I Want to Continue Participating, Mr. Referee!

The doorman watched the dwarf nearby with a bit of boredom.

The latter, wearing a jade-yellow tunic, held his lute and plucked its strings from time to time. His long beard was tied with bright copper rings, and in the firelight, he would sing a few verses, take a sip of ale, leaving light-colored foam on his golden beard.

A few small goblins sat on the leaves of the Silver Queen, swinging their bare white feet, curiously listening to the old dwarf tell ancient stories. These little guys were uninvited guests at the inn, full of curiosity and fond of excitement, not afraid of people at all.

"The hero with the sword, standing amidst the sky-piercing flames."

"Amidst the sky-piercing flames, he severed a horn from the evil dragon."

"The dragon wailed, the sword gleamed coldly--"

"That sword is named..."

"Galapeya!" the goblins sang in unison, then burst into laughter, drawing frequent glances from others.

The old dwarf took another sip of wine.

He continued to sing:

"The hero with the sword, repelled the fearsome evil dragon."

"On that fearsome evil dragon, he left a terrifying scar."

"Time flies, moments pass--"

"The hero's name..."

"Is Xiuyode," the goblins said in a babble, then asked curiously, "And then what?"

The dwarf laughed heartily, telling these little creatures that mortals would eventually grow old and turn to dust.

But the goblins could not comprehend such transience.

The doorman shook his head. He had heard these ancient ballads so many times that his ears were calloused. He vaguely recalled his childhood, the green trees and shade, and a dilapidated windmill on a nearby farm.

Back then, boys chased the same dreams.

But now, only old age and drowsiness remained. Suddenly, a deep blue robe caught his eye. The doorman's senses snapped awake, and he looked up to see a young man standing kindly before him, "Can you open the door for me?"

The doorman felt he must have seen this young man somewhere before, but he didn't dare look too closely and quickly lowered his head to open the door for him.

It was a heavy wooden door, banded with copper around the edges.

The young man smiled and nodded at him. Only then did the doorman clearly see the Elpaxin Artificer Guild emblem on his chest. "Good evening, I hope you have a pleasant night--" the young man said.

"That's a strange greeting, are you from Ausch?" the doorman thought.

But he still replied, "May Oli bless you."

The young man nodded again and stepped out the door. Only then did the doorman recall something.

"Isn't that a contestant from the Elpaxin Artificer Guild? Why is he leaving? Aren't there still matches in the losers' bracket?"

He instinctively looked back. The young man had already disappeared into the darkness. The corridor behind the door was pitch black, and at the far end, a small object was gleaming.

"Did he drop something?" The doorman was startled, pulled open the door, and walked over.

On the ground lay a peculiar brooch. Engraved on the shield was half of a fire-breathing dragon's head, with a convex silver plating. The craftsmanship was exquisite. Greed took hold of the doorman's mind—this should be worth quite a bit, he thought. He bent down, and as his fingers touched the shield, a wisp of dark smoke rose from the brooch.

The ground trembled slightly.

Not far away, the dwarf poet was still telling his old stories, and the little goblins were still chattering happily, tirelessly asking their peculiar questions.

The hall was noisy. Another final match of the preliminary rounds had yet to begin. Blood Night Demon Moon was waiting for her opponent on the empty arena, but the little dwarves searched the entire venue but couldn't find Contestant Number Six.

Although people outside were still mostly discussing the previous match, marveling at Fang Heng's stunning performance, as time passed, anxiety inevitably spread.

The crowd clamored for the next match to start quickly. Finally, the referees had to declare Contestant Number Six a forfeit, which drew a chorus of boos.

Only Blood Night Demon Moon showed a hint of unexpected surprise.

She probably realized she might not be a match for that silver-haired youth—

This outcome also surprised Fang Heng. He couldn't help but recall those beautiful, indifferent eyes, but what was more memorable was the faint fragrance of dragon blood wood that lingered in his nostrils, constantly swirling in his mind.

It reminded him of another figure.

Her silver hair, like the splendor under the moon, was indelibly etched deep within the young man's heart.

There was no award ceremony for the preliminary rounds; the organizers directly distributed the prize money. Fang Heng excitedly handed the money to Etila, who looked at him and didn't refuse, merely letting Tian Lan accept the money.

Only Tian Lan was still immersed in the small excitement of earning fifty thousand Riser, her eyes full of little stars. She patted her money pouch, which rustled—as if such a large sum of money were truly inside.

"Oh my goodness," Tian Lan exclaimed dramatically, "we didn't even get this much money when we found that treasure chest in the Temple of the Sleeping Ones. Brother Ed, you're amazing—"

"I found that chest," the Paparal stretched his short legs as he sat on the chair, sucking the residual meat juice from his chubby fingers, and protested loudly, "If it weren't for my perception being as high as 44, you guys would never have noticed anything under the water."

