While in Battle Through the Heavens, one can pre-appoint oneself as an emperor.

After watching the first day of the elimination rounds, Chen Xiao felt completely unmoved.

Only when he received no bye at the end did he chuckle softly, feeling that he was lucky.

The second day of the elimination rounds saw 201 people, including Chen Xiao, compete in a total of 100 matches.

After yesterday's elimination round, the quality of today's matches has clearly improved. One of the most intense matches lasted for more than ten minutes before a winner was decided.

Although it still seems like child's play to the strong, at least throughout the day, the situation of being instantly killed in one move rarely occurred.

Chen Xiao was still unable to play today!

"The last one..."

"Class 9 of the Mystic Rank, Chen Xiao, receives a bye!"

The audience erupted in uproar upon hearing the referee's announcement.

One bye can be explained by luck, but drawing byes repeatedly can easily lead to speculation.

"Could this Chen Xiao be the offspring of some elder? His luck is truly enviable."

"Shh, buddy, don't be so sarcastic. I went back yesterday and specifically asked around, and guess what?"

"Say it or don't, it's up to you."

"Alright, I might as well tell you. According to what I've heard, this Chen Xiao is a freshman who just enrolled this year. He's only twelve years old, but he's already a three-star Dou Ling. Do you still think there's something wrong with this lottery?"

"what?"

Similar conversations were taking place in various corners of the square.

Soon, the group of students who had doubts about the lottery results were relieved.

They suspected that the lottery was likely orchestrated by the academy, but they had no objection to it and only offered their support.

After all, it was really too much of a bully to have a Dou Ling expert compete against students whose strongest were only Da Dou Shi.

So, this little trick was well done!

In a sense, isn't this a kind of fairness?

On the high platform, Vice Dean Hu Qian sat with two veteran elders from the outer academy and the head of the alchemy department, taking in the situation in the square. They all wore smiles like lottery ticket dealers.

"These little guys are still questioning things. If I wasn't worried about them being too hurt, why would I have resorted to such a desperate measure? I even had to send some people to explain to them."

"Yes, a twelve-year-old fighting spirit. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes on the day of the entrance ceremony, I would never have believed it."

"What surprised me the most was that this kid was born and raised in the Northwest Continent."

"Unfortunately, he is of the ice attribute. The inner court provides the greatest assistance to those of the fire attribute."

In this way, Chen Xiao's name spread throughout the outer academy in a way he never expected, and aroused the expectations of many students.

The third day, the third round of the knockout stage.

As expected, Chen Xiao has once again missed a bye!

On the same day, the initial allocation of fifty-one places to enter the inner courtyard was determined.

"The fifty victors today, and Chen Xiao, who received a bye, please come to the stage."

As soon as the referee finished speaking, a rustling sound arose, and one by one, the students who had won the three rounds of competition squeezed out of the crowd and jumped onto the stage.

Chen Xiao, who was also in the crowd, nodded to Instructor Xiwen and immediately went up on stage.

As soon as Chen Xiao stepped onto the arena, he noticed that the dense crowd below, the fifty people on the stage, and even the academy's higher-ups all had their eyes on him.

Some were filled with curiosity, some with admiration, and some of the female trainees even had their eyes shining...

At this moment, twelve-year-old Chen Xiao finally experienced what it felt like to be the center of attention!

It has to be said that this feeling can easily make one feel elated, and it's no wonder that Xiao Yan developed an arrogant personality before becoming a "waste".

"Now, the fifty-one students who have qualified for the Inner Academy have come up on stage. All the participants from the past few days who believe they can defeat any one of them may come up on stage to challenge them."

As soon as the referee finished speaking, a tall, thin young man who had fought his opponent for more than ten minutes in the second round before being unfortunately eliminated immediately jumped up.

"Fei Kai from Class 3 of the Profound Rank challenges Bian Lingfei from Class 9 of the Yellow Rank!"

The referee nodded slightly upon hearing the young man's words.

At his gesture, Chen Xiao and the others stepped aside, leaving only the young man who had been called out in the center with a bitter expression.

He only has the strength of a five-star Dou Shi, making him one of the weakest players on the field. His ability to pass three rounds of elimination matches is largely due to luck.

Unfortunately, under the academy's rules, all luck is useless, and the challenges will inevitably reveal the truth.

