When dawn arrived, the seats were filled with people. The ten stages were redesigned into four stages, resulting in much larger stages than before. Additionally, the spiritual array and barrier on each stage was also a lot more powerful.
In the past banquets, there were participants who tore through the barrier and sent shockwaves at the spectators. So none of the judges dared to be careless as they made careful preparations for seven days.
The seats of the participants were also a lot stronger than the ordinary seats used by the spectators. Then, the participants walked out of special passages to go to their seats. There were ten special passages that were designed to look like a ferocious dragon.
As the participants walked out of their tunnels, the audience cheered with passion. The aura of the crowd was so fiery that it nearly burned the clouds in the sky.
“Zhao Wuji is here!” The spectators stood up the moment they saw Zhao Wuji. After all, the three kings were legendary. Their position was unshakable as evidenced in the point and elimination round. As Zhao Wuji walked out, a dragon roar echoed from the clouds as if coming from an ancient existence beyond the clouds.
“That was a dragon roar!”
“How strange. It seems like the ordinary geniuses can produce such a huge commotion. I wonder why Zhao Wuji got a dragon roar.”
“There’s nothing weird about it. After all, this city has many secrets since it has stood for countless years.” The dragon roar shocked everyone, including Zhao Wuji. Clearly, he was also caught by surprise.
Soon after, Yan Long’zi and Yu Haotian appeared. Their appearances also caused a huge cheer from the crowd along with a dragon roar.
“Indeed.” Yu Haotian’s eyes flickered. His master was right in saying that the Dragoncloud Treasury might appear during this banquet. This was undoubtedly a great opportunity for him that he couldn’t miss out on.
Eventually, Lin Yun, Pavilion Master Plum, and the others from the Great Qin Empire came out, drawing a loud cheer from the crowd.
“Lin Yun is here!”
“This is too exciting! Flower Burial finally walked out! I’ve been focusing on him the entire banquet.”
“Haha, me too. Who would think that the Great Qin Empire would have an underdog like him? He’s a legend among us swordsmen.”
“Most of the newly risen geniuses in the banquet come from the nine overlords. So it wasn’t easy for someone like Lin Yun to appear.”
“Although we can’t join the banquet, witnessing Lin Yun’s ascent has been enough.” Lin Yun’s appearance made the spectators become spirited. Some of the people even looked at him with tears in their eyes. Not many people knew how brutal the path as a cultivator was, but they did. So they empathized with him at the horror of the nine overlord forces and the difficulty that came with walking out of their shadow.
Many people were bullied by the disciples of the overlord forces. For some of them, half a year’s worth of resources couldn’t compare to half a month’s tribute that an overlord force disciple received. Lin Yun’s appearance broke through their bitterness and despair, giving hope to the suppressed.
“Flower Burial!”
“Flower Burial!”
“Flower Burial!” Many people cheered for Lin Yun. It was shocking to have a million people cheer for one person. So, Pavilion Master Plum and the Great Qin Empire party felt dumbfounded.
“Lin Yun, we’re cheering for you.” Feng Ye smiled, feeling emotional for his brother. Situ Yi, Aquaselenic, and the rest from the Great Qin Empire also cheered with excitement. After all, Lin Yun represented the Great Qin Empire.
“Flower Burial, do you hear that?” Lin Yun took in a deep breath as he tightened his grip on his sword. He was Flower Burial – the one who would bury flowers and people alike. Long ago, he made a promise that everyone would come to know the name Flower Burial and he would start with the Draconic Banquet.
Hmph, he’s nothing but a clown. Yan Long’zi’s eyes flashed with disdain for Lin Yun. The more everyone cheered for Lin Yun, the harder he would fall. However, Yan Long’zi had to admit that the cheers for Lin Yun had exceeded his expectations. Even some of the others in the top hundred turned to look at Lin Yun with a complicated gaze.
When Lin Yun sat down, the dragon roar echoed out once more. This surprised many people because the dragon roar wasn’t a normal phenomenon. However, no one knew what it meant. When Lin Yun looked around, he could sense that the surrounding atmosphere had changed.
Many geniuses would maintain low-profile in the first two rounds. Since they were in the last round, he could sense that the remaining one hundred participants weren’t holding their aura back anymore. A short while later, the judge from seven days ago appeared above the lake. He looked around before he made an announcement, “The rules for the ranking round will be different than in the past. Everyone will be separated into four groups. Each group will have five quotas to get into the top twenty. Additionally, there will be a seeded participant in every group.”
The old man’s words caused a huge commotion as this was a rather huge change to the rules, especially the part about the seeded participants. After all, there weren't any seeded participants in the past.
Signaling for everyone to calm down, the old man continued to explain the rules. Twenty five people in each group will take turns fighting. Everyone has to fight twenty-four matches, which is the same as fighting each participant in your respective group. During this portion, a participant may choose to surrender any of their matches. Once this has finished everyone will be ranked based on their profound amber aura. Those in the top five will be promoted to the second round and each group will have a seeded participant once again.
When the top twenty is formed, it will be split between seeded and unseeded. The seeded will automatically make it into the top ten while the remaining sixteen will fight for ranks six through twenty.
Lin Yun understood the explanation very clearly. The rules were simple as each participant had to fight three rounds. The first round was to make it into the top twenty, the second round to fight for the top ten, and the third round was to determine ranks one through four.
This meant that seeded participants would have one less round to fight. The second round consisted of fifteen battles and seeded participants could skip it. This would allow them to hide their trump cards, which meant that seeded participants had a strong advantage.
After analyzing the pros and cons, the participants lose composure. Even the seven elites couldn’t maintain their composure. From a certain perspective, they would have no chance to make it into the top three if they couldn’t become a seeded participant. After all, their opponents would have an advantage if their trump cards were revealed.
The old man paused briefly before he continued, “Everyone has a chance to challenge the champion of their respective group after the group competition is complete. If you can win, you can seize half of the group champion’s profound amber aura. If you lose, all your profound amber aura will go to the group champion. Additionally, more challengers means the champion will lose lss profound amber aura.”
The old man’s words caused a commotion.
“Holy shit, this is exciting.”
“The advantage as a seeded participant is too high. I bet no one will accept the champion when the group competition is done.”
“That’s right. Everyone has to fight twenty-four rounds, and the uncertainty is too high.”
“This banquet is too brutal. I bet the sudden change of rules disrupted many people’s plans.”
“Let’s see how we’re divided.” All the participants became emotional as the heated atmosphere reached a new height.
Meanwhile, Lin Yun pondered as he analyzed the rules carefully. Those who challenged the champion of their groups would suffer a huge loss. After all, they could only obtain half of the champion’s profound amber aura, while they would lose everything if they lost. Additionally, if there were a lot of people who challenged the champion, the champion’s losses would decrease.
This meant that if the champion fought ten challengers, he or she would only use one-tenth of their profound amber aura. Essentially, it wouldn’t hurt the champion if they lost. On the contrary, the profit was unimaginable if they won. Lin Yun knew that he had to become a seeded participant and become the champion of the group.
His eyes flashed decisively at this plan. However, the seven elites had the same thoughts as he did. The sudden change of rules pushed many people to the path of no return as they had to become a seeded participant no matter what.