Chapter 17 The Seventeenth Level of the Dark Abyss

The seventeenth level of the Dark Abyss. One hundred and twenty-five thousand cosmic citizens were standing on the gray, hazy ground.

"Congratulations on reaching the seventeenth level of the Dark Abyss. The rules for this round are: when the number of deaths reaches half, all survivors will proceed to a higher level. If, after five minutes, the number of deaths is less than half, participants will be randomly eliminated."

"Task, begin."

The voice echoed in the sky.

Xu Jingming observed his surroundings.

Having studied many materials, he was very clear about the rules of each round.

"For the fourth round's rules, the strong must be more proactive and not waste time," Xu Jingming thought to himself. "Because if the number of deaths is less than half after five minutes, there will be a random elimination. Even top experts might be randomly eliminated."

The weaker one is, the more willing they are to huddle and gamble on 'random elimination.'

Because their chances of dying in battle are greater than the probability of 'being randomly killed'!

The stronger one is, the less willing they are to gamble on luck.

"I am a sixth-order Star Sky lifeform. In terms of actual combat, I am considered top-tier among the sixth-order," Xu Jingming clearly positioned himself. Figures like Mr. Lu, Girl Ziteng, and Girl Qingyu were all sixth-order Star Sky lifeforms, considered second-rate experts in the Blood Rain World.

Moreover, Xu Jingming had also collected publicly available information: sixth-order Star Sky lifeforms generally had a combat boost of around 5x.

As the number one genius of Blue Star, Xu Jingming's combat boost reached ten times, which was extremely rare among sixth-order Star Sky lifeforms.

Seventh-order Star Sky lifeforms generally had a combat boost starting at 10x.

Eighth-order Star Sky lifeforms had a combat boost starting at 30x.

The entire 'Cosmic Human Alliance' placed great importance on combat boosts because one could judge the strength of the mind and the control over the body from the 'combat boost.' These two aspects were fundamental to becoming a 'ninth-order Source lifeform.'

"This time, there are 2 eighth-order participants, 156 seventh-order participants, and over 100,000 sixth-order participants. My strength is at the bottom of the seventh-order and the top of the sixth-order; I should be ranked in the top thousand," Xu Jingming looked at the melee of over a hundred thousand people and clearly defined his own position.

Suddenly, a cosmic citizen nearby launched a sneak attack. Xu Jingming dodged, and his left hand, like a blade, sliced towards the opponent's throat.

Bang.

The opponent's large palm blocked the thrust, and simultaneously kicked out. Xu Jingming naturally blocked with his knee.

Bang, bang, bang!

The two exchanged blows at lightning speed, trading attacks.

Xu Jingming had practiced Bajiquan from a young age, and his palm techniques, fist techniques, elbow techniques, and leg techniques were all very proficient. Moreover, at his current level, his entire body could be turned into a weapon. His hands could perform the Dual Shield Technique or spear techniques.

After six consecutive exchanges, the cosmic citizen suddenly retreated violently, glanced at Xu Jingming, and sought other opponents.

This exchange between the two also made some other participants take notice, and they deliberately avoided them: "These two are quite powerful; they are probably seventh-order Star Sky lifeforms."

The slaughter continued.

Experts hunted down others.

The weak also engaged in a frenzy of fighting, but more often they deliberately ran away to delay time.

"Run, run, run. When time runs out, there will be a random elimination. I'll probably be able to enter the next round," many cosmic citizens were veteran players. Perhaps their actual combat was so-so, but their footwork was very slippery.

Those who were slow to escape were killed one by one.

Those who believed they could rank in the top 10% were unwilling to drag things out, and they all took action quite ruthlessly. Some of the weak also tripped each other up; with each dead participant, they were safer.

At four minutes and three seconds, hum!

Crimson light pillars descended from the sky, enveloping everyone.

This round was over, and they would all successfully enter the next round.

Although the rules stated 'half the number of deaths,' in actual execution, because there was fighting everywhere, at the instant the time ran out, perhaps more than a dozen people died simultaneously! Therefore, the number of eliminated people was slightly greater than 'half.'

"Hahaha, I successfully escaped to the end, and the bonus has reached 200,000. After deducting the registration fee, there's still 100,000. What a profit!" Many fifth-order Star Sky lifeforms were cheering and jumping for joy. They were clearly of ordinary strength and even became Star Sky lifeforms through external forces, but they were addicted to it! They believed they had mastered some 'tricks' and repeatedly participated in the Escape from the Dark Abyss activity.

In their view, as long as they passed four rounds, after deducting the registration fee, they could earn at least 100,000. That was much more than earning money through hard work.

But in reality, fifth-order Star Sky lifeforms were too weak, and most could not pass the first three rounds.

For example, only 125,000 people passed the first three rounds, while the number of participating sixth-order individuals generally exceeded 100,000. One could judge from the numbers—

Fifth-order lifeforms had a very high probability of losing if they played 'Medium Escape from the Abyss.'

