Felicia and Erica were warmly welcomed by the crowd. They went across the square along with the Emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire and sat gingerly on thier designated seats. The royals including Edgar and the ministers made thier salutations to Felicia to show thier respect.

The instant Edgar saw Erica, his mind became unsettled.

‘ the Emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire respectfully reached out to invite Felicia.

‘ Felicia nodded.

Then Lena sat down with Erica aside. When chatters and murmurs of the guests simmered down, Priest Dean took a step forward to announce the beginning of the Dragon Birth Festival.

Soon, people sang and danced in the centre of the square in an ecstasy of joy.

‘ the Emperor asked.

‘ Felicia nodded in Erica's direction, sending her a signal.

Responding to the signal given to her, Erica stood up and whistled. Suddenly, a chromatic shadow of phoenix showed up from a wing of the square.

With glittering light, it looked beautiful and sumptuous. Seen from afar, it flew over carryon a few people.

the Emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire asked obviously surprised with the display before him.

The Glint Phoenix was a breed of rare spirit manipulated beasts.

‘ Felicia coolly mentioned, but deep inside she couldn't help but feel smug of what her disciple gained.

Upon hearing Felicia 's words. The Emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire and Priest Dean were astonished.

‘ Emperor praised.

‘ Erica replied, showing neither indication of humble or haughty.

At that point, the Giant Glint Phoenix arrived. The seven figures on the Glint Phoenix came down and bowed on one knee before the Emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire and said in chorus,‘

the Emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire said as he waved his hand.

The members were composed of five women and two men. Glancing over the seven before them, the Emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire and Priest Dean donned a serious expression. They found one of them even has reached the sixth grade of mortal stage, two of them at the fifth grade of mortal stage and the rest four between the third grade and fourth grade.

While on thier end, the best new royal spirit manipulators of the Holy Dragon Empire were just at the fourth grade of mortal stage. The contrast between the two Empires was glaring.

‘ the Emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire applauded, keeping his composure the whole while.

‘ Felicia humbly mentioned.

‘ Priest Dean announced.

‘ Felicia declared.

The Emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire shifted his gaze to Priest Dean as if looking for an answer. Unfortunately, Priest Dean was dumfounded as he was.

‘ the Emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire ordered Priest Dean

Priest Dean nodded immediately and did as he was told.

Not long after, he came to the rest area.

‘ Mia called as she bowed down.

‘ Priest Dean analysed as he locked eyes with Mia, but he still sounded a little inconvenienced.

‘ an arrogant voice came about.

They all turned thier heads, looking for who the owner of the voice was, only to find that it came from Ana who was dozing in the chair aside.

‘ Priest Dean scoffed with cold eyes.

‘ Bear chimed in with Priest Dean.

The other young candidates began murmuring among themselves and laughing at Ana.

When Ana heard Priest Dean and thier laughter, she opened her eyes at once and jumped up from her chair, with an imposing air.

She shot Priest Dean a taunting glance and asked haughtily.

‘

Everyone looked at Ana as if she was a lunatic. Nobody took her words seriously and they thought she was making some ridiculous jokes.

‘ A sharp voice from the rest area interrupted them. Everyone turned to look in the direction of the voice, where a slender women was passing, dressed in a cloak. When she took off the cap, her stunning features left every one in awe.

‘ Ana cried out in surprise. Priest Dean and Mia were surprised as well. They knew well that Marcia was quirky person who didn't like crowded places and rarely showed up at ceremonies.

‘ Priest Dean changed his poker face and tried to fawn on Marcia.

‘ Marcia answered as she looked at Ana .

‘ Priest Dean said.

‘ Marcia replied, her brows knitting with firmness. Then pointing at Ana she said,‘

Ana smiled and shook her head. She knew Marcia said that on purpose, but she couldn't figure out the reason why Marcia wanted her to participate.

Priest Dean said nervously.

‘ Marcia shot a cold glare at Priest Dean, pressuring him.

Beads of sweat broke on Priest Dean's forehead. Now that Marcia insisted that, he had no way to deny Ana's participation. Finally, he agreed,‘ he promised.

Without another word, Marcia turned to Ana with a meaningful smile, before putting on her cap as she left.

Ana looked at Marcia 'sreceeding figure and a smile slowly spread on her lips. A warm sensation suddenly started to spread across her chest .

‘ Mia asked as she glanced at Ana.

‘ Priest Dean nodded and continued,‘ after saying this, he left.

‘ Mia asked. She was worried that Ana might run away during the contest.

But Ana didn't answer. Instead, she only smiled at her casually and headed to the beast stable behind the rest area to check on Ananta.

After Ana left. Mia picked the best six, including Bear and Fiona. All of them were at least grade three of the mortal stage and thier war beasts were atleast two star .

The first round began. The two spirit manipulators from the Holy Dragon Empire and the Magic Phoenix Empire brought thier war beasts along for the match.

After they bowed to eachother, thier war beast charged forward first, to the signal the beginning of the match.

Although both of them were grade three mortal stage, the manipulator from Magic Phoenix Empire was stronger by far. It took him a little over twenty minutes to wrap up the battle. Then he was given to the the second opponent whom he also made short work of.

On and on, in less than two hours, he alone had easily bundled out four opponents from the Holy Dragon Empire.

Right on home turf, with the Emperor himself watching. The Holy Dragon Empire had thier backs against the wall. The defeat was beyond what utterly embarrassing.

It was until Fiona entered the ring that they got some ray of hope. Working with her cloud tiger, Fiona launched a surprise attack that quickly turned the tables, handing the Holy Dragon Empire thier first taste of victory.

But the victory was short lived as Fiona met a worthy opponent in the next round. Fiona lost the match in the end, bringing the total number of loses for the Holy Dragon Empire to five, against only two for the Magic Phoenix Empire.

Next in the line after Fiona, Bear went up amidst wild cheers from all of the Holy Dragon who knew that this was almost thier last ray of hope. Bear was a Ximen one of thier very best of the best. And true, he didn't let them down, as he handed Holy Dragon Empire thier second victory of the day.

They finally saw the chance now. If Bear took down another one, the score would be five to four. That would be better a better way to wrap up the day.

However, thier expectations were crashed, the moment they saw the next opponent. Although Bear was a talented man, his opponent was a class higher. It was ridiculous to expect another victory for Holy Dragon Empire.

Six to three, Holy Dragon Empire was again exposed, unless something drastic happened. And so they once more rallied all thier support for the next and last candidate.

Logically speaking, thier last player was suppose to be the strongest. They might stand a chance. However, thier jaws dropped when they saw a gurl, strutting to the ring without her war beast.

It was Ana, who joined the contest purely on Marcia 's insistence.

A/n: ARE YOU READY?!!!

Let the game begin!!!(｡•̀ᴗ-)✧.