Numerous talents were gathered in Ring 1—
All of them hailed from extraordinary backgrounds. They were either from the various powerful factions in the universe, or disciples of formidable martial warriors.
They quietly waited for the start of the League of Talents, keeping a serious stance.
Even those roaming around weren't strolling for mere fun. They had their motives: they were either observing, looking out for potential opponents, or befriending candidates.
All the hopefuls were rarely seen geniuses. It wasn't easy to gather them in one place; making a friend or two in that place would be beneficial.
The talents from the eight dukedoms and the princes were also conserving strength, silently waiting for the competition to start.
However, an anomaly occurred in that tense atmosphere.
A colorful parasol was set on the celestites plaza. It was exceptionally conspicuous.
One would think that the person was on vacation!
A figure was resting leisurely on the lounger beneath the parasol, sipping a drink and eating some fruits and nuts he had just taken out. He even had a pair of sunglasses on him.
The other six companions were more restrained. Their expressions reflected how awkward they felt, but none of them retreated after exchanging glances. They stayed and sat there.
All of them found it was a good way to relieve stress.
As for the strange gazes around them, they chose to simply ignore them.
The surrounding talents were stunned and wide eyed, not believing the seemingly ridiculous display before them.
"This fellow… he…"
The person who began to speak didn't know how to follow up.
The alleged culprit wasn't making any trouble, since his actions weren't aimed at disturbing. He was just waiting for the competition to start, without getting into anyone's way.
Still, you couldn't say he was preparing for the competition, either. Would anyone conserve strength like that?
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Many laughed, while others frowned and condemned his actions.
"Hahaha…" The Second Prince laughed involuntarily. "This Baron Wang Teng is quite interesting."
The Third Prince glanced at the young hero with indifference, then looked away, dismissing him altogether.
The other princes had varying expressions; no one knew what they were thinking.
Strachey from the Parkers family snorted. "Ignorant!"
Landon shook his head but kept his own counsel. The competition had yet to start, so the fellow had the freedom to do whatever he wanted. No one could stop him.
In truth, he admired the guy. Alas, if only they weren't on opposing sides.
What a pity!
They would have to fight one day!
"2333, Baron Wang Teng doesn't take the usual path!"
"He must be the first person in history to snack in the participants' waiting area!"
"Have you seen the faces of the other competitors? I think they're having a mental breakdown."
"F**k! Pardon my lack of vocab. All I can say is f**k!"
"Baron Wang Teng is the role model of our generation."
"Come on, I can't tell if he's got a good mentality or tempting fate."
"He'll be hated by the other talents."
"So what? Don't be afraid, fight!"
…
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})The audience on the live chat platform was on fire. Being spectators, they didn't have to consider the consequences of their words.
The candidates were boring. Wang Teng's arrival made the live broadcast entertaining to watch.
On the Cavendish family's spacecraft—Borla and the others were laughing at the scene.
"That's definitely his style!" Di Qi laughed and shook his head.
"Look at the others. They seem to have swallowed an entire bottle gourd." Olivia chuckled.
"The candidates must be speechless. This fellow demolished the nervous atmosphere." Olivia's mother smiled, also shaking her head.
On planet Yuming.
Old Han and the others were stunned as well. Wang Teng was still the same, even after entering the greater universe.
Just watching the scene shown on screen made them nervous, but Wang Teng was still able to have a drink and eat some fruits. His mentality was indeed strong.
Back on the ship carrying the Battle Hearth Mercenary Team—Lin Chuhan couldn't help but laugh softly when she saw the guy lounging.
Isah was drawn by her laughter. He smiled and said, "This Baron Wang Teng is quite funny. Look at what he's doing in the waiting area. Isn't he worried about being hated by everyone? At first I felt he had to be an outstanding guy, but that doesn't seem to be the case."
Lin Chuhan's smile disappeared. She retorted coldly, "Don't speak if you don't know anything."
Isah's expression froze. He stared at her in disbelief.
The young lady had always been cold towards him, but she had never acted as fiercely. Furthermore, there was a hint of disgust in her eyes. His words must have caused her some displeasure.
The others also turned to look at her, feeling surprised. They didn't know what had happened.
"Chuhan, did I say something wrong?" Isah asked with some hesitation. He was furious, but he quickly suppressed his anger, putting an innocent expression.
Lin Chuhan ignored him yet again.
Xue Fei pouted. What a simpering fool.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"Isah, you might be wrong here. Wang Teng is probably not how you think he is," Du Wa said.
"What do you mean?" Isah frowned and asked.
He didn't treat Du Wa as politely. If Lin Chuhan wasn't there, he would probably have started an argument with the latter, instead of just questioning.
"His gaze is confident, even after seeing all the talents from the eight dukedoms and the princes. If you look carefully, you can see him observing the competition. He's not just idling away. Don't be fooled by his appearance," Du Wa said with a sharp glint in his eyes.