"But I went in to get it," Tian Lan wrinkled her little nose. "The water stank so bad. I'd rather you hadn't found that chest."

"You weren't the only one who went down."

"Luo Yu wouldn't compete with me for credit, so of course, it counts as all mine," Tian Lan answered matter-of-factly.

The Paparal was rendered speechless by this logic.

Finally, Etila gently ended the dispute: "Ed is indeed very capable."

Fang Heng felt very embarrassed by the praise, but with the vanity peculiar to youth, he shyly replied, "It, it's really nothing." If Scarpe were here, she would definitely expose his tail, which was already wagging to the sky.

The elven girl simply smiled slightly, and Tian Lan was even more convinced.

Hudi on the side was a little envious of how good their relationship was. Many adventure teams were actually full of deceit, and only those who were truly like-minded would stay together to form a fixed adventuring party.

And he vaguely saw the prototype of such an adventuring party in these few people.

"Hudi," Fang Heng turned his head and asked him, "Are you adventuring alone? And why did that fat guy call you that?"

"Ah," Hudi pushed his glasses up, appearing a little flustered. "It's not exactly like that. Actually, I have a cat. If I have the chance, I'll definitely introduce her to you."

"A cat?" Fang Heng was surprised. A cat counts as a teammate?

Hudi nodded seriously. "Of course. She and I live together in Elpaxin. Near Shallow Water Bay, there's an inn, do you know it? I rented a room there specifically for her. Everyone knows her and respectfully calls her Miss Spoon—because she's quite a proud and respected cat. When I have some free time, I go back to Elpaxin to visit her."

Fang Heng frowned upon hearing this answer.

Tian Lan, however, seemed quite surprised. "Wow, that sounds amazing! Can we also have the chance to visit Miss Spoon?"

"Of course," Hudi replied. "If you go back to Elpaxin, you can come find me at Shallow Water Bay. I think Miss Spoon would definitely welcome you as guests."

"We'll definitely go," Tian Lan said excitedly. "Actually, I've always wanted to have a cat, but before that, I decided to visit Miss Spoon first."

Jita, who was standing nearby, was also rarely very interested and nodded along, weakly asking, "Why don't you bring Miss Spoon along on your adventures?"

"Ah, well..." Hudi thought for a moment. "I used to take her on adventures often. We frequently went to the gulf canyon west of Elpaxin. You know, there are some places only she can get to. Miss Spoon is very smart and knows how to open mechanisms. She was my best partner back then."

"And then?" Tian Lan asked.

"Well, Miss Spoon gradually started to prefer a more relaxed life. She's gotten older, so I stopped taking her on long journeys. You know how people, as they get older, like to stay in their warm little nests. Reading books and basking in the sun is more suitable for them than adventuring."

"That's true," the French Girl said, as if enlightened.

The group chatted noisily, but Fang Heng saw the gnome head referee with a pointed beard parting the crowd and walking over. The other party came up to them, rubbing his hands sheepishly, and said, "Ah, sorry, there's been a small problem."

"A small problem?"

Fang Heng was startled and instinctively asked, "Is there a mistake with the prize money?"

The question was so foolish that even Etila couldn't help but cough lightly.

"Not to that extent," the gnome head referee shook his head. "You can rest assured, the Kaolin Merchant Alliance will never have any issues with the amount of money."

Fang Heng breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's about the competition," the gnome head referee then replied with a worried expression. "We haven't found the contestant sent by the Elpaxin Artificer Guild yet, so the finals might have to be postponed for a while."

"Lost another contestant?" Hudi looked surprised, thinking, What's wrong tonight? Problems keep popping up one after another. The previous matches weren't like this.

The gnome head referee couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed, but heaven knew why so many things were going wrong today.

"Then you didn't need to come notify us first," Fang Heng replied. "Because I wasn't planning on continuing in the main tournament anyway, Mr. Referee, so I'm sure you won't mind."

"What?" The gnome head referee was greatly surprised. "You're withdrawing too, Mr. Shaya?"

Fang Heng nodded. He was originally aiming for the prize money in the qualifying rounds. The main tournament only awarded the Golden Flame Ring to the first-place winner. Although he was also interested in the Golden Flame Ring, he knew his own limits.

He heard that the two contestants who entered the losers' bracket in the main tournament were both Level 10 or above, and one of them was even a Level 14 Combat Artificer from the Elpaxin Artificer Guild. A Level 3 contestant like him shouldn't think too much about it.

No matter how outstanding his skill in manipulating Flexible Constructs was, it couldn't make up for a level gap of seven or eight. Besides, how bad could the skill level of contestants who reached the finals of the official tournament be?

