369: Against all odds, there is something fishy going on! (Two in one)

“More than just precious! This Life Water has powerful effects. As long as the body isn't missing any parts, it can heal even the most severe injuries and illnesses, and it can even nourish the soul. It's truly something that can save lives!”

Black Le immediately explained to Lin Yang.

“Moreover, the purchasing threshold is also incredibly high. Life Water is only available through the Universe Alliance; ordinary Universe Countries don't have the qualification to buy it. Besides a very few exceptional existences, other qualified Universe Countries only get one chance to purchase a single portion of Life Water approximately every hundred years!”

Hearing this, Lin Yang looked at the Life Water with renewed interest and said to Yu Meng, “This is too valuable!”

“No matter how precious something is, it cannot compare to the help Your Excellency Lin Yang has given us by representing our Universe Country in this battle!”

Yu Meng said earnestly.

“Your Excellency Lin Yang, please accept it. Our Universe Country can't offer anything better right now; this is the only thing we have that's presentable. Although this item is precious, compared to the conditions offered by other top Universe Countries, it's actually not much. It's simply a small token of our appreciation, so please don't decline!”

“This... alright, then I'll accept it.” Lin Yang was also very straightforward and immediately decided to accept this gesture.

He understood that if he didn't accept, Yu Meng and the others would certainly not feel at ease.

Seeing him accept the Life Water, Yu Meng breathed a sigh of relief:

“Your Excellency Lin Yang, this item is very effective for healing injuries. Although there won't be any Life-threatening situations in the upcoming matches, injuries are unavoidable. After each round of competition, you can take an appropriate amount of Life Water to ensure you are in the best possible condition for every round!”

“Oh...” Lin Yang immediately understood Yu Meng's intention in giving him the Life Water.

“Using Life Water to heal injuries, wouldn't that be a bit too extravagant?” Black Le couldn't help but mutter from the side.

Lin Yang also nodded slightly.

After each battle, matching wouldn't start immediately; there would be three days for recovery and adjustment, so there was no need to use such a precious item for healing.

“Haha, not extravagant, not extravagant at all. Your Excellency Lin Yang is fighting for us this time, so naturally, we can't let Your Excellency Lin Yang suffer any harm, can we?”

Yu Meng laughed heartily, then said seriously:

“Furthermore, although there are three days for recovery after each match, if one cannot fully recover within three days, it will be a great disadvantage in battle. And in the later matches, it's very easy to be matched with those seeded players, who are all extremely ruthless!”

“One of the reasons why players from other Universe Countries find it difficult to achieve high rankings is that when the seeded players from the three major Universe Countries are matched with players from other Universe Countries, they beat them half to death!”

“However, within three days, if there aren't sufficiently precious healing items, it's very difficult to fully recover. So, the later battles also heavily test a Universe Country's financial resources.”

“If they cannot provide their players with ample medical resources, fighting while injured will naturally make it very difficult to achieve good results!”

“And even if the seeded players from the three major Universe Countries are injured, they have the best healing medicines available!”

“They enter each round in the most perfect condition. If players from other Universe Countries cannot fully recover and fight while injured, their condition will be extremely poor. The gap created by this back-and-forth makes it much easier for players from the three major Universe Countries to win!”

At this point, Yu Meng paused, looking at Your Excellency Lin Yang and saying softly:

“Of course, I don't mean anything else by saying this. It's just that we want to provide you, Your Excellency Lin Yang, with the best post-battle recovery conditions within our capabilities. Regardless of the ranking, we don't want you, Lin Yang, to be injured because of the competition and affect any of your subsequent plans!”

Lin Yang nodded slightly, understanding Yu Meng's meaning.

They simply wanted him to be able to recover as quickly as possible after being injured, so as not to affect his body.

And they weren't trying to use the power of the Life Water to push for a higher ranking for them.

Seeing that Your Excellency Lin Yang understood their intentions, Yu Meng said no more, cupping his hands and saying, “Then Lin Yang, we won't disturb your rest for now. Just let me know if you have any needs at any time!”

“Okay.” Lin Yang nodded.

Yu Meng and Black Le then turned to leave, but Yu Meng suddenly slapped his forehead, turned back, and chuckled:

“Oh dear, look at my memory, I almost forgot! Your Excellency Lin Yang, I bought some intelligence from a mysterious merchant. It contains personal information about the other qualified players. Please grant me permission, and I'll transfer the intelligence to your account.”

