The venue for the first round of preliminaries is the largest arena in the outer city. A total of more than 6,000 people signed up for the competition, which was far better than the previous sessions, and it was an unprecedented event.

Due to the number of people, the first round of preliminaries can only be carried out in groups and batches, each registered contestant was given a number, in the stands of the arena, a huge crystal screen appeared, which showed the number range of the group, Chen Rui is 5200, divided into a group of zuihou.

The content of the first round of preliminaries is very simple, that is, three questions will be drawn immediately, and the content of the competition will be completed according to the requirements of the questions within the specified time. The content of the selection is related to the mastery items filled in by the registration, for example, metal mastery is a metal-related question.

There is a lot of luck involved in this kind of competition, some people happen to draw the questions that they are not good at or are very difficult, and some people draw very time-consuming questions, and they don't have time to complete the three items. But in general, people with real strength can still pass smoothly.

The competition began, and the numbers of eliminations and promotions began to appear on the crystal screen, and the questions were generally not easy, and even many veteran contestants felt that this year's competition was much more difficult than the previous one, which was ten years ago. Many unlucky losers cry bitterly, but they can only attract contempt and ridicule, and almost no one sympathizes.

Chen Rui filled in the metal mastery and drew three questions, the first was to complete the missing part of an earth-based enchanted magic array, the second was a question and answer on smelting metal, and the third was to repair a broken long sword.

Except for the second one, the first one is more difficult, and the third one is more time-consuming, but for Chen Rui, there is no pressure and all the projects are completed easily, and the judges next to him announced the promotion.

Dior, who had been apprehensive in the stands, saw the hint of Chen Rui's promotion, and finally let go of his hanging heart, this maker from the dark moon finally has a bit of real talent, but this is just the beginning, and the difficulty will only get bigger and bigger, this guy who has just obtained the name of maker can pass the next round of tests?

Ji Ya also showed surprise, as far as she knew, the eldest princess did not have a particularly good crafter, where did this Arthur come from? She had a faint premonition in her heart, Arthur's powerful self-confidence was definitely not pretended.

The first round of preliminaries took six days to complete, and nearly 70% of the participants were eliminated in this round, and nearly 2,000 people remained.

In the past few days, Chen Rui has obtained a lot of materials through Dior, some of which are kept for his own use, and some of which are transformed into aura.

The second round of preliminaries has begun, and from this round onwards, even those recommended by the masters must participate.

The location of the second round of preliminaries is the Ancient Magic Tower in the Artifact Alliance Building, the Ancient Magic Tower is one of the most mysterious places in the Shadow Imperial Capital Artifact Alliance, it is said that the magic tower was built very early, and the year is no longer reliable, and there are precious magic carvings left by master and grandmaster level craftsmen tens of thousands of years ago, or even more years ago, as well as various magic arrays, which are unpredictable, even if they are the current alliance masters, it is difficult to get a glimpse of the mysteries.

Normally, the Ancient Magic Tower is not open to the public, and only the masters of the Maker Alliance can enter it with restrictions, but this time it was opened unusually, which immediately aroused the interest of all the contestants.

The content of the competition is very novel, the contestants take a special magic slab and a magic stone into the magic tower, within two hours, use the slate to transcribe a complete magic array, after the completion of the magic stone can be teleported out, the magic stone in addition to the function of teleportation and time, can also reflect the latest points in real time.

Those who have not come out within the specified time will be automatically teleported out, and those who have not completed the magic array will be directly out.

Not only that, only two hundred players can be left in this round to enter the semi-final stage, the higher the difficulty of the magic array, the less time it takes, the higher the score, two thousand people have to be eliminated ninety, and only two hundred are taken from two thousand, and the cruelty of the competition can be imagined.

The 2,000 people were divided into 20 groups, and by fate, Chen Rui and his old "friend" Savice were both placed in the Zuihou group.

