"Why... why me??" Thought Jun.
Of all the people this person decided to approach, he chose the two hooded masked people with unknown intentions.
Could he be just plain arrogant or stupid? Maybe by asking him a few questions he can find out. But he has to be careful If this guy's character is bad...
Adjusting his cloak a bit "So... you new to this area"
Li Chen hearing this brightened "Actually yes, I come from the next state over and heard of this event which sounded fun"
Clue number one, this guy didn't mention any prize whatsoever, so he is either a fighting maniac or part of what he said is true.
"Oh really... so you came all alone here. Aren't you worried you could be killed coming alone"
Thinking a bit, he answered "A little, but I can hide well, what about you? I'm guessing you came here for the prize"
"You could say that" In reality, he didn't even know this event was happening today.
Chatting a bit more, he concluded that this guy is not stupid, on the contrary, he is quite smart but a little too trusting. If the system hadn't exposed him, he might have never noticed he was lying.
Soon their turn arrived and they boarded the elevator and went underground.
As they were going underground, he saw this Li Chen guy kept staring at him without a care in the world.
"Cough... I know we agreed you could stick with us but could you not stare at me"
Realizing what happened, the blood rushed to his face "Hehe... I kind of spaced out there thinking of something, don't mind me"
Jun seeing this began feeling paranoid. Has he been exposed? Is this guy thinking of ways to covet his body at night??
While he was busy being paranoid, they quickly reached an underground area which left him stunned, the area here is huge! Bigger than any modern city layout.
Right smack in the middle is an enormous platform. Surrounding it are the spectator seats already filled to the brim, sort of like a giant version of a gladiator arena.
Looking at Li Che- what the hell?? You're equally surprised? Aren't you supposed to be a big shot disdaining such a small area??
On Yinling's end, she was equally surprised as well, this was her first time going out to explore the world, and seeing such a huge structure left her in awe.
Once the elevator touched ground they saw an enormous crowd of competitors. Some looked rugged and beastly-like, others seemed of noble origins while others... let's just say they are trying their best.
As they were approaching the crowd a person came up to them.
"Excuse me but masks are not allowed anymore"
Hearing this random passerby say this made his heart drop "You talking to me right" said Jun while pointing to himself.
The worker hearing Jun's voice subconsciously took a step back and hesitated on whether he wanted her to take off her mask but rules are rules.
In an angry tone, he spoke "Who else would I be speaking to, now hurry up and take them off"
In one last ditch effort he spoke in a menacing voice "Do you know who I am? Are you sure you can handle the action of your consequences"
"Shut up! We've already had plenty of people do the same thing as you, take it off or I will report you to the city lord himself"
"It's over" Screamed Jun internally.
Once this Li Chen or anyone sees his face they will stick to him like flies. No wonder he didn't see anyone with masks once underground.
What about them being afraid to offend any hidden monsters??? They clearly don't give a shit anymore.
What about Yinling, he will have to protect her from any beasts.
Looking at Yinling, they both sighed in defeat and slowly took off their masks.
Feeling the light once again touch his face felt nice. Looking around, no one seemed to notice which is good. For a second there, he almost thought that-
"OH MY GOD" Came the sound of someone's shock. Turning slowly around he saw who it was.
"Li Chen... this bastard" cursed Jun in his head.
Quickly everyone in the vicinity noticed two beautiful women who could topple nations, in cloaks.
"MY EYES!! MY EYES HAVE BEEN BLESSED"
"Who are these two jade beauties"
"Get me their contact info stat"
Hearing all the cries of horny men and even some women made him feel anxious. In such an unknown situation, everything seemed to be spiraling out of control.
Turning on his epiphany phase, he quickly realized the most optimal solution to get rid of everyone's attention.
Quickly grabbing Yinling, they went together near Li Cheng, hid behind his back and Jun spoke loudly in his normal female voice.
"Giaaaaaah!! Master please save us, well serve you well tonight if you do"
Although it hurt his heart and pride to say such a thing, it was the only way to divert the attention to someone else.
The crowd upon hearing this soon couldn't hold it together
"So he's the brat that dares covet our new goddesses!" said one person while cracking his knuckles.
"He dares lay his filthy claws on the women I Ye Chen want"
"Bark bark bark" One person couldn't even speak words.
Just as they were ready to pummel him to death, the giant hologram of the city lord appeared again.
"Hahaha I've kept you waiting long enough, I will announce the rules now"
Seeing the city lord, everyone quickly behaved themselves.
"For starters, I'll make this competition different than what you are all used to, Instead of a one-on-one that will be long and boring, I have decided to do a 50,000-player free for all"
The crowd instantly went silent, even a pin needle could be heard in the silence that rained over the crowd.
Jun on the other hand couldn't even speak a word out of what he just heard.
"F... F... fifty"
Hearing the silence, the city lord roared in laughter once again.
"Hahahahaha you should look at yourselves it's priceless" And continued on laughing for a minute.
Finally calming down he continued "Ahem... don't worry everyone, if you are destined to win this competition, you shouldn't worry too much but if not, I will send my condolences to your family"
"..."
"As for who gets to win, only the last 5 standing are eligible to win"
"To get you motivated, here are the prices, 5th place wins a 6th-grade healing pill"
Seeing this, there were a lot of audible gasps within the crowd since even just 5th Rank pills are extremely precious.
"In 4th place, you win 10,000 high-grade spirit stones"
"IMPOSSIBLE!! HOW CAN SUCH A RUNDOWN PLACE LIKE THIS HAVE ACCESS TO 10,000 HIGH GRADE SPIRIT STONES" Screamed a random noble youth but was quickly blasted into a blood mist.
Seeing this, no one dared to speak out of line like that.
"In third place, we have a heaven-level top sword known as HellSlaying Knight"
"In second place, you can become an inner disciple of Sky Palace"
Jun upon hearing this widened his eyes, the same with Yinling. Could this be the reason for such amazing prices and them not caring who they offend. Could this be the chance they have been looking for??
If so, it all makes sense now, looking Li Chen still looking without a care, he knew the people behind him were the reason for the sudden change of events.
"Sky Palace!!!" Screamed a youth.
"Can we really become part of Sky Palace??"
"But.. but how is he able to decide that"
Upon hearing everyone's shock and doubts, the city lord knew this would happen.
"Hahaha don't worry everyone, do you think I'm capable of deciding this? Someone from Sky Palace has personally come and told me it's possible"
"On top of that, if any of you sorry bunch manages to win first place, you get the great chance to become a core disciple"
"What!! A Core Disciple!! Just a mere outer disciple of Sky Palace can shake the foundation of a state"
Basking in the glory and wails of the crowd, the city lord smiled for his next announcement.
"Of course with great rewards come great risk, so I now declare the 50,000 free-for-all all match begins NOW!!"
With that, the city lord quickly disappeared leaving a confused crowd. They haven't even gotten on the platform.
Suddenly without warning, everyone's cultivation who surpassed the core formation realm dropped back to the peak of Core Formation.
Others quickly discovered they weren't able to fly anymore which quickly led to panic.
Soon a horrified scream was heard, Jun being close to it saw a person having their heart ripped clean off their body.
With this, it signified the game from hell have begun.