In the first minute, no one dropped their plates. In fact, there wasn't even a single cultivator who didn't find it quite difficult to keep it afloat. However, Erfalis wasn't joking. The speed at which the channels changed positions indeed increased every minute.
Of course, just the first change wasn't enough to make anyone panic. The speed did increase, but it was almost imperceptible. At first, it wouldn't show the difference between cultivators. But as it became faster, this challenge would finely filter the Soul Power cultivators among the rest. However, it would definitely be the case at the end, when the cultivators would be pressured by every small change.
In any case, Roan wasn't worried about that. Instead, he looked at Rean, who seemed to have had the same idea as him. 'Let's stay close to each other.' The reason for that was very simple. The only rule was that one had to keep the plate afloat with Soul Power. One would only be disqualified and impeded from doing anything else if one dropped it. There was no rule that stated one couldn't try to disturb others...
Rean then turned to look at Trinio and Kalau before pondering about it for a bit. However, he quickly gave up the idea to talk to them, thinking to himself, 'They are at most average in the ranking. Others won't bother with them.'
After ten minutes had passed, the frequency at which the Anti-Soul Power Plates' channels changed increased by a lot. Of course, as Erfalis had mentioned before, there would always be two channels open all the time. Because of those two channels, the plates didn't drop straight away. However, some of the cultivators didn't have enough time to find the new channels before those two channels also changed positions.
*Clang, clang, clang, clang...*
A few seconds later, some of the plates began to fall to the ground. Obviously, the cultivators holding them weren't quick enough to find the channels and control their Soul Power accordingly. Naturally, they got disqualified. It's just that only a very small percentage fell at first, being the cultivators with the worst control over Soul Power.
Things became stable once again until twenty minutes were up. Another spike in the speed of change came up, and plates began to drop once more as the cultivators lost track of the two open channels. By the time 29 minutes had passed, around 5% of the cultivators had dropped out of the competition.
It was then that the 30-minute mark had arrived, and the spike in speed increased jumped yet again. In the next minute, that 5% instantly jumped to 15% of the initial participants. Things only began to escalate from that point onward.
One hour into the competition, more than 50% of the cultivators had dropped out. Trinio and Kalau, surprisingly, were still holding on. It's just that Rean could tell how difficult they were finding it to keep going on. Unfortunately for them, it didn't take long to find out. Kalau dropped from the competition on the 70-minute mark, while Trinio was out in 90 minutes.
Two hours! With that, only the best cultivators at controlling Soul Power were left in the competition after 90% of them were eliminated. The difficulty increased, and many seemed to have trouble holding on.
Of course, there were exceptions. Oglico, Sansa, Rean, Roan, and so on... All those who got over 1500 points were still moving with ease. However, that's not what Rean and Roan were worried about. They kept themselves a little further away from the main group, just in case.
Why? Because they were part of the top competitors in Soul Power but had the lowest cultivation between them. Simply put, they were probably seen as the easiest targets.
Suddenly, Rean and Roan felt the presence of killing intent once more, which didn't surprise them at all. Out of nowhere, a shadow moved in between the participants, aiming straight at the twins. Rean and Roan faintly smiled as they thought to themselves, 'So, they finally couldn't hold back, huh?'
They weren't the only ones, though. While someone was attacking them, other competitors launched their assault against other targets. Sansa and her two friends from the Soul Guild just so happened to be part of the ones attacked.
Immediately, everyone's attention was attracted, especially the elders. It's just as Roan mentioned. The only rule was to keep the plate afloat with one's Soul Power, that's all! This was a moment most of the watching eyes waited to happen.
Rean and Roan had their eyes closed, pretending to be concentrated on their plates when out of nowhere, their hair color changed into a mix of black and white.
'Life Style, First Form, Enhancement!'
'Death World!'
'Death Style, First Movement Form, Shadow Steps!'
In a moment, all those skills were deployed at the same time. Rean and Roan's combat strength soared, and they shot in the direction of the enemy.
The cultivator attacking them was a guy called Foley. He was part of the Ostrao Sect, the same sect as Oglico. His cultivation was at the Initial Stage of the Saint Realm, also the same as Oglico. However, he wasn't as good as Oglico in terms of Soul Power, so he was given the task of getting rid of the competition. Rean and Roan's cultivation was only in the Middle Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm, so with only that, they looked like the easiest targets.
Unfortunately for him, Foley only had the time to see his world turn dark as his Divine Sense lost track of Rean and Roan. The surroundings turned pitch black within a twenty-meter radius around Roan.
'Light and Divine Sense Bending Technique!'
Rean had obviously considered his bending technique as a priority when he found out about Divine Sense. Naturally, he made everything he could to have it working by the time the assembly started. Besides, Roan's Death World allowed his Shadow Steps to blend in with the darkness, making it even harder to see where the twins were.
'Shit!' Foley immediately understood that he underestimated the twins' cultivation too much. With that being said, he stomped his feet on the ground and retreated at full speed.
Suddenly, a voice echoed in his mind through Divine Sense. 'Where do you think you're going?'
Before Foley could answer, six blades of Light and Dark Element came out of the darkness.
'Death Style, Third Form, Three Claws of the Dragon!'
