In the end, the final circle of the Battle Royale tournament devolved into a chaotic and intense battle. As the poison circle continued to shrink, all the teams were drawn into the fight.
In the confined battlefield, various spirit skills flew everywhere, and the weaker competitors were instantly eliminated. For example, Ye Lingling from the Heaven Dou Royal Academy was relatively weak, yet she was a crucial healer for her team. Even with March 7th's full protection, she was still targeted and was forced to leave the game.
The battle was chaotic yet spectacular. Dragon Aotian from the Body Sect, Qian Renxue from Spirit Hall, and the spirit fusion skill users Hu Liena and Xie Yue all displayed powerful combat abilities that were close to a Spirit Saint, making them dominant on the battlefield.
Compared to the Body Sect and Spirit Hall, which Firefly and Castorice respectively chose, the alliance formed by Jinhsi and Gu Yue, although they had a numerical advantage, was slightly inferior in overall strength. Firefly and the others held each other in check and did not rashly attack the teams the others had chosen.
However, as the battle became more intense, the Shrek Academy was the first to be eliminated. Then, Nan Qiuchiu, Xu Tianzhen, Shui Bing'er, Huo Wu, and others were eliminated one after another. With their teammates tied up and unable to help, Jinhsi and Gu Yue could only reluctantly withdraw from the competition.
Firefly and Castorice exchanged glances, instantly understanding each other's intentions—to eliminate Robin and March 7th first. These two were skilled in support and defense. Even though Wang Qiu'er and the others had been subjected to the fierce bombardment of soul tools earlier, they still managed to hold on until the end under their support and protection.
"No way, you two, that's not fair!" March 7th looked at Firefly and Castorice, who were blocking their way, with a look of shock. The Spirit Hall and Body Sect teams cooperated tacitly and attacked Wang Qiu'er and the others together. Even with Robin's ability boost, which elevated Wang Qiu'er and the others' strength by a level, their condition was already poor after multiple battles and a bombardment from a grade 7 soul tool. In this situation, Robin and March 7th were successfully contained, and the St. Freya Academy's second team was regrettably defeated.
"This is also for the best, at least it won't ruin A-Ming's plan." Robin shook her head helplessly. She knew that Lu Jingming's intention for holding this Battle Royale tournament was not for the people of St. Freya Academy to win the championship. After all, if they had participated in person, the outcome of the championship would have been a foregone conclusion. Even if the St. Freya Academy's second team won, it would be no different than if they had won themselves. The 100,000-year spirit bone and 100,000-year stigma were not meant for them. They were a part of Lu Jingming's World Tree plan.
Therefore, Firefly had chosen incorrectly this time. Robin looked at Firefly and shook her head again. Although it wasn't impossible for the Body Sect to win the championship, Lu Jingming clearly hoped that Spirit Hall would win. In this regard, Castorice, who usually seemed to be unassuming and didn't have much of a presence, was the one who truly understood Lu Jingming's intentions. Otherwise, she wouldn't have gone straight to Qian Renxue to cooperate.
Unlike Castorice, who had been staying at St. Freya Academy, Robin, March 7th, and Firefly were in the outside world and did not have a deep understanding of Lu Jingming's plan, which led to this failure. As expected, after eliminating Robin, March 7th, and Wang Qiu'er and the others, Firefly decisively used her sixth spirit skill, "Supernova," intending to knock Spirit Hall out as well.
At this time, the final circle was extremely small, and the area not covered by the poison circle was only a few dozen meters. Faced with Firefly's incredibly powerful meteor kick, everyone had nowhere to hide and could only brace themselves to take the hit. As the huge fire shockwave raged, everyone was bathed in the high-temperature explosion.
To ensure that the Body Sect would win the final victory, Firefly specifically reminded Dragon Aotian to hide at the very edge to ensure his survival until the end. Her main attack target was Qian Renxue, Hu Liena, and the others. However, when the smoke and dust from the explosion gradually cleared, things did not go as Firefly had expected.
Dragon Aotian did survive by activating his spirit skill, "Undying Golden Body," along with an invincible golden body shield. But to everyone's surprise, the people from Spirit Hall were also completely unharmed. Looking at the purplish-black aura and the countless dancing black butterflies surrounding Qian Renxue and the others, Firefly couldn't help but feel confused.
Lu Jingming, who was watching from the sidelines, saw this and shook his head helplessly. Although Firefly and the others knew a lot about Castorice, they didn't know that she had an incredibly powerful ability—to help her teammates avoid death once. With Castorice's personality, she would neither deliberately hide nor actively mention this matter. In addition, the people around her had not encountered a life-threatening situation, so this ability was only known to Castorice and Lu Jingming.
Just like that, Firefly miscalculated. Her original plan to clear the field instead handed the championship to Spirit Hall. As Dragon Aotian was defeated by the combined efforts of Qian Renxue and the spirit fusion skill users Hu Liena and Xie Yue, who had transformed into a "Siren," the first Battle Royale tournament of the Simulated Universe officially came to a close.
