"Let me see who's left… You, and you two teams, join the winners' bracket with the five teams from before."

Reed began assigning groups for the sixteen teams.

"As for the remaining eight teams, some of you are injured, out of breath, and in a mess. Though you survived, you're nothing but weaklings. Go to the losers' bracket, fight it out, and wait for the ones who drop from the winners' bracket to compete with you for rankings!"

Reed laughed maliciously, and the teams ridiculed by him looked sullen.

"I know why he got hit," Zoe said.

The sixteen Flowing Silver Combat Skill teams follow a double-elimination format, where the eight teams in the winners' bracket have a second chance if they lose once.

"Who will make it to the end? Will a team march triumphantly like a king to seize the championship, or will a team rise from the hell of the losers' bracket to come back? Let's wait and see!

"Now, let's begin the specific grouping."

Reed shouted, "This year, we're not playing around. We know you don't want to see weaklings from the losers' bracket biting each other, so we'll start with four winners' bracket matches right away! Now, start voting for your matchups!"

He laughed loudly, "Whether you want to see Platinum Ace in a tough battle or watch beautiful young girls get ravaged to death, put your money where your vote is and see who ends up facing whom!"

In the audience stands, the female combatants walked past each seat collecting additional betting fees, recording votes, and instantaneously feeding the vote count back to the podium via communication devices.

They also accepted gambling wagers from the audience.

In the stands, Mort sat down beside Li Ang, and asked, "Your members, do you trust them to participate in this kind of fight?"

"I trust them. I've pretty much provided them with the best protection available at this stage. The rest they must handle on their own."

"You're right," Mort said. "If you hold them all the way to the Excellence Realm, they'll just be easy pickings in the Demon Disaster Realm. Every year, how many self-proclaimed strong Sky Knights enter the Demon Disaster Realm only to never return?"

"I don't doubt your eye for choosing people. I just want to ask, are they psychologically prepared to face all kinds of dangerous enemies along the way?"

Li Ang looked silently at the three people in the arena and Andasu from another team.

He had complete trust in Zoe, anticipated Dorothy's reluctance, but saw her gradually become resilient.

ALulu and Andasu still had their own destinies to face.

"Just watch," Li Ang said.

"Why did you invite me to watch the match, what's it for?" Mort asked.

"We'll find out the day after tomorrow."

Flowing Silver Combat Skill lasts for three days, with the final match on the morning of the third day, followed by the residents' favorite Platinum Racing, where the annual event reaches its peak.

The race viewing area is still in the dueling arena, with mechanical platforms lifting several broadcasted game images via magic cameras.

After a period of voting and grouping, Reed picked up the loudspeaker again: "Alright, let's announce the opponents now!"

"The Sandbone Group's team will face the familiar Metal Skeleton Team. You guys really know how to vote; do you enjoy watching skeletons fight?"

"Platinum Ace's Sand Beast Gang goes against the Baoshi group team. Are these folks from the gastronomical capital of the Flos Sky Realm? Do they like the customs and scenery of our Salem Sky Realm?"

"Let's see, the three beautiful girls' Star Flower Travel Corps will face the Rock Breaker Team. Haha, you nasty voters. Do you really want to see them get utterly destroyed right away? Sigh, I wanted to see the girls advance a few more rounds. Hopefully, you can leave the field unscathed. Do they have parents? Why not spend a little to make them forfeit."

Li Ang called over a female combatant, took out a stack of adventurer coins, and placed a bet all on the girls' team to win the championship.

Reed continued, "The last group in the winners' bracket, Defender Knights against the Great Demon Team, as expected!"

The so-called Great Demon Team just wore regular demon costumes from typical stories. They were shrieking at the surrounding audience.

"We won't talk about the losers' bracket; you'll know when they fight.

"Alright, the grouping is over. No time to waste, let's start now! Hooorah!"

"The first match, Sandbone Group against Metal Skeleton!"

The host shouted, and some staff entered the arena, guiding the non-competing teams to temporarily leave the area and enter the cage-like enclosure around the dueling arena.

Zoe entered the door with a scowling face, sat on the bench, leaned against the wall, and crossed her legs. Dorothy and ALulu sat beside her, and the three watched the battle in the arena together.

Blood Eagle and his members and the Metal Skeleton Team stood on opposite sides of the field. The latter's faces were painted with silver skull designs, and similar skeletal patterns were painted on their clothes or bare upper bodies.

Blood Eagle crossed his arms, made no movement after Reed announced the start.

The four team members around him drew their weapons. Three Transcendent Realm warriors walked forward slowly, and the fourth, a Tier 3 archer, shot a swift arrow from the back of the team.

The arrow was swiftly knocked away by the Metal Skeleton's vanguard wielding dual-handed hammers, returning a strange laugh to the Sandbone Group.

"Oh? The leader of the Sandbone Group isn't drawing his sword. What does this mean, looking down upon the fighters from Flashing Field?"

Reed shouted, "The Sandbone Group has been throwing their weight around in the city these two days, and you all must be quite annoyed. Go on, Metal Skeleton, give them a good thrashing!"

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