Rise of The Anti God (Web Novel)
chapter-596

All the young geniuses looked at each other with narrowed eyes since, with these rules, it was better to be the person who goes in last so that they won't be tired but also have a higher chance of winning.

After all, the one who goes first will have to keep on fighting off the ones challenging him, and even if he manages to defeat a few, can he defeat all of them? Impossible. These geniuses all knew each other, and they were also able to gauge each other's cultivations, and all of them knew that none of them could really manage to go first and defeat the rest. There were just too many, and it was not something even the strongest genius among them could manage.

The Gale Emperor inwardly scoffed how these cowardly geniuses were afraid to go first, and so he announced, "Since it seems our young friends are having trouble deciding to go first, we will shuffle all the names and pick one from a lot."

Everybody, including the geniuses, felt relieved since this method was fair even though there was a very small chance that they could get picked.

But it was better than nothing anyway, especially when one could just keep waiting till everyone else gets eliminated and then enter the duel. This was what most geniuses here thought.

As if the Gale Emperor saw through their train of thoughts, he added, "Also, to make sure the tournament proceeds smoothly, after a candidate enters or remains in our small arena, someone should challenge the candidate within ten seconds. Otherwise, the one remaining will automatically become the winner."

This condition made the expressions of the geniuses become taut as they realized that if none of them entered the duel, the person who remained in the arena would automatically become the winner.

For instance, if nobody challenges, the first person who enters the arena will automatically get the girl.

And so everybody realized that they might have to take the initiative unless they wanted someone else to run away with the girl.

Maximus Lancaster felt uneasy by the development of this whole thing and subtly sent a secret message transmission to his father, "Father, something doesn't feel right. Princess Yuria would never want to hold such a tournament, and her father would always follow her wishes only."

The Lancaster Emperor looked at his son from afar and sighed, wondering if he was still not over Yuria. As the emperor, he naturally knew about certain things, especially the fact that his son had eyes only for Yuria for all these years. Never had he seen him with any other woman despite countless of them standing in front of his door.

And so he said gently, "Son, instead of overthinking things, why don't you participate and marry the girl you always wanted to? Your cultivation has made significant progress recently, and I am sure you can be the man of the day here. You might never again get an opportunity like this. Someone is definitely going to take away Yuria for themselves today. So you better make sure it's you."

Maximus didn't even hesitate as he refuted him, "I think you are misunderstanding, father. I no longer hold such feelings towards Yuria. In fact, I realized I only cared for her as a friend, not like someone who she could spend the rest of her life with. And I am telling this as her friend. I know she already has someone she loves, and I am sure someone like her wouldn't want this. This must probably be some wicked plan of the Gale Emperor because of his conflicts with the Krisen Kingdom. Since we have a friendly relationship with them, shouldn't you help out the Krisen King, father?"

The Lancaster Emperor seemed surprised that his son truly didn't seek to win Yuria's wind. He could feel how genuine his tone was. However, it still didn't change anything as he sighed, "Son, this is beyond my hands. If the Krisen King had openly refused him, I could still have given him some support, even though that might only worsen his conflicts with the Gale Emperor. But now he himself confirmed this tournament. So there is nothing that I can do."

Maximus' expression became grave as he felt bad for Yuria and also felt useless as her friend.

"But there is indeed one way. You can enter the tournament and make sure none of them wins or just challenge the last man standing. And if you win, then you can just break off the engagement any time you want."

Maximus' face fell deep in thought as he felt that this seemed the only logical way to help Yuria even though he wasn't fond of it and also knew that there were others older than him who had more powerful cultivation than him. Still, it was better than doing nothing.

"Thank you, father. I will keep this in mind."

The Gale Emperor seemed very enthusiastic about organizing this tournament, and everyone thought he was doing this because he was trying to create a better relationship with the Krisen Kingdom, which they admired, especially after hearing all the rumors.

However, just as the Gale Emperor was about to shuffle the lot, a confident and gentle voice echoed from the side,

"There is no need for all that, Your Majesty. I will gladly be the first to enter," A charming young man looking in his early twenties and dressed in a scholarly dress with a very elegant demeanor stepped forward, making others look at him in awe just because of the sheer confidence his entire self was emanating.

Just his pair of gleaming black eyes was enough to make the noblewomen in the hall feel as if their souls were slowly being pulled towards this mysterious young man just by a simple glance in their direction.

In fact, his arrival itself caused the atmosphere in the hall to change subtly, and no doubt this made people feel that this young man was probably a great genius.

"Godnim! You came finally!" Tristen shouted from the side as he eagerly stepped forward to greet him while the Gale Emperor narrowed his eyes seeing this young man.