Chapter 1585
Chapter 1585: Section 1586 Ranking Competition
The Demonic Fiend has not yet formally threatened Originheart City, but to be on the safe side, shortly after the Round Table meeting concluded, Monroe consulted with his staff and ministers and quickly established a relevant institution.
This emerging institution is known as the Sin Hunting Group, and its members are all Demon Hunters, who are those that bear the Demonic Fiends.
The manager of the Demon Hunters, or the current leader of the Sin Hunting Group, is Sir Sabel the captain of the city guards. Since he has to become a Demon Hunter, Sir Sabel must also lead by example and undergo Fusion with a Demonic Fiend.
Originally, Frode's intention was to hand over the Serpent Tail Insect to Sir Sabel for fusion.
However, after Angel's consideration, he rejected this idea.
The Serpent Tail Insect is a speed-focused Demonic Fiend, as seen from its combination with Shalu that raised Shalu's speed to become invisible to the naked eye. But Sir Sabel is not someone who pursues speed; his combat style is like an impenetrable shield, more inclined to defense and counterattacks. If he were to bear the Serpent Tail Insect, he would have to discard his strengths and rebuild a combat system centered around speed.
That is unnecessary.
Therefore, it is best to find a Demonic Fiend for Sir Sabel to fuse with that aligns more closely with his existing abilities.
But with the multitude of Demonic Fiend abilities, each with its uses, finding the right match is not so simple.
For this reason, Angel and Frode began researching and analyzing the Demonic Fiends near the Black Mist.
After spending two more days in the Wilderness of Dreams, Angel returned to reality.
Because Sanders told him that Horus was holding a small-scale Wizards' exchange meeting that night, such meetings are not only good for networking but also allow one to spot gaps in knowledge through discussions with other wizards, which is definitely beneficial for a wizard who has just advanced.
According to Sanders' prediction, although it was not explicitly stated, this Wizards' exchange meeting hosted by Horus was probably specifically for Angel. After all, at Horus' level, there is no need to actively participate in such meetings unless there is a desire for trading something.
If Angel didn't attend, it would be akin to wasting Horus' goodwill.
It's an entirely beneficial situation with no downsides, so naturally, Angel chose to go.
That evening, at the Sky Mechanical City's Barbarian Cave consulate, Angel participated in this highly rewarding exchange session for him.
Indeed, as Sanders had guessed, the meeting revolved entirely around Angel. Angel encountered various questions in his cultivation, and answers were almost immediately available upon asking. Even if Angel did not inquire, many potential issues were proactively brought up by others.
Horus even specially talked about some core content: the foundational accumulation and knowledge sedimentation required when breaking through to become a True Knowledge Wizard, as well as how to overcome the obstacles faced after crossing the threshold.
This was obviously said with Angel in mind since although Angel had not yet become a True Knowledge Wizard, he was already one step into the realm of True Knowledge. The only reason he hadn't officially crossed over was purely because his accumulation was still insufficient.
This content, while Sanders could also inform him of, Horus elucidated from another angle, which could help broaden Angel's horizons.
Angel was the biggest winner that night.
After the exchange meeting, the wizards conducted trades of items, as well as exchanged intelligence. Some wizards even invited others to explore certain extraterritorial relics, including an invitation to Angel.
Angel was actually quite interested in exploring unknown relics; based on what they said, this relic was an ancient laboratory left by a wizard outside their domain, which might uncover something related to Alchemy–be it books, potions, or tools–offering a glimpse into the grandeur of the ancient Wizards' Realm.
However, with too many things on his plate recently, Angel pondered for a while and then declined.
After the exchange meeting ended, Angel left the Barbarian Cave consulate and stretched languidly, inadvertently catching sight of the Infinite Battle Tower in the not-so-distant main city area.
Even at night, the Infinite Battle Tower is still bustling. Against the backdrop of the night, the tower shone like neon, radiating brilliant light.
Looking at the Infinite Battle Tower, Angel thought of the current ongoing New Star Tournament.
The preliminary round of the New Star Tournament had ended, and it had entered the tournament ranking stage.
This leg of the competition is not the finals, but can be considered parallel to the semi-finals.
The ranking match only displays the top hundred; the higher the rank, the more generous the rewards provided by the Infinite Battle Tower in the end.
In this leg, there are almost no weak players left, so every match is very exciting. Many people who do not watch the preliminary or semi-finals will choose to watch the ranking match at this time. Thus, this is how the Infinite Battle Tower has been able to maintain its undiminished momentum.
Angel only needs to judge 10 matches, and he has already judged 9, leaving the last one for the final match. Therefore, he doesn't need to specifically watch any matches right now. Of course, if there is someone from Fangling Hall competing, Angel would still like to offer his support from a standpoint of friendship.
While thinking about this, Angel took out the communicator, ready to check the recent match schedule to see if there are any familiar names.
However, he found none.
With confusion, Angel looked through the previous messages sent by the evaluators of the Infinite Battle Tower to understand what had happened.
The rules of the current ranking match have changed. The Infinite Battle Tower will assign an initial ranking to each contestant through the evaluators, based on their performance in past matches. The top hundred contestants have one chance to challenge someone with a higher rank, and if they win, they gain another opportunity to challenge. But if they lose, they can no longer challenge upward and must hold their current rank and accept challenges from others.
The top sixteen do not participate in this ranking match.
Because those ranked among the top sixteen have officially won the semi-finals and will compete for the championship in this New Star Tournament.
Contestants ranked from the sixteenth to the hundredth are the main force of the ranking match.
That is the general rule. There are also many detailed rules, such as to prevent various cheating behaviors, there are specific divisions for the number of challenges each person can accept, and regulations when multiple people challenge the same person. Also, there will be evaluators assessing any cheating cases.
Because of this mechanism, there's greater unpredictability; each contestant has only one initial challenge opportunity and will be more cautious in selecting their opponent. Therefore, it's basically hard to find out who will challenge whom, let alone know the specifics of the matches.
Only by watching the Infinite Battle Tower's light screen continuously can one get the firsthand news.
Of course, there are information dealers, but Angel can't find one selling this information right now.
Angel thought for a while and decided to go to Fangling Hall to take a look. Since the competition format has become like this, and it is unknown who is competing against whom, it's better to go ask them directly.
Besides, it has been a long time since Angel had visited Fangling Hall.
On his way to Champagne Road, Angel also took the opportunity to study the current ranking. Although he does not know the challenge situation of the contestants at the moment, the fluctuations in ranking are very clear.
The rankings only show the top hundred; the first name Angel spotted was Serum.
Although Serum failed in the semi-final and did not advance to the final, the ranking match does not impose restrictions, so he can still participate.
Because Serum demonstrated astonishing power in his match against Xiliu, the judges gave him a very high initial ranking of 31st.
However, since entering the ranking match, Serum's rank has been falling, indicating that many contestants have challenged him.
Clearly, Black Classic has not recovered yet, so naturally, Serum's individual strength does not measure up to others.
If it weren't for the challenge restrictions, Serum would probably have fallen outside the top hundred. But due to the existence of these restrictions, coupled with only two days left until the ranking match ends, Serum should still be able to steady himself around the 60th rank.
Nausicaa is ranked 98th; she failed in moving up through a challenge but has not yet been challenged by others, so her rank is estimated to stay at 98.
David is not in the rankings, after all, since he met Kavoline in the second match of the semi-final and is doomed to spend ten years in company with Jack Su.
As for Shan, she did not even make it into the semi-finals, so there is no chance for her to have a rank.
The highest ranked from Fangling Hall is Xiliu. She is ranked fifteenth, a finalist; the ranking match does not concern her.