The display screens on the ten stages in the venue now showed the contestant numbers for each group. For the contestants they were paying close attention to, the major powers had already looked up these numbers in advance. As soon as the system grouping was announced, they could immediately cross-reference through the system queries and find out.
"The contestant lists for Group Three and Group Five are insane!"
"Isn't number 29 that top-ten swordsman from the Wisteria Kingdom, Hualuo Piaoling?"
"Holy crap! Isn't number 1514 Ci Yu, who broke into the top hundred of the ranking tournament last time?!"
……
Everyone stared at the lists displayed on the big screens and began buzzing with discussion. Groups Three and Five drew the most talk, because these two groups contained a full third of the contestants expected to make it into the top hundred of the ranking tournament. The competition was going to be brutal.
In the VIP box, Bai Qingxue's expression darkened when she saw the grouping list.
Of the five of them —
It would have been one thing if it were merely a matter of more people in the same groups. But the experts in Groups Three and Five were clearly a cut above the other groups. Just among the new recruits the major superpowers had sent to compete, Group Three had twenty-three and Group Five had nineteen — together these two groups accounted for half of all the new recruits the superpowers had fielded.
On top of that, both groups had over a dozen contestants from top-tier guilds, along with members from the major elite adventurer parties. These people alone accounted for roughly ninety spots, not to mention the free experts from the
After all, in previous Stormwind Tournaments, there had been many instances of obscure experts suddenly surging forward and breaking into the top hundred of the ranking tournament.
Groups Three and Five could be called absolute death groups.
Probably only Zhao Yueru could be considered a lock to advance. The other four were all in some degree of danger. If they ran into the seeded contestants expected to make the top hundred or the new recruits from the superpowers, they would likely face brutal fights.
The guild's overall ranking depended on how many of its players advanced in the Stormwind Tournament. Apart from the superpowers, each guild had five contestants. The more who advanced, the better. After advancing, each player's ranking points were tallied to calculate the guild's total score.
If only three out of five advanced, compared to Red City having all five advance, that gap would not be easy to close. And Red City Guild had two Flowing Water realm experts on top of that — their rankings would certainly not be low.
"Don't worry. It shouldn't be a problem for everyone to advance."
Groups Three and Five had plenty of powerful contestants, but Zhao Yueru and her team were no weaklings themselves. Their weapons and equipment were already top-tier, and they were outfitted with Omni Gear. Apart from the Subtle Control realm experts they needed to watch out for, everyone else was nothing to worry about.
Bai Qingxue looked at the utterly calm Shi Feng and was rendered speechless.
If this were just a normal competition, she wouldn't have minded — it could serve as a good opportunity for Zhao Yueru and the others to gain combat experience. But this tournament was critical to the development of the
If they succeeded, the Zero Wing branch could take the next step and go up against the Black Dragon Empire's five top-tier guilds. If they failed, the consequences would be embarrassing. After all, she was the one managing the Zero Wing branch, and she didn't want to run it into the ground.
While Shi Feng was talking, the matches on the ten stages had already begun. The system selected opponents at remarkable speed — the matchup lists appeared almost instantly. Once a contestant's number showed up on a stage's display, they could step up and begin their match.
Group One, number 4187 versus number 712!