The next day, the news that Erica was bullied by a mysterious man in public had quickly spread in the
royal palace. Many spirit manipulators were easily filled with righteous indignation when they heard
this. They were eager to find this man and teach him a lesson he deserved. However, no one among
the spectators was able to have a clear glimpse of the face of the mysterious man. No one knew his
identity or where he came from. Thus, naturally, their search for this man eventually became a dead
end.
But the moment Sabina and the two women heard of this, they had a strong hunch that it must be
Rocky.
Therefore, they quickly went to ask him about what happened.
"It's not my fault. Even Erica said it…" Rocky didn't seem to have the slightest intention of denying that
he fought with Erica. He told them the whole story with all honesty, and the women knew that he was
telling the truth.
"Fine, we get it. It's not your fault. I know it's easy for you to have your way with women, but can you
stop playing the field? Fortunately, no one recognized you. Stay away from women because nothing
good ever happens when you meet them!" Sabina retorted and reprimanded Rocky.
"Well, what can you do? You can't just change someone's nature. He always ends up flirting with
different women whether he intends it or not," Shirley added as she rolled her eyes.
"Hey, give Basil a break. He already said that he didn't do it on purpose. Besides, Miss Erica didn't
blame him for the incident. After all, she was the one who started it." Lucilla quickly took Rocky's side
and defended him.
"That's exactly what I'm talking about. Don't you find it suspicious? If she didn't blame Basil for it, then it
means that…" Sabina wasn't willing to let it go. She knew that Erica acted strangely, meaning that
there was a hidden motive behind it.
"Come on, stop guessing. After the martial arts contest ends today, we'll immediately go back to the
Holy Dragon Empire. Then, we don't have to deal with her anymore," Rocky butted in and convinced
the women to drop the topic already.
Although quite reluctant, they agreed eventually.
In the afternoon, the martial arts contest was held on a very broad and magnificent square to the south
of the royal palace. Over a thousand spirit manipulators from various empires of the Wild Spirit Land
were present during the event, eager to win the prize of the contest.
All seats were occupied at the hall in front of the square. This area was reserved for the most
prominent people of the Magic Phoenix Empire and important guests from various empires. The queen
of the empire sat at the center and was dressed up glamorously. She wore a bright red robe
embroidered with flying phoenix patterns, making her look like a dazzling red rose. Beside her sat
Felicia, the imperial preceptor of the empire. The rest of the seats were occupied by emperors, queens,
representatives, and envoys from various empires. They all came to give support to the contestants
from their respective empires, and also to maintain a good relationship with each other.
Rocky also had a seat reserved for him here. However, in order to avoid unnecessary attraction, he
specifically chose the farthest seat. The three women were also there, standing beside him.
Soon, the queen of the Magic Phoenix Empire stood up, gave a long speech to all the contestants.
Immediately after, she gave the signal to officially start the contest.
The whole square was divided into twenty-seven competition areas, which ranged from the first grade
of the Earthly Stage up to the ninth grade of the Supernal Stage.
According to the rules of the martial arts contest, a phoenix spirit manipulator of the Magic Phoenix
Empire of the corresponding grade would be designated to the assigned competition area. Any spirit
manipulator of the same level could step in the ring and issue the challenge.
Then, the spirit manipulators who managed to win could sleep with the phoenix spirit manipulators that
they had defeated.
Not long after, the martial arts contest was in full swing. Throughout the day, about three hundred spirit
manipulators from various grades issued the challenge. However, because the strength of the phoenix
spirit manipulators of the Magic Phoenix Empire was far superior, only a small number of spirit
manipulators were able to win and get the prizes that they longed for.
Erica was the one who was assigned at the competition area for the ninth grade of the Supernal Stage.
She received two challenges, but she won the battle in such an effortless manner.
However, if someone observed her carefully, he would notice that Erica was pretty distracted and was
looking at a particular direction from time to time. It was as if she was waiting for someone who didn't
show up until the last minute.
Soon, the competition for the first day came to an end.
While it was dark and the stars were brightly shining, the skies above the Phoenix City suddenly
changed. Densely packed dark red clouds appeared; several bolts of lightning flashed, and booming
roars of thunder rumbled. An ominous and evil aura filled the whole sky.
While these changes were occurring, everyone in the Phoenix City, including the royal palace, quickly
noticed this. It brought fear to the hearts of the ordinary citizens and caused alarm to the spirit
manipulators.
One by one, several figures appeared from every corner of the royal palace to take a clear look at the
sky. Most of them were spirit manipulators from various empires. Everyone looked up in the sky with
confused expressions on their faces. They couldn't explain what exactly was happening.
Rocky and his companions were also there.
"What is with the sky? Why does it suddenly look strange?" Sabina asked with furrowed brows.
"I'm not sure but… I don't have a good feeling about this. It feels like something bad is about to
happen," Rocky uttered with a hint of panic in his voice.
After about an hour, streaks of red light suddenly flew down like torrents of rain, spreading to every
corner of the Phoenix City, including the royal palace.
The scene caused an uproar in the entire city. It caused anxiety to people because they didn't know
what these streaks of red light were, and what they could do to them.
However, after the streaks of red light rained down, they eventually vanished without a trace and
nothing really happened—or so they thought.
Two hours later, the abnormal and ominous view in the sky also disappeared and everything went back
to normal. Everyone dispersed and thought that it was just some strange phenomenon.
The next day, Rocky and his group went to meet with the queen of the Magic Phoenix Empire before
they left.
"Oh, are you leaving soon?" the queen asked in such a gloomy and dissatisfied tone. It was pretty
obvious from her voice that she didn't want Rocky to leave so soon.
"I'm afraid yes. I still have something important to do, so we can't stay that long," Rocky replied
euphemistically.
"Well, if that's the case, we won't force you to stay." Felicia knew that Rocky wouldn't need to stay
longer since he didn't plan on participating in the martial arts contest. Actually, she and the queen were
quite disappointed in his decision. They wanted Rocky to have a match with Erica, fully knowing that he
would be able to beat her. Then, if Erica could get pregnant with Rocky's child, they were so thrilled to
think that the child must possess such incredible talents.
"Thank you for your hospitality. We'll take our leave now." However, just when Rocky and the three
women were about to leave, a female guard suddenly rushed in. She looked pale and almost out of
breath. She quickly knelt before the queen and reported, "Your Majesty! Several spirit manipulators at
the martial arts contest suddenly became aggressive like mad. They attacked our phoenix spirit
manipulators, and many were hurt in the process, including Miss Erica."
"What did you say?!" The queen and Felicia were shocked and dumbfounded at the report. Since the
challenges weren't aimed at killing, there shouldn't be such a situation. Furthermore, if the guard was
saying that the participants were acting strangely, then this was an abnormal situation that immediately
needed to be apprehended.
Rocky and his group also looked at each other upon hearing the information. They wouldn't be able to
leave with this kind of situation at hand.
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