Chapter 77: Consecutive Byes? Cheating?

Even the players who hadn't been eliminated had something to say. You, an Earth Human player, what kind of strength do you have? Do you deserve to get the same tier of rewards as me?

They could accept someone getting extra rewards through luck, but this Earth Human player had received byes for three consecutive rounds! To put it bluntly, even a pig sitting there would achieve the same result!

In the eyes of many alien players, this was the weakest person by far, yet he was guaranteed to get at least the 21st place reward. Was this a joke?

Even some NPCs frowned slightly, feeling that the draw results for this arena battle were somewhat unfair and lacked impartiality.

Sterl continued to sit in place, cultivating with the calmness of a mountain.

The eldest prince, who was in charge of overseeing this arena battle, disappeared with a gloomy expression after his trusted subordinate was defeated. Even some of the NPCs who followed him vanished, leaving everyone wondering what they were up to.

Therefore, no one paid attention to the players' uproar.

Although the remaining princes felt that having consecutive byes was somewhat inappropriate, they didn't have the authority to address it. Moreover, the fourth prince of the Divine Mountain Empire casually remarked, "It's just a reward for the top 21. Let it go."

With someone from their own ranks smoothing things over, the matter was left unresolved.

Therefore, amidst the arena filled with jeers and curses directed at Sterl, the third round of the tournament began.

Forty players would be reduced to twenty!

Since all the players present were elite, this round of the competition was expected to be more intense and drawn-out. As a result, the format changed; instead of four matches happening simultaneously, the golden barriers around the arena disappeared.

Each match would now take up the entire arena, giving the champions the respect they deserved.

Soon enough, the Saintess of the Blue Water Tribe, Faye, took the stage again. Facing an opponent far weaker than Noah, she politely engaged in a brief skirmish before using a wave to knock her opponent to the ground, causing them to disappear in a flash of light...

This gesture boosted Faye's popularity once more, with many NPCs standing up to applaud.

The fourth prince of the Divine Mountain Empire even personally descended to the arena to encourage her.

He and Faye exchanged polite social pleasantries, engaging in a lively conversation.

This drew considerable attention, making things much quieter around Sterl.

After watching Faye's match, Sterl resumed his intense training.

As for the players who found him annoying, after their first wave of taunts had no effect, they gradually lost interest in speaking up. Since each match in this round of the competition was followed by a certain intermission period, the entire event was expected to take most of the day. Who had the time to keep following Sterl and cursing him all day long?

However, just when players were starting to ignore Sterl...

The energy within his arcane skill underwent another transformation!

With the qualification of the Arcane Soul, his training speed was already impressive. When the increase in proficiency began to slow, Sterl directly utilized his stored Blood Power to accelerate the process.

The final outcome was that Sterl hurriedly pushed his arcane skill proficiency to 879 points. Just in time, his evolution points refreshed.

The reason his proficiency only reached 879 points was that Sterl had already reshaped all the stars in his body formed from experience power. He could only continue to increase his arcane skill proficiency after leveling up.

And now...

"It's time to evolve!" Sterl felt a surge of excitement. He had been urgently training with Blood Power to max out his progress so that he could immediately allocate points without wasting the refresh of his golden finger.

The training method for Star Soul Rotation involved re-refining the stars formed by already processed experience points.

Only Sterl, using his Stellar Insight, gleaned more information.

A glint of caution flashed in his eyes.

The elderly player's explosive skill was of purple quality, but the female player's shield was also a mastery-level purple quality defensive skill. That's why she had confidently started chanting her spell.

Yet, the mastery-level purple defensive skill couldn't withstand even half a second.

"This old man's strength is formidable!" Sterl couldn't help but take a few more glances. Facing such an explosive skill, he could potentially be in trouble too...

Apart from the protective power of the Starlight Dragon, Sterl didn't have any defensive skills. Usually, he relied on Blood Rush and teleportation to dodge attacks.

Dealing with the elderly player's swift and powerful single-target moves would be challenging.

But after a brief moment of thought, Sterl chuckled to himself, "Why am I worrying?"

"I might not even face this old player."

"If I keep getting byes, maybe someone else will eliminate him..."

Externally, he seemed calm. But in reality, he stopped watching the match and closed his eyes to resume his training.

After evolving his arcane skill and allocating points, his proficiency had decreased. Sterl could now further refine some of the already processed "stars."

Time flew by in this manner.

Soon, the third round ended, and the fourth round began.

Sterl got a bye again.

At this point, even though the eldest prince wasn't present, the remaining princes started discussing the situation.

"This is getting ridiculous. Can we communicate with [Titan]? Ask why this is happening, why the consecutive byes."

"We need to address this. Otherwise, the warriors from other worlds won't be satisfied."

"We can't just give our rewards to a weakling, can we?"

"Or is it possible that this Earth Human player has found a way to cheat [Titan]?"

The princes discussed openly, not bothering to hide their conversation from the players and NPCs below.

As a result, the mocking Sterl faced decreased significantly.

"Good, this kid is about to have bad luck."

"Your lucky streak is about to end!"

"Get ready to be eliminated and go home crying..."

The alien players looked at Sterl with malicious eyes.

Meanwhile, as the fourth round of the tournament began, the princes took out a dazzling golden orb and placed it on the high platform of the arena.

The brilliant light illuminated the area, causing a stir among the countless players present.

Sterl, too, couldn't help but glance at the orb and saw its panel.