"Congratulations on passing the elimination round!"
"All of you have won the qualification to enter the Primordial Origin Realm," Ascelon commended.
Although watching from above, the fight was not thrilling; in the eyes of these talents, it was probably the most dangerous fight they had in their lives.
Surviving such an onslaught, the remaining million felt unprecedented joy and excitement.
Now, they finally had the qualification to enter the Primordial Origin Realm!
No matter what happened in the ranking round, their entry ticket was secured.
Meanwhile, the talents who didn't manage to survive looked up enviously.
Although they had already achieved a lot, reaching such a stage, they still wanted more.
Unfortunately, fate hated the weak. Losing in the elimination round, their dream of setting an ultimate foundation would be forever out of reach.
"I'm sure you are excited for the ranking round, so without further ado…"
Wanting to quickly end the competition, Ascelon didn't bother to give them rest.
They had already fought for a few decades. What's a few years more?
Soon, a complex bracket formed in the void, listing their names and opponents.
"We are on the opposite side," Zar complained.
Being far at the end of the bracket, Zar could only fight Maximus in the championship round.
"Isn't this grander? What we fight for is not only winning and losing but also the championship, the strongest talent in the Aeon Plane," Maximus smiled.
Initially, he didn't plan on winning. However, thinking that he could choose an ultimate treasure from the vaults of the Overlords Organization, Maximus couldn't just pass up the matter.
"Then don't lose before meeting me."
"You can count on me…"
Soon, after talking to his family, Maximus proceeded into one of the arenas.
In the ranking round, the Plane Arena morphed into five hundred thousand battle rings for each match.
Walking to the designated number, Maximus met his opponent.
"Nice to meet you, Lord Shadowcrest!"
Although the opponent didn't know Maximus's appearance, he still knew his name.
Seeing he was matched with the legendary founder of the Shadowcrest family, instead of fear, he felt honored.
At the start of the battle, Maximus's opponent immediately gave up.
Although expected, Maximus was still speechless.
What about the fighting spirit? The will to never give up?
"Goodbye, Lord Shadowcrest~"
Although he was respectful, he still knew his weight.
If he was only matched with a member of the Shadowcrest family, he could still try his hand.
However, fighting the founder? He was only asking for a beating.
Meanwhile, finishing his fight, Maximus had nothing to do.
"I can only watch the others…"
Walking to the battle ring of his family, Maximus began to watch them one by one.
Although their opponents didn't immediately give up, they quickly ended the fights.
Having finished all their fights, they watched the remaining contestants brawl their way out.
Although there wasn't any prize, their ranking signified their status in the Aeon Plane.
"Boring~" Zar muttered.
"When will this end~" Max nodded.
"Just wait. It should be finished soon," Maximus said helplessly.
Soon, a few hours later, all five hundred thousand battle rings finished their fights.
With the winning side going up the bracket and the losing side going down to fight for rankings, the fights continued.
Bidding his family farewell, Maximus went to his next opponent.
However, just like before, seeing their opponent was him, they quickly surrendered.
Sighing, he also saw Zar sitting alone, bored.
"Finished the fight?"
"What fight? Those chickens couldn't even look at my face!"
Knowing Zar could punch a Primal Dark Beast to death, who wouldn't be scared?
"After all, you are too violent," Maximus teased.
As Maximus and Zar chatted, the second round of the ranking competition soon ended.
This time, because of more evenly matched fights, the round lasted a little longer.
With only two hundred and fifty thousand fighting for the championship, Maximus met his third opponent.
Having expected the result, Maximus waited again for the fourth round.
Until the ninth round, all of Maximus's opponents quickly surrendered.
Reaching the tenth round of the competition, only about 2,000 contestants were left.
Meeting his tenth opponent, Maximus was a little stunned.
"Oh~ Unlucky." Sira frowned.
Sira thought she would reach the top thousand without any problem. Who knew that at a critical junction, she would face Maximus?
As the countdown ended, Sira immediately flagged surrender.
"Surrender?" Maximus felt speechless.
He thought he would finally have a hearty fight. Who knew Sira would also surrender?
However, thinking they were hiding their identity, he was not surprised.
Sira and Nyx's current identities were the representatives of the Abyss and the Zerg faction.
Taking on different names, plus many unknown measures, even the overlords couldn't see through their identity.
However, once they used their real power, it would be doubtful if they could still fool the overlords.
Even Maximus only knew they had mysterious identities.
It was not until they personally went to negotiate with him about the use of the quotas in the Tower of Knowledge that he confirmed their identities.
Passing another forfeited victory, Maximus waited again.
11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th… all the way to the 19th round, Maximus didn't fight a single round.
Either his opponent was too scared, had something to hide, or was his family.
Zar was luckier as he got to fight his daring children.
Reaching the 20th round, only Maximus and Zar stood in the ring.
"It's finally our turn~," Zar said, brimming with fighting intent.
"It indeed is, after a long wait." Maximus also sighed.
He could finally fight someone!
Going through the competition without doing anything, Maximus began to feel a little frustrated.
Now, besides winning the ultimate prize, he also wanted to vent himself.
He also wanted to try if he could beat Zar through normal means.
"You wouldn't make this invalid, would you?" Zar asked, waving the energy-loading device.
"Of course not. This is a competition, not a life-and-death battle."
Depriving Zar of the energy-loading device just because they were fighting in a competition was too cheap.
Once he did that, wouldn't he be admitting that he wasn't as good as Zar?
"This will decide who among the two of us is stronger. How could I not fight you at your best?"
Looking at the timer, their bodies began to tighten, ready for action.