The venue became increasingly crowded as the start of the competition drew nearer.
"Hello everyone, and welcome to the [Tian Ya Hall]. I am your host today, Guan Ning. I now declare that this Hero Competition officially begins!"
As Guan Ning's voice faded, countless brilliant fireworks soared into the sky, forming a magnificent flower shape before exploding in dazzling light.
In the center of the plaza, a massive stone ancient gate appeared. After a flash of light, the entire gate transformed into a shimmering portal.
"The competition space this time is a bit peculiar. Inside, there will be random refresh pools of beneficial light beams and also detrimental light beams. Which light beams are beneficial and which are detrimental will depend on each hero's discernment abilities."
"To save everyone time after entering the competition space, the time ratio inside will be half that of the outside world."
"For every hour that passes outside, two hours will pass inside the competition space. Furthermore, every two hours within the competition space, crises will emerge. The specific nature of these crises will be revealed at that time."
"All heroes, please prepare yourselves. You may now enter the teleportation channel. I believe everyone is eagerly anticipating what kind of battles await!"
After Guan Ning's brief introduction, all the heroes transformed into beams of light and flew towards the stone gate.
Competition spaces are generally like this. To conclude battles in the shortest possible time, some spaces even adopt a tenfold time flow rate.
However, such speed is akin to watching a movie at tenfold speed for many spectators. While the strong are unaffected, the weak would see nothing at all.
A spatial ratio within a few times is considered normal. A twofold time flow rate is the optimal effect, reducing both combat and viewing time.
With so many heroes participating, crises will naturally appear to randomly eliminate less powerful heroes in order to quickly determine a victor.
Who gets eliminated will be purely a matter of luck.
Once all participating heroes had been teleported through the gate, the screen in the center of the plaza finally displayed the scene within the competition space.
It was a floating island terrain, with numerous islands suspended in the sky. Each hero was dispersed across these islands.
"I didn't expect the combat environment to be like this. It's quite interesting."
"There are quite a few heroes on each floating island. It looks like a great battle will erupt right from the start."
"There are quite a number of participating heroes this time. That's the Angel race, this is the Demon race, and then there are the Monster race, Elves, and the Siren race..."
"I'm really looking forward to the battles between these heroes. I hope it's an exciting and thrilling showdown."
Each spectator had a small screen in front of them, displaying numerous numbers. By clicking on a number, they could view the corresponding hero's screen.
The main plaza screen displayed ten simultaneous views, selected based on the most-watched heroes by the audience.
Ye Bufan looked at Zhou Yan and asked, "What is your hero's number?"
"Number 33505," Zhou Yan replied.
Ye Bufan began to input the number and clicked. The screen immediately displayed the live broadcast of An Tian.
"33505, isn't that the last number? There are a total of thirty-three thousand five hundred and five participating lords. That's quite a lot!"
Niu Ren also entered Zhou Yan's given number and saw a hero clad in black armor, looking valiant and imposing, exuding an arrogant aura and a powerful presence.
Zhou Yan also opened An Tian's live broadcast screen and began to watch.
An Tian was currently in a certain location among the myriad floating islands. A golden palace stood atop one of them, and An Tian was at the very top, surveying his surroundings.
There were four or five other structures around this floating island, with a hero on each.
"Is your hero from the Human race?" Ye Bufan asked.
"Not Human, but Dragon race," Zhou Yan replied.
"Dragon race, and in their human form. It seems this An Tian is no ordinary individual, as there's no trace of his draconic form at all."
Ye Bufan observed An Tian closely, finding no hint of his dragonic appearance.
"A powerful Dragon race member, with pure bloodline? Dragon race powerhouses seem rare on Lord Continent. You managed to recruit such a hero; you have great luck."
Upon hearing this, Niu Ren also examined An Tian carefully, eager to see what surprises this Dragon race powerhouse would bring.
"His bloodline is alright. With his current combat power, he can more than handle a demigod," Zhou Yan replied casually.
Ye Bufan and Niu Ren were astonished. They exchanged glances, not believing Zhou Yan was joking. Zhou Yan had no reason to joke or lie.
An Tian's cultivation realm was only at the ninety-third heaven, yet he could contend with demigod-level powerhouses. His combat capability was incredibly formidable.
Indeed, he was a prodigy among prodigies.
Ye Bufan and Niu Ren grew even more curious about An Tian's combat prowess and began to anticipate the start of the battle.
With over thirty thousand heroes participating, could An Tian stand out and become the ultimate victor?
They both eagerly awaited the outcome.
"Combat begins!"
As a voice echoed throughout the entire combat space, the restrictive powers on all heroes vanished completely, allowing them to act freely.
With the freedom to act, An Tian took the initiative. His equipment was a set of dark-attribute spiritual artifacts, capable of increasing his combat power severalfold.
An Tian produced a pair of gauntlets, emitting a shocking wave of energy. Ye Bufan immediately exclaimed, "That's the energy fluctuation of a Sacred Artifact!"
"Correct, it is indeed a Sacred Artifact," Zhou Yan confirmed.
"Sacred Artifact gauntlets, paired with a complete set of spiritual artifact armor, plus the natural racial bonuses of the Dragon race. This combat power is truly heaven-defying," Niu Ren also expressed satisfaction with An Tian's strength, believing he had a greater chance of winning the championship with such power.
"Your hero is quite impatient, taking the offensive right away."
Ye Bufan watched as An Tian produced the Sacred Artifact, becoming a black blur. As a dark energy-attributed Dragon race member, his movement skills were exceptionally fast. He immediately appeared above one of the strong opponents.
"Whoosh!"
An Tian, wielding the Sacred Artifact, unleashed a surge of powerful dark energy. He swung the entire Sacred Artifact, forming a massive fist of darkness that tore through the sky, a dozens-of-meters-large energy projectile attacking the opponent below.
"Not good, it's a Sacred Artifact!" The opponent, sensing the Sacred Artifact's aura from An Tian's gauntlets, dared not be careless and quickly brought out a treasure to defend himself.
"Boom!"
Unfortunately, the treasure could not withstand An Tian's attack. It was directly shattered by the fist, and the terrifying energy vaporized the opponent. An Tian had eliminated a hero with a single blow.