222: Third qualifying round

Just after escaping the disintegration area, before they could be "hunted" by the rapidly spreading disintegration zone behind them, the figures of the "NPCs" appeared in front.

Regarding these extra "NPCs," the rules stated that one could choose to form alliances or team up with them, but in reality, things were not quite so ideal.

After a period of intensive training, the former sparring partners had fought multiple battles with the group. During this process, although they had built decent relationships through the fights, a certain amount of friction had also inevitably developed.

This level of friction was not enough to lead to vendettas or revenge, but in this special ranking match, given a valid reason and opportunity to beat the group up in return, these sparring partners naturally did not mind making things a bit more difficult for them.

As for the other group, the survivors from the previous Mission Realms, between the Coaching Team's mischief and the group's overly powerful responses, few of those Mission Realms remained intact after the tasks were completed.

To the vast majority of these survivors, the School Team members were the culprits responsible for damaging or even destroying their worlds; their innate hatred was completely maxed out.

To make matters worse, the Coaching Team continued to stir up trouble, focusing on "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." After escaping the secret realm's disintegration zone, the NPCs blocking the School Team's path were either sparring partners they had developed real friction with or survivors from the Mission Realms they had previously participated in.

They either wanted to beat up the School Team or held deep-seated grudges. Meanwhile, the disintegration zone behind them was expanding toward their position at an extremely high speed and was about to catch up.

There wasn't even a chance to try and dissolve the hatred or form alliances.

Out of options, the group could only fight their opponents while trying to stay away from the disintegration zone.

Naturally, the sparring partners and realm survivors they were fighting would not let them have their way easily. Whatever the group wanted to do, their opponents would prevent it, even trying their best to drag the group into the disintegration zone in a mutual destruction scenario.

With the enemy outnumbering them and using all sorts of strange methods, plus the "poison zone" chasing from behind, the multiple layers of pressure truly caused significant trouble for the vast majority.

Of course, since it was the "vast majority," there were bound to be a few exceptional cases.

Yes, we're talking about Xu Yan.

To Xu Yan, something like the secret realm disintegrating was really no big deal.

Upon entering the secret realm and facing the center of the imminent disintegration zone where he was located, Xu Yan directly summoned Zhu Yan.

Then, the moment Zhu Yan appeared, the surrounding space that was still rapidly disintegrating instantly became stable.

Zhu Yan, who was strongly bound to the Shadowlight Realm, might not be exceptionally powerful in terms of spatial travel or cutting, but when it came to spatial suppression and stabilization, Zhu Yan could definitely be called an authority.

Not to mention just stabilizing this small surrounding area; even for this entire secret realm that was about to collapse, if it wanted to and focused on it, Zhu Yan could even delay its total disintegration by several years.

Due to the Battle Royale rules, Xu Yan did not need to take the initiative to hunt down opponents. So, after solving the spatial disintegration issue, he naturally chose to set up defensive fortifications on the spot, waiting for opponents to be eliminated or fall into his trap.

Then, the sparring partners and survivors placed by the Coaching Team at the edge of the disintegration zone waited for a long time. Not only did they not see Xu Yan, but even the disintegration zone that was supposed to expand toward them began to shrink back on its own.

Full of confusion, the sparring partners and survivors finally chose to approach the disintegration area to try and find Xu Yan.

Consequently, they became the first batch of "moths" to fly into the web Xu Yan had spun.

Finally, after a "harmonious and friendly" exchange (involving punches and kicks), and thanks to the favorability bonus from Myriad Affinity, all the sparring partners and some of the survivors chose to ally with Xu Yan.

Afterward, they scattered to find other sparring partners, survivors, and School Team members, "inviting" them to Xu Yan's location in various ways.

Under the invitation of these allies, the sparring partners and survivors near Xu Yan's area came before him one after another. After a friendly exchange, they made a choice: become an ally or refuse.

For those who refused to ally, the small piece of disintegration zone controlled by Zhu Yan in the corner was their final destination.

Besides Xu Yan, Lin Heng and Qian Ming were also not blocked by the "NPCs."

Unlike Xu Yan, who developed from his landing point as a base, Lin Heng, relying on his Spirit Beast's control over space, directly initiated a spatial jump to another safe zone when facing the realm's disintegration. He left the waiting NPCs behind, who were eventually forced to leave by the expanding spatial disintegration.

As for Qian Ming, he relied on the suppression and bearing power of the Bixi, along with the prison space formed by the Bi'an, to temporarily stabilize the secret realm's disintegration. Although it wasn't as long-lasting as Zhu Yan's stabilization, it gave him relatively ample time, allowing him to be much more composed when facing the sparring partners and survivors.

Relying on their own strength and that of their Spirit Beasts, except for the two unnamed extras who were eliminated, the other eight people—some composed, some disheveled—eventually passed the two "spawn kills" set by the Coaching Team.

After dealing with the NPCs blocking their way, the group began their "zone running" lives within the secret realm. During this time, they naturally encountered various NPCs again and fought or communicated with them.

During this process, besides Xu Yan's straightforward "invitation" method, some people actually managed to reach a consensus and form alliances with the NPCs through force and persuasion. While "running from the zone," they also started searching for other School Team members in the secret realm.

Furthermore, through multiple battles, the instances of breaking the surrounding space several times allowed everyone to truly understand how fragile the space in this secret realm was.

After realizing this, some people began their own unconventional tactics, such as using spatial breaks for displacement, forcing movement, setting traps, and so on.

At first, only one or two people did this. Others were more restrained with their power, trying not to destroy the space and thus accelerate the secret realm's disintegration.

However, in battle, if the opponent is doing it and you are still hesitant, you will naturally fall into a disadvantage.

Out of necessity, they could only join the other side in utilizing the fragile nature of the space.

Then, it was as if a door to a new world had been opened; once it started, it was hard to stop.

Under the group's various unconventional tactics, the secret realm that could have lasted two or three days had more than seventy percent of its area disintegrated in less than a day.