CH 144

While the viewers were enthusiastically discussing the rules of the competition, An Yan was also discussing the matter with Cheng Yi.

After pondering for a while, An Yan said, "The rules of this round tell us that the contestants must defend and attack using their spiritual power. They will be eliminated if they run out of spiritual power or come into contact with other people's spiritual power in the process, right? "

Many people would first think that they must first form a mecha through their spiritual power. However, the rules do not explicitly state that this is the case.

They only say that the contestants will not be provided with mecha or attack methods and that the criteria for elimination will be determined by the contestants themselves. It is up to the contestants to decide how they will use their spiritual powers to persevere to the end.

Of course, it is possible that the competition organizers deliberately set this trap in the rules to confuse the contestants.

Cheng Yi nodded, "Yes, so this round is not only a test of the mecha warrior's ability to control his spiritual power, but also a test of the pharmacist's ability to make potions."

The task of turning spiritual power into a tool to protect oneself and attack one's opponent is obviously up to the mecha warrior. However, without sufficient spiritual power, it would be difficult for the mecha warrior to last until the end, even if he is able to control it masterfully.

There is no time limit and it will only end when 100 people are left on the field.

The pharmacist's cooperation is equally important under such circumstances. They can be guaranteed to last until the end of the match if the pharmacist can recover the mecha warrior’s spiritual energy in time.

An Yan clenched his fist and said, "Let's work hard!"

Cheng Yi hooked his lips and took hold of his little fist: "Okay."

The ten minute preparation time passed quickly, and the contestants were sent into the competition map, this time not in their mechas, but as individuals moving around the huge map.

The contestants were used to piloting mechas in competitions, and they felt that this was undoubtedly a novel way to compete. But it also gave them a sense of insecurity as the solid barrier around them made them feel like they could face danger at any time.

An Yan also felt very novel. The maps for the Academy' mecha competitions were often built for mecha battles. It made one feel very small now that they were out of their mechas.

The trees around them were so tall that one could barely see the tops of them.

But now was not the time to admire the scenery. An Yan turned to Cheng Yi after scanning around and said, "Let's set up the defensive layer first."

"Okay." Cheng Yi nodded. They immediately placed a layer of spiritual defence around their bodies. Probably because this map had been specially set up, there was a faint fog surrounding them after the spiritual defense layer was placed. Although it was not clear, it was noticeable.

An Yan found it interesting and poked at Cheng Yi's spiritual defence layer. He exclaimed, "I can actually touch it!"

Cheng Yi smiled wickedly, "You haven't touched it yet. But if you want to touch it, I can remove the defense layer first."

An Yan's face instantly turned red. "No need! And even if you take off the defensive layer, you still have your clothes on. "

"So what Yan Yan wants to touch is ......" Cheng Yi deliberately left an ambiguous reverie, and then said with regret, "Well, if it was at home, I would definitely satisfy you, but we are in a competition now, so I'm afraid I'll have to let you down."

An Yan's face was completely red: "Stop talking, I didn't mean that at all!"

The viewers in the broadcast room started to scream as they watched their intimate interaction.

Viewer 1: Ouch, ouch, ouch! How can boss Cheng Yi be so provocative? I can't take it anymore!

Viewer 2: An Yan looks so cute when he's blushing! I want to touch his little face!

Viewer 3: I'm obviously watching a proper match, but for some reason, my mind has already made up at least 30,000 words of colourful small theatre _(:з"∠)_.

Viewer 4: Big bosses, do you remember this is a competition? I must seriously remind you that during the competition, please don't continue to show your love......! I love watching this (^o^)!

Viewer 5: Mama asks me why I'm suddenly smiling :)

Viewer 6: This Cheng Yi, who is so flirtatious and has a wicked smile, is definitely not the cool guy I know, but why do I think he's so damn sweet now!

......

On the field, An Yan was trying to change the subject: "According to the rules of the competition, will the other contestants be eliminated only if spiritual power touches their uniforms, or if it touches either the uniform or skin?"

