150: The official game begins

Night.

The Grand Stadium's residential area was brightly lit.

Teams from various universities that had successfully advanced to the official competition gathered to discuss the roster they would submit.

At this moment.

Inside Huaqing University's room.

Gu Wanqing looked at the excited Lan Qianlong, Zuo Qingwen, and others, and smiled slightly:

“Zuo Qingwen, you are the first to go on stage in our roster. You must give it your all, win the first battle, and get us off to a good start.”

“Lan Qianlong, you are second. Strive for stability. If anything goes wrong in the first match, it's up to you to turn the tide.”

“As for the others, after the first round of matches, I will appropriately arrange for you to participate to gain combat experience.”

“Understood, Teacher.”

The Huaqing University team members replied in unison upon hearing this.

However, at this moment, Lan Qianlong scratched his head, a bit dejected, and asked:

“Teacher Gu, can't I be the first to go on stage?”

“If Zuo Qingwen accidentally sweeps through them, won't I lose my chance to participate?”

His goal was to compete for this year's National Strongest Freshman, and too few appearances would directly affect his final score.

“Don't worry.”

Hearing his words, Gu Wanqing smiled and shook his head, saying:

“Tomorrow is just the first round, the 100-to-50 match. Missing one or two matches won't affect your final score.”

“You should pay attention to the second round and the third round after that. Going on stage less at this time allows you to expose less of your strength, avoiding being targeted by other participating teams.”

“Alright.”

Hearing Gu Wanqing's words, Lan Qianlong nodded, still a bit dejected.

...

...

On the other side, in Yanhua University's room, the atmosphere was incredibly oppressive.

Teacher Gao Mingcheng, the team leader, gathered the five team members in the living room with a solemn expression.

“I'm sure you all know the difficult situation we're facing now.”

Gao Mingcheng clapped the table, drawing everyone's attention.

“Now we only have one point, and we've lost the chance to compete for first place. Currently, there's only one path before us: to do our best to maintain last year's fourth-place position.”

“Therefore, before the official competition enters the finals, we must ensure an undefeated record. Every match absolutely cannot be lost!”

“Zhou Jing, you're up first tomorrow.”

As he spoke, Gao Mingcheng's gaze fell on a figure exuding an aura that kept people at bay.

Zhou Jing, a Level 70 Dual-Cultivation Magic Swordsman.

Hearing Gao Mingcheng's words, Zhou Jing nodded calmly, her exquisite face showing no emotional fluctuations.

“Teacher...”

At this moment, Zhao Mingkong, who was sitting nearby, suddenly spoke:

“I object. Why can't I be the first to go on stage?”

“You...”

Hearing this, Gao Mingcheng glared angrily at Zhao Mingkong.

“Because of your loss in the qualifiers, our current situation is very passive. Therefore, you will be the last to go on stage.”

“Huh?”

Zhao Mingkong's eyes widened.

“Teacher, the qualifier was just an accident. This situation will definitely not happen again on the arena.”

“Besides, Zhou Jing's profession is Magic Swordsman, which is not good at prolonged battles at all.”

Zhao Mingkong looked unconvinced at this moment, sticking out his neck and saying, “It's fine if you let me go second. If something happens to her, I can stabilize the situation.”

Hearing his words, Gao Mingcheng shook his head.

“The lineup for the first round is decided like this. Putting you last is also to prevent unexpected situations during tomorrow's random matching.”

As he spoke, Gao Mingcheng looked at Zhao Mingkong with an unkind expression: “If we're unlucky tomorrow and get matched with one of the other three top universities, your last appearance will be crucial.”

“If we lose then, hehe... don't blame me for not warning you in advance.”

Gao Mingcheng's somewhat cold laughter immediately made Zhao Mingkong behave.

...

...

The next day.

The moment it turned eight o'clock, the Grand Stadium was already packed.

The roar of noise almost lifted the roof of the Grand Stadium.

“It's finally starting!”

“Official competition stage, all-out battle!”

“I'm really looking forward to it. I wonder if there will be any big surprises in this year's official competition?”

“Let's see the random matching results. If teams ranked in the top ten in previous years meet in the first round, I'm afraid this year's ranking will change significantly!”

“...”

Amidst the clamorous discussions, all the spectators' gazes fell on the giant screen, dozens of meters in size, in the center of the stadium.

On the screen, the one hundred universities that entered the official competition were ranked from top to bottom according to their ranking in the qualifiers.

According to the rules of the official competition, these one hundred universities would be randomly matched on-site through the intelligent brain.

In the first round of the official competition, each university would face opponents from three other universities, and it would only end after three matches.

Finally, based on the points obtained, the top fifty universities with the highest points out of the one hundred universities would be selected to advance to the second round of the official competition.

At this moment.

“Silence!”

A solemn voice suppressed the clamor of the entire venue.

Under the gaze of all, the tall figure of the host, Su Jing, appeared below the giant screen.

“The first round of the official competition officially begins. Random matching is now underway.”

“Please look at the big screen!”

Su Jing's gaze swept across the venue like lightning, announcing cleanly and decisively.

As his voice fell.

The frozen image on the big screen immediately changed.

The names of the one hundred universities in the image instantly began to rotate, getting faster and faster, until only afterimages remained.

Soon,

As the image on the screen froze, the battle roster for the first round of the official competition was freshly released.

Because each university needed to battle three other universities in the first round, the entire screen was neatly divided into one hundred areas at this moment.

Each area displayed the opponents that each university needed to face in the first round.

[Huaqing University.

First match, against Yuanshan University.

Second match, against Mingguang University.

Third match, against Xuantian University.]

...

[Blazing Dragon University.

First match, against Yanshan University.

Second match, against Fenghuo University.

Third match, against Hongyun University.]

[Yanhua University.

First match, against Bingfeng University.

Second match, against Sanming University.

Third match, against Southern Saint University.]

...

Whoosh!

When the freshly released battle roster appeared on the screen, the atmosphere in the Grand Stadium immediately boiled over.

In the three battles of the first round, there were indeed clashes between top universities.

“Holy cow!”

“Yanhua University and Southern Saint University meet in the first round; their third match will probably be extremely intense.”

“My goodness!”

“Judging from the current trend, this year's university rankings will likely see a change, and Yanhua University is very likely to fall out of the top four.”

“...”