Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament Preliminaries

"Long Haochen," Xue Meng explained.

Gandalf: "???"

"Think about it," Xue Meng explained. "We definitely won't be the only players entering this Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament, right? With so many people taking part, he might just draw me, a regular priest, you know?

"Besides, the Demon Hunt Squads in his cohort are all pretty good. Even if I join a different squad, I won't be losing out."

"That's true." Understanding dawned on Gandalf's face. So Boss Xue Meng's main goal was to join the protagonist's squad.

"You, on the other hand, picked the mage class, so you won't have a chance to join his squad," Xue Meng said.

"Yeah." Gandalf nodded. "But I don't really care whether I join his squad or not. I'm fine either way."

"You're so optimistic," Xue Meng remarked, then said, "I'll head back to report to the Priest Temple now. You should be reporting to the Magic Temple too, right?"

"Yeah." Gandalf nodded. "See you in the finals."

"See you in the finals."

Not long afterward, a masked figure wearing a black cloak passed through the spot where the two had been standing.

Beneath the mask were two eyes, one gold and one blue.

Several days passed, and at last, the day of the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament preliminaries arrived.

Yue Shen got up bright and early that day. As a Fifth Tier contestant, he could skip the first two elimination rounds, but surely he had to go watch the excitement?

After all, he felt like neither cultivating nor going shopping, and staying in his dormitory was rather boring.

Once he had gotten ready, Yue Shen headed toward the Temple Alliance Grand Trial Grounds.

Since the Temple Alliance Grand Trial Grounds had been built by the Six Great Temples, each of its six arenas was managed by its respective temple.

After showing his Identity Token to a staff member, Yue Shen entered the Knight Trial Grounds without any trouble.

"Honored Earth Knight, your seat is in the front row." The staff member wore a respectful expression. "The front row has been reserved specifically for Fifth Tier contestants like yourself."

Before long, Long Haochen and his older sister Li Xin followed Ye Hua into the Knight Trial Grounds.

"Doesn't Yue Shen get to skip the first two elimination rounds?" Li Xin immediately noticed Yue Shen sitting in the front row and asked in puzzlement, "Why is he here today?"

"Li Xin, you're too naive." Ye Hua shook his head. "He must be here to assess the other contestants' strength and learn his opponents' fighting styles ahead of time."

Beside him, Long Haochen nodded in wholehearted agreement. He thought his teacher's words made perfect sense.

After all, Brother Yue was exactly that sort of outstanding knight in his eyes. Just a few days ago, with the preliminaries approaching, he had still been able to settle his mind and return to his former lodgings to focus on cultivating.

That composure alone made Long Haochen feel it was entirely reasonable that he was not yet as strong as Yue Shen.

Sitting in the front row, Yue Shen naturally noticed Long Haochen and the others arriving. Unfortunately, he had not heard their conversation.

Otherwise...

Since Ye Hua was not a contestant, he could only sit in the spectator stands to one side.

Seeing this, Long Haochen and Li Xin could only choose the two seats closest to the spectator stands.

There was still some time before the matches began, so Yue Shen started looking around the Temple Alliance Grand Trial Grounds.

A huge dome stood about sixty meters above the arena, covering the three-hundred-meter-wide space below.

Viewed from above, the Temple Alliance Grand Trial Grounds would appear as six enormous semicircular bulges.

At the center of the arena was a vast plaza two hundred meters in diameter.

A thick layer of yellow earth covered the plaza's floor. According to the staff member's earlier explanation, there was also a magic array beneath it. No matter how badly the earth was damaged, it could be restored in a short time.

Opposite the spectator stands and contestant seating was a ring of stands where the temple's senior officials could watch the matches. The highest of these served as the arena's main dais.

Before long, more and more contestants entered the Knight Trial Grounds under the staff's guidance and took their seats in the contestants' section.

Only after all the contestants had been seated did an exceptionally deep, resonant voice sound from the main dais-a voice Yue Shen knew very well.

On the dais, Han Qian swept his gaze over the contestants, his eyes filled with appreciation.

In this Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament, their Knight Temple had a full one hundred and forty contestants, breaking the record of every previous year.

That alone was enough to show that their Knight Temple truly was growing stronger every year.

Han Qian's gaze settled on Yue Shen in the front row of the contestants' section.

Not to mention that their Knight Temple had produced a prodigious genius with the divine shelter constitution this year. Han Qian could not help smiling.

"The Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament preliminaries now officially begin. Contestants from every city, give these matches your all. The rules are as follows: you may not deliberately maim your opponent. If one contestant dies, the other will also be declared the loser, and their city's branch temple will be held accountable." Han Qian's powerful voice rang out from the main dais, immediately drawing the contestants' attention.

"The preliminaries consist entirely of elimination matches. The first round will take place today. One hundred and forty contestants have reported in, and the five Fifth Tier contestants will receive byes for the first two rounds." Han Qian paused, then said, "The draw will now begin. All contestants, please prepare yourselves."

As soon as Han Qian finished speaking, an enormous golden orb of light suddenly appeared at the center of the dome above the Knight Trial Grounds.

Immediately afterward, a multitude of numbers began cycling across its surface as it selected the contestants for the first match of the first elimination round.

Sitting alone in the front row, Yue Shen clasped his hands together. He wanted to see whether the orb's draw would follow the original sequence, putting Long Haochen in the very first match.

Before long, the flickering golden orb overhead suddenly stopped flashing, revealing two enormous numbers on its surface.

"First match: number twenty-nine versus number ninety-seven. Both contestants, enter the arena." A middle-aged knight in a knight's uniform descended from the raised platform to the competition area at the center of the arena. "Anyone who fails to enter within ten breaths will forfeit."

Yue Shen turned to look toward Long Haochen's seat.

Long Haochen noticed Yue Shen's gaze as well and waved his contestant Identity Token at him. The number ninety-seven was clearly displayed on it.

His opponent, number twenty-nine, was a young man clad in a full suit of silver armor who looked to be around twenty.

Like Long Haochen, he was also a Guardian Knight, holding a shield in his left hand and a sword in his right.

The middle-aged knight standing at the very center of the plaza was, naturally, the referee for that day's elimination round. He saw that both contestants were ready on either side of him.

"Remember, you may not maim your opponent. A contestant loses only by surrendering or becoming unable to fight," the middle-aged knight said gravely. "The match begins now."

P.S. This tournament is so hard to write, since the protagonist gets byes for the first two rounds...

I originally wanted to skip straight past them, but after thinking it over, I realized that if I skipped that much plot, this book might not reach a million characters. What a worry...