“Oh? Personal information about other players?” Lin Yang raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, basically every qualified player buys it to know themselves and their opponents. I just hadn't had time to prepare it before, my apologies.” Yu Meng explained.

“Alright, then send it to me.” Lin Yang replied.

He did indeed lack such information about other players right now.

Understanding others' situations before the match could indeed provide some advantage in the game.

Soon, Yu Meng sent him the purchased intelligence, then he and Black Le left directly to avoid disturbing Lin Yang from reviewing the information.

Lin Yang immediately began to read the intelligence.

The detail of the information was somewhat unexpected.

It not only contained information about the qualified players from other Universe Countries but even information about the seeded players from the three major Universe Countries!

Lin Yang immediately started reading seriously.

The three major Universe Countries were: Shiyuan Universe Country, Gu Lan Supreme Civilization, and Taixuan Ancient Dynasty.

Each Universe Country had three seeded players.

The three from Shiyuan Universe Country were Gu Ming, Gu Ran, and Zuoqiuyi.

Among them, Gu Ming and Gu Ran were twin brothers!

“Interesting, both brothers are seeded players, that's truly impressive!” Lin Yang couldn't help but exclaim.

For a moment, he didn't know whether to marvel at their parents' impressive genes or at the brothers themselves!

The intelligence stated that if these two brothers fought side-by-side, they possessed an unimaginable tacit understanding, capable of unleashing strength where one plus one was greater than two!

Even when separated, their individual strength was still incredibly formidable.

Based on their overall performance in the previous rounds, the brothers' strength was temporarily ranked in the first tier among the nine seeded players.

“This truly is 'brothers in arms against the tiger'. If the two of them teamed up, I estimate the other seeded players probably wouldn't be their match?” Lin Yang secretly sighed.

As for the remaining Zuoqiuyi, the intelligence temporarily placed him in the second tier.

Of course, these were all temporary rankings, based on their previous performances.

Their true strength would likely only be fully revealed after several rounds of the top ten elimination battles.

The three players from Gu Lan Supreme Civilization were Hong Jin, Jin Hua Cang, and Heng Nian.

Hong Jin and Heng Nian were ranked in the second tier, similar to Zuoqiuyi, while Jin Hua Cang was ranked in the first tier alongside Gu Ming and Gu Ran.

However, what was different was that the intelligence specifically noted that Jin Hua Cang's strength might be the strongest among the nine seeded players!

“The strongest?” Lin Yang looked at that annotation with some surprise, and his attention on Jin Hua Cang became particularly keen.

Although it was only a temporary ranking reference, the mysterious merchant who could monopolize the sale of player information for the Universe Tournament was clearly of no ordinary origin.

Perhaps he knew more, so this annotation was worth extra attention.

Then there were the three from Taixuan Ancient Dynasty.

One was named Que Tian, and like Jin Hua Cang, he also had a special annotation.

The intelligence suggested that Que Tian was highly likely to be one of the two strongest, just like Jin Hua Cang.

This seemed somewhat contradictory.

But Lin Yang knew that it wasn't actually a conflict.

It was just that the question of who was stronger would ultimately depend on their final confrontation.

The remaining two, Hossen and Yuan Mo, were in the third tier.

They were also the only two in the third tier.

So, in terms of temporary overall ranking, the combined strength of the three from Gu Lan Supreme Civilization was currently the strongest, followed by Shiyuan Universe Country.

Taixuan Ancient Dynasty was at the bottom.

Aside from Que Tian, the remaining two were not as strong as the players from Shiyuan Universe Country and Gu Lan Supreme Civilization.

It could be said that the entire Taixuan Ancient Dynasty would rely on Que Tian to contend for the top three, with Hossen and Yuan Mo most likely placing eighth and ninth.

“Although the strength of the three major Universe Countries is similar, there are still stronger and weaker ones, it's just that the difference is too small.”

Lin Yang's eyes flickered.

From this ranking, one could get a glimpse of how the three major Universe Countries constrained each other.

After reading the information on the nine seeded players from the three major Universe Countries, Lin Yang casually skimmed through the intelligence on the other players.

There was no one else who warranted his particular attention.

Given his current situation, his strongest opponents were only those nine from the three major Universe Countries.

Other players were not worth his excessive attention.

This was not arrogance, but confidence!

Therefore, after reading, Lin Yang began to close his eyes and rest, waiting for the competition to begin.

He didn't have to wait too long; after less than half a day, the Top 30 Ranking Tournament officially began.

As the intelligent system prompted the start of the ranking tournament, the stands gradually quieted from their clamor.

Lin Yang's spirit also lifted!

