"Of course I think the disciples of my sect are going to win."

Arthur answered with absolute confidence as his gaze rested on the six youths standing next to each other.

"What about you?"-Arthur

In response to the parasite, Isadore chuckled and agreed by saying

"I'm the same."

"Quit screwing around, I know that you don't mean that."

Hearing Arthur's vulgar and rude words, Isadore laughed and corrected himself,

"Alright you got me! Although I sent a team of my own, I genuinely think it's either the Buddha Sect Team, the Demonic Team, or the Siren Kingdom team that will win."

As he mentioned these three teams, Arthur gazed at the first one of them. A team of 5 cultivators, all were males and bald, their ages ranging from 50 to 80.

By the way, the maximum age for participating is 100, which is considered young for the long-time cultivators. Although, previously, the buddha sect had grievances with Arthur and even banished him to Oblivious, which was, in fact, Riarravar, they didn't come here this time to cause trouble.

Not only did they publicly apologize to the couple, they also brought compensation in the form of spirit stones and a few rare artifacts. The one in charge of their team was, unsurprisingly, a monk, and an old one at that.

He was at the Exalted God Realm, he had average appearance and wasn't that talkative. Actually, even when the tournament was beginning, he was sitting in a corner, cross-legged, praying to Buddha.

The second team, called the Demonic Team, hails from the Demon Realm in the other universe. There's no restriction to join the tournament and your background does not matter so demons and devils were allowed, despite their enmity with many other races, such as the angels, for example.

The demonic only had two participants, just like the Holy Dominion. Both were girls, they had long black hair and an exceptional beauty. Arthur appraised them and the results were fascinating, nevertheless, they weren't the strongest out of the bunch.

Last but not least, the Siren Kingdom Team, which was composed of 9 mermaids that had the lower body of a fish, which was currently not visible as they used a specially crafted elixir to grant them temporary lower limbs. It came as a side-effect but it'll bring less disgust from the public, which was discriminating against races that looked different than humans. After all, the most common race in Cloud Sea is humans.

The nine pretty mermaids were the main focus of the young cheering crowd. They weren't arrogant or cold as they reciprocated by waving their hands and smiling at the spectators.

In addition to these three teams, Arthur's team, Isadore's team, and High Cardinal Patrick's team, there were 6 other teams, each composed of exceptional individuals that were the top of their sect, clan, organization, etc…

"Hey! Are you here?!"

Only when Isadore rudely waved his hand in front of Arthur's face did the latter snap out of his daze and frown at the king, who was behaving childish, totally unbecoming of a supreme ruler.

*****

"This place is heavily fortified…"

A woman sitting right next to the High Cardinal, commented as she gazed at the golden shields surrounding the massive plateau along with the city. There was also the barely visible shadow of a black dragon staring down at them.

"..."

Cardinal Patrick also glanced at the formation but didn't speak, feeling uncomfortable and slightly pressured. He was a peak Overgod and didn't come here to cause trouble, nevertheless, he was instinctively disgusted by the lurking dragon made of dense Dark Magic. He was a devout believer of Sedos and anything that defies light is nemesis to him so it's natural that Dark Magic would affect him.

It wasn't threatening to a dangerous degree but the formation laid by Arthur will definitely weaken the two youths he brought.

"I hope he doesn't attack us."

The woman rubbed her arms together as she got the chills after glancing at Arthur and Lucy.

****

"So they are the infamous couple! Hmpf!"

The sect leader of the Dark Blaze Sect, ruler of the Dark Blaze Realm, snorted as he glared at the parasite and his wife. He was unhappy that his top disciples suddenly fled without any warning and wanted to forcefully bring them back.

Even when facing what he deemed as enemies, the middle-aged sect leader didn't feel oppressed and behaved arrogantly. He was also an Exalted God and both elders that came with him were in the same cultivation realm, making them one of the strongest groups present here.

"S-sect leader… we should not do anything for now."

One of the elders was feeling apprehensive and didn't want to cause trouble so soon. They brought a good team with them but the probability of them winning was honestly low, or so he thought.

Not only Arthur and Lucy were individually terrifying, they were backed by King Isadore and also the Kang Clan. Trying to provoke them will only lead to misfortune.

****

"Hahaha pardon my lateness."

The old man that came with Kang Amidel, sat next to Isadore and coughed while apologizing to the hosts of the tournament. He was a kind old man and showcased his goodwill in several ways.

It's the first time Arthur saw him, though Lucy did speak of him. The Kang Clan were supporting the MoonStar sect and did their best to promote this tournament to further increase the influence of MoonStar.

"It's alright. A please to meet you, Elder Nord."

Arthur politely greeted the elder and kindly waved for him to sit.

"What do you think?"

Lucy telepathically spoke to Arthur seconds after Nord's arrival.

"He's strong… stronger than the rest. I do agree that his arrival here is not just for the tournament."

"On several occasions, he wanted to privately talk to me concerning a sensitive matter but I declined. I thought that we should both be present to hear what he has to say."

"Sure, we'll do it after the tournament."

After a brief silence, Lucy spoke again, "Arthur, don't you think the stance of the Kang Clan is suspicious?"

"It definitely is. They are supporting us a lot… even if it's because of Astria, it's still strange."

"Could they be plotting something? Maybe we should take precautions."-Lucy

"Oh, don't worry about that. I already prepared myself for the worst scenario. In anycase, no one can wreak havoc here, not with you and I here and the formations in place."