It was 11 a.m. in the capital, Neo-Britannia. On that sunny day, the skies and ground were buzzing with intense activity. Countless extremely important people were arriving from all over Earth — and even beyond it.

They were leaders and vice-leaders of the biggest clans across the empires, each with their well-known entourages.

There were a lot of reasons for it. The main one? This rookie tournament had a special prize. Something like this had only happened twice before — and nobody alive now had been around for those.

Most likely, the two teams that landed the top spots would have their futures completely changed, turning into major figures for Earth itself.

But even that wasn't quite enough to explain why such high-profile people had shown up in person. After all, the whole thing was being broadcast live across the planet.

The other big reason? The presence of extremely important guests from other planets who had come to watch the tournament.

That had been a massive surprise for everyone on Earth. Sure, invites were always sent to our allies in the galaxy and to powerful friendly planets. Usually, they'd just send some low-ranking representative as a courtesy. But this time…

Planet Aethel — ranked 22 in the universe and the biggest human planet — sent incredibly influential people. At first, no one believed it. But the leader of the planet, along with her daughter and a small delegation, had come in person to watch the tournament.

With her came the leaders of planets Zroot and Arjun from the same galaxy, each bringing their own delegations.

So now, this tournament, which would last a few days, would also include moments between matches for Earth's major figures to socialize and try to build relationships with these visitors. Getting face time with people from Aethel was a once-in-a-lifetime chance — and everyone wanted in.

...

Inside the Shadows of Heaven clan — and honestly, across just about every corner of the New Arcadia Empire — all Humans and High Humans were glued to their screens, excited to watch the rookie tournament.

Everyone had already seen the insane qualifiers. The hype now was unreal. Most were confident that the New Arcadia Empire could finally go toe-to-toe with the second strongest empire on Earth: the Aurora Coalition.

Nobody even mentioned the number one empire — that was straight-up impossible. But taking on number two? That actually felt within reach.

The kids from New Arcadia's top clan were already impressive. But in the qualifiers, they looked straight-up outclassed compared to the raw potential of the Shadows of Heaven crew.

And it wasn't just New Arcadia's people watching. Top figures from other empires had used underworld connections to get all the intel on every qualifier round.

The average folks in other empires didn't have access to that kind of info, so they usually based their opinions on past tournaments to gauge the strength of each empire's youth. And in those past tournaments... New Arcadia had shown embarrassing weakness. They had barely dodged a fourth-place finish.

That trend had been building. Now, the average person from other empires was fully convinced that Earth's third-place spot was about to change for the first time ever. This tournament would go down in history for that reason alone.

By noon, the arena was absolutely packed — over a hundred thousand High Humans. A wild, buzzing energy filled the place.

In the arena's VIP room, the leaders from other planets and their entourages kept their eyes fixed on the center stage.

Irana stood beside Udynes and Barod, chatting casually. After that special mission they went on, they basically saw each other as allies now.

Everyone was eager to see Darian and the twins fight. They were sure those three would steal the show. After the tournament, there would be a celebration — the perfect time for them to finally talk more freely.

Sitting near those top-tier guests were six other figures from Earth, silent and with flawless posture. They were Earth's six emperors.

The only reason they were there in person was because of how powerful the visiting guests were. The sheer amount of influence and firepower in that arena was overwhelming... all to watch a bunch of rookies battle it out?

It didn't take long for a single figure to step calmly into the center of the arena.

A white aura radiated from him, making everyone in the arena fall silent — all eyes instantly locked on him.

That was the kind of power that came from someone with eight rings. Obviously, it was Thomas — one of the most important figures on Earth.

Thomas looked around in every direction and spoke loud and clear: "I'll be the judge and organizer of this Rookie Tournament. It's an honor to meet the young geniuses from across Earth. I represent the Solar Federation Empire and thank all the friends who came from far away to visit our planet."

The crowd broke into loud applause. After a few moments, he went on:

"As you all probably know, this tournament has a slightly special reward. The first and second place teams — ten people in total — will receive the blessing of Heaven's Will!"

Everyone who heard that practically jumped in shock. Finally, after all this time... Earth was getting that again!

This blessing was a gift from Heaven's Will to all planets in the universe, randomly showing up from time to time on one of them. Every planet had already received it more than once. Earth had only gotten it twice before.

