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“By the way, there’s something that puzzles me, Master Lilith.”
“What is it?”

“Considering you’re a dragon, what led you to participate in this year’s Martial God Tournament?” Luna asked while pulling on her black stockings and tilting her head in confusion.

“The prizes at the end of the tournament are undoubtedly generous, but I assume they don’t hold that much allure for you, Master Lilith, do they?” she continued asking.

“You’re right, I didn’t come here for the prizes.”

Observing that Luna was almost done dressing herself, Lilith stood up, dusted off her skirt, and gazed into the white nothingness. Her delicate face revealed neither joy nor sorrow.

“I received an invitation, so I decided to attend.”
“An invitation? From friends… No, not friends, I presume.”

Although invitations were typically extended between friends, Luna perceived no joy in Lilith’s eyes. Instead, there seemed to be a deep-seated rage and murderous intention concealed beneath her calm exterior.

She appeared more menacing than when her fists were stained with blood just moments ago.

“Let’s go. The matches will commence soon. Sleep is not an option tonight. Let’s make some preparations first.” Lilith waved at nothing and said, “You can deactivate the little world now, Cornelia.”

“Eeyah~”

Little Cornelia’s reluctant voice echoed in the void. As water-like ripples emanated from the edge of the continent, Lilith felt the entire world momentarily enter a trance. When she snapped back to reality, she found herself back in the room.

Outside the window, a shimmering light slowly ascended from the horizon, dispelling the darkness that had enveloped the world throughout the night.

Dawn had arrived.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Is it about to start?”
“Yes, Mr. Dowd.”
“Where’s my script?”
“Here it is.”

The staff jogged over and handed a stack of scripts to Dowd, who quickly skimmed through them. Realizing that they were even thicker than in previous years, he could not help but let out a long sigh.

“More sponsors this year? This is getting tough for the hosts. I think I’ll literally get tongue-tied from reading this.”
“Haha. The scale of the Great Celestial Rite is getting bigger and bigger. It’s impossible for all the funds to come solely from the imperial family.”

Third Divine Elder Grez stroked his beard, smiling, “His Majesty the Emperor also has a bunch of children to support. He still hasn’t gotten over the incident from two days ago until now.”

The incident Elder Grez was referring to was none other than the mass poisoning case.

Although the poor eighth prince was made a scapegoat in the end and obligated to pay compensation with his monthly allowance, the victims numbered tens of thousands. Some of them were supported by influential forces.

In order to appease those forces, the Emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire had to pay a heavy price.

The Emperor intended to punish Princess Estelle, the “culprit” of this incident, but the Princess was in Lord Taylor’s mansion for training, leaving the Emperor with no choice but to find a new person to vent his anger.

As for who to find…

He already had a person in mind. Who else could it be but his dear eighth prince, the ready-made scapegoat?

There were rumors that blood curdling screams were heard coming from the eighth prince’s mansion night after night, and the belts in Jeorgetown City had somehow gotten more expensive these days.

“Well, I dare not speak too much about the affairs of the imperial family,” Elder Grez said with a sigh.

Dowd only chuckled politely then quickly changed the subject by asking, “Will there be any unforeseen occurrences at today’s opening ceremony that warrant your presence, Third Divine Elder?”

Grez shook his head and said, “No, the preparation for the opening ceremony went very smoothly.”

He could hear the clamor outside. It was an indication that the Holy Dragon Emperor’s imperial arena which could accommodate two hundred thousand people was already open.

The audience with special tickets were entering in an orderly manner, and the palace band was performing in the center of the arena.

Everything was in order and on schedule.

“I’m here just in case. If something goes wrong again like what happened that day, it will be a disgrace for the Holy Dragon Emperor.”

“That is a very wise move, Third Divine Elder.” Dowd smiled, flattering the old man before taking his leave.

A series of explosions was heard outside. That was the special fireworks for the opening ceremony. Even in the daylight, they looked spectacular.

This signaled Dowd’s turn to go on stage. After the fireworks, the Martial God Tournament would officially commence.

Dowd shook the heavy stack of scripts in his hand, still feeling a headache. The Great Celestial Rite, a large-scale event lasting over half a month, boasted over a million participants with numerous activities with the Martial God Tournament being the most popular program.

With such a large audience, sponsors typically vied for attention very early on.

However, this year was strange. The sponsors were only finalized just before the start of the tournament. Due to this, he was not able to read through and memorize the script in his hands in advance.

Dowd would have to rely on his professional experience as a host to deliver a spontaneous performance.

“Forget it. I’ll go with the flow.”

Dowd shook his head, clearing the negative thoughts, and walked toward the host room.

The host room was not open yet, but someone was already seated inside.

Dowd was not surprised. The Great Celestial Rite had a guest of honor every year. The guest this year, however, was shrouded in mystery. Dowd had only been provided with basic details like her name and gender.

“You must be Miss Fenice, right?”

Dowd’s gaze quickly swept over her beautiful face. Slightly stunned but maintaining politeness, he averted his eyes and smiled, introducing himself, “I’m Dowd, the host of this event.”

“Nice to meet you.”

The beauty nodded, her smile carrying a motherly glow.

“The guest of honor this time seemed to be very reliable,” Dowd thought to himself as he sat down next to Fenice in delight and flipped through the script in his hand.

The first page of the script was not the opening speech and lengthy sponsor advertisements. Instead, it was the introduction of the guest of honor, Fenice, with some basic information for Dowd to present.

“Fenice, female, twenty-four years and three months and ██ days old. Also serves as the president of the Continental Dragon Dark Cuisine Research Association, director of the Continental Dragon Unemployment Assistance Center, Honorary Physician of the Continental Abnormal Dragons Research Center, and vice president of the Continental Dragon Vocational and Technical College…”

Looking at this long list of resumes, Dowd was left dumbfounded.

Is this even the profile of a human? What’s with this long list of titles? What about that strange age? The blacked-out part seemed to reveal a very scary number!

And dragon—? How dare she use the holy dragons as her organization names? Is she not afraid of being thrown bricks by dragon fanatics when she is out at night?

What’s even more outrageous is the Abnormal Dragons Research Center. It’s probably a research institution for subdragon species. How dare she claim that position? What if the rightful owner exposes her?

“Something wrong?”

The refined woman with a long list of titles looked at Dowd, whose forehead was beaded with cold sweat.

With a concerned look on her face, she continued asking, “Are you feeling unwell?”

“N-No, I’m fine…!”

Dowd took out a handkerchief and wiped his cold sweat, waving his hand to indicate that he was fine before focusing on the script once again.