Chapter 34

Is this even a woman?

Is she more of a man than many men?!

Yang Ming only mentioned the mutual contempt among literati, each one looking down on the others, but she must also know that there are quite a few literati who are not only weak and powerless, but also lack in character and courage!

A man who can write passionate articles may not be passionate in life; perhaps just a small thug standing in front of him could make his legs go weak.

However, many people present could sense that Yang Ming was definitely not a person without courage.

Yang Ming's performance certainly made some men feel ashamed, but to avoid being noticed, no one lowered their heads in shame; instead, they all looked at Yang Ming with forced admiration.

This woman, who is not particularly beautiful but can be described as pleasant to look at, now seemed to be glowing all over, her image becoming more towering.

This is a woman who not only refuses to be inferior in her heart but also dares to act and strive!

Who would dare, knowing that Qi Yanbin was present, to smash the stone table with the same gesture, as if challenging Qi Yanbin?

Bu Ye noticed even more that the man opposite him had completely changed his gaze towards Yang Ming, filled with intense, excited, and barely concealed admiration.

Bu Ye couldn't help but smile lightly. Could this man have fallen in love with Yang Ming just because of her words?

In reality, there are indeed men who are submissive to their wives, letting their wives serve as their protectors, but they are relatively few.

Nie Ning was originally looking at Yang Ming, but she noticed Bu Ye's smile out of the corner of her eye and felt somewhat puzzled. So, this beauty immediately followed Bu Ye's gaze and saw the peculiar behavior of the man opposite...

Nie Ning didn't laugh; instead, she frowned, seemingly disliking men who are too weak in relationships.

However, she did notice that this man was the one who had spoken to the "beauty" who had died earlier. When the "beauty" died, this man had kindly tried to help, only to be startled.

Regardless, this man's heart was not bad.

At this moment, a will fluctuation suddenly emerged from the red light, interrupting Nie Ning's thoughts.

"Time's up!"

Yang Ming was the last one, and there was no one behind her!

At that moment, almost everyone's heart rate accelerated, and their adrenaline surged, both physically and mentally entering a state of extreme tension!

There were forty-eight people left, and twenty-eight of them would be sentenced to death immediately!

No one wanted to die!

Then, their bodies began to tremble uncontrollably, their fists clenched, and everyone heard the will in the red light speak coldly and impatiently: "It's obvious that a few of you are just wasting my time and energy. I don't have much energy to spare, so I brought you all here hastily, hoping you could help me and give you a chance to see the truth of the universe and understand the meaning of life."

"But, seeing your performances, I am quite disappointed! Don't stay here and be a nuisance!"

Everyone was already very tense, and hearing the will in the red light become furious, everyone fell silent.

Bu Ye frowned slightly, waiting for the red light to continue, but unexpectedly, the will took action directly.

Balls of red light suddenly flew out from the heads of the people around the stone table. Each ball of red light contained a small figure made of white vapor, which then exploded silently in mid-air!

"Thud!"

"Thud!!"

"Bang!!"

One after another, the writers and authors either fell back, their heads drooping on the chair backs, or directly collapsed on the stone table, or fell off the chairs, becoming still...

"Ah!!"

An unknown number of people screamed, and an unknown number of people drew in cold breaths.

Bu Ye was also tense, and the woman on his right, Nie Ning, was even worse. He even saw Nie Ning's buttocks leave the chair, clearly wanting to escape.

No one wanted to escape!

Everyone wanted to leave this place immediately!

However, like Nie Ning, she only subconsciously wanted to stand up and rush out, but the next second, she had to stop.

Because, here, they were not in control!

Here, they were at most small fish taken out of a pond, and their lives were not in their own hands.

Clearly wanting to escape but unable to, the cold bodies of the dead constantly reminded them how close death was. The men were almost unable to hold on, and some women cried, but had to suppress their voices.

However, despite their tension, the will in the red light spoke again, this time with a relaxed and pleasant tone: "Indeed, it's much clearer now. I think you living people should be happy. The more people who die early, the greater your chances of survival."

Huh?

Only then did Bu Ye hastily scan the entire stone table, realizing that although the red light had been flying around and people were falling, the number of dead was less than ten, with about forty people still left!

What's going on? Wasn't it said that only twenty people could survive?

Could it be that it hasn't officially started yet?

