Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

Liu Yang took out a bunch of Star Beads from Howard Lee's pocket.

Everyone was speechless.

At the same time, the referee's voice could be heard from the invisible headphones in the ears of Liu Yang's teammates.

Liu Yang's smile stiffened, and he obediently put the Star Beads back into his pocket.

Everyone was speechless.

To their surprise, Liu Yang took out another dagger and pinched it with two fingers, after which he smacked the cold blade against the head of each of the four members of the team. He pressed the invisible earphones and said, “Can their team be considered to have asked for aid this time? This means that they have lost their fighting abilities and should be made to withdraw from the compet.i.tion. I have more than one dagger. You guys have seen it too.”

They had either been knocked unconscious by Han Jiangxue's team or had their limbs become numb. There was no way they could move, and they could only suffer from Liu Yang's mockery.

It was unknown what the referee said to Liu Yang's team, and they could only see Liu Yang chuckling.

At the same time, Cai Yao, the beautiful girl with shoulder-length hair, walked over and extended her right hand towards Jiang Xiao. She smiled playfully and said, “It seems that you also know their secrets.”

Xia Yan was bewildered, and she nudged Li Weiyi beside her with her arm. “What do we know?”

Li Weiyi remained silent.

Han Jiangxue frowned slightly, seemingly having understood the hidden meaning in that girl's words.

Cai Yao tilted her head towards the broken wall and stretched her right hand towards Jiang Xiao. “We all need companions. We need the kind of companions whom we can have mutual support with and breakthrough to the semi-finals. It's hard for your team to s.n.a.t.c.h the prey straight from the tiger's mouth.”

Jiang Xiao was slightly tempted. He had conjectures before, but Cai Yao's words had completely confirmed his inner thoughts.

s.n.a.t.c.hing the prey straight from the tiger's mouth? 

Is there still a need to ask? 

It could be the Ancient Warrior Star Beads because they could be used as points. However, given the strong combat abilities of the Ancient Warriors, could they be considered prey? Stop being so nonsensical.

In that case, the only possibility left would be that somewhere behind the broken wall laid the special weapon of this floor that was worth 200 points.

The Tianjin area was also at the foot of the emperor. It seemed that they had also received some special information, just like the other teams in Beijing.

Jiang Xiao thought to himself, What!?!

“There's only one weapon. How do we divide it?” Jiang Xiao asked with raised brows.

A faint smile appeared on Cai Yao's lips as if she was unwilling to show others such a beautiful sight. She covered her mouth with one hand and asked gently, “Isn't there another floor below this one?”

Jiang Xiao had already come to a decision.

Indeed! 

There's a special weapon that's worth 200 points in there! 

Besides, the people from the team representing Beijing obviously found out about this information in advance.

According to Cai Yao, she also knows the location of the weapon on the next floor, right? 

You d.a.m.ned contestants who get up to dirty tricks, I shall deal with you today! 

Jiang Xiao turned to look at Han Jiangxue and said, “I'm not the captain.”

Everyone was at a loss when the alliance appeared out of nowhere.

However, Jiang Xiao could confirm that the team had already done their detailed research on his team, and they may even have a special understanding of everyone's personality traits.

Otherwise, in such a realistic and cruel game, they would not easily form an alliance with another team.

Jiang Xiao wanted to form an alliance with this team, mainly because of the information that they possessed, and also because of their competency.

Liu Yang's 29 star slots were real, and it was also stated clearly on the information sheet. He was just like a Fallen Shadow Thorn clothed in human skin. His combat power and Star Techniques were undoubtedly strong.

His companion Cai Yao was also one of the few people in that cohort that had the Star Technique Sound of Silence.

Even amongst the high school students from Tianjin and the other representatives from Yanzhao Province, only one or two managed to acquire that Star Technique.

Without a doubt, Cai Yao had a rich family and was extremely competent. His personal qualifications were also top-notch. With such elite teammates, how could the strength of the remaining two students be worse?

Jiang Xiao finally understood that, although the preliminary round was a compet.i.tion based on glory and was meant for the teams to fight for their own honor, they would have to form alliances and reap benefits for themselves if they wanted to enter the semi-finals.

The compet.i.tion was also a battle of wits.

Han Jiangxue could read Jiang Xiao's gaze, but her pride made her say something else. “Can you keep up with our pace?”

“Wow. Sis, what did you just say?” Liu Yang immediately stood up and stroked his head. “We're second to none in Tianjin. Just take Cai Yao for an example. Out of all the supportive members of this cohort, she's definitely one of the best.”

Liu Yang rolled her eyeb.a.l.l.s and suddenly burst into laughter. “But then again, I've been observing the students from Beijing, Tianjin, and Yanzhao Provinces to see if anyone can throw out a shot of Sound of Silence. I really didn't expect to see it from Beijiang.”

Jiang Xiao was dumbfounded.