He explained the situation and then said, "And you've seen my situation, Mr. Referee. With my Walker, which doesn't even qualify as Type I, how could I possibly be a match for those people?"

The gnome referee also looked troubled.

He was the one who presided over Fang Heng's match against the Eternal Worm and naturally knew the condition of Fang Heng's equipment. In his opinion, this young man's understanding of Flexible Constructs was enough to compete with those official tournament contestants—but what the other party said was not unreasonable.

This young man's equipment was indeed too poor, and his own level was excessively low. Others might not know, but as part of the organizing committee that shared information with the military, he was fully aware of Fang Heng's true level.

He couldn't help but stroke his pointed beard and sigh, "Two contestants have already withdrawn, including a seeded contestant in the main tournament. If you withdraw too, this competition today will be difficult to proceed."

Fang Heng understood his predicament but could do nothing.

Just as he was about to offer a few words of comfort, a rather abrupt voice suddenly interjected:

"Yo, isn't this the Blind Adventuring Group from before?"

Fang Heng froze and turned his head, just in time to see two "old acquaintances" walking over from the direction of the main tournament venue—it was the young man who had bumped into Jita earlier and Wu Di. The former grinned and greeted them:

"Good evening, Mr. and Ms. Blind."

Tian Lan was already extremely displeased with these two. Upon hearing this, she was almost furious and slammed the table, shouting, "Who are you calling blind?"

With a slap, she sent the nearby soup basin flying high, splattering mashed potatoes all over the Paparal Crossbowman. The latter, who had been patting his small belly while sitting on a chair, was completely unprepared for this attack and fell off the chair headfirst, still covered by the basin.

The young man said matter-of-factly, "Huh? If you walk without looking where you're going, aren't you blind?"

"Who are you calling blind? It was clearly--"

"Of course, I'm talking about you. Do you understand the saying 'good dogs don't block the way'?" The young man interrupted her playfully. "Good heavens, treating a Kingfisher Alpha like a treasure, a bunch of hicks. Next time you want to exclaim about a 'rare treasure,' please don't block the middle of the road."

He deliberately emphasized the words "rare treasure," almost making Tian Lan's lungs explode with anger, wishing she could rush up and fight these two scoundrels on the spot. But Etila pulled her back and said calmly to the two, "Gentlemen, there's no point in these pointless arguments. Let's speak in the way of adventurers—"

The young man was taken aback. "You want to duel me?"

He looked Etila up and down and shook his head. "Madam, your Battle Gear is the Hailin Spear, right? You look like you're only Level 7 or 8, so you can't possibly be my opponent. Forget it, I don't bully women. Please go back."

Etila was about to say something else, but a voice came from behind her.

"I'll fight you."

The young man was slightly taken aback. Just as he was about to ask who you are and what right you have to fight me, he looked up and saw only two silver streaks rushing towards him.

"Damn!"

He broke out in a cold sweat and quickly rolled backward, his mind filled with disbelief. Was this still Traveler's Respite? How could there be such a hothead here who would attack without a word?

Was the other party too arrogant, or had Mazak lost its edge?

While thinking, he rolled desperately across the table, sending plates and dishes clattering to the floor. He even knocked over a candlestick before barely dodging the 'Sword Plover' attack.

However, the young man felt no relief at all.

He was covered in grease and soup, with a few vegetable leaves still clinging to his head. He was furious: "You, you actually ambushed me here?!"

He had always been unreasonable in the Rainbow Bay area and never dreamed that there would be someone even more impulsive and hot-headed than himself. Enraged, he immediately put on his control gloves and prepared to counterattack. His Magic Buoy moved towards Fang Heng, and a huge Type III Walker behind him slammed a table aside with a 'bang' and charged between him and Fang Heng.

But he couldn't make any further moves, because the dwarf guards not far away had already reacted and rushed over, pinning both of them down.

"Let me go!" the young man shouted angrily. "He attacked first!"

At this moment, the Gnome Head Referee finally ran out, shouting, "Stop, stop, stop! Attacking contestants outside the venue and attacking each other is prohibited!"

As soon as he said this, Fang Heng and the young man both stopped.

"What, he's a contestant?" they both asked almost in unison.

The Gnome Head Referee looked at the two of them and nodded helplessly.

"Very well, you're dead!" the young man immediately said loudly.

Without a word, Fang Heng also immediately said to the Gnome Head Referee, "Mr. Referee, I take back what I said. I want to continue participating in this competition!"

"Huh?"

Everyone was stunned.

Only Jita, as if she had expected this scene long ago, couldn't help but shake her head and sigh, holding her forehead with a look of a little adult.

Sorry, sorry. I revised the outline yesterday and rewrote this chapter. It took too much time, so I'll post it earlier tomorrow~