Indeed, the words from the red light confirmed Bu Ye's guess: "No need to count. Eight people died just now, but they didn't die because they didn't reach the top twenty in strength. They simply didn't deserve the qualification for this assessment."

The reality is that ideals are full, but reality is harsh. Anyone can create a world in their mind, but what about the quality? Writing a book above the standard requires talent, writing a book at the standard requires skill and effort, and if you lack talent, skill, and effort, but still force yourself to write, what you produce is not a book but a repulsive piece of garbage.

With the rapid rise of several top gods in the online writing circle, appearing on TV, newspapers, and magazines, and being envied, the profession of online writers has become increasingly well-known. Looking up to the high incomes of these gods, more and more people have entered the writing profession...

This situation is somewhat similar to how the ideals of the post-70s and post-80s generations were all "scientists" and "astronauts" when they were young, but how many actually became "scientists" and "astronauts"?

Among these new writers, there are indeed some with talent and skill, but a considerable number entered on a whim, without any foundation.

Clearly, their impulsiveness was not a big issue, but because of the red light, it led to their tragedy. They could have slowly practiced and developed, but because of the immature worlds in their minds, they were caught and killed by the red light...

"Do not doubt my judgment, as the results come from each of your minds."

"The eight who died just now did not deserve the qualification. Now, those who are eliminated due to lack of ability are being called out."

"Starting from the last one, it's Sha Qidong."

"Thud!" A man by the stone table fell.

"Yu..."

"Ah! No!!" As soon as the red light spoke a word, a woman by the stone table screamed and tried to run.

"Li."

"Thud!"

The woman named Yu Li had just left her chair and fell to the ground.

Then, the will in the red light called out name after name, completely ignoring whether the people present were pretending to be calm, screaming, or trying to rush out in a frenzy...

Bu Ye had heard the plot of "The **," and the scene before him was eerily similar. Each person whose name was called immediately died on the spot.

The feeling of watching others die before your eyes, knowing you might die too but being powerless to do anything, was driving Bu Ye to the brink of madness.

At this moment, although he appeared calm sitting in his chair, he actually wanted to stand up, jump onto the table, and rush into the red light to drag out the existence behind it and punch it a thousand times!

If it weren't for the fact that he knew there was a ball of red light in his mind, and if he acted impulsively, he might be killed even if he wasn't supposed to die...

"Phew..."

Bu Ye suddenly took a deep breath, then a cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he sat back in his chair.

Because he suddenly realized that his life was a bonus, or rather, given by the red light. Why be angry that the red light could take it away at any time?

The red light had said it was looking for people who could help it, meaning it wasn't killing for the sake of killing.

This was indeed, as Yang Ming said, a competition!

Whoever persists to the end and is deemed capable by the red light will be the winner!

Competition?

In such an environment, Bu Ye was not afraid at all!

"Thud!"

The person on Bu Ye's left suddenly fell, and then the words from the red light suddenly stopped.

All the people still alive were stunned for a moment and then quickly began to count the number of people.

At this moment, it was clear to see that the highly competitive Yang Ming was pale, clearly very tense; the great god Qi Yanbin also had no trace of his usual demeanor, with a serious expression.

Bu Ye had figured it out and was relatively calm, but he could clearly hear how rapid the breathing of the beauty on his right, Nie Ning, was.

Eighteen, nineteen, twenty!

Exactly twenty people!

Some people were afraid of counting wrong and started counting again.

Twenty, indeed, it was twenty!

This meant that the remaining people could all survive!

The beauty Nie Ning was almost fainting and had to use both hands to support herself on the table to keep her upper body straight.

Bu Ye also felt a sudden relief, thinking, finally, we made it.

However, looking around the room, out of the original fifty people, thirty had already fallen, and some bodies were still on the table, looking extremely bizarre. Even those who were laughing because they had survived were laughing with tears, as if in a frenzy.

A man suddenly woke from his tension and shouted wildly, "I survived! I survived!"

His loud shout was somewhat jarring but expressed everyone's heart.

"You twenty are not bad, passing the first test," the will in the red light suddenly said.

Everyone perked up again, even the man who was laughing wildly stopped.

"However, don't be too happy. I can clearly tell you that, in the end, only five of you will survive. So, continue to work hard and don't disappoint me."

"Now, the first test is over, and you have proven that you have some ability to create worlds. However, to put it in your Earth terms, that was just theoretical. Now, it's time to get real."

"You must be very curious about what's outside the stone room."