Chapter 55: Level 50 Grand National Standard, Absolutely Terrifying!

Facing the onslaught of players whose levels ranged as high as 35 to 40, Lu Ming knew he could not withstand them.
Yet, he had nowhere left to run.
Right at this critical juncture—
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
Four massive golden shields suddenly descended from the sky, enveloping Lu Ming and Lin Youwei, forming an enormous protective barrier that sheltered them both.
The very next moment, the aggressive attacks of the rushing Invincible players slammed into the barrier. Far from breaking it, the entire group was violently repelled and sent flying backward!
"A Tier-C Knight skill, Shield of the Firmament?!"
"What the hell! Where would someone from the Second Heaven get a Tier-C skill?"
Just as those knocked-back Invincible players were staring in shock—
Swoosh!
A massive, fiery-red ring-shaped barrier abruptly materialized on the ground around them, trapping them in place.
Before they could even recover their senses—
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
Countless fireballs rained down from the sky, blanketing the entire area within the barrier.
-23258!
-24369!
-23589!
-24112!
……
Amidst the devastating onslaught of the violent firestorm, accompanied by a chorus of miserable shrieks, more than a dozen players from the Invincible Guild inside the barrier were instantly wiped out in a flash, with not a single survivor!
On the other side, Invincible Destiny was jolted awake by the sudden turn of events.
However, before he had any time to react at all, he saw a lightning-fast black shadow weaving through the crowd around him at a speed that was utterly impossible for the naked eye to capture.
He had no idea what was happening.
He only heard a succession of agonizing screams echoing around him.
Following that, he watched as his teammates collapsed to the ground, one after another!
Invincible Destiny's breathing instantly grew shallow, and he looked around frantically in sheer panic, yet he couldn't even catch a glimpse of the enemy!
Realizing that a formidable powerhouse had appeared on the scene, Invincible Destiny could no longer spare a thought for the lives of his teammates; he immediately spun around and bolted!
He had barely taken two steps when he saw a warrior clad in cyan armor, wielding a turquoise-hued longsword, standing straight right in front of him and blocking his path.
When Invincible Destiny clearly saw the ID hovering above the opponent's head, stark terror gripped his entire being—
[Azure Dragon] (Level 50, 6th-Transition Warrior, Ranked 71 on the National Server Warrior Leaderboard)!
At that moment, the flesh on Invincible Destiny's face was trembling uncontrollably!
His heart rate shot straight up to 280!
For he knew all too well: the weight behind a level 50 ranking at 71st on the national server was hundreds of times more terrifying than being in the top ten of the national server at level 200 and above!!!
Or to put it another way.
At the other party's level and ranking, it would take nothing more than a casual flick for them to effortlessly snuff out his miserable little life!
Knowing that he had provoked a top-tier bigshot whom he couldn't afford to offend even if he had ten lives, Invincible Destiny realized that disaster was imminent.
Panic-stricken to the core, he dropped straight to his knees before Azure Dragon with a heavy thud, his voice trembling as he pleaded, "Have mercy, great master!"
Azure Dragon gazed down at Invincible Destiny with a calm expression.
"Do you even know who that Array Tactician is?"
"He is the proud younger brother-in-law of the seventh-ranked player on the Great Xia Guild Leaderboard and the captain of the God-Slayer Guild. How dare you lay a hand on him?"
Invincible Destiny glanced back at Lu Ming, then turned his gaze back to Azure Dragon, his face growing even more terrified. "I... I was blind! Please spare me, great master! I'll never dare do it again!!!"
Regret tore through Invincible Destiny's heart a myriad of times.
Had he known this Array Tactician was connected to God-Slayer, ranked seventh on the Great Xia Guild Leaderboard, even if you gave him ten thousand guts, a small-fry like him from a fifth-tier municipal guild would never have dared to offend him!
But regretting it now was far too late.
"Watch your step in the next life."
The moment the words fell, Azure Dragon raised his turquoise sword.
Slash!
A razor-sharp blade of light descended from above, piercing straight through Invincible Destiny's body.
An astronomical critical hit of 67,982 points instantly obliterated Invincible Destiny.
Simultaneously, the remaining dozens of Invincible Guild players on the field were also thoroughly annihilated under the harvesting blades of the other three: White Tiger, Xuanwu, and Suzaku.
"How weak! Cutting down trash like this just dirties my blade!" White Tiger stepped on the corpse of an Invincible player, using the man's own mage robes to wipe the blood off his dagger.
Xuanwu, the seemingly honest and simple-natured chubby knight, wore an expression of utmost displeasure. "You always say you'll leave a few for me, but you always end up slaughtering them all! You guys are truly heartless bastards!"
Suzaku, the mage, smiled faintly. "Next time, for sure!"
Watching the group instantly slaughter so many people and remain so nonchalant amidst casual banter, Lin Youwei, who had never witnessed such a spectacle before, hid fearfully behind Lu Ming.
Lu Ming himself had no idea where these people had come from or why they had chosen to rescue him.
