Chapter 0402: The Race for First Place

Huang Hai is actually a Soul Master?!
Not only the gods of the surrounding mountains and families like the Terrence family, but even everyone from the Runing family, including Kennedy and Donald on the Forgotten Platform, were surprised.
Especially Herbert, the head of the Terrence family, who had just mocked Adriel, the head of the Demos family, looked uneasy. He had clearly said that it wouldn’t be difficult for Decheng to defeat Huang Hai.
But now?
Decheng lay motionless on the competition platform for a long time!
The outcome of the match seemed settled.
Bishop stood on the Forgotten Platform, frowning at the figure standing there.
“Head Kennedy, this is really unexpected. I didn’t expect Huang Hai from your Runing family to be a Soul Master as well,” said Adriel, the head of the Demos family, with a dry laugh.
“There are many unexpected things in this world, Head Herbert. Don’t you think?” Kennedy said calmly before turning to Herbert with a question.
His words implied that Herbert had just said in front of him that Huang Hai would be defeated by Decheng.
Herbert was stunned and smiled awkwardly. “Head Kennedy is right.”
Thus, Huang Long once again surprisingly defeated his opponent and won the match.
Not long after Huang Long’s match, it was Chester’s turn. His opponent was a member of the Gibran family named Sid.
Having fought his way through competition for 300 spots, Chester had been quite lucky. With Huang Long’s help, he had made it into the top 300. But now, it seemed his luck had run out, as Sid was one of the strongest among all the Gibran family contestants this time.
Sure enough, in the end, even with Huang Long’s “Divine Artifact” formation, Chester was still defeated by Sid from the Gibran family. Though it wasn’t as disastrous as his defeat at the hands of Augus from the Terrence family, he came off the platform covered in dirt and dust.
Chester stepped down from the platform and saw Huang Long and Fat Francis, giving them a wry smile.
Although he had expected such an outcome, facing the reality of defeat still filled him with resentment and helplessness.
“Brother Chester, don’t be so downhearted. It’s just a ranking—first place and 300th place really don’t matter much. Once you get to the Land of Forgetfulness, who knows? You might even find the Sacred Fruit of Heaven and the Nether Pearl,” said Fat Francis.

Indeed, as Fat Guy said, first, being transported to the center of the Land of Forgetfulness only increases the chances of obtaining the Sacred Fruit of Heaven and Earth and the Abyssal Pearl—it doesn’t guarantee success. And even the 300th place might still allow one to find them; such exceptions have occurred in past competitions in the Land of Forgetfulness. Of course, the probability of such exceptions happening is very low. After hearing Fat Guy’s words, Chester’s expression improved significantly. Yellow Dragon spoke up, “Let’s go back.” Just as the three of them were about to leave the competition site, suddenly, several people came toward them—It was Sid, who had just defeated Chester, accompanied by a few members of the Gibran family who also made it into the top 300. Sid and his group stopped in front of Yellow Dragon and the others. An invisible current surged through the space. “Huang Hai,” Sid said. Yellow Dragon looked at him. “I hope we’ll have the chance to fight each other someday,” Sid said. “And then?” Yellow Dragon’s expression remained indifferent. “Don’t think just because you’re a Soul Master you’re something special. By then, your fate will be the same as Chester’s.” A glint appeared in Sid’s eyes. “I’ll defeat you. The first place on the sixth competition stage will be mine!” Judging from the strength of the 30 contestants on the sixth stage, Huang Dragon and Sid were now considered the most likely candidates to win first place. Initially, Huang Dragon wasn’t favored, but since he had defeated De Cheng from the Demos family in one strike yesterday and “revealed” his status as a Soul Master, he had become one of the top ten contenders for the rankings. “Oh, I hope so,” Huang Dragon said calmly. Sid snorted coldly and then left with the Gibran family members. “That kid is way too arrogant. Brother Huang Hai, you need to teach him a lesson then—make him sober up and avenge Brother Chester for today’s humiliation,” Fat Guy Francis said angrily, pointing at Sid and the others as they left. “Blind?” Huang Dragon smiled. “Of course! Let’s go back.” Chester and Fat Guy Francis followed Huang Dragon back to the mountain palace. Now, unbeknownst to them, the two began to follow Huang Dragon’s lead. “Brother Huang Hai, Sid is very strong,” Chester said worriedly on the way. “I think he hasn’t shown all his strength yet, and there seems to be a very powerful aura around him.” “A very powerful aura,” Huang Dragon nodded. “I know that.” He could clearly see that Sid’s strength was far beyond what appeared on the surface. “So, are you confident in the competition then?” Chester asked hesitantly.

