About ten minutes later, the last group of contestants in the third round had also determined their winners and losers.

After a thousand contestants registered for advancement, they all exited the arena to make room for the final two matches of the elimination rounds.

…

"The elimination rounds are over; all contestants, please take a ten-minute break before entering the group stage." As the winners and losers of the last two matches were decided, Xie Venerate's voice once again enveloped every contestant present, "Please, the five thousand contestants who advanced, gather in the center of the arena and await the drawing for group assignments!"

As soon as the words fell, Lin Su, who was chatting with the three little ones in the waiting area, quickly stood up, "Wait for me for a moment, I'll go draw the lot first."

Having said this, he joined the ranks of other advancing contestants under the envious eyes of those who were eliminated, quickly gathering in the center of the arena.

From a distance, Qiuqiu turned and nudged the nearby Guigui.

"Mi? (｡òωó｡)" (Do you think we have a chance to play in the group stage?)

"Jie..." (Not much hope...)

Guigui glanced at the advancing contestants currently gathered, shaking its head helplessly.

Among the contestants present were a few top-tier and monarch-level individuals, but they were very few.

At this stage, the vast majority were epic-level and emperor-level contestants.

For the two of them to have a chance to play, Lin Su would need to be grouped with at least top-tier or monarch-level opponents.

The probability of that happening was slim.

Looking at Qiuqiu, an idea struck Guigui.

"Jie?" (Why don't you predict?)

"Mi... (๑ŏωŏ๑)" (I can't predict it...)

Qiuqiu dejectedly shook its head.

In charge of the draw was Anikavia of the Immortal rank.

Qiuqiu attempting to predict the result was actually trying to predict an Immortal.

This kind of prediction was beyond its current abilities.

While the two little ones were talking, Hong Shan in the void had already scattered a full five thousand beams of light, landing on each contestant present, completing the drawing process.

Seeing this, Qiuqiu and Guigui quickly fell silent, quietly praying that Lin Su's group would include top-tier or monarch-level contestants, giving them a chance to appear.

In comparison, Youyou seemed much more at ease.

After all, it was bound to appear.

Quickly, Lin Su returned to the waiting area with a strange expression, and the three little ones swiftly surrounded him.

"Mi? (｡òωó｡)" (Who is your opponent?)

Qiuqiu asked urgently.

"Opponent... I don't know yet." Lin Su spread his hands, "I only know I'm in group 513."

"But finding out the opponents is simple." He paused slightly, "The battlefields are marked with numbers, so find battlefield number 513, and the other contestants standing on it are in the same group."

"Jie!" (Leave finding the number to me!)

Without another word, Guigui soared into the sky.

…

In the central league live broadcast room.

"Alright, the contestants have finished their group assignments." Song Luo watched as the contestants scattered across the live broadcast screen, looking for their battlefields before the match began, and smiled slightly, "A question for the live broadcast audience: if a five-person group fights two by two, how many matches are needed in total?"

As soon as the question was asked, the comment section was flooded with responses.

[Baiyi Dujiang: I know, it's four matches! Just need to fight each of the other group members once, subtract one from five, isn't it simple?]

[T Mochen: Are others not fighting each other besides yourself? Of course, it's not that simple! Permutations and combinations, it should be ten matches!]

[Anikavia: Darn, someone beat me to it! I wanted to say that too!]

[...]

"A viewer has already given the correct answer," Song Luo smiled slightly while looking at the comments, "That's right, it's indeed ten matches!"

"So in the upcoming group stage, we will enjoy a thousand groups, each with ten exciting battles!"

"In terms of match arrangements, the organizers ensure no contestant fights two consecutive matches, and thus there will be no rest time between the ten matches; as soon as one ends, the next begins immediately."

"After the ten group stage matches conclude, the contestant with the most wins advances, earning a spot in the top thousand!" Song Luo paused slightly, "If multiple contestants in the same group have an equal number of wins, additional tiebreaker matches will decide the final winner."

"We can see the contestants have all positioned themselves at their respective group battlefields." Song Luo quickly announced while looking at the screen, "Three minutes remain until the start of the group stage."

"At this moment, our event staff is assigning numbers to the five contestants in each group; they will draw numbers one through five."

"Thereafter, contestants with different numbers will fight according to a preset order."

Worried some viewers might not understand, Song Luo gave an example, "For instance, if the first match is between numbers one and four, contestants holding numbers one and four in each of the thousand groups will face off in the first of their ten matches."

"Great, the numbers have been distributed; now every one of the five thousand contestants holds a number. Let's see the numbers for the first match-up!"

On the screen, a massive holographic display clearly showed two numbers.

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