Liu Yang chuckled and said, “Don't get me wrong. I admire you. I'm just shocked. I…”

Han Jiangxue directly interrupted his snide and sarcastic remark. “No matter where we get the weapons, you guys will take the second one while we take the first and third, and so on.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xiao finally reached out to grab Cai Yao's stiff hand in front of him. “Deal.”

Cai Yao was speechless.

What nonsense are you both saying? 

Seeing that the two teams finally reached an agreement, the other two boys from Tianjin Southern High School finally spoke up.

They were buff and muscular and were both good at freehand combat. They were about 1.7 meters tall. The taller boy said, “I'm He Fan, a s.h.i.+eld Warrior.”

The shorter one said, “I'm Zhang Qinzhou, a s.h.i.+eld Warrior.”

Double s.h.i.+eld Warriors! 

What kind of a combination is that? 

Two s.h.i.+eld Warriors, one Medical Awakened, and one output. 

Besides, the one in charge of the output is Liu Yang, who specializes in physics. 

If a Rules Awakened replaced Liu Yang, the team would at least be somewhat presentable, but it seems now that their combination is simply deformed.

From another perspective, how high is Liu Yang's output rate!?!

How powerful must he be to make the school send them? 

How strong is this kid?

They represented Tianjin, and there was also fierce compet.i.tion between the members. Yet, he managed to get a combination where his three teammates protected him.

Although Liu Yang often chuckled and had a glib tongue, he was truly talented and had a total of 29 star slots. His Star Techniques were rather peculiar as well—most having something to do with “shadow.”

If it weren't for the fact that Yuan Qinghua was filmed when she was advancing to the Galaxy Stage, the Tianjin ruffian Liu Yang would definitely be qualified to be the chief a.s.sa.s.sin.

Cai Yao struggled slightly, but she still couldn't pull her hand out of Jiang Xiao's. Jiang Xiao asked softly, “Are you being abducted?”

Cai Yao was stunned for a moment. Then she pulled her tiny hand out of Jiang Xiao's. “No, what are you talking about?”

With a puzzled expression, Jiang Xiao asked, “Why do you always wink at me, then?”

Cai Yao placed a hand on her forehead and widened her eyes in disbelief. “Do you still have to ask? Are you the legendary insensitive 'straight guy'?”

Jiang Xiao smiled embarra.s.sedly and scratched his head, looking very shy.

All of a sudden, he winked his left eye at Cai Yao, making her feel as if her eyes were playing tricks on her.

Jiang Xiao said softly, “Do you know that when you blinked at me, I thought about where I should bury your boyfriend?”

He flirted with me! 

I've been playing the field for years, and yet, I actually let this toxic healer from Beijiang flirt with me!?! 

Wow, this feels terrible! 

Not only did I fail, I even got caught off guard by a sneak attack! 

Cai Yao flushed, and before she could even say anything, Li Weiyi said, “Someone's coming.”

At the next moment, the three s.h.i.+eld Warriors, Li Weiyi, He Fan, and Zhang Qinzhou, immediately stood in front at the same time.

Xia Yan turned her head and glanced at Liu Yang with disgust. They were both melee fighters who were used to standing in the second row before the battle began.

“Sister, don't look at me~ Look in front,” Liu Yang said while a faint figure dashed out before darting into the dark Ancient Imperial Mausoleum.

“You two, go back.” Han Jiangxue stood in the middle and took over the rights to command.

Cai Yao was originally the commander of her team, and she was a little confused when Jiang Xiao flirted with her. She subconsciously obeyed Han Jiangxue's orders. As soon as she turned around, she sensed that something was amiss. However, she was dragged backward by Jiang Xiao…

The audience had different reactions when they saw the two teams forming an alliance.

However, the audience of Su Rou's live-stream was thrilled by it!

“Done deal! d.a.m.n it! Impressive! This year, there are 200 teams and 202 supportive members. Cai Yao's abilities can be ranked in the top three in the current ranking of supportive members!”

“d.a.m.n it. They've really cozied up to a strong team. Liu Yang's really menacing. He's ranked in the top ten out of the near 400 outputs!”

“They're such a strong team, why did they look for us to form an alliance?”

“Because we're even more impressive than them~ Do you think our G.o.ddess Xue is just for display?”

“Wow, sounds good!”

“+1!”

“+2!”

“+184,119,551…”

“You've got such a glib tongue.”

“May I just ask, which rank is our Xiaopi in?”

“Don't ask, we can't say.”

“Don't ask, we're too shameless to talk about it!”

“Why are you addressing the elephant in the room? Don't ask such questions. They'll ruin our glory!”

“You fake fan, get lost!”

“Bulls.h.i.+t! Do you think our G.o.d Pi can have a place amongst the supportive members? You have to put him in the ranks of the output members. You'll then realize it's better to compare him to the supportive members…”

“Nothing wrong. After all, there are only 200-odd supportive members, and G.o.d Pi can at least come in the 200th place. But there are more than 400 output members, and he may be ranked below the 400th place…”