In this round of competition, everyone had three opportunities for matched battles!

And unlike the previous two rounds, if one was matched with a seeded player in this round, there was no second chance to re-match.

That meant no matter who one was matched with, a win was a win, and a loss was a loss!

Many players were praying not to be matched with those nine universe competitors no. 364s right away!

Lin Yang, however, was indifferent. No matter who he was matched with, he was confident of entering the top ten.

Of course, if his luck was too bad and he was repeatedly matched with Jin Hua Cang and Que Tian, there might be an accident.

However, he still had some confidence in his luck.

After all, his luck had always been good.

This point had been emphasized multiple times by both the Silver-haired woman and the White Fatty Old Man.

And the truth... was just that!

In three consecutive rounds, he not only wasn't matched with Jin Hua Cang and Que Tian.

He wasn't even matched with any of the other seeded players!

Three rounds, three battles, and he was undefeated!

“There's an inside story, definitely an inside story!”

“Why didn't this kid get matched with any other seeded players?”

“Exactly, all of us have been matched with at least one seeded player from a Universe Country, but this guy, despite his strong ability, somehow hasn't been matched with any of those nine seeded players. This is absolutely rigged!!”

“We demand transparency in the matching mechanism and process!”

“I refuse to accept this! Why do I have to be matched with those nine seeded players twice in a row?!”

“...I refuse even more, all three of my matches were against seeded players from the three major Universe Countries!”

“...”

After the three rounds of matching concluded, many players from other Universe Countries began to protest!

The reason was simple.

It was because they had all, more or less, been matched with at least one seeded player from the three major Universe Countries.

Yet Lin Yang, throughout all three rounds of competition, perfectly avoided every single seeded player from the three major Universe Countries!

All his matches were against players from other Universe Countries!

Although some of them were not weak, Lin Yang still swept them aside, ultimately achieving a record of three wins in three battles!

This record was something that even several seeded players from Universe Countries hadn't achieved!

Of course, they didn't lose to players from other Universe Countries, but rather to seeded players from the other two major Universe Countries!

Even the seeded players from the three major Universe Countries had been matched against each other, yet Lin Yang, in all three battles, was matched exclusively with other ordinary players!

This naturally caused a certain degree of dissatisfaction among the others!

In fact, not only were the players somewhat displeased, but even the spectators in the stands were astonished by Lin Yang's incredible luck!

“To perfectly avoid every single seeded player in three rounds of matching, how incredibly lucky must one be?”

“I don't recall something like this happening very often, if at all, in my memory, do you?”

“It certainly happens very rarely. After all, out of thirty people, nine seeded players account for nearly a third of the spots. In three rounds of matching, one should at least be matched with one!”

“Exactly! It seems there have only been about three to five such lucky individuals who perfectly avoided the seeded players from the three major Universe Countries. However, even when they did avoid them, those lucky individuals were not strong enough to sweep aside other players, so there has never been a case where a player from another Universe Country achieved three wins out of three battles!”

“This luck is just too outrageous?!”

“Three wins in three battles! He's currently tied for first place with Jin Hua Cang, Que Tian, and Gu Ming!”

“Haha, this is truly a dark horse!”

“Could it be that the higher-ups of the Universe Alliance secretly manipulated something in the background?”

“That shouldn't be possible, what would they gain by doing something like that?”

“Although the possibility is extremely small, it cannot be completely ruled out. After all, it's not easy for such a God of War player to appear. Perhaps the Universe Alliance doesn't want him to be eliminated prematurely and wants him to participate in the final elimination round to demonstrate that the Universe Alliance is indeed fair!”

“Or perhaps, the Universe Alliance wants him to be crushed by all nine seeded players, so we can all understand that no matter how strong a player from another Universe Country is, they still have to bow down before the three major Universe Countries!”

“...I still find it a bit far-fetched. It's probably just pure luck!”

“Never mind, no matter what's going on, this time it's really going to be interesting!”

“Hahaha, yes, protesting is useless anyway. The Universe Alliance will absolutely never disclose the matching mechanism, and even less will they admit to any inside manipulation!”

“Just wait and see. We'll find out the true strength of this guy during the elimination round!”

“I hope he doesn't lose too badly at the hands of the seeded players from the three major Universe Countries!”

“Whether it's bad or not doesn't matter much. Having reached this stage, a spot in the top ten is already a certainty. At worst, he'll be tenth!”

“...I envy such luck!”

“...”

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Thanks to Brother 20240723172628755 for the reward, bowing to big brother!

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