The eyes in front of the counters all turned at once.
The crowd packed at the entrance parted to both sides.
A young girl of seventeen or eighteen walked into the outer hall with the Wooden Comb resident officer, one following the other. Her hair was neatly tied up behind her head, pinned with nothing more than a smooth, worn wooden comb tooth.
"That Shark Maiden from Wooden Comb."
"Did she really come to register Second-Transformation?"
"Just handing in paperwork counts as Second-Transformation?" A bettor clutching an early ticket for Unicorn Commune snorted softly. "She was only at Three Hundred Sixty Pressure when registering, which places her in the lower tier for this edition. Whether she's a cresting wave or mere water froth, we'll see where the needle on the pressure-testing dial stops after she steps into the pool."
Su Jianwei ignored these voices and followed the resident officer straight to the registration counter on the left, handing her old contest token to the notary.
The notary took the contest token, pulled out the advancement registration document delivered earlier from beneath the desk, opened her previous records, and verified item by item.
Once fish-swimming force Formed a Current, the pressure rating verified at that moment became that Transformation's 【Current Base】 and would never change afterward;
however, if one completed the next Transformation after registering but before the Tide Battle began, they had to handle an 【Advancement Registration】.
To encourage registered youths to keep breaking through, the Anchorage Association would also grant advancers an 【Advancement Reward】, which contained fish medicine and fish feed needed to stabilize a "Second-Transformation Fish Aspect."
The notary checked off the final column and hung up a wooden tag marked 【1】.
"Wooden Comb Float-Commune, Su Jianwei."
"Registered."
An Youyu glanced down at the wooden tag marked 【2】 in his hand. So the person squeezed in right ahead of him was Su Jianwei.
Behind the verification bar stood a waist-deep circular pressure-testing pool, above which hung a 【pressure-testing dial】 etched with pressure markings.
"Step into the pool. Circulate your force to protect yourself."
Su Jianwei unfastened her outer robe, revealing her form-fitting wetsuit underneath, and stepped down the slippery stone steps into the bottom of the pool.
The people crowding in front of the public book turned toward the observation window on the bronze door. Those in the back rows who couldn't see the pressure-testing dial clearly stood on their tiptoes.
The notary pulled down a long lever, and a hemispherical bronze cover slowly descended, sealing the entire pressure-testing pool tightly without a seam.
With several latches locking into place one after another, the notary opened the valve. Seawater inside the pipes surged into the pool under pressure, and the needle on the pressure-testing dial turned across the markings notch by notch.
Three hundred sixty Pressure.
"Three hundred sixty, that was her rating when she registered."
"It passed... it's still going up!"
Five hundred Pressure.
The bettors who had been cursing and mocking the dark horse rumor just moments ago stopped cursing entirely, their eyes fixed firmly on the still-turning needle.
Six hundred Pressure.
"It crossed six hundred!"
Someone slammed the counter top with a loud bang.
People in the back rows strained up on their tiptoes, while no one in the front row was willing to budge even half a step.
The needle passed six hundred Pressure, turned forward another notch, and finally came to a stop at Six Hundred Twenty Pressure.
The man who had snatched up the early ticket for Wooden Comb suddenly held his wager slip high. "Six Hundred Twenty!"
The notary maintained the pressure for a moment longer to confirm that her fish-swimming force showed no sign of slackening before closing the pressure valve.
Then came the stamping and recording.
"Second-Transformation verified. Registration complete."
"One Advancement Reward. Take your new token to the Central Warehouse to collect it."
As soon as the notary finished speaking, a surge of clamorous discussion erupted in front of the counter.
"Wooden Comb's odds are about to drop!"
"Su Jianwei has already surpassed Huo Zhaohai in pressure!"
Several people who had bet on Unicorn and Double Pillars clutched their ticket stubs, the smiles completely wiped from their faces.
Su Jianwei's First-Transformation Current Base was only Three Hundred Sixty Pressure, yet having just completed Second-Transformation, her verified force now exceeded Huo Zhaohai's by twenty Pressure.
Yet Six Hundred Twenty Pressure was still not the upper limit of her power at the Second-Transformation stage.
When cultivated to the peak of Second-Transformation, one's fish-swimming force would reach at least twice their First-Transformation Current Base. Calculating from her First-Transformation Current Base of Three Hundred Sixty Pressure, once she truly fully mastered Second-Transformation, she would have at least Seven Hundred Twenty Pressure.
What was even more critical was that she had completed one more fish-transformation than any other contestant in this edition.
What changes Second-Transformation had brought to her fish organs, and what abilities her new breath circulation would grant, no one currently knew—and these were all hidden trump cards for the Tide Battle.
From the public book on the right, the sound of wooden tags being scraped resounded twice in quick succession.
On the Public Verification Board, Su Jianwei's line was altered first to 【Wooden Comb · Su Jianwei ｜ Second-Transformation · Shark Maiden ｜ Advancement Registration Verified Force: Six Hundred Twenty Pressure】.
Immediately after, the payout odds for Wooden Comb's top mast board were lowered on the spot.
With every stroke scraped off Wooden Comb's payout odds, another regretful curse echoed in front of the counter.
With several latches popping open in sequence, the hemispherical bronze cover lifted once more. Su Jianwei draped her outer robe back over herself and took her new contest token.
An Youyu waited in front of the bar holding his wooden tag marked 【2】. Seeing her approach, he stepped aside to let her pass.
As she passed the verification bar, Su Jianwei first noticed the wooden tag marked 【2】 in An Youyu's hand, then her gaze moved from his face to Lu Guizhou standing behind him. She seemed to realize something, but in the end, she merely gathered her outer robe tightly and quickened her pace to catch up with the Wooden Comb resident officer walking ahead.
What lingered in An Youyu's memory was that smooth, worn wooden comb tooth pinned in Su Jianwei's hair, along with the Six Hundred Twenty Pressure on the pressure-testing dial.
At his previous body's peak, An Youyu had only been at Three Hundred Pressure.
Yet pressure ratings had never been everything to him.
On the Salamander Swim path, Three Hundred Pressure was merely fifty away from a three-hundred-fifty Pressure 【Rare Salamander】; his natural talent was by no means poor.
Although Salamander Swim was not suited for head-on collisions, it was unmatched in endurance. As long as one was not killed in a single blow, the battle could always be dragged out;
he also possessed 【Blood Swim】, deadly combat techniques honed in the fish-transformation camp, and excellent water skills forged as a water scout... skills that no pressure-testing dial could ever measure.
Besides, there were seven masts in total.
Su Jianwei was aiming for the top mast; beating her was never a prerequisite for securing a mast for oneself.
Last night, Lu Guizhou and several elders had already gone over the traditional rules, melee positioning, and platform-seizing timing with An Youyu...
Following that strategy—first hide, then endure, and finally seize a platform—focusing on securing just a single mast gave An Youyu genuine confidence.
"Number Two."
"Clown Float-Commune, An Youyu."
The call interrupted An Youyu's calculations.
Rate on N.U.
