The competition for the top 25 to advance to the top 13 was proceeding smoothly, and soon the 13 advancing individuals had already been determined.
It could be said that aside from Jiang Yuan, the others were all well-known prodigies from their respective Academies.
Basically, they were all contestants who ranked fairly high in their respective Academies.
For example, from Zhongyuan Academy, there was the top-ranked Li Chengyi, second-ranked Ai Xiu, seventh-ranked Ye Jinhuan, and Jiang Yuan who had no current ranking.
The advanced contestants from Daxia Academy were the top-ranked Shi Zhuan and the second-ranked Tu Wenbing.
As the champion Academy of the previous competition, Daxia Academy had the fewest number of contestants advancing to the top 13 this time.
However, looking at Shi Zhuan's occasional glances towards Jiang Yuan made things clear—it's apparent that a significant number were eliminated during the "Treasure Battle."
Nevertheless, the three contestants from their Academy who advanced are the strongest, and there is still a chance to compete for the championship.
Next were Beimang Academy's top-ranked Wei Qiyou and second-ranked Bai Fusi, and sixth-ranked Li Fawei.
It's worth mentioning that Li Fawei advanced to the top 13 by means of a bye.
Finally, there was Martial Arts Academy.
Ranked first is Huang Huanqing, third-ranked Qi Baohuang, seventh-ranked Bei Lian, and ninth-ranked Zhan Youqing.
Martial Arts Academy and Zhongyuan Academy had the most number of contestants who advanced.
However, if one considers the rankings of the advancing contestants within their respective Academies, neither Martial Arts Academy nor Zhongyuan Academy held any distinct advantage.
After all, both the top and second-ranked contestants from Beimang Academy and Daxia Academy had advanced.
While Zhongyuan Academy also had both their top and second-ranked contestants advance, they were held back by Jiang Yuan, who had no rank whatsoever.
Even so, no one underestimated Jiang Yuan.
After all, Jiang Yuan's three arrows were indeed terrifying.
The most frightening thing is that the conditions for those three arrows are still unknown.
If one could determine the conditions, there would be a way to resist them.
However, everyone was quite confident that just one more fight would be enough to deduce the conditions of Jiang Yuan's three arrows!
"This competition format, it might as well be changed."
Watching the about-to-start competition from the top 13 to the top 8, Miao Xinghuo couldn't help but make a comment.
In the competition for the top 13 to the top 8, one person will first get a bye.
Then, the remaining twelve contestants will have one-on-one matches, six rounds in total.
The six rounds will determine the six advancing contestants, and together with the contestant with a bye, that makes seven people.
The last person among the top eight will then be determined by a resurrection match played by the six recently eliminated contestants.
The last person standing will fill the spot in the top eight.
However, determining the strongest out of six people is also rather troublesome.
After all, after one round it boils down to three...
Take another bye, and then the winner faces off against the contestant with the bye.
What a mess...
"Luck is also a form of strength, huh."
Jin Lingyu laughed, "Next time it's your Academy's turn to host, you can change the rules too."
"Right, like from deciding the final 200 to the final 256."
Guan Chutian also added with a smile, "That way, there wouldn't be any excess contestants in the final one-on-one arena battles, and naturally, there would be no byes."
"That's a good option, you can try it when your Academy hosts."
Miao Xinghuo smiled slightly but didn't respond.
After all, such an effort is thankless, and for someone as lazy as him, less is more.
"Alright, go up and draw lots."
Guan Chutian was about to say something else but was directly interrupted by Jin Lingyu.
Starting from the top 13 to the top 8 round, the four vice-principals needed to go onstage to draw lots to decide the matchups.
This way it's more fair and less likely to be suspected of being rigged like a machine.
After the four vice-principals went on stage, there was already a black box appearing.
Inside the box were cards with the names of the thirteen contestants.
Two vice-principals would draw at the same time, pulling out two cards one after the other, and the two named contestants would be paired up for a battle.
This process continued, and the last remaining ball not drawn would be the bye.
As the host of this Joint Examination, Zhongyuan Academy's Vice Principal Jin Lingyu went on stage first, drew a ball, and displayed it in front of the camera.
[As expected of Zhongyuan Academy's vice principal, the first one drawn is Li Chengyi!]
[Zhongyuan Academy's top-ranked, wonder who will have the fortune to be his opponent.]
[No internal battle, no internal battle, no internal battle!]
[Internal battle! Internal battle! Internal battle!]
The audience in the live broadcast room became excited seeing this scene.
As spectators, they naturally had their own supported and favorite Academies.
Everyone wants their supported or favored Academy to win the championship of this Joint Examination.
However, to their disappointment, Guan Chutian went up second and the ball drawn bore the name of Bei Lian.
Ranked seventh in Martial Arts Academy, he is not weak, but among these thirteen contestants, he is not considered very strong.
If one were to judge by paper strength alone, he would only be somewhat stronger than Jiang Yuan.
Of course, if judging by paper strength, Jiang Yuan is undoubtedly the weakest among them.
However, Jiang Yuan's attention was not on the drawing process taking place on stage.
"What are you looking for?"
Seeing Jiang Yuan take out a backpack card and continually search through it, Ai Xiu, who was beside him, asked with some curiosity.
"I remember I made a card that could see inside the box, but it seems I can't find it now; it should be in this backpack card."