After three days of effort, Feng Bujue finally finalized the story design for June. The outline, details, and foreshadowing were all set. What remained was the simple process of writing, along with some improvisational elements, to be completed sequentially over the next twenty-odd days.

During these past few days, Xiao Tan had contacted him several times, talking about the situation with their teammates. Si Yu's illness had been cured a couple of days ago, and she'd logged on yesterday, but he heard that she didn't plan to participate in this competition, her reason being that she wasn't interested. As for Bei Ling, she'd come up with a set of seemingly "reliable" probability theories... After a series of calculations, she determined that she could at most make it into the top hundred. Considering that the prizes for the top hundred could be obtained with RMB, and that she wasn't hoping to become famous through this competition, she was too lazy to participate.

Xiao Tan himself was quite enthusiastic about this competition, but unfortunately, his strength was probably the worst among the members of the Infernal Front. Although Bei Ling hadn't poured cold water on his participation, she wasn't too optimistic about him in her heart.

Let's talk about Xiao Tan's current state:

Wang Tanzhi, ID: Wang Tanzhi; Level: 30; Title: [Swiftwind Flying Nightmare]

Specializations: General D, Machinery E, Investigation C, Combat C, Shooting E, Healing E, Spiritual术 E, Summoning nA

Skills: [Demon Bat Wraith], [Ke Ji Wu Gen Mo Lang You], [Feng Zhu Chen Xiang Hua Yi Jin], [Reverse Blade Whirlwind Slash], [Flying Nightmare Traces] (Title Ability)

Although the names of these skills sounded cool and domineering, the actual effects weren't very strong.

First of all...

[Name: Ke Ji Wu Gen Mo Lang You]

[Skill Card Attribute: Active Skill, Permanently Learned]

[Skill Category: Investigation]

[Effect: When in a crowd, gains stealth characteristics (no cooldown)]

[Consumption: 3 Stamina Points per second]

[Learning Condition: Investigation Specialization D]

[Note: What if there is no crowd...]

This was equivalent to the move in *Assassin's Creed* where you sneak through the streets by blending in with the crowd. The skill's note also revealed a sense of complaining.

Let's look at...

[Name: Feng Zhu Chen Xiang Hua Yi Jin]

[Skill Card Attribute: Active Skill, Permanently Learned]

[Skill Category: Combat]

[Effect: Leaves behind a residual image that lasts for three seconds in place (one second cooldown)]

[Consumption: 50 Stamina Points]

[Learning Condition: Combat Specialization D, or Level 27]

[Note: Things are different, and everything is over.]

That's right, after Lu You, Li Qingzhao was also shot.

This skill, which was basically a weakened version of the Afterimage Fist, even used a poetic name, and the note matched the name...

As for the next two skills, one of them was bought.

After the “Azure Spirit Sword Debate,” Xiao Tan sold the [Automatic Vending Machine Beater] that he picked up in the script and used the money to buy the [Reverse Blade Whirlwind Slash] from the auction house as his main attack skill.

Skills of this kind, which are hung up in the auction house, are naturally not very strong.

[Name: Reverse Blade Whirlwind Slash]

[Skill Card Attribute: Active Skill, Permanently Learned]

[Skill Category: Combat]

[Effect: Performs a high-speed whirlwind slash (one-minute cooldown, requires a bladed weapon and must be standing above a flat surface to cast)]

[Consumption: 300 Stamina Points]

[Learning Condition: Combat Specialization D]

[Note: It is rumored to be a blade technique created by Guan Ping. Holding the blade in reverse, he spins on the ground, sweeping enemies within range with overwhelming force.]

The last move was Xiao Tan's current title ability. With the change of title, [Bee Sting] had become history, and the new one had been replaced with…

[Name: Flying Nightmare Traces]

[Special Ability Type: Passive]

[Effect: When the movement speed reaches over ten kilometers per hour, you can walk on walls (the angle between the stepping surface and the ground is greater than or equal to ninety degrees) and leave black fire footprints.]

