Aside from the minor incident on the first day, the Glory Festival continued to proceed in an orderly fashion, just like previous editions.

Contestants fought beasts and died, and the scent of blood began to spread within the arena.

However, this Glory Festival was indeed somewhat different—what spread alongside the smell of blood was also gossip and rumors.

The fighting was not endless, and not every pair of contestants would immediately engage in slaughter upon meeting.

Whenever they entered into "chatting," "exchanging pleasantries," or "information exchange," the topic would inevitably circle back to the events of the first day of this Glory Festival.

"Have you heard? A Rakshasa has snuck into this festival."

"Is it reliable?"

"The news came from a Healing Station. Over a dozen people said it happened, so they probably aren't all in cahoots!"

Conversations like this happened over and over again.

Naturally, these repeatedly shared conversations were not confined solely to the inside of the Glory Festival.

No matter how barbaric this world was, no matter how combative and straightforward the races of the Blood Kingdom were, their leaders were not foolish enough to completely ignore a widely spread, sudden situation that sounded so significant.

On a gentle slope outside the Glory Festival arena, inside a white animal hide tent, ten wide sitting cushions were arranged.

Before each cushion were ample wine and meat.

In the very center of the tent was a massive, lizard-like beast skull bone that would occasionally open its mouth to relay messages.

"Contestant from Copper Mountain Tribe, One-Three-Nine, deceased!"

"Contestant from Fire Flow Tribe, Two-Seven-Five, deceased!"

"Individual contestant, Three-Three-Six, killed two 'Swift Wolves'!"

One rapid report after another came through. The ten figures seated on the cushions, wrapped in animal hides and looking like important figures, remained unfazed.

Three Barbarians, six Blood Rakshasas...

And one Half-Beast!

Without a doubt, they were the representatives from the Ten Great Tribes of the Blood Kingdom.

For each edition of the Glory Festival, the organizers were the Ten Great Tribes.

For ordinary tribal forces, this festival was a good opportunity to elevate their "status" and showcase their tribe's strength.

But for the Ten Great Tribes, it was not so.

For Players, these outsiders, there was actually a rather counter-intuitive fact: in the Glory Festival, the Ten Great Tribes did not always monopolize the top ten positions.

In fact, it often happened that in a certain edition of the Glory Festival, the top three positions all came from medium-sized tribes or obscure small villages.

The reason was simple...

The reason the Ten Great Tribes were the Ten Great Tribes was not due to the personal valor of a single warrior.

But rather... the entire tribe was valorous.

They did not need to send the most ferocious warrior of their generation to compete every year.

On the contrary, the Ten Great Tribes would try to recruit the warriors who ultimately achieved victory.

Every warrior who secured a ranking would establish a rather good relationship with one or two of the Ten Great Tribes—along with the forces they originated from.

This was also one of the most important manifestations of status elevation.

Based on this, these Ten Great Tribes naturally, in addition to dispatching three "arbitrators" each year, would also send important figures from their own tribes as representatives to the vicinity of the Glory Festival.

Although this was not a part of the written rules and regulations, because it was so customary, it had almost become an important part of the Glory Festival itself.

This white tent was one of the best symbols of the Glory Festival.

And the reason these representatives came near the site was naturally to get firsthand information about the "Glory Festival" as soon as possible.

Usually, they would look among these brief reports for those who killed many and quickly.

But this time...

What they were most concerned about was no longer the contestants!

Among the group, the representative of the Bronze Casting Tribe, an extremely tall and sturdy Blood Rakshasa, spoke towards the beast skull.

"Hey, Jiang Rong, any new results regarding the Rakshasa news?"

The question received an immediate response.

"None!"

"Everything is operating normally. There are rumors that a Rakshasa fought an 'arbitrator' at a Healing Station... but Shuo did not report it, nor did it die."

"I also did not go to a Healing Station to fight a Rakshasa. Therefore, it can be inferred that it was probably a rumor or misinformation."

"After all, the supporting arbitrator from the periphery, 'Feng Qiao,' also did not enter the venue."

A deep male voice responded from within the beast skull.

The respondent was naturally the true on-site "arbitrator," Jiang Rong!

Hearing the answer from the arbitrator of his own tribe, the representative of the Bronze Casting Tribe let out a sigh.

"Still hasn't appeared..."

Among the ten representatives, the only one who was neither a Blood Rakshasa nor a Barbarian—a Half-Beast who looked like some sort of bird-person with a sharp beak and feathers covering its face—spoke.

"It's truly strange. Is this Rakshasa real or fake? After all, a race that hasn't been seen for millennia, that's considered extinct, suddenly appears. Could it be some sort of mass hysteria?"

"After all, judging from the current rumors, they only say the Rakshasa was disguised as a Human and active... Perhaps a certain Human contestant was simply too powerful, leading to a misunderstanding!"

The representatives from the remaining nine tribes all looked at it.

"Representative of Shan Qing, you were invited back by the Shan Qing chieftain in recent years to assist in managing the tribe, so you probably don't know much about the Blood Kingdom," a Blood Rakshasa representing the Fang Bone Tribe slowly spoke, explaining to this "outsider." "Although it's true that the Rakshasa have been gone for a thousand years, our Blood Kingdom, as the former core territory of the Rakshasa race, preserves a vast number of records about them."

"All the intelligence that has come out so far matches that of a 'true Rakshasa.'"

"Moreover... based on those fragmented pieces of intelligence and whispers, regardless of who that Rakshasa at the Healing Station fought, it mentioned some secrets that even the records in our tribes cannot explain!"

"For example... the origin of the Blood Rakshasa race."

"According to what it said, when the Rakshasa first held the Glory Festival, besides competing for rankings... one could also obtain 'purification of Rakshasa bloodline power'!"

"Even if an outsider achieved victory, they could be granted the Rakshasa's bloodline power!"

"And, according to a report from a Blood Rakshasa at the peripheral registration area, he encountered a fellow claiming to be a Rakshasa—the other claimed that 'Rakshasa' required a transformation!"

"This so-called 'transformation' might be related to things like 'bloodline' concentration or similar matters!"

When the Blood Rakshasa reached this point, the three Barbarians still had no reaction, but the six Blood Rakshasas all nodded one after another.

When they heard those compiled rumors and gossip, they had also thought of this point.

Most high-ranking Blood Rakshasas, even if they consciously ignored it, had still wondered at some point why, according to records, they were clearly close relatives of the Rakshasa yet resembled Humans more!

"I think... what this fellow said happens to explain many long-standing questions within our Blood Rakshasa race."