As the competition progressed, the speed of advancement increased rapidly because almost all five hundred strands of Divine Will on the field had been thoroughly understood.

For these fifty thousand geniuses, as long as they chose the right direction, comprehending a strand of Divine Will was effortless.

Comprehending Divine Will did not mean one had become a First Rank Divine Will warrior, there was quite a distance from comprehension to First Rank—the length of the distance varied by person, for some it was as long as circumnavigating the Earth, for others, it was a mere hundred meters.

"Ah! This is infuriating!" Little Demon Star failed to progress and, in frustration, bought out all the food from a vending machine robot on the spot.

Li Qianxia originally wanted to console her, but seeing her buried in food, she thought better of it and decided not to go over.

The five hundred contestants moving on to the third round were determined.

The joyous atmosphere of recently winning big and taking first place vanished in an instant, and Li Changzhou and Si closed their eyes to rest, awaiting the draw.

Yang Qinglan, Turquoise Pool, and Li Qianxia discussed how they would place their bets this time.

"First place!" Li Qianxia said.

"Don't rush," Turquoise Pool stopped her, "if we all bet on first place and lose, we'll have nothing left, neither money nor Divine Will Crystals. If we keep the money, even if we lose, we might still have other options."

"Then what do we do?" Li Qianxia became anxious, "We certainly can't bet on my brother for second or third place, right? And that could also result in a loss."

Turquoise Pool turned to Yang Qinglan: "What do you think?"

Yang Qinglan thought for two seconds: "Let's take the money we won from the first two rounds and bet it all on first place. If we lose, it just means we're back to square one. If we win, then it's a double victory."

"That's still a significant amount of money..." Turquoise Pool spoke slowly, not rejecting the idea, but her hesitation was apparent.

"Are you keeping your share?" Yang Qinglan asked her with a light laugh.

Turquoise Pool's personal treasury was undoubtedly astonishing. On top of that, her winnings were even more remarkable, or else she wouldn't have hesitated.

"It's not that I can't part with the money." Turquoise Pool shook her head slightly and chuckled, "I could spend it all on helping you guys lift the curse and it wouldn't matter, but losing it on a bet... I'll be honest, I'm not very fond of gambling, and losing money in a gamble even less so."

Yang Qinglan nodded; during their first ship ride, Turquoise Pool had already expressed her stance on gambling.

"Take the winnings and stop while we're ahead?" Li Qianxia confirmed once more.

"Stop while we're ahead." Turquoise Pool nodded.

"Alright then." Yang Qinglan sighed.

Turquoise Pool couldn't help but laugh: "I didn't expect you to have such a big gambling spirit."

"It's not about gambling, it's about not caring."

Li Qianxia suddenly laughed and said, "I remember the first time Qing Lan and I went on a mission together, she suggested taking advantage of everyone's confusion and using her 'Gravity' to catch them off guard. I was scared and asked her, 'What if we get killed?' She replied, 'I don't care. Are you staying here, or coming with me?' At that moment, I thought this woman was really good at playing cool. I definitely had to get my brother to capture her, to break her down, to make her cry out!"

"It seems like you two have a lot of fun together." Turquoise Pool said somewhat enviously.

She had to tread on thin ice during the earlier stages of the Value Game.

"Hehe," Li Qianxia hugged Yang Qinglan's arm and beamed, "These are exclusive memories between Qing Lan and me, even my brother is a third wheel who came in later, right, Qing Lan?"

"I prefer your brother."

"Hmph, everyone loves a homewrecker, I bet later my brother will like Turquoise Pool more."

"So you'll be third in your brother's heart from now on?"

The two began to tease each other.

In contrast to their harmonious atmosphere, Li Changzhou and Si were very serious—Si was slightly fearful.

They only needed Li Changzhou to do his best, but for the sake of his sister and Yang Qinglan's lives, how could merely doing his best be enough? Li Changzhou's goal was first place, by any means necessary.

The rule against 'death-dealing' was removed for this round of competition, there was no need to hold back, any method was permissible.

{The third round begins}

The slightly weakened yet still vast Divine Will suppressed the boiling noise of the venue.

Billions of people fell silent all at once, with only a handful seizing the final moments to place their bets.

The stage began to transform, changing from a circular shape to a narrow isosceles trapezoid, then arranging itself around the main stage like slices of pizza to form a massive Duel Arena.

A purple crystal hovered in one corner of the Duel Arena like a judge, neither overly flamboyant nor too subdued.

{First match: Spirit Clan·Yak versus Earthling·King of Black Fog}

"Ah!" Li Qianxia blurted out unintentionally, not having expected Li Changzhou to be the first one up, and they weren't yet mentally prepared.

"Spirit Clan's Divine Will is countless," Turquoise Pool said in a low voice to Li Changzhou as he stood up, "be careful."

Li Changzhou smiled: "Do you think any of them might have awakened the 'Unlimited Skill Bar'?"

Turquoise Pool was taken aback for a moment, then smiled radiantly, her beautiful eyes sparkling as she looked at him, "I just love this confidence of yours, I'm falling for you more and more."

"He's flirting, aren't you going to teach him a lesson?" Li Qianxia muttered to Yang Qinglan.

"After the fight." Yang Qinglan responded indifferently.

"..." Li Changzhou ascended the stage with a stern face.

—Be careful with 'Teleportation' since you used it in the first round; the opponent might counter it, don't rely on it too much. (Yang Qinglan's advisory voice came through)

—Bro, you can do it!

—Don't pressure yourself, if it comes to it, withdraw from the competition, as long as you're alive, there's always a way to save Qing Lan and Qian Xia.

Li Changzhou waved his hand without looking back and stepped onto the stage.

Spirit Clan·Yak was quite handsome and possessed a spiritual quality, as if he merged with the world, yet seemed to be observing from another plane.

"Spirit Clan!" A roar that could spread across the entirety of the Duel Arena (an area not smaller than Earth) echoed.

"Yak!!" An overwhelming wave of supporting shouts followed.

"Spirit Clan!!"

"Yak!!!"

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