent incompleteness. The first ten stars of White Star level weapons corresponded to ten levels. Weapons beyond level ten had incomparable bonuses to the first ten levels.
Qing Feng Mie looked at his spear and thought that it was time for him to upgrade his weapon. A Level 30 player could wield a level fifteen weapon.
"Deal."
Compared to the metal in his hand, Qing Feng Mie cared more about the weapon Chen Tian was betting.
"But you have to show the weapon first. That's the rule."
"Agreed!"
The rule for arena battles was that the bet items could not differ too much in value. It was uncertain whether the mysterious metal material and the White Star level fifteen weapon could be bet against each other. If the difference was too great, the bet would not be valid.
Chen Tian produced a spear. Chen Tian had killed many bosses and obtained countless White Star level equipment, weapons, and armor. This spear was one of them. Chen Tian felt its attributes were trash, so he hadn't recorded it with the Chameleon Ball.
A blue and silver spear appeared before Qing Feng Mie. The spear shaft was blue and silver, with a blue spearhead. Waves were intertwined on the spearhead, like vines wrapping around it, lifelike. The spear shaft, illuminated by the waves, was composed of blue scales, exuding an aura like the ocean.
Qing Feng Mie tapped the weapon, and an information interface appeared before him.
Azure Wrath Spear
Level: White Star
Star Level: Fifteen Stars
Completeness: 100%
Speed +200 points, Constitution +210 points, Strength +110 points, Weapon Mastery +150 points, Skill Mastery +250 points.
Ability: Edge Breaker (When the spear is thrust, defense is broken! Ignores fixed armor 100%. Fixed armor value is 20 points of carapace armor.)
Trait: Azure Sea (Attributes, abilities, and effects are doubled when in the sea.)
Note: This spear is a weapon used by a Sea God deity, blessed by the deity, its abilities and traits are extremely powerful!
Qing Feng Mie became excited upon seeing this information.