It wasn't until he inadvertently caught sight of a silver, shimmering necklace worn around the neck of Suzaku the mage that sudden realization dawned upon him... They were people sent by Qin Churan!
Because that very necklace was none other than the Level 17 Silver-tier [Starlight Might] that Lu Ming had previously sold to Qin Churan!
"A necklace worth 500,000 given away just like that? It seems the relationship between these people and Qin Churan is far from ordinary!"
Events proved that they were indeed extraordinary.
For every single one of these four individuals bore a dazzling national server title hovering above their heads—
Level 50 Assassin White Tiger, ranked 98th on the National Server Assassin Leaderboard!
Level 50 Mage Suzaku, ranked 66th on the National Server Mage Leaderboard!
Level 50 Knight Xuanwu, ranked 83rd on the National Server Knight Leaderboard!
Level 50 Warrior Azure Dragon, ranked 71st on the National Server Warrior Leaderboard!
In the Abyss World, once a player reached level 30, they could earn points and climb the professional rankings through daily duels.
For 99% of players worldwide, even holding a minor village ranking was an existence far beyond their reach.
Moreover, even among those who did hold rankings, the vast majority were players over level 100 who had accumulated high scores day by day.
In his past life, Lu Ming had lived for five years without ever seeing a national ranking above level 100.
Let alone right now, encountering four major national rankings at level 50!
"To think God-Slayer possesses powerhouses of this caliber. No wonder they rank seventh among the national guilds..."
At the same time, Lu Ming knew deep down that if not for the intervention of these individuals, he would never have escaped the hands of the Invincible Guild players unscathed.
Therefore, he spoke modestly to the group, "Many thanks to you all for stepping in to help!"
At that moment, Azure Dragon suddenly said to Lu Ming, "Congratulations, you have passed our test."
"A test?"
"What test?"
Facing a bewildered Lu Ming—
White Tiger, like a ghost, appeared by Lu Ming's side out of nowhere.
Throwing an arm around Lu Ming's shoulder, he squinted and chuckled, "Stop pretending. Aren't you pursuing Ranran? We approve of this!"
Suzaku scrutinized Lu Ming with a sharp gaze and said, "However, let's get the ugly talk out of the way first. We all watched Ranran grow up; though we share no blood ties, we still count as half of Ranran's family on her side."
"If you dare to bully Ranran, treat her poorly, or let her suffer even the slightest grievance, I will definitely make sure you die without a burial place. I mean what I say!"
Little chubby Xuanwu flopped down onto the ground, weeping like a broken man. "Ranran, how could you just leave like this! I can't bear to part with you, Ranran!"
White Tiger instantly flashed over to Xuanwu and kicked him flat onto the ground. "Go cry somewhere else! Stop acting like Ranran is dead!"
Lu Ming understood.
It turned out they mistook him for Qin Churan's boyfriend!
Lu Ming's objective was precisely to get close to Qin Churan and then utilize her to advance his revenge plot.
Therefore, he chose not to clarify their misunderstanding.
As far as Lu Ming was concerned, this was actually a prime opportunity for him to get closer to Qin Churan!
And right at this very moment, a voice suddenly rang out: "Alright you guys! Taking advantage of my absence to negotiate and sell me off, is that it?"
Following the voice, he saw none other than Qin Churan rushing over!
Clearly having overheard what Azure Dragon and the others had just said to Lu Ming, Qin Churan's originally fair face was flushed bright red all the way to the tips of her ears!
She hurriedly explained to Lu Ming, "A bunch of madmen! Talking absolute nonsense! You mustn't take them seriously!"
As she spoke, Qin Churan swept an angry, glare-filled gaze across White Tiger and the others, snapping furiously, "All of you, get out of here with me! Stop making fools of yourselves!"
"Utterly humiliating!"
With that, Qin Churan pinched Xuanwu's ear with her left hand and Suzaku's ear with her right, dragging the two of them away as if they were a pair of helpless little chicks.
"Ow! Pain, pain, pain, Big Sis, go easy..."
Watching these two top-hundred national server masters who didn't dare show the slightest bit of defiance toward Qin Churan,
Qinqin and the other two girls stood there completely dumbfounded.
Of course, anyone with eyes could tell that they weren't truly afraid of Qin Churan.
Rather, it was the unconditional doting and indulgence of older brothers toward a younger sister.
"Let's grab a meal together offline sometime," Azure Dragon said to Lu Ming by way of parting before silently following after Qin Churan and the rest.
As for White Tiger, he rushed over to get lovey-dovey with Qinqin, his girlfriend of three months whom he had been in a long-distance relationship with.
"Ah-hu? When did you arrive in Yunzhou? How come you didn't give me a heads-up?"
"Hehe, I figured I'd give you a surprise! Haven't seen you in ages, Qinqin, did you miss me?"
"I did! I missed you tons!"
"Come on, let's log off and I'll take you out for something good to eat!"
"Okay!"