Sealed Divine Throne

“We’ll have to celebrate this. This evening, I’ll be treating you to a good meal.” Ye Hua said with a gentle voice, entering from outside. He was in a good mood; Long Hao Chen was in the top ten and his objective was reached. Actually, he hadn’t expected that Li Xin would enter the top ten as well. To Hao Yue City’s Knight Temple, this was an enormous achievement!

A lot other people were full of excitement as well; aside from the Warrior Temple, every temple had already designated their top ten.

Lin Xin, drinking red wine in his luxurious hotel, was extremely happy. Feeling the strong but bitter fragrance, he started to feel an intense desire.

On the previous day, with his mystical magic show, he had intimidated all the other mage competitors. In this fourth round of competition, there were, altogether, 16 participants. Consequently, they were competing to enter the top ten, and playoffs would take place afterwards, to determine the top ten.

The first matches of the day would determine the top six. Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Xin’s opponent conceded. After all, he still had the playoffs to have the occasion to enter the top ten. Who would be willing to fight a guy with such absurd magic control? As a result, Lin Xin entered the top six without fighting and received the qualification to become the member of a future Demon Hunt Squad.

The bald male was excited as well. Because of his appearance, the Priest Temple was in chaos during these preliminaries, and wanted to establish new rules. But after all, the tournament had begun and rules couldn’t be changed. Therefore, relying on the show of of his tyrannical violence, this bald man didn’t only end up on the top ten, but because the Priest Temple’s competitors weren’t numerous, he had already entered the top three. Furthermore, in these circumstances, no one could possibly fight with him for the first place.

On the fifth day of the preliminaries, the atmosphere in the Alliance’s Great Stadium had already eased up. Except for the Warrior Temple, all temples already had their top ten designated. The rest of the competition was to determine the order of ranking. The further rankings in the great temples’ preliminary contests didn’t only grant an even greater glory, some competitors would be rewarded depending on their ranking, in addition to receiving more or less money. The reward for the top three was a piece of equipment of the Spiritual Tier. This was something the Temple Alliance did to incite Demon Hunt Squads to complete missions. If they received a good reward, how could they slack off in the future when the time of missions came?

In the Knight Stadium lounge, the competitors appeared cold and cheerless. There were only ten people left; including the squadron teachers, it didn’t even amount to twenty people.

The best harvests of this Demon Hunt Selection didn’t belong to the main cities, but the unknown Hao Yue City. The little Hao Yue Hall unexpectedly gave birth to two outstanding youths who entered the top ten. This was something that never happened before, in the long and glorious history of Hao Yue Knight Hall. As a result, even the ice-cold tempered Ye Hua was a lot more spirited than on his former days.

“You don’t have to take the rest of the competition excessively seriously. The final stage of the competition will, after all, have an even greater importance. It is more important to keep yourself in good shape.”

Seeing Ye Hua repeatedly nod, Li Xin, who was previously full of fighting spirit, could not help but giggle. For her, entering the top ten and having the possibility to become the member of a Demon Hunt Squad was already the greatest harvest she could expect. It implied that she would, in the future, have the possibility to become a higher up of the Knight Temple. And it also signified that she would be able to reach the higher stages of the world of knights. She basically did not even think about raising her ranking in addition to that.

Long Hao Chen was silent, looking at his teacher, he pondered deeply before saying, “Teacher, if I run up against that man, I hope to fight against him with my utmost.”

Ye Hua looked unconvinced, “Is that really necessary?”

Long Hao Chen nodded without hesitation, and replied, “Teacher, fighting against an extremely powerful opponent will arouse my potential even more effectively. The fight against Han Yu had great benefits to me.”

Ye Hua muttered to himself hesitantly, before saying “Okay, okay, since this is your own decision, teacher won’t stop you, but you’ll have to weigh your abilities and act accordingly. You will have the occasion to try to fight against other powerhouses during the final stage of the competition after all.”

“Mh” Long Hao Chen let out a groan of agreement. What he didn’t tell Ye Hua was that he was gradually growing closer and closer to the fifth step, and in this moment, what he needed the most was the occasion to arouse his potential through battles. Going through uninterrupted fights would stimulate his senses, and give him the occasion to break through the final bottleneck.

Long Xing Yu was currently the strongest Retribution Knight of the Alliance, and although he only taught Long Hao Chen for two little years, he passed on to Long Hao Chen the equivalent of a whole lifetime worth of experience as a knight. Among the most important things he told him, there was the fact that every time he would meet a bottleneck, challenges against opponents stronger than him were the best opportunities to break through.

Long Hao Chen’s father’s words were deeply engraved in his mind; fights were a sort of test. Every time he faced a powerful enemy, his spiritual energy’s growth was tremendously increased, improving his use of his abilities and his grasp on them. In addition, unceasingly challenging powerhouses could further strengthen his determination.

At that moment, the drawing of lots had already started. Long Hao Chen’s gaze was focused on the three knights seated in the first row. Slowly taking deep breaths, with a firm look, as firm as a boulder, he sat. The other people were praying not to face these opponent of the fifth step, but he only wished he could face these kinds of powerhouses.

“#1, #97.” In the air, two huge numbers gradually became distinct. In the split second these numbers appeared, Long Hao Chen’s eyes went wide. With a _shua_ sound, he stood up. In a split second, there was nothing left of his formerly gentle look that became, instead, extremely strict.

Without the slightest doubt, these two numbers had appeared in front of them. Another powerhouse of the fifth step.

The other knights who managed to remain weren’t lacking will or persistence, but now, these knights of the fourth step gave Long Hao Chen bewildering looks.

To face two opponents of the fifth step in a row, his luck was really too…

In the first row, a youth slowly got up. Slowly turning around, he looked at Long Hao Chen. This knight bearing #1 was precisely the black clad youth who formerly gave Long Hao Chen a provoking look. He was the very first competitor who realized Long Hao Chen’s threat.

The two exchanged glances, as they simultaneously concentrated on each other.

#1 made a gesture towards Long Hao Chen, before taking the lead, taking big strides and heading towards the stadium. Intimidating fluctuations of spiritual energy were emitted each time he took a step, bursting out.

At this moment, Ye Hua didn’t bother Long Hao Chen further with his warnings. He didn’t want to let his mood influence Long Hao Chen. On Long Hao Chen’s face, he had immediately seen his unwavering determination. Even during his previous fight against Han Yu, such an intense fighting spirit didn’t appear.

At the corner of the stadium, Han Yu calmly stood there. He came in the early morning; no matter how unwilling he was, deep inside, there was nothing he could do to change his destiny in the upcoming five years. Instead, he wished in this very moment for Long Hao Chen to prevail over his opponent, and wanted to take a good look, _After everything Grandfather said regarding this fourteen years old genius knight, let’s see at what level his talent really is._

Walking into the stadium without hurry, although Long Hao Chen wasn’t very sturdy, his steps were quite firm. With every step he took, he appeared more and more imposing. His look was extremely sharp, and staring at this youth who was already standing in the middle of the ground, his gaze became fiery.

“Do you have a mount?” The black clad youth calmly asked.

Long Hao Chen shook his head, and without trying to conceal himself, he told him the truth, “For the time being, I don’t have it.”

The black clad youth nodded, and answered, “Okay, then we’ll fight without summoning mounts. Let’s have a fair battle.”

When these same words were spoken out by this black clad youth, Long Hao Chen could feel that it wasn’t arrogance, but self-confidence.

*[Long Taos]: side characters in Chinese operas who perform acrobatics and fight scenes

*[12.47 to 13.07]: don’t ask me about the tree sap