The group stage progressed very quickly. In just six hours, the list of the top 128 contestants was decided. The reason was simple. In many maps, the seeded contestants were able to advance by fighting one against three. In particular, the performances of several contestants could be said to be classic. Lei Jingtian, Jun Ling, Eisendale, and Ling Xingqi were all killed in one move. Their popularity also skyrocketed.
No.10: Apocalypse – Bai Yu, 360 million points.
No.09: Bing Yi – Lu Qing, 370 million points.
No.08: Dream of Immortal Travel, 380 million points.
No.07: Long Feiyang, 400 million points.
No.06: Bing Yi – Dai Yi, 620 million points.
No.05: Rainbow – Eisendale, 650 million points.
No.04: Beidou – Ji Chenyu, 690 million points.
No.03: Kneel before me, 700 million points.
No.02: Xing Hong – Ling Xingqi, 900 million points.
No.01: Lei Jingtian, 1.2 billion points.
Ding Meng's eyelids drooped. The tenth contestant had 360 million points. It was really embarrassing that he hadn't broken through 50 million points yet.
Dai Yi and Lu Qing looked at each other and smiled. They knew that Ding Meng didn't have enough exposure and couldn't increase his popularity.
"It's mainly because you haven't met any strong opponents, so it's normal for your popularity to be low," Dai Yi comforted him.
Lu Qing explained, "The next round is the top 64. If you meet a seeded contestant, it'll be different."
As soon as she said that, the screen in the center of the stage lit up with the words for the next round. "Crazy Explosion VS Agile."
"Agile?"
Dai Yi frowned. "I've seen this person before in Extreme Speed Advance. She's an ice type origin ability user. I remember now. She's the 22nd seeded contestant."
Ding Meng opened the system panel. The information for Agile was also empty. It only showed that she had 68 million points of popularity. In this situation, either she wasn't famous, or she was low-key like Ding Meng. However, as a seeded contestant, Ding Meng definitely wouldn't underestimate her.
The white light of teleportation quickly rose. The live broadcast room immediately became lively again.
"Boss is here, boss is here!"
"Boss, I just ate a bowl of noodles that you endorsed. The taste was invincible."
"Look at your taste. I just bought a set of Beautiful Shadow endorsed by Boss. There are so many styles."
"The girl above?
Private chat! "
"Idiot, she's a transvestite. She was just exposed."
"F * ck, how do you differentiate between the genders?
I don't see such a function. "
"Let's not talk about it. 233333!"
Ding Meng did not have time to interact with his fans, as he was observing the map. He now had a certain level of understanding of the map designer's thinking. Every match's map was different, and it would be based on the evaluation of the strength of the players on paper, so that both sides could make use of their strengths as much as possible.
At this moment, the map was dark, surrounded by a vast wilderness. It looked like a barren rocky mountain terrain. In the middle of the wilderness was a huge mountain range. This mountain range was not high, and the slope was relatively gentle. However, at the peak of the mountain range, there was a towering mountain. The two players were standing on the flat ground of this mountain.
As far as the eye could see, the wilderness was vast and empty. It gave people the feeling that they were in some unknown corner of the world. Ding Meng felt that the scene in front of him was somewhat familiar.
The opponent called Ling Min had also appeared. She had a pretty face, long hair, and was dressed in a robe similar to the one in Dream Return. However, it was not white, but black. Under the dark night, it looked even more strange. However, her expression was arrogant, and her temperament was dignified. Presumably, her real identity was a big shot who gave orders.
The distance between the two of them was still quite far, roughly 400 meters away. Ding Meng immediately understood this point. The other party was an ice element origin ability user, so the teleportation point wouldn't teleport them too close to each other.
Ling Min obviously did not take Ding Meng seriously. She glanced at him contemptuously. "Not bad!"
Ding Meng smiled. "You're not bad either."
He had already sensed that this Ling Min was a pure ice element Origin Ability user.
At this moment, the night sky began to drizzle. It was the kind of bone-chilling drizzle. It was obvious that the map favored Ling Min.
"Come, I'll give you a chance!" Ling Min said indifferently.
Ding Meng frowned. Where did you get the confidence to give me a chance?
Even though he said this, Ding Meng still slowly walked forward. He stopped a hundred meters away from Ling Min. Looking at Ling Min's expression, it seemed that she had no intention of making the first move.
Since you're not going to make a move, I'll test your limits. Ding Meng suddenly swept out with his foot, and a saber-shaped Origin Energy mirror image immediately shot out from the bottom of his shoe.
This was not an external release of Origin Energy, but rather the Blazing Sun Battle Mark. Ding Meng's Blazing Sun Battle Mark was much more advanced than Crazy Scooter's martial arts. It looked like a saber, but in reality, it burst forth with a dazzling bluish-purple Origin Energy as it flew through the air. Under the cold rain in the dark night, it looked like a halo of fog. Even someone who didn't know much about it could tell that it was no small matter.
The fans immediately quieted down. They saw Ling Min stretch out two slender fingers and casually clamp down on the saber. Then, the saber vaporized.
Ding Meng was a little surprised. Ling Min wasn't weak at all.
Ling Min sneered, "If you think that you can beat me with this little bit of energy, then you're wrong."
Suddenly, Ding Meng felt a bone-deep chill. The temperature of the air around him was rapidly dropping. The raindrops drifting down from the night sky hit his face like needles.
Not good!
This was the Frigid Winter Ice Dust Storm!