Fat Francis also watched Huang Long closely.
Huang Long glanced at the two of them, then suddenly smiled and said, “Don’t worry.” With that, he turned and left.
Chester and Fat Francis exchanged glances before hurrying after him, but they couldn’t figure out what gave Huang Long such confidence.
A Soul Master? Although Soul Masters could use soul power for attacks, if their opponent had soul-defense artifacts and strong soul strength, the effectiveness of those attacks would be reduced.
After the first day of competition in the top ten arenas, each group was down to fifteen people. Among these fifteen, one was alone, so in the second round of the second day, one person per arena might not have to fight and could go straight to the next round.
The ten people chosen by the wheel were undoubtedly lucky.
However, the lucky one in Arena 6 wasn’t Huang Long but a member of the Demos family. Naturally, when this Demos family member learned he could advance to the next round, his face showed obvious joy.
For Huang Long, whether he was chosen or not didn’t matter.
The next day, his opponent was a member of the Beikal family—and a familiar face: Spine!
Huang Long still remembered Spine. Back then, when Li Yifeng encountered the Ancient Array in the Cloud Sea Valley and couldn’t break it, he sought Huang Long’s help in the Dragon Mountain Range. Upon arriving at the Cloud Sea Valley, Spine appeared, intent on killing everyone there, including Huang Long and Li Yifeng, to claim the treasures in the Ancient Array for himself.
Later, Huang Long summoned a million mutated beasts, killing two Level 6Ming King elders beside Spine King elders beside Spine, but Spine managed to escape.
“Huang Hai,” Spine said, looking at Huang Long on the arena with a serious expression, even somewhat “nervous.”
Huang Long had changed his appearance, so Spine didn’t recognize him.
But back in the Cloud Sea Valley, Spine had been extremely powerful—so much so that even Huang Long’s million mutated beasts couldn’t deal with him. Yet now, hundreds of years later, Huang Long could easily defeat him even without those beasts.
Although Spine had made it into the top 300, his strength was average among them, far weaker than Decheng from the Demos family whom Huang Long had defeated before.
“Please, Brother Huang Hai, be merciful,” Spine said with a bow and a smile, even showing a hint of respect.
Merciful? Huang Long smiled. “We’ve known each other before. I will be.”

“Get to know each other a bit?” Spin was puzzled. Before this Land of Forgetting, hadn’t he ever seen Huang Hai before?
Of course, Huang Long’s “leniency” was relative. After a while, Spin lay motionless on the competition platform.
The competition ended the next day.
On the third day, eight people remained on each platform. By the fourth day, only four remained. After that day’s competition, two people were left—those who would compete for first place on each platform.
As the gods had predicted, in the sixth competition area, Huang Long and Sid from the Gibran family would fight for first place.
The Mountain Palace of the Runing Family.
Huang Long’s residence.
“Huang Hai, be careful of Sid’s divine clone in tomorrow’s competition,” Donald said.
Tomorrow, Huang Long would compete for first place on his platform. As an elder of the family, Donald naturally wanted to come and “show concern.”
Yet, looking at Huang Long, Donald felt complex emotions. Huang Long’s ability to advance all the way, not only making it into the top 300 but now possibly becoming first on his platform, was far beyond the expectations of Donald’s higher-ups and the Runing family’s members.
“A divine clone?” Huang Long looked at Donald.
What secret did Sid’s divine clone have?
Donald nodded. “Sid has cultivated a dark divine clone. As far as we know, his dark divine clone has encountered some kind of miracle, making it much stronger than his main body. As for its exact strength, we’re not very sure.”
“A miracle,” Huang Long nodded.
After a while, Donald stood up and left Huang Long’s residence. Before leaving, he hesitated before saying, “Try your best tomorrow.”
Try my best? That’s it? Huang Long watched Donald’s retreating figure.
He would naturally try his best. Since his rebirth, he had been striving to restore his strength. Of course, winning first place tomorrow wasn’t for the Runing family, but for himself.
Meanwhile, in the Mountain Palace of the Beikal Family,
Woodlow said to the family’s chief elder, Wifley, “That Huang Hai came from the Water Deity Plane to the Runing Estate over 900 years ago?”
Given Huang Hai’s uniqueness these days, Woodlow had naturally had people investigate him. Of course, it wasn’t just Woodlow; other families had done the same.
“Yes, clan leader,” Wifley replied respectfully.
“Over 900 years ago?” Woodlow murmured to himself. After a while, he turned and asked, “Is he really a descendant of the Runing family’s branch in the Water Deity Plane?”

“This, my subordinates have already investigated, and it is indeed the case,” said Wifley. Then he added, “The clan leader suspects Huang Hai’s identity? But that’s unlikely. Huang Hai entered Luning Mansion, and after a blood test, if his identity were false, he wouldn’t have been able to enter.”