Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 370 The Allure of the Colosseum
Double Star Bar.

"The twelve crystals, totaling six thousand units of spiritual energy, have all been fully infused."

When Black Star saw Guan Tong arrive, he immediately handed him the props.

Guan Tong checked and found that all the crystals were indeed filled with spiritual energy, so he paid the Ascension Coins according to the previously agreed price.

After putting the crystal away, Guan Tong asked, "Was the collection going smoothly?"

"It wasn't just smooth sailing, it was incredibly smooth sailing!" Black Star laughed. "As soon as the news got out, many people rushed to sell my mental power."

Guan Tong nodded.

This was what he expected.

Using the daily automatically replenishing flow of spiritual energy to exchange for a substantial amount of Ascendant Coins at a 1:1 ratio is a good deal for the vast majority of Ascendants.

"but……"

"but?"

“With such a concentration of spiritual power, the news will definitely spread widely, and you won’t be able to keep it a secret,” Black Star warned. “I’ve accepted this commission, and I certainly won’t leak any information related to it, but there’s no guarantee that some people won’t be eyeing you, my boss.”

Guan Tong understood what Black Star meant.

By widely gathering spiritual energy, those with a discerning eye will surely notice.

These people might wonder what someone who collects so much spiritual power wants to do, and they might even try to take advantage of the buyer, since such a generous offer must mean they are very wealthy.

But it is unavoidable.

Guan Tong could secretly collect it, which might not attract attention, but that would be too inefficient.

In the post-apocalyptic era, the rules never cease, and time is extremely precious for everyone determined to reach the end, allowing no room for slow development.

"Thank you for reminding me, I will pay attention. I will bring the crystal over again later, and come back to pick it up a second time tonight."

"Okay, then take care!"

Black Star watched Guan Tong leave, then glanced at the Ascension Coins in his panel.

"Did he pay in full?" Bai Xing asked as she walked up from behind.

"Of course. Each transaction involves tens of thousands of dollars. Even if he's a world-class big shot, I definitely wouldn't agree to pay for it myself."

Bai Xing curled her lips: "Someone like him would never renege on his debts."

Black Star looked at her: "White Star, didn't you not want me to cooperate with him before? What, have you changed your mind now?"

"...I was worried about the danger before. But after these two interactions, I feel that this person is quite easy to talk to, not as cold-blooded and scary as the rumors say."

"It's no wonder you have preconceived notions; after all, this big shot was so intimidating when he first became famous."

"Shadow" first became famous seemingly in the marathon rules, winning first place with an exaggerated time that others could not understand, but this did not cause much of a sensation.

But what truly made him famous was the first Ascendant Challenge.

In that competition, "Shadow" killed countless competitors in the Holy Grail defense battle... Even though dying on the Holy Grail Island was just being eliminated, not really dying, those he eliminated personally experienced the pain of being pierced through the body by Shadow's thorns.

From that incident onward, the image of "Shadow" became inextricably linked to the word "ruthless," and subsequent assassinations further reinforced this impression. Even when evidence later emerged suggesting that his actions were not without cause, once a stereotype is formed, it is not so easy to reverse.

Shirahoshi's vigilance, even fear, stems not only from these rumors but also from her own experience. Black Star had accepted a commission to sell information to Rijeka Seki, only to have Rijeka assassinated two days later… Upon learning of Rijeka's death, she couldn't help but worry that "Shadow" would come after Black Star to silence her.

Even if that kind of thing hadn't happened, she wouldn't want to take on any more requests from such dangerous individuals. But Black Star persuaded her, and after this interaction, she realized the other person wasn't as terrifying as she had imagined.

"However, don't relax too much." Black Star didn't forget to give his sister, who had acted on her own initiative earlier, a warning. "The big boss is still a big boss; who knows what taboos he might have? We just need to do our job well and not worry about anything else to avoid offending him, understand?"

"Ah."

"Alright, once he gets the crystal back, we'll have to infuse it again. Let's contact some more Ascended Ones and exchange them with the previous group."

"okay, I get it."

The two went to contact the Ascended Ones they knew for Guan Tong's request. Meanwhile, Guan Tong, after leaving the Twin Star Bar, teleported to a safe location and retrieved the [Wordless Book].

