Around noon the registration process for the contest was finally completed.
The elf manning the registration desk let out a loud sigh.
Somehow within the blink of an eye, a grand total of five thousand contestants had gathered around in the fighting arena grounds.
Once he was done, the elf promptly hurried over to a stoic looking middle-aged elf sitting silently near the stage.
All this time he was quietly sitting alone, emanating a positively murderous aura.
Even the registration desk elf only approached him with a lot of apprehension and fear.
This was the fifth General of the Crown Prince, Lord Relmar, a man almost as terrifying as the famed bloodthirsty tyrant himself.
The General was already in the Saint realm, with some rumors even stating that he was one step into the Demi-God realm.
Relmar was here today to oversee the first day of the contest.
Since Xander had issued a public royal verdict regarding this contest, obviously he wouldn't allow it to take place without any supervision from his side.
Once the elf handed over the jade slip containing the details of all participants to Relmar, the contest officially began and a loud gong resounded.
Gu Dang!
Gu Dang!
Gu Dang!
The chattering crowd instantly silenced and everyone's eyes moved over to the elf standing sturdily in front of the arena's main center stage.
There were about ten stages in total and it was typical to simultaneously conduct multiple matches at the same time, especially for this contest since they had an insane total of five thousand participants.
Apart from the different beast hunting guild recruitments and the beast horde purge team recruitments, this would be the biggest contest conducted in the royal fighting arena to date.
After the gongs sounded, Relmar loudly harrumphed and announced with his throaty, deep, and very scary voice.
"Only those who are able to stand in the top fifty will be selected."
"If your opponent bows out and admits defeat, you are required to stop your attack and hold your hand."
"If your opponent doesn't have the good sense to recognize an attack that is above his limits, it is not your responsibility to ensure the safety of the fool."
"Since this contest is for the Labyrinth exploration, all treasures and defense artifacts will be permitted in the battles."
"But please be aware that it is best if you don't use these too much and solely rely on them since inside the Labyrinth only true capabilities can come to your rescue."
"If you are not too careful, you might just end up losing your pitiful worthless life."
"I will be watching your behavior and conduct the entire time. That will be all."
"The battles will be commencing now."
The man's authoritative and commanding aura completely controlled the atmosphere in the fighting arena grounds, instantly converting the boisterous loud scene into a serious blood boiling affair.
His sharp and ruthless words had riled up the crowd and boosted everyone's morals to the perfect temperature for the upcoming fights.
After his announcements, Relmar then went back to his seat and sat down with the usual frown on his face, snorting loudly.
Taking this as the cue, another elf immediately hurried over and started calling the names of the participants one by one.
And soon, intense battles erupted in all ten stages, marking the official beginning of the contest!
The initial battles had a lot of weaklings mixed into the fray, opportunity seekers who mostly participated to try their luck and see what happens.
This coupled with the fact that Relmar had just finished his short and vicious speech about how killing the dumb was not punishable, several participants quit instantly after exchanging a few superficial blows with their opponents.
Some even cried out before a single blow could land.
Everyone was warily gauging their opponent's strength with the utmost caution before acting rashly.
This greatly reduced the number of participants and the overall number of matches in itself.
Enjoying this comic scene, intense loud cheering and booing echoed from the audience. Everyone was in high spirits.
Though the audience were closely scattered around the ten combat stages, they were not in any real danger, as each stage was surrounded by a strong and powerful reinforced runic magic barrier that prevented the attacks from seeping outside.
Otherwise, the commoners littered around the combat stages would be instantly squashed like ants from the aftermath of the battle on stage.
Tang Yue pursed her lips and nodded in a trance. She was already a fan of this experienced General!
The man's few short words had instantly simplified everything and had taken out the weeds from the list of participants within seconds.
The funny part was that most likely what he said wasn't true entirely. But even if it was, Tang Yue wouldn't be surprised.
The old General was ruthless and she loved it!
Even though his speech was very extreme, there were groups of elves with water elemental affinity specialized in healing magic, stationed close to the ten combat stages.
These elves readily tended to the contestants who suffered injuries in the sparring.
Even if they were unable to completely reverse the damage done, they at least took care of the basic first aid and stabilized the wounds.
Of course, ultimately, it would be up to the respective party to spend their own resources and recover their body's condition back to its peak.
This was the norm of the kill or be killed cultivation combat world and nothing would change that.
Tang Yue along with Lotte and Little Blue were still seated in a corner among the audience.
Her turn hadn't come up yet, so she was keenly observing the fights happening in front of her.
Even Little Blue was yelping every now and then in excitement, after inhaling the fiery battle filled air.
The slightly better combat experts and Emperor realm participants were fighting on the center stage.
So the snake's emerald eyes were glued on to this particular arena battles.
And finally, after the short series of one-sided massacres and instant towel throws, the first real battle started!