Savice inadvertently saw Chen Rui, his eyes suddenly froze, and he shot out the light of hatred through his teeth, because he was young and had potential, he had been in infinite glory since he became famous, and the humiliation he suffered last time was simply unprecedented!,

He will never forget how he limped out of the lounge, and how the pain tormented him in the days that followed, although the scars on his body healed, the great shame and trauma in his heart could never be washed away!

If it weren't for the Maker's Contest, Saviche would have done everything he could to get revenge on the Custer family and the Arthur who deserved a thousand cuts.

Unexpectedly, in the Maker Competition, I met this hated enemy, this guy, and even passed the first round of preliminaries!

"Isn't this Saviche?" Chen Rui also saw this old "friend" with resentful eyes, and took the initiative to greet with a familiar face, "The magic prop you studied last time is really powerful, and what I admire even more is that you are willing to take such a big risk to try it yourself, which is worthy of the first day of the imperial capital!"

When the craftsmen of the same group heard this, they all showed expressions of admiration, genius and diligence, no wonder people can be famous in the imperial capital. This words of praise sounded in Saviche's ears, but it was another unceremonious mockery, as uncomfortable as a pinprick, but in front of so many people, he couldn't reveal that kind of humiliating thing, so he had to knock his teeth and swallow it in his stomach, and the hatred in his heart was simply incomprehensible.

Savice is just an ant, and Chen Rui doesn't take him to heart at all, but this kind of role can barely become a step to be stepped on in the competition.

When it was the group's turn to compete, Saviche walked to the front of the group with a gloomy face, entering the Tower of Ancient Magic.

Chen Rui originally thought that the Ancient Magic Tower was a tower with layers of stairs and magic patterns carved on the walls, but as soon as he entered, he realized that it was completely different from what he imagined, and it was an independent space, floating around and changing strange lights that would move, colorful. At first glance, it looks colorful, but in the eyes of the crafter, these lines faintly show a mysterious and profound magic array.

In addition to the light gate at the exit, in the space in the distance, there is also a light gate that can reach the upper level. The higher the level, the more profound and difficult the magic array becomes. The Ancient Magic Tower has a total of six floors, and it is said that even if you are a master, you can only understand the mysteries of the first four floors.

There are many kinds of permutations and combinations of magic arrays, and everyone's mentality and focus of attention are different, and the magic arrays obtained are also different.

The opportunity to enter the Ancient Magic Tower is rare, Chen Rui has already opened the deep analysis, and began to record and scan, in the deep analysis, those patterns of permutation and combination have been quickly "copied", even if it cannot be analyzed at present, it can be slowly analyzed in the future.

His eyesight has now reached the master level, and he can see more things than ordinary people, many of the magic arrays in this layer are improved, but the difficulty is not great, according to the level of the alliance, it is divided into one-star and quasi-two-star. Chen Rui didn't linger too long, and walked towards the light gate leading to the upper floor.

Compared with more than a hundred people on the first layer, there are only about a dozen people on the second layer, and Savice was among them, seeing Chen Rui walking to the second layer, he sneered disdainfully: Because of Master Leo's relationship, Saviche is not the first time to come to the Ancient Magic Tower, the difficulty of the magic array on the second layer is much greater than that of the first layer, although if you can record the completion, the points will be more, but if you can't finish it, then it can't go up to the first layer.

The difficulty of this layer is really greater, the amount of data is much larger, and the scanning speed of deep analysis seems to be much slower.

"I can't understand anything...... Chen Rui took the magic slate, hesitated for a moment, and deliberately said to himself, "I don't know if it will be better on it......

Savice sneered secretly, the above can only be understood by masters, this "Arthur" is just a rookie who has just been promoted to an artifact maker, relying on luck (at least Saviche thinks so) to pass the first round of preliminaries, if you really go to the third layer, let alone an hour, even if it is a year, you can't record a few strokes.

