In every Dominion on Elysium, one must be humble towards the Overgod they worshipped. Han Shuo's behavior could be considered as blasphemy against the Overgod. This crime could be serious or minor. If pursued, it could even affect Han Shuo's future in the City of Shadows!
Therefore, when Han Shuo saw the trace of a sneer on Ralph's face, he had a bad feeling.
Sure enough, Ralph waited for Wallace to finish the ceremony. When everyone stood up and raised their heads, Ralph immediately shouted, "Lord Brian, you were disloyal to the Overlord just now. How dare you not kneel on one knee! As a believer of the Overlord, your blasphemy is unforgivable!"
Wallace who was about to announce something was rather surprised to hear Ralph's words. He turned to look at Han Shuo, bunched his brows, and asked, "Brian, is what Ralph said true?"
"I didn't expect Lord Ralph to be so narrow-minded. We only had some disagreements two days ago, but Lord Ralph is maliciously slandering me. I'm really surprised!" Of course, Han Shuo wouldn't admit to it. Once the label of blasphemy was pinned on him, he'd really be in quite a bit of trouble if it was used as a pretext.
"Lord Brian, you are quite good at lying through your teeth. If you dare to do it, why wouldn't you dare to admit it?" Ralph shouted coldly. His sharp eyes stared straight at Han Shuo as though he was trying to overwhelm Han Shuo with his imposing manner and make Han Shuo feel guilty. Wallace, Andre, and the others beside him had sharp gazes. They would be able to detect the slightest change in Han Shuo's mood.
Unfortunately, Han Shuo's willpower was not something Ralph could imagine. Under Ralph's eagle-like gaze, not only did Han Shuo not reveal the slightest hint of guilt, he even pretended to be innocent. He glared at Ralph furiously and said, "Lord Ralph, you know who is lying and who is slandering himself. Don't you have that much tolerance?"
"You, you're lying through your teeth!" Ralph didn't expect Han Shuo to be so difficult to deal with.
Han Shuo let out a sigh, shook his head, and said helplessly, "I have always thought that Lord Ralph was an upright and upright man. Little did I expect that you would make such baseless slander just because of a verbal dispute. How disappointing!"
"Uh … Ralph, is there a need for you to make such a big fuss over such a small matter?" Erebus raised his voice and said maliciously. When he noticed that everyone's attention was focused on him, he explained, "A few days ago, Brian and Ralph got into an argument at Lady Aobashi's place!"
"I don't think Brian is the kind of person who would lie!" Casper, the patriarch of the Kinson family, suddenly said softly.
The patriarchs of the other two major family clans nodded in agreement. They all said that Han Shuo did not look like the kind of person who would lie. What they implied was that Ralph was deliberately slandering Han Shuo. Ralph had always been unpopular in the City of Shadows. The patriarchs of the three major family clans were rather dissatisfied with Ralph. Therefore, they immediately seized the opportunity to express their trust in Han Shuo without saying anything about Ralph.
Wallace bunched his brows and looked at Ralph before turning to Han Shuo. After a moment of silence, he said, "Ralph might have seen wrongly. Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. It's just a small misunderstanding!"
Ralph shut his mouth after hearing Wallace's words. He knew that Wallace's words were to protect him and he did not insist that Han Shuo had blasphemed the gods.
Han Shuo still put on an innocent face and looked at Ralph with eyes filled with hatred and resentment. Those who didn't know might have thought that Han Shuo felt sorry for Ralph's character!
However, Han Shuo was sneering in his heart. From the attitude of the three major family clans, Han Shuo knew that Ralph was indeed unpopular. The fact that the other members of the House of Sainte did not say a word to help Ralph proved that Carmelita was right. Even the members of the House of Sainte did not like Wallace, their most loyal lackey!
Han Shuo secretly heaved a sigh of relief at the fact that Ralph was so unpopular. He knew that if he were to really clash with Ralph, he would be the first to gain the upper hand.
After the commotion died down, Wallace finished the rest of his speech and started to explain the rules of the duel.
Except for Han Shuo, the newcomer, everyone else knew the rules of the tournament like the back of their hands. Wallace's main audience was Han Shuo. However, Han Shuo had also learned the rules from Erebus and Aobashi. When Wallace saw Han Shuo nodding indifferently to indicate that he understood the rules, he hastened his speech and finished what he needed to say.
In the tournament between the Seven Corps, each party is allowed to form a company. The number of divine guards must not exceed a hundred and there must not be any highgods among the divine guards! In the tournament between the Seven Corps, accidental injuries and deaths could be forgiven. However, intentional murder was strictly prohibited. Even if a team was accidentally killed or injured, the number of divine guards must not exceed five.
The tournament at the beginning was always a team fight with different rules every time. Sometimes, the team would choose a target and the seven companies would march towards the target together. Fighting was not prohibited along the way. The first team to reach the target would be the winner. Sometimes, the tournament would involve hunting powerful magical beasts in a mountain range. Under such circumstances, the tournament would be held in a mountain range where a large number of magical beasts roamed freely. The team with the most magical beast cores would be the winner!
