Chapter 1028
Chapter 1028 - 114 Grace and Refusal
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8 min read
The preliminary competition ended swiftly. Once the number of participants had dwindled to a certain point, it was only natural for the festival to proceed to the next step.
Although the battles during this process were relatively fierce, there were not many fought to the death... after all, the rewards gained must be successfully retained and brought back to have any meaning.
[Congratulations, Host has obtained the Brass Upper Divine Grace ’Domineering Three Faces’ Enter the Void’, it is now optimizing the binding....]
[Congratulations, Host has obtained the Upper Black Iron Divine Grace ’Domineering Three Faces’ Lucky Time (upgradable)’, it is currently adjusting the binding.....]
[Congratulations, Host has obtained...]
If other people revel in the joy of Divine Grace, then Lu Ping’an is experiencing a flood of notifications on his panel.
He discovered a total of four items, among which three were Divine Graces.... none of them were of high rank, with "Enter the Void" being the highest-profile one.
In fact, this was because he deliberately avoided those clearly more valuable "Silver-tier" and "Gold-tier" graces.
Because the battlefield over there wasn’t suited for the current Lu Ping’an. Yet the most crucial point was still...
[The Martial God Who Dominates Three Sides despises losers. If you fail in your upcoming duels, you will lose all Divine Graces, except for ’Ten Enemies’ Bane’.]
[It admires the victors of strife, and the victor will receive the most valuable Divine Grace from the loser.]
Ping’an was not in a hurry; most Divine Graces would still be reclaimed by the Deities. Only by being victorious all the way can one return fully laden.
There were several opportunities to leave the competition midway with their gains... but often a greater temptation is right before them, and very few would choose to back out.
Worth mentioning is that while there are no explicit rules stating this, only those at the peak of Decree-level are at the highest invited to participate, and most competitors are actually below fifth-tier.
If you truly are above the rule level, participating would not only be a bit of bullying but also could cause many additional ripples... If you want a rule-level Decree, it must be obtained through dealings with a Deity. It’s not something given lightly.
In fact, if someone at the rule level did participate or revealed rule-level abilities, they would be directly persuaded to leave by the organizing party... history has proven that some people are shameless, but the organizers still care about "TV ratings".
Lu Ping’an is very realistic, his horizons aren’t high; what he needs, to put it as Big Cat did, is to fill in his biggest shortcoming in actual combat.
In that regard, he needs experience in practical fighting, combat skills, and practical Divine Graces.
In his list, there were twenty-one types of Divine Graces that had appeared before. Seven of those could possibly appear in the preliminary contest, but if limited to Silver-tier and below (low intensity), then there were only five.
And among the three types he acquired now, he could be considered very successful in both information and luck.
"..... It’s a bit interesting, it’s just a pity the number of uses is too few."
The main difference between Divine Graces and Talent Abilities or Professional Abilities is that they are not entirely abilities of the professional themselves.
It’s more like a seed bestowed by the Deity... or to put it another way, a compressed file that acts as an external add-on to the Host.
Because "The Order of the Divine" exists, it is usually quite stable. One doesn’t need to worry much about it going out of control or being misused, and most of it exists in the form of "number of uses"—once you’ve used up your daily/monthly/yearly quota, it’s as if you don’t possess that ability anymore.
And the reason why it’s said to be most of them is because what Lu Ping’an has now are among the very few exceptions...
"Lucky Time... I hope it will be effective."
This "Divine Grace" is regarded as an unexpected joy because it is for a "Lucky One"; it isn’t something that was even on Lu Ping’an’s expected list – its very acquisition is a form of luck.
".... Some people participate in the festival just for this because Domineering Three Faces is one of the few Deities with ’Fate’ characteristics, capable of bestowing Divine Graces related to luck."
This ability is quite straightforward: it grants you a period during which, after use, you will become very lucky.
But at the first stage, that is, at the Upper Black Iron level, it’s probably about the level of forgetting one’s wallet at home and then finding enough to pay the bill on the street.
