Preliminary Round Strange Things (I)

In the preliminary round, 32 teams were randomly divided into 4 groups, with each team facing 7 other teams. This meant that for every additional player without a Phantom Beast on a team, the maximum points would be reduced by 140 points.

In this case, even if Linyin and Belle tried their best and scored all the points in the first half, they still could not ensure that the team's total score could rank in the top sixteen.

In response, Thorn Flower's strategy was to have Su Lian and Shui Jing replace Lin Yin and Bei Er. Preliminary points wouldn't carry over to the next round, so they only needed to secure a spot in the top sixteen. At this point, maintaining a minimum score was even more important.

Linyin sat outside, waiting for the members to return from the game. She opened the terminal and looked at their group.

【Group A Entry List】

【Deyizhou Fangbei College】

【Huangshi Cappadocia College】

【Leyton State Thorn Flower Academy】

【Las Vegas Gear Academy】

【Tundra State Forest Language School】

【Hanxiang Golden Leaf Academy】

【Kigukakujuku Kuronuma Academy】

【Yuyuzhou Kunlun College】

It was said that the groups were assigned using the most expensive random number generator, ensuring fairness and justice. But to Rinyin, it seemed as if this grouping was a gift to them.

None of the four strongest ones exist.

Four of the eight small schools are included, but Cappadocia and Kunlun are not good at the second half.

Black Swamp Academy's tactics were very strong in the preliminaries, but it was hard to say that they had any particular advantages in the ring matches. The other academies were not ranked high in the preliminaries either.

Everything is abnormal.

First, before the competition began, they temporarily changed the rules, deducting points from those without a phantom beast. She saw this as a way to force her to register her kitten. Perhaps it would be easier to take action after registration, or perhaps it was just a ploy to force her to bring the kitten.

Seeing that she was determined not to register the kitten, and as if afraid that she would finish the competition too early, they assigned her to an easier group to ensure that she could participate for a longer time.

Only by ensuring their competition time can we give them more opportunities to play.

After figuring out the chain of events, Linyin decided to keep the kitten by her side day and night. "Don't run around these days." She poked the kitten's forehead, making a small hole surrounded by hair. "Where I am, there you are. Do you hear me?"

The kitten buried itself in her arms.

An hour later, the announcement of the end of the first half of the Thorn Flower game resounded throughout the stadium.

"Boss! We're back!"

Crystal rushed into the rest area in one step, but a cannonball behind her was faster than her and crashed into the rest area.

"Boss, did you see the roundhouse kick that Ashe and I did together? Twice! Both times, we defeated the enemy with one move!" Yuzhu's cheeks were flushed.

"Excellent." Linyin sat on a lounge chair, her hands busy. A stack of disposable alloy plates rested on her lap as she diligently refined the metal. A few beads of sweat formed on her forehead; it was clear that the Earth Condensation Technique was consuming far more energy than she had imagined.

"Let's take a break."

Song Baiyue's voice was a little hoarse, and he gently placed his hand on Linyin's wrist, and silver healing light flowed in.

Linyin's hands trembled, and her heartbeat quickened. The warmth of the healing light spread through her veins, numbing her and making her heart itch, making her feel a little distracted.

"You didn't watch my game." He used the affirmative sentence.

Linyin suddenly came back to her senses. She looked at his mint-colored pupils, feeling a little guilty. "I saw it. He performed very well."

etc.

What did Yuzhu just say? She used a spinning kick, twice, both times defeating the opponent with one move - this meant that she single-handedly won the 1v1 arena match, and Song Baiyue didn't even need to play.

It's over.

Just as Rinyin was about to change her words, the warm current of healing came to an abrupt end.

"Yuzhu won the game, and I didn't play." He said in a cold tone.

It’s over, it’s over, I’m really angry.

A lot of people have gathered in the rest area - there are athletes who have just finished the game, spectators who are looking around curiously, and even a few reporters carrying cameras.

Song Baiyue stared at her for two seconds, then suddenly let go of her hand, straightened up and turned away: "Whatever you want."

Linyin could only smile bitterly: "Are you angry?"

He stood aside with his arms folded, his jawline tense, looking like he didn't want to bother with people who asked questions they already knew the answer to.

Linyin quietly moved closer to him and tugged at his sleeve, "...Don't be angry, I will definitely watch your game next time."

Song Baiyue didn't move, but his eyes softened a lot.

Linyin took a deep breath and moved closer, almost to his ear: "Actually... although I wasn't watching the game just now, I was thinking about you."

Song Baiyue's eyelashes trembled, and she finally glanced at her sideways: "Really?"

Of course not, she was just wondering what the Fantasy Beast Palace was up to.

But—Master Song Baiyue was unhappy, so the most urgent thing was to appease him first. So… she nodded with a guilty conscience.

Ah, these lines are really hot to the mouth.

Song Baiyue sighed, holding her wrist, and the silver light flowed in again: "...You are so tired and still want to make up lies."

Seeing that he saw through her, she relaxed and let him treat her: "Isn't it just to make certain people happy?"

Song Baiyue blushed, "Who asked you to coax me?" He was such a rational person.

"Yes, yes, you don't need it. I just want to coax you." Linyin seemed to have gradually found the rhythm, and the words she spoke became smoother and smoother.

