[Defeat the beasts of this layer to proceed to the next layer. You cannot exit the secret realm halfway.]
[You will receive two abnormal statuses. Abnormal status generation in progress… Generation complete. You have obtained the statuses "Corrupted Blood" and "Critical Weakening."]
Jiang Kai widened his eyes. Apparently, the abnormal statuses he obtained this time were even worse than the ones on the first floor!
The "Corrupted Blood" status was the same as the previous layer, losing 10% stamina per second, while "Critical Weakening" reduced the critical chance of the next attack by 50% and also reduced the critical damage of the next attack by 50%.
"This is too much, you're targeting me, aren't you!" Jiang Kai shouted angrily.
The only thing to be thankful for was that "Critical Weakening" applied to the next attack, not the overall critical chance and critical damage.
That meant, if Jiang Kai had a 10% critical chance and 300x critical damage, then under the effect of "Critical Weakening," his actual critical chance would be 5%, and critical damage would be 150x.
At least he could still land critical hits.
[The beasts of this layer have obtained two top-tier buff statuses: "Reinforced Qi Shield" and "Exceptionally Strong."]
Jiang Kai slightly furrowed his brow. These two enhancements didn't seem particularly frightening to him.
"Not bad. They don't have elemental resistance. If I use Ignite, even with low crit rate, I can still burn them to death." Thinking of this, Jiang Kai felt much more at ease.
The countdown entered its final stage, and the seventh gate was suddenly broken through by two menacing minotaurs.
These two minotaurs wielded giant axes, and their bodies were surrounded by a layer of light shield, presumably the "Reinforced Qi Shield."
Their sizes were around six meters tall, not quite at war general level, but still taller and stronger than typical elites.
Jiang Kai took a deep breath. It looked like the battle on the seventh floor wouldn't be over so quickly.
...
In front of the Endless Abyss, everyone was anxiously waiting for Jiang Kai.
The information on the Heavenly Dragon Twin Rankings was too abnormal. Many people had already started questioning the results.
And now over thirty minutes had passed, and Jiang Kai still hadn't come out.
Luo Ping frowned. "What on earth is going on with that guy?"
Tian Feng shook his head and said, "The voices of doubt from abroad are getting louder. Even our Huaxia players don't have the confidence to refute them now."
The 27-second score was just too hard to believe.
Hua Tianchen frowned slightly. "Jiang Kai, oh Jiang Kai, what on earth is going on with you? Hurry up and come out already. Everyone is waiting for your explanation now!"
At this moment, someone in the crowd suddenly shouted.
"Look at the Dragon Ranking! The result on it is disappearing!"
Everyone instantly grew tense and simultaneously turned to look at the Dragon Ranking.
They saw the score behind the top rank starting to transform into points of light, gradually dissipating.
"Could it be… it really was a misjudgment?"
"No way. If this score gets canceled, those foreigners are going to grab onto it and mock Huaxia again."
"Sigh… 27 seconds really was too unbelievable. Who knows what actually happened inside. For it to even cause the Ghost Star system to misjudge, this might be the first time in decades."
Luo Ping, Hua Tianchen, and Tian Feng, along with the soldiers and officers, were all staring intently at the Dragon Ranking.
[Dragon Ranking No. 1: Jiang Kai, Score: Endless Abyss First…]
The timing data had already completely vanished. Even the character for "layer" had turned into a light point and faded away.
"This… Did Jiang Kai fail?"
Sure enough, even the number "one" disappeared.
"It's over. This is the most embarrassing thing ever."
One of the troublemakers deliberately raised his voice and shouted, "Look at that! I told you, anyone can talk big. 'There will be a Huaxia name atop the Heavenly Ranking'? Jiang Kai couldn't even pass the Endless Abyss!"
"Us Huaxia players have already been laughed at enough. Now we're just slapping our own faces!"
"Everyone, don't be fooled by Jiang Kai anymore. From now on, he's banned from logging into Ghost Star!"
Many didn't echo the sentiment. They just looked at the Dragon Ranking in disappointment, helplessly waiting for the one and only score to be erased…
Not long after, Jiang Kai's score was completely wiped.
The Huaxia players on site felt a deep, indescribable heaviness in their hearts.
"In the end, we've become a laughing stock again. This time the foreigners are probably going to curse us even harder. Sigh…"
In front of the Endless Abyss, tens of thousands of people couldn't suppress their gloom. Some had even already turned around and were leaving quietly.
Luo Ping also sighed. "Maybe… we placed too much hope in Jiang Kai."
"Foreign forces are still trying to shake our national players' morale. Hua God, I think it's time to bring in the Ghost Star-level warriors, the Peerless National Heroes, and the King of Soldiers."
Hua Tianchen shook his head. "Their travel cost is too high… Sigh, this is the best we can do for now."
After saying that, the two turned to leave.
"Old Tian, let's go." Hua Tianchen turned and looked at Tian Feng.
However, Tian Feng stood still, not moving. His gaze remained fixed at the bottom of the Dragon Ranking.
"Something's not right. Those light points haven't completely disappeared," Tian Feng said with furrowed brows and a low voice.
Reminded by Tian Feng, Hua Tianchen and Luo Ping looked again at the Dragon Ranking.
That's right. Why were those light points still floating on the Dragon Ranking?
Many others noticed the same thing and found it rather strange.
Although the Huaxia Dragon Ranking had always been empty, once the score was erased, the light points shouldn't be lingering like that.
At that moment, a large number of drifting light points on the Dragon Ranking began to gather once again toward the No. 1 position!
"This is…" Luo Ping widened his eyes, stunned as he looked at the Huaxia Dragon Ranking.
The light points converged and re-formed into a new line of information.
[Dragon Ranking No. 1: Jiang Kai, Score: Endless Abyss Second Layer, Time: 7 minutes 47 seconds.]
Seeing this score, those who were previously downcast were struck as if by lightning, every one of them froze where they stood.
"Sec-second… layer? The Dragon Ranking wasn't erasing Jiang Kai's score, it was updating it?!"
"7 minutes 47 seconds? Second layer?! My god! This is the score for the second layer?!"
Chang Siyao widened her eyes, afraid she was hallucinating.
But no matter how many times she looked, it was the same result.
Second layer, 7 minutes 47 seconds!
"My god, that guy became the world's first person to clear the second layer of the Endless Abyss?!"
No one believed the 27-second score, but 7 minutes 47 seconds, while still a little unbelievable, was at least a bit more plausible in comparison.
After being stimulated by the 27-second record, people now felt that 7 minutes 47 seconds seemed quite real!
However, now people were no longer focused on the time.
Jiang Kai had become the world's first person to clear the second layer of the Endless Abyss!
At that moment, the three battle-hardened generals suddenly felt their hearts speed up, they were actually nervous.
Hua Tianchen swallowed hard, glancing back and forth between the Dragon Ranking and the Heavenly Ranking.
The Dragon Ranking had already updated. That meant the Heavenly Ranking would soon follow.
In the end, Hua Tianchen looked toward the entrance of the Endless Abyss.
That was both an entrance and an exit.
But now, Hua Tianchen didn't care much about the Twin Rankings anymore, because he had thought of another, more terrifying problem.
Even after the score update… Jiang Kai still hadn't come out of the Endless Abyss!
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