The second round of elimination matches concluded, with a total of 60 individuals successfully advancing to the group stage.

One of them was a lucky participant randomly selected by the intelligent system from the eliminated contestants of the second round.

The four group rosters are as follows:

Group A: Zhang Changgong, Yun Miao, Fu Sushu, Ye Shengyu, Cui Mingming...

Group B: Ge Shaojun, Meng Wenbin, Qian Shasha, Ding Dapeng, Ji Xue...

Group C: Li Fugui, Sheng Shiyan, Mingxi, Rui Qianwu, Cheng Yuan...

Group D: Gou Dan, Xia Tianxi, Hua Lu, Fu Yifan...

Mingxi's gaze quickly swept over the list.

Undoubtedly, Group A became the group of death.

This group had as many as 3 seeded players (Beast Tamers with Advanced Level pet beasts), considering there were only 9 seeded players in the entire combined regional competition, and one had just been eliminated by Fu Yifan.

The remaining 5 were Meng Wenbin and Ji Xue from Group B; Sheng Shiyan and Rui Qianwu from Group C; and Hua Lu from Group D.

Compared to them, Fu Yifan's luck had bounced back from rock bottom, as he was assigned to the safest group.

Mingxi also noticed that among the 26 people from their Haizhou sub-district, only she, Meng Wenbin, and Ye Shengyu had advanced.

Compared to other sub-districts, especially Hanning district, their advancement rate was indeed a bit grim.

Mingxi memorized the entire Group C roster.

The Time Realm was not open tonight, so battle practice was impossible.

She needed to spend more time devising tactics, so understanding her opponents' information beforehand was very necessary.

The group stage was scheduled to start promptly at 2 PM, with four groups each occupying two venues, competing simultaneously without interfering with each other.

Mingxi checked the time; there was still over an hour until the group stage began.

She and Golden Yuanbao hadn't eaten lunch yet, and their luggage was still stored in the temporary locker, so she decided to head to the hotel specially arranged for the contestants by Changheng Group.

The Staff Member had already given her the room card during check-in and registration.

The hotel was not far from the stadium, just a three-minute walk.

After completing the check-in procedures, Changheng Group's generosity was evident in one word: lavish.

Each contestant received a private single king-size room, with complimentary breakfast and buffet coupons.

Mingxi was very satisfied with this.

To save time, she ordered takeout for lunch.

Soon, a knock sounded at the door.

"Are takeouts this fast these days?"

Mingxi didn't suspect anything, telling Golden Yuanbao to continue studying "Star Pet Beasts: 50,000 Years of History" with the learning machine, and she got up to open the door.

Outside the door was a slightly familiar chubby boy.

Behind him were three fighting-type Transcendent creatures, wearing uniform black sunglasses and custom black suits and pants, clearly bodyguards.

Fighting-type pet beasts were very popular in the bodyguard market, and many important figures had them.

Besides the three bodyguards, a fairy-type Transcendent creature, resembling a human with a pair of honey-colored wings on its back, floated beside the chubby boy.

They didn't have the takeout she ordered.

Mingxi tilted her head: "...Student, you've knocked on the wrong door."

Saying that, she prepared to close the door.

The chubby boy quickly pressed against the door to keep it open.

"Not wrong, this young master came specifically for you, No. 96."

Mingxi frowned, looking at the chubby boy.

"What do you want with me?"

The chubby boy in front of her was Li Fugui from Group C, rumored to be an extremely wealthy second-generation rich.

The kind of rich that's an upstart.

The Li-surname rich second-generation who offered a high price for an invitation card on Mengo Blog's hot search was referring to this person.

It was said that he alone bought over 100 invitation cards and hired 100 Beast Tamers who met the selection criteria to compete with him in the same sub-district.

If those 'tools' encountered him during the competition, they would voluntarily surrender.

Relying on this bizarre method, he actually managed to advance from the sub-district competition and even went through all the challenges, successfully entering the group stage.

Money, indeed, money is omnipotent.

The chubby boy tossed his hair, not exuding confidence, but rather spilling a bucket of oil onto the world.

The victim, Mingxi, was forced to float in the oil sea, putting on a pained expression.

"Don't misunderstand, this young master didn't come looking for you because he's interested. This young master has no interest in a yellow-haired little girl like you."

Mingxi: Then I must truly thank heaven for not granting you eyes that can discover beauty.

"This young master hopes that when you encounter me in the group stage, you will proactively surrender."

"Of course, this young master will not let you suffer a loss either."

Saying that, he raised his hand.

The Transcendent creature, whose name Mingxi didn't know but only knew was a fairy-type, flew in front of her and handed her a card.

It appeared!

The special bank card rich people use to dismiss others.

This time, Mingxi was sure she hadn't mistaken it; the large words 'Dingfeng Bank' on the card proved it.

"Take it, this card has 200,000 star coins. Buying one of your points, you won't lose out."

Mingxi: ...

The chubby boy was single-mindedly preparing to use money to pave the way to the Mystic Ground.

He was already in the group stage, yet he was still using this trick. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

He had truly mastered the wealth code.

200,000 star coins, for Mingxi, was indeed not a loss.

Losing one point, she still had a very good chance of advancing in the top five, and even a chance to enter the finals.

But fixing a match, not to mention whether it went against her own principles, Golden Yuanbao would absolutely not approve.

If she really agreed to the chubby boy's deal, she would bet her head that Golden Yuanbao would immediately terminate their contract!

So...

"Sorry, I don't fix matches, no matter how many star coins you offer."

After saying that, she didn't give the chubby boy another chance to negotiate, pushed the card away, closed the door, and locked it in one fluid motion.

Li Fugui, who was given the cold shoulder: "..."

Inside the door, Mingxi and her pet beast, who had somehow gotten behind the door, looked at each other.

"Leilei?"

"Aren't you very short on money? Why didn't you agree to that human?"

Evidently, it had heard everything the chubby boy said.

Mingxi said righteously: "You don't understand, we humans have a saying: a gentleman loves money, but acquires it through proper channels. Fixing matches is not what a gentleman does!"

My heart aches, deafening!

Five minutes later, the real takeout arrived.

The 'delivery person' didn't even knock on the main door, but flew in through the window.

Turning her heartache into appetite, Mingxi ordered another family bucket to solve her and Golden Yuanbao's lunch.

Putting aside distractions, she began to organize opponent information.

The group round-robin stage would have a total of 14 matches. Winning a match earned 1 point, a draw earned both sides 1 point, and losing incurred no penalty.

This meant that in the next two days, she would need to continuously engage in pet beast battles with 14 different people.

The task was [N O V E L I G H T] heavy, and time was tight.

2 PM.

The battle order for all groups had been arranged.

Mingxi had 4 matches this afternoon.

She would face You Qi, Deng Deyu, Yu Zihang, and Bao Ling Ling.

Among these four, except for Bao Ling Ling, who had a mid-level grass-type pet beast with lightning immunity, making her relatively tricky, the pet beasts of the other three posed no pressure to Golden Yuanbao.

Sure enough, she steadily won the first three rounds, earning an additional 30 minutes of Time Realm reward time.

During the break, Mingxi encountered Fu Yifan, who was also bringing his big axe for charging, outside the charging and treatment room.