February 22nd, today was the last day of the Rule Period.

The Suroma Empire’s “Grand Competition” was also about to enter its final championship phase.

The finals venue had been switched to the capital’s largest event center. Before the match officially began, a long parade of beautiful women and handsome men went on stage to warm up, dancing and singing at full volume.

The arena, capable of holding tens of thousands, was packed to capacity. Even though every ticket had been resold at many times face value, countless Ascendants were still willing to pay.

Many spectators took their seats holding a beer or soft drink in one hand and a giant bucket of popcorn in the other, as if they were there to watch a movie or an ordinary sporting event.

Some even brought prepared foods like braised pork, which made those nearby stare: once the contestants start tearing each other apart and blood and flesh fly, who could still eat meat?

After everyone seated, there was still time before the match began, so people started chatting with those beside them.

“Hey, bro, did you snag this ticket yourself or buy it from a scalper?”

“Snagged it myself! Finals tickets were so scarce, I almost didn’t get one!”

“Haha, I snagged mine too. Hey, guy in front, did you get yours yourself?”

The Ascendant in the front row turned and sighed, “I’m out of luck, I didn’t get one. I paid triple to a scalper… It hurt to spend that many Ascension Coins, but this is the finals. It only happens once in a lifetime, so it’s worth coming to see.”

The youth in the seat beside him laughed, “Triple? That’s a few hundred coins, right? You’re rich. I couldn’t come up with that.”

“You got yours yourself?”

“I bought it from a scalper too.”

“Then how could you buy it if you can’t come up with the money—”

“I borrowed it.”

“Borrowed???”

Several people were stunned. Lend Ascension Coins now?

The youth laughed loudly, “Haven’t you heard? There are institutions that loan Ascension Coins now. The higher your Mind Power upper limit, the larger the loan! I borrowed it to enjoy myself first. Whether I can repay it later is another story. If I die in the next Rule, who’s getting repaid?”

“……”

A hush fell over several spectators. They hadn’t expected institutions lending Ascension Coins to exist.

But they understood that being able to borrow that many Ascension Coins meant the youth’s Mind Power upper limit must be fairly high, and thus he had a good chance of surviving. Otherwise lenders would consider it too risky and refuse.

In the VIP boxes.

Scions of various powerful families were scattered across different rooms. The best box was occupied by top-tier youth clustered around the king’s daughter, Yishan.

Yishan looked at the specially built circular platform in the arena and asked with curiosity, “They actually built a fighting stage in just a few days. They put a lot of effort into this.”

“Word is the organizers wanted to give the audience a more exciting view,” someone immediately explained. “I heard the stage is made from high-strength insulated metal so it can withstand everything.”

“Yeah, it had to be sturdy. The previous venue only lasted through fewer than ten matches before getting full of pits and dents, almost unusable.”

“By the way, who do you think will win today?”

“Miss Yishan must be rooting for that white-haired guy who controls lightning, right?”

Yishan nodded slightly; she indeed favored that youth.

“That guy’s definitely a top contender,” someone said. “He wiped out fourteen opponents in his group in the first round. After that, every round the others in his group ganged up on him, yet he still made it to the finals. That shows how strong he is.”

Others agreed.

Being attacked by fourteen people in each group every round and still reaching the finals made his record truly impressive.

Then another noble lady remarked, “It’s a pity Miss Yishan’s brother isn’t here… if he competed, he’d probably take first.”

Yishan’s expression dimmed when she heard that; she said nothing.

Everyone in the box knew Yishan’s brother had had an accident during a previous Rule, and fell silent.

Someone changed the subject: “Adam isn’t in the country right now, otherwise he’d surely make the finals too.”

Yishan, already in low spirits, turned deadly silent when Adam’s name was mentioned, snapping, “Shut up!”

A few others’ faces grew awkward.

“Ah… sorry, Miss Yishan…”

He hurriedly apologized and, bewildered, shuffled to a corner, unsure what had just happened.

Someone who knew more of the backstory leaned over and lowered their voice, “You’re really bold to mention Adam in front of her.”

“Do they have something going on?”

“I heard… Miss Yishan liked Adam and even pursued him, but Adam… cough.”

The man reacted with shock, “Adam rejected her? That guy must have lost his mind. He actually rejected the king’s daughter?”