Crystal covered her mouth with her hands, giggling. As she did so, her thoughts began to flow like a spring, inspiration pouring out. She turned on the personal terminal issued by the school to the participating team members, found the CP post on the school forum, and began to write furiously.

It’s so easy to produce food by following the CP you like every day!

………………

"We were facing the Mori Language Academy. They had a lot of control abilities, which was a bit troublesome. But as soon as the crystal disc came out, Su Lian's mammoth charged in and knocked them off their feet, winning the 3v3 match."

"Later, Yuzhu did the same thing. She didn't even have armor yet, but she took advantage of the gap when the opponent was armored, and together with Ah She, she did a roundhouse kick, and Ah She did a big tail swing, and swept all the opponents off the stage."

Crystal excitedly explained to Linyin the grand occasion of the first half, and walked with the people of Thorn Flower to the venue of the Fantasy Beast Tacit Understanding Competition as instructed, only to find that the venue had been occupied and Cappadocia was playing against Fangbei Academy.

"Eh? What's going on?" Crystal asked in confusion, "Shouldn't we use it first?"

"Oh, you're here. Sit down and wait a while." The staff guided them to sit down on the sidelines. "They finished before you, so they applied to use the venue first."

"This..." Crystal was speechless. What was going on? The management was too casual.

On the left side of the venue is the secret room where the contestants are located. There are no windows on all sides, only a small holographic projection to reflect the situation inside.

The students of Fangbei College are as calm and composed as their college name, without any unnecessary expressions. For the sake of program effect, the director is focusing the projection on the Cappadocia team members.

Wei Ka's forehead was covered in sweat, and she was using all her brain power to try to communicate with the phantom beast.

The bully crocodile in the sand should have relied on her instructions to navigate the maze, but now it was like a drunk, bumping into things, hitting its head against the wall, and spinning in circles in a daze.

"Turn left! Turn left!" Weika looked at the chaotic vision in the headset and shouted anxiously, but it suddenly braked and then... ran straight towards the dead end.

"Bang!"

The wall used to fix the holographic projection was hit, and the projection flickered due to poor contact. The khaki crocodile staggered two steps, collapsed to the ground, and shook its big head in confusion.

Seeing this, the audience burst into laughter.

Tickets for the preliminary rounds sold faster than those for the preliminaries, with many spectators drawn to the novel format. The Martial Arts Center allowed spectators to choose their seats freely, with many choosing the academy area they were interested in. The Cappadocia show was clearly attracting more people to this area.

In addition to Weika, other team members, including team leader Lei Qin, also found to varying degrees that controlling the phantom beasts was more difficult than they had imagined.

On the other side, the phantom beasts of Fangbei Academy were moving slowly but accurately along the shortest path. When the director's camera cut over, they even had time to drink water.

"The contrast is too tragic..." Yuzhu had a good impression of Cappadocia and felt a little sorry to see this.

Linyin narrowed her eyes and noticed that the signal light on the Weika headset seemed to be flickering.

It wasn't noticeable to the naked eye, but she activated her Qi and discovered that it emitted strange, unstable fluctuations within her field of vision. In comparison, the headset at Fangbei Academy appeared perfectly stable, with no anomalies.

There seems to be something wrong with the equipment in Cappadocia.

"The player's equipment may have a technical failure. Can the game be suspended to check it out?" The terminals of the captains of each team can access the channel where the referee team is located. Linyin felt something was wrong and decisively contacted the referee team.

As if to prove her words, the bully crocodile in the sand suddenly jumped up, no longer paying attention to the instructions, and began to violently demolish the wall, forcibly carving a path in the maze.

"The phantom beast is out of control, player Vic Jones is out, and Cappadocia is deducted ten points!" The referee team did not respond to Linyin. The broadcast sounded, and Vic's headset was cut off from power. Two staff members wearing work badges entered the secret room and asked her to come out.

The Cappadocia players didn't quite understand what was going on. Rechin tried to stop the staff but was given a yellow card warning.

"Can't pause!"

In the channel, the Fangbei Academy team leader heard Linyin's suggestion and practically shouted to connect to the channel to reply. They had finally gained such a big advantage, who knew what would happen after the suspension of the game?

"Right, right, right, we must suspend the investigation!" Cappadocia's teacher seemed to have just realized something, his voice filled with unconcealed panic. "Our mythical beast is rather... rather disobedient, but it shouldn't be like this now. This is completely wrong!"

"This is a competition. If no one can win, we have to pause and say there is a problem with the equipment. How can we continue the competition?" Fang Bei's teacher was very tough.

As the crowd was arguing, roars erupted from the maze. A giant rock ape, its eyes blazing red, darted out of the maze, following the path the crocodile had taken in the sand. Its massive forelimbs slammed into the illusory energy barrier. Like shattering glass, the barrier cracked with a frantic, unbearable sound, and the three-meter-tall beast lunged toward the nearest audience seats.

The Giant Rock Ape, Leiqin's mythical beast.

Nearby spectators screamed and fled, while those further away raised their terminals and began recording. Curious reporters, unwilling to miss such a brilliant moment, rushed over like sharks smelling blood, cameras and ammunition in hand.

The kitten jumped off Rin's lap, arched its back, and opened its mouth silently.

Less than half a meter from the first row of spectators, the giant ape suddenly stopped, frozen in place as if paused. It shook its head in confusion, its eyes gradually regaining clarity.