Chapter 145
Chapter 145
The Dragon Domain Trial Tournament was in full swing.
At that moment, most of the Dragon Domain soldiers and Dragon Warriors were watching the events displayed in the blue mirror. Even Dragon Knights with no current duties had come to observe.
Dragon Soul Mage!
That special class ensured Submit and Perish would be highly esteemed within the Dragon Domain.
Among the spectators, Renee, now going by the name “Carter,” was demanding an explanation.
“I went to a lot of trouble, but unfortunately, I still couldn’t find them…”
Zhou Ming shook his head and sighed. “But I unexpectedly obtained a dragon egg. I suppose the hardship paid off in the end!”
“A dragon egg?”
Renee was stunned. She carefully examined the trial rewards displayed nearby and immediately understood.
With the level limit set between 80 and 100, who could possibly compete with Zhouyou Shijie?
The Dragon Domain had truly suffered rotten luck, holding its tournament at precisely this point in time.
“So strong!”
Someone among the spectators suddenly exclaimed, “A B-Rank skill! He created one so quickly!”
Zhou Ming looked up. Within the mirror, Submit and Perish wore a solemn expression and was completely focused. He gathered the five elements and repeatedly attempted to fuse them as he worked on creating his original skill.
“Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!”
Sacred Dragon of Light · Cork was overjoyed. “Submit and Perish has the makings of a god!”
Faced with the sudden demand to create an original skill, he had found a direction so quickly. The Dragon Soul Mage’s talent and potential unquestionably ranked among the finest on the entire Destiny Continent!
Zhou Ming was not surprised.
In any other region, Submit and Perish would have been a strong contender for the championship of Pinnacle Showdown, perhaps even capable of winning it with ease. Creating an original skill could not possibly stump him.
“B Rank isn’t enough!”
Submit and Perish racked his brain and murmured, “I’m going to create an A-Rank skill!”
“!!”
His words sent another uproar through the crowd.
“What rank was the skill you created?” Renee asked curiously.
Zhou Ming smiled. “I wouldn’t exactly call it creating one from scratch. I improved my old Rending Slash and raised it to SS Rank!”
Heaven-Slaying Sword Qi was certainly good, but it still felt lacking. Zhou Ming had simply reduced its upfront damage in exchange for significantly increasing the chance that its percentage-based HP drain would land.
[Unnamed] (Exclusive SS Rank)
Description: Burn ten thousand enemies in flame and crush all wickedness.
Skill Effect: Condenses a [Blazing Core] possessing HP equal to 30% of your own. Once every 10 seconds, it deals 30% damage to all enemy units within a 50 x 50 area and inflicts Burn, causing them to lose 0.5% of their HP per second and reducing their Movement Speed by 30% for 5 seconds. (Note: The Blazing Core can remain active for up to 2 minutes.)
Additional Effect: While you are within the Blazing Core’s area of effect, your fire-element damage increases by 30%.
Cooldown: 30 seconds
…
Once every ten seconds, the Blazing Core could periodically inflict Burn upon enemy units in its area and drain a percentage of their HP!
That was the direction Zhou Ming had chosen for the upgrade!
In his view, having more skills was not always better in a chaotic battle. No matter how many skills you possessed, they were useless if they missed. You also had to activate them one at a time, and your opponent might evade them.
An area attack, on the other hand, was much harder to avoid. As for sacrificing 500% single-target damage, at his current level, that barely mattered. Under the protection of Demonic Flame Armor, it amounted to no more than two or three basic attacks.
“SS Rank?”
Renee opened her mouth, then thought better of whatever she had been about to say.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…
As the two spoke, numerous Dragon Domain soldiers were eliminated. They emerged from the trial space with their heads hanging.
“Sigh. I was still lacking, just as I thought!”
“Submit and Perish truly deserves a dragon egg. I concede wholeheartedly!”
“Everyone actually did pretty well. A Dragon Warrior was the first person eliminated earlier, and he was unbelievably awful.”
…
The contestants encouraged one another without forgetting to ridicule Zhou Ming.
That was perfectly normal.
When people found themselves in a bad situation, they naturally searched for someone worse off to compare themselves against. It gave them a little psychological comfort.
“Do you feel ashamed now?” Cork glanced at Zhou Ming. “Do not imagine that being promoted to Dragon Warrior through sheer luck makes you superior to others. If your performance is poor, I can strip you of that position at any time!”
Zhou Ming remained calm. “I’d like to see the trial scores first.”
“Do you think your score can change the fact that you were the first person eliminated?” Cork frowned.
A knowing smile tugged at Zhou Ming’s lips. “Let’s see the results first. Who knows? Maybe my performance was just barely passable.”
“Very well!”
Seeing how confident he was, Cork nodded in astonishment. “Then I would like to see who gave you such courage!”
Submit and Perish spent several more grueling hours honing his technique. At last, he created an A-Rank skill and successfully cleared the trial.
“I created an A-Rank skill at Level 80!” The gloom of being crushed by Zhouyou Shijie vanished from Submit and Perish’s face, replaced by boundless confidence. “I’m probably the only person in the entire Dragon Domain capable of that!”
With that thought, he proudly emerged from the trial space as someone who had cleared it.
“Submit and Perish, I saw your entire performance. Very good!” Cork regarded him with approval. “It would be even better if you could temper that arrogance of yours…”
Submit and Perish held his head high. “I can’t temper it when I have no worthy opponents!”
“You really are…”
Cork shook his head with a helpless laugh.
He knew that was simply Submit and Perish’s personality. When important matters arose, however, the man could put aside his arrogance, keep himself grounded, and take them seriously. That was enough.
Cork then removed everyone who had yet to finish from their trial spaces and announced, “This Trial Tournament has now ended. The mirror will calculate your scores next. Anyone who does not wish to make their ranking public may notify me in advance!”
“I don’t want mine announced!”
“I’m withdrawing from the rankings too!”
Many Dragon Domain soldiers who knew they had performed poorly voluntarily withdrew.
“How did you do, Rod?” Submit and Perish scanned the crowd until his gaze settled on the Dragon Warrior who had challenged him before entering the trial space. He deliberately asked, “How confident are you that you scored higher than me?”
“One hundred percent,” Zhou Ming answered evenly.
“Hahahaha…”
The crowd burst into laughter and looked at him as though he were an idiot.
What the hell?
This moron had lost his mind!
“Interesting. This is my first time meeting someone even more arrogant than Submit and Perish!” Bawang clicked his tongue in amazement.
Submit and Perish narrowed his eyes. “It seems you don’t want a future in the Dragon Domain!”
“Enough. The scores will not lie, and facts speak louder than words!” Cork frowned slightly, growing even more displeased with Rod.
If the man had shown even the slightest awareness of his own poor performance, Cork would not have said another word!
But that insolent refusal to recognize his own limits was truly irritating!
Without wasting any more words, Cork raised a hand and poured energy into the blue mirror’s mysterious power.
“If you want to know where you truly stand, see for yourselves!”
After concealing the results of those who had opted out, Cork spoke in a deep voice.
Whoosh!
As soon as the words left his mouth, the corresponding rankings appeared upon the blue mirror.
1. Fire Envoy · Rod. Score: 100
2. Barrier Breaker · Submit and Perish. Score: 86
3. Fearless Spear · Bawang. Score: 74
4. Meteor Sword · Tom. Score: 65
…