Tournament.

Xueling was led to a private room above the stadium, it was protected with a white magical circle to avoid people watching inside the room so she could take off her hat.

'Isn't he coming?' She unconsciously looked towards the door as if waiting to see the Duke coming inside, but after a few minutes, nobody came.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are honored to announce the start of the Force Magic Tournament of Jin City." A woman's voice was heard from the middle of the stadium, she was wearing an alluringly bright red dress. The cheers of the stadium were deafening.

"It is Madam Lu, she is beautiful."

"What good luck to finally watch her. She was the host of the Capital Arena."

"I can't wait for the combats to start. It is said that this year many high-rank force users were selected."

Madam Lu stood in the platform and with a snap of her fingers, a big cage appeared behind her.

"Ladies and Gentlemen let me show you the incredible prize for the winner. Please hold your breath and admire the Great Azure Winter Bird from the North." The cage lighted up and became translucid. Inside was a gigantic fiery blue bird extending his wings and hitting the cage.

"Whoo!"

"I've never seen one that big before."

"It is awesome."

The audience was ecstatic and Xueling was stunned. That was a mythical beast from the legends. It was said that they became extinct as they were dependent on magic to grow. She couldn't believe her eyes. However, she felt something off about the bird. At first, it was making a ruckus, but then it became silent as if searching around for something. Then his big blue eyes landed in her room. She was flabbergasted. It seemed as if it was looking directly at her. 'What the heck?'

"The selection of the battles will begin shortly. Before that, the champions will introduce themselves with a little show of their power." Big applause and cheers filled the stadium.

Then the cage suddenly disappeared, and the lights of the stadium went off, and only the platform lit up.

A silhouette of a man could be seen among the dim lights, he was covered in red flames. He had a big sword surrounded by fire and was making a series of fire figures. It was a brilliant performance.

"He is the great master of the eleventh Dukedom!"

"He is the fire force master of Iabury."

"Let me present to you Khalid, the force master from the remote land of Iabury." The voice of Madam Lu resonated, and the claps and cheers were intense. Many women were instantly captivated by the handsome and redhaired man.

Suddenly bright blue lightning entered from the roof and a woman silhouette materialized from it. She was wearing a spectacular long blue dress with wide sleeves. She looked dazzling like a fairy.

"Oh, I can't believe my eyes. It is the fairy from the Cila Sect. Liu Min."

"She is a master of water force."

"Oh god, this is awesome."

One by one, the masters and great masters were appearing on the platform. Some of them were known and famous, others were champions that came from the northern tribes or foreign countries, even the faraway islands.

Unexpectedly, a white mist emerged from the center of the platform and an adorable woman emerge from it with white ornaments and jewels. She looked like a goddess.

"It is Miss Luo Xin from the Jin Duchy."

"I've never thought I will be able to see her in this lifetime."

"She is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

"Don't look at her or you will pollute her with your dirty eyes, and the Grand Duke of Jin will dig them out for you."

"Let's cheer for her."

Xueling looked at the woman in the middle of the stadium receiving applause from the whole public. She was too focused that she didn't notice the man standing behind her. When she felt a presence, she turned around and looked at him cheerfully. However, his gaze was focused on the platform as if nothing else mattered. A sudden pain invaded her heart. She stood silent and continued watching.

Then the lights turned off and a black mist came fast surrounding the platform at a high speed. Then the lights illuminated the stadium again and a very handsome man in a black robe and red eyes landed in the middle. He looked up at her room. 'It is him, the man from the ship.'

"Who is that?"

"Don't know. I've never seen him."

"I recall him from the preliminaries, he came from one of the northern islands, I thought he was called Seren."

'Seren? Why does that sound familiar?' Xueling thought. 'I am sure I've heard that name before.'

The lights came off at that moment. The participants were nowhere to be seen and Madam Lu was again in the platform.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, let's begin!"

The applause and cheers were nonstop. Then a big number of magical fireworks announced the start of the tournament.

There were in total eight participants. The first four battles will determine four semi-finalists and from them, two finalists will fight with each other to define the winner. There were going to be seven battles in total.

The announcement came for the fighters to choose their number to decide their opponent and order of battle. Luo Xin got the fifth number while Seren the eighth.

When the matches started, the crowd already has their favorites and were cheering for them. The first match was Khalid versus a man called Chen Fang, he was the son of the Duke of Xin, the third Duchy. Even though some people from his territory were applauding him and cheering for him, they were high ranking nobles related to his family, the common folk clearly didn't like him. It was said that his father was corrupt and the commoners from his territory were suffering tremendous hardships.

The battle began and Chen Fang launched an attack of fire to the feet of Khalid. However, he did not move an inch instead welcomed the fire that was thrown at him with a smile.

"Is this a joke?" Khalid asked mockingly. He was a muscular man dressed in black clothes without sleeves. His hair was red as fire and his eyes were a bright orange color. He was a handsome man with tattoos on both arms that brightened up every time he used his magic.

Chen Fang jumped up and took out a blue potion from his pocket and drank it. Then he threw a punch to the feet of Khalid again. It had bright blue energy surrounding it and was powerful enough to push Khalid several steps back with a frown.

He looked at Chen Fang with an amusing look.

"I don't like cheaters."

"Heh… What are you talking about? We are allowed to use whatever we want on the fighting ring."

"Mmmm ... yes, you're right." Khalid unleashed a large flaming whip and whipped it across Chen Fang's body, lifting it up and throwing him off the platform. It was a total knockout. He approached the nearly passed out man with a whip mark on his face. "I said I don't like fighting cheaters because they are the first to lose ..." He finished saying and walked away.

"The winner of the first battle is Khalid". Madame Lu's voice echoed throughout the stadium and the cheers were deafening, there was even laughter at Young Master Chen's pathetic state.