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

[Attention: The top three participants have all secured their positions. A random identity badge exposure event will now begin.]

[From this point onward, every participant’s number badge will be at risk of being exposed. One hundred participants will be selected at random during each exposure round.]

[When a participant’s identity badge is exposed, their specific number will appear above their head for ten minutes.]

[After ten minutes, a second round of random identity badge exposure will begin. This process will continue until the Advancement Round concludes.]

[The first identity badge exposure event is about to begin.]

[Countdown: 3, 2, 1, 0.]

As the announcement ended, every remaining participant froze for a moment.

This sudden change to the rules directly affected all of them.

For a time, it even overshadowed the attention Leon had received after becoming the third participant to advance.

The greatest difficulty troubling the remaining contestants was that none of them knew the identity of their assigned hunting target.

However, once number badges were exposed, that problem would naturally disappear.

The moment a target’s number appeared, their designated hunter could immediately identify and locate them.

Once that target died, not only would the victim be eliminated, but the participant assigned to protect them would also be removed from the tournament.

Therefore, the safest course of action was to kill one’s own hunting target and secure advancement as quickly as possible.

Once a participant qualified, they would no longer face the humiliating possibility of being eliminated simply because the person they were supposed to protect had been killed elsewhere.

As a result, the participants who had not yet been eliminated now had several urgent problems to deal with at once.

They had to guard against their own hunter.

They had to ensure that their protection target remained alive.

At the same time, they had to locate and kill their designated prey before someone else disrupted the chain.

With identity exposure mode activated, the rate of both advancement and elimination was certain to skyrocket.

John listened to the announcement and thought to himself,

"This kind of identity exposure mode really does make things more exciting."

At that moment, another system notification sounded beside his ears.

[Ding! You have completed the Advancement Round.]

[Congratulations on successfully entering the top thirty.]

[You will now be transported to the secret battlefield for the round of thirty to fifteen. Please prepare yourself.]

As the notification ended, John and Holly simultaneously vanished from Secret Realm No. 1.

A moment later, they appeared inside the battlefield prepared for the round of thirty to fifteen.

For the remainder of the current Advancement Round, they would temporarily act as spectators until all thirty qualifying participants had been decided.

Meanwhile, throughout the three secret realms, every remaining contestant waited nervously.

Without exception, their expressions were solemn and vigilant.

The will of the universe was about to randomly expose the identity numbers of one hundred participants.

When the countdown reached zero, nearly one hundred of the remaining 298 participants across the three secret realms suddenly had glowing number badges appear above their heads.

Those whose identities had been exposed could do nothing except curse their bad luck.

There was no way to resist the rules.

The will of the universe had decided to reveal them, and they had no choice but to accept it.

One participant saw the number above his head and immediately panicked.

"Damn it! My number has been exposed. My hunter will probably come after me at any moment!"

Sensing that danger was imminent, he prepared to flee.

However, before he could move, an overwhelmingly powerful wave of Divine Sense descended upon him and pinned him in place.

He could not move his limbs.

He could not even twitch a finger.

It was as though invisible shackles had bound every inch of his body, completely depriving him of the ability to resist.

Cedric appeared behind him like a ghost.

He reached out with one hand and seized the back of the man’s neck, his eyes filled with vicious killing intent.

"Trying to leave?"

Cedric’s voice was cold.

"Unfortunately, you belong to me now."

The next moment, his fingers tightened.

Crack!

The participant’s neck was crushed instantly.

Destruction Law and Extreme Dao Law erupted immediately afterward.

The man’s entire body exploded again and again, disintegrating into fine dust before his Life Origin could escape.

A moment later, the voice of the will of the universe rang throughout the secret realms.

[Congratulations to Cedric of the Shadow Divine Court for completing his Advancement Round objective.]

[He has become the fourth participant to successfully advance.]

[Until the Myriad Worlds Tournament officially concludes, Cedric is temporarily ranked fourth.]

Within Secret Realm No. 3, a glowing number badge appeared directly above Lyric’s head.

A participant sensed his exposed identity and immediately charged toward him with murderous intent.

Lyric looked at the approaching powerhouse with a speechless expression.

"You actually dare to hunt me?"

The participant showed no hesitation.

"Life and death are determined by fate, while wealth and status depend on opportunity."

"I have already come this far. How could I abandon everything merely because I feel a little fear?"

Anyone capable of reaching this stage of the Advancement Round was naturally no weakling.

Every remaining contestant was an elite among those of the same rank.

Black light suddenly erupted from the hunter’s body.

Countless streams of darkness surged outward and swept toward Lyric from every direction.

Lyric merely sneered.

He raised his hand and clenched it into a fist.

Although he had attacked later, his punch arrived first.

His fist pierced directly through space and struck the hunter’s body before the incoming black light could touch him.

Boom!

The participant was killed on the spot.

Lyric did not even pause.

His figure flickered and vanished.

In the next instant, he appeared before another participant whose number had also been exposed.

That person was none other than Lyric’s assigned hunting target.

Lyric threw a single punch.

Only one.

Yet that one punch was enough to kill his prey instantly.

The voice of the will of the universe sounded once more.

[Congratulations to the independent cultivator Lyric for completing his Advancement Round objective.]

[He has become the fifth elite participant to successfully advance.]

[Until the Myriad Worlds Tournament concludes, Lyric is temporarily ranked fifth.]

Immediately afterward, one advancement announcement after another began echoing across the three secret realms.

[Congratulations to Masilov of the Treasure-Rich Mountains for completing his Advancement Round objective.]

[He has become the sixth participant to successfully advance.]

[Until the Myriad Worlds Tournament officially concludes, Masilov is temporarily ranked sixth.]

[Congratulations to Morado of Evernight Palace for completing his Advancement Round objective.]

[He has become the seventh participant to successfully advance.]

[Until the Myriad Worlds Tournament concludes, Morado is temporarily ranked seventh.]

[Congratulations to Morris of the Demon King Council for completing his Advancement Round objective.]

[He has become the eighth participant to successfully advance.]

[Until the Myriad Worlds Tournament concludes, Morris is temporarily ranked eighth.]

[Congratulations to Hilt of the Skyvault Consortium for completing her Advancement Round objective.]

[She has become the ninth participant to successfully advance.]

[Until the Myriad Worlds Tournament concludes, Hilt is temporarily ranked ninth.]

[Congratulations to Odelle of the Skyvault Consortium for completing her Advancement Round objective.]

[She has become the tenth participant to successfully advance.]

[Until the Myriad Worlds Tournament concludes, Odelle is temporarily ranked tenth.]

The reason Hilt and Odelle had only placed ninth and tenth was not because they lacked strength.

Their hunting targets simply had not been exposed during the first round of identity revelation.

Had their targets’ numbers appeared immediately, both women would undoubtedly have advanced much earlier.

Therefore, the current Advancement Round rankings could not be treated as an absolute reflection of strength.

Luck had played a considerable role in determining the order.

Some participants had their targets revealed almost immediately.

Others were forced to wait, regardless of how powerful they were.

The leaderboard displayed who had completed the objective first.

It did not necessarily reveal who was truly the strongest.