Chapter 168
168 Wisdom and force
After passing by the drill ground and walking for a few minutes, Xia Pingan’s group had been led to a three-story high platform completely made of steel bars, steel rails and various steel structural components which was more than 10 m higher than the ground.
There was no wall or stairs on the high platform. The ground and the surrounding walls of the high platform were covered with cracks and holes left by steel structures, large or small, which could easily fit one person.
this stage will test everyone’s basic summoning spell techniques. At the same time, at least half of you will be eliminated. There are 82 of you now. In a moment, each of you will summon a slave soldier to compete. I will light an incense stick, and before the incense stick burns out, the 41 slave soldiers who can stand on the top of the third floor of the high platform will remain.
If there are more than 41 slave soldiers on the high platform at the end of the joss stick, all of you will be eliminated. Alright, we can start now. After summoning the slave soldiers, you must immediately give the task order, and it can only be given once. After that, I will use the God-obstructing Pearl to isolate this high platform, and no one will be able to give a second order.”
After the arrogant young man in his twenties finished speaking, he lit an incense in an incense burner under a high platform in front of Xia Pingan and the others. The selection began again.
The 82 of them did not hesitate. With a flash of red light, they instantly summoned their slave soldiers.
Xia Pingan also summoned his elite slave soldiers.
He took a look and saw that at least one-third of the 82 people could summon elite slave soldiers. This ratio was too high.
To be honest, the summoning of slave soldiers was not a basic summoning spell in the country of fire. Some Summoners might not be able to master it for a long time after completing their Foundation establishment. But here, the adjudicator Army seemed to have tacitly agreed that everyone who came here had completely mastered the summoning of slave soldiers.
The reason why the high platform chosen for this selection looked so complicated and strange was that it could better test the strength and wisdom of the slave soldiers. Behind the strength and wisdom of the slave soldiers, it indirectly reflected the situation of the summoner’s integration and control of the realm bead. Through a small slave soldier, one could complete an evaluation and a thorough understanding of the summoner’s Secret mandala.
Xia Pingan instantly understood the purpose of this selection.
The 82 slave soldiers stood in front of the 82 Summoners.
The mission had to be issued immediately, and it could only be issued once. It could not be corrected in the middle, which put a higher demand on the wisdom and judgment of the slave soldiers.
After everyone had given their orders, all the summoners began to retreat. The young man who had just explained the rules moved his hand and took out a green bead the size of a pigeon egg. He threw the green bead into the air. The green bead flew to the sky above the high platform and stopped there. It bloomed with green light in the air and fell down from the sky like a waterfall, completely covering the high platform.
As soon as the green light fell, Xia Pingan felt that his connection with the elite slave soldier he had summoned had been blocked.
That green bead must be the spirit obstruction bead. When this thing was used on the battlefield, it could isolate the communication between the summoner and the summoned creature within a certain range. It was equivalent to a remote-sensing signal obstruction. It looked quite advanced, and Xia Pingan had never seen this thing before.
At this moment, the ability of the summoned slave soldiers was reflected.
The moment the green light fell, some slave soldiers began to bite their weapons and climb up the iron frames on the high platform to the top.
However, the elite slave soldier summoned by Xia ping ‘an was somewhat different. When the other slave soldiers began to climb up, the elite slave soldier summoned by Xia ping’ an ran around the building and observed the situation everywhere. He was not in a hurry to climb up, but stayed downstairs, far away from the other slave soldiers, and found a corner to be on guard.
In just a minute or two, some slave soldiers had climbed up to the third floor of the highest platform through the iron pipes and iron frames.
One, two, three … More and more …
When more than 40 slave soldiers climbed up, those who climbed up first started to stop the others from climbing up. From then on, the battle between slave soldiers started.
The battle instantly became exciting.
The slave soldiers who climbed up along the periphery of the high platform were easily killed by the slave soldiers on the top with their long Spears. Once the slave soldiers died, Summoners were eliminated.
Some smarter slave soldiers found it was more dangerous to climb up from the periphery of the high platform; therefore, they changed their direction and climbed up from the inside of the high platform layer by layer. When they reached the 2nd floor, they would break in from the bottom of the high platform to the top with the cover of the steel structures and steel pipes. In this way, they would be evenly matched.
