After learning about the monsters gathered in Group Ninety-Nine, the other participants began expressing sympathy for its ordinary members.

"I truly feel sorry for everyone in Group Ninety-Nine."

"Compared to you, Group One suddenly doesn’t seem so terrible. We only have Soren to worry about, and the chances of actually encountering him shouldn’t be that high. Hahaha!"

"Group Ninety-Nine is going to be brutally competitive."

"I hope you manage to survive."

John also noticed the situation in Group Ninety-Nine and could not help shaking his head.

"The competition in that group truly is vicious."

At that moment, he suddenly received a private message through the tournament chat.

When he opened it, he discovered that Holly had created a private group and sent him an invitation.

John immediately joined.

The moment he entered, he saw that Holly had already sent the first message.

"Once we advance, should we celebrate?"

"What should we eat?"

John froze slightly upon reading it.

All the other participants were discussing their chances of victory, how to avoid the supreme powerhouses, or strategies for the upcoming battles.

Yet the first thing Holly wanted to discuss was food.

Her priorities were certainly unusual.

"We won’t have time to celebrate for now," Odelle replied directly.

"The promotion round will probably begin immediately after the elimination round ends."

"We can celebrate once the entire tournament is over."

Hilt then joined the conversation.

"We cannot focus only on the recognized supreme powerhouses."

"Many High Gods specialize in concealment. They deliberately hide their true strength and pretend to be weak before defeating stronger opponents."

"Everyone who reached the elimination round possesses the strength and potential expected of a peak High God."

"There are bound to be participants among them who have remained hidden all this time."

"We must remain vigilant."

John strongly agreed.

"Hilt is right."

"According to the combat rankings supplied by the Skyvault Consortium, none of us except me was classified among the established supreme powerhouses."

"Even I was only placed in the newly risen category."

"That alone proves that the intelligence can only serve as a reference. It cannot possibly be one hundred percent accurate."

"There are countless universes and Space-Time Planes throughout existence."

"Who knows how many heaven-defying geniuses are concealed among the so-called ordinary participants?"

"Furthermore, after reaching the High God level, cultivators possess all kinds of strange and unpredictable Divine Abilities."

"We must maintain our peak condition and remain prepared to use our full strength against any opponent at any moment."

After hearing John and Hilt’s analysis, Holly, who had initially been rather relaxed, also became cautious.

Odelle had always acted with exceptional prudence, so she did not require any further warning.

This Myriad Worlds Tournament was likely to be the final tournament of the current era.

The Apocalypse Tribulation was approaching.

Once it descended, organizing another Myriad Worlds Tournament would become almost impossible.

Powerhouses from countless universes and Space-Time Planes had gathered here to make one final desperate attempt before the arrival of the tribulation.

Under such circumstances, caution was essential.

Advancing steadily was the safest approach.

...

Inside the secret realm belonging to Group One, Soren finished reviewing the complete participant list.

His face remained expressionless as he contacted a wandering cultivator who did not belong to any supreme faction and had reached his current level entirely through personal cultivation.

He sent the man a private message.

"Lyric, I’ve been assigned to Group One."

"There don’t seem to be any particularly troublesome opponents here. My chances of advancing are practically one hundred percent."

"What about you?"

"Are you confident in advancing from Group Ninety-Nine?"

Lyric quickly replied.

"I have my own plans."

"But you should be careful."

"Do not forget that John is in your group."

Soren frowned in confusion.

"Why do you think so highly of John?"

"He is merely a recently risen powerhouse."

"His evaluation is only SSS rank. He is hardly worth worrying about."

Lyric responded with a laugh.

"You truly are fearless because of your ignorance."

"I previously used the Law of Destiny to perform predictive simulations and fought John within those projections."

"I simulated one hundred battles against him."

"I lost every single one."

Soren’s heart shook violently when he read the message.

"How is that possible?"

"Even with your strength, you lost to John every time?"

"Just how powerful is he?"

"Why did you never mention this before?"

Lyric replied,

"You never asked."

"Besides, you have always been exceptionally arrogant and confident in your own strength."

"I was worried that telling you would damage your confidence."

Soren could not help cursing when he saw the reply.

"You really are fortunate."

"I hope you encounter Duran in your first battle, Oscar in your second, and Aldric in your third."

Lyric remained extremely confident.

"Heh."

"If I encountered Kaine or Cedric, I would indeed have some reservations."

"But those three are hardly difficult opponents for me."

Soren’s gaze shifted slightly.

"Forget about them for now."

"I only want to know whether John is truly that powerful."

"Is there really no way for me to defeat him?"

Lyric answered,

"I have already simulated the possibilities."

"Unless Cullen and I join forces, defeating John is impossible."

Soren smiled bitterly.

"What?"

"That monster Cullen?"

"The two of us have never gotten along."

"Cooperation is practically impossible."

"It would already be fortunate if we did not attack each other on sight."

"It seems I can only pray that the random match assignments allow me to avoid John."

"I still want to enter the promotion round, obtain a high ranking, and receive one of the sacred relic rewards."

At that moment, the voice of the will of the universe sounded once again.

[Notice: All participants, please prepare yourselves.]

[The elimination round is about to begin.]

[Identity badges will now be distributed to every participant.]

[Defeating or killing another participant will allow you to claim their identity badge.]

[Collect a total of ten identity badges to advance successfully!]

As the announcement ended, countless motes of starlight appeared and descended into the bodies of all three thousand participants.

A streak of light appeared before John.

He raised his hand and caught it firmly in his palm.

When he opened his fingers, he found a small badge lying there.

Its material was unknown.

It felt neither metallic nor jade-like and was only around one-third the size of his palm.

John’s name was engraved upon its surface.

Beneath it was a smaller line of text.

[Participants who lose their personal identity badge will be eliminated immediately.]

"So this identity badge represents my qualification to remain in the tournament."

"Losing it is equivalent to being eliminated."

"I must collect the badges of nine other participants, giving me ten in total, before I can advance."

"If ten or more participants meet the advancement condition at approximately the same time, an overtime round will begin."

"It will continue until the final ten advancing participants have been selected."

After reviewing the rules once more in his mind, John carefully stored his identity badge.