166: Chapter 163 Drooling, Pride
The Symphony Realm exploded the moment the rankings were refreshed at 3:07.
"Fate Master dropped to 126th???"
"No way?? He was leading by a mile on the first day, and in just a few days, he's been left behind by 300 matches??"
"What exactly happened to him? Did something go wrong?"
The emotions of the Yanhuang Survivors quickly shifted from shock to anxiety.
Discussion posts surged densely like seaweed after the rain.
[Worried Old Chen (Yanhuang): Did Fate Master put all his energy into updating the Fate Platform? With the life ring and the 4.0 version these past two days, is he unable to attend to the Sequence Battle?]
[Deep Sea Angler (Yanhuang): That doesn't seem right. Look at the people in the top twenty of the rankings—Victoria, Zhang Haotian, Solomon, President Shen Qing, Zheng Yuanshan—which one of them isn't juggling both the camp battles and individual battles? They still managed to rush into the top ten. Fate Master's strength is only stronger than theirs; how could he not have time given his strength?]
[Storm Vanguard (Yanhuang): Could it be that Fate Master feels the ranking of the Individual Sequence Contest doesn't matter? Anyway, we've already secured the camp battle...]
[Storm Eye (Yanhuang): Secured, my foot! Look closely at the rules—the top ten of the Individual Sequence Contest get official rewards! Treasure chest quality upgrade, lifespan transition, talent advancement! Do you think Fate Master doesn't need these things?]
[Little Taro (Yanhuang): Could it be that Fate Master has some plan we don't know about? After all, the settlement day for the Individual Sequence Contest is the 23rd, not the 20th; there are still several days left...]
[Iron-Faced Ruthless Zhao (Yanhuang): That may be true, but the Teuton guy at the top of the list already has 924 matches! Fate Master only has 662! That's a difference of over 260 matches! Even if he chases with all his might later, will it be in time?]
The replies under the post became increasingly dense and anxious.
Some were doing math—calculating how much time Yang Hang had left and how many matches he could chase by extrapolating from the Sequence Battle matching interval and the average length of each match.
Some were analyzing the rules—attempting to find loopholes or bonus mechanisms in the rule text that could make it easier for Fate Master Yang Hang to catch up on points later.
Some were comforting each other—"Fate Master definitely has his own considerations; we just need to trust him."
But more people were silently refreshing the rankings, staring at the number stuck at 662.
—
Meanwhile, on a certain deep blue sea area thousands of miles away from the Yanhuang Civilization region.
Victoria had just exited a match for the Individual Sequence Contest.
She won.
She casually inserted her sword of the sea onto the deck, sat by the ship's side, and opened her Spatial Backpack—no, she didn't have a Spatial Backpack.
It was greyed out.
She looked down at the rows of grey icons on the holographic projection of her life ring and expressionlessly closed the projection.
Her stomach growled.
Victoria rummaged through her remaining supplies—two dried fish left over from hunting low-rank sea beasts yesterday; they were already hard enough to be used as weapons. She took a bite, chewed three times, and her expression gradually became painful.
She was strong, but she couldn't cook.
Then she opened the Fate Platform Symphony Realm.
She habitually browsed some posts about various delicacies posted by Yanhuang Survivors.
Ever since the food god shrine went online, more and more people were showing off food, making food, and posting screenshots of deliciousness ratings.
She saw a "Secret Braised Deep Sea Silver-Scaled Fish." The uploader was a Yanhuang Survivor named "Old Wang's Kitchen." In the attached holographic photo, the fish was stewed with thick, milky broth, the meat was tender and smooth, and green onions and chili strips were spread on top. It looked so fresh that—
Victoria swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
She scrolled down again.
She flipped to a dish of "Steamed Sea Snails with Garlic Vermicelli."
And "Salt and Pepper Fried Shrimp Balls."
Then there were cream cakes, baguettes, butter cheese, fried chicken, instant noodles...
