Preliminary Round (VI)

A holographic projection unfolded in the center of the hall, and the rules of the competition appeared in the air one by one, reflecting the faces of the 32 team members with different expressions.

[Preliminary Round: Fantasy Beast Expo - 32 to 16, multi-dimensional points elimination system.]

"Congratulations to all of you outstanding young people on being selected for the main competition of this Fantasy Beast Expo."

Standing next to the holographic projection, Maotan was dressed in a beautifully tailored dark green tuxedo, his hair meticulously combed back. Atop his cane, the miniature skull of the Devouring Lord emanated a chilling aura, mirroring the feeling of his voice.

"After careful consideration by the organizers, this year's competition format has finally been finalized."

He gestured for everyone to look at the floating projection of the rules. "Yes, it has changed again. But rest assured, from now on, the format of the preliminary round will not change again."

"Is this the end?" Surya was impatient. "This is what happens when a woman becomes the palace master."

"Don't be impatient, just listen." Daoming Si Lian looked at Mao Tan's fake and false smile and knew what he was doing.

The fire in the backyard of the Fantasy Beast Palace seems to be getting more and more intense.

【Preliminary Round Comprehensive Arena Battle】

[3v3 team battle, victory earns 30 points.]

[1v1 individual battle, defending the ring. 3v3 players who have already competed cannot compete again. The champion who successfully defends the ring receives 20 points. Winning in other situations receives 10 points.]

"...So boring." Transy held his face and sighed.

"Yeah, it's just a change from a single-player round-robin battle to a team battle. Does this little change require us to make a big fuss and call us for a meeting?" The other people in Lighthouse Academy also felt a little puzzled.

"That's interesting. Look at the second sentence of the second rule. In theory, the stronger players should go on stage first and try to defeat two opponents at once in order to get the maximum score." Some of the contestants from unknown colleges and universities were trying their best to analyze the rules.

"Didn't they say that those without mythical beasts would be penalized extra points this year? I don't think that's the case here." Some people continued to complain.

At this time, several more lines of words emerged.

[Preliminary Round of the Fantasy Beast Tacit Combination Battle]

[Students and their phantom beasts are in separate secret rooms, relying solely on a mental connection to guide the phantom beasts through the maze.]

[All five members of each team must compete on the same field. Each participant who successfully reaches the finish line within the specified time will receive 10 points. No points will be awarded for exceeding the specified time.]

As soon as the rules for the second half were announced, the entire studio went into an uproar.

The Cappadocia and Kunlun team members turned pale.

The Cappadocia beasts, being made of stone, had trouble communicating with them. Kunlun was even more so, as the Three Purities Technique they practiced acted as a natural signal blocker. Forget about being in a separate room with the beasts; even if they held the beasts in their arms, as long as they closed their eyes, they would likely lose control.

However, everyone knows that there are others who are more affected than them.

[In the preliminary round, 32 teams were drawn into 4 groups, and each group was matched with two teams.]

[During the entire process, unless the main players withdraw or lose their qualifications, no replacement of players is allowed.]

[In the tacit understanding competition phase, players without a contracted phantom beast, or whose phantom beasts do not participate in the competition, will have 10 points deducted from each player.]

"Wow, this year's game is really big." Those who had just been looking forward to the punishment system for those without phantom beasts exclaimed excitedly, "The shame of the Eight Smalls like Thorn Flower should be gone immediately."

"Every year, Thorn Flower just surrenders when they see they can't win. Even without this, they'd still be at the bottom. No need to give them any attention."

"Since my sister-in-law is here this year, they can't be at the bottom of the table anymore." Someone winked, "If we meet my sister-in-law in the competition, we'll have to give them some leeway."

"If my sister-in-law goes 3v3 with their captain, I won't let her go. If I lose to someone who doesn't even have a mythical beast, I'll be scolded to death by everyone in school."

"Don't let them go. It's useless. Even if all three of their remaining players score in the second half, they'll still be down to 10 points. With that back and forth, it'll be hard for them to finish in the top 16."

