Krune's group quickly arrived at Gavei's place. Obviously, Melio was there too.
"Oh! You are here. Come in."
Krune and the others entered.
"So, how will it be?"
Gavei nodded.
"The competition will happen in the Lavagator Race's Territory. This race is controlling a Fire Essence Vein of their own. Not to mention that they are even stronger than us when we were at our peak. At the moment, they have more than thirty Divinity Realm elders, and some speculate that they might have a few more hidden."
"With their deterrence, none of the other races will think about forcing them to help someone else. Also, we gathered together to pay for the use of their territory for the competition, so bribing will be out of the question too."
Gavei continued.
"Inside their territory, there is a place called the Fire Hell. It is also the place where their strong members like to go for training. That area has thousands of active volcanos that erupt without stop. Since this run is also a competition of strength of some sort, everyone agreed in using that place."
"Krune, you better be careful in there. The place is full of chaotic Fire Element. If you are caught by one of the eruptions, I'll guarantee that you won't leave unscratched. You might even die, depending on the volcano. Also, you need to constantly keep your Godly Energy running to fend off the heat. The visibility is awful too. Not only that, but the ashes in the air greatly affects one's Divinise Sense due to the high concentration of Fire Element and Laws."
"The distance of the competition has a total of two thousand kilometers. According to the rules, it is prohibited to fly higher than 10 meters above the ground. To make sure the rules are followed, the Lavagator Race's elders will be stationed during the entire extent of the run. Not to mention that there will be several monitoring formations that everyone can use to see the competitors."
"Anyway, it's like I mentioned before. This is a race with obstacles. The one who reaches the end first is the winner, nothing more, nothing less."
Krune nodded.
"It seems like everyone put a lot of thought on it."
Gavei laughed out loud after hearing that.
"But of course! None of the powers participating wish to lose because the others found a way to break the rules. That also includes ourselves."
Krune then asked something else.
"How many competitors will be there. Also, which ones should I pay attention to?"
Gavei pondered a bit before saying.
"There will be 143 runners this time around. However, I can't really tell you which one to pay attention to. That's because many of those races participating in this competition called for external help, just like Melio predicted. Still, the same goes for us. No one knows about your existence yet, so you are our trump card during this race."
"That's true. By the way, when is it starting?"
Gavei nodded before saying.
"Five days later. That's the time the Lavagator Race's elders will need to prepare the area. If you have anything you need, you might as well ask for it now."
Krune shook his head.
"No, I'm okay. Just be sure to pay me the Wind Essence when it is over."
"Of course, as long as you win, that is."
Gavei then seemed to hesitate a bit as he looked at Krune's group. Iem noticed that and told Krune to ask if there was something wrong.
"Elder Gavei, do you want to say something?"
Gavei finally nodded as he looked at Sisan.
"Isn't it better to have your friend who is at the 9th Stage of the Semi-Divinity Realm to participate instead? I'm not saying that you aren't strong or fast enough. It's just that this competition is too important for our Green Talon Eagle Race."
Obviously, he was talking about the difference in cultivation between Krune and Sisan. He couldn't be blamed. After all, Sisan was indeed eight stages above Krune's level. Not to mention that he doesn't know that Krune is, in fact, faster and stronger.
"Hahaha! Don't worry, elder Gavei. The reason that we decided to use me is that when it comes to speed, I'm indeed the best one here. I know it is hard to believe due to our difference in cultivation, but we are definitely not lying."
Gavei sighed after hearing that. Obviously, he still had his doubts. However, since Sisan didn't want to participate, there was nothing he could do.
"Very well. I'll go to your residence three days later to bring you to the Lavagator Race's Territory."
Krune nodded before leaving with Iem and Sisan. During the entire conversation, those two didn't say anything. Well, that's because they will still need a few more days before they finish understand the language pack that Krune passed to them.
After they left, Melio looked at Gavei.
"Is it okay to not tell them about that?"
Gavei sighed. He heard a rumor during the meeting of the powers participating in the competition. It was said that some of them will receive the help of the Celestial Sky Organization in their territory. That's also why he preferred to have Sisan, who had the highest cultivation between them, to participate.
"What's the point in saying that? It might instead make them give up on helping us at all. Since that's the case, I better keep what we already have."
Melio nodded and didn't say anything else.
Time passed in a flash, and soon, three days went by. Gavei then came to Krune's residence to get them. A few moments later, they all flew away from the Mountain. On their way out, Krune saw another two elders coming out of the Mountain to join them. After checking their cultivation, he immediately understood that they were two other elders of the Green Talon Eagle Race. One of them was in the 2nd Stage while the other was in the 3rd.
Elder Melio would not come with them. That's because he is the second strongest of their race, so he had to stay to guard the fort. After all, you never know if something might happen while Gavei is out.
"Let me introduce them. These two are Nue and Vatio. They are another two elders in our race."
Krune and the others quickly bowed.
"Anyway, let's increase the pace. The lavagator territory is quite far, so we might get late if we continue at this speed."
No one rejected the idea, quickly speeding up after that.
On the way, Gavei kept increasing the speed to check the limits of Krune's group. He knew that they were definitely faster than ordinary Peak Semi-Divinity Realm cultivators and demon beast. He just wanted to know how much.
Surprisingly though, the first one to find it challenging to keep up with his speed was not Iem or Krune, who were in the 1st Stage of the Semi-Divinity Realm. Instead, it was Nue, the elder at the 2nd Stage of the Divinity Realm! Gavei then felt a sense of happiness and embarrassment at the same time. Happy that Krune was obviously faster than that and embarrassed that his Divinity Realm elder was losing to a Semi-Divinity Realm.
Krune and the others noticed what Gavei was doing and smiled. Still, they didn't say anything.
Around a day later, they finally approached the Lavagator Race's Territory. Yet, when they finally arrived at the competition site, Krune's group was taken aback.
"Wasn't there supposed to be only 143 competitors?"
Krune, Iemm, and Sisan could see at least a few tens of thousands Semi-Divinity and Divinity Realm cultivators and demon beasts. It was easy to see that many of them were not related to the competition since there were too many races there.
Gavei heard that and laughed once more.
"Of course. However, such a territory changing competition doesn't happen all the time. Obviously, many other races that are not related to the event came to check it out. That's good, though. It will make things even harder for anyone who wishes to break the rules with so many observers."
Krune and to admit that Gavei was right.
Suddenly, their group heard a voice coming from somewhere nearby.
"Oh! Look who is here. I'm impressed that you really came to participate in this competition, Gavei. I thought you would simply wait for it to be over and pass your race's Wind Essence Vein over to the winner."
Gavei's complexion turned dark as he looked at the newcomer.
"Ralo, your Twin-Tail Hawk Race has always been under our Green Talon Eagle's. Do you think that just because our strength declined, you can act as you wish? First of all, even if we lose this competition, I doubt your race will fare much better."
Krune couldn't help but ask Nue about it with a Divine Sense Message.
'Oh! The Twin-Tail Hawk Race had always been slightly weaker than us. Not to mention that their territory is quite close too. When our strength began to decline, they were among the first to rally the other races against us. Obviously, the grudge that was already quite bad turned even worse.'
Krune immediately understood.
'Well, I guess it has nothing to do with me.'
Ralo's smile didn't disappear as he said.
"I wouldn't be so sure. It just so happens that we got quite lucky when looking for a helping hand. Who knows, it might not be long before we force you out of that Mountain of yours."
Gavei narrowed his eyes as he looked behind Ralo. There, he saw a cultivator who didn't seem to care about anything that was happening.
'Could he be...'
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