Under the morning sun, Kanoru sat on a platform chair alongside seven others, watching the performance unfolding on the open field.
Today was the day of the Royal Fight. An hour earlier, he and Asuna had arrived outside the city in Fu Qinzhu's carriage.
A new arena had been built overnight, as today's event would be witnessed by a vast majority of the city's population and people from the surrounding regions.
The arena inside the city wouldn't have been able to accommodate such massive crowds, so a temporary stadium was constructed outside the city—just as it had been for every Royal Fight, which was held once every ten years.
However, the Royal Fight wouldn't begin immediately.
First, a fighting competition was held among warlocks under twenty-five from across the Desert Kingdom, excluding the Yulansar region.
Apart from Yulansar, the Desert Kingdom was divided into fourteen regions, and each region had sent their ten best warlocks according to the competition's requirements.
After their tournament, the Top 10 warlocks from the fourteen regions would be selected.
Since the Yulansar region already had ten champions, the Top 10 from the regional tournament would challenge them for a chance to replace them.
However, only eight champions had qualified from yesterday's battles.
Thus, from the Top 10 of the regional tournament, two would be randomly selected to join the champions, forming a group of ten.
The Top 8 challengers would then fight the ten champions for a chance to claim their positions.
Every Top 8 challenger would have three chances, while the champions who lost their positions would also be granted three chances to reclaim their spot.
However, no one could challenge an opponent they had already fought.
Three referees walked onto the field, wearing the familiar uniforms Kanoru had seen the day before.
After greeting the King and the crowd, they introduced themselves and announced the competition rules.
A total of 140 participants would compete.
The tournament wasn't just a test of individual strength—it was also a competition between regions, allowing the King to observe their performance and determine how to distribute resources among them.
The competition would begin with battles between regions.
The 14 regions would fight one against another, with the winners advancing to form the Top 7 regions.
Then, the King would personally select one of the losing regions to advance and join the Top 7, forming the Winning 8 regions.
From there, the eight regions would fight against each other, reducing the number to four advancing regions.
Following the same elimination rule, the competition would narrow down to two regions, and finally, to one winning region.
From the victorious region, the King would select the best four warlocks.
From the second-place region, he would choose two.
The remaining four would be selected from the other 12 regions, making up the Top 10 warlocks who would challenge the Yulansar champions.
After a few minutes, the competition began, and four hours later, the Top 10 warlocks were selected.
Two of them were chosen to fill the empty chairs on the platform where Kanoru and the other seven champions were seated.
The referee then instructed the eight remaining challengers to begin their attempts to replace the champions.
Kanoru and the other seven champions were not chosen for the first two matches.
Instead, the first two fights were against the two new champions.
A champion could not fight consecutively but only after a three-match gap.
Thus, the third challenge would be against Kanoru or one of the seven original champions.
The challenger chose Lu Yao, a woman.
The challenger herself was also a woman, named Wu Shu, which made Kanoru sit up straight.
Among the seven champions, Kanoru had sensed danger only from Lu Yao and a man named Wen Yu.
When he heard Wen Yu's name, Kanoru briefly wondered if he was from the Ming Royal family, but since no one asked, he pushed the thought to the back of his mind.
As the match began, Wu Shu activated her Avatar spell, summoning an Ice Demon—the same type as Wu Hou's.
Kanoru immediately thought they must be from the same family.
However, before Wu Shu could act from inside her Ice Demon form, Lu Yao raised her hand.
A green light flew from her palm, sinking into the ground between them.
Suddenly, vines erupted from the earth, surging toward Wu Shu.
At first, Wu Shu successfully froze the approaching vines, but the vines were endless.
Each time she froze one, the next would emerge more tenacious, becoming harder and harder to freeze.
Within a minute, Wu Shu could no longer freeze any of the vines.
She was quickly wrapped up like a dumpling.
The dramatic and swift end of the fight left the crowd in stunned silence, before they erupted into cheers for Lu Yao.
But Kanoru's mind clung to a single word—"adaptation".
Lu Yao had comprehended the nature of wood—Adaptation.
After Lu Yao returned to her seat, the next challenge began.
It was a normal fight lasting ten minutes, with the champion losing and the challenger taking his place.
Then, the fifth challenger called out Kanoru's name.
Hearing it, Kanoru calmly walked onto the challenge field and faced his opponent.
When the referee signaled the start, the challenger activated his Avatar spell, encasing himself in the form of a black tiger—a human body with a tiger head and stone claws.
Recalling how Lu Yao had ended her fight, Kanoru decided to follow her example.
He swung his sword, releasing a wind blade.
The blade sliced through the stone shield conjured by the challenger and cut a centimeter-deep gash across his chest.
Realizing he couldn't defend against even one of Kanoru's attacks, the challenger immediately surrendered, ending the fight.
As Kanoru walked back to his seat, he could hear the murmurs from the crowd—"Nature-cut of wind."
However, he paid no attention to them.
Before taking his seat, he nodded at Lu Yao and Wen Yu.
The next fight was against Wen Yu.
Wen Yu conjured a water hammer and slammed it into the challenger's metal Avatar form, which shattered instantly.
The challenger was knocked unconscious.
Wen Yu had comprehended the nature of water—Hard as steel.
The fights continued until evening, but the area was lit by bonfires, torches, and spiritual stones that emitted light.
Throughout the rest of the matches, Kanoru, Lu Yao, and Wen Yu each faced not one more challenge.
Afterward, no one dared to challenge them again.
The remaining challengers knew that although they were in the same realm, they stood no chance against the three, who had mastered the nature of their respective elements.
The only ones who could defeat Kanoru, Lu Yao, or Wen Yu were each other or someone from a higher realm.
Once the ten champions were confirmed, they were called to stand in the arena, facing the Royal Stands—a three-story wooden structure.
The King appeared at the railing on the top floor.
He declared, "Citizens, I present to you our ten champions!"
The crowd erupted in enthusiastic cheers.
The King continued, "But we all know the true winners will be from these three—Lu Yao, Matsuda Kanoru, and Wen Yu."
The crowd roared, shouting, "Yes!" and "Start the fight!"
Some spectators yelled, "I bet six silver coins Lu Yao will win!"
The King smiled and added, "But their strength is equally matched, so their fight will be thrilling."
The crowd's excitement grew louder.
Then, the King's voice lowered as he declared, "However, the fight between them may turn into a life-and-death battle."
The crowd's cheers suddenly fell into silence.
The King then concluded, "Thus, today's Royal Match will have not one but three winners. The competition ends here."
The King didn't care if the three prodigies died in battle—but he wouldn't let them die here.
Lu Yao and Wen Yu had complicated backgrounds, and the King didn't want any trouble until he advanced to Great Warlock.