Wang Teng looked over; he had long noticed the young figures standing at the side. All the young warriors had peak-celestial cultivation, and their auras were strong. They gave off a sleek and unyielding aura, setting them apart from normal celestials.

He too had sensed they had been looking at him ever since he entered. They seemed curious about him.

“Colonel Wang Teng, I’ve heard a lot about you,” said a muscular young man who stepped forward and saluted. “I’m major Song Yicheng from Defense Planet No.35.”

“I’m major Hong Jinghou from Defense Planet No.38,” added another young warrior.

“I’m major Lu Jing from Defense Planet No.63,” said a slightly dark and ordinary-looking lady in braids.

…

The six participants from the military took turns to introduce themselves. The other three were called Ma Nan, Attlee, and Fang Tianrui. They hailed from different defense planets; all of them also majors with peak celestial cultivation.

Wang Teng was the only colonel among them.

It wasn’t strange. His rank promotions were all thanks to his great military exploits.

Climbing ranks in the empire’s military was not an easy task.

Those talents were all young. Having a major title was outstanding enough.

Of course, there weren’t the only military warriors joining the competition. They had been summoned because they were the strongest among the whole batch.

General Fu Xinglan waved a hand and said, “All right, since everyone’s here, you can head to the waiting area. The competition is about to start.”

Wang Teng felt a little embarrassed when he heard this. He was the last to arrive!

He kept quiet, leaving the room with the other six talents after saluting.

The three generals stared at their backs as they left. General Fu Xinglan said, “I hope our military can bask in the limelight this time!”

“Song Yicheng and the rest might have a chance to get into the top 100,” General Habakkuk said. After a short pause, she continued, “as for Wang Teng, I can’t really tell.”

“You’re not the only one. I can’t tell, either. I feel that his aura has become more powerful. He must be using some secret method to hide his real level,” General Fu Xinglan said.

General Habakkuk made an astonishing remark, “He might be able to go head to head with the crown prince.” He felt that the young hero could compete.

“You’ve only met him once, yet you already have such high hopes in him,” General Fu Xinglan exclaimed.

“I’m good at judging people, hahaha.” General Habakkuk laughed.

“Your judgment is only 1% accurate,” said General Tang Wuwei in a monotone voice.

General Habakkuk choked. Then, he flared up in embarrassment. “Bulls**t, it’s at least 2%.”

General Fu Xinglan: …

Wang Teng and the other youths walked out of the room and the metal door closed.

“Wang Teng, those two eternal stage warriors hold high positions in the military!” Round Ball was extremely excited.

It had stayed put, not daring to open its mouth while being in the present of those mighty experts.

It blurted everything out the moment they left the room.

“Have you heard of them?” Wang Teng asked curiously, the dialog taking place in his mind.

“Of course. Both are legends in the whole universe, their fame resounds all over. You can easily find information about them.” Round Ball sighed a little. “However, that was before they became eternal stage warriors. No other information is available from the moment they advanced.”

The little one sent the related information to Wang Teng.

The young man browsed through the data, and was taken aback by it. Every eternal stage warrior was an extraordinary presence.

“Colonel Wang Teng, majors, please follow me.” Maxwell’s voice pulled Wang Teng back to reality.

The man had been waiting outside for some time. Once the military candidates got out, he took them out of the battle fortress and went back to outer space.

“I’ll stop here. I wish everyone success and hope all of you achieve good rankings,” said Maxwell and saluted.

“Thank you!” Wang Teng saluted in return.

Song Yicheng and the others did the same.

All of them turned into rays of light as they flew towards the participants’ waiting area.

Wang Teng then learned that the three circular landmasses were being used for that.

To think the empire would create those grand expanses of land just to be used as the competition’s waiting area. It was absurd.

However, it was understandable. There were more than a million candidates; no other place could hold that many people.

Of course, the audience surpassed that number by far.

There were eighteen giant satellites outside the Battle Planet; any of them was bigger than planet earth. They were being used as the viewing areas.

If not for the fact that the Battle Planet was large enough and had enough satellites, it would have been impossible to accommodate that many people.

Wang Teng and the other candidates from the military arrived smoothly to the area right above the three land masses. A person from the staff went to greet them.

“You’re assigned to Ring 1,” said the assistant while glancing curiously at Wang Teng.

The three rings were different.

Ring 1 was considered the VIP zone.

The talents from the eight dukedoms, the princes, and the crown prince himself were all in Ring 1.

Being talents of the military, Wang Teng and the other youths had the right to enter that ring.

Actually, Wang Teng didn’t care about all of that.

The young hero’s group were led by the staff member and entered the ring.

Once they landed, Wang Teng sized up his surroundings and saw that the floor was made of celestites. The path seemed endless.

That was probably the case for the entire piece of land.

People sat cross-legged on the celestites. Some rested while others conversed. A few were roaming around the place.

Wang Teng’s arrival attracted many eyes. The talents from the eight dukedoms and the princes stared at him.

The arrangement seemed intentional; our hero appeared right where the most popular candidates were staying.

Wang Teng looked around. Aside from the talents from the big families and the princes of the empire, there were also many powerful talents from who-knows-which faction.

For instance, there was a young man in gray robes sitting cross-legged on the ground, a few hundred meters to Wang Teng’s left. He had a long sword on his knees, but his aura was like a sheathed sword. He looked ordinary and inconspicuous, so no one noticed his real power.

Different talents were present, and all of them were powerful. It wasn’t easy to gauge their strength, but they were definitely superior to average talents.

Wang Teng felt excited. How many attribute bubbles will there be, having that many talents around?

He would have many attribute bubbles to collect during the competition!

While reveling in his happy thoughts, he suddenly realized there were a few gazes aimed at him, filled with malice. He smiled. His appearance must have ignited their competitive edge. That was why they didn’t like him.

He didn’t take it to heart. He ignored their looks and took out a table set to sit down comfortably. He even took out a large parasol carved with runes, stabilizing it next to his seat.

The climate on that Battle Planet was harsh, since it received heat from three stars. The local temperature was astonishing.

He wasn’t afraid of the heat, but he didn’t want to endure it if he had the choice.

He sat down and took out a can of ice cola to drink it casually.

Song Yicheng and the others: …

Everyone: …

The atmosphere turned awkward.

“Oh, I forgot about you guys. Come, sit with me to rest,” said Wang Teng to Song Yicheng and the others when he saw them standing there absentmindedly.

Song Yicheng had noticed the dirty looks from the other competitors, so he wanted to reject the offer. “Erm… it’s all right.”

“Don’t stand on ceremony; we’re from the same family. Come, have a drink to cool down.” Wang Teng pulled them over.

His teammates couldn’t counter his enthusiasm, so they sat down with some hesitation, amid everyone’s gazes. They felt extremely uncomfortable.