Isah's expression changed. He observed the live broadcast carefully, and noticed that the latter's comments were true. His expression turned ugly.
Furthermore, he realized that his planetary stage teammates were giving him strange looks. It was clear that his rash remarks made them look down on him.
On the other hand, they stared at Du Wa with respect. Although stricter in comparison, the man was in fact a good senior with ample experience.
"Hmph." Isah snorted softly. He was unable to keep a straight face anymore, so he said, "The competition hasn't started yet. Who knows how far he'll go? I don't have high hopes for him. Why don't you pay more attention to the talents from the big families or the imperial family for that matter, instead of that guy?"
This time, Du Wa didn't reply. His focus was still on Wang Teng, as his interest for the latter increased.
For some reason he felt that the young baron wasn't that simple.
Isah turned, wanting to speak to Lin Chuhan again, only to realize she wasn't paying any attention to him. She was engrossed with the live video feed; not once did she look at him again.
He didn't understand why she became so angry.
So what if I bad-mouthed Wang Teng? Does she know him? Why get angry over him?
…
Wang Teng was indeed checking on the competition while chatting with the other military candidates of the team.
He found a few people worth watching. He planned to interact with them if he ever met them during the competition.
Song Yicheng and the others were curious about the young hero.
Wang Teng was rumored to be superb beyond human comprehension. It was natural that they had heard some of the rumors.
In truth, the real person was much different from what they imagined him to be.
It wasn't that the fellow wasn't powerful enough. They just felt that the young colonel was unique, quite different to any other member of the military.
However, none of them dared to belittle him. They were right next to him, but none of them was able to gauge his real strength.
A similar thought appeared in their minds. Wang Teng's abilities may very well exceed our expectations.
Lu Jing suddenly asked, "Colonel Wang Teng, I heard that you met Bai Shanhou on Defense Planet No. 29."
"Huh? You know him?" Wang Teng was surprised.
"I've heard my teacher mention him." Lu Jing smiled.
"Your teacher?" The young hero was stunned.
Song Yicheng smiled and explained, "Her teacher is one of the generals guarding Defense Planet No.63, Universe Lord Lu Yuanfeng. She's a general, and not inferior to any men."
"No wonder!" Wang Teng nodded. After some pondering, he asked, "And the surname?"
"She's my aunt." Lu Jing didn't hide her relationship.
"I see." Wang Teng smiled. "Yes, Bai Shanhou was there. It was fortunate he showed up, or else we would have had trouble saving the planet."
"I heard that there was a devil titan. Was that so?" Hong Jinghou asked softly.
"Yes, two of them." The young colonel nodded emotionally as he recalled the event.
"Gasp!" The others were flabbergasted.
Two devil titans!
They had never seen such a lineup of enemies.
They looked at Wang Teng in astonishment. What kind of monster is he, to be able to achieve military exploits in such a hellish situation?
They felt that they would have been helpless had they been in his shoes.
Everyone gradually calmed down after some time.
"What kind of person is Bai Shanhou?" Lu Jing asked.
"You seem curious about him." Wang Teng looked at her strangely. Is Bai Shanhou her idol?
"Not me. My aunt goes on and on talking about him, so I felt a bit interested," Lu Jing explained in a hurry; the expression was clear enough to tell he had misunderstood.
Bai Shanhou was powerful, but old. She wasn't personally interested in him.
"Erm… cough." Wang Teng coughed to hide the awkwardness. Then, he continued, "Bai Shanhou is handsome, but he has a bad sense of humor."
He recounted the time when Bai Shanhou appeared, going into detail. Everyone was dumbstruck.
Wang Teng sniggered after he finished his story. "Do you think your aunt…?"
"Come on, let's not guess about our elders' thoughts." Lu Jing rolled her eyes.
"Well, if your aunt likes Bai Shanhou… I can tell him the next time I see him. It might be a successful matchmaking," the young hero offered.
"Forget it. How can you find Bai Shanhou again?" Lu Jing wasn't tricked by the latter.
"Who knows? We just saw three eternal stage experts from our military," Wang Teng responded.
"This is a special occasion. Do you think we can see them so casually? No way!" Lu Jing retorted. She didn't believe him.
Wang Teng sighed. He really wanted to hear some gossip, but Lu Jing was too cautious.
Song Yicheng and the others glanced at Wang Teng, feeling at a loss. They saw through his intentions, and wondered why he had such a personality.
Suddenly, there was dead silence. Everyone looked up to the starry space.
There were runic arrays carved on all three rings, acting like barriers. Everyone's gazes went through the barrier at the moment, to see the spatial ripples beyond the protective layer.
"It's here!" Song Yicheng and the others stood up in a hurry and walked out from the parasol's cover, clearly excited.
Wang Teng blinked and also got up, also following everyone's gazes.
Spatial ripples were spread in the void.
Seven gigantic warships were slowly emerging from the rippling void. They floated above the Battle Planet, carrying the weight of history and the passage of time.