As a competitor and enemy, Saviche certainly hopes that Chen Rui will go to the third layer to "send him to death". Just as he hoped, Chen Rui walked towards the light gate on the third floor step by step, and soon disappeared, a grim smile appeared on the corner of Savice's mouth, and without stopping in his hand, he recorded a difficult magic array, and then crushed the magician he carried, and teleported out the Ancient Magic Tower. ,

The third layer is not only light, but also all kinds of light flames and anomalies, and even the space has a strange distortion, in Chen Rui's eyes, those melodies and colors are bizarre magic symbols, all kinds of different arrangements, just like a complex formula, some of them have been taught by Master Yu and Master Skye, and some are even unheard of, with Chen Rui's current realm, he can naturally see the mystery of these "calculations", and he can't help but be immersed in them for a while.

Outside the Ancient Magic Tower, many people have completed the record and teleported out, and there are special evaluators who have begun to record and verify the score, and the crystal screen in front of the Alliance Building marks the latest top two hundred rankings.

The first place is Saviche, who took 10 minutes to record the magic array as a quasi-three-star magic enhancement type, with 170 points.

Second place Robert, who took 15 minutes to record the magic array as a quasi-three-star basic enhancement type, has 165 points.

The third place Southgate, with a time of 16 minutes, recorded the magic array as a quasi-three-star basic enhancement with 164 points.

......

At present, the result of the two hundredth place is that it took an hour, and the recorded magic array is a two-star magic weakening type, and the points are 80.

Chen Rui has already reached the fourth layer at this time, and even if the things on the fourth layer are Chen Rui, he feels difficult to understand, but he has an in-depth analysis, although he doesn't understand, he can "record" it first, and then slowly keep it for understanding.

After the recording, Chen Rui looked at the timer on the Philosopher's Stone, more than an hour had passed, and looking at the next layer of light in front of him, he hesitated for a moment and tried to walk over.

As soon as he approached the light door, the space suddenly distorted, flashing countless mystical marks, and a powerful repulsive force pushed him out, each shiyan, those marks were arranged in a different shape.

Chen Rui had a feeling that even if he tried his best now to use the Liliang of the Law Realm to cast the Yanlong Possession, he would not be able to break through the Liliang of this light gate. The light gate not only contains a great liliang, but also a kind of rule, if you can't pay attention to the rules, even if it is a demon emperor-level liliang, it may not be able to break through.

In the affairs center on the fifth floor of the building, a middle-aged man with snow-white hair and a middle-aged appearance frowned, it was Master Anderson, the president of the Shadow Empire's Artifact Alliance and the Empire's first artifact maker.

"Another curious guy is testing the gate on the fifth floor, and I don't know if it is a wise move to open the Ancient Magic Tower this time. ”

Master Rummenigge on the side smiled and said: "Even if we can't break the seal of that gate, don't worry, in fact, this time it's more about discovering and cultivating potential juniors, so that they can open their eyes and gain more knowledge." ”

Master Anderson bowed slightly, and said no more.

After trying and recording that magic symbol a few times, seeing that time was running out, Chen Rui looked at the latest ranking, knew in his heart, recorded a second-layer magic array, crushed the magic stone, and teleported out.

In the VIP seats set up outside the Alliance Building, seeing that the name of "Arthur" had not yet appeared within two hundred, Dio, who had been paying attention to the crystal screen, looked very ugly, and Ji Ya also looked a little nervous.

At this time, a beautiful woman, holding a man's arm, walked over, showing a gloating look: "Isn't this our eldest brother Dio? It's Zuihou's time now, why haven't you seen the Arthur you support appear on the ranking list?"

The man on the side was Dio's younger brother Faramo, and he sighed deliberately: "Robert seems to be in second place, although he is currently behind Saviche, but this kind of points ranking will not be brought into the rematch, and the real battle is still to come." ”

"As far as I know, the latter is Robert's forte, he was the champion of the last edition. "The woman is Faramo's wife, Marlene Asmodeus, and the sister of Valen, the second general of the Shadow Empire, this woman is very strong, Faramo has been eaten to death, and he still doesn't even dare to accept a side room.

Dio was very angry in his heart, but he couldn't find the words to fight back,

"Look at the screen!" Ji Ya suddenly exclaimed excitedly, and Dio hurriedly looked at it, and suddenly his spirit was lifted.