If long Spears were thrust into the gaps, they could directly pierce through the soles and legs of those slave soldiers on the second floor. As long as the slave soldiers on the second floor fell down, they would be killed by some long Spears or javelins.
The elite slave soldiers with the javelin throwing skill quickly took the advantage at this time, because javelin throwing could kill from a long distance. As long as the elite slave soldiers chose to break through from the inside of the steel building, they would have a chance to rush to the high platform.
If the slave soldiers on the high platform wanted to avoid from being attacked by the slave soldiers on the lower floors, they could only have two methods: escape from the gaps of the caves which could prevent them from coming up; or hide in some dead corners being built by steel pipes and rails. With the two choices, the slave soldiers below could easily rush up.
At the same time, when the elite slave soldiers reached the top, the space above would be crowded, and the javelin skill would be greatly limited, almost completely useless.
On the high platform, the slave soldiers ‘killing cries shook the sky.
In order to seize the position on the high platform, the slave soldiers on the top tried their best to stop the slave soldiers below from climbing up, while the slave soldiers below tried their best to stab the slave soldiers on the top down.
This scene was exactly the same as a siege battle.
More and more slave soldiers were killed, turning into light spots and dissipating while more and more slave soldiers successfully rushed onto the high platform. Soon, they started to avoid from those gaps and holes which could easily be attacked by those below and tried their best to hide in safe dead corners.
Those “foolish” slave soldiers who were trying their best to defend those cracks and holes were soon killed by those slave soldiers.
The channels for the slave soldiers to rush onto the high platform were broken through one after another. As a result, more and more slave soldiers rushed onto the highest platform. The number of slave soldiers on the high platform soon exceeded 40. After that, they started to fight each other.
Some of the slave soldiers were killed on the third floor, while others were pushed down from the platform.
The battle between the slave soldiers was extremely fierce, and they were all not afraid of death.
Not until then did the elite slave soldier summoned by Xia Pingan, who had been at the bottom, start to climb.
The elite slave soldier summoned by Xia Pingan was the last one who started to climb. The elite slave soldier abandoned the long spear in his hand and started to climb from the inside of the high platform with only a javelin on his back. He stopped when he reached the third floor. He didn’t rush to go up, but waited, observed, and guarded several cracks and holes below the third floor.
The incense downstairs was burning out bit by bit.
The battle on the top of the third floor was also coming to an end. Those slave soldiers who were not strong or smart were eliminated one after another.
When the incense on the first floor was burned down to a length less than a finger’s length, the fighting on the third floor finally stopped.
On the roof of the third floor stood 41 slave soldiers, of which two-thirds were elite. Besides these 41 slave soldiers, only the slave soldier summoned by Xia Pingan was still observing, alert, and waiting on the second floor.
The other slave soldiers had all died.
At this moment, the slave soldier summoned by Xia Pingan finally took out his javelin. While using the terrain below to cover his figure, he tried to throw the javelin up through the gaps and holes.
In order to avoid being attacked by the people below, 41 slave soldiers swarmed up on the third floor and avoided the easily accessible holes and gaps. However, for the javelins of elite slave soldiers, the required holes and gaps could be used to attack from any place below.
The elite slave soldiers that Xia Pingan had summoned had yet to attack, but the situation above was already in chaos.
The ground floor below was wide and open, so they could run, jump, and hide. On the other hand, the more than 40 slave soldiers on the top floor were squeezed together, and the space for each slave soldier to move was completely compressed, so they could not use their skills.
As the elite slave soldier that Xia Pingan had summoned kept running around and getting into an attacking stance, the slave soldiers on top were like ducks being driven away in order to avoid the tools from below. They ran here and there in a flash.
In this case, the few blind spots that could help them avoid the attacks from below became precious.
The chaos on the top floor suddenly started.
A slave soldier suddenly stabbed an elite slave soldier who was hiding in a dead angle with his spear and disappeared. He rushed to that dead angle.
The other two slave soldiers did the same.
A conflict broke out among the slave soldiers on the top floor, and three more died. Now, there were 38 slave soldiers on the top floor.
At this time, the elite slave soldier that Xia Pingan had summoned took advantage of the chaos on the top floor and rushed up through a hole.
In the end, the number of slave soldiers left on the top floor was 39.
The elite slave soldier that Xia Pingan had summoned had almost never experienced any battle, nor had he killed any slave soldier. In the end, he had easily stood on the top floor and successfully advanced.