“Who knows what he was thinking.”

“Hey, the match is starting!”

On the metal fighting stage, after the warm-up ended, the host stepped forward, full of energy.

“Hello to everyone here and everyone watching the livestream! Today is the last day of the Rule Period and the final day of our Grand Competition. Today, we will crown the one true and only champion—the Competition King!”

“Wooooo!!!!!”

The arena erupted. Though the title “Competition King” sounded a bit old-fashioned, in this context it felt heroic, sending everyone’s adrenaline soaring.

The host seized the moment, “The Competition King, besides taking all the contestants’ accumulated points and striving for the Rule ranking rewards, will also receive a prize from our organizers. Look at the big screen!”

A giant electronic display showed a large “10%” number.

“Ten percent of this event’s ticket revenue will be awarded as the ultimate prize to the Competition King!”

“Oh?!!!!”

The crowd went wild. Ten percent of ticket revenue was undoubtedly a massive sum of Ascension Coins—enough to make a single person instantly wealthy!

In an era where nearly everything could be purchased with Ascension Coins, every Ascendant dreamed of a windfall. Such a huge reward on display was a huge thrill even for those who wouldn’t win.

“Now, let us welcome the finalists to the stage!”

As the host finished, eighteen Ascendants walked onto the platform accompanied by stirring music.

From thousands of entrants down to eighteen, each finalist had built a reputation and countless fans, and their appearances drew thunderous acclaim.

The white-haired youth Yishan favored received the loudest cheers; his chant to win was the strongest, and naturally he had the most fans.

Nearly ten thousand had originally registered. Each of these eighteen contestants had hundreds of points above their heads, and after the match, those points would consolidate onto one person.

Who would it be? Everyone watched with bated breath.

Since this was the finals, they wouldn’t start fighting immediately—that would be too short and not worth the ticket price. So the host introduced each contestant one by one to tease the audience.

On stage, some contestants looked grim, some smiled. Several exchanged glances and fixed hostile stares on the white-haired youth, whose screen name, compared to the others, was plain—just “Peter.”

The live cameras captured the exchanges precisely; the big screen broadcast the hostile looks aimed at the white-haired youth, earning a chorus of boos.

The livestream barrage of comments scrolled frantically.

“Those guys’ stares are way too obvious. Looks like they plan to gang up on Peter as soon as the match starts!”

“That’s dirty, ganging up even in the finals!”

“Poor Peter… he’s been ganged up on since round two and still made the finals…”

“What a bunch of clowns. Watch me, Thunder Despot, fry them all!”

“Anyone who makes the finals is skilled. Who survives to the end is anyone’s guess.”

…

“You paying close attention to the match?” 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Uenoshi walked into the manor’s lounge and saw Guan Tong sitting on the sofa watching the livestream. She asked out of curiosity.

“Just watching since I’m bored.”

Two days had passed and Guan Tong’s wounds had healed.

Shi Jingyi had also used a teleportation item to return to Beixing yesterday. As a lecturer, she had responsibilities to her students and couldn’t skip class.

Guan Tong had told her that with Valeri’s “military-political-financial-spy” apparatus collapsing, Yelanka could soon stabilize her footing.

After the Rule Period ended, during the Interval Period before the next Rule was announced, he would head back to Beixing and then find her.

Uenoshi looked at the packed audience on the screen, “So many people actually like watching live fights.”

“Yeah, and they spent coins to be here.”

“…By the way, Xisiya’s competition ended yesterday. Yelanka went to present the prize to the champion, but she didn’t look happy.”

Apart from Suroma, most countries’ competitions had already finished a day or two earlier.

Other nations held closed competitions with fewer registrants, all matches conducted in sealed venues with no permitted recordings, so their attention pales compared to Suroma’s.

Those countries chose closed competitions precisely to avoid excessive public attention, giving domestic Ascendants a compliant path to vie for rankings.

Guan Tong said, “Behind every champion’s birth, hundreds or thousands died. As Administrator, how could she be in a good mood… But I believe she’ll recover. Once Valeri and those like him are cleaned out, the country will get better.”

Uenoshi nodded. At that moment, the broadcast cut to booming ceremonial cannons, the host left the stage, and the finals were about to officially begin.