Arthur's name finally appeared within two hundred, and it took 1 hour and 25 minutes to record the magic array as a quasi-three-star basic enhancement. With 95 points, he is currently ranked 192nd. ,

Since it is a group of zuihou, there are not many people left in the magic tower, and this ranking is basically stable, and it should be able to enter the next semi-final stage.

Saviche looked at Arthur's name on the screen and showed a sinister sneer: It's okay to continue to step on the head of this enemy in the later games, not only the game, but when the competition is over, it is the time to crush "Arthur" to pieces!

Dio in the VIP seat breathed a sigh of relief, 192 or not, no matter what, he finally escaped death.

"Yelling, what a rude country woman!" "Marlene taunted Ji Ya dissatisfiedly, and then said to Dio with a disdainful face: "I forgot to tell you that Horford, who was supported by Selene's girl, is ranked in the top fifty, although Zuihou's victory must belong to Faramo, but to my surprise, the person you chose is actually worse than Linn, no wonder you can't even keep the position of the first heir." ”

Dio snorted coldly and ignored the two of them anymore, at this time, Chen Rui came to Dio, nodded to Ji Ya, and said with a smile: "It seems that you are lucky, within two hundred, you can enter the next round steadily." ”

"You'll be eliminated in the next round. Marlene chuckled lightly, holding a fan, and gracefully stopped the contemptuous smile.

"Dio, who is this pretentious ugly woman?" Chen Rui had already heard Ma Lian's ridicule of Ji Ya, and asked deliberately.

Marlene's face changed, and Dio was happy to hear it, and replied, "This is my younger brother Faramo, who is bent on ascending to the throne...... and his woman. ”

In order to retaliate for the sarcasm just now, Dio deliberately did not mention Marlene's name, and Chen Rui showed a sudden expression: "I heard that your brother has several women outside, I don't know which one?"

It was Faramo who changed his face this time, seeing the cold gaze transferred by Ma Lian, Faramo's expression became quite exciting, in fact, Chen Rui was crooked, Faramo did have a mistress outside, but because Ma Lian was too powerful and had a strong background, he kept it a secret from this fierce wife.

Dio secretly gave Chen Rui a thumbs up, but at present, Chen Rui is ranked more than 190, and he is only afraid that he will not be optimistic in the rematch stage, and asked worriedly: "The next round is the rematch, and the Zuihou candidate in the final stage will be decided, how sure are you?"

Chen Rui shook his head, this guy is too calm, how could he ask such a thing in front of a competitor?

"Big brother, the second brother and Sister Marlene are also here!" A young girl came over, this girl was dressed in a short skirt, beautiful in appearance, and looked youthful and moving, judging by the title, it should be Dio's youngest sister Selene.

Selene is the least "threatened", and she usually has a good relationship with her two older brothers, Dio squeezed out a smile and nodded, and Marlene also relaxed her tense face.

"Is this the supporter you chose, Arthur?" Selene looked at Chen Rui curiously, "I actually entered the ranks of two hundred in Zuihou." But I had better luck this time, and I found a crafter named Horford, who was not very famous, but it was so good that I got forty-seventh this time. ”

Dio nodded with a wry smile, Chen Rui looked relaxed, and said indifferently: "Actually, I'm just retaining my strength." ”

Dio sighed secretly, the ranking of this competition is there, at most it can only be regarded as a fluke, no matter how you look at this "reserved strength" seems reluctant.

"I hope your strength is as sharp as your mouth!" Marlene pulled Faramo and threw down a sentence and walked away.

"Poor Brother Faramo, you will definitely become a punching bag when you go back. Selene smiled sweetly, greeted Dio, and turned away.

"The rematch will start tomorrow, so let's go back and rest first. By the way, you have to help me get more materials, the sooner the better, I need more insights. "Chen Rui's sentence is purely fake public and private, now is the time to be willing to fight and be willing to suffer, not to slaughter nothing.

PS: Qingming has to go out to pay respects, set off after eating, it will take several hours to squeeze the car there, and there are far mountain roads, there is only one change today, 5000 words, the second one, please don't wait...... ）