Nine Star Burden

Chapter 271: Competition Begins

In this world, some people stood on a stage where they were the center of attention and fought for their hometown, earning themselves glory. Meanwhile, some stood amongst the audience and cheered for them.

During the High School stage, Jiang Xiao and his team represented Beijiang Province. They participated in the National High School League, regarded as the pinnacle of high school students.

Representing a province in the competition? That was outstanding enough.

However, some people took a different path and thrived just as well in another field.

For example, the live-stream host, Miss Su Rou.

Most of the students still didn’t know where they would go after graduation, but Su Rou had already carved out a path for herself.

Of course, success didn’t come easy for anyone.

At 6 am, “Pork Bun” Su Rou had already begun her live-stream in Beijiang City. Under the urging of her fans who were still curled up under their duvets in bed, Su Rou finished four appetizers and two tiers of buns. She then returned home.

Although the national college entrance examination was around the corner, Su Rou still applied for leave nonetheless. In fact, many Awakened students also did the same. The authorities of the school may have approved of their requests, but the students were not allowed to go on break altogether.

The National High School League was held annually, and it was undoubtedly the top competition for Chinese high school students. Although Su Rou was too incompetent to compete in it, she wanted to seize the opportunity to watch it with her fans.

At this moment, Su Rou already had more than four million followers. Although she couldn’t compare to the top hosts of the live-stream media platform, she was already a top-tier host.

Su Rou was excellent at circumventing some problems. She dared to broadcast the semi-finals on her live-stream, but not the preliminary rounds.

Why?

Because the students would be going against creatures of other dimensions in the preliminary rounds, hence, they would inevitably involve blood, violence, killing, death, and other factors. Although it was a regular and official competition, she may be blocked by the platform if she were to broadcast it.

The preliminary round of the National High School League was not broadcast on national public channels but was available for view on paid channels.

Although Su Rou watched the paid live broadcast at home on her computer, she did not broadcast it in her live-stream.

At this moment, the name of her live-stream room was “Watching The Competition With You.”

How was it possible to watch the competition after entering her live-stream?

They could only see the girly wallpaper of her computer and the small window of her sitting at home in the lower right corner of the screen of her live-stream.

When the camera was aimed at the young man with a giant sword in his hand amidst the crowd, Su Rou exclaimed agitatedly, “Wow, Xiaopi has appeared! His stance and the way he carries the sword is so cool. He looks just like Xia Yan. The two of them are so compatible with each other...”

All of a sudden, numerous question marks appeared on the screen.

“???”

“Where’s my toxic healer king? Your fan is here!”

“It’s been such a long time. The news, newspapers, and media platforms of the province have been promoting and rallying for you guys every day, claiming this year’s team to be the most promising. God Pi, please don’t fumble the ball.”

“Why don’t I see my Brother-in-law? I’m a fan!”

“God Pi! Go! I’m a ‘daddy’ fan, and I’m here to report!”

“It’s begun, it’s begun. God Pi and Goddess Yan are going to slash others~”

“Swindler-host, it’s time to pay attention.”

“All I see are pop-up messages, where’s the scene? Penguin Media[1] should do something about this.”

“Cut the crap. You can just pay for the live broadcast on the paid channels. This live-stream is meant for chatting...”

At the same time, in a military barracks on the outskirts of Chang’an City.

Jiang Xiao and the rest put on the soft headbands, adjusted the position of the miniature camera on the headbands, and proceeded to put on the earphones.

Jiang Xiao took the Fallen Shadow Witch Star Bead from Han Jiangxue and stowed it away in his pocket. Carrying the large military backpack and his giant sword, he was good to go.

In fact, for some teams, being able to persist for 72 hours and getting out alive was already considered a good result.

“Attention, all members. Enter the arena!” As the command sounded from the stage, the staff in front of each team strode forward.

Jiang Xiao and his teammates hurried forward and turned around, only to see that Hai Tianqing was standing still and continuously waving at everyone with a benevolent expression on his face. He seemed unable to bear to let them go...

Why don’t... we forget about earning ourselves honor and stop thinking about making a name for ourselves and going to the faraway place to fight?

Let’s turn back and go home. I’ll stay by her side, look for a regular job, and spend the rest of my life in peace. Isn’t that good?

Hmm...

At this moment, Jiang Xiao turned into an actor and frantically gave himself more scenes!

If he could read Hai Tianqing’s mind, he would be able to see the words “You have 72 hours! You must hang in there!”

The 200 participating teams moved quickly in an orderly manner. Under the leadership of the staff, they lined up to enter the Ancient Imperial Mausoleum.

As soon as he entered the special Dimensional Space, Jiang Xiao instantly felt that it was gloomy and damp.

The air was filled with a musty odor that was mixed with the pungent stench of decomposition. Besides, it was also mixed with a faint smell of blood that was nauseating.

Just like on the eve of Lunar New Year when he strayed into the Dimensional Space of the hideous stone monsters, Jiang Xiao once again felt like he was entering the territory of an intelligent population.

