CHAPTER 686: CHAPTER 178: BURSTING WITH POPULARITY

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Following the arrival of the royal families and senior ministers from Great Zhou and Hou Qin, envoys from the other countries also arrived one after another.

Only Xianju Country did not send anyone. As for Penglai Country, it’s widely known that Summoning Court symbolizes Penglai.

Since both the Fifth Main Summoner and the Ninth Main Summoner from the Summoning Court had come, that was sufficient.

On the day before the annual competition began, representatives from the Five Great Countries, Eastern Capital, and some important Hunting Corps had all gathered.

Early in the morning, Yun Sheng and Donghuang Lingling left the inn.

"Yun Sheng, Lingling, where are you going?" Gu Feng and Qi Ye came out as well.

Yun Sheng and Donghuang Lingling were both noticeably embarrassed; they had gotten up early to avoid Gu Feng and Qi, but they were caught anyway.

"We... are going to watch... the competition," Donghuang Lingling stuttered.

"Ah, you got tickets! I’m so envious. I even went to queue up overnight to buy tickets, and still didn’t get any," Gu Feng said with envy.

This year’s competition, being novel and well-publicized, had tickets selling at an unprecedented rate.

The tens of thousands of tickets, including for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals, were all snapped up before the competition even started.

The fervent ticket sales were partly due to Sky Wings having previously distributed a large number of invitations.

Many of those Royal Ministers brought their families, and some Hunting Corps even sent their elite members.

Therefore, although ten thousand tickets were ostensibly sold, the actual number available to the public was at most five thousand.

Moreover, most of the audience members who managed to grab one of these five thousand tickets were well-connected; ordinary people without connections couldn’t even catch a glimpse of the tickets.

They were gone as soon as they were available.

That kid Gu Feng was also keen on this year’s competition; he brought his bedding and camped outside the Arena for a day and a night, only to end up without a single ticket, which frustrated him for half a day.

"We also got tickets thanks to Sister Yu’s help, hehe. Gu Feng, don’t tell me you’re like those girls who fancy some team?" Seeing Gu Feng’s fervent expression, Yun Sheng couldn’t help but tease.

"Of course, I am a die-hard fan of ’Flame Emperor’, I like Emperor the most!" Gu Feng took out a bunch of cards, "I have bought almost all the Flame Emperor-themed souvenirs."

Starting last month, Gu Feng also started to win some prize money as competitions got underway, and with the relaxation on Magic Healing restrictions, Gu Feng had more cash on hand.

But this guy ended up spending all his money on souvenir merchandise.

Yun Sheng and Donghuang Lingling secretly rolled their eyes.

However, the fact that Gu Feng was still the biggest fan of "Emperor" without knowing the real identity of the "Flame Emperor" really was an ill-fated connection.

Donghuang Lingling also had an inscrutable expression on her face.

"Hehe, we will definitely tell you about the exciting moments of the competition. It’s getting late; we need to enter the venue quickly," Yun Sheng, worried that Donghuang Lingling might reveal too much, hurriedly said.

The two quickly slipped away.

"Hey, come back early, okay? You must tell me about the ’Flame Emperor’s’ match, I’ll be waiting for you!" Gu Feng still shouted hopelessly after them.

Qi looked at Yun Sheng’s retreating figure, always feeling an indescribable strange sensation in his heart—it was like something was off.

Fifteen minutes later, "Flame Emperor" arrived at the Sky Wings Arena.

Owing to the special arrangements of the competition area, all contestants would only find out at the very end.

As they walked into the Arena, their first impression was its enormity.

It was an arena capable of accommodating ten thousand people to watch simultaneously.

Just the diameter of the arena was over three thousand meters, and apart from the spectator seats, the entire venue was open air.

At night, one could clearly see the stars and the moon.

When one stepped into the arena, the first feeling was one of insignificance.

Such design was said to take Demon Beasts into consideration.

The running and sprinting speed of Demon Beasts is much faster than that of humans.

"""

One quarter of an hour before the competition began, "Flame Emperor" and the other eleven groups of players had no idea of the origins of the Demon Beast they were to face.

The competition officially began after midday.

The Arena was encircled by a crowd, designed in a terraced layout, seating ten thousand people.

The first row was the Purple Gold Seat occupied entirely by members of various countries’ Royal Families and noble dignitaries.

Tianyidong also sat in the first row.

From the second row onwards, the seats were occupied by various Hunting Corps and some wealthy merchants, followed by ordinary spectators at the very back.

"Yan" briefly scanned the audience and spotted the familiar figures of Elder Helian and Elder Yu.

As for the other trainees, they probably didn’t manage to buy tickets.

Suddenly, "Yan" felt a gaze upon her; looking towards the first row, she saw Ye Beiming.

Seated beside Ye Beiming were Empress Wenren and a young child.

It looked like that must be the newly appointed Crown Prince; Ye Beiming was likely here today in the capacity of a member of the Great Zhou Royal Family.

Ye Beiming directed a lip-curling smirk at Yun Sheng, looking every bit the Demon.

Yun Sheng’s mouth twitched, barely resisting the urge to flip Ye Beiming the bird.

Her gaze then shifted to the side...

"Not good," whispered Huang in a hasty tone.

"What’s wrong?" Yan looked at Huang.

"How did that old guy get here," Huang had only just noticed that the East Capital Left Minister was seated in the first row.

She had always been at odds with the Left Minister, especially since the ghost idea for the alliance marriage between the two nations came from him. "Don’t worry, you’re wearing a mask, he won’t recognize you. Just be careful not to expose any flaws when the time comes," Yan took another look at the Left Minister.

That was about all the familiar faces in the first row.

The representative from Hou Qin seemed to be a stranger, a general.

As for Xianju Country... as expected, no one was sent.

Elves are different from the Human Clan; they are the species closest to the Demon Beasts.

The Elves from Xianju would find the human-beast combat to be very distasteful.

The group slowly entered the field.

"It’s hard to tell whether Lion Heart came for the competition or just for show," soothed by a few words from Yun Sheng, Yan’s mind steadied a bit.

Both members of "Lion Heart" were dressed in all-white today, the male like a welcoming host, the female adorned in a tight-fitting low-cut Mage Robe.

As soon as the two appeared, a chorus of cheers arose from the middle rows.

"Lion Heart will win!"

Those were all former Hunting Corps comrades of the two from "Lion Heart," here today to show their support.

"See that? That’s what you call popularity," the duo from Lion Heart boasted arrogantly as they sauntered past Flame Emperor.

"What’s there to be proud of, it’s just because of the crowd backing them," muttered Huang.

"Flame Emperor" moved forward.

A terrifying roar, reminiscent of mountains crumbling, along with a voice full of overwhelming force, echoed from the sky.

The tremors were felt throughout the ten thousand-seater Arena.

"Flame Emperor is invincible!"

"Flame Emperor will win!"