Beastmaster of the Ages

According to the explanation, the upcoming competition would be split into two parts. The first was the Astralium Battlefield and the second was the Astralium Seeking, with the latter being the main event. The former was just set up as an elimination round for nine out of ten participants before the rest moved on to the Astralium Seeking.

"There's around a thousand and eight hundred contenders right now. They'll split into groups of five and fight it out in the Astralium Battlefield. They'll be five-on-five fights and once any member of a group is eliminated, they won't be reinstated for the next battles. As it isn't certain how many people will be eliminated in a round, it's hard to say how many rounds a group will have to fight. One battle could see nine people eliminated from both groups, leaving only one standing, after all. Basically, things just repeat until there's around a hundred people left. Those will be the cream of the crop who will be sent to the Astralium Seeking for the actual event."

The first segment was basically an elimination round without any good treasures. Being killed meant being eliminated, and that was a huge deal in this format. For instance, if Tianming lost all four teammates in his round, he would still have to face a full party in the next round even though he would be alone.

The Astralium Seeking after that was the more exciting event. They would be sent to a place called Astralium, which was said to be a star with supergravity and a surface area comparable to a continent. The hundred people there would fight to eliminate the rest as they searched for treasures. The last one to remain on Astralium would be number one. According to Bai Feng, Astralium was a desolate and uninhabited star, and the Grand-Orient Sword had really been found there.

"In other words, groups of five might have to fight two or three rounds. The fewer people they lose, the higher chance they stand of making it to the next round." Tianming looked at Zhong Yirou and the rest, feeling like it wouldn't matter much if they were to lose two members. "Looks like this format makes the later battles much harder."

Tianming noticed the potential problem. This format was exceedingly beneficial to those from the Mysterium Cluster, especially mysterians themselves. For people like Tianming or Bai Feng who were from non-deific-class worlds, it would be really hard for them to be acquainted with the best of the best. The mysterians, on the other hand, would know who the best among them were, and they might even already be acquainted, making it really easy for them to form parties. They could perhaps even join up with others as strong as they were to avoid having to clash in the Astralium Battlefield. As far as they were concerned, the first part of the event wasn't the real challenge, so there was no need for any of them to die.

As for the second part of the event, those without good teammates like Tianming could end up being ganged up on. There was no point for mysterians to kill each other while outsiders remained uneliminated.

"So the format is rigged so that there's little to no chance for outsiders to get the treasures. Granted, they were theirs to begin with, so naturally they prepared them for their own use. Who would bother wasting a few years just to ship a treasure to the outer worlds, anyway? It seems like folks like me and Bai Feng are only here to glorify this event." Tianming felt more relieved when he understood the intentions of those who held the event. "It's best that I don't dream too high for that treasure. All I need to do is to perform well enough to merit another manna imperius."

The treasure wasn't his to begin with, so desiring it when he probably didn't stand a chance of keeping it would be pointless. In a sense, he had to let go of his worldly wants and focus on what mattered. There were still thirteen days left, so the five of them had to come up with a strategy for the event. Mainly, they had to have a proper combat formation and contingencies. Bai Feng was better at defense, so she chose the defensive role. She also said that she might need Tianming to do surprise attacks from time to time.

"Don't worry, I'll carry you," Tianming said.

"You said it, so it's a deal. If you fail, I'll come banging on your door," Bai Feng said.

"If I can't carry you, you only have your weight to blame."

"I'm very light, mind you!"

"Gee, it sure doesn't seem that way."

"You're asking for a beating, aren'tcha?"

......

Now that they had come up with a strategy, Tianming didn't join in too much in the coming days. Zhong Yirou, Qiao Xingzhou, and the rest, however, talked a lot and gathered loads of information about their enemies.

"Hey, Li Tianming, why aren't you joining us for the research? Are you going to count on others for everything?" Zhong Yirou said in an odd tone.

"Only the weak need to stack things in their favor," Tianming said.

Bai Feng burst out laughing, much to Zhong Yirou's embarrassment.

"Hey, stop boasting! Fight me if you dare. Do you think you're a big deal for bullying Rou?!" Qian Xingzhou said with dissatisfaction.

"Forget it. I'm afraid I'll mess up your makeup," Tianming said.

Bai Feng absolutely lost it and hammered her fist on the ground, causing the other two to turn and glare at her. "I'm sorry!" She stifled her laughter and turned to Tianming. "Hey, we're all friends here, so there's no need to be that harsh."

"Alright. I'm sorry, both of you," Tianming said with a smile.

The two childhood friends rolled their eyes and ignored him. Tianming did listen to what they said in the coming days. He didn't have any opinions he wanted to share anyway, though his ears did twitch upon mention of the mysterians.

"Did you know? The top-ranking mysterian cultivators from the three core worlds, a terrifying genius divine wonderian as well as a woman of unknown origin formed a party. While they'll be competitors in the second part of the event, they're working together now. I bet anyone that runs into them will be wiped out," Zhong Yirou said. She had brought quite a lot of useful information from going all around.