Why?

Because the Dimensional Space this time was a massive Ancient Imperial Mausoleum and not an ordinary small tomb!

How large was it? It could easily fit a thousand people in front of the supply point.

Jiang Xiao looked at the walls made of a special dark-colored stone, on which there were some peculiar lines and patterns. He couldn’t help but think that it was a product left behind by sentient creatures.

Perhaps because they wanted to adapt to the environment, the supply point defended by the guardians was also made of dark-colored stone with patterns and was surrounded by torches that gave off cackling sounds.

Jiang Xiao fumbled about his military backpack and found the flashlight that had a high beam, after which he shone it around and managed to catch a glimpse of the wall on the right. There was a row of torches inserted on the wall, and the flickering flames lit up the dark Ancient Imperial Mausoleum.

The left side and the top were pitch dark, making it difficult to imagine how spacious it was inside.

Jiang Xiao aimed the flashlight at the top and vaguely saw the top of the tomb. Everyone was on the first floor of the mausoleum, and it was stated clearly according to the rules that they were free to move about on the first eighteen floors. If they were to go beyond, they would be made to withdraw from the competition.

Otherwise, Jiang Xiao would really want to go to the top to uncover the tiles and look at the scene outside the mausoleum.

The trainees had different expressions. Some were amazed and some were terrified. At this moment, the middle-aged man clad in a suit and leather shoes appeared again and yelled, “The competition has officially begun! Those still around the supply point after 300 seconds will be considered to have asked for one count of aid.”

The contestants immediately became agitated again and quickly dispersed. They seemed to flee for their lives.

“Where should we go?” Xia Yan asked. According to the current situation, there were people everywhere, and no one could distinguish between the North, South, East, and West. No one knew which side was dangerous and where the Ancient Warriors were.

Almost all 800 of the participants were there for the first time, and they were running around like headless flies.

Han Jiangxue tilted her head slightly and gestured at the flames shining at a distance. “Let’s stay against the wall.”

The Ancient Imperial Mausoleum was a Dimensional Space unique to Chang’an City, and there was some information about the creatures and terrain on the Internet, though it was not comprehensive.

At this time, everyone in the team had no idea what the terrain was like. Walking against the wall might be silly, but it was definitely better than wandering around aimlessly.

Even until now, no one dared to stand up and declare that the Ancient Imperial Mausoleum contained only the creatures announced by the officials.

After all, no one had dared to go to the bottom of the Ancient Imperial Mausoleum... The officials did not announce how many floors there were, but they were certain that they hadn’t reached the bottom.

In other words, the government had never seen the “Holy Ground” of the Ancient Imperial Mausoleum at all.

To put it another way, the Wasteland Reclaimers had been conducting wasteland reclamation on the lower floors, and the Guardians Of The Night were also getting stationed.

Every time the Wasteland Reclaimers reclaimed a floor, they would build a supply point for humans at the staircase. Although they had yet to explore the bottom layer, it was enough for them to compete within the 18 layers.

If one could reach the eighth floor, they would be considered the best contestants of this cohort.

Jiang Xiao’s team of four was still looking at the faint light from the fire. Having walked for more than a hundred meters, they finally arrived at the wall on the right. Had they gone towards the left wall, it would probably have been further.

“Xiaopi, come down.” His movements slightly startled Han Jiangxue. You’ve just arrived, and yet you’re already destroying public property? What if you get punished?

Jiang Xiao suddenly kicked the wall twice and leaped up, after which he stretched horizontally in the air and pulled a large torch down.

There’s still a row of massive torches on the wall, and yet, you’re grabbing it...

Wonk! Wonk! Wonk! As soon as Jiang Xiao grabbed the torch and switched off his bright flashlight, he heard the faint sounds of the alarm.

Everyone panicked and thought that it was all over!

Jiang Xiao was also dumbfounded, and he thought, Seriously?

“Team No.3, Area A3! Area A3, paging for aid! Team No.3, Area A3!” a man yelled suddenly, and his voice could be heard coming from the earphones.

“Wrong channel! This is the student channel! You should be tuning in to the guardians’ channel!” exclaimed another voice, after which there was no longer any sound coming from their earphones.

The four of them looked at each other and thought, So fast?

Did it even take up three minutes?

That’s not the point. The important thing is, they actually ran into the Ancient Warriors so soon? How close are they to the human supply points?

This is only the first floor, where security is the tightest. Yet, there are already so many monsters?

Just as everyone was deep in thought, other anxious voices came from behind again.

Among the 200 teams, very few teams had the same idea as Jiang Xiao’s. Many people were after the wall that was covered in flame torches.

If the direction that Jiang Xiao was facing counted as the “front,” chaos had already broken out at the back.

“Damn it! Ugh!”

From a distance, sounds of someone cursing angrily in a heavy, local accent could be heard, accompanied by the roar of a scarlet dragon flaunting its teeth and claws, completely lighting up the dark Ancient Imperial Mausoleum.

[1] A live-stream platform in China.