204: Chapter 204 I've had faith in you from the very beginning!

Below the stage.

Cui Jingming sat cross-legged at the back of the crowd, clutching a bottle of potion and pouring it onto the wound on his shoulder.

The medicinal liquid seeped into the wound, causing the corner of his mouth to twitch from the sting.

Immediately after, he looked up and glanced forward.

The crowd was gathered in front, all with their heads tilted up looking at the top. His view from here was completely blocked; he couldn't see anything.

After a glance, Cui Jingming withdrew his gaze and let out a sigh.

“Sigh.”

He set the empty potion bottle aside, propped his hands on his knees, and let his head droop.

That newcomer, the one named Chen Yiming.

Back during the second Assessment, he had struggled so much even against a single weak Lesser Demon. In the end, it was only when everyone else was almost finished that he barely managed to grind his opponent down.

With that kind of combat power, going up there now...

Cui Jingming shook his head, not letting his thoughts go any further.

Sigh.

He sighed again; everything had been going so smoothly earlier.

They had passed the first Assessment very quickly, then the third, fourth, fifth... it had been smooth sailing all the way.

Especially the sixth one.

Before he could even react, the Assessment was over.

At that time, he thought that fate had finally taken pity on him, that his era had finally arrived.

But thinking about it now...

Cui Jingming twitched the corner of his mouth, revealing a bitter smile.

That's how people are; when things are going smoothly, they feel omnipotent. Once they face an obstacle or hit a wall, they sober up and realize they're just an ordinary person, nothing special.

He braced his legs, just about to stand up.

Suddenly, a burst of exclamations erupted from the front.

“We won!”

“We won!”

The voices were so loud they made his ears ring.

Cui Jingming was stunned. His hands forgot to push off his legs, leaving him frozen in a half-squat.

Immediately after, several people squeezed out of the crowd—they were the captains of the squads he was familiar with. Every one of them was flushed red, their expressions incredibly excited as they rushed toward him.

“Alliance Leader! We won!”

Cui Jingming blinked: “We won?”

“We won!” one of the captains nodded vigorously. “The other two took each other out! Only our guy is left!”

Upon hearing this, a flash of pleasant surprise crossed Cui Jingming's face.

He didn't ask any more questions, immediately stood up, and pushed through the crowd toward the front.

Squeezing to the very front, he looked up at the arena.

The arena was empty, save for one person standing there.

Gu Changming.

Cui Jingming stared for two seconds, the corners of his mouth grinning uncontrollably.

He then spread his arms, waved them vigorously, and shouted toward the arena:

“Good job! I had high hopes for you from the start! Keep it up!”

Hearing Cui Jingming's cheers, the others also began to shout along.

The shouting grew louder and louder.

Cui Jingming stood in the crowd, head tilted back as he looked at the figure on the arena.

He was well aware, of course, that even if they won this round, the next one would still be difficult for them.

But so what?

Didn't they win this round?

Adding the round he had won earlier, their human side had already accumulated three points!

Even if they lost in the end, it wouldn't be shameful.

They were all bringing glory to the human race!

“Keep it up! You're the only one we have left!”

...

Gu Changming stood on the arena, the cheers from below rising up in waves.

He glanced down and happened to see Cui Jingming standing at the front of the crowd, waving his arms vigorously and shouting something about 'having high hopes for you from the start.'

He curled his lip. How come I didn't know you had high hopes for me from the start?

Gu Changming withdrew his gaze and stopped looking down.

The cheers continued, burrowing into his ears in waves.

At first, he found it a bit uncomfortable listening to them; after all, he didn't like the feeling of being surrounded and watched by people.

But as they kept shouting and he kept listening, he eventually felt it was actually okay.

It was a strange feeling.

...

On the Beast-Eared Clan's side.

The Leopard-eared Man was teleported down. As soon as his feet hit the ground, before he even had time to stop his bleeding,

He took two steps forward and walked up to Horn.

He knelt on one knee, “Your Majesty, I...”

Horn waved his hand, interrupting him.

“It's fine. Go and get treated first.”

The Leopard-eared Man looked up, his lips trembling, but finally he nodded, stood up, and walked to the back.

He knew his Majesty didn't truly blame him, but that was exactly why he felt even more guilty.

After he left, Horn's gaze swept to the side and landed on a figure standing not far away.

It was a tall Beast-Eared Clan male with a pair of brown bear ears on his head and broad shoulders, standing there like a wall.

“Katu.”

Horn tilted his chin toward him, gesturing in the direction of the arena.

“Next round, you go up.”

Katu was also an A-rank combatant. Though a bit inferior to Wellen, he was good enough.

The strongest energy entity on the opposite side had already been sent away; only one human remained on the arena.

From here on, there shouldn't be any more problems.

...

On the other side.

After Noel was teleported down, he immediately used an item to stabilize his dissipating form.

Several members of the Star-Gazing Clan gathered around, asking concerned questions.

Noel shook his head and didn't speak.

His gaze was still fixed upon the arena.

That human was still standing on the stage. He stared at the figure, his brow furrowing.

Strange.

The word popped into his mind.

During the last battle, the more he fought, the more he felt something was off, but he couldn't say exactly what it was.

In the end, he was actually eliminated along with the other person...

Was that guy just too lucky?

Noel stared at the figure on the arena, his eyes flickering.

He couldn't be sure either.

...

[Seventh Assessment: arena Competition, Round Nine, Start]

The battle began, still in melee mode.

The Star-Gazing Clan took the initiative, pulling their combat power to the same level as his.

The two sides joined forces once again.

This round lasted five minutes.

The two joined forces to eliminate the Beast-Eared Clan contestant, but the Star-Gazing Clan member fought too hard and was heavily injured, eventually being eliminated from the stage by Gu Changming.

Of course, Gu Changming also appeared to be struggling.

After the battle ended, he couldn't even stand and collapsed onto the ground.

And below, seeing Gu Changming win once again,

Cui Jingming and the others erupted into even more enthusiastic cheers.

“We won!”

“I told you! You're the Child of Destiny!”

“Chen Yiming is awesome! Humans are awesome!”

...

Round Ten.

The Beast-Eared Clan sent up another A-rank. The Star-Gazing Clan seemed short-handed; they took a long time to select someone to go up.

Once again, the two sides joined forces to oppose the stronger Beast-Eared Clan.

During the battle,

The Beast-Eared Clan member made a mistake, which the two seized upon, landing a hit on a vital spot on the spot.

The opponent was also ruthless; before being sent away, he directly detonated half of his body.

Both of them were within the blast radius.

But the person from the Star-Gazing Clan had very poor luck; as the light from the explosion flashed, they were sent away directly.

Only Gu Changming had good luck; the explosion didn't cause him too much damage, and he barely managed to stay in the arena again.

...

Winning three rounds in a row.

On the human side, the cheers rose in wave after wave.

Meanwhile, on the other two sides, the atmosphere began to turn subtle.

Horn stood at the front of the crowd, staring at the swaying figure on the arena who was still spitting blood, his eyes narrowing.

Can it really be such a coincidence?

You managed to survive three times?