Yet many Star Sky lifeforms were willing to participate in 'Escape from the Abyss'! They called it 'honing their mental will' and 'honing their actual combat,' but in reality, even if they lost ten times, as long as they won once and earned over a million, they would become addicted to the taste of earning big.

After all, a fifth-order Star Sky lifeform could not earn a million cosmic credits in a year of hard work.

"The fifth round is about to begin." Xu Jingming was also enveloped in a pillar of light. He was quite calm; it was normal for his strength to pass the first few rounds.

...

"The rate of attrition on this level of the abyss is quite fast; I estimate half will die in about four minutes." The cute girl wearing a hat was the most terrifying existence in this activity, the cosmic celebrity livestreamer 'Tata,' who had long reached the limit of the eighth order.

Tata's telepathy naturally covered every part of the battlefield. Even the other eighth-order Star Sky lifeform did not notice Tata's spying.

Disguised as a cute girl, she was running around in a panic, looking very scared. She ran around in the crowd, but the places she ran to naturally caused some chaotic fighting, greatly increasing the rate of attrition.

Although she didn't kill a single person, thousands of participants died under her invisible influence.

"Too amazing."

"How is she so strong?"

"Tata's influence on the situation is too strong. Those participants are also quite experienced, but unknowingly, they are influenced by Tata."

"How is it done? Every time I imitate Tata and drill into the crowd, I get beaten to death."

Tens of millions of cosmic citizen viewers watched Tata's performance, and they all found the performance beautiful as a painting.

Without personally taking action, running around left and right, she indirectly killed thousands of cosmic citizens.

This kind of influence on the outside world was truly inconceivable.

"Everyone is very careful and vigilant when participating in Escape from the Abyss. There is a distance of vigilance between people, and once the distance of vigilance is broken, fighting is very likely to be triggered," Tata explained via voice, even though she couldn't see the viewers' comments. "Influencing their distance naturally causes chaos. Moreover, the mind is mutually influenced. My mind can naturally influence the mood of others, making them more angry and irritable. When they are irritable, they are more likely to clash and fight."

Tata ran happily, and the fighting was clearly more frenzied where she passed.

...

The fifth and sixth rounds had the same rules as the fourth round.

These rules forced the strong to take action, and the weak fifth-order, and even some sixth-order who lacked confidence, were all fleeing frantically.

Finally, crimson light pillars descended!

Xu Jingming arrived at the 14th level of the Dark Abyss.

"There are probably only a little over fifteen thousand people left now." Xu Jingming scanned the dense crowd of cosmic citizens from various civilizations around him. With his speed of thought, he could completely judge the approximate number. "I estimate there are very few fifth-order lifeforms on the field."

"Wahaha, big brothers and big sisters in the livestream, did you see that? I, a fifth-order Star Sky lifeform, have made it to the seventh round!" A short, fat alien said excitedly, but of course only the viewers in his own livestream heard it. "Including the reward money in the total prize pool, my bonus this time is conservatively estimated to be 1 million cosmic credits. Wahaha, that's so awesome. I know many people are like me, without any evolutionary talent, and have been stuck in the fifth order. But you can learn from me, just work hard to practice 'footwork,' practice it fast enough, slippery enough... In the Escape from the Abyss activity, you can hope to survive seven or eight rounds."

"Starting next, it will be team battles; I will definitely be a burden," the short, fat alien pointed out. "It's purely up to luck. If the experts in the team are strong enough, I can sneak into the next round, and the bonus can be doubled, wahaha..."

Escape from the Abyss does indeed have a certain probability of allowing the weak to mix into the middle and late stages and obtain huge bonuses.

This made the participants very enthusiastic.

But in reality, for the organizers, they made money from every 'Escape from the Abyss' activity; they were bound to earn 50% of the reward money and handling fees. Little things add up, and it was still a virtual game that sucked money on a very terrifying scale throughout the entire universe.

"Rules for this round: Every two teams will engage in a deathmatch until one side is completely annihilated. The victorious team will advance as a whole, and the defeated team will be completely eliminated. If the match is not over within five minutes, both teams will be eliminated!" A voice echoed in the sky.

Xu Jingming and the dense crowd of over ten thousand people were suddenly met with the earth cracking open.

The earth cracked open irregularly, naturally dividing the over ten thousand people into more than a hundred teams.

The cracked earth became small islands, floating on the ocean.

Xu Jingming looked around and determined with a glance that there were a total of one hundred people on his island.

"Our team happens to be one hundred people." A purple-haired man in the team spoke. "Once our island collides with another island, we must immediately attack. Because once the five minutes are up, if there is even one person on the other side who hasn't died, we will be eliminated."