No one knew exactly what the blessing really meant, but the old records from those who received it were clear: after getting it, none of them ever died, and every single one reached at least eight rings — a few even made it to nine.

The first time, all ten chosen were from the Solar Federation Empire, which caused a huge uproar with the other empires. The second time, they decided to split it — each empire could send one or two young people, depending on their ranking and potential.

Now, a new format was being used: the tournament would be fought in groups of five. If, in the semifinals, there were two groups from the same empire, they'd fight each other first. In the end, only one group per empire could win.

The others would lose a lot — but last time, it was obvious that a few people who had reached eight rings could have gone to nine, if the selection process had been smarter. Picking candidates out of convenience was hurting Earth.

So, to get the most out of this opportunity, only true talents should be able to win… but they also didn't want one empire taking all the blessings, which was what probably would've happened. That's how this current format was born.

Thomas continued:

"Even though these are team battles, each participant will still have the chance to show their individual strength. At the same time, we'll be able to fairly judge the power level of the new generation."

"The rules for the team matches are basically the same as the previous solo ones. It's elimination style — the group that loses is out. Killing is forbidden, and once all members of one side are unable to fight or surrender, the match ends. As for recovery, the participants can only use their own personal resources and the recovery hall granted to them."

"We'll do a draw to decide the matchups. There are twelve groups in total. In round three, when only three groups are left, if two of them are from the same empire, they'll fight each other first. Then the winner goes to the final. If the last three are from different places, the group with the most members still able to fight will move on. If there's a tie, the group that took less time to win their battles will advance. In the end, two groups will fight for a spot in the final."

Everyone got it. The matches were going to be brutal, and after two fights, one or more people from each team would definitely be out. So, the group with the most standing members really would deserve to move on. And using time as a tiebreaker? Pretty fair.

As for the final match — even if one group had to fight an extra round and ended up at a disadvantage, it didn't matter, since both finalists would get the main prize. That last fight would just be symbolic, a show of which empire held more dominance.

"With everything explained, I now declare the Rookie Tournament… open!" Thomas announced, his voice booming.

A roar exploded across the arena. All around Earth, people cheered, watching with excitement.

"I'll call the empire teams in order of ranking. The participants should step onto the martial stage, where you'll be introduced to the whole planet alongside your teammates! This tournament will go down in history — your names will be remembered for generations!"

"Solar Federation Empire!"

He called out, and two teams of young fighters came out from a tunnel to the stage, welcomed with loud cheers. Their leaders were announced first, followed by the rest of the team.

"Aurora Coalition Empire!"

...

"New Arcadia Empire!"

On the third call… something strange happened.

Only five people walked out onto the stage, all looking tense.

The whole arena — and everyone watching — was stunned.

Thomas introduced Nayara first, then the other four.

Then he flatly stated:

"Unfortunately, there was a serious incident recently. As you can all see, the New Arcadia Empire is down a team. But this won't be a problem. The second group was mostly made up of youths with less than three rings. Whether they participated or not wouldn't have made any real difference in the results."

The message between the lines was loud and clear. No one doubted that the top five winners would come from the Solar Federation Empire. The real fight might happen among the weaker teams, but the chances of the second-place empire, Aurora Coalition, making it to the finals — and easily — were 99%.

The top three empires had never changed since the rankings were created. The gap between the first and second was big — and the gap between the second and third wasn't small either.

In every past tournament, it had become more obvious that New Arcadia was going downhill. With each new event, their teams were weaker and weaker… Celestial Order, ranked fourth, had already been on the same level for a while.

Now, even with two groups, hearing that one of them barely had anyone with three rings… they were probably dropping even lower.

Having only one group didn't seem like it would make any difference. Actually, this gave the fifth and sixth place empires a chance to climb over them and totally humiliate them.

The crowd burst into loud, mocking laughter.

Of course, inside the arena, there were a lot of New Arcadia members present. Those "subtle" words had completely humiliated them. But all they could do was clench their fists, grit their teeth, and swallow the shame in silence.

Until…

"WAIT! Who said we only have one team?!"

Suddenly, a loud voice echoed through the arena.

A lone man stepped out onto the martial stage under everyone's stunned gaze.

And when they met his red eyes…

...they all felt it — a glare burning with deep resentment.

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