Chapter 11 The 11th Level of the Dark Abyss

On the 11th level of the Dark Abyss, among these 1,950 participants, the most terrifying was the cosmic superstar live streamer, 'Tata,' who had long since reached the limit of the eighth level. Tens of millions of fans in her livestream were paying close attention to Tata's every move.

"Mid-sized Escape from the Abyss. Tata always breezes through the first nine rounds, easily earning a fortune. Why can't I learn how?"

"That's because Tata is too strong. I've reached the seventh level, and I've played five times today, only managing to scrape through the first nine rounds once."

"Tata's strength is amazing! Watching her Escape from the Abyss is like an art."

The fans praised.

Tata, a cute girl wearing a hat, couldn't see the comments, but she still pressed down on her hat and said with a smile, "From the tenth round onward, I also have to be careful. Because I could stumble and be eliminated at any time."

What she said was naturally only heard by the viewers in her livestream.

"Actually, the official Dark Abyss organization has always favored newcomers and the weak, targeting the strong," Tata explained. "This is normal. For example, in this Escape from the Abyss event, there are a million participants, and nearly 900,000 of them are fifth-level Starry Sky lifeforms. The vast majority of the prize pool is provided by fifth-level Starry Sky lifeforms. To ensure the appeal to fifth-level Starry Sky lifeforms, the early stages naturally favor them."

"Even with the bias, the first three rounds will only leave 125,000 people, eliminating more than 870,000. The majority of those eliminated are naturally fifth-level Starry Sky lifeforms."

"For fifth-level Starry Sky lifeforms playing Escape from the Abyss, I suggest going to the lower-level Escape from the Abyss events. Relatively speaking, the probability of breaking even is higher. Playing the mid-sized Escape from the Abyss... they mostly suffer losses. It's really not wise."

"As for seventh-level Starry Sky lifeforms, although they are targeted in the first six rounds, the elimination rate is only just over half."

"For them, the most dangerous rounds are the seventh to ninth rounds, because each round is a team battle, and the losing team is completely eliminated. So, after each round, about half of the seventh-level Starry Sky lifeforms are eliminated. After these three rounds, too many are eliminated."

"After the first nine rounds, there are less than one-tenth of the original number of seventh-level Starry Sky lifeforms."

Tata said with a smile, "This is still just the average data! If you're an old player, with rich experience, and you earn a lot... the more you earn in Escape from the Dark Abyss, the more you'll be targeted."

"When I participate in large Escape from the Abyss events, I tend to stumble in the first few rounds. Because there are too many eighth-level masters in the large Dark Abyss events, and even the occasional ninth-level participant."

"So, you can't be greedy, and you have to keep a clear head at all times. If you get a fever in your brain because of a large reward, you may end up falling into the abyss and losing everything."

"Everyone talks about escaping the Dark Abyss." Tata said with emotion, "But the real key to this game is to 'escape the dark abyss within your own heart.' Only by mastering your own mind! And having absolute self-control! Can you become the victor of 'Escape from the Abyss.' The vast majority of other participants are swallowed by the Dark Abyss."

Tata's words caused countless viewers in the livestream to sigh.

"I'm one of those swallowed."

"I can't get rid of the dark abyss in my heart."

"My dad is an old player. I calculated it for him. He's earned over ten million in the last month! My dad is an eighth-level Starry Sky lifeform, and he can easily earn tens of millions a month just by doing any job. But he still plays often, and he plays large Escape from the Abyss events, saying he's tempering his mind to prepare for breaking through to the ninth level. I think he's just sinking into the Dark Abyss. I don't dare to interfere with him. Sigh, helpless!"

"Hehe, I'm a sixth-level Starry Sky lifeform, and I earn ten times more from Escape from the Abyss than I do from my job! If you want to learn, you can contact me!"

...

"The tenth round has begun."

Tata carefully walked around, saying, "I mainly play the mid-sized Escape from the Abyss events. The first nine rounds of the mid-sized Escape from the Abyss don't pose a threat to me. Even if it's a team battle, whichever team I'm assigned to is bound to win. But from the tenth round onward, the game officials will definitely try to target me."

"Because I'm probably the strongest one among these thousand or so people! Actually, the game officials are too stingy. I really don't earn much from them." Tata walked cautiously, looking wary.

Tata had reached the limit of the eighth level a long time ago and had many outstanding achievements. Any job she took would have a terrifying income.

Tata wasn't too concerned about the 'unstable rewards' from Escape from the Abyss. On the contrary, the tips from the tens of millions of viewers in her livestream were the main source of her income!

