38: 32 to 16

Unlike the qualifiers, the Top 32 to Top 16 matches were held offline.

Tianhe Stadium, Durian City's largest arena, was opened for the 32 contestants today.

"Now, let's welcome our 32 participating contestants!"

The host in the commentary box spoke with fervor.

Shi Li and the others walked from the waiting room to the center of the stadium and stood in a line.

Then, the host called out each person's name one by one.

When Fang Jinghai's name was called, the cheers were naturally the loudest.

As the highest-ranked player in this competition, he had many supporters from outside Second High School.

Platinum 1 was still unique on the field.

However, just as Shi Li had expected, although he had advanced two ranks in these ten days, other contestants had also improved.

Some had advanced one rank, others two.

So now, among the 32 players, there were quite a few Gold 4 players like him, including Gong Ping.

There was even one player who, if Shi Li remembered correctly, had directly advanced three ranks, from Gold 1 to Gold 4.

But if one were to ask whose improvement was the most noteworthy, it was undoubtedly Liang Dan, the top figure from Third High School.

She had advanced from Gold 4 to Gold 5.

This meant that Liang Dan was one of only two people on the field with a 4+1 deck, essentially earning the right to challenge Fang Jinghai.

However, everyone knew that advancing from Gold 5 to Platinum 1 was not easy.

Because the difficulty of acquiring three-star character cards was incomparable to one-star or two-star cards.

Especially Platinum card players, who were the most numerous group among card players.

It was hard for those who wanted to climb higher to continue doing so, while new players constantly joined from lower ranks.

Over the years, it was easy to imagine how great the market demand for three-star resources was.

High demand, and fewer resources than one-star and two-star resources.

To put it simply, it was easy to upgrade in Gold and Silver, but difficult to advance to Platinum.

"Next, please, contestants, state your declarations one by one!"

The microphone was first passed to Liang Dan, who stood at the very end.

"I will win the championship."

Liang Dan's declaration was quite concise and very domineering.

From her focused gaze, it was clear that she only considered Fang Jinghai as her opponent.

After a few people, the microphone was passed to Fang Jinghai.

"Welcome to challenge."

He was essentially responding to Liang Dan.

And he placed himself in a position higher than everyone else: you are all just challengers.

Only Fang Jinghai on the field had the right to say such a thing.

"Uh... my goal is to enter the Top 16."

"Go all out, leave no regrets."

"With a learning attitude, I've come to seek guidance from everyone."

Everyone's subsequent speeches were conventional, and the microphone eventually reached Gong Ping's hand.

"Competition first, friendship thirty-second.

I hope to have a fair duel with everyone!"

Gong Ping spoke very quickly, passing the microphone to the next person before anyone could fully process his words.

And the next person was Shi Li.

In contrast to Gong Ping, Shi Li's movements seemed a bit slow.

He expressionlessly pulled a small slip of paper from his pocket.

Among the 32 contestants present, Shi Li was the only one who had prepared a speech.

This earnest and meticulous attitude earned unanimous praise from the audience.

At this moment, everyone quieted down, eager to hear what kind of speech he had specially prepared.

"Ahem."

Shi Li cleared his throat.

"Durian City Twenty-sixth High School, a trustworthy high school.

It boasts strong faculty and excellent teaching capabilities.

This year, with less than 1% of the city's total student population, it secured two spots in the city's unified exam Top 32, accounting for over 6% and ranking third city-wide.

We welcome all graduating junior high students to apply. Consultation hotline: 1815549****"

After reading the content on the slip of paper, he also nodded towards the school leadership's viewing area and made a money gesture.

He had fulfilled his pre-competition promise, and the 1000 cubic coins the principal promised should not be forgotten.

"Hahahahahahaha! He actually used his declaration to advertise!"

"But seriously, it was indeed impressive."

"If I remember correctly, Twenty-sixth High School only has about 120 students, yet they secured two spots in the Top 32?"

"Is Twenty-sixth High School that strong?"

For a moment, the audience was abuzz with discussions.

It could be said that Principal Su's goal was achieved.

Shi Li's actions naturally caused some dissatisfaction among the other contestants.

He himself didn't think much of it, considering it a free 1000 yuan, which made him quite happy.

After everyone had made their declarations, the live drawing of lots began.

In each round, contestants would draw lots live in front of the audience.

The two most closely watched individuals were, of course, Fang Jinghai and Liang Dan.

Because drawing either of them meant elimination.

When the final draw results were in, neither Shi Li nor Gong Ping drew these two top players from Second and Third High School.

Shi Li drew the seeded player from Fourth High School, their school's only female contestant to make it to the Top 32.

Gong Ping drew Xiang Bei from Second High School, which could be considered an internal struggle among Show Card Hall contractors.

The players who drew lots 1 and 2 would compete first, while the other players could temporarily move freely within the designated area.

The first match was a duel between a Gold 3 and a Gold 3 player.

Both sides were quite similar in terms of deck strength and strategic thinking.

This match was incredibly close, with the player who had one extra Healing hand card ultimately winning with 20/200 Ace HP.

"LV1 Healing: Makes 1 card recover 20 HP for 2 consecutive turns (T1)"

"Ultimately, this Healing is still powerful.

The Healing amount of LV1 is comparable to LV2 Treatment.

If I had such a hand card, I would definitely make it to the Top 8."

Gong Ping was still replaying the previous match in his mind, feeling a bit envious.

Meanwhile, Shi Li, beside him, had already stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"To buy breakfast."

He had left in a hurry today and hadn't even eaten breakfast yet.

Arriving at the stadium's vending machine store, breakfast items were displayed on the last row of the refrigerated cabinet.

As he walked into the last row, he heard the doorbell ring again.

"Welcome."

Due to the shelving, the other person hadn't noticed Shi Li's presence.

Then Shi Li heard the two people's conversation.

"Twenty-sixth High School's performance this year is indeed good, securing two spots in the Top 32. After us and Second High School, they're next."

"Hehe, students from that kind of school, drawing them is a free win."

"No way, that Shi Li has a Characteristic character card, you can't underestimate him."

"To tell you the truth, I counter his card. I'll crush him in minutes."

Hearing this, Shi Li immediately walked out curiously, wanting to see who this person was.

However, the two had already finished their purchases and left the store while talking.

The only information he knew was that the other person seemed to be a Top 32 contestant from Third High School.