Beast Taming Begins with the Inner Circle of Pets

Chapter 30: Competition Difficulty Increases

Three days before the competition, since the registration deadline had already passed four days prior, the official organizers had already posted the competition schedule on their website, along with information on the participating teams and the number of participants.

Because a team competition has been added to this tournament, the competition period has been extended to ten days. To better facilitate spectators, the team and individual competitions are scheduled separately. The first five days will be for team competitions, and the last five days will be for individual competitions.

Both team and individual competitions are divided into three levels: Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3. Each level will award different prizes to the top three finishers in each level.

Lin Manman and her team only focused on the top three prizes in the Level 2 group. The team champion team received a prize of 3.5 million, and each member could choose one piece of equipment of the same level and a skill book for their profession. The runner-up team received 2 million and could choose one piece of equipment of the same level. The third-place team only received 1 million.

Perhaps because this is the first year the competition format has been changed, or perhaps because many forces from other regions have indeed participated this year, the rewards for the individual competition have been significantly increased compared to previous years. The individual champion will receive a prize of two million, a piece of high-quality equipment of the same level, a skill book for their profession, and a Spirit Root that is said to help intermediate professionals increase their breakthrough probability.

The runner-up receives a prize of 1.5 million, and is identical to the other runner-up except for the lack of the Spirit Root. The third-place winner receives only 1 million plus one piece of equipment.

Overall, this year's rewards are unprecedented. Of course, the competition setup is also unprecedented.

Today, the group put together the information they had collected and held a brief analysis meeting.

"The team competition knockout stage will be held over two days, with both days being knockout rounds. There are a total of 546 teams in the Tier 2 team competition, and the requirement to advance is to win five matches. Teams that win five consecutive matches will directly advance to the top 64, while teams that lose two consecutive matches will be eliminated. The opponents will be determined by drawing lots. There is a certain element of luck in the knockout stage, so my suggestion is not to let Liu Ping handle the drawing of lots." Xue Songwen pushed up his glasses.

Zhu Zibin was the first to raise his hand in agreement, while Liu Ping glared at the two of them through gritted teeth.

"Of course, let Manman handle this kind of thing. Let her show you what a lucky charm looks like."

Lin Manman calmly nodded at the gazes directed at her. It has to be said, since her rebirth, whether it was divine compensation or not, her luck has indeed been consistently good.

"The third day of the team competition is the round of 64 to advance to the round of 32. On the morning of the fourth day, the round of 32 advances to the round of 16. In the afternoon, the round of 16 advances to the round of 8. On the morning of the fifth day, the round of 8 is to advance to the round of 4, and in the afternoon, the final rankings are determined. To ensure fairness, the opponents are drawn on-site. The last day is the awards ceremony." Since none of the others except Lin Manman registered for the individual competition, Xue Songwen focused on explaining the specific arrangements for the team competition.

The individual competition is a bit different. The first day is also a single-elimination tournament. A total of 2552 people registered for the Level 2 stage this year. The elimination rounds are 50 people per round, with 50 people fighting against each other, and the last 5 people left on the field advance.

The second day is the points-based competition. All those who advanced from the elimination rounds will be placed in a specific arena equipped with spirit beasts of the same level provided by the organizers. The points-based competition will be ranked based on the number of spirit beasts hunted, with the top 32 advancing. On the third day, the 32nd place advances to the 16th in the morning, and the 16th place advances to the 8th in the afternoon. The final rankings will be determined on the fourth day. The awards ceremony will be held on the fifth day.

"The number of applicants this year has almost doubled compared to previous years, thanks to the influx of people from other regions seeking their fortunes," Zhu Zibin remarked.

The newly appeared secret realm means there is nothing new to explore. In particular, the secret realm that appeared in Jinling City this time is an A-level secret realm. Although it is classified as A-level according to the energy of the creatures in the secret realm, there is a certain probability that an A-level secret realm will contain S-level minerals.

This is very attractive to advanced professionals and groups of them. Recently, even in their own area, they've seen quite a few advanced professionals. Previously, in remote suburbs like theirs, most activity consisted of junior and intermediate professionals; advanced professionals were rare and uncommon.

"Fortunately, our hard training over the past month has paid off. Silver Moon and Honey Badger have both reached level three, so our chances of winning should still be pretty high." Fang Yaqi was very confident in Honey Badger and Silver Moon's combat strength.

"Little sister, you're too naive. Those rich kids can easily assemble a whole set of top-tier level three equipment. Fighting ordinary professionals across levels is a piece of cake for them," Zhu Zibin said, raising an eyebrow. If he weren't so careless about cultivation, his old man would have gone to great lengths to get him equipment.

"Who are the opponents we need to be wary of in the Category 2 stage?" Lin Manman asked, flipping through the notebook prepared by Xue Songwen.

"This is the main topic we'll be discussing today. There are seven teams we need to pay attention to in the second-stage team competition. One of them is a team organized by Jinling Affiliated High School. As you know, Jinling University is the best university in this district, and the affiliated high school is also of high quality. I estimate that this team's strength has reached the edge of advancing to the third stage, but they haven't participated in the advancement awakening yet."

"There's also the second young master of Yaohui Group, a local power in Jinling. He's a sophomore this year and a student at Jinling Affiliated High School, but he formed his own team. It's said that he's invited several high school students who are famous in the second level of Jinling District to become his teammates. The remaining five teams are from the Kyoto and Shanghai regions, and I heard they are all backed by A-level or higher forces. But there's very little information online right now; we only know the composition and names of these five teams, and it's hard to guess their specific combat strength. I think it's best if we set off tomorrow and go to the central city in advance. Firstly, we'll have plenty of time to prepare better, and secondly, we can find out more about the other teams."

Xue Songwen pushed up his glasses. Although he and Fang Yaqi had been training this month, the workload wasn't heavy; they were mainly responsible for logistics. He hoped to provide more help to the team, so he voluntarily collected and analyzed intelligence on his own.

"I agree with what Brother Xue said. Training in the last two days won't make much of a difference, so we might as well go early and get used to the venue." Lin Manman nodded in agreement.

"We have no problem either," Liu Ping and Zhu Zibin said in unison.

"If none of you have any objections, then of course I have no objections," Fang Yaqi said, indicating that she was just an accessory and that everyone's decision was her decision.

"Alright, everyone go back early today and pack your things. I've bought everyone's flight tickets and booked hotels tonight. We'll meet at the airport entrance early tomorrow morning," Zhu Zibin said generously.

"How can I let Brother Zhu pay for everything? I'll pay you the difference." Fang Yaqi felt that she was just trying to curry favor with someone and was too embarrassed to take advantage of him.

"Don't mention it. You can reimburse me after we get our bonuses." Zhu Zibin winked at Lin Manman.

Lin Manman blinked innocently and said, "Don't look at me like that, I'm under a lot of pressure."

(End of this chapter)