Director Chen Misses His Shot
"No... Who is that person? So arrogant??"
Jian Changsheng, who was several blocks away, had just sneakily blown out his Kerosene Lamp when he saw a pillar of fire shooting up into the sky in the distance, and was instantly dumbfounded.
The same question also appeared in the minds of everyone around. That fire dragon shooting up into the sky was like an arrogant provocation facing everyone:
—— I am right here. If you have the ability, come at me.
The raging fire illuminated Chen Ling's cheeks, making those deep eyes shine like stars. His gaze swept around, as if searching for something.
Chen Ling had never been a high-profile person. Arrogantly exposing his position at this kind of time, apart from stimulating those Audience members, there was a deeper reason... He wanted to see if his guess was correct.
Less than a minute after the pillar of fire rose, a fluorescent figure quickly hurried over from the night sky.
"Right, right... I have already found him. I will explain it to him."
"Let me confirm... At this initial position, he should be called Lin Yan. Yeah, you guys pay attention..."
"..."
"Don't worry, I know. I will pay attention to keeping a safe distance from the participants."
"..."
That person, like the referee at the station, was wearing a fluorescent windbreaker. A work badge hung on his chest, written with the two numbers "06". At this moment, he was holding a Walkie-talkie, as if reporting something.
After he flipped over a few rooftops, he arrived next door to the residential building where Chen Ling was, and spoke in a deep voice:
"Participant Lin Yan, the competition hasn't started yet. Please do not use Divine Path power, and do not affect others!"
Seeing the referee appear, Chen Ling's eyes lit up slightly.
"There is more than one referee in the venue. The one at the station just now was Sixth Stage, and this one is Fifth-Tier... It's just that they are a bit older. They should all be people from Tianshu Domain. Maybe they are personnel transferred from the Tower to Heaven..." Chen Ling rapidly analyzed in his heart. "That makes sense. Those at the Sixth Stage and above belong to high-tier Combat Power. Placed in any Domain, they are an important resource. Naturally, it's impossible to send out dozens of them at once to supervise a group of young people fighting the whole way... Plus with that Pathway Chief of the Path of the Physician presiding, it's actually enough."
While he was calculating, he casually extinguished the Kerosene Lamp beside his hand, revealing a terrified smile:
"Sorry about that, referee... I didn't know the specific rules, sorry to bother you."
"Isn't it all written in the manual?" Referee 06 seemed somewhat displeased.
"I can't read."
"..." The referee found it bizarre. "Then how did you find your way here?"
"I have a friend named Jian Wubing. He brought me here. Although his brain is not too smart, he can read."
Hearing the three words Jian Wubing, the referee seemed to find it somewhat familiar. He glanced at the list and immediately saw the [Military Dog] path on it. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly... Judging from the name of the path, this person indeed wasn't too smart.
"... Alright then, pay attention later."
After speaking, Referee 06 turned around to leave. Chen Ling suddenly spoke up at this moment, "Wait a moment!"
The referee looked back in confusion.
"Um, because I'm illiterate, I didn't understand any of the things in the manual... If it's convenient, could you explain it to me?" While speaking, Chen Ling used that single arm to pitifully pull out the manual from his chest, and then looked at the referee eagerly.
The Referee: ...
The referee looked down at the time. There were less than three minutes left until the trial started, but after hesitating for a moment, he still sighed.
"Alright, I'll pick a few key points to explain to you, you remember them well."
The referee took the manual and began to briefly explain it to Chen Ling. Chen Ling sat down on the spot and listened attentively, like a student thirsting for knowledge.
Time passed minute by minute and second by second.
When the second hand of the clock struck exactly twelve o'clock, bursts of loud noises rang out from all directions!
Bang bang bang bang—!!
Gorgeous fireworks rapidly lifted off from the surroundings of the Old District, and then exploded in the air, like colorful flower clusters blooming in the starry sky. No matter which corner of the Old District you were in, you could see them clearly.
The competition for the [Heaven-Reaching Star Position] officially began.
The referee glanced at the sky full of fireworks, knowing he should leave, and exhorted: "The general rules are like this. In short, within 48 hours, you can use any means to reduce your competitors as much as possible... Anyway, in this Old District, no one will truly die. You don't need to have a psychological burden."
"Any means are fine?" Chen Ling confirmed once.
"Any means are fine."
"That's good..."
The referee was just about to turn around and leave. The next moment, a cold gleam suddenly flashed from Chen Ling's sleeve, rapidly slashing towards the referee's neck!
The speed of this cold gleam was truly too fast, and the distance was extremely close. It fundamentally didn't give the referee any room to dodge. In order to kill with one strike, Chen Ling even simultaneously expanded the [Tribunal], directly locking the referee in place!
The cold gleam flashed through the air. The moment it touched the referee's neck, the latter suddenly squeaked and teleported three meters away, as if disjointed from the surroundings!
The Bone-Stripping Knife in Chen Ling's hand still missed in the end.
The fluorescent windbreaker fluttered lightly on the roof. Seeing this, the referee laughed out loud as if he had expected it:
"I knew it!
You participants, coming from various Domains, a mix of dragons and fishes. When sending us to be referees this time, the Tower to Heaven repeatedly exhorted that someone would probably set their sights on us referees...
Kid, you dared to release flames in front of so many people, proving that you are confident enough in your own strength. How could you be an illiterate fool?"
Chen Ling himself also didn't expect that his fully charged strike would actually miss so lightly.
He held the Bone-Stripping Knife in one hand, without the slightest bit of embarrassment in his expression, only smiling helplessly. "Senior is indeed remarkably wise. This little trick couldn't deceive you."
The referee brushed his sleeves with both hands and said calmly:
"However, I can also tell you that we referees have nothing on us except a Walkie-talkie and a list... With this time, you might as well go think about how to deal with other Divine Path geniuses."
After speaking, he turned around and left into the distance.
After walking far away, he silently took out the Walkie-talkie and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"I am number 06... This Lin Yan, you guys can pay more attention to him. This kid's heart is very dirty... I almost let him succeed."
"Didn't I tell you to stay away from the participants? How could you still almost let him succeed?" The voice from the other end of the Walkie-talkie rang out.
"I was careless this time, I absolutely won't do it again next time..." The referee gritted his teeth and said. "By the way, are the other referees alright?"
"Out of nearly two hundred participants, only this Lin Yan attacked a referee. Everyone else is perfectly normal."
"That's good..."
After the fluorescent windbreaker faded into the distance,
Chen Ling looked at his back, clicked his tongue, and rubbed his chin with one hand, deep in thought.
"I actually missed... Trying to assassinate a Fifth-Tier referee is indeed not that simple."
"But after this time, he should relax his vigilance..."
"If I can replace a referee, the room for operation in this trial will be big..."