Having lived for more than five thousand years, she had even bought an indigenous life planet with beautiful scenery as her territory! Now, her greatest pursuit was to become a 'ninth-level' being.

"Okay, I won't talk anymore." Tata carefully observed her surroundings. "This level of the Abyss has a small number of hidden weapons, but I know very well that the game officials won't hide any weapons near me."

"That participant with the horn, he killed over thirty people in the previous team battle. He's likely to be an eighth-level Starry Sky lifeform."

"Yeah, I can vouch for that."

"Amazing, he killed over thirty people all by himself."

Far away, a man with a horn and emerald-green eyes was being targeted, surrounded by many participants.

"Unlucky guy, he must have revealed too much of his strength during the team battle." Tata watched from afar and whispered, "His teammates treated him like a treasure before, but now they can't wait for this powerful expert to be eliminated."

...

Xu Jingming searched for weapons while keeping his distance from others. He was positioned almost at the edge of the land, and he could see the land not far away slowly collapsing. As it collapsed, the land area would become smaller and smaller, reducing the range of activity for the participants.

"They're fighting in the middle." Xu Jingming glanced from afar, having been placed at the outermost edge from the beginning, which allowed him to maintain as much distance as possible.

"Kill."

"That purple-haired guy is also very strong. He might be an eighth-level expert. Kill him!"

"Take him down."

The participants in Escape from the Abyss were all ambitious and wanted to be the ultimate winner. Now, they were all targeting the super-strong individuals who had revealed their strength during the 'team battles'! Experts with a combat power boost of at least 20 times were surrounded by a large number of other experts, and even strong individuals like 'Tata' were among the attackers.

"If you don't show your strength in three consecutive rounds of team battles, your team might lose and be eliminated. But if you do show your strength, all the other teammates will remember you! You'll be completely exposed," Tata said. "So, leading the team to victory without exposing your strength is the key to surviving to the later stages."

"Pfft."

Tata, also mixed in with the crowd, suddenly launched a sneak attack. One kick forced the horned emerald-eyed man to dodge, but another person behind him clawed, tearing apart the flesh on his waist.

The horned emerald-eyed man was quickly and frustratingly killed.

"How pitiful." Xu Jingming also saw that the purple-haired man was besieged by more than ten people and lost his life.

In the early stages of the land shrinking, participants were more focused on targeting those who had 'displayed great strength' earlier! After all, most of those who could survive the first nine rounds were quite strong. They naturally cooperated to eliminate some strong enemies in advance!

These strong enemies were the biggest obstacle to winning first place.

"Hmm?" Xu Jingming glanced over and saw a blue-haired man taking out a sword from the bushes. Several people immediately rushed towards him.

With a flash of sword light, an arm was severed and thrown into the air! One person was killed instantly, and two were injured.

"Haha, lucky." The blue-haired man held the sword in one hand, looking around with excitement.

The other participants' expressions changed slightly, and they didn't dare to approach again. Since they couldn't seize the weapon at the first opportunity, trying to seize it now... the risk was too great.

"This person knows swordsmanship."

"No need to fight him." The other participants walked around him.

A first-rate master wielding a sharp weapon was even more terrifying than a bare-handed super-class master.

Because relying on flesh and blood, they simply didn't dare to touch the sharp blade. If they touched it, they would lose an arm or a leg! Unless the difference in strength was huge, with a combat power difference of several times, they could defeat those wielding weapons with their bare hands.

The ground was collapsing, the area was getting smaller and smaller, and the participants were getting closer and closer together.

Fights also became more common.

After all, the participants were very careful. As the area shrank and they got too close to each other, they would naturally strike first!

When the area shrank to a certain extent, a large-scale battle broke out. Xu Jingming had just exchanged a few moves with one person when a dark red beam of light descended! Because the fighting in the central area was too fierce, the number of deaths was already sufficient.

"Buzz." The dark red beam of light enveloped Xu Jingming and the other thousand people, sending them to the 10th level of the Dark Abyss.

...

"It was easy enough to get through the tenth round. On the contrary, many experts, such as that purple-haired alien, were eliminated," Xu Jingming thought. He was indeed inconspicuous because his true strength was only at the middle level on the field!

Dark Abyss, 10th level.

Xu Jingming was once again assigned to an area relatively close to the periphery. He immediately began searching for weapons.

"According to the information I've collected, the 11th level generally has about ten weapons, while the 10th level has about twenty weapons. Once I get a weapon, most other participants... won't be willing to rush up empty-handed," Xu Jingming searched anxiously. "Once I get a weapon and escape the Abyss, I'll be able to go further, and the rewards will be higher."

