In the Central Square, the Geniuses who failed to make it into the top 20 sat casually. They no longer needed to participate in battles, so they could easily socialize and get to know each other, preparing to support one another once they entered the Virtual Universe Company's Core Region.
"Congratulations, Cap, you successfully made it into the top 100."
"Hey, even though I made it into the top 100, I didn't make it into the list of 20, so I can't compete for a spot in the Absolute Beginning Secret Realm among the top ten. I'm a bit unwilling."
"You're unwilling? Then wouldn't I be even more unwilling, having not even made it into the top 100?"
"Haha, speaking of which, Minor, you lost quite badly."
"No choice, I ran into 'Green Demon' Ender and was suppressed so badly I couldn't even fight back."
"'Green Demon' Ender's strength is immense. It's estimated that only Kedi and Fei can defeat him."
…
While the other Geniuses chatted, the Geniuses who made it into the list of 20 sat scattered in a corner, resting and adjusting their status.
Sitting cross-legged, Ender closed his eyes, adjusting his status, not overly worried about the upcoming twenty-to-ten showdown.
Unless there was a problem with the Virtual Universe System, placing him and Kedi in the same group, he had a very high probability of entering the top ten.
The reason he didn't say one hundred percent was because if he faced 'Fei,' the only Illusionist among the 20, he wasn't absolutely confident of victory.
Suddenly, Ender noticed someone staring at him. He opened his eyes and saw it was Nuno of the Flame God Race.
"This guy…" Looking at Nuno, who made no effort to hide his hostile expression, Ender increasingly wished to encounter him in the upcoming battles.
…
About half an hour later.
Rumble…
The entire Central Square vibrated. Ten gigantic arenas gradually emerged in the center of the square, each covered with numerous black threads. At the same time, Ender and the other twenty who had been resting were instantly teleported into these ten gigantic arenas.
"Chen Yi and Philip are in trouble!"
"Yeah, Chen Yi ran into Kedi, and Philip ran into Ender."
"Hokuri's luck isn't great either; he met Fei."
The Geniuses watching outside the arenas discussed animatedly, feeling sorry for the three who encountered Kedi, Ender, and Fei. They could even guess the outcome without watching the matches.
…
Inside the arena.
Chen Yi, with a cold expression, looked at Kedi, who had an equally cold expression, and secretly groaned, "My luck is too bad; I actually ran into Kedi."
It wasn't just Chen Yi who was groaning; the bald youth Philip was too, because his opponent was Ender!
"How unlucky, I ran into Ender, whose attack methods are second only to Kedi's." The bald youth Philip, holding two shields, felt extremely depressed.
As a Genius skilled in Earth Origin Law and who had comprehended a trace of Space Law, his fighting style was defensive, using defense to wear down and defeat enemies.
It was precisely because his fighting style leaned towards defense that his Trial Tower preliminary score ranking didn't make it into the top 100. He entered the Virtual Universe Core Region through three rounds of combat.
"If my opponent wasn't Ender, even if I met Fei, I wouldn't necessarily lose."
Philip was very confident in his willpower and Soul defense methods, but now the opponent he faced was too much of a counter to him!
"Dual shields, primarily for defensive counterattacks!"
Looking at Philip, who was holding two shields, Ender's mouth curved into a smile. "Let's see if your defense can withstand my Endless Vine attack!"
With a thought, a vine extended from the Green Vine Pillar behind him.
Squeak!
The Endless Vine, formed by two vines twisting and intertwining, then extended and grew towards Philip in the distance!
"Trouble!" Although he had comprehended a trace of Space Law, Philip's movement speed was average, even slower than Ender's.
Facing the extending growth of the Endless Vine, he had no choice but to flee to the side.
If he followed his previous fighting style, he would try to stall for time, waiting for the combat space to shrink before counterattacking. But now he couldn't afford to stall, because he wasn't confident in defending against the Endless Vine's attack.
Not long after fleeing, Philip cried out in surprise, "Oh no!"
It turned out that the Endless Vine, which had just extended and grown, was not short and thin like when Ender cleared the Trial Tower, but had become incredibly long and thin, dozens to hundreds of meters long!
"'Green Demon' this guy actually held back!" Philip felt indignant. "The Endless Vine can actually be used like this."
At this point, his escape space had been sealed off, and he was suppressed in this corner of the arena.
His tactic of stalling for time by fleeing, and then using defense to seek a sliver of Vitality, now seemed unfeasible.
Squeak!
Under Ender's manipulation, the Endless Vine, shimmering with green light, continuously extended and grew, compressing and swaying back and forth like a greedy snake, preventing Philip from leaving that corner.
"Damn it!"
Philip turned his head and saw the black mesh covering and shrinking arena edge behind him.
Turning back again, he saw the constantly extending and moving greenish-blue, snake-like vines filling the sky in front of him.
"Ah!"
Letting out a roar, Philip charged towards the sky-filling vines with his dual shields. Rather than waiting for the Endless Vine to gradually devour his living space and eventually seal him alive, it was better to fight with all he had!
Clang, clang…
Philip, holding his dual shields, used the sharp edges of his fifth-tier battle shields to hack at the Endless Vine, producing crisp metallic sounds. Deep gashes appeared on the Endless Vine, and a few green luminous fragments rose from the gashes.
"It's time to end this!"
Seeing Philip fight with all he had, Ender also moved his mind. The Endless Vine, which had been compressing the former's living space, moved rapidly.
Twist, encircle, shrink!
In just a moment, the Endless Vine had wrapped Philip into a cocoon, and then it contracted again!
Crack!
Crack!
"Ah!"
The sound of bones shattering rang out consecutively, accompanied by a scream.
When the Endless Vine loosened and transformed into tens of thousands of tiny vines flying back to Ender's side, Philip's twisted and deformed body appeared on the arena, and at this moment, he was lifeless!
Thus, in the twenty-to-ten showdown, Ender won and successfully entered the Virtual Universe Company's Absolute Beginning Secret Realm!
After winning, Ender looked at the surrounding arenas and saw that only two had finished their battles. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
The winners of the two arenas that had already finished were Kedi and Fei, respectively. His winning speed ranked third, so he wouldn't face either of them.
…
A few minutes later, all arenas had finished their battles, and the winners stood on their respective stages.
Venerable Gu Lun, clad in fiery red battle attire, instantly teleported into mid-air. A powerful, invisible pressure emanated from him, causing everyone present to look at him.
"Congratulations to the ten victors. You have entered the top ten, your prize money has increased to 1000 Mixed Yuan units, and you can enter the 'Absolute Beginning Secret Realm'."
Venerable Gu Lun said, "In a moment, the top five will be selected from you ten, and the first and second places will be chosen from among the top five."
"According to the rules set by the Virtual Universe System, your previous battle winning times varied. The fastest time will face the slowest time, the second fastest time will face the second slowest time… and so on!"