Chapter 1735: Top 100
Three days passed by quickly as Su Mo was in the cultivation room.
In these 3 days, the Imperial Ancestor Court was bustling with activity. From various territories of the sect, top talents were rushing towards Saint Royal City.
The sun peeked over the horizon in the morning and a large crowd gathered before the palace of Saint Royal Palace.
Before the doors, a large number of young martial artists strode into Saint Royal Palace under the guidance of the guards.
Almost 100,000 spectators gathered at the grounds of the Saint Royal Palace. They were unable to enter the palace and could only gather there to see the top talents from the various territories of the Imperial Ancestor Court.
“There can only be 5 candidates from the Imperial Ancestor Court this time. The competition will be fierce!”
“First Prince, Second Princess and the Third Prince will definitely take 3 places!”
“Indeed! There are actually only 2 places left to fight for!”
“Who do you think will most likely get these 2 places?”
“Can’t be sure. When the strong fights against the strong, anyone can win!”
A roar of voices erupted through the court as everyone discussed who would succeed.
“Do you all think that Su Mo will be selected?” Someone asked.
“We don’t know what cultivation rank he is in. However, if Su Mo doesn’t attend the Sky Dragon Contest, the Triple Deities Sect will have to pay a hefty sum to the Sorcerer Tribe. Since the Triple Deities Sect allowed Su Mo to come to the Imperial Ancestor Court Faction, they must be confident in Su Mo!” A wise man said.
The crowd nodded their heads silently. What he had said made sense.
However, in actual fact, they all knew that Su Mo’s cultivation rank wasn’t high and it would be hard for him to be selected with his strength alone.
On a jadestone pavement, Su Mo wore a white long robe and followed a guard to the Great Yin-Yang Palace.
The Great Yin-Yang Palace was the main hall of Saint Royal Palace and it was also the location where the royals and ministers discussed important matters.
It was more than 500 feet tall and had an area of more than 10,000 square feet, such that it could easily allow 10,000 people to fit in there.
When Su Mo arrived at the palace, he found that it was already a bustling environment where close to 10,000 people had gathered.
Without hesitating, he strode into the palace.
There weren’t any seats in the hall and everyone stood and chatted with each other.
These men were all geniuses who were attempting to fight for a place in the Sky Dragon Contest. There were also older experts who were top ministers and elders of the Imperial Ancestor Court Faction.
The selection for the Sky Dragon Contest was considered an important event that they would have to attend.
“Su Mo, over here!” In a corner of the hall, Gu Tianyi immediately beckoned Su Mo over to him the moment he saw Su Mo.
As soon as Gu Tianyi called out Su Mo’s name, a deadly silence filled the room.
Shoosh shoosh shoosh!
Heads whipped around as all eyes fell on Su Mo’s body.
Su Mo was far too famous and everyone knew his name.
Many people surveyed Su Mo’s appearance and cultivation rank. Some were surprised and some were in disbelief while others laughed coldly at what they saw.
99% of the people there had never seen Su Mo before and they were doubtful of all the rumors that they had heard about him.
Perhaps the rumors had exaggerated the godly talents of Su Mo.
Many who saw that Su Mo was a mere Rank 6 Martial Honorable shook their heads silently. No matter how strong he was, he would not be selected for the Sky Dragon Contest with such a cultivation rank.
On the other hand, Su Mo swiftly walked towards Gu Tianyi as soon as he heard his voice.
“Greetings to Eighth Prince!” Su Mo bowed towards Gu Tianyi. He had to maintain formalities in a public place.
“At ease!” Gu Tianyi laughed as he waved his hand dismissively.
With that, Su Mo scanned the surroundings. The First Prince, Gu Cangtian and the Third Prince, Gu Yuanji were both near Gu Tianyi.
Aside from that, Su Mo spotted a few familiar faces. There was the Second Princess, Gu Feifei, and the platoon leader, Ren Tianya, as well as Zhu Tong, etc.
Everyone was staring strangely at him.
Yet, Su Mo did not worry about the crowd as he ignored the attention he was receiving and sat down peacefully beside Gu Tianyi.
At that point, the bright, sparkling, golden dragon chair in the centre of the hall was empty. It was evident that the King of the Imperial Ancestor Court Faction had not arrived.