[Note: Illidan often tells me that Maiev Shadowsong is the most outstanding tracker he has ever seen... Seriously, does this blind man really not know what he leaves behind when he walks?]

The above is the new skill that Xiao Tan has acquired during this period.

In addition, I believe everyone has already forgotten the learning conditions for his [Heaven and Earth Reversal Divine Skill]. You don’t need to check the skill database; here’s the information directly: [Learning Conditions: Combat Specialization B, Spiritual术 Specialization C, Level 30 or above. This skill card cannot be traded after being picked up.]

Obviously, he still hadn’t met the learning conditions.

Therefore, Xiao Tan, who seemingly had five skills, could only rely on ordinary attacks or modern weapons to take people's lives, apart from [Reverse Blade Whirlwind Slash]. If he didn't make any significant improvements in equipment or skills in the next few days, let alone a good ranking, it was very likely that he would be eliminated within three or four matches.

…………

Let’s go back to Jue-ge's side.

On the afternoon of April 23rd, Feng Bujue finally breathed a sigh of relief after checking and saving all the documents. He could finally relax.

However, he wasn't in a hurry to log into the game. Instead, he first went to the game forum to browse around, wanting to explore the situation these past few days.

"Ah... as expected, it's all discussions about the competition." Feng Bujue muttered as he scrolled through the posts.

The already popular forum had become even more heated these past few days. Post titles like "Peak Hegemony Battle Complete Guide" and "How to Reach Level 30 in Ten Days" were everywhere.

The funniest thing was that Feng Bujue even saw a post where the poster's ID was "Qi Yao." The post title was "Predictions on the Top 100 Situation of the Hegemony Battle and My Views on the Strength of Various Studios," but when he clicked on it, he saw that the poster hadn't joined any guild, wasn't a studio member, and hadn't even reached Level 30. This was like someone working a part-time job lecturing everyone about the underworld... It was better to figure it out yourself than to trust him.

Actually, Feng Bujue had already roughly studied the promotion method for the competition three days ago. It couldn't be said that the rules were perfectly reasonable, but a certain amount of randomness was obviously necessary. If there were no random factors in a competition, there would be no need to compete; they could just give the awards to the players on the combat power leaderboard. In short, as long as the randomness of the competition can provide appropriate opportunities for the weak without making the strong feel too cheated, then everyone can accept it.

At this stage, the preliminary round rules given by Dream Inc. are as follows—

Starting from zero o'clock on May 1st, players can queue up to enter the new project called "Peak Hegemony Preliminary Round."

Each player needs to complete a total of fifty preliminary matches. Of course, these fifty matches don't need to be completed consecutively. As long as they are completed in the first half of May, it will average out to about three matches per day. Moreover, the preliminary round uses 1v1 maps specifically for the competition, and a victory or defeat can be determined in a short period of time.

After completing all fifty matches, players can no longer enter the preliminary round queue. Until the end of the entire preliminary stage, the system will arrange promotions based on the win rate of the player's fifty completed battles.

There are also two special rules. First, players who fail to win four consecutive matches at any stage of the preliminary round will be directly eliminated. Second, players who remain undefeated for fifteen consecutive matches at any stage of the preliminary round can directly advance.

These rules are mainly to filter out players who are too strong or too weak, to prevent players of average level from frequently encountering point-giving kids or crushing maniacs in the preliminary round. This can also be regarded as a means of reducing the randomness of promotion, because the competition's queuing system is completely random, unlike the kill game's matching method that tries to balance things out. It cannot be ruled out that someone might have explosive luck and encounter fifty pig-like opponents in a row.

However, Feng Bujue didn't know yet that he didn't need to study the preliminary round system at all, because he didn't need to play any preliminary rounds... or even the semi-finals.

On April 30th, Dream Inc. will announce another message at the same time as announcing the semi-final rules. This move will cause a great uproar and cause dissatisfaction among a large number of players. Of course, Dream Inc. won't care...

That message is—ten places in the final stage of this competition, the battle for the top 100, have already been taken.

These ten people are the so-called "specially invited players" and don't need to participate in any selection. And Feng Bujue is one of them.