Preliminary Round

Holy City was truly bustling. Even a hundred Starjoy Cities combined could not compare to it.

Jiang Feng took Jiang Xinran to a shop in Holy City, where he spent twenty thousand gold coins on ten Fifth Order magic crystals, along with other food for Dragon Baby.

That nearly exhausted all the gold coins Jiang Feng had saved up from his missions.

The two then wandered around Holy City until evening. Only after having dinner together did they return to their respective hotels.

They agreed to meet again in the finals, then devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the tournament.

With the help of Spirit Gathering Pills, Jiang Xinran's spiritual power had risen to 1,890. Not only had she become a ninth-level Great Mage, but she had also moved a step closer to becoming a Fifth-Order Archmage. She might even break through to the Fifth Order during the tournament.

Jiang Feng also spent two days cultivating in his hotel. Over that period, both his internal and external spiritual power improved noticeably, and his personal status panel changed considerably.

Host: Jiang Feng.

Age: Fifteen.

Innate Spiritual Power: 80.

Class: Fifth Order, second-level Earth Knight.

Spiritual power index: 2283 (internal spiritual power), 2803 (external spiritual power).

Skills: Pure White Blade (second rank), Cross Slash (second rank), Spirit Light Barrier (third rank), Light Slash Sword (third rank), Ascension Array (third rank), Sunlight Slash (Fourth Order), Holy Light Barrier (Fourth Order), Holy Sword (Fifth Order)...

Special skills: None.

Spirit Furnace: None.

Special physiques: Divine Blessing Physique, Undying Body lv1.

System Coins: 800.

Two days later, the preliminary rounds of the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament finally began.

However, as a Fifth Order knight, Jiang Feng received byes for the first two rounds. He therefore remained at the hotel, spending all his time cultivating except when he ate.

Although he was confident he could win the championship, the tournament was full of possibilities. His opponents would include the Child of Light and the Reincarnation Saintess, the man and woman favored by destiny in the Divine Throne World. No matter how absurd something that happened to either of them might be, it would still be perfectly understandable.

Thus, Jiang Feng could only do his best to improve his strength. In the face of absolute power, there would be no room for any unexpected possibilities.

Over the past two days, Jiang Feng had fed Dragon Baby one Fifth Order magic crystal each day. The little dragon grew rapidly, nearly doubling in size in just a few days.

Today marked the start of the third preliminary round of the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament. Jiang Feng had originally planned to leave Dragon Baby at the hotel and attend the tournament alone, but the little dragon simply refused to leave his side, clinging to him constantly.

Thus, Jiang Feng could only bring Dragon Baby into the Knight Trial Grounds. The moment he entered, he sensed intense elemental fluctuations.

That was only natural, though. It was said that the magic arrays within the Temple Alliance Grand Trial Grounds could withstand attacks from Ninth-Rank Professionals. How could the elemental fluctuations not be intense?

The Knight Trial Grounds was a circular Trial Arena three hundred meters in diameter, surrounded by spectator stands. However, no one except the contestants and their accompanying teachers or elders was permitted to watch the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament.

The Demon Hunt Squads could be considered the Temple Alliance's most secret force. Their members' identities were kept strictly confidential and could not be leaked under any circumstances.

The vast Knight Trial Grounds felt rather empty. There was no one in the spectator stands, and after two rounds of eliminations, the contestants' seating area was sparsely occupied as well.

Still, every contestant wore battle gear and exuded a heroic air.

A total of 139 contestants from the Knight Temple had entered this year's Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament. Since the Fifth Order Knights received byes in the first two rounds, only 134 had actually competed.

After two rounds of eliminations, thirty-four remained. With the five Fifth Order Knights joining in the third round, that brought the total to thirty-nine.

Thus, one contestant would receive a bye today, while the other thirty-eight would compete for nineteen places.

The fourth preliminary round would determine the top ten.

Jiang Feng went to the contestants' seating area and sat in the first row. All the Fifth Order Knights were seated there, and his contestant number was one.

As he walked over, Dragon Baby on Jiang Feng's shoulder drew plenty of attention, especially when everyone saw the Fifth Order magic crystal in the little dragon's claws. Dragon Baby bit off more than half in one bite and swallowed the rest with a second. Crunchy, with a chicken flavor.

What a waste of money!

Two thousand gold coins had vanished in just a few seconds.

The contestants were all curious about Jiang Feng's identity. Anyone who could afford to raise such an expensive eater surely came from a wealthy family.

Had Jiang Feng known what they were thinking, however, he would have wanted to cry but had no tears left. Buying those magic crystals had used up nearly all the money he had earned over several years of taking missions at the Adventurers' Guild.

The magic crystals would only last for the time being. Once they ran out, who knew whether Dragon Baby would cry, throw tantrums, and threaten to hang himself?

Although the little dragon was a terrible drain on his finances, Jiang Feng was still willing to raise him. And it was not just Jiang Feng-almost any knight would be willing. After all, who did not want to become a dragon knight?

Compared with ordinary magical beasts, any magical beast associated with dragons tended to be stronger, let alone Jiang Feng's pure-blooded Red Dragon.

Although they envied Jiang Feng for having a pure-blooded member of the Dragon Race as his mount companion, another thought soon occurred to them. Could anyone ride such a small dragon? How powerful could he possibly be?

Everyone began to have doubts. Perhaps the little dragon had limitless potential and would become a top-tier magical beast in the future, but this was the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament. Could such a tiny dragon be of any help right now?

Yet when Jiang Feng walked straight to the first row and sat down, most of the contestants fell silent. So he was Fifth Order.

No wonder he was so confident.

Jiang Feng had arrived fairly early. Before long, the other contestants arrived one after another, including two familiar faces.

Long Haochen and Li Xin.

Beside them stood a middle-aged man with a zombie face. If Jiang Feng remembered correctly, he should be Long Haochen's teacher, Ye Hua.

Long Haochen should be close to breaking through to the Fifth Order, while Li Xin was a Fourth Order, fifth-level Grand Knight.

Given Li Xin's cultivation, she owed her progress this far largely to her mount, the Rose Unicorn, who had already evolved into a sixth-level magical beast.

I might not be Fifth Order, but my mount is.

As Jiang Feng turned to look at Long Haochen and Li Xin, they also noticed him sitting in the first row.

They exchanged smiles in greeting. There was no bad blood between them.

After spotting Jiang Feng, Li Xin whispered to Long Haochen, "That guy really is Fifth Order."

"Yes. If he could kill a Gold-Patterned Twin-Blade Demon, he must have already progressed quite far within the Fifth Order." Long Haochen's expression was especially grave.

Now that Fifth Order Knights had joined the competition, no matter how strong the two of them were, they could only rely on luck. Neither had the strength or confidence to defeat a Fifth Order Knight.

That remained true even though Long Haochen was the Child of Light, and even though Li Xin could unleash Fifth Order strength through the Rose Unicorn Combined Spell.

"You know that fellow?" Ye Hua stepped closer and asked. He had not heard their earlier conversation.

"We met him once in Aimei City," Long Haochen explained.

"Anyone sitting in the first row must be a Fifth Order Knight. But even if you face him, there's no need to be afraid. You might still be able to beat him," Ye Hua said quietly.

At his words, Long Haochen and Li Xin turned to him, waiting for an explanation.

"Do you see the Young Dragon on his shoulder? That should be his mount. Even a Young Dragon in the newborn stage would be over ten meters long and possess eighth-level strength. His is so small that he probably isn't particularly strong."

"So although he's Fifth Order, that doesn't mean you can't win."

I'm too sleepy to stay up any longer. This chapter is tomorrow's.