After leaving the restaurant, Kailen, Dawnseer, and Julian returned to their rooms in the hotel. Two days passed by in a flash.

Currently, several holographic panels could be seen floating in every corner of Everdawn City and in every city of the Southern Continent. The NGU head branch in the continent had announced a day prior that the competition would not be happening in a stadium.

Prior to this announcement, several were anticipating that tickets would be sold for attendance to the venue of the competition, which the majority assumed would be a stadium where several arenas would be staged for combat duels among participants. But, when the announcement that the competition this time would not be happening in an arena or stadium was announced, many were wondering what the NGU head branch of the Southern Continent had in mind.

Then, the holographic screens went live. From various places in the Southern Continent, countless eyes were glued to the screens. Of course, some simply decided to follow the stream online. From every city in the Southern Continent, cheers emerged as the participants of the guilds representing them at the intercity competitions of the Southern Continent appeared on the screens. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

At this moment, they saw that the participants were currently being accompanied towards an island. Everyone watching immediately knew that this was where the competition would be happening. Currently, Kailen and Julian could be seen floating side by side.

They received notifications on their ID slot screens, which explained the rules of the competition. The rules stated that: On arriving on the island, participants are supposed to slaughter chaotic beasts.

The number of chaotic beasts slaughtered and their strength determines rank. Killing is allowed among participants on this island. At the end of the day, only the guild ranked first on the ranking list will proceed to the intercontinental level of the competition.

The same rules were displayed in front of the screens of those watching the competition. Many viewers sucked in breaths of cold air. This competition would be very brutal. The rules sounded simple, but a lot was implied.

Only the first-ranked guild would advance to the intercontinental competitions. Also, killing participants was allowed, although the condition for advancing on the ranking of the competition was killing chaotic beasts. People connected the dots with these two rules that in order to be ranked first, many would try to kill participants from other guilds as they also kill chaotic beasts.

The reason for this thought was simple: if one kills participants from other guilds, the probability of having less competition and obtaining the first rank will be higher. As for the participants, they were naturally thinking in the same direction. Several glints of coldness flashed through everyone’s eyes.

Although they were all aware that ranking high in the competition would earn them the attraction of several powerful organizations in the Southern Continent, who would want to rope them into their ranks, it could not be compared to advancing to the intercontinental competitions—a step closer to getting to the national level. Everyone wanted to advance.

The moment they arrived on the island, the man escorting them spoke.

"You have one month. After one month, the rankings at the time will be used. There will be a ranking system displayed before all of you should you wish to see it. After one month, the remaining survivors will all be ejected out of the island. Kindly note that this competition is being broadcasted to the whole Southern Continent. There are powerful people in the continent watching who may want to rope you into their organizations. Display your abilities and dazzle them. Getting to the next stage of the competition is not the only path forward. Do your best, but don’t try to throw your life away."

After these words, the man stared one last time at the participants, each thinking about his words. However, he knew his words would fall on deaf ears. From the expressions of these participants, each of them wanted to secure the first place for their guilds and advance to the next level. Perhaps, during the competition, reality would kick in and they would remember his words.

He waved his hands at this moment. The participants felt a suction force spreading across them. They were all thrown towards different parts of the island. Even Julian and Kailen were separated from each other. The man left the place as if he had never been there.

Kailen fell through the skies. The island, surrounded by a vast ocean, came into view. As he was pulled towards the island, he finally landed on a large tree. Currently, he was at the highest peak of the tree in the skies. He could see tiny trees dotted grandiously across.

Kailen sighed in relief. Fortunately, he had secured a proper landing.

"I wonder how Julian is doing?" Kailen shook his head. "He will be fine. I should focus on myself."

Kailen activated his principle of space and scanned the region. There were forests, mountains, and peaks, and chaotic beasts roaming across. Kailen also noticed some transcendents not too far from his current location. None of them had started battles with any chaotic beast. All of them were scouting the situation around them and familiarizing themselves with their environment.

"As expected of transcendents," Kailen thought. They were not stupid. None of them rushed into battles with any chaotic beasts or another transcendent.

"I didn’t spot Jiang Chuxian or Tyrexis. It seems they are currently not in my immediate vicinity," Kailen mused. "Julian is also definitely not in my immediate vicinity."

"But, I need to operate covertly. Also, I should be using emotional resonance to read the thoughts of several who will head in my direction and decide how to handle them. Some of them could be assassins from the Insidious Assassin Syndicate, after all. Their leader should be watching. I need to give him a good show," Kailen mused.

"As I focus on handling assassins from the syndicate and anyone who would want me dead, I should also start hunting for some chaotic beasts."

After getting a fair view of his current location and the threats, he decided to leave the tree. Kailen melded with the void and disappeared from the tree. He reappeared at a different location.

This was an empty cave on a hill. This place was better than the tree. Trees were natural habitats for creatures. What if a terrifying beast had descended on it and killed him? As for the cave he was in now, he was certain no one would come and cause trouble for him here.

Also, Kailen had chosen this cave because it was a bit close to a Rank 3 novice-stage chaotic beast he had noticed. A very large salamander. It was swimming in a pool of larvae at the moment, somewhere on lowland, a couple of distances from the cave in the hill Kailen was at the moment.

"I need to come up with a strategy to kill this creature," Kailen thought. Just when Kailen was observing it, a very tall fellow, a titan, appeared in the vicinity where the salamander was. He was not alone. The fellow was with two more people at the moment. All of them were Rank 3 novice-stage transcendents.

They hid behind a nearby rock a bit far from where the salamander was.

"It’s a good thing we managed to find each other right after separating, senior brother Evangelo," one said to the titan.

"Yeah... fortunately, we can work together as fellow guild members and help each other out. This way, if one of us manage to get on the first place on the ranking, our guild can advance to the next level," Evangelo said.

"Mmm."

"Senior brother Evangelo is right."

The two with him, a lion demihuman and an elf, replied.

"Bunch of fools. They think I don’t know they each want to sneak on me and secure the kill for the salamander after we attack it" Evangelo thought.

"Although the syndicate has given me a mission to kill Kailen Darkhaven, I should focus on getting more points first. Besides, it’s not like I will encounter him anytime soon. I need to kill this salamander," Evangelo thought.

Kailen, observing everyone’s expression to glean their thoughts with emotional resonance, had a slight smile at the corner of his lips. Not only had the syndicate member brought him to his doorstep, he also had pawns he could use to do most of the work in dealing with the salamander for him.

"Perfect."