Victoria's saliva started flowing out.
She took another bite of the dried fish.
Chew.
Couldn't chew it.
Victoria was silent for two seconds, then opened the World Echo channel of the Symphony Realm.
[Victoria (Fog City): May I ask if any Yanhuang Survivors can tell me, what exactly is your "braised" cooking technique? I only have salt here, and it's steamed from seawater. How can one make such delicious food using only sea salt?]
Less than ten seconds after sending it.
"Hello, Goddess Victoria!!! Braised means pan-frying first, then stewing with soy sauce—oh wait, you don't have soy sauce..."
"Goddess! You can buy it directly using karma points on the food god shrine. Well, it's not open to foreign civilizations yet, and the Trading Realm can't trade with you either..."
"I feel sorry for the Goddess for a second. She has the strongest sword in the Magic Sea and the worst food."
Victoria looked at a string of replies, then looked at the hard dried fish in her hand.
[Victoria (Fog City): Thank you. I understand. I will continue to work hard on hunting beasts. [Smile]]
"That smile from the Goddess is so heartbreaking!!!"
"Is there any way to send food to foreign civilization Survivors? They can't use the Trading Realm, right?"
"Wuwuwu, Goddess, just wait. Once Fate Master opens the Trading Realm function for you guys, I'll be the first to mail you braised fish!"
[Victoria (Fog City): No need. I can wait. It's just—the photos of "Spicy Crayfish" you guys posted, can you please not pin them to the homepage? It's mental torture for me.]
The Symphony Realm exploded with another wave of laughter.
"Hahahaha, Goddess Victoria is actually craving crayfish!"
"The Goddess's image has collapsed a bit more! The distance from a female war god to a foodie big sister is just one photo of crayfish!"
"It's got that vibe. Our Sister Victoria has completely integrated into the Yanxia internet."
"To be honest, watching others eat while you can't get any through the screen—I understand this pain too well. Before Transmigration, I often watched food blogger videos and cried while eating instant noodles."
[Victoria (Fog City): ...Why are you all able to make me hungrier while comforting me? Is this a social skill unique to the Yanhuang Civilization?]
"Yes, Goddess, this is called 'mouth-hyping.' A unique skill of the Yanhuang Civilization. Damage is zero, but the taunt is maxed out."
The corners of Victoria's mouth twitched.
Returning from browsing delicacies on the Fate Platform, she habitually pulled up the real-time win rate ranking for the Individual Sequence Contest.
Her gaze swept from top to bottom.
First place—Hans Weber (Teuton), 924 matches.
She continued to scroll down.
126th place—Yang Hang (Yanhuang), 662 matches.
Victoria stared at these two numbers for a long time.
"Is this guy really that confident?" She muttered softly, her red pupils narrowing slightly, "Or does he simply not care about the rewards of this Individual Sequence Contest ranking?"
She couldn't figure it out.
Given the overwhelming efficiency displayed by Fate Master Yang Hang on the first day—662 matches, that speed and win rate were incredible for any Survivor. If he had maintained that pace, let alone 900 matches, 1,500 or 2,000 matches wouldn't have been a problem.
But he stopped.
This meant that stopping was his own choice.
Victoria retracted her gaze and picked up the rock-hard dried fish again.
She didn't understand.
Other strong individuals from foreign civilizations also noticed this change at the same time.
Solomon, Igor, Jack, and other strong individuals among the foreign civilization Survivors all couldn't help but have similar confusion or puzzlement.
—
And at this moment.
On another sea area.
A man with combed-back blonde hair and blue-grey eyes was sitting in the cabin of a Silver Grade warship.
Hans Weber.
He had just finished his 924th Individual Sequence Contest.
Win.
The holographic projection of his life ring hovered in front of him, and his name was perched at the top of the list in golden font.
Hans Weber looked at the words "1st Place," and the curve of his mouth widened bit by bit.
Great.
So great.