"Given their attitude towards the competition this year, letting someone without a phantom beast be captain would be worse than giving the opportunity directly to the 21st place team in the preliminaries. The preliminaries were so intense this year, there are plenty of teams that are unwilling to accept defeat."

"Can they send in their substitutes? I see they have a phantom beast on the bench."

"Idiot, replace the little purple-haired guy. Who let him down? Scoring in the second half and losing points in the first half, it doesn't matter." Garuda's supporting group faced other people without any humble attitude towards Surya.

"It's just hopeless. What bad luck, being in the same school as this jerk."

Daoming Si Lian looked at Belle with a little worry. The Dark Night Orchid could not leave the body. As long as Belle was on the court, her team would lose 140 points compared to the other teams. How could she, who was so proud and arrogant, accept this?

However, this one glance made him open his eyes wide.

At some point, the shadow of an orchid blossomed behind Belle. Its slender leaves were entwined with golden light, and each petal seemed forged from moonlight, its edges tinged with a faint blue. Fine stardust hung in the pistil, flickering and fading like breathing.

Gradually, the whole space fell silent.

So beautiful…

This was the second time he saw Belle release the Night Orchid.

"Night Orchid?" Transy's eyes widened. "It's exactly the same as the legend."

"Quickly take a picture of this," the Lighthouse captain called out to his team. "The Lan family has never allowed the appearance of the Dark Night Orchid to be circulated. This is all valuable research material!"

The shocking scene is not over yet.

"Fuck, why can he bring the phantom beast in——"

A deer, its body like condensed moonlight, was walking in mid-air. Every step it took created a circle of silver ripples under its feet.

"Have you forgotten that one of them has a contracted mythical beast called the Moonlight Deer?"

"Oh, it's this deer. Why is he allowed to bring it in?"

"...because the Yingyue Spirit Deer is a heavenly-level mythical beast." It can be transformed into a personal item and brought in.

"What the hell?"

A heavenly-level fantasy beast?

Is it the kind of fantasy beast that almost only exists in legends? Because its spiritual intelligence has been awakened, all ancient families, including the Fantasy Beast Palace, cannot rely on piling up resources and the fantasy beasts they have contracted?

Almost all parties obtained the information of the four big and eight small ones based on their own abilities, but... few people took the time to study the information of the thorn flower carefully, so few people noticed that Song Baiyue's deer was actually a heavenly-level Yingyue Spirit Deer.

Before the gossipers could close their open mouths, they felt an invisible hand gripping their hearts.

"What is this? Mental suppression?" Garuda's supporting cast trembled in their voices. They wanted to transform into armor to resist the pressure, but they remembered that their phantom beasts were in the storage area.

The Moon-Reflecting Deer raised its head and cried out loudly, its body, formed from moonlight, suddenly emitting a dazzling silver glow. The once graceful ripples suddenly transformed into a tangible pressure, crushing the entire venue layer by layer.

The holographic projection in the center fluctuated a few times and then went out.

Trancy's blue curly hair was lifted by the invisible air current, and he had to grab the seat to steady himself. "Isn't the Yingyue Spirit Deer a support-type mythical beast? How can it have such a strong pressure?"

A shrill buzzing sound was heard, and the translucent energy barrier began to slowly close from all directions.

Hearing this familiar alarm, Song Baiyue immediately asked Yingyue Spirit Deer to come back.

"What are you two doing?" Lin Yin looked at the two people competing to open their screens with some amusement. "Belle, you should also put away your magical powers. If the alarm keeps going off, our school will have to pay for it again."

"The Night Orchid said it's changed." Belle put her hands on her hips and looked angrily. "How dare someone question the Night Orchid's strength? What a bunch of people with no vision and no common sense."

"So you're showing your cards?" Linyin patted Song Baiyue's thigh. "What about you?"

"What trump card are we?" Belle interrupted, "Our trump card is you."

Song Baiyue said nothing, only smiled in agreement. Tenderness rippled through his mint-colored face.

He knew that this was a bit too high-profile, but he still felt uncomfortable after hearing so much sarcasm.