Step! Step! Step!
The sound of footsteps revealed that someone was approaching and Su Mo lifted his head to see the beautiful Second Princess, Gu Feifei, in a blue shirt walking towards him.
“Su Mo, congratulations on returning!” Gu Feifei smiled.
“Thank you, Second Princess!” Su Mo cupped his fists respectfully towards Gu Feifei.
“It is great that you are back, I will be looking forward to your performance!” The Second Princess said in a deep voice before she turned to walk away.
She wasn’t on familiar terms with Su Mo and hence only had a brief meeting.
“Su Mo, most of those who are participating in the selection contest are here already. How is it? Do you have confidence?” Gu Tianyi asked softly.
Su Mo casually scanned the surroundings and found that there were only about 10 people in the Rank 9 Martial Honorable Realm.
“Not too bad!” Su Mo smiled. There weren’t a lot of experts as none of the Rank 9 Martial Honorables had terrifying strengths.
“Great that you have the confidence!” Gu Tianyi nodded his head.
A few people were observing Su Mo carefully and they frowned slightly as they heard the conversation between the two.
This Su Mo was really arrogant!
A Rank 6 Martial Honorable had actually claimed that he had the chance and confidence to be selected.
Half an hour passed by quickly as everyone waited.
Right at that moment, a figure suddenly emerged onto the dragon chair.
This figure was tall and domineering. The man had a large face and he appeared powerful.
He was a middle-aged man and he wore a grand royal robe and a golden crown on his head. The claws of the five-clawed dragon on his royal robe fiercely stood out menacingly.
“Greetings to the king!”
The crowd immediately bowed to the man as soon as he appeared.
Su Mo also cupped his fists together to greet the man.
“At ease everyone!” The king slowly sat on his dragon chair and waved his robe out of his way, his voice booming like thunder through the hall.
“Thank you, king!” The crowd spoke in unison as their voices shook through the hall.
With that, the king sat on the chair and scanned the crowd with his wise eyes. In a loud voice, he said, “The once-in-a-hundred-years Sky Dragon Contest is about to begin. The Imperial Ancestor Court Faction has 5 candidate places and we have always decided who to select based on strength.”
The crowd quietly listened to the king’s words. The king spoke of the long-standing rule in the Imperial Ancestor Court Faction and no one was surprised to hear his words.
“Besides that, anyone selected who manages to be in the top 100 talents in the Sky Dragon Contest will be heavily rewarded for gaining fame for the Imperial Ancestor Court Faction!” The king continued as his voice rolled out through the hall, shaking through everyone’s hearts.
Eyes brightened in excitement. Although the Sky Dragon Contest had allowed only the winner to obtain the Ancient Dragon’s vein, as long as one entered the top 100 in the contest, his name would be heard throughout Ancientspirit Galaxy and he would gain instant fame. At the same time, his status in the Imperial Ancestor Court Faction would rise exponentially and the benefits obtained from that were innumerable.
In the Imperial Ancestor Court Faction, no one had managed to win the overall Sky Dragon Contest as that was virtually an impossible task.
As such, their only hope was that one of their members could enter the top 100.
Being ranked in the top 100 would already be a very huge achievement for the faction.
Anyone who was ranked in the top 100 could leave the Imperial Ancestor Court Faction and still have many superpowers trying to attract him into their ranks.
Overall, as long as they could enter the top 100, their lives could change for the better dramatically.
However, there were a few hundred major superpowers participating in the Sky Dragon Contest. With a total of a few thousand contestants, where everyone was a top talent, entering the top 100 was a very difficult task.
The eyes of the First Prince and the Third Prince were sparkling brightly. If either of the two entered the top 100 placings, the crown-prince title could virtually be guaranteed to be theirs.
The king wore a stern face as he stared at the First Prince, Second Princess, Third Prince as well as the group of geniuses as he said, “The selection of candidates will be held in the Empty World. The rules will not change!”
With that, the king waved his hand and grabbed an Empty Space in the hall before he pulled it strongly.
Psst~~
Like a piece of cloth, space was torn apart to reveal a large, pitch-black Virtual Space Route.
“Everyone enter it!”
The king’s voice echoed through the hall as his body had already entered the Space Route and he had disappeared into thin air.