"Ding! Attention all players: Divine Runes have spawned in various corners. They will last for three minutes!"
Just then, a system notification rang out in the ears of every player participating in the "World Martial Arts Tournament."
"Divine Runes? What are those? Sounds pretty impressive!"
A muscular warrior player from their own faction spoke in a deep, rumbling voice.
"Divine Runes can provide all sorts of buffs for our team—endless uses. Everyone, spread out and search for them. Don't let the other side grab them first!"
Proud Dragon Emperor knew the value of Divine Runes too. As soon as he heard the notification, he immediately addressed the players in his faction.
Thus, the 20 players on the red side were split into four teams by Proud Dragon Emperor, dispersing in the east, south, west, and north directions to hunt for the Divine Runes' locations.
Jiang Yuan's team was still the same group as before: a warrior, an assassin, a divine archer, and a healer—four classes in total. Their assigned direction was east.
The Divine Runes spawned in rather hidden spots, so Jiang Yuan led his four team members to carefully check every nook and cranny—places like bushes, under big trees, beside strange rocks, near ponds...
Just as the four members of Jiang Yuan's team were searching low in a patch of weeds, the space around them suddenly rippled faintly, barely perceptible.
"Where the hell are the Divine Runes?"
After searching for a while, the healer player in Jiang Yuan's team grumbled impatiently.
The moment the healer's words faded, something bizarre happened!
The score on the board, which had remained unchanged for over a minute, shifted again. The blue side had gained another 300 points!
"What's going on?"
The assassin player in the team frowned, looking at the other four and asking.
"Damn! Look at the minimap!"
The divine archer suddenly wore an expression like he'd seen a ghost, pointing at the minimap and shouting.
All five in the team glanced at the minimap in the upper right corner of their interfaces. There, behind Jiang Yuan and the others, where there had been no one, the flag that Jiang Yuan had reclaimed had mysteriously turned blue!
"Damn, this is freaky!"
The warrior player in Jiang Yuan's team muttered a curse, stepped forward, and used the interaction key to reclaim the flag again.
But just as the flag in front of them was retaken, a red flag to the north, not far away, eerily turned blue again!
"I get it—it's an Invisibility Divine Rune!"
Jiang Yuan thought for a moment, finally piecing it together, and shouted out loud.
With less than ten minutes left until the "World Martial Arts Tournament" ended, the current score was 2050:1550. The reason was that the enemy team with the Invisibility Divine Rune had stolen two red-side flags and then secretly tailed a five-man red team, catching them off guard and wiping them all out!
"What do we do? We're going to lose!"
Looking at the score gap widening on the board, the female healer player in Jiang Yuan's team said anxiously.
"To catch up in points, the fastest way is to capture their flags!"
Jiang Yuan glanced at the 500-point deficit his side was facing, feeling it was still possible to close the gap, and shared his idea with the four team members.
"Alright, if we don't move now, it'll be too late!"
The four members, hearing Jiang Yuan's plan, immediately sprang into action, following him straight toward the five flag positions on the blue side.
But things didn't go as smoothly as Jiang Yuan had expected. No sooner had they crossed the boundary between the red and blue factions than they ran into an enemy ambush. A barrage of skills came flying at Jiang Yuan's team!
Jiang Yuan dodged while sizing up the terrain. He noticed it was wide open, perfect for his abilities.
"Summon Dragon Beard Tiger!"
With a thought, Jiang Yuan activated his summoner skill, conjuring ten thousand Dragon Beard Tigers that packed the once-spacious area into a crowded mess.
The ten thousand Dragon Beard Tigers, like a bulldozer, instantly killed several enemy players blocking the way and then plowed straight ahead.
With the ten thousand Dragon Beard Tigers clearing the path, Jiang Yuan led his four team members to a blue-side flag. Using the tigers as cover, they successfully captured the enemy's flag.
Meanwhile, the other fifteen red-side players were retreating under the enemy's fierce assault. Even the two flags Jiang Yuan's team had just reclaimed were taken back by the enemy. The score became 2800:2000!
With about five minutes left until the event ended, the blue side was only 200 points away from hitting the 3000-point mark first, which would make them the winners of this "World Martial Arts Tournament"!
"Find a spot to hide. If anyone touches this flag, stop them!"
Jiang Yuan looked at the divine archer in his team—the one with the longest attack range—and gave him instructions. Then he said to the other three, "Split up and find the rest of our faction's teams. Tell them to lure all the enemies to the big platform in the center. I have a way to wipe them all out!"
"Really? You can take out all of them by yourself?"
At this tense moment, the assassin player still sounded skeptical, eyeing Jiang Yuan with doubt.
"If you don't want to lose, do exactly what I say!"
Jiang Yuan shot back quickly, his tone carrying an undeniable certainty.
About a minute later, Jiang Yuan saw on the minimap that all the red-side players were moving toward the spot he'd designated, with the blue-side players chasing after them.
After a skirmish, one red-side squad lagged behind and was caught by the blue-side main force, wiped out in an instant!
The battlefield score changed again. The blue side's points reached 2950. They only needed to kill any two red-side players to win the event!
"Everyone, kill the nearest enemy! Just two kills and we win!"
When Jiang Yuan arrived at the platform, he heard the blue-side leader shouting excitedly.
"All red-side players, get behind me!"
Jiang Yuan yelled at his faction's players, who were being chased, and then unleashed his most powerful skill—"Sacred Beast Xuanwu!"
"By the covenant's oath, I call upon the power of the stars to manifest as Xuanwu, bound to my will."
An ancient, weathered voice echoed across this plane. Under the stunned gaze of everyone from both sides, a colossal beast slowly emerged from the pond behind the platform!
"Xuanwu's Ultimate: Flood the Eight Wastelands!"
Jiang Yuan didn't dare waste time and immediately commanded Xuanwu to unleash its ultimate skill!
Before the wide eyes of all the red-side players, a surging "ocean" appeared out of nowhere, sweeping toward the blue-side players!
Within seconds, every blue-side player was annihilated!