"Damn, I completely forgot about this." Long Chen felt helpless, but since he had already accepted benefits from Lord Tiansi, he could only temporarily give up cultivation.
Long Chen tidied up a bit and left the cave residence. He noticed that all the referees had been waiting for quite some time. Judging by their expressions, they were probably getting a bit impatient.
It turned out that today was the 32nd round of the Elite Tournament, the highest-level competition. Most of the earlier matches were just for fun, and now was the real beginning.
The top sixty-four advanced to the top thirty-two, with all participants being destined children—an unprecedented level of competition.
As the disciples' strength grows, the chief referee must personally oversee the situation. Because the rewards for those above the top thirty-two are extremely generous, to avoid suspicion of favoritism toward their own disciples, the chief referee must personally supervise.
At this level, the style of play is different from before, because the gap in strength among the Chosen Ones is usually not too large.
Moreover, disciples were forbidden from fighting to the death on the field. After all, the Chosen One—if one died or another was crippled, it would be a significant loss for the Four Great Families.
Therefore, when two disciples appear evenly matched and fail to determine the winner within the allotted time, the referees need to make a decision.
This easily leads to dissatisfaction among disciples, so a fair chief referee becomes the final arbiter. That's why the Chief Referee must personally attend the Thirty-Two Qualifiers.
"Honorable Chief Judge, you have finally come out." A judge saw Long Chen and said indifferently, clearly dissatisfied that Long Chen hadn't arrived on time and needed someone else to invite him, making everyone wait.
Long Chen couldn't be bothered to argue with them. I'm just a nominal figure, just going through the motions. Do you really think I care about you as the chief referee?
Besides, no one told me when to meet. You could have had someone notify me earlier; I didn't make you wait.
It turns out that the start of the 32-team qualifiers also includes an opening ceremony. To put it bluntly, from this point on, the real elite competition begins. Deliberately, it can't be like herding sheep without attending one after another, but must be done collectively.
These referees had to enter the arena under the guidance of the chief referee. By the time Long Chen came to lead the venue, the entire viewing platform was already packed with people.
Last time Long Chen came, the front row seats were sparsely packed, and those super experts didn't even bother to watch others' matches. But today, everyone was there.
Long Tianrui, Zhao Qingtian, Ye Lingxiao, Jiang Wuwang, Feng Fei, and others all arrived. When Long Chen, dressed in black and holding a golden scepter, led the referee team into the arena, thunderous cheers erupted from afar.
All these cheers came from the mercenaries on the outskirts. Seeing Long Chen, they were ecstatic. In their hearts, Long Chen was already a godlike figure.
After Qin Feng became famous in the last battle, everyone finally learned the name of the Dragon Blood Legion, and also realized how terrifying Long Chen's legion was.
Such a terrifying figure was just one of the most ordinary warriors in the Dragonblood Legion, so Long Chen's strength was even more intense.
Nowadays, mercenaries, backed by a powerful figure like Long Chen, no longer have to bow down or swallow their pride. They have all made up their minds to leave the Long family and head to Lingxiao Academy together.
Although leaving their homeland is hard to leave, they see hope for becoming stronger and a broad road to freedom. They no longer hesitate or worry about gains and losses, and even suppress their inner fear of the outside world, determined to follow in the footsteps of the strong.
Most importantly, they discovered that in the past, leaving Tianhuang would cause them extreme discomfort, but after cultivating the Galaxy Sky Technique, this discomfort had disappeared, completely dispelling all their worries.
Since they had already decided to leave this place of sorrow, they held nothing back. They began to cheer and roar to release their pent-up emotions, no longer caring whether others were happy or not.
Long Chen entered the arena, and the cheers erupted like a strait, igniting the entire crowd. The cheers were countless times stronger than the cheers Zhao Qingtian and the others had when they entered—even Long Tianrui was far inferior.
Zhao Qingtian and Ye Lingxiao's eyes were filled with jealousy. Even the disciples of the four great clans were extremely displeased, but they no longer dared to shout at these mercenaries as casually as before.
Because the mercenaries were no longer the same as before. Just three days ago, a disciple had a conflict with the mercenaries, and the disciples suffered a heavy loss. Only then did they realize that these mercenaries had long since been transformed, and their strength was no weaker than theirs.
Especially since their cultivation methods were extremely domineering. Once they made a move, they feared no death. Although these disciples were powerful, they lacked the resolve to fight to the death. Even if their strength far surpasses their opponents, they are still suppressed by their momentum. If they can't unleash even seven or eight percent of their full strength, they are naturally forced to retreat step by step.
Fortunately, these mercenaries weren't as ruthless as Qin Feng; otherwise, who knows how many would have died in a single conflict.
Amid the deafening cheers of the mercenaries, Long Chen walked step by step toward the referee's table. At that moment, Long Chen became the center of attention. Even though he was used to the world, he couldn't help but feel a bit elated.
"This guy is the center of attention wherever he goes." Feng Fei watched Long Chen's figure, a sweet smile on her lips.
Seeing Feng Fei so openly expressing admiration, Jiang Wuwang gave a bitter smile. He was a man too, and every man was jealous. Feng Fei really didn't care about his feelings at all.
Feng Fei's words could also be heard by Long Tianrui, Ye Lingxiao, Zhao Qingtian, and the others nearby. This made Jiang Wuwang feel a bit better, because he saw the almost fiery expressions in Ye and Zhao's eyes.
Their anger was partly provoked by Feng Fei, and partly by Long Tianrui's expressionless face.
Long Chen entered the arena and stole everyone's spotlight, but Long Tianrui remained expressionless, appearing completely unmoved. Clearly, she still hadn't given up on Long Chen.
They approached Long Tianrui so proactively that she didn't even bother to spare them a glance, while Long Chen kept mercilessly rejecting her, which made them feel even more embarrassed. They all took the "credit" for Long Chen.
Long Chen didn't look at anyone, walked straight to his seat, paused lightly with his golden staff, flicked his robe, and slowly sat down. Heh, Long Chen suddenly realized he was starting to show some of the demeanor of a ruler.
After Long Chen sat down, the cheers gradually died down, and the whole place fell silent again.
"Buzz!"
At that moment, all thirty-two arenas lit up simultaneously on the arena. A referee shouted loudly:
"Elite Tournament of the Four Great Divine Clans, Top 32 Showdown—Begin!"