Rise of the Demon God

"It would be the same for each draw.  We expect to use this method a lot as finding the Three Leaves Golden Flower is very tough. Only one or two of you might actually be able to find it. Since most of you will be coming without it, I would suggest for you to kill as many beasts as you can," the Emperor told the kids as he roamed his gaze over the youngsters. 

The illusory image of the Three Leaves Golden Flower disappeared.

"Oh, and one more thing. The treasures that you all find inside will be kept by you. None of that will be taken by us. The only thing to keep in mind is that no bodies collected outside this realm will be accepted," he declared. 

*If you are carrying any bodies of strong beast and wish to swap them to make your number's higher, forget about it. The beasts inside this realm have a distinct signature about them. You would be caught. And the person who is caught cheating will be ranked last even if you collected some really rare beasts inside the realm."

Waving his hand, he stepped aside. 

"You may enter now. You can stay inside for two days. After two days or forty-eight hours, you'll be ejected from the realm. So decide your plan accordingly after you enter."

Boom!

The door once again opened as a person barged inside.

"You are here," the Emperor grinned as he watched the person who had just arrived.

"Master Hu, you can make one more token. The third person of our team is here, Ji Shan!" The Emperor declared as he pointed towards the person who was walking towards him.

"What?" 

An unwilling noise came out of Long Chen's mouth as he heard the name.

He turned back towards the door and saw the person. His lips opened in shock as he saw the person.

Qian Yu saw the face of Long Chen. Finding his reaction strange, she decided to ask.  "Do you know him? Why are you so shocked?" 

"Nothing. He just looks like the guy I killed back home for mocking me. It's funny how people can have the same face," Long Chen answered as he tried to cover up his shock under an excuse. 

"Hah, You killed so many people, yet you can remember faces. Interesting," Qian Yu muttered as she scrutinized Long Chen's expression.

Long Chen stopped looking at Ji Shan. He couldn't let him be caught now. 

Even though he didn't let his discomfort show on his face, his mind was in a turmoil. Just one glance was enough for him to know that it was Ji Shan.

How the heck was he here? And why was he a part of this team? He wasn't so strong that he could be selected on his merit. And the only other thing that could have contributed to him being linked to this Empire was him being involved with the Saint Killer's heir, who was Long Chen.

How did people know him, though? 

Long Chen didn't know that the envoys from the Esteria Empire had seen Ji Shan trying to help Long Chen after the last fight. They also had the sketch of Ji Shan with them. 

Ji Shan stepped closer to Master Hu and collected the token from him.

That was when Long Chen subtly glanced at him with an expressionless face.

'His eyes, they are emotionless. And why are they red? What did they do to him? He is different now.'

Long Chen wanted to run up to Ji Shan and ask him what had happened, but it was impossible now. If he tried it, he would be exposed, and he would need to run. He might even be killed before he can even enter the Teleportation portal. The Emperor was most probably a Saint Realm Expert after all. 

Long Chen, on the other hand, was only a peak Sky Realm Cultivator who was on the cusp of becoming a Heaven Realm Cultivator. 

He could fight Heaven Realm Cultivators, but he didn't wish to test on a Saint Realm Cultivator now. He would lose a good opportunity if he even tried. 

He had to bite his time and wait for an opportunity to get his answers.

While Long Chen was confused to see Ji Shan, the other princes were also confused. They recognized Ji Shan from the posters they had seen. Why was this guy with them? 

"Father, why is he here? You allowed a traitor to be  in our team?" Second, Prince Meng Qian asked his father while stepping closer.

He didn't ask out in the open and kept his voice low, so only his father could hear.

"Of course, he will be taking part. Now don't talk too much. Enter the Realm," Emperor Meng refused even to entertain the question as he told his son to stop talking about it.

Meng Qian gazed at his father, wondering what that guy was thinking? Still, he couldn't do anything to go against his father. He nodded his head like a good son and started walking towards the portal.

He stopped near the portal. "Are you coming or not?" He asked while looking at Meng Huling.

"Coming," Meng Huling let out, laughing at Meng Qian, who got the short end stick for questioning his father. 

He walked towards the Portal and stepped inside with his brother.

Ji Shan also entered behind them. 

One after another, more people started entering, leaving only the team of Dark World and Long Chen's team behind.

The Dark World leader and Du Liang both started at each other to see who was going to enter first as if it was some kind of contest and the one who entered last will be the winner.

Long Chen would have played around if he had not sighted Ji Shan. Now that he had seen the guy, he had no time to waste in this.

He took the first step.

"Pei Zen! What are you doing!" Du Liang called out louder than usual. Anger was evident on his face. 

"I'm going in. Why should I care about those idiots waiting? They're nonexistent for me. They should be concerned about us, not the other way around. Stop being an Idiot," Long Chen retorted in frustration before he stepped inside the Portal.

Du Liang was taken aback. It was the first time he was scolded by Long Chen, but he found it valid. Why should he care about the other team. They were the leaders of this. They weren't here to compete but to rule. 

If he cared about the other team, what kind of ruler would he be?" he thought.