The shrunken Moon-Shaped Deer leaped onto his shoulder, its body, formed by moonlight, gradually becoming transparent. Just before disappearing completely, its antlers suddenly pointed towards the crowd.

"Ah, my school emblem!"

"Oh my god... the school emblem has melted..."

Screams were heard one after another in the venue.

Those students who had spoken disparagingly of the thorn flower were horrified to find that the alloy school emblem on their chests was rapidly turning red and shiny, and began to distort as if being burned by invisible flames.

Surya was the first to react, his fingers yanking back as soon as they touched the scorching emblem, but blisters had already formed on his fingertips. Molten metal trickled down the front of his uniform, burning black holes in the expensive fabric.

The one who suffered the most should be Transy. The oversized school emblem he had specially customized to look cool had now turned into boiling hot liquid several times hotter than others, flowing down his collar into his clothes.

Amidst the chaos, the holographic projection lit up again, and Mao Tan's face was calm, as if nothing had happened.

"Then, I wish you all good luck in your martial arts." He hid the strange look in his eyes and bowed slightly. "After all, this year's losers...will miss out on the honors of becoming one of the Four Great and Eight Small from now on."

The lights in the studio dimmed at this moment, leaving only the holographic countdown still floating in the air.

The preliminary round will start in 24 hours.

…………………………

As soon as the new competition system briefing session ended, a long line formed at the Eudemons storage area.

Thirty-two teams, including representatives from twenty academies that had just emerged from the points competition, totaling more than two hundred people, were now almost all waiting here to take back their phantom beasts.

Ever since a case occurred in a ladder tournament where someone gave their opponent's phantom beast a laxative, a phantom beast storage area was set up in the martial arts arena so that owners don't have to force their phantom beasts to accompany them even when they don't need them for their own safety.

The new competition system explanation conference is obviously an occasion where you don’t need to bring a phantom beast.

Wei Ka stood on tiptoe and looked around: "I'm so hungry, so hungry, why hasn't it been our school's turn yet!"

I've been devastated by the new competition system and I just need to eat something delicious to calm my nerves!

Suddenly, something furry brushed against my ankle.

Wei Ka looked down and saw a kitten at her feet, its tail circling her knees. Behind it were a stone-like turtle, a white snake with long horns, a leopard, and a baby elephant, just like a kindergarten teacher leading children across the street.

"What about waiting in line?" Linyin came over with one hand in her pocket, "Then let's go eat first."

Weika stared in amazement as the kitten jumped onto the counter and pressed its paw pads against the registration form.

【Phantom connection confirmation】

【Thorn Flower Academy】【Cat's Paw Print】

"Hey, this, this, is this okay?" The staff member was confused.

"The kitten has lined up according to the rules, why not?" Rin picked up the kitten and placed it on her shoulder.

The kitten is really thoughtful - for an event like today's that requires everyone to participate, it actually calculated the time, lined up at the fantasy beast storage area in advance, and directly took out their fantasy beasts!

Ah She and Shi Tou, who had been hiding in the storage room disguised as Xuan-level fantasy beasts, felt like they had seen a relative when they saw the kitten.

"Isn't it... a bit too high-profile for Kitty to do this?" Rinyin felt a little uneasy.

Hearing this, Song Baiyue pulled her hand out of her pocket and put it back in his own pocket as if nothing had happened. "Many of the people in the martial arts arena are Frost's former subordinates. The Palace Master is not very good-looking here. As long as Kitty doesn't go on the stage and doesn't get scanned, she'll be fine."

I hope so.

Linyin raised the corner of her mouth and grabbed his hand, which he pretended to withdraw. "I suspect the kitten is just imitating others. After all, some people show off their cats in such a grand manner."

Song Baiyue knew that she was making fun of him, his ears turned slightly red, and he kept silent.

"Kitten, please be careful." After the kitten came here, it could only stay in her backpack or pocket. She was afraid that it would get bored.

While talking to the kitten, he held the hand of someone who was upset and had red ears.

"Meow!" The kitten looked at the two people's hands fighting in their pockets——

Just have a good relationship with the two of you! Don't use it as a curtain!

…………………………