"We must be united and cooperate with each other," the short, fat alien also said loudly, looking full of fighting spirit. In reality, he was the only fifth-order in the team.

"Everyone must not be selfish."

"Even if you die yourself, you must ensure the team wins. If the team wins, you can naturally enter the next round."

People spoke up one after another.

Those who could make it to the seventh round were either experienced or strong enough. They all knew the importance of 'unity' at this moment.

"Here it comes, here it comes."

The island where Xu Jingming was located was approaching another island.

At the instant the two islands collided, both teams bravely charged over.

"Ya ya ya, fight, fight, fight. Killing one is not a loss, killing two is meritorious." Being 'fearless' was the most basic requirement for these cosmic citizens. The most important thing was to grasp the situation on the field and learn to cooperate.

With good cooperation, ten experts were stronger than thirty scattered experts.

Xu Jingming's Spear Dao, whether it was 'the flow of water' or 'the phenomena of all living things,' placed great importance on the situation on the field! He naturally paid attention to the situation on the field and influenced 'the flow of water,' influencing the change of momentum to a certain extent.

He would make up for the key weak points himself.

He would add fuel to the fire at the point of sharpness!

He was like a 'lubricant,' improving the coordination of the entire team.

"Well done, I hope you're still on my team in the next round." The purple-haired man was also influencing the team. He glanced at Xu Jingming, quite approvingly. The purple-haired man did not care about Xu Jingming's actual combat skills. What he cared about was... Xu Jingming's ability to grasp the situation on the field and improve the team's coordination.

Team battles needed this kind of expert who was good at cooperating.

The purple-haired man was also good at controlling the situation, and his powerful mental will also influenced the surrounding participants. He also had super-strong close combat strength! This was the real expert among the participants.

Xu Jingming secretly exclaimed: "My combat boost is ten times, but this person's combat boost is probably 20 times! He would be a super-first-rate expert even in the Blood Rain World."

Although there were experts on the other side, they were clearly inferior overall!

"How can the opponent be so strong in just the seventh round? Is the official Escape from the Abyss deliberately targeting me?" The leader of the opposing team was a bald man. He was fierce and domineering, charging in front, but he was suppressed by the purple-haired man.

Around the purple-haired man, there were also experts like Xu Jingming cooperating, and the team's coordination was clearly much stronger.

The other side was constantly losing members.

"I can't even pass the seventh round this time; I'm going crazy." The bald man was suppressed by the purple-haired man, and he also saw that his team was getting smaller and smaller. He couldn't help but feel grief and indignation.

He was the celebrity livestreamer 'Mad Blade' among the seventh-order Star Sky lifeforms, and he had won first place in the medium-sized Escape from the Abyss activity several times! Livestreaming 'Escape from the Abyss' was his main project.

But in the past twenty-one days, he had not even entered the top ten once.

"It seems we are going to lose."

"Don't panic, don't panic, losing is a common occurrence. I'll start a new round later; I don't believe it." Seeing that the general trend was over, with the other side still having more than fifty people and his own side only having a few stragglers, the bald man had no choice but to give up resisting and let the purple-haired man's hand pierce his chest.

In this confrontation, in just three minutes, Xu Jingming's team won, completely killing everyone on the other side.

"Wahaha, lying down to win, lying down to win again." The short, fat alien condensed from illusion. As a member of the winning team, he naturally advanced as well.

"The opposing team was actually quite strong, with quite a few experts," Xu Jingming secretly sighed. "It's just that my teammates are more powerful, and the whole team is more united."

...

The seventh, eighth, and ninth rounds were all team battles.

Each time Xu Jingming was assigned to a new team, the team was generally quite strong. Perhaps it was also because he himself acted as a lubricant for the team. In short, they won three consecutive rounds!

"Congratulations on reaching the 11th level of the Dark Abyss. There are now 1,950 participants remaining. We also have good news for you: according to the current amount of viewer rewards, you will conservatively receive a bonus of 3.76 million cosmic credits." An exciting voice rang out in the sky.

This made the participants standing on the ground feel quite good.

Even for sixth-order Star Sky lifeforms, more than three million cosmic credits was quite a large bonus.

Of course, while they were happy and joyful, more people had already been eliminated.

Xu Jingming also felt quite happy.

This money came so fast!

He had worked hard for more than a month in the Blood Rain World and only earned one million. Now, less than an hour had passed, and he had earned so much.

"Calm down, calm down." Xu Jingming thought to himself, "Don't be addicted to the Escape from the Abyss activity. According to the information I've found, many cosmic citizens have said... their luck is especially good the first time they participate in Escape from the Dark Abyss, and they can generally earn a lot of money."

"Luck is more biased towards novices. This is deliberately attracting cosmic citizens to make them continue to participate," Xu Jingming secretly advised himself.

But no matter how much he advised himself, his heart was still burning.

Because the further you went, the more amazing the increase in bonuses would be.