At the third quarter of the Hour of the Dragon, the referee stepped onto the arena.
His voice echoed throughout the venue through an amplifying Soul Tool:
"Match thirteen, the Li Family versus the Dongyue Clan, begins now!"
"The first one-on-one match! Contestants from both sides, enter the arena!"
The entire venue erupted!
"It's here, it's here! The first match!"
"Who will the Li Family send? Who will the Dongyue Family send?"
"This is a battle between relatives. Will they go easy on each other?"
In the Li Family's rest area, Li Longyue rose to his feet.
He was still dressed in dark gray training clothes. Tall and powerfully built, he resembled a moving mountain range. His gaze was as steady as stone, without the slightest ripple. A level seventy-seven assault-type Soul Sage, bearer of the Mountain Dragon King martial soul—he was the Li Family's sharpest spear and stoutest shield.
In the Dongyue Clan's rest area, another figure rose as well.
Dongyue Qi, nineteen years old, a level seventy-six assault-type Soul Sage, with the Heavenly Heart Ring martial soul.
He had a slender build and handsome features, with a faint smile on his lips. A pair of crystal-clear rings glowing with pale blue light rested around his wrists—the true form of the Heavenly Heart Rings. They could both attack and control, and were one of the Dongyue Clan's core martial souls.
The two stepped onto the arena and stopped thirty meters apart.
Dongyue Qi looked at Li Longyue and smiled slightly. "Brother Longyue, I've heard much about you. I finally have the chance to face you today."
Li Longyue nodded faintly. "Please."
Dongyue Qi drew a deep breath, and his expression turned serious.
He knew that the man before him was the Li Family's strongest combatant. He had defeated Ye