At the Dragon God Cathedral...
Emperor Frederick the 32nd asked softly, “My brother, have all the contestants entered the Lost Continent?”
“Yes, they have, Your Majesty!” Duke Eustace replied respectfully, “With no exceptions, all 7,848 contestants have arrived at the Lost Continent. The first batch of contestants that arrived has already gone dozens of kilometers deep into the continent.”
“Great!” A satisfied Frederick the 32nd nodded and said, “Let us take a look at the empire’s young talents, then!”
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Several dazzling beams of light suddenly rose from all directions, converging in the sky simultaneously to form a magic screen so enormous that it could easily blot out the sun.
The magic screen was simply too big. It hung suspended in the sky, blocking out everything, including even sunlight.
“That’s...”
As a crisp and clear image of a world was displayed on the magic screen, everyone’s eyes widened at once.
There were mountains and hills, and flat plains and raised plateaus...
There were lakes and rivers and forests and basins...
There were deserts and arid lands, and fields and wastelands...
It featured a complex and great variety of terrains, and there was just about everything that one could imagine.
“Your Majesty, is that the Lost Continent?” asked an agitated official.
“That’s right! That’s the newly-discovered Lost Continent, indeed!”
Frederick the 32nd smiled and went on. “During the last three months, I’ve sent men to scout and survey the Lost Continent, as well as installed a magic crystal device there beforehand. Thus, everything happening on the Lost Continent is within my supervision.
“Not only am I able to have a bird’s eye view and overlook the entire continent from high up in the sky, but I can also zoom in on certain areas to monitor specific regions!
“I can check out any corner of the continent, as well as observe any of the contestants!”
“I see!”
“How brilliant, Your Majesty!”
Everyone was full of praises.
The empire had long since possessed the magic techniques and related equipment for live broadcasts, but to install magic crystal balls to monitor the entire Lost Continent... This was truly a huge deal for sure.
Just how many magic crystal balls would he have to install?
Moreover, the task even had to be completed within a short three months.
How much manpower, money, and resources would that have taken?
Emperor Frederick the 32nd continued and said, “When the champion is born at the end of the exchange competition, I shall gift the full set of equipment to the champion so that it’ll be more convenient for them to supervise and manage the Lost Continent!”
“Gift?”
Everyone found themselves a little dumbstruck and rendered speechless by the comment. After going through so much to set up that surveillance equipment capable of monitoring the entire continent, he was going to just gift it to the champion free-of-charge?
His Majesty sure was generous!
The small group of officials in the emperor’s inner ministerial circle that had managed to guess his intentions didn’t find the gesture out of the norm, though. If all went well, the exchange competition champion this year would undoubtedly be the 13th Princess. His Majesty was just giving the set of equipment to his favorite daughter; what’s there to be reluctant to part with?
Then, Frederick the 32nd said, “My dear subjects, who are the seeded candidates in the exchange competition this year? Feel free to tell us so that we may have a look at them together!”
Someone took the initiative to reply. He said, “Your Majesty, a total of 389 people from Dragon God Academy are taking part in the exchange competition this year, of which 71 are ranked in the Dragon God Genius Ranking.
“And among them, the most outstanding one is none other than Prince Barbarossa, who is ranked 148th in the Genius Ranking. Everyone would love to catch a glimpse of his stunning abilities!”
“Indeed, Marquis Horace!”
“As one of the best among the youths, Prince Barbarossa is amazingly talented and exceptionally strong. At just 26 years old, he’s already ranked 148th in the Dragon God Genius Ranking. I’m sure he’ll definitely display his awe-inspiring abilities and impress all of us in the exchange competition this year. We’d love to witness his magnificence!”
“...”
“Alright! Since everyone wants to take a look at Barbarossa, then let’s do that!”
With a chuckle, Frederick the 32nd nodded lightly at the palace attendant.
Whoosh!
The scene pictured on the gigantic magic screen abruptly changed. A split second later, a dense and lush forest appeared.
A handsome young man with a pair of golden horns and wearing golden armor appeared in the field of view—it was Barbarossa Frederick, the 888th Prince. He was Emperor Frederick the 32nd’s 888th child, as well as the one and only pure-blooded Golden Colossal Dragon among the many princes.
Dragon God Empire was a country exceptionally particular about bloodlines—only Golden Colossal Dragons with the purest bloodline were eligible to inherit the throne.
Be it princes or princesses, as long as they were Golden Colossal Dragons of pure bloodline, they would be eligible to become an heir to the throne.
Apart from that, no matter how excellent one’s talent was, how strong they were, or how amazing they performed, if they weren’t pure-blooded Golden Colossal Dragons, then it was impossible for them to inherit the throne.
Among more than 1,000 of Frederick the 32nd’s children, Barbarossa the 888th Prince was the only pure-blooded Golden Colossal Dragon. Therefore, his future had already been set in stone.
And that was—to ascend the throne and become the empire’s ruler!
Therefore, toward Barbarossa the 888th Prince, many of the civil and martial officials naturally tried to be on his good side. After all, nobody wanted to offend the future emperor.
“It’s Barbarossa!”
“Look! It’s Brother...”
At the sight of Barbarossa, the many princes and princesses there let out exclamations one after another. The influential nobles and officials also looked at Barbarossa on the magic screen with looks of marvel in their eyes.
On the screen, Barbarossa gave off a peerless and domineering aura. With his feet braced against a huge golden sword, he rode on the sword and traveled about in the air, much like the gleaming edge of a blade.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Everywhere he passed by, he shot out several golden rays of light, which pierced through all the Magical Beasts that he encountered along the way.
Their magic cores subsequently left their bodies and automatically converged toward him. Then, all of them entered Barbarossa’s arm and disappeared from sight.
Roar!
A Ninth-Grade Magical Beast suddenly charged out from somewhere—it was a 50-meters-tall Diamond Giant-Backed Lizard. The giant lizard let out a furious roar, producing roiling sound waves that caused the trees and surrounding vegetation to fly everywhere.
Barbarossa, however, merely cast a glance at it. Then, a ray of golden light shot out of him and impaled the Diamond Giant-Backed Lizard’s head, killing it immediately.
Every move and action of his was like a leisurely walk in the park.
All his gestures and mannerisms were calm and carried absolute ease.
Killing Ninth-Grade Magical Beasts was no different from slaughtering livestock for him.
That was exactly what Prince Barbarossa’s elegant and graceful bearing was like!
“Bravo, Prince Barbarossa!”
“As expected of Prince Barbarossa! How impressive! Even a Ninth-Grade Magical Beast is no match for the prince!”
Everyone was full of wonder, and praises for Barbarossa filled the place.
With a smile, the marveling Dragon God Academy president remarked, “Your Majesty, seeing how Prince Barbarossa is decimating Ninth-Grade Magical Beasts like slaughtering livestock, he must be nearing mid-level Saint Domain!”
“Thereabouts, I guess!”
Frederick the 32nd smiled lightly and said, “President Luke, I’ve heard that there are a great many talents from Dragon God Academy this year. Several geniuses and heroes have emerged, among which quite a few are even more impressive than Barbarossa. I wonder who they are?”
“Your Majesty, I must say that there really isn’t anyone among Prince Barbarossa’s peers who’s more impressive than him. However, there are indeed a few who are slightly older that are a bit stronger than him,” replied a smiling President Luke.
Frederick the 32nd raised an eyebrow and asked, “Oh? Who might they be? I’d like to take a look at them!”
“They are Sachhen the Golden Dragon-Lion, Adil the Thunder Giant, Miriam the Immortal Fairy, Meredith the Empire’s Dawn, and Mond Aston the White Tiger Knight!”