Yulian

"Yulian dared to challenge Richard. Could his strength have improved?" Andres secretly speculated.

He did not know much about Druids.

In the original novel, aside from magical beasts, the mainstream paths of cultivation below the Saint Domain were warriors and magicians. Warriors cultivated Battle Qi, while magicians cultivated magic.

But besides those two, there were also some special methods of cultivation, and Druid was one of them.

Among the Elves, some could absorb the Magic Crystal Cores of magical beasts and transform into magical beasts themselves. This method of cultivation was known as Druid.

"The Magic Crystal Core Yulian absorbed came from a Stone-Devouring Beast. Logically, he should at most possess the strength of a Level Nine Magical Beast, about the same as Richard, perhaps even slightly weaker."

Andres was somewhat puzzled, but he did not dwell on it. Since Yulian had made the first move, he would wait until the battle between Richard and Yulian ended before challenging the winner.

Andres cultivated in peace, while Yulian's challenge caused a tremendous stir among the Holy Alliance Trainees.

Battles between members of the Cadet Ranking were still rare, and everyone was discussing this match.

Seven days quickly passed.

The day of Yulian and Richard's battle arrived.

Andres decided to watch the battle in person so he could prepare for his own challenge.

The Holy Alliance had a Battle Arena specifically for combat.

It was a massive circular open-air structure, with a fighting ring at its center and rows upon rows of spectator seats surrounding it.

Along the way, many people, like Andres, were hurrying to the Battle Arena to watch.

There were Elves, Dwarves, Centaurs, Humans, and more.

Groups of Holy Alliance Trainees walked together in twos and threes, animatedly discussing the battle that would soon take place.

"Look, that's Andres!"

Some people recognized Andres.

Over the past few days, Andres's name had also spread among the Holy Alliance Trainees.

Many people knew that the Human Race had produced a genius who, despite being only a Level Eight Warrior, had comprehended Drawing Upon Heaven and Earth.

"So that's him. He looks completely ordinary, nothing special."

"You can't judge a book by its cover. Many people say he might surpass Creig from back then."

"Creig of the Human Race? Back then, he was the genius who ranked first on the Cadet Ranking. In all these years, the Human Race has produced only that one person to reach first place on the Cadet Ranking."

"I wonder whether he'll challenge one of the Cadet Ranking geniuses."

"He's only Level Eight right now. If he wants to challenge them, he'll have to wait until he reaches Ninth Rank, right?"

Along the way, quite a few people looked at Andres and murmured among themselves.

Many had already begun comparing him to Creig, the Human Race's former genius.

During his days in the Holy Alliance, Andres had also heard some accounts of Creig's experiences there.

Back then, Creig had challenged his way upward, becoming the first person in Human history to rank first on the Cadet Ranking.

He remained the only one so far.

Other than Creig, the best result had been Patur's third place on the Cadet Ranking.

As discussions from those around him drifted over from time to time, Andres paid no attention to them. As he walked, he examined the passing geniuses of every race, hoping to see whether anyone could trigger the system.

However, there was not a single one.

In the original novel, Demigods were nothing special in the Supreme Planes, but in the Material Planes, the emergence of even one Demigod was still extremely difficult.

The reason Demigods were as common as dogs in the Supreme Planes was also because they absorbed the geniuses of countless Material Planes, along with the accumulation of hundreds of millions of years.

Generally speaking, for a Material Plane to produce even one Demigod in an era was already quite rare.

"Among the trainees, perhaps only those on the Cadet Ranking have the potential for Godhood," Andres thought to himself.

Everyone he had encountered along the way was an ordinary Holy Alliance Trainee, so it was perfectly normal that they lacked the potential for Godhood.

The people Andres most wanted to meet were the Saint Realm experts and God-level experts within the Holy Alliance.

There was no need to mention God-level experts; they certainly possessed the potential for Godhood. Among the Saint Realm experts, there should also be geniuses with the potential for Godhood.

However, he had only been a Holy Alliance Trainee for a short time. Aside from the few Human Saint Domain experts, he had not yet had the chance to meet the experts of other races.

"I hope this battle between Cadet Ranking members will draw some Saint Realm experts," Andres thought expectantly.

Before long, Andres saw the enormous circular Battle Arena.

Matos had arrived early and secured seats for him.

Teresa and Inori had also arrived.

The four sat down in the spectator seats. The surroundings were noisy and bustling, and eighty percent of the seats were already occupied, with even more people still arriving.

Andres looked around, but so far, he had not seen any Saint Realm experts.

"My lords, look! Richard and Yulian are here!" Matos suddenly pointed toward the central ring.

Andres followed his gaze.

On either side of the ring, a person slowly stepped up.

Yulian possessed the natural beauty of the Elf Race. His skin was fair, his build lean and tall, and his long green hair hung down to his waist.

A faint smile rested on his face as he strode gracefully onto the ring.

Across from Yulian, Richard moved on his four hooves and stepped onto the ring as well.

Richard was a Centaur.

His lower body was that of a brown steed, while his upper body was that of a powerfully built man. His muscles were balanced and strong, and his features were rugged.

The moment the two appeared, they drew countless eyes.

In the spectator seats, both sides had quite a few supporters. They loudly called out Yulian and Richard's names, cheering for the people they supported.

By comparison, Richard had more supporters.

Richard had always ranked higher than Yulian, so naturally, he had more supporters.

"Quite a few Elves are actually supporting Richard!" Teresa could not help finding it strange when he saw so many Elves supporting Richard rather than Yulian.

Matos explained, "Lord Teresa, the Elf Race is not united as one either. Just as humans are divided into several kingdoms, there are factions, conflicts, and disputes within the Elf Race as well. The Druid Elf Race Yulian belongs to is merely a small clan, so it is normal that he has fewer supporters."

Andres suddenly thought of the Dark Elves. Although Dark Elves also belonged to the Elf Race, they did not stand with the Elves.

Like the Goblin Merchant Guild, the Dark Elf Race leaned toward neutrality.

As an assassin organization, the Dark Elves would carry out assassinations for anyone who could afford their price, whether Elves or Beastmen.

During the battle of Black Mountain City, the Dark Elf Assassin had accepted Mars's commission to assassinate Inori.

In the original Coiling Dragon novel, most of the Yulan Continent was occupied by the Human Race, whose people were also divided among many factions and locked in constant conflict.

"Ah! The Saint Realm experts have arrived!"

A sudden cry of surprise erupted from the spectator seats.

Several streaks of light descended from the sky, landing in the middle of the ring.

Battles between Cadet Ranking members were always overseen by Saint Realm experts. Their appearance also meant that this battle was about to begin.