Twenty-Four

After the Battle of the 50, the next round would normally have 25 contestants left, but Xu Que's forfeiture meant that the next round would only have 24 cultivators left on the stage of the Nine States Forum.

Within the Nine States, there were more than 24 sacred lands, which meant that even if each sacred land had one person remaining, the next round would not accommodate everyone. Ultimately the strongest of many sacred lands would be eliminated, such as Yin Qi of Feng State. But if an extremely prolific sacred land had two candidates advanced to the next round, then it would mean that a cultivator from another sacred land would be excluded.