It had been seven hours since the final stage started. So much had happened during that time.

For one, more than half of the participants had been eliminated already. Then, there were many exciting and breathtaking fights everywhere. The emperor had also shrunk the area three times overall in that time period. Now, all of the participants were getting closer and closer to each other because of that. It was only a matter of time before the strongest participants crossed each other’s path.

“Hm, there are actually many lesser beasts living inside this Divine Phantasm,” Yun Ling said to himself as he easily killed a pack of lesser beasts after leaving what remained of the forest that he had destroyed. Although he had destroyed a majority of the forest with his supreme art, there were still some areas that were not too affected. That was just how big the forest was for it not to be wiped out instantly with Yun Ling’s supreme arts.

After leaving the forest, he started heading back towards the prairie where he was teleported at the start of the stage.

Never did he think he would meet such a very pleasant surprise when he got there.

…

The crown prince was in the prairie after flying on his flying sword for several hours when he had reached the mainland from the island. When he got into the mainland, he had encountered quite a few participants who were wounded from the unintentional tsunami that he had caused in all areas which were dozens of kilometers away from the shore.

It was all too easy defeating them when they were already on that state. It didn’t even require a bit of effort from him to make them retire when he had found them.

He looked behind towards the direction of the island where he had been just several hours ago and saw the huge walls towering over the place. By now, those walls had probably already reached the island. It was a good thing that he had left there. He didn’t really want to be forced to run with the walls behind him.

The crown prince had a slight frown on his face as he thought, ‘I wonder how many participants are left by now…’

He then shrugged those thoughts out of his mind as he headed deeper into the prairie.

…

Yu Shan’s brows were twitching in annoyance.

He had yet to see a participant in the entire seven hours!

He was getting really irritated. All he met were ferocious lesser beasts inside the Divine Phantasm. He hadn’t even seen a single participant yet.

He let out a sigh.

He had started in the middle of the desert and headed north. He had already climbed quite a few mountains in the north and had arrived in a prairie but unfortunately, he still didn’t see anyone. At that point, he was starting to wonder whether everyone had experienced the same as him or not. He really didn’t know.

Yu Shan had no idea that he was the only one who was that unlucky. Or maybe he was lucky if it was in one of the participants’ perspectives. After all, there were quite a lot of participants who didn’t want to meet anyone. If they had to choose when they’d meet other participants, it would be when there were only less than ten participants left so they’d get into the top ten.

On the other hand, Yu Shan disliked his situation a lot even though there were others who wanted nothing but to be in his position. But maybe that was just how the strong think. They weren’t afraid of any challenges. In fact, they welcomed it.

‘Oh well, maybe if the place shrinks one more time, I will finally meet someone,’ he thought hopefully as he continued to the prairie.

…

“He’s finally gone,” Luo Yutong said as he narrowed his eyes at the Yu Shan’s direction who, by now, had already gone far past the horizon.

He and his companions were resting in the mountains after defeating the titan and were also setting up traps in case another participant walked in on them. It was then that he noticed Yu Shan who was heading towards their direction from the desert. Upon noticing him, he quickly ordered his companions to disable and retrieve the traps and also erase their tracks just in case. Furthermore, he also took out some of his treasures that would help mask their presence.

When all those factors were added together, Yu Shan wasn’t able to notice that there were actually more than a dozen participants in the mountains he had just passed!

“There are nineteen of us. Even if he is a supreme genius, we don’t have to be afraid of him,” one of his companions said in dissatisfaction.

Luo Yutong looked at him.

“That’s where you are wrong. Even if our numbers are doubled, it isn’t enough to defeat Yu Shan,” Luo Yutong said with an emotionless tone. “It isn’t time to confront him yet, nor any of the three supreme geniuses. We will only make a move against them after they are done fighting each other. They will be weakened, and that’s our best chance to take them down. After that, we’ll discuss who’ll get the first place among all of us.”

The other participants around him let out a smile.

“That’s a good idea. As expected of the son of the Luo Clan.”

“Of course,” Luo Yutong said before turning his back at them. While his back was facing them, there was a sneer on his face. He knew that these people were scheming against him just as he was also scheming against them. However, when he’d finally get rid of the three supreme geniuses with these fools' help, the first place will certainly be his.

Whatever scheme they might have, he had no doubt he would be the victorious one among them. He had no intention of discussing which one would get the first place since he would get rid of them the next second they defeated the three supreme geniuses.