At this moment, in a certain VIP room of the spectator stands.

"Good morning, everyone."

Professor Lin from Hedou University was the last to arrive.

"Old Lin, stayed in bed late again, right?"

"As expected, young people just love being lazy."

"Professor Le, Professor Lin is already over 60..."

"Hmph, compared to me, he's still a young man."

After exchanging greetings, Professor Lin took his seat.

"So, how are the competitors' results after last night?"

Professor Lin expressed his concern.

"The real-time rankings are here, hang on a second."

Professor Yang from Yangdu University pressed the remote control, displaying the real-time crystal collection status of each team on the large screen.

The second round included a total of 219 teams; after one night, five teams have already been eliminated.

The organizers made a list based on the crystal collection status.

As the vice principal of Hedou University, Professor Lin naturally needed to pay attention to his own school's performance.

Currently, the three teams from Hedou University are ranked 27th, 54th, and 89th, respectively, in real-time rankings.

Not bad, all in the top 100, though the team in 89th is a bit at risk.

"Your Hedou students don't seem to be doing well."

Professor Liu from Modu University spoke with a slightly mocking tone.

"..."

Professor Lin did not refute.

He knew the status of his school's three teams well.

Perhaps they wouldn't lose to anyone in an arena, but crystal collection tasks really weren't their strong suit.

"Huh?"

As he continued to scrutinize the leaderboard, he quickly noticed something unusual.

Bear in mind this is the real-time crystal collection status, so there's a crystal count noted beside each team.

For example, the three teams from Hedou University.

27th place, 4 Water (completed) + 2.5 Earth

54th place, 4 Metal (completed) + 0.3 Earth

89th place, 3.3 Wood

With a quick glance over the leaderboard, he noticed that teams collecting Wood Element and Fire Element Crystals were particularly rare.

"Did you notice the situation?"

Professor Yang smiled slightly at him without further explaining.

She randomly picked a small screen and magnified it.

On the screen, two combined teams were besieging a massive treant monster.

Their states revealed that they were rather exhausted and bedraggled.

However, the giant treant was also at the end of its rope, soon crashing down.

In the end, the two teams fumbled around it for a long time, only to collect a few wood element fragments.

"The monsters in the Wood Domain are quite durable, and the crystal output rate is extremely low below the Level 1 zones."

"Your school's team in 89th place is already doing quite well."

"Unfortunately, the rankings only consider the number of crystals collected, not their types."

It was only then that Professor Yang offered an explanation.

"Then... what about the Fire Element Crystals?"

Professor Lin couldn't help but ask.

The leaderboard barely showed the red font for Fire Element Crystals, with no more than five teams possessing it.

"The Fire Domain... just take a look for yourself."

Professor Yang smiled bitterly and changed the image on the large screen.

The image displayed a region peppered with small magma lakes, each ranging from half to the size of a basketball court.

And around one of the small lakes, a team was squatting like statues, their eyes fixed intently on the lake's surface.

"Uh, what's this static image?"

Professor Lin furrowed his brow.

Then, Professor Yang switched to several other scenes of teams in the Fire Domain, showing the same situation.

Except they weren't all squatting in the same places.

"Uh, Fire Domain's Five Element Beasts are in the magma?"

At last, Professor Lin understood.

Indeed, the magma environment was quite tricky for the contestants' current levels.

"No, this can't be right."

Suddenly, his gaze shifted to the 9th place team on the leaderboard.

9th place, 4 Water (completed) + 4 Fire (completed) + 0.3 Wood

"This team not only collected Wood Element Crystals but also completed the Fire Element Crystals?"

Browsing through the top ten, he found that only the Fire Element Crystals in 9th place were complete.

The 8th place team was the highest-ranked of the three teams that completed the Wood Element Crystals.

In the entire leaderboard, only these four teams completed either Fire or Wood Element Crystals.

As for the team in first place, they had 2.3 Metal + 2.3 Wood + 3 Water + 3.5 Earth, a high total but a mishmash, without completing any one type of crystal.

"Which is the only team that completed the Fire Element Crystals?"

For the moment, Professor Lin's curiosity was piqued.

"Right here."

Professor Bai raised her hand and then enlarged the screen she was watching.

On the screen, a pixelated figure sneaked around behind a large rock, sizing up a nearby team.

"Uh, is this competitor some indescribable creature?"

Professor Lin asked in confusion.

"..., don't even mention it."

Professor Bai covered her forehead in exasperation.

...

The pixelated figure in the scene was none other than Li Pu himself.

Earlier, he and the scarecrow had been soaking their feet by a Magma Lake, not expecting it to harbor a snake eel.

The wretched creature launched a sneak attack, dragging him into the lake.

Entering magma without time to remove his clothes turned him into this.

It was then he realized he had brought too few sets of backup clothes.

"No wonder I hadn't encountered anyone before; seems everyone gathered in the Level 1 zones."

Observing the team squatting by the lakeside as if in a daze, Li Pu murmured to himself.

The surface of the Fire Domain was devoid of any monsters, which easily prompted people to venture deeper searching for targets.

On his way here, he had already encountered two teams, but since they had female members, he felt a bit embarrassed to reveal himself.

But now, it's all good; this team in front is all male.

Just what action to take exactly, Li Pu hadn't yet decided.

"Please assist in contacting the referee panel."

After some thought, he spoke to the light orb.

[Contestant Li Pu, speak]

A few seconds later, a voice came from the light orb.

"If I smash their light orb, will they be eliminated."

Li Pu posed his first question.

This was very crucial, as the remaining 213 teams here were, in strict terms, their competitors.

[Yes]

[Contestant Li Pu, please be careful not to harm other competitors when attacking the light orb]

[Or you'll be disqualified and handed over to the relevant authorities]

The referee panel immediately responded.

It was apparent at least one referee was continuously monitoring each light orb.

The capabilities Li Pu displayed were fully recognized by the referee panel.

That's why they added a special reminder to protect the safety of other competitors.

[Additionally, please try to find yourself clothing soon]

[Otherwise, we'll have to continuously apply the pixelation effect]

[Which will affect the broadcast quality]

At this point, the referee panel added another comment.

"Oh, okay."

Li Pu nodded and then posed his second question.

"Then, can I sell the Fire Element Crystals to them."

Referee panel: ???

...

...

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