Lu Jingming was very satisfied with the outcome of the competition. He had wanted Spirit Hall to win from the very beginning because only Spirit Hall could maximize the benefits of the 100,000-year spirit bone and 100,000-year stigma. Lu Jingming was very clear about the situation in Spirit Hall. The stigma and spirit bone could not both be given to Bibi Dong. Given Bibi Dong's situation, she would definitely choose the 100,000-year spirit bone, and as for the stigma, she would transfer it to Qian Renxue.
After Bibi Dong obtained the 100,000-year spirit bone, she could further advance her Rakshasa God trial, shortening the time it would take for her to become a god. This would give her enough power to cleanse the increasingly powerful corruption point, essentially "working" for Lu Jingming. After Qian Renxue refined the 100,000-year stigma, her own strength would also be significantly enhanced.
In addition, with the threat of the corruption point, Qian Daoliu would inevitably let Qian Renxue undergo her divine trial ahead of schedule. As a result, the Angel God would also appear ahead of time. With two deities in charge, even if they had just become gods, it would be enough to suppress the continuously strengthening corruption point and prevent the situation from deteriorating. After all, Lu Jingming's goal was to help the planet evolve, not to have the corruption point destroy the world. If he had that thought, wouldn't it be simpler to just release the unfiltered Honkai energy?
After all, with the Honkai energy's filtering mechanism strengthening along with the development of civilization, it would not be difficult to destroy the world. And what is a civilization? It's not just a technological civilization. Isn't a cultivation civilization also a civilization? A civilization that has no technology but has strong individual and collective strength—why wouldn't that count as a civilization? The more powerful the cultivators, the more prosperous the cultivation civilization, and the stronger the Honkai's power should become, right?
Of course, Lu Jingming wouldn't be so bored as to create a Cocoon of Finality. After all, given the significance of the Cocoon of Finality, the amount of Real Power required to materialize it would probably be more than summoning a Stellaron Hunter directly.
Lu Jingming planned to make the Battle Royale tournament an annual event. Of course, he had no intention of participating again himself. This tournament was both a way to promote the overall strength of the planet and an opportunity to expand the influence of the Simulated Universe. After this tournament, he was sure that everyone would take the Simulated Universe more seriously. As long as the Simulated Universe continued to expand its influence until every commoner could enter it, Lu Jingming would be able to gain the maximum benefit. At that time, the rewards he gave out, such as the 100,000-year spirit bone, would be insignificant.
As the competition came to a close, Lu Jingming looked at the slightly disappointed Firefly and the equally gloomy March 7th and said with a smile, "It's alright, it's just one loss. How about this? I promise to grant each of you one wish. How's that? Of course, Castorice can have two wishes."
"Really!" March 7th's spirits instantly lifted upon hearing this. Her once-dull eyes brightened, and Firefly also looked at Lu Jingming with surprise, her bright eyes wide.
"Of course. Castorice, you don't have any objections, do you?" Lu Jingming nodded and then looked at Castorice to ask for her opinion. After all, Castorice was the ultimate winner of this competition, so he naturally had to ask for her thoughts.
Castorice gently shook her head. What objections could she possibly have? One wish had now become two. She was too happy for words.
"Yay, Castorice, you're the best!" March 7th cheered excitedly, subconsciously wanting to run over and give Castorice a big hug. Fortunately, Lu Jingming reacted quickly and grabbed March 7th's collar, stopping her just in time. If March 7th had actually hugged Castorice, with Castorice's special physique, March 7th would have suffered a great loss even if she didn't die.
March 7th, who had been pulled back by Lu Jingming, suddenly remembered Castorice's special physique. She stuck out her tongue and then looked at Lu Jingming with gratitude. If Lu Jingming hadn't stopped her, she would have probably suffered. The feeling of experiencing death was a terrible thought.
"When you've thought about what wishes you want, come find me." After saying this, Lu Jingming exited the Simulated Universe.
Watching Lu Jingming's figure gradually disappear, Robin turned to March 7th and Firefly and said, "We should go back too."
"Of course. I'm waiting to go back and get A-Ming to grant my wish!" March 7th said with an excited expression. She was clearly thinking about what kind of wish she wanted Lu Jingming to fulfill. After all, Lu Jingming, who had the authority of reality, could indeed fulfill wishes as long as he had enough Real Power.
Firefly and Robin exchanged glances and smiled knowingly without saying a word. In their opinion, little March had no competitiveness at all and there was no need to be vigilant against her.
"Herta, I plan to change the plan."
After leaving the Simulated Universe, Lu Jingming went directly to Herta. At the same time, he woke up the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata and Raiden Makoto and told them his thoughts. After a series of experiments in the parallel world, he felt more and more that the World Tree plan was still very crude and prone to unexpected situations. For example, he never anticipated that the planet's will would act on its own, actively gathering a large amount of negative energy, causing the strength of the corruption point to exceed expectations and bringing immense pressure to the Spirit Master world.