"What is the ranking criteria then?" Zhiqing asked, confused. 

"I think it's who manages to last longer against an Emperor without being defeated. I went through something like that in the Dark Soul sect, I think. The challengers were made to fight the much stronger puppet. The ones that lasted the longest got the most points. Maybe it'll be something like that?" Long Chen wondered. "Or it might be something else entirely."

While Long Chen talked about his assumption, General Wuki spoke about the rules. 

According to him, each Emperor was given two numbers in advance, prepared for this moment. 

Each of the three candidates got a number based on their luck because of which Platform they stood on. 

The rules and the formulations behind it didn't seem very easy for most of the spectators, but in the end, they all understood as General Wuki answered in short. 

"So in the end, Prince Du Liang will fight Emperor Meng. Ji Shan will fight Emperor Du Liang."

"As for Qian Yu, she can't fight her father or the Emperor of Tricion because we don't want accusations that anyone went easy on her. That's why her opponent will be a guest from another world."

As he finished speaking, a portal opened in front of General Wuki from which a middle-aged man stepped out. 

"The Emperor from the Dark World, Emperor Duong, will be fighting Princess Qian Yu. The battle duration each participant manages to survive will decide the winner," General Wuki explained. 

"Manage to survive? Interesting choice of words," Long Chen muttered. Those words made him feel like this trial was more than what met the eyes.

"I forgot to mention one thing. The battle will be fought till death. A participant may surrender, but the battle will continue for sixty more seconds after that. So choose the timing of your surrender perfectly. Surrendering right before an attack that can kill you will not save you, and you will indeed die. So best of luck."

"So, the first battle will be,  Du Liang against Emperor Meng."

General Wuki again used the Amplifier Stone, which changed the arena again. The field of lava finally disappeared as the old ground returned to its normal form. Eventually, the participants didn't need to stand on the small platforms. 

They could stand on the ground. 

...

It was a boring explanation where almost all spectators were confused about what the rules were. All they knew was who was fighting and that it was a battle to the death. 

Long Chen was also interested in this form of battle. If it was as General Wuki described, it was a dangerous battle indeed since the Emperors were commanded to kill and no one could interfere. 

As for surrender, it didn't work either without a delay which was enough time for them to be killed. 

He couldn't help but be somewhat worried about Ji Shan. His enemy was literally the strongest Emperor. He didn't know what had happened to Ji Shan, but he doubted if Ji Shan would actually surrender now. He seemed different now. 

He was much less emotional. It didn't seem like he was worried about death. Long Chen could only hope that this idiot would surrender on time. 

"The first participant, Prince Du Liang, you stay on the field. The others, go back," General Wuki commanded. 

Qian Yu and Ji Shan walked back, whereas Emperor Meng stepped forward and stood before Du Liang. 

"Kid, I won't go easy on you. And you might not even survive for sixty seconds. So you better surrender now. Don't play with your life," Emperor Meng warned Du Liang. 

He was serious. His full effort was going to be on killing Du Liang. The faster he killed Du Liang, the easier it was for Ji Shan. 

There was only one disadvantage to this. If he was too harsh on Du Liang, his father was going to kill Ji Shan too. 

But he didn't care. Even if Ji Shan died, so what? It wasn't his son in that position, so he didn't need to be careful. And by trying to kill Du Liang, he wasn't doing anything wrong. He was only going along with the rules. As long as Ji Shan lasted longer, even if he died in the end, it was worth it. All that mattered now was a victory.

"I don't think you need to be concerned about me, Emperor Meng. Take care of yourself instead," Du Liang said, smiling. 

"You're overconfident. Most of the ones that died in my hands before were overconfident too. Whatever, I did my best to make you understand. After that, it's your responsibility what happens," Emperor Meng said, smiling. 

"I accept all responsibility," Du Liang replied. He looked at General Wuki and asked, "Can we start."

"Alright. You may begin... Now!"

As General Wuki declared, Emperor Meng smiled.

The gravity around Du Liang increased suddenly, which was trying to force him down on his knees. 

"Is that all?" Du Liang asked, looking straight at Emperor Meng. His eyes again started shining. 

As soon as his eyes shone, the pressure around Du Liang disappeared like it was never there. 

"That same trick won't work on me, little boy!"

Emperor Meng stopped looking into Du Liang's eyes; instead, he started flying towards Du Liang. 

Thousands of arrows made of Qi appeared around him, which also shot towards Du Liang, intending to pierce his body thousands of times. The arrows moved even faster than Emperor Meng, who himself was flying as fast as he could.

Within a blink of an eye, the arrow reached Du Liang; however, the arrows passed right through him, not harming him in the least as if he was an illusion. 

"Hmm?"

Emperor Meng was shocked to see what Ji Shan had done.  

"Illusion?"

He couldn't help but wonder if Du Liang that stood before him was an illusion or real. If he was real, he should have been hit. And if he was an illusion, then where was the real Du Liang? His spirit sense was covering the entire field. 

According to his spirit sense, this was the real Du Liang. Then why wasn't he hit?

Even Long Chen was amused. He had also used his Spiritual Sense. He was also sure that Du Liang hadn't used an illusion. He couldn't use such a big illusion to cover everyone here—especially him. 

That person was real, but still, he wasn't hit. Was that a skill? If that was, then it was good. He wanted a skill like that too.

"Xun, what is your assumption? What did he use?" He asked Xun. 

"I don't know," Xun answered right away. 

"What? You don't know either?" Long Chen asked in surprise. She was pretty knowledgeable and had a good eye. If she didn't know, then something was really wrong.

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