Unlike the other temples, the competition at the Priest Temple was nowhere near as intense.
Only sixteen contestants remained in the seating area.
Compared with the Knight Temple and the Magic Temple, the Priest Temple's contestants this year were clearly of somewhat lower caliber.
This was especially apparent in the number of fifth-tier contestants. Only two fifth-tier bishops (priests) sat in the Priest Temple's front row.
One was Xue Meng, who had only recently broken through to the fifth tier. The other was a young man who looked to be in his twenties.
Above the Priest Trial Grounds, the light screen slowly stopped cycling and displayed two large numbers.
"Number two, number seventeen, please enter the arena," an elderly man in pure white priest robes announced gravely from the center of the trial grounds.
Why is that outrageous brat, number seventeen, matched against a fifth-tier contestant? The old man shook his head slightly, wondering just how bizarre this match would turn out to be.
Fortunately, the Priest Temple had only sixteen contestants left in this round. After today's eight elimination matches, they would still need two more people to complete the top ten of this year's preliminaries.
So even those eliminated in this round would not necessarily lose their chance. The senior officials on the dais would discuss the matter and select the two best performers from the six eliminated contestants to join the preliminary top ten.
Why would this elderly man, a seventh-tier Red Cardinal, think that way?
Because number seventeen was Sima Xian, the biggest oddball the Priest Temple had ever seen in all its years of holding the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament.
As soon as the referee finished speaking, Xue Meng rose from her seat in the front row, dressed in pure white priest robes, and