Chapter 4469 — Is the Rule Fair?
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Once a member of the Big Five, it now stood sixth after five rounds of competition, shoved ruthlessly out of the Big Five's ranks. In an instant it had lost its aura as a great house, sinking to be regarded by public opinion as a second-rate agency—a fate to weep over, if only tears would come.
Judging by these rankings, one could foresee that the landscape of the Southern Continent Escort Alliance would undergo enormous change in the future, and in that upheaval only two agencies would be the true winners: one was the Qingtian Escort Agency, and the other the Xuanying Escort Agency.
Among them, the Qingtian Escort Agency's gains were the most outrageous of all, and this could be seen from the **looks in the eyes of the chamber of commerce stewards present as they regarded the Qingtian Escort Agency's people—many of them had been clients of traditional powers like the Sihai Escort Agency, but it seemed that would soon be a thing of the past.
Barring the unexpected, after this Southern Continent Escort Gathering, the torrent of massive orders about to crash down upon the Qingtian Escort Agency would unquestionably be an absurdly astronomical figure—at least several times that of previous years, perhaps even ten times or more!
The more orders, the more spirit jade; the more spirit jade, the more and stronger escorts one could recruit, rapidly swelling one's strength, and thereby winning still more orders. This was a snowball effect, and once it got rolling on the right track, no one would be able to stop the Qingtian Escort Agency's powerful rise.
But before that, the Qingtian Escort Agency still had to clear one hurdle—the coming challenge of the escort chiefs.
Like the fifth round of the Escort Championship, this too was an arena duel in which each side staked a hundred points, the only difference being that this was a one-on-one challenge aimed specifically at the Golden Core–stage higher-ups of each agency, and there was no limit on the number of challenges!
This contest did not test an agency's overall strength but rested entirely on individual performance, with a huge element of luck. Once an agency hit a run of bad fortune and was challenged in succession by the experts of other agencies, a single slip could very well mean outright collapse—a hundred points a match, with no limit on the number of matches, and no amount of points would be enough to lose.
For all that the Qingtian Escort Agency's four-digit score now seemed dauntingly high, whether it could safely pass this next hurdle was truly hard to say. It might well plunge from the clouds into the abyss—ascendant one moment, a fleeting bloom the next.
So long as nothing was truly settled, everything remained variable. For all that the names of the top five agencies now stood clearly on the leaderboard, the existence of this final extra stage meant that "also-rans" like the Nanmen Escort Agency all kept a sliver of hope of storming the top five.
Who would ultimately stand among the Big Five, who would ultimately have the last laugh—all of it was still unknown.
"Very well. On behalf of the panel of judges, I now announce the rules for the final round, the escort chiefs' challenge," Hai Wuliang said, suppressing the hatred in his heart and rising to address them all. "The rules are simple. A drawing of lots decides the first challenger, who may name any agency's Golden Core–stage higher-up as his target. The winner of each match may choose to continue issuing challenges—or, of course, may choose to forfeit. After the winner forfeits, the right to challenge passes to the loser; if the loser likewise forfeits, lots are drawn anew."
At these words the crowd fell into animated discussion. On the surface at least, the rules seemed fair enough—at any rate, the challenges had not descended into a free-for-all of complete chaos. (To be continued..)