Chapter 1060: The Final Six

On the female side, the audience was not disappointed. In the later rounds, Mei Gongzi continued to showcase overwhelming strength. Despite their best efforts, her opponents couldn't withstand her power, and that was without her using the Asura Sword again. In fact, two female contestants even chose to forfeit their matches to avoid injury. Thus, Mei Gongzi finished the round-robin stage and advanced to the finals with a flawless eight-win record—the highest score not just among the female contestants but in the entire tournament.

Tang San's hunch turned out to be correct: The fiercest contest among the male contestants was the match between Jin Anguo and Ning Chen'en. The two fought with everything they had, even resorting to Blue Gold Fruits. In the end, Ning Chen'en narrowly claimed victory with his superior defense. Whether this close battle might strain the relationship between the Golden Mammoth and Behemoth clans remained to be seen.

Fortunately for the Behemoth side, Lan Moqian managed to advance among the female contestants.

In the end, the three female finalists were Mei Gongzi, Jiang Chenchou, and Lan Moqian, in that order. Mei Gongzi had the highest win count, followed by Jiang Chenchou and then Lan Moqian. When Jiang Chenchou and Lan Moqian faced off, even with her twin divine swords, Lan Moqian was unable to break through the Undying Golden Body and lost. This battle highlighted just how decisive the divine item was. It also highlighted something not even the Undying Demon Emperor had discovered: A Blue Gold Fruit could replenish the life essence it consumed, allowing the same person to use it more than once without suffering fatal aftereffects.[1]

On the male side, the finalists were Jin Miaolin, Xu An'yu, and Ning Chen'en.

After the round-robin concluded, the competition entered a three-day rest period, after which the final stage of the Battle for the Throne would begin. The final victor would not only claim the Emperor's seat but also quite possibly a spouse; after all, this was a matchmaking tournament to begin with.

According to the double-elimination rules, the matchups were:

The three winners would enter the winners' bracket, and the losers would fall into the losers' bracket.

In the winners' bracket, the two contestants with the lowest round-robin scores would first face off. The loser would drop to the losers' bracket, while the winner would challenge the top-seeded winner for a chance at the finals.

In the losers' bracket, the two lower-ranked contestants would also face off first, but the loser would be eliminated immediately. The winner would face the next lowest-ranked loser, and the process would continue until one remained to challenge the last loser from the winners' bracket.

At this stage, high round-robin scores became extremely valuable.

For instance, Mei Gongzi, with the highest score, would only need to win the match against Ning Chen'en to guarantee a top-three placement. Everyone else needed at least two wins to ensure the same result.

Many spectators questioned why Tang San didn't continue his matches to fight for the highest score overall. He had two default wins available; if he had completed all matches, he could've easily taken the #1 seed.

However, many others thought Tang San had made the right choice: minimizing exposure, conserving power for the final rounds. With his current score, just one victory in the finals would likely put him into the top three. At the very least, he would have two chances before elimination.

As the finals approached, tension rose across the Ancestral Court. The external betting houses run by demons and nymphs were in chaos.

Many now realized: If anyone had bet big on Jin Miaolin back when the odds first opened and he ended up claiming the Emperor's seat, they'd make an outrageous fortune. And as it turned out, there

were

such bets placed—of course, by the Blue Gold Tree clan.

When Jin Miaolin first made waves at the auction, many of the spectators had laughed at him, dismissing him as nothing more than a rich fool. Now? All that scorn had turned to admiration. Everything had changed.

Tang San didn't pay attention to such things. In truth, his three-day "break" was anything but a break. With the three forfeited matches added in, he had six full days of preparation, and he made sure to use every moment appropriately.

During this time, not even the elders of the Blue Gold Tree clan saw him. He remained secluded in his room, officially in closed-door cultivation. This left many powerhouses from other clans—those eager to build relationships—standing at a closed door. But it was understandable; what could be more important than the Battle for the Throne? This was a fight for the very seat of an Emperor.

As for what exactly Tang San was doing during this time... only he knew.

The six finalists were all quietly preparing for war. In a double-elimination format, the first match was absolutely critical. Even for Mei Gongzi, a loss in the first round would make becoming the absolute champion incredibly difficult. But if she won her first match, she could potentially become champion in just three rounds.

Unlike the previous phases, everyone now knew who their opponent would be in the first round. It was Tang San against Lan Moqian, Mei Gongzi against Ning Chen'en, and Xu An'yu vs Jiang Chenchou.

In essence, Tang San and Mei Gongzi were facing the husband-and-wife duo of Lan Moqian and Ning Chen'en. It was a rather funny matchup, though only Tang San was aware of how funny it actually was.

Tang San would face Lan Moqian, who wielded two divine heavy swords. Mei Gongzi would face Ning Chen'en, who was perhaps the tournament's strongest defensive contestant. Though he didn't have the Undying Golden Body, his own defenses were nothing to scoff at even at the Emperor level; for those of lesser cultivation, he might as well have been an adamant mountain.

With the tournament this close to crowning some future Emperors, every race would now fight with everything they had.

During this time, while Tang San was in seclusion, Mei Gongzi was far from at ease.

Because... Tang San had vanished.

She had gritted her teeth and fought through fierce battles, relying heavily on the Asura Sword's power. Without it, it would have been impossible for her to defeat her strongest opponents one after the other. But even after scoring the highest points and advancing to the finals, Tang San still hadn't appeared.

Only three male contestants had qualified: Jin Miaolin, Xu An'yu, and Ning Chen'en.

But none of them seemed to be Tang San.

Jin Miaolin was Lord of Skytree City, heir to the Ancestral Tree, and the center of attention lately. His fighting style was utterly bizarre... and he always leered at her.

Xu An'yu didn't even factor in this equation. He was the Radiant Dragon King; despite his youthful appearance, he was over a century old and a widely acknowledged leader of the dragon race.

Finally, Ning Chen'en and Lan Moqian were husband and wife. While his incredible toughness had once made Mei Gongzi suspicious, especially since she was aware that Tang San had the same bloodlines, seeing the two together erased all doubt.

So... where was Tang San? He had clearly promised her: After the matchmaking tournament, he would openly marry her. Yet now, there was no sign of him at all.

She trusted his strength. At the start of the tournament, her biggest fear had not been that he would lose, but that he would expose himself and draw attacks from the Emperors. But now, with the tournament this far in and still no sign of him, Mei Gongzi's heart was full of anxiety.

What is he doing? Why haven't I seen a single trace of him?

She had even secretly tried to contact him through the sword intent of the Asura Sword, but this time, there was no response. It was as if Tang San had completely vanished from the world.

1. The last part was added to the translation in order to reconcile the introduction of the Undying Golden Body with what happens in this chapter, and does not reflect the original. ☜