The tournament this time was a little special. Wallace had hidden many divine essences emitting unique energy fluctuations in the easternmost region of Soaring Cloud Mountain Range. Those divine essences were located in very well-hidden locations. Wallace gave each team seven days to search for the divine essences or plunder the divine essences obtained by others. Those divine essences emitted very special energy fluctuations. They were marked by Wallace and Andre. Once the divine essences were found, they would become an obvious target.
During the seven days, the teams could plunder or search for divine essences. No matter what method they used, the team with the most divine essences after the seven days would be the final winner. There was also a strict rule – the Seven Corps were not allowed to cooperate with each other. Once two teams started fighting, the other teams were not allowed to participate in the tournament!
This rule was actually added specifically for Erebus and Aobashi. Wallace and Andre knew that Erebus was deeply in love with Aobashi. If the First and Third Corps were to join forces, the final winner of the tournament would be their side. To prevent that from happening, there was a strict rule that forbade two teams from joining forces!
After Wallace finished explaining the rules, the seven Company Captains who would participate in the tournament were appointed by the Seven Divine Guard Chiefs. Under Wallace's instructions, the teams of divine guards marched towards the easternmost region of Soaring Cloud Mountain Range!
Before Kiffan left, Ralph whispered a few words into Kiffan's ear. Kisa nodded repeatedly and before leaving with his divine guards, he cast a cold glance at Barnard who stood in the distance.
The Second Corps divine guards wore wooden faces but they were radiating intense killing intent. Their gazes when they looked at each other were extremely ferocious, as though they were bloodthirsty demonic beasts surveying their prey. Compared to the other pairs of divine guards, the Second Corps divine guards had clearly killed more people. Their demeanor was not something that ordinary divine guards could compare to.
The divine guards from Han Shuo's Fifth Corps were unbelievably relaxed before joining the tournament. The Fifth Corps divine guards led by Gilbert and Sanguinar were laughing and joking all the way. They did not show the slightest bit of nervousness before the big battle. Those who did not know better might have thought that they were just having fun!
Compared to the Second Corps divine guards, the Fifth Corps divine guards were just too different. Wallace, Andre, the patriarchs of the three major family clans, and the Six Divine Guard Chiefs with the exception of Han Shuo were wearing strange expressions. They did not expect that the Fifth Corps divine guards, who had always been so quiet and stern, would become so relaxed when it came to the real battle!
Han Shuo was the only one who smiled in satisfaction. After the others arrived at Soaring Cloud Mountain Range, Han Shuo had allowed his divine guards to rest and relax. He even allowed them to drink and have fun so that they would not be affected by the pressure of the upcoming battle. Han Shuo wasn't the slightest bit worried about the abilities of these divine guards who came out of the Eight Desolation and Torment Formation. The only thing he was worried about was that they would put too much pressure on him. Now that he saw them walking towards the easternmost region, laughing and chatting happily, Han Shuo was completely at ease.
The seven teams of nearly seven hundred divine guards split into seven teams and departed according to Wallace's instructions.
The easternmost region of Soaring Cloud Mountain Range was a day's journey away. After the divine guards left, Wallace and Andre got busy setting up the sand table on the central grandstand. Wallace had a spatial divine device in his hand. Strands of divine energy were constantly flowing out from the divine device and landing on the easternmost region of the sand table. The divine energy was intertwined with the energy towers that had been set up earlier.
After a while, Wallace suddenly inserted the spatial divine device into the center of the sand table. A wave of intense spatial distortion undulated from the surface of the sand table. A glass-like spatial boundary took shape on the surface of the sand table.
Under Han Shuo's attentive gaze, the scene depicted on the sand table suddenly changed. All the inanimate objects suddenly became vivid and lifelike. After a short while, another wave of spatial distortion took shape on the sand table.
When the spatial distortion subsided and Han Shuo looked at the sand table again, he discovered that the easternmost region of the sand table seemed to have been magnified infinitely. Everything within the region was reflected. Not far away, many tiny people the size of ants were moving towards the center of the sand table.
"This spatial divine device has formed a miraculous connection with the energy towers in that region. From here, we can see everything that is happening in that region. With us here, I believe that nothing will go wrong in that region. Everyone will also be able to clearly see which side has the strongest divine guards!" Wallace appeared rather pleased with himself when he saw that the sand table was in place. He raised his head and swept his gaze across the crowd before explaining smilingly.
The crowd, of course, praised the power of the divine device and flattered Wallace in a roundabout way. Only Han Shuo had a bitter smile on his face. Han Shuo did not know that Wallace had this trick up his sleeves. Therefore, he had given Barnard and the others some secret orders. If Barnard had followed Han Shuo's orders and the situation had fallen into the eyes of Wallace and the others, it would not have been good for Han Shuo.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