Turning to the page with "psychic power" written on it, he took out the psychic power crystal and began to transform it through the power of the page.

10:1的转化比例，能留下的只有1/10，剩下9/10都损耗掉，不得不说很浪费。

But Guan Tong was helpless; this was the limit of what he could currently convert. He had tried to increase the storage ratio but failed. It seemed that he would have to wait until his mental power limit broke through to the next stage before he could improve in this area.

Soon, 6,000 points of mental energy were converted into 600 points of reserve mental energy, which were displayed on the terminal panel.

He'll take the crystal back later and absorb it again tonight, which will give him an extra 1200 points of mental energy today. 1200 a day, that's 36000 a month.

"The efficiency is still a bit low..."

Guan Tong sighed.

"My plan is to use a total of seven million Ascension Coins to purchase Mental Power, which will amount to seven hundred thousand after conversion. Currently, I only get thirty-six thousand a month, so it will take about 20 months to convert it all."

Twenty months is almost two years in the making, and Guan Tong can't afford to wait any longer.

Therefore, he decided that during this period he would also acquire some other items that could store and transmit mental energy to speed up the conversion process.

He felt he was no match for the professional auctioneers from large organizations who competed in the end market on his own.

But the Countermeasures Research Lab contacted him today, wanting to cooperate with him. Guan Tong thought that once his business in Sisia was finished, he could ask for some mental power transmission items as payment before cooperating.

In any case, Gao Liangwei made it clear in the video call that he would provide him with all the necessary supplies for the operation. As for what exactly was needed, that would ultimately be up to him, the team leader.

After thinking for a while, Guan Tong returned the crystal to the Twin Star Bar and then went back to Ye Lianka's manor.

When he returned, Yelena had just finished her work and was coming out of her study.

"Teacher, I'm going to the competition later. Could you please come with me?"

"Are you going there to watch the game? After all..."

Even though the Sisya arena is not open to the public and is in a closed competition mode, watching people fight each other on the spot is not a pleasant thing.

Yelena's expression was complicated: "Regardless, those who signed up for the competition are all strong individuals who are confident in themselves, but these strong individuals have to face such brutal competition... As the governor, my presence there can also show that I value them..."

Guan Tong noticed that she wasn't as decisive as usual, and felt that she might not be sure whether the decision to open an official competition arena was right or wrong.

……

Unlike other countries that chose to keep their competition venues secret, the Solomon Empire, despite a barrage of criticism, saw all tickets sold out within seconds of being released after announcing that tickets would be sold live.

Whether it was the cheapest one at 50 shenghua coins or the very expensive one at 600 shenghua coins, they all sold out quickly, not a single one left.

Many people who managed to buy tickets were able to resell them for double the profit, with some scalped tickets for better seats even fetching several times the original price. This high demand has truly surprised many people.

Judging from the overwhelmingly negative public opinion, many people thought that no one would go to watch the competition live.

But in the end, human nature prevailed.

After a full day of preparations yesterday and this morning, the Soma Locomotive Stadium officially opened for use this afternoon.

This venue was converted from a large competition basketball court. After removing the hoops and other equipment, the spacious area was used entirely as a competition area.

The spectator area hasn't changed much, except that some of the front row seats have been removed to prevent accidental injury from participants.

The first match was about to begin, and the ticketed audience members had already taken their seats and were excitedly discussing the game.

"Is it about to start? I can't wait!"

"Yes, I really had a hard time getting this ticket."

"You're lucky you managed to snag one; I paid double the price for a scalped ticket!"

"The contestants aren't entering the arena yet, hurry up!"

"I hope there will be more matches, that would be more exciting to watch!"

Inside a private room high up in the venue, some well-dressed dignitaries looked down at the expectant audience below, making small talk and joking.

Someone scoffed, "The body always speaks louder than the mouth. There's a huge uproar online about boycotting, but the scene is packed with people. It's ridiculous."

"That's normal," the person next to him said casually. "People love to watch conflict. Otherwise, where would those boxing and fighting matches have gotten their fans and profits? You know, back then, many viewers knew that the matches were just scripted performances, but they still enjoyed watching them."

"Haha, there won't be any script for this competition, and there won't be any countdown for loss or forfeit."

