"Rest assured, everyone. I, Gu He, am not one to play games with the rules. Originally, this pill only worked on those below the Dou Shi rank, so participation should have been restricted to Dou Zhe."
Gu He slowly rose to his feet, standing tall and straight, his plain robes stirring in the breeze.
His steady voice, carrying a measure of authority, rang out across the arena. Like an invisible force, it instantly pierced the noisy crowd and reached every ear.
The arena, which had been filled with clamor and cries of "Rigged!" just moments earlier, immediately fell silent. Every gaze turned toward him, waiting to hear how he would explain the tournament rules and the situation before them.
"But young people's potential must be squeezed before it can be unleashed. That was why I only imposed an age limit and raised the Magic Wolves' tier."
Gu He wore a faint smile, giving the impression that he had everything mapped out, as though all of this lay within his control and nothing had gone awry.
As he spoke, he looked around, sweeping his gaze across the faces of the crowd. He continued, "I originally intended to announce the reasoning behind these rules after the tournament ended. But since everyone has questions now, I might as well explain it here, so you can all understand the reasons."
His voice was unhurried yet full of conviction, making people instinctively want to believe everything he said.
Having said this, Gu He paused, seemingly to build suspense. Then he swept his hand outward, his smile deepening as he declared, "Xiao Qian's team has performed outstandingly this time. Even if they lose in the end, they will each receive a third-grade Foundation-Building Pill as compensation! Unearthing such gifted young talents for the Jia Ma Empire