73: Rules for the final round of the fight

When Xun Xiuyuan saw the groups of Strange Beast, he immediately became excited and charged into their midst, shouting as he fought.

"I am Xun Xiuyuan of Qianlong City. Those who can't hold on, gather around me."

As soon as he spoke, several survivors from Qianlong City among the surrounded human disciples immediately fought their way towards Xun Xiuyuan.

Seeing people approaching him, Xun Xiuyuan immediately went forward to meet them, slaying the several Strange Beast that were pursuing them.

"Junior General Xun, we are all from Qianlong City. Our first mission upon entering was to find you. Captain Xie is also looking for you."

After hearing this, Xun Xiuyuan smiled and said, "Uncle Xie and I have already met. After this battle is over, we'll go find him together."

With Explosive Ignition Art activated, Xun Xiuyuan once again entered a frenzy, charging wherever there were many Strange Beast and wherever humans were in danger.

Under Xun Xiuyuan's furious assault, a gap was quickly opened in the Strange Beast's encirclement.

Seeing the number of human disciples dwindling, Xun Xiuyuan stopped fighting, held the gap in the encirclement, and shouted, "Everyone, come to my side."

After witnessing Xun Xiuyuan's might, the others no longer hesitated and all converged towards him.

Soon, all the humans in the area, about thirty of them, had gathered around Xun Xiuyuan.

"You are all injured now. Retreat in the direction behind me. I will cover your rear."

When everyone heard Xun Xiuyuan say this, they all hesitated. Hundreds of Strange Beast attacking—for him to cover the rear? Wouldn't that be waiting for death?

They all began to dissuade him.

"Junior General Xun, you are a key protected individual of Qianlong City. It doesn't matter if all of us die in battle, but you cannot. You still have to challenge the Ling Tian Pagoda."

The first to speak was a warrior from Qianlong City, who immediately objected after hearing Xun Xiuyuan's words.

Two other Qianlong City warriors beside him also echoed his sentiment.

When people from other cities learned that Xun Xiuyuan was a seed contestant, they all urged him to leave, willing to sacrifice their own lives to protect him, even though they didn't even know Xun Xiuyuan.

Xun Xiuyuan was very moved and also helpless upon hearing this. He could only say loudly again, "You all retreat first. If you weren't here, I'd have killed these hundreds of Strange Beast in minutes. I'm covering your rear to protect you, so don't dawdle. I am a Junior General, with the highest military rank. Everyone obey orders."

It must be said that Xun Xiuyuan's words were very effective. The disciples from various families who had entered were almost all core members of their respective legions, and they were accustomed to obeying orders.

Seeing that everyone was still hesitating and wasting time, Xun Xiuyuan immediately charged back into the Strange Beast group, slaughtering them as if cutting melons and vegetables.

Seeing that Xun Xiuyuan was not retreating, and to minimize losses, everyone could only begin to retreat. After all, they had been fighting for a long time and were all injured. Staying there would only make them food for the Strange Beast, serving no other purpose.

When Xun Xiuyuan saw dozens of people organizing their formation and retreating in an orderly manner, he gave up on slaughtering the Strange Beast and followed behind the group to cover their rear.

Although the Strange Beast were a bit bewildered by Xun Xiuyuan's several charges, upon seeing the humans retreat, they immediately pursued without hesitation.

When Xun Xiuyuan saw the Strange Beast horde chasing after them, he became incredibly happy.

He deliberately slowed down while covering the rear, falling behind to fight the pursuing Strange Beast.

The human warriors retreating in front, seeing Xun Xiuyuan disregard his own safety, slow down, and fight the pursuing Strange Beast, were all incredibly moved, tears welling in their eyes.

After hundreds of Strange Beast encountered Xun Xiuyuan, who was covering the rear, they immediately sensed something was wrong.

Is this covering the rear? You're here to annihilate our race! Nearly four hundred Strange Beast pursued, and in just a few short minutes, Xun Xiuyuan had slaughtered them until fewer than a hundred remained.

These hundred Strange Beast were already terrified by Xun Xiuyuan's killing spree. They all stopped in their tracks, watching Xun Xiuyuan lead the humans away.

Xun Xiuyuan also saw that the remaining Strange Beast were scattered and had thoughts of fleeing, so he did not pursue them.

It's better to lead these humans to rendezvous with the main force first.

A moment later, Xun Xiuyuan, leading thirty human disciples, arrived at the place where Xie Lin and Li Feihong were stationed.

At this time, the main force had already reached nearly seventy people. Under Li Feihong and Xie Lin's 'waiting for a rabbit' strategy, they had encountered ten more lone human disciples.

Adding the humans Xun Xiuyuan brought back, there were now one hundred people.

Li Feihong looked at the hundred-person team before him and said to Xie Lin beside him, "Fortunately, your Qianlong City discovered this anomaly, Xun Xiuyuan. When have you ever heard of humans organizing a hundred-person team in the Lingtian Relic? This is the first time."

Xie Lin nodded after hearing this and said, "Indeed. If it weren't for this kid, let alone a hundred-person team, all the people here combined wouldn't have more than ten survivors."

Li Feihong nodded in agreement and said nothing more.

"Remaining life forms: 8681. The arena will shrink again in 10 minutes."

Hearing the prompt, Li Feihong instantly flew to a high position.

"Everyone, adjust your status to optimal. Those severely injured and unable to move should stand on the innermost side and quickly recover. Retreat is not allowed in the arena. Everyone can only fight to the death. As long as you enter the Ling Tian Pagoda, you can leave the Remains at any time. Come on, brothers!"

Li Feihong's motivational speech was very successful. Seeing everyone's morale boosted, he continued:

"After shrinking again, the arena will only be thirty kilometers in circumference. Although not small, for those in the Immaculate Realm, it can be swept across in minutes. Therefore, you must obey commands and not act on your own. We must exert all our strength to deal with the Strange Beast attacks."

Everyone below nodded, indicating they would obey commands.

Soon, the severely injured were on the inside, and those without injuries were on the outside. The hundred people formed a circle, as they didn't know what the shrunken map would look like, so they could only defend in this manner for now.

After all, there were still over eight thousand remaining Strange Beast.

Looking at the number of remaining life forms, Xun Xiuyuan was also at a loss.

He took out the talismans from his person and handed them to Xie Lin: "We will definitely be surrounded by Strange Beast later. No matter how strong I am, I am still only one person. I can protect myself, but I cannot protect so many people. Take these talismans and use them. Prioritize survival; don't consider matters of the Ling Tian Pagoda for now."

Xie Lin was Xie Nanqiao's paternal uncle, and their relationship was extremely close.

Xun Xiuyuan was just an ordinary person, and it was normal for him to have selfish motives. If the human pagoda inside could only save one person, he would definitely choose Xie Lin.

Xie Lin hesitated a little; he knew the purpose of these talismans.

But seeing Xun Xiuyuan's serious gaze, he smiled and reached out to take the talismans: "Don't worry, I won't die. I know the final map of the arena. In the northeast corner of the arena, there is an underground passage with no exit. As long as we can enter the passage, we can arrange a few people to defend the entrance. By taking turns to hold out, it's possible to survive until the end."

Xun Xiuyuan was a bit confused: "How can we survive until the end? Eight thousand Strange Beast attacking in shifts will eventually wipe us out, won't they?"

Xie Lin looked at Xun Xiuyuan as if he were an idiot: "Don't you know the rules of the Remains? The final stage of the arena has a time limit, only two hours. After two hours, all life forms ranked below the top one thousand in kill count will be eliminated."