Divine Seal: I, the Grim Reaper, am kept by the yandere Cai'er.

Chapter 41: The Round of 16 Begins! The Holy Knight Commander's Black Hand

The next morning, the sun shone brightly.

With the preliminary round-robin tournament now over, the Demon Hunter Selection Tournament has finally entered its most intense and prestigious round of elimination, with sixteen teams advancing to the finals.

The atmosphere today was noticeably more solemn than in the past few days.

The spacious stands were packed with people, including staff from various temples and even young contestants who had been eliminated in the preliminary rounds and failed to make it into the top sixteen.

For them, watching such a duel between top geniuses is also a rare learning opportunity.

The most eye-catching feature was undoubtedly the high-up dais.

Today's podium is filled with bigwigs, with almost all the top officials from the six major temples present.

Seated at the very front center were none other than the six deputy temple masters, representing the highest authority of the six great temples!

Hantz, Vice Temple Master of the Knights' Temple and Commander of the Holy Knights.

Lin Chen, Deputy Temple Master of the Magic Temple and Head of the Holy Archmage Corps.

The Vice-Head of the Temple, Cardinal and Head of the Temple, Ruoshui.

Deputy Temple Master of the Warrior's Temple, Master of the Berserker Hall, Ren Wo Kuang.

Deputy Temple Master of the Soul Temple, Head of the Spirit Illusion Hall, Granny Sanshui.

And the deputy hall master of the Assassin's Temple, the hall master of the Knights' Hall, and Shadow Follows the Wind.

These six powerful figures, whose mere presence could shake the entire Holy Alliance, gathered together, exuding an invisible pressure that made the entire trial ground solemn and dignified.

In a corner of the players' rest area, Cherrie Ying still maintained her aloof and unapproachable demeanor.

She sat there quietly, her purple skirt trailing at her ankles, her figure so slender it seemed a gust of wind could blow her over.

Although her unfocused eyes were empty and lifeless, at this moment, no one in the entire room dared to show her the slightest contempt.

Her terrifying achievement of grinding down a peak sixth-tier Vajra Bear with only fifth-tier cultivation during the round-robin tournament had already spread among the contestants.

Now everyone knows that this seemingly frail blind woman is absolutely a cold and ruthless assassin queen.

"quiet."

On the platform, Paladin Commander Hantz slowly rose to his feet. His deep and majestic voice, carried by powerful spiritual energy, instantly resonated throughout every corner of the trial grounds.

The entire room fell silent.

"First of all, congratulations to the sixteen outstanding young talents standing in the center of the arena." Hanci's gaze swept over the sixteen contestants below, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes. "To stand out from nearly a thousand participants, you have already proven your excellence. According to the alliance's rules, after entering the top sixteen, you will all be eligible to go to the alliance's treasure vault after the competition to obtain a secret technique of your respective rank for free!"

These words immediately caused a stir among the contestants, whose eyes blazed with intense passion.

The secret techniques in the Alliance's Treasure Vault are priceless treasures that no amount of money can buy outside!

Hantz paused, then looked at the eliminated contestants in the audience, his tone softening slightly: "As for those who didn't make it to the top sixteen, don't be discouraged. Standing here, you are all pillars of the alliance's future. In the near future, you will also become an indispensable part of the Demon Hunter team, fighting for humanity's survival and glory!"

After an extremely inspiring opening speech, Hantz waved his hand and announced, "Next, let's begin the draw ceremony for the Round of 16!"

A huge magic lottery machine was pushed up.

Under the watchful eyes of thousands of people in the audience, Hantz personally pressed the start button.

Magical light flashed wildly as sixteen names began to jump and match rapidly on the light screen.

"Ding!"

With a crisp notification sound, the matchups for the Round of 16 appeared on the giant magic screen.

However, when Han Ci saw the match results on the screen, his face, which had been dignified, turned ashen, as if he had swallowed a dead fly. His face turned from red to green, and finally as black as the bottom of a pot.

In stark contrast were the other five deputy hall masters on the dais.

They were stunned for a moment, then their expressions became extremely interesting, and they even revealed undisguised gloating smiles.

The reason is simple: the lottery results were just too dramatic!

Among the top 16 in this competition, the Knights Temple performed exceptionally well, securing five spots and becoming the biggest winner.

However, the result of Hantz's "black hand" actually made these five knights form "two and a half pairs"!

In other words, in the first round of the playoffs, there are two games that are Cavaliers vs. Cavaliers internal battles!

This means that, regardless of the outcome of the competition, two members of the Knights Temple will be eliminated in the first round, and at most only three members will be able to advance to the quarterfinals!

"Ahem—" Lin Chen, the deputy temple master of the Magic Temple, cleared his throat, smiled like a daisy, and said in a sarcastic tone, "Brother Han truly lives up to his reputation as a messenger of light! This lottery result is truly impartial and fair! Our Magic Temple highly approves of this result!"

Shadow Wind of the Assassin's Temple, who was closest to Han Ci, burst into unrestrained laughter, slapping his thigh and yelling, "Hahahaha! Old Han, I admit your Knights' Temple is indeed very strong this year, with a large and powerful force. But your luck—tsk tsk tsk, it's like misfortune itself opened the door for misfortune, utterly unlucky!"

Han Ci's lips twitched with anger. He glared fiercely at Ying Suifeng and gritted his teeth, uttering, "Shut your bird beak!"

Ren Wo Kuang from the Warrior Temple also burst into laughter: "Shadow, you can't talk about Lao Han like that. On the bright side, the Knight Temple's strategy is tactical. At least they've already secured at least two people in the top eight, while we're still not so sure!"

Granny Sanshui of the Soul Temple snorted coldly, giving the old men a sidelong glance: "What can you old fogies do besides gloat? Why don't you try getting five people into the top sixteen yourself? But speaking of which—" Granny Sanshui changed the subject, smiling at Han Ci, "Our Soul Temple didn't have any overlapping internal battles this time. Old Han, thanks!"

Faced with the relentless teasing of these old foxes, Han Ci was furious, but he couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal and could only swallow his anger.

"Alright, the time's up!"

To cover up the embarrassment of his disastrous draw, Han Ci quickly announced loudly, "The first match of the Round of 16 is officially beginning! Knight Temple's Long Haochen versus Knight Temple's Li Xin, please enter the arena!"

As soon as he finished speaking, all eyes in the arena focused on the ring.

Long Haochen and Li Xin walked onto the arena side by side. The two were not only knights of the same temple, but also extremely close siblings.

"Sister—" Long Haochen looked at Li Xin opposite him, a hint of difficulty flashing in his eyes. He didn't want to fight Li Xin, but he carried the burden of winning the championship.

Li Xin looked at the handsome young man in front of her, who was already half a head taller than her, and smiled with great ease.

She knew her own limitations perfectly well. Reaching the top sixteen with her Rose Unicorn was already an extraordinary achievement. In a real fight, she would be no match for the monstrous talent, Long Haochen.

Without the slightest hesitation, Li Xin decisively raised her right hand and shouted loudly at the referee, "Referee, I concede!"

These words caused an uproar in the room.

Li Xin, completely oblivious to the stares around her, walked up to Long Haochen, patted his shoulder, and smiled sweetly, "Haochen, this is as far as I can accompany you. From here on out, you must carry my share and utterly crush everyone else. You absolutely must bring back the championship!"

And so, the first match of the Round of 16 ended swiftly and peacefully. Long Haochen secured a place in the quarterfinals without lifting a finger.