"The one granted is a bit special, leaning toward Martial Destiny; it means you might spontaneously achieve a breakthrough, but more often, it is during a battle that your opponent might suddenly slip or their attack might inexplicably miss."
Since it’s a Divine Grace, even the lowest-end ones hold standards for actual combat usefulness.
And more importantly, it can grow.
"When a Lucky One encounters another Lucky One, the victor become the luckier one... It’s really a simple and crude logic of Martial Destiny."
An unknown number of "Blessing of Good Luck" are cast into the mix, and the victor of the duel between two will receive the Divine Blessing of their opponent.
This, in truth, is rather appalling.
Because it doesn’t restrict by years...
"...I’m afraid there are already ’graduates’ hiding among the crowd. It’s time to buy some extra intelligence."
Once a lucky one gets very close, they’ll naturally sense it; and then, there’s no way to avoid a confrontation.
It shows just how rare this festival is... It’s basically a fight to the death in every sense, with the winner taking all.
And what happened next confirmed everything....
"Thank you all for participating. The festival is now moving into its second phase. But first, let’s take a look at the results of the preliminaries. This will directly determine the advantages and disadvantages for the second round...."
In the sky, an emcee wearing a ’crying face’ mask floated up. He was clearly one of the Divine Envoys working under the Martial God Who Dominates Three Sides and was at least above the Rule-level in strength.
Where he pointed, a floating screen appeared, and a moment later, its content was displayed on the cruise ship’s TV, the water, mirrors, and all other reflective surfaces.
Next was a ranking list with a definite ’Martial Fight’ style.
The first place had an avatar with thirteen points, while Lu Ping’an glanced over and saw his own ’four points’ ranking in the middle, slightly above average.
"...As usual, our generous Deity has thrown in 108 tickets, and so far, 64 people have gotten them..."
A full 108 Divine Blessings or equivalents, which illustrated the deity’s generosity.
Although more than 90% were low-level Divine Blessings below Brass-tier, the sort that "talent-excellent" professionals received by chance upon Advancement- those ’common goods,’ the staggering number still elicited gasps of astonishment from the audience.
Among them, there were even Rule-level Divine Blessings as lottery prizes, as well as a few Decree-level ones.
These were all marked as emblems on the leaderboard.
Due to the ’Winner Takes All’ rules, all competitors subconsciously searched for those lucky individuals... especially the owner of that Rule-level Divine Blessing, who surprisingly only had that one point.
"...No wonder most people are satisfied with just one ticket; having more could be a real problem."
Obviously, there were many gambles and strategies involved, but for Lu Ping’an, it didn’t mean much. He just wanted to grab as many benefits as possible and get out quickly.
"...Next, participants will form pairs and enter the next round of challenges together. You will either become close comrades or the unfortunate ones babbling excuses as they retreat. Of course, you may choose your own teammate if your rank from the first round is high enough...."
The emcee clearly knew how to stir up the atmosphere, as the screen timely showed edits of the recent real battles.
This, somewhat unexpected, didn’t sit well with most competitors... but at this point, the leak of such intelligence was something they had to reluctantly accept.
"...High scorers can pick first, and the chosen can refuse, but only once. Alright, let’s begin."
Bizarrely, at this moment, Lu Ping’an actually saw a ’familiar face’."
"It’s Eve!"
Xiao Mu on the side suddenly got excited, but the next moment, she showed a somewhat uneasy expression.
Because the ’woman’ on the screen was too brutal, nothing like the good sister she remembered.
At her feet, the ground was filled with bloodstains left by strongmen...
"...So, the first in rank has chosen the second, okay, alright...."
"I refuse, too ugly."
Eve on the screen gave a cool reply, indifferent to the irritation of others. As the second in rank, it was now her turn to choose...."
And at this moment, Lu Ping’an, who was called out by name, suddenly appeared in the middle of the screen.
He opened his mouth, somewhat helpless and confused.
But all he could do was sigh, after all, a promise is a promise...."
"I refuse...."
Instantly, Lu Ping’an felt a deadly threat and crisis looming....
— End of Chapter 1028 —