Cheng Yi saw that An Yan was really embarrassed, so he restrained his attitude and replied, "Since the competition organizers did not give a clear answer on this point, then it should be the latter."

If the round had been played in reality, there would have been a clear rule that only if you touched your opponent's uniform would you be eliminated from the tournament.

But this was a virtual map, where everyone's presence is just a virtual projection, or even a string of data. It is very easy for the officials to monitor this string of data, so there is no need to impose too many restrictions.

An Yan nodded in understanding, "I see, so are we going to eliminate the other contestants now?"

"We do need to do that so as to finish the competition as soon as possible," Cheng Yi nodded and added, "But before that, you can make a few spiritual restoration potions, just in case."

An Yan slapped his head, "You're right, I almost forgot about that."

An Yan asked for several kinds of potion ingredients through the system provided by the competition, and then spent ten minutes making ten S-rank spiritual restoration potions.

He handed eight to Cheng Yi and kept only two for himself: "We might get temporarily separated since we are not in one mecha, so take these potions first."

Cheng Yi wasn’t polite, and he put the potions away. He used a little spiritual power to connect the two of them and said, with a light smile, "This way, we won't be separated."

On seeing such a scene, half the viewers in the broadcast room were marveling at the high level of An Yan's spiritual potions and even got the impression that S-rank spiritual potions were not rare at all.

The other half of the audience were eating dog food like crazy. The boss is worthy of being a boss. Even the dog food was so appealing that they couldn't get enough of it!

Accompanied by this barrage, An Yan and Cheng Yi chatted as they moved forward.

It felt like they were taking a walk, although they were in the middle of a competition, especially as the scenery around them was completely different from reality. It added to the fun and slowed down the pace of time.

But the situation changed in an instant when the first opponent appeared, 

It wasn't that they felt a sense of crisis, but An Yan had already taken a keen interest the moment the other party appeared. He began thinking about how he would attack later.

Normally, in this round, An Yan should be responsible for making the potions while Cheng Yi, as a mecha warrior, should be the one to protect them both and launch the attacks.

But with An Yan's strength, not only did he not need Cheng Yi's protection, but he could even be the main attacker.

As soon as this opponent appeared, he went straight for An Yan, thinking that of the pair, An Yan was the supporting pharmacist and should be the better target.

However, the situation was completely different from what he had expected. His spiritual power was blocked by a barrier as soon as it was extended.

Moreover, this spiritual barrier carried a strange aura. The attacker felt a strange sense of fear and unease just by touching it.

At the same time, a wisp of spiritual power crept through as if it were playing, easily penetrating his barrier and touching his match suit.

The contestant, who hadn't reacted to what had just happened, was about to launch another attack when he heard an emotionless electronic tone in his ears.

[Ding! You have been eliminated from the competition and are being sent off the map.]

Opponent: "???"

After his opponent was sent out of the map, An Yan slowly withdrew the spiritual power he had just extended: "So it's that simple."

An Yan did not expect that the wisp of spiritual power that he had tentatively extended out would be able to easily eliminate his opponent.

However, Cheng Yi frowned slightly, finally realizing a problem.

According to the rules of the competition, the battle between the contestants was in fact a battle of each other's spiritual power, because although the level of each person's spiritual power was different, they were all similar in nature.

This meant that it would be difficult to differentiate two people's spiritual powers if they collided.

So, the only way to win in this round is if one player's spiritual power is completely depleted or if there is an error in their attack.

It's like putting a cloth over a small orb. To touch the orb directly, one had to lift the cloth or create a hole in the cloth.

To create a hole, something sharper than the cloth must be used to cut through, rather than something equally soft.

But this was clearly not the case just now, as An Yan used only a wisp of his spiritual power to easily penetrate his opponent's defense and knock him out of the game.

Yesterday, a friend borrowed my laptop and accidentally deleted the last edited chapters for this week(141-160) ༎ຶ‿༎ຶ . There was no hope for restoration, so could only post the two or three chapters I've done on the go. However, we'll be back to the usual number on Monday. 

Thank you all for reading!!