The Supreme God of Martial Arts novel Chapter 414

Finally, the number of candidates for the Mysterious Nether World challenge was down to 50.

The ultimate round of the Outstanding Talents Exchange Games was said to be the most nerve-racking of all. The Games was supposed to crown the top three cultivators in the Empire, making the competition highly aggressive. Plus, with Emperor Arthur pinning the prize at an exorbitant amount of money, weaponry, formulas, servants and houses, all sorts of cultivators were tempted to go all out. Once, you became the top three, life would mean a dream as Emperor Arthur recognizes the trio as honorary princes.

And yet this dream meant risking it all, including their lives. Getting into battle could lead to a crippling injury or even death. Which is why only the best and most confident young cultivators signed up for the round. After all, it made sense to bet on a horse that was destined to win.

Finally, only seven out of the 50 shortlisted candidates signed up for the final round.

43 of the candidates stopped fighting willingly. They were more than happy to be a part of the Mysterious Nether World team and keep it at just that. To aim for a spot in the top three could mean losing out on an advantage that they already had.

For the ten princes rooting for their respective formations, the outcome had been neither exhilarating nor disappointing. For a few princes, seven or eight of their cultivators had reached the top 50 positions while some princes had only two or three fighters in the illustrious ranks of combatants. "Gee?

Tin, will you fight the final round? Do you think you have it in you to be one of the top three?"

As Dewey put the question to Austin, he heard his friend's name being announced as one of the seven participants for the final round. His jaw dropped. Austin had already registered!

"Well, Tin indeed you are qualified to fight in the last round. I am glad you are one of the seven. But, I'll be honest with you, somehow I didn't see this coming at all," said Dewey. The fact was that Austin stood a few meters too many from Dewey, which is why he couldn't hear most of what Dewey was saying. And yet Dewey's judgment of Austin's abilities was on point and always had been from the start. He was a man of rational judgment and knew how to gauge any cultivator's ranking. But somehow with Austin, he had fallen short in his understanding by quite a margin.

"I too had an intuition that Austin will shock us as a fighter for the top three spots," said Maria, looking at Austin thoughtfully.

Besides Austin, Dewey, Maria and Philip had also ranked in the top 50 and they were now members of the Mysterious Nether World team. So in all, there were four people from Prince Reuben's team who had earned their place in the Mysterious Nether World.

After inwardly struggling for a long time, Philip had decided to give up the thought of joining the ultimate round. It was impossible for him to be one of the top three. He knew that. In fact, he thought that Austin too wouldn't make it.

So he snorted in contempt at Austin and walked away.

Eventually, all seven participants assembled at the left of the old eunuch.

Besides Austin, the other six cultivators were Leo from the Peripatetic Sect, Garret from the Flaming Sun Valley, Caden from the Bloody Hero Gang, Danny from the Joy Gang, Wilson from the Blood Wolf Team and a 16-year-old young man who was as white as jade and more beautiful than a damsel in a dream.

All seven cultivators had delivered fine performances in the past combats. After beating several powerful rivals, their prowess was proven in front of everyone.

Though, there were two dark horses in this round—Austin and the beautiful young man. The other five people were well-known in the Violet Orchid Empire as exemplary cultivators anyway.

"Alright, everyone. You seven will be fighting each other in the final round of the Exchange Games.

With only three spots, you will continue to eliminate your randomly assigned opponent through single elimination.`

Now let the games begin!"

Boomed the old eunuch's voice across the arena.

In a wink.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh… There were flashes.

And six cultivators teleported to the battle rings. As it happened in a flash, the audience squinted to see who was fighting and who…

'Gee?

I enjoy first-round byes?'

Austin stood still realizing that he was the only one left as the other six disappeared. Soon, he saw them in the battle rings.

As an odd number of seven, three pairs fought while one was left. In this case it was Austin who was left alone. He was rather grateful for that.

For he could use this opportunity to watch the combats and assess each combatant's strategies and skills.