Urban's Fury: The War Dragon God
Chapter 797: Waiting for a Rabbit by a Stump

Chapter 797: Chapter 797: Waiting for a Rabbit by a Stump

"Brother, jump down quick."

At the railing side, people from the Extreme Martial Arts Hall shouted to those on deck.

"Shi Xiaowan, you go first."

"Brother, be careful then."

Shi Xiaowan did not hesitate much and leaped down. The cruise ship had only twenty-four lifeboats, naturally, they became a focal point for competition. Although the number of people from the Extreme Martial Arts Hall was smaller compared to the Yue Family Martial Arts Hall, Jingwu Sect, and Shaolin Martial Arts School, there were still about a dozen competitors from their group at this moment.

"Senior brother, let’s retreat to the island first then plan further, we don’t have much time left."

"You go first, I’ll cover our retreat."

Those who had the qualifications to get on the lifeboats were all from stronger Martial Arts Schools, while those individuals or smaller groups, naturally couldn’t fight for the boats and had to rely on swimming.

If one couldn’t swim, they had to withdraw from the competition prematurely.

When Li Feng jumped off the cruise ship, he was approximately two to three kilometers away from the island. This distance wasn’t much for Li Feng, who had previously experienced swimming five kilometers with a load. Currently, Li Feng had no load, and the few tokens he carried were not heavy.

Many chose to swim over. In the sea, about two kilometers from the shore, figures were everywhere; at first glance, it looked like some bustling seaside resort.

Yet, even in the sea, the battle did not cease.

Those who secured boats kept attacking the swimmers, taking advantage of their position. Likewise, some tried to retaliate against those on the boats. Usually, an attack by jumping from the boats was not effective alone, but with a number, it was hard to determine victory or defeat.

The fierce battle extended from the cruise ship directly to the sea.

"Keep a close watch on the situation at sea; we cannot have any drowning incidents."

On the cruise ship, the organizers were on alert, acknowledging that not everyone knew how to swim.

"This round alone will probably eliminate one-third of the participants just by swimming; many can’t swim."

"Well, who can they blame? As a Martial Artist, one may not need to be an all-rounder, but should at least be able to hunt in the mountains and fish in the waters. It’s ludicrous to think that learning a set of boxing moves suffices as a Martial Artist."

"The swimming part is manageable, but these major Martial Art Schools might have gone too far. There’ll likely be complaints of unfairness afterwards."

"Fairness has never been absolute, and besides, we set these rules. Didn’t everyone consider this?"

"Using the rules is not wrong; intelligence is also a test. The larger Martial Art Schools have the advantage in numbers, but they are not without weaknesses. Likewise, the individual contestants are not inherently disadvantaged; it depends on how each person deciphers the situation."

"The smart ones won’t fight on the boats. Our rules clearly state that collecting the Five Elements Tokens allows passage, but it doesn’t specify how and where these should be obtained."

"Each year, the preliminary round tests the participants’ ability to adapt on-the-fly. Merely relying on arena fights won’t identify the true champions."

"Heh, Old Wang, it was clever to come up with the concept of the Five Elements Tokens, especially since the quantities of Gold, Wood, and Fire are the most abundant, while Water Tokens are the least and are only given to female participants, who make up just ten percent of the competitors."

"There are at least five hundred Earth Tokens on the island, but ultimately, heh."

The unequal distribution of the Five Elements Tokens, and particularly the limited availability of Water Tokens to female competitors, was a rather vicious strategy.

After all, attacking a female contestant required quite some courage.

Based on the tokens distributed, at least three hundred participants could potentially clear this round, but considering various accidents, it might be good if just over two hundred could actually pass this preliminary round.

But this also achieved the intended purpose of the selection process, eliminating ninety percent in one go to streamline the next selection phase.

Li Feng swam swiftly through the sea, covering the two-plus kilometer distance in just over ten minutes. After reaching the shore of the island, Li Feng climbed onto the beach.

"Jeez, talk about a narrow road for enemies."

"Pal, if you don’t want trouble, hand over the tokens you have."

Li Feng had just reached the shore when he encountered a group who had reached the beach earlier—the same ones Li Feng had first knocked down and taken tokens from.

These people reacted the fastest, seizing a lifeboat earlier than the others and rushing directly towards the island, then lying in wait on the island. After all, swimming two kilometers would definitely drain a lot of energy, making one most vulnerable upon landing, while they had four men ready.

Li Feng glanced at these men, chuckled dismissively, and advanced straight towards them.

Moments later, those laying in ambush were sprawled on the beach.

"Nice try, but you picked the wrong opponent."

Li Feng briefly glanced at the men, then, sensing someone behind him, turned around to see a fellow female contestant he had once traded with on the deck.

The woman’s clothing, wet from the sea, clung to her figure, revealing her graceful curves. Huang Shuyao watched Li Feng warily, moving to the side; she had no intention of testing his character.

Li Feng glanced at Huang Shuyao and, without any greetings, turned and walked towards the island. Earlier, while on the cruise ship, Li Feng had estimated the size of the island; it was not very large, with a mountain in the middle covered by a dense jungle. As for the location of the Earth Token, there were no hints, but it was likely on the island.

The island showed signs of human activity, though it appeared abandoned.

Li Feng headed directly for the abandoned village on the island. Such places were likely to have tokens, though how many remained uncertain.

During his ascent, Li Feng glanced back at the cruise ship which had not anchored but instead brushed past the island and headed further away.

That meant the cruise ship wouldn’t return anytime soon, and securing tokens did not mean the preliminaries were over. The rules also required bringing the tokens back onto the cruise ship.

Therefore, before the cruise ship returned, they had to hold onto their tokens for half a day without losing them to others on this not-so-large island.

"Yue Family Martial Arts Hall members, gather up. Leave twenty people to guard the boat and wait for us at sea. The rest, begin the token hunt."

"The Yue Family Martial Arts Hall folks are really shameless, trying to monopolize the prelim slots."

"Wishful thinking, but he’d need the capability. Jingwu Sect’s people have arrived too; who knows if those two groups will clash."

"Phew, it’s complicated. These big Martial Arts Halls are all from the same ilk, probably teamed up in advance. Damn, qualifying this time around is going to be hell-mode difficult."

"Stop the chatter, let’s find a different spot to land."

As the major Martial Arts Halls landed, this stretch of the beach had become a risky area. Recklessly going ashore was practically offering up tokens for free.

Simultaneously, the Extreme Martial Arts Hall members also made landfall.

"We can’t stay here long. Leave three to row the boat offshore, the rest follow me onto the island," instructed Shi Tianlong, mimicking others as there was no advantage in fighting alone at this time.

"Yes, senior brother."

"Deploy the drones."

From a temporary base on an island just a couple of kilometers away, hundreds of drones took off towards the primary venue, the island of the preliminary round. These drones would record everything happening on the island.