The seven exchanged glances and said in unison, "We want to!"
Zi Linling was very pleased. She nodded and said, "Good, in that case, you'd better be prepared!"
With that, she continued to announce, "Now, there are a total of two hundred and two groups on stage. The method for passing the third round of selection is a group free-for-all. There is no time limit, until only the last ten groups remain on the stage, the free-for-all will end. Do you understand the rules?"
"Understood!"
More than two thousand people replied in unison, but they were clearly not as confident as before, as if they were extremely unwilling.
Zi Linling had no intention of continuing to ask. She said with a meaningful look, "Good! Since you understand, then..."
"Wait, President Zi, I have a small doubt, and I ask for the President's help to resolve it!"
A woman who was quite good-looking said timidly.
However, there was a hint of a deeper meaning in her timidity.
Zi Linling looked at the woman and said, "Speak!"
"It's... it's..."
The woman stammered for a long time, but she didn't know how to speak, her eyes welling up with tears from anxiety.
Her delicate demeanor immediately aroused everyone's sympathy.
Faking weakness?
Zi Linling frowned and said, "Young lady, what exactly do you want to say?"
The woman roughly tugged at her clothes, took a deep breath, as if she had mustered great courage, and said, "President Zi, this rule is unfair!"
"Unfair?"
Zi Linling gave a cold smile and said, "Then tell me, how is it unfair?"
The woman stomped her foot coquettishly, two streaks of tears appearing at the corners of her eyes, as if she were enduring a thousand grievances. "My dear sir, I am merely speaking everyone's mind. I believe President Zi is magnanimous and will not target me, right?"
Zi Linling was amused.
At this moment, if she still couldn't see through the trick, it would be too insulting to her intelligence.
The woman before her was a perfect white lotus.
She appeared to be questioning the fairness of the rules, but in reality, she was using the crowd's tendency to sympathize with the weak to gain sympathy.
Zi Linling secretly thought, "Act! Keep acting!"
She remained outwardly calm and said, "Speak, don't waste everyone's time."
The woman lightly dabbed her eyes with her sleeve and said weakly, "President Zi, there are differences in strength among the members of each group. According to the rules of the third round, the weaker ones might advance due to the protection of the stronger ones, but what about the stronger ones? They might be dragged down by the weaker ones and thus lose their qualification for the next round of selection. Therefore, this rule is unfair!"
"Yes, yes! It is indeed so! It is indeed unfair!"
"Isn't it? If a group has one strong person and nine weak ones, then the strong person will definitely be at a disadvantage and could be eliminated at any moment!"
"Exactly! What this young lady said is right! I don't want to be held back by this trash!"
"I'm not willing to carry a bunch of weaklings to advance!"
"Agreed! Why should this trash benefit from me?"
"..."
As soon as the woman finished speaking, quite a few of the contestants on the stage began to agree.
Especially the strongest individuals in each group, their attitudes immediately became arrogant.
Zi Linling's gaze swept over the shouting strong individuals and said with a half-smile, "Do you all think so?"
"Yes!"
Since they had already revealed their cards, those people no longer hid their dissatisfaction. After all, the law does not punish the masses.
Zi Linling nodded, her piercing gaze falling on the woman. "Then, young lady, please tell me, are you strong or weak?"
The woman clearly faltered for a moment. She looked at the arrogant strong individuals and then at the downcast weaklings, and she was troubled.
"I... I..."
If she claimed to be strong, then the white lotus image she had cultivated for so long would be ruined.
After all, among more than two thousand people, there were only a few dozen strong individuals.
People do have a tendency to protect the weak, but that is based on the condition of equal social strata.
When social strata are unequal, jealousy outweighs the desire to protect.
And if she claimed to be weak, how could those strong individuals accept her?
Different social strata make integration and acceptance very difficult.
It had to be said that Zi Linling's trap was indeed quite deep.
However, someone who could feign a pitiful white lotus was no ordinary person.
The woman's mind flashed with a thought, and her voice suddenly changed from weak to coquettish.
With teary eyes, she said, "I just want to fight for a fair opportunity for everyone. I didn't deliberately draw a line between the strong and the weak. President Zi, why are you making things difficult for me?"
Turning the tables!
Even Zi Linling had to praise the woman, "Excellent!"
Indeed, the disgust on the faces of those who were relatively weaker immediately diminished.
In their eyes, although the woman had spoken carelessly and increased the difficulty of their advancement, she had merely stated facts and had not done anything wrong.
And those arrogant strong individuals, seeing the woman wronged for speaking up for them, immediately felt a protective instinct.
They eagerly extended olive branches to the woman.
"Miss, don't be upset. Come over here, I am willing to protect you to advance!"
"Miss, I am also willing. If you hadn't spoken righteously, I would have been burdened by a group of slackers!"
"Miss! Come to me, I guarantee to escort you to the final spots."
"Miss, I can too..."
"..."
Zi Linling let out a cold laugh and said to those "strong individuals," "White lotuses are indeed popular! How about this! Those who consider themselves strong and feel that their group members are holding them back, stand on the left!"
As soon as she finished speaking, those "strong individuals" stepped forward impatiently.
Zi Linling looked. There were a total of seventeen people. Apart from that woman, the cultivation of the others was in the late stage and peak Great God realm.
"Very good!"
She praised them indifferently, then turned to the remaining two thousand people and said, "Is anyone else coming forward?"
The two thousand people lowered their heads, and there was a deathly silence.
Their cultivation was uniformly in the early and mid-stage Great God realm.
Zi Linling said faintly, "Do you consider yourselves weak?" Su Dan Fiction Network
The two thousand people still lowered their heads, and no one spoke.
Zi Linling's gaze suddenly became sharp and sarcastic. "I'll ask again, do you consider yourselves weak?"
The two thousand people remained silent.
Zi Linling sneered, "Since you all consider yourselves weak, then I am very happy to congratulate you. You... have all been eliminated!"
The two thousand people looked at Zi Linling in disbelief.
Finally, one person came to his senses and angrily said, "We haven't even competed yet, how can you eliminate us?"