"There's no need to compete anymore, I concede. I saw the whole competition yesterday, and you deserve one of the fifty-one spots."

With a soft sigh, Bian Lingfei shook his head.

After saying that, he jumped straight off the stage.

Seeing this, some people felt that he lacked backbone and didn't even have the courage to fight, while others felt that he had self-awareness.

People's hearts are different, and they can never be united.

The challenge continues.

During his free time, Chen Xiao also took a look at the group of people on the stage.

Besides him, there are six people who are at the level of Great Dou Master or above.

One four-star, one three-star, three two-star, and one one-star.

The rest were all five-star or higher Battle Masters.

It is already clear that, barring any monsters capable of challenging those at higher realms, the other four spots in the top five should be filled by the six Grand Dou Masters.

Based on Chen Xiao's observations over the past few days, many of these geniuses are capable of surpassing smaller realms, but there are no monsters who can disregard larger realms.

The challenge lasted for about an hour before it ended, and six or seven people changed the people standing on the stage as a result, with no five-star warriors occupying the spots anymore.

After waiting for a while, seeing that no one had come up to challenge, the referee nodded slightly.

"It seems that the current fifty-one people are the ones everyone has been hoping for. So next, they will bring you a unique melee."

"Team formation is not allowed in this battle, and it will not affect the quota for entering the inner academy. It is solely to determine the top five. Anyone who falls to the ground or falls off the stage is considered to have lost, until only the last five people remain!"

As the announcement was made, a rare, gloating smile appeared on the usually serious referee's face.

Every year during the inner court selection competition, these elders and the high-ranking members of the outer court are most fond of this part.

The trainees in the audience cheered loudly, equally eager for the performance.

On the other hand, the fifty-one people who were originally gathered together on the stage immediately distanced themselves from those around them, looking around as if they were surrounded by enemies!

Among them, Chen Xiao's location was the most obvious. Within a ten-foot radius of him, there was nothing. No one wanted to be targeted by a Dou Ling expert from the very beginning.

Especially those six Grand Masters, they are strong contenders for the top five. It would be too tragic if Chen Xiao knocked them off the stage.

Therefore, the distance between these six people and him is even greater.

Upon seeing this, Chen Xiao couldn't help but chuckle.

He can have a quirky sense of humor sometimes, but he's too lazy to do things that don't benefit him much.

Immediately, Chen Xiao flicked his right hand, and a beautiful ice spear of icy blue materialized, proving that he was undoubtedly a Dou Ling.

Chen Xiao then refrained from making a move, simply standing to the side with his spear in hand, like a big boss waiting for a challenger.

Upon noticing this, the other fifty people breathed a sigh of relief.

Immediately, a massive melee ensued after an eight-star Dou Shi was betrayed.

"Damn it! You're a Grand Battle Master and you still managed to ambush me!"

"Brothers, let's take down these Grandmasters first!"

"The referee said team formation is not allowed."

"Did we team up? That's called being on the same wavelength!"

A group of Battle Master students were loudly plotting, but the six Grand Battle Masters were faster and launched their attacks simultaneously. By the time the others reacted, more than ten people had already been blasted off the stage.

The rest are undoubtedly scattered and disorganized, and pose no real threat.

After less than ten minutes of elimination, all the fighters were knocked off the stage without exception.

What followed was a battle between the six Grand Masters.

Almost 90% of people thought that the one-star Grand Dou Master would be the first to lose, but the result was unexpected. This ordinary-looking young man, with a long staff in his hand, actually defeated two two-star Grand Dou Masters and became one of the five who remained in the end!

With that, the top five in the selection competition have been determined.

With the spots confirmed, under Chen Xiao's watchful gaze, the four strangers exchanged glances and made a decision in perfect unison.

"Hehe, excuse us, but opportunities to fight a Dou Ling expert without any risk are rare. We want to see the difference between a Dou Ling and a Great Dou Shi!"

The most robust-looking four-star Grand Dou Master youth let out a simple laugh and immediately led the attack towards Chen Xiao.

The other three followed closely behind.

Chen Xiao grinned, unperturbed, and swept his ice spear out, creating a dazzling light.

With just one strike, the four people who came at him were all sent flying backward.

"I'm sorry, I win by a large margin."