"Yes. Once you're on stage, it's either win or die. The fact that someone is bound to die in a match is what creates this massive crowd of spectators."

Someone rubbed their hands together, unable to hide the excitement on their face: "I understand now why people in ancient times liked watching slaves fight in gladiatorial arenas. Without bloodshed, it's really no fun!"

"I wonder if any powerful figures will emerge here. I'm really looking forward to it."

"Heh~ True masters don't compete like clowns in front of a huge crowd~"

After that somewhat sweet voice rang out, everyone in the private room looked over and, upon seeing the woman who had entered, all showed expressions of surprise.

"Miss Ishan has arrived."

"Please have a seat, Miss Ishan!"

Among the crowd, the more perceptive ones stepped forward and struck up a conversation, their words and expressions full of flattery.

Even though everyone present was from a powerful and wealthy family, their status paled in comparison to the blonde, blue-eyed woman before them.

Faced with everyone's flattery, Yishan sat down on the sofa in the middle of the private room with a self-assured and habitual air, looked down at the competition field, and said, "Do you think what I just said is right?"

"Of course! People buy tickets to watch their performance, and they're practically clowns themselves!"

"The real strong ones should be us, no, the real strong ones are Miss Ishan."

"Yeah yeah."

Everyone echoed their agreement, and the woman named Ishan smiled and said, "I'm very interested in the rewards for this rule, so my goal is to be in the top three."

Top three?!

The group looked at each other; getting into the top three among all the ascendants in the world was no easy feat.

especially……

They looked up at the number "1" above Ishan's head, which was particularly eye-catching.

"You think I'm talking nonsense because I only have 1 point right now?" Yishan saw through everyone's thoughts. "But why should I be in such a hurry? I'll just wait until all the participants have accumulated a lot of points, and then I'll take them all."

"...!"

Ishan's words startled everyone slightly, but were not too unexpected.

Killing high-scoring players and taking all the points they've earned so far is indeed a quick way to climb the rankings.

But the prerequisite for meeting this condition is that you can kill high-scoring players.

This seems contradictory, because if an ascendant isn't strong enough, where would they get high scores? And if they are strong enough, it wouldn't be so easy to kill them and steal their scores.

But everyone in the private room knew that if it were this woman named Yishan, it would be incredibly easy.

As the biological daughter of the King of the Solomon Empire, she undoubtedly wielded immense power. Perhaps she herself lacked ability, but with a single word, countless capable people would be willing to do things for her.

She wanted to grab points without having to fight the strong herself. She could simply instruct others to bring the high-scoring individuals to the brink of death, and then elegantly finish them off herself.

The power that comes with this status and position is greater than the power of any strongman, something all the privileged young men in the private room are well aware of.

"Has the competition not started yet? There are so many people, it's so chaotic, I don't want to wait too long," Ishan said unhappily. "I still need to go for a beauty treatment later."

"Miss Yishan, please don't worry, I'll have someone go and urge the staff right away."

"I'll go down there myself!"

"I'll go as well."

Everyone wanted to make a good impression on Ishan, but they couldn't see that Ishan, with her back to them, was filled with disgust at their attempts to please her.

Seven or eight minutes later, the match was finally ready.

A well-known television host from Soma took the stage first, proclaiming with great enthusiasm: "Ladies and gentlemen, today is the first day of the 'Race of Death,' and our warriors from Soma will fight for victory and honor! Now, let's all cheer and welcome our first group of competitors!"

"Oh!!!"

Amid cheers, a dozen or so people took to the field, further fueling the excitement at the scene.

"It wasn't a one-on-one duel!"

"Is it a large-scale battle? That's great! This will definitely be more exciting to watch than a one-on-one fight!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill! I want to see people being killed!"

The crowd erupted in cheers, and the host had to shout several times to finally quell the noise before introducing the competition: "As you all know, the rules period is only seven days, and one day has already passed, leaving six days. Given the large number of participants, there isn't enough time for one-on-one battles, so the competition will be a free-for-all."

"Each round of the competition will have fifteen Ascendants participating. They will fight and battle together in the arena, and the contestant who stands at the end will be the winner of this round and will advance to the next round!"

(End of this chapter)