Yun Ling clapped his hands when the emperor finished his speech. He looked at his daughter in the Yun Clan’s reserved seats and smiled.

The emperor’s words were etched deeply into his mind. He had failed to be Yun Xia’s father for five years already. Although it wasn’t related to the Golden Dragon Election, he wasn’t going to let the same thing that happened to Yun Xia happen anymore. He was going to fix his mistakes and become a good father to her, the best one there would ever be.

“The next stage will be the fifth and the final stage of the Golden Dragon Election. Before we start, let me explain the rules to you all. If you have any questions, feel free to raise your hand,” Da Peng said as he directed his gaze towards the participants. “The final stage will be a battle royale.”

Yun Yi and the fourth prince’s eyes glinted upon hearing that. They exchanged a brief look with each other before they turned their attention back to Da Peng.

Even though there were a lot of changes in the Golden Dragon Election this year, it would seem that the final stage was still the same. It was a battle royale. Earlier, Yun Yi was a bit worried that wouldn’t be the case in this Golden Dragon Election but after Da Peng said that, he could finally rest assured a bit. Now, he could only hope that the next stage would be a place surrounded by nature so he would have an enormous advantage among the others with the nature spirit on his side.

“56 of you will be sent into random areas in one of the previous emperor’s Divine Phantasm. That Divine Phantasm has a special characteristic that makes the place shrink every few hours. There are no time limits in this stage, however, the stage will be finished when there is only one man standing.”

“I have a question,” one of the remaining 56 participants said as he raised his hand.

Da Peng looked at him and said, “Ask away.”

Taking that as a cue, the participant proceeded to ask him a question, “You said that there are no time limits… but isn’t the place shrinking every few hours considered a time limit? How much does it shrink? When exactly will it shrink? Can you provide an exact time for that?”

Da Peng nodded his head at the participant’s question. He then gave him an answer after the participant was done asking, “Ah, that depends entirely on His Majesty. If no fights are happening even after a while, His Majesty will shrink the area so the other participants will have more chances to meet each other. As for how much His Majesty shrinks, that also depends entirely on him. But this isn’t really considered a time limit. His Majesty will keep shrinking the place until the last two participants fight each other. When they do, then there is no longer a need for shrinking the place.”

That participant was satisfied with that answer. Basically, the shrinking of the Divine Phantasm was a way to ensure that the participants would inevitably meet each other in the final stage. If the emperor wouldn’t shrink the place, then there was a good chance that the participants would have a hard time finding other participants inside the Divine Phantasm.

“One more thing,” Da Peng added. “Once you are rendered unable to fight, you will be teleported back to this place in consideration for your safety. The final stage will continue until everyone but one person is teleported back in the coliseum. The last man standing inside the Divine Phantasm will thus be the winner.”

The three supreme geniuses exchanged looks between each other as they let out a smile.

Three different people, different upbringings, different abilities, and different mindsets yet all of them were thinking of the same thing:

‘I will win.’

Yun Ling then looked at Yun Yi who also looked back at him.

Luo Yutong frowned as he set his gaze on Yun Ling. That guy didn’t even spare him a glance since the beginning of the Golden Dragon Election. Was he really that insignificant to Yun Ling? That he was someone not even worth looking at? Did he already forget that they still have some things to settle in this competition? As he thought of that, he grew frustrated and angry at Yun Ling.

How hateful.

A giant number had suddenly appeared in the sky. It was the same sight that they all saw before the first stage started.

“Everyone, once the numbers hit zero, all of you will be teleported in random locations inside the final stage’s Divine Phantasm. Brace yourselves!” Da Peng said.

When he was done speaking, the number slowly decreased by one each second as the audiences counted along.

“10!”

“9!”

“8!”

“7!”

“6!”

“5!”

“4!”

“3!”

“2!”

“1!”

“0!”

“Let the final stage begin!”

…

Yun Ling found himself in the middle of the prairie with grass everywhere around him. Far in the distance at the south, he could make out some mountains that he estimated were just as big as the mountains in the Thousand Mountain Valley, although far less in numbers, and a dense forest north from him.

Seeing this, he couldn’t help but smile as he remembered his cousin, Yun Yi.

Yun Yi had managed to gain an incredibly huge advantage in this stage for he had the nature spirit in his side. With the nature spirit’s ability which he had displayed in the second stage, he would be able to locate where everyone was in this place with little to no trouble at all.

‘That was a good move on his part,’ Yun Ling thought to himself, impressed at Yun Yi’s insight. Though that wasn’t really surprising for he knew how brilliant Yun Yi was. He wouldn’t have accepted him as his aide if he wasn’t this good even if he got to his knees and begged him.

Contrary to what others thought he would do after getting into the final stage, Yun Ling simply laid down on the grass as he enjoyed the breeze and the sunlight in the place, making the audience both inside and outside the coliseum gawk at him.

However, though he might have looked like he was merely relaxing, there was no doubt that he was taking this stage seriously.

‘Well, I’m waiting for you right here, Yun Yi. Come here soon or else I might come to find you myself.’