The crowd involuntarily let out gasps of astonishment.

The dwarf referee even jumped down from the desk and took a few steps forward to check the buzzer. After finding no issues, he looked up in shock towards the direction of section twelve.

There stood Fang Hong, wearing wind goggles, completely oblivious to everything around him.

"He didn't slow down,"

someone gasped.

A group of people were almost gaping, their eyes nearly falling out. If short-distance takeoffs and the Four-Wing Dance were within the competitors' understanding, Fang Hong's abilities at that moment had already surpassed their imaginations.

Even the top combat artisans, having returned from the second world to this competition, couldn't maintain such speed without slowing down in this man-made obstacle zone, could they?

They couldn't help thinking this way.

Even the chubby man was stunned, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.

Within the crowd, only the Blood Night Demon Moon slowly sat back down, but her mind buzzed with the conversation she had had with that person—

"Your computing and analysis abilities are fine, but the path of a combat artisan isn't suitable for you."

"Have you ever seen the Dance of the Clockwork Fairy?"

"When you see it one day, you'll understand."

"People who truly possess such talent, I've actually only encountered one until now."

Such a person?

She looked at Fang Hong, her eyes filled with disbelief.

By then, Fang Hong had finally flown out of the obstacle zone. He switched his hands back to the normal mode—using the wide field of view mode in open areas always felt a bit odd to him. But it was only then that he suddenly realized—he was no longer behind any clockwork fairy.

This meant he was now in the first position.

Fang Hong broke into a cold sweat.

To be honest, with military personnel nearby, he had never intended to stand out; all he wanted was the prize money. Fang Hong wiped the sweat off his brow while feeling somewhat annoyed, "How can these people be so slow?"

He had already slowed down so much.

He had adjusted his level based on that of a combat artisan from the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team, lowering his own level to one that he thought would be on par with everyone else.

But Fang Hong's simple-minded brain had clearly forgotten something: Kaka was flying mid-air, whereas he was joyously flying within the obstacle zone.

At that moment, he felt slightly at a loss. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of a golden light emerging from the man-made obstacles—a clockwork fairy. Moreover, the other party swept provocatively over his head and zoomed into the curved corridor ahead.

However, Fang Hong was not provoked at all.

In fact, he was somewhat delighted, "As long as it's not first place, second place should attract less attention, right?" With this innocent thought, he confidently followed.

He even further reduced his speed, casually following behind the other.

But what Fang Hong didn't expect was that this action would infuriate the other party.

The clockwork fairy suddenly made a sharp stop ahead and then turned to charge directly at him. Fang Hong was startled and hurriedly dodged, barely allowing the two clockwork fairies to pass each other in mid-air.

The onlookers watching this thrilling scene couldn't help but exclaim.

But before Fang Hong could even catch his breath, the relentless clockwork fairy, sinking down, tried to collide with him again. "Is this person crazy?" Fang Hong was a bit flustered, as he remembered that being hit meant disqualification.

Despite being flustered, his movements were extremely skilled, almost instinctive. Turning his right hand, he could almost hear the sound of the Silver Rail spinning rapidly beneath the fabric.

And the clockwork fairy carved out a precise arc, narrowly avoiding the other within a minimal space.

The two clockwork fairies, like golden beetles in mating season, darted up and down, instantly dazzling onlookers. One was determined to strike, and the other to dodge, with both parties reacting and moving so quickly that it stupefied the spectators.

One, because no one expected such a scene to unfold in the competition.

Two, because it was incredibly thrilling.

It took a good while before the dwarf referee recovered, somewhat furiously grabbing the megaphone and screaming, "Contestant number six, watch your actions!"

The clockwork fairy then made a sharp stop in mid-air.

After hesitating for a moment, it finally flew forward.

Fang Hong let out a sigh of relief, unable to help but open one eye to look towards the position of contestant number six.

What he didn't expect was that the other was also looking in his direction. The first thing he saw was a pair of cold yet strikingly beautiful eyes, the eyes of a youth. The other looked at him indifferently, his gaze lingering on him as if committing him to memory.

However, this person was dressed just like him, wearing a long cloak, with a windy hood pulled up and his collar raised, only revealing his eyes which were almost unrecognizable.

One could vaguely make out that he was a rather handsome and pretty young man.

Then the other turned his head back.

Fang Hong was stunned for a moment and had to refocus his mind—after all, the race was not over yet.

While they were fighting earlier, two Clockwork Fairies had already surpassed them, one after the other, but Fang Hong was not in a hurry. In fact, this was exactly to his liking. He naively thought that the lower his ranking, the less attention he would draw.

The second section, with a curved corridor, was a relatively simple part of the competition, and competitors were speeding up here, while Fang Hong had become even more 'experienced.'

He was slowing down.

In front of everyone's eyes.

Others were baffled as they watched this scene unfold.

At first, they thought that the previous skirmish had drained this contestant no. 12's energy, causing his handling skills to drop, so it was inevitable that he slowed down a bit.

"Ha," the chubby man seemed to have found his voice again and turned back to explain to the others, "This guy also seems like a silver-tongued sharpshooter but his proficiency is just average and not very enduring—"

Unfortunately, the first stage of the assessment did not require ranking.

He felt a bit regretful in his heart.

But he couldn't continue feeling regretful for long.

Because under the gaze of everyone, contestant no. 12, the Clockwork Fairy, was continuing to slow down even further, and had even fallen to the third-to-last position. By this point, even a fool would realize that this guy was deliberately slowing down.

What the heck was this guy thinking?

Everyone was perplexed.

Because no matter how the level of control dropped, it couldn't suddenly seem like someone else was controlling it. The Dwarf Referee not far away was alternating between pale and flushed, and he would have given this guy a warning for passive competing if it weren't for the rules of the competition.

But Fang Hong was totally unaware of this.

He even felt a tinge of pride, thinking to himself that this must be what maturity and composure were like, right? He remembered Miss Sicape once told him that standing out in Eteliria wasn't always a good thing.

Now he firmly believed it.

"Miss Sicape, that newbie from the Morning Dawn Star Adventure Group, has gradually grown up too," Fang Hong thought quietly to himself.

But the curved corridor had an end, too.

Soon, he arrived at the entrance to the third section, and Fang Hong was at a loss again. He didn't know how he could slow down here any further. If he reduced his speed any more, he would stall and fall out of the turbulent flow.

Undoubtedly, the third section was the most difficult part of the competition, causing headaches for everyone.

Excellent Combat Artisans were troubled about how to fly better and faster.

Poor Combat Artisans were troubled about how to safely reach the end.

Fang Hong was troubled about how to fly slower.

But he had no choice but to bite the bullet and fly in.

Then a spectacle occurred.

Everyone saw contestant no. 12, the Clockwork Fairy, being buffeted by the airflow, swaying left and right, almost on the verge of being ruled out. But frustratingly, it stayed as stable as an old dog, no matter how low or risky the flying posture was, it just wouldn't touch the ground.

Not only did it not touch the ground, but it also overtook other Clockwork Fairies one after the other.

Fang Hong couldn't help sweating profusely, but he wasn't anxious about how to pass the section, but about how to let others surpass him. With this infinitely tangled mind, he became the third to fly past the finish line.

He couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

Then he lifted his Wind Goggles.

What next?

There was no next.

Because as soon as Fang Hong took off his Wind Goggles, he saw nearly everyone's gaze in the entire competition area fixed on him, staring dumbfounded.

He was stunned for a moment and could not help stammering, "Why, why are you all looking at me?"

"I, I'm only third place, right?"

...

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