"You still dare lie to me?" his opponent shouted, furious to the core. She struck her palms together.
Water arrows materialized from the phoenix spiritual power, which was specialized in water, and shot
straight at Rocky. The moment she made her move, she felt something wrong as she sensed
something fall from her waist.
Every onlooker began cheering and breaking out in boisterous chatter as they saw her trousers fall,
revealing her beautiful legs. This competition was certainly quite memorable, and they were glad to
have witnessed it.
She seemed to have realized this after hearing the obscene comments from the spectators. She looked
down and realized that her trousers had fallen to the ground. She immediately lost her composure and
screamed. She grabbed her pants and left the stage in a hurry, apparently forgetting that she was
competing with Rocky.
Rocky had used the Deity Finger that blasted her belt to pieces as their spiritual power battled. He
knew this was not a fair way to treat a lady, yet it was the simplest way to win this game.
Rocky, to everyone's shock, had defeated two phoenix spirit manipulators and regained the advantage
to some degree with a score of six to five.
This brought some hope to the Dragon Empire's team, who had long been convinced of their defeat. It
was an unpredictable and bizarre win as the opponent had merely run away, thereby forfeiting to them.
The Holy Dragon Empire team began to regain the hope that they could actually win this.
However, they were rather worried. After all, Rocky's last two wins had been out of pure luck and now
his next opponent was also a phoenix spirit manipulator at the fifth grade of Mortal Stage. No one
believed that Rocky could possibly win this round.
Just as they had thought that Rocky already reached his limit, he once again shocked everyone by
bringing his strength to the fifth grade of the Mortal Stage and winning the competition.
The extraordinary change and improvement demonstrated on Rocky were quite amazing, and they
were all searching for a possible explanation behind it. It dawned on them that it must have something
to do with the Holy Dragon Bead.
It was widespread knowledge that Rocky had been removed as a prince for fusing with the Holy
Dragon Bead. And the fact that he hadn't even made to the first grade of the Mortal Stage after the
fusion was a subject of ridicule.
So his winning streak now was nothing short of a miracle, and what seemed to have made it possible
was the Holy Dragon Bead.
After these shocking events, everyone was growing accustomed to Rocky's powerful magic. They were
expecting more and more. Their anticipation grew with the speculation of the cause behind his
improvement. With the power of the Holy Dragon Bead, Rocky should have been at the fifth grade of
the Mortal Stage at the fusion. But he had been so weak at the time that he didn't have the strength to
do anything.
Now he had just proven himself as much more than the weak, pathetic boy they had all sneered at. But
with this, their expectations of him grew as well. For they believed that with the power of the Holy
Dragon Bead, anything could happen.
Now everyone, including officials and spirit manipulators who had once looked down on him, was
thinking the same thing. They seemed to have acknowledged that Rocky was no longer that inutile
prince. He was a rising star of the Holy Dragon Empire!
"The fifth grade of the Mortal Stage! It looks like Basil has really acquired the power from the Holy
Dragon Bead. Your Majesty, do you still remember what we discussed before?" Lena had regained her
calm composure after the initial bout of excitement from seeing Rocky, but she was still very proud of
Rocky deep down. Something more important came to her mind, which was the thing she discussed
with the emperor after Rocky had been removed as a prince.
"The Holy Dragon Bead..." Lena had forgotten about the presence of Felicia, who immediately turned
to the emperor and asked, wide-eyed, "Your Majesty, I believe you own me an explanation."
The emperor looked a little unsettled, yet he maintained his composure. "Well... We didn't mean to
keep this from you. The royal spirit manipulator on that stage is the one that fused with the Holy Dragon
Bead."
"Your Majesty..." Priest Dean frowned as he never thought that the emperor would admit that Rocky
was the royal spirit manipulator that fused with the Holy Dragon Bead.
"It must be him. No wonder he could make such an impressive breakthrough in such a short time
frame. However, he is only at the fifth grade of the Mortal Stage. There are still two members left in our
team, one of whom is already at the sixth grade of the Mortal Stage now. So victory will still belong to
our Magic Phoenix Empire!" Erica proclaimed with some arrogance, speaking as if they had already
won the competition.
"Why did Priest Dean deny it then?" Felicia still hung on to this and questioned them with a little hint of
anger in her voice.
"Priest Dean denied it out for the protection of our Holy Dragon Empire. Because that spirit manipulator
has another identity... He's... my son." The emperor paused for a second before he revealed this
shocking truth. His voice was low and bitter.
Priest Dean and Prince Alston, as well as all the other officials who heard this, were all extremely
shocked. The moment Basil had been abolished as a prince, he was officially no longer part of the
royal family. Yet the emperor admitted in front of Felicia, who was the imperial preceptor of the Magic
Phoenix Empire that this young man was his son. This was really out of the place given the
circumstances. After all, at this level, anything that the emperor said must be real. If not, he would
make it real himself.
Lena was the only one who remained calm among them. She was the only one who knew the true
reason why the emperor had revealed it to everyone. Months ago, right after Basil had fused with the
Bead, the emperor had told Lena that if his son could somehow manage to improve his power, he
would make an exception and restore his position as a prince again.
The real reason for the emperor's decision to remove his son from princedom was to fend off unwanted
attention. After all, it was a big deal to have successfully fused with the Holy Dragon Bead.
"So not only he is the royal spirit manipulator who fused with the Holy Dragon Bead, but he is also the
son of Your Majesty? I heard that after the Holy Dragon Bead had been declared as the holy treasure
of the Holy Dragon Empire, the emperor at the time announced that whoever in his royal family could
fuse with the Holy Dragon Bead would be his successor to lead the Holy Dragon Empire. In this case,
no wonder you are trying deliberately to hide his identity..." Felicia finally put two and two together.
The emperor was silent in response. It had long been known that Alston was predetermined to become
his successor. What Felicia said was absolutely right. At the time when the Holy Dragon Bead was
declared as the holy treasure, the emperor had indeed proclaimed that whomever in his family would
be his successor if he or she could successfully fuse with the Holy Dragon Bead. It was understandable
now why the emperor had concealed the truth.
Felicia's words stirred up some outbursts among the officials and royal family members, who
immediately started to discuss among themselves. The selection of the next emperor determined their
life to some degree. They were all concerned about what it could mean for them.
Even Alston, who had always shown restraint, could no longer hold back. Looking absolutely
flabbergasted, he stood up as if he was about to protest before Priest Dean stopped him and
whispered something into his ears to calm him down. If not for Priest Dean, he would have certainly
stepped beyond his boundaries.
At this moment, Rocky's next opponent came onto the stage. He was also at the fifth grade of the
Mortal Stage yet more powerful than the last. Rocky frowned. The trick he had used last time probably
wouldn't work on this fellow.
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