Not far away, Xu Jingming caught a glimpse of a faint cold light in the hills and weeds in the distance, and his heart trembled.

"A weapon?"

Xu Jingming immediately quietly approached, wanting to quietly take the weapon, but found that a burly blue-skinned alien was also approaching. The blue-skinned alien also looked at Xu Jingming.

Their eyes met! They both realized that the other had discovered the weapon!

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The two of them instantly burst into speed, heading straight for the cold light!

"Hmm?" Their burst of speed immediately attracted the attention of other participants nearby, and several people quickly approached.

"Get out of the way!" The blue-skinned alien rushed forward, his leg a shadow like a great axe, splitting down as fast as lightning.

Xu Jingming was unwilling to retreat, because retreating meant giving up the weapon. He raised his arms and used shield techniques to block the heavy leg! The impact of the elbow tip against the leg bone made the blue-skinned alien's expression change slightly.

"Whoosh." While Xu Jingming blocked the leg, he kicked the weapon to the side with his toe, and he himself darted out.

The direction he kicked with his toe was the direction where there were no participants.

His lunge naturally allowed him to catch up first! With a swoop, he grabbed the weapon.

It was a dagger.

Holding the dagger, Xu Jingming stopped and looked around. The surrounding five participants looked at each other and began to retreat one by one. No one wanted to fight a participant with a weapon.

"I got the weapon." Xu Jingming was overjoyed. With a weapon in hand, his strength had increased several times, and he was confident in dealing with super-class masters!

...

Xia Country, Life Evolution Bureau.

Director Zhou sat at his desk, looking at the files on the panel. He scrutinized them carefully.

"Last year, the virtual world was fully opened, and people around the world began to cultivate evolution methods, which was also a period of explosion for geniuses. Our Xia Country emerged with a group of talented experts such as Xu Jingming, Liu Hai, Tu Ling, Fang Yu, Zhao Fan, and Zhang Qing," Director Zhou shook his head slightly. "But that was a selection from billions of people around the world. Now it's too difficult to find geniuses again."

At least within Xia Country, the other geniuses discovered were not even comparable to Xu Jingming and Liu Hai, let alone Fang Yu and Zhao Fan.

"It's really difficult."

Director Zhou sighed inwardly.

Buzz—

Director Zhou frowned slightly and gently touched his watch. A light screen immediately appeared.

On the light screen, Secretary-General Angus was smiling at Director Zhou, "Director Zhou, hello, I have a good news to report."

"What news?" Director Zhou asked doubtfully.

"Our Blue Star virtual intelligence constantly collects major information from the virtual world network," Secretary-General Angus said. "We just collected a piece of information that Xu Jingming is participating in one of the popular tasks 'Escape from the Dark Abyss' in the Dark Abyss virtual world, and he has now reached the top 1,000! Because his appearance hasn't changed at all, our Blue Star virtual intelligence can instantly identify him."

"Escape from the Dark Abyss? Top 1,000?" Director Zhou couldn't believe it. "Is it a low-level Escape from the Dark Abyss?"

"It's a mid-sized one," Secretary-General Angus said.

"What?" Director Zhou couldn't believe it.

"This news has shocked many people, and many high-level officials on Blue Star have gone to watch it," Secretary-General Angus's eyes lit up. "If Xu Jingming has incredible luck and can get first place, then..."

Director Zhou said, "Wake up, wake up, stop dreaming."

Secretary-General Angus laughed, "I'm just thinking about it, after all, it's 50 billion cosmic dollars, plus viewer rewards."

"Making it into the top 1,000 is already amazing. After all, it's a competition among a million cosmic citizens," Director Zhou couldn't help but say, "I'm going online now."

...

Director Zhou and other high-level officials from Blue Star were all watching the official livestream of the Dark Abyss. The game officials were also livestreaming the 'Escape from the Abyss' event. The number of viewers for just one 'mid-sized Escape from the Abyss' livestream reached a horrifying 300 billion!

This was just a relatively popular side task in the 'Dark Abyss' virtual world.

It can be seen from this that the number of viewers for the 'Dark Abyss', which ranks second in popularity among evolution-type virtual worlds in the entire universe, was astonishing.

"300 billion cosmic citizens are watching?" Director Zhou and others were now one of those 300 billion people, watching the Dark Abyss scenes displayed in front of them.

Buzz—

A dark red beam of light descended, enveloping 500 people.

The 500 people arrived at the 9th level of the Dark Abyss. Xu Jingming, holding a dagger, was one of the very few people among these 500 with a weapon.

"Xu Jingming has entered the top 500." Director Zhou's eyes lit up, "And only 35 people have weapons. Jingming has an advantage!"