Ding Meng reacted. Ling Min had asked him to come closer so that he would enter her attack range.
"Whoosh — whoosh — whoosh —"
The originally dense cold rain was now changing like the waves of the sea.
With a wave of her hand, large patches of raindrops turned into snow particles. Under the control of her hand gestures, the snow particles formed a soft and tough snow-white curtain of ice, encircling them from all directions.
Ding Meng didn't move. This level of coverage was even more exaggerated than the Wall of Holy Brilliance. There was no way he could dodge.
"Peng — peng — peng —"
One after another, the ice curtains swept across Ding Meng's body. In the eyes of the audience, it was like a white and soft veil covering his body. However, in the eyes of the experts, this was an extremely cold ice energy being injected into Ding Meng's body.
Liang Yiran, who was in front of the screen, was speechless. "I know that Ding Meng can take it, but what's the meaning of not fighting back after taking twelve ice curtains?"
Lan Bing said in a low voice, "He must have his reasons."
Ling Min waved her hand for a while and finally stopped. Ding Meng's body was already covered in a layer of ice.
"Oh no, boss won't freeze to death, right?" The fans were discussing.
Ding Meng definitely wouldn't be frozen to death by such a small trick. He secretly activated his first three origin points, and the ice on his body gradually dissipated into white gas.
This time, it was Ling Min's turn to be surprised. This crazy man wasn't a Battle-Saint, but a Battle-God.
"Interesting!" Ling Min smiled softly.
"Come on, I'll give you a chance too!" Ding Meng said expressionlessly. "Show me what you've got!"
"How dare you!" Ling Min's expression turned cold. "How dare you speak so rudely in front of me!"
Ding Meng sneered disdainfully. "What's there to be afraid of? With this level of skill, I can't even be bothered to come over and beat you up."
Lingmin didn't say anything. It could be seen that she was angry. At this moment, a magnificent scene appeared. A layer of light blue waves appeared on the ground. The waves surged and rolled, and the ground was frozen with a "kacha kacha" sound. The ice layer was spreading at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Not only was the top of the mountain frozen, but the entire mountain was frozen. The huge mountain range turned into a snow-white iceberg in just fifteen seconds.
Seeing this scene, Lan Bing was so shocked that she immediately stood up from her chair.
Liang Yiran was curious. "What's going on?"
Lan Bing stared at the screen. "Her name isn't Ling Min!"
Liang Yiran was even more curious. "You know her?"
Lan Bing nodded affirmatively. "Her name is Fang Lin. She's an expert from the Starbow Group!"
Back on Thousand Sails Star, the scene in front of her was exactly the same as it was now. Fang Lin's Art of Freezing Hell had left a deep impression on Lan Bing. Because she was an ice-type Origin Ability user, she knew how powerful this technique was.
It was no wonder that Ding Meng felt this place was familiar as soon as he entered the map. This was clearly the border of the Devouring World. The Ling Min in front of him was the arrogant Fang Lin from back then. No one else could use this technique.
Just like before, the top of the mountain had turned into a mountain of ice. The surrounding ground was completely frozen, and the snow particles in the air were condensed. Even the wind was frozen. This was a "dead" world.
Fang Lin spread out her hands and kept changing her hand gestures. Large amounts of white mist and ice energy kept pouring down from the night sky. It was as if transparent streams of water had formed a sphere on the ground. This sphere just happened to completely trap Ding Meng.
The fans hadn't experienced that battle. When they saw this scene, they couldn't help but gasp in amazement.
"My God, I finally saw a real expert today."
"Hey, f * ck, f * ck, I want to go home."
"This is too f * cking scary. Her ice-type origin energy has been cultivated to this level!"
"Ah, ah, ah, ah!"
"Boss, 23333!"
Fang Lin opened her palms and slowly closed them again. The surface of the ice sphere emitted a seven-colored light, and its size was slowly shrinking. It was no different from the process of the previous battle. She wanted to squeeze Ding Meng to death!
Suddenly, her hand bounced back as if it had been electrocuted. She didn't seem to have complete control of the ice energy. Instead, she held a cactus.
At this time, she finally showed a look of horror. Ding Meng was standing there perfectly fine. There was no ice layer on his body, nor was there any heat source flame. This ice formation couldn't do anything to him.
In the VIP room, Leng Yeqiu and the others stood up in shock. "This is impossible. No one can break Aunt Fang's Art of Freezing Hell."
Ling Xingqi was very calm. "Someone can break it."
"Who?" Leng Yeqiu and Dong Yihan asked at the same time.
Ling Xingqi turned to look at the sofa behind her. "You should explain it to them!"
Sitting on the sofa was a well-dressed and pampered woman. This person was Ling Xingwen. Her face was very gloomy. "Someone has indeed broken Aunt Fang's Art of Freezing Hell."
"Who is he?" Leng Yeqiu couldn't help but ask.
Ling Xingwen gritted her teeth. "Ding Meng!"
"Hiss." Leng Yeqiu and Dong Yihan sucked in a cold breath at the same time.
In their circle, Ding Meng's name was simply too resounding. She was a rising star who was like the sun in the sky, and also the sworn enemy of the Starbow Corporation.
"If this Crazy Explosion is really Ding Meng, then Aunt Fang is in big trouble this time!" Leng Yeqiu analyzed.
"No!"
Ling Xingwen decisively rejected. "Even if this Crazy Explosion is really Ding Meng, the person who will fall this time will be him!"