Chapter 503: They are here as well!

It was a sunny day when Jian, Bia, Xavier, and two other humans stood in the middle of a large circular array that filled a vast space, surrounded by numerous mana stones floating in the air.

In the distance, several elderly humans in robes who had set up the array and many others who had come to bid farewell to their planet's strongest individuals and the divine phoenix stood. The emotional ones were cheering for the people standing on the array, and the elders were quietly watching those on the array.

The array lit up, and a bright light flashed, enveloping the people standing above the array in an bright embrace.

In the next second, the light scattered, and the array with the people standing above it all vanished within the particles.

The air fell silent as everyone watched the bright particles that scattered in the wind. One of the elderly humans stroked his beard and let out a sigh.

"I hope the kids stay safe and return unharmed... that place is dangerous, but I have faith they can endure, especially Xavier and Jian. They both hold promising futures, and with the Divine Phoenix alongside them, I trust they can overcome all the challenges in their way."

...

Inside the Sacred Divine Land, numerous new faces and formidable figures from various races began to arrive. After all, the opening of the Gladiator Arena was merely less than six months away.

The land was expansive, and despite thousands of newcomers arriving each day on floating ships or through teleportation arrays, the space was still large enough for them to easily lose themselves within it.

Nevertheless, they were all aware of their ultimate destination - the Gladiator Arena. So, even though they wandered the Sacred Divine Land in search of treasures, they were all ultimately making their way towards the Arena.

It was a huge shock for everyone when a supreme-rank representative from the demon race arrived to negotiate with the supreme-rank individuals who would oversee the Gladiator Arena.

The representative from the demon race expressed their eagerness to participate in the Gladiator Arena. Not only the demon race, but he said that its two subsidiary branches, the dark and nightkin races, would also participate.

He threatened the old figures that if they were prevented from joining the event, they would make every effort to disrupt it. Also, the people of the demon and dark race who are currently residing on the Sacred Divine Land, as they have conquered a part of it, would start a war on the land to slaughter every single participant.

The supreme-rank individuals were taken aback, and some even considered killing the representative.

But they halted their actions when the representative mentioned with a wicked smile that the second and third shadow general would also attend the Gladiator Arena as they are a little bored from the ongoing battles.

The shadow generals promised not to intervene if the demon, dark, and Nightkin races were permitted to participate in the Gladiator Arena.

After hearing about this, the old supreme rank individuals had no choice but to agree with gritted teeth, but they swore in front of the demon race representative that if the shadow generals dared to interfere or if the dark, demon, and nightkin race dared to break the rules of the Gladiator Arena under their watchful eyes, they would not care about the war that is still ongoing on the other end of the universe and do their best to kill the shadow generals even if they have to give up their lives.

At the same time, Alec and his group trained intensively as they had said, and all of them reached the Divine-rank. They wanted to look around for some ancient tombs in search of treasures as Mia had finally befriended a few mystical spirits. But Zron sensed the tense atmosphere in the Sacred Divine Land and noticed numerous groups from the demon and dark races lurking around everywhere.

That's why, for the first time, the old dwarf suggested to the youngsters that they take a few months' break from training before the Gladiator Arena opened up. This break would also allow their bodies to solidify their newfound strength. Also, a bit of rest is always necessary to rejuvenate oneself and maintain peak performance.

Despite knowing they did not need rest since they had been training rigorously to reach the divine rank, Alec and the others opted to follow Zron's suggestion upon noticing a solemn expression on the old dwarf's face. After all, it was rare for Zron, who always wore a carefree expression, to become so serious all of a sudden.

In the end, they discovered a huge cave beneath a withered tree trunk and chose to take shelter inside for a few months while Zron and Susan sealed the cave entrance with a concealment array.

But because they decided to remain inside the cave, they missed the rumors about the Divine phoenix and the red-haired man who arrived on the Sacred Divine land with Xavier and two other humans.

Bia was frustrated because even after entering the Sacred Divine Land she still could not sense Kyle's presence.

This led her to vent her frustration by making enemies with everyone she encountered, particularly the individuals from the dark and demon races. Jian found it amusing and couldn't resist joining in the fun. As a result, the duo quickly became famous in the sacred divine land.

Xavier shed many tears because of the duo and started to regret his decision to follow Bia and Jian to join the Gladiator Arena. He was the strongest in the group; that's why he always ended up getting beaten up in the end because both Bia and Jian were skilled at escaping after making enemies.

However, his heart always melted when Bia gave him some attention and asked him if he was alright. Therefore, he allowed the phoenix to do as she pleased.

But... no one could describe Xavier's inner turmoil because the more time he spent with Bia and Jian in the sacred divine land, the more he realized that Jian's luck was at rock bottom, or perhaps the red-haired man's luck stat was in the negative.

Before, during the war on the human's planet, Xavier never noticed this, and even when something bad happened in Jian's presence, he blamed it all on the war. But now, seeing how every time Jian chose a path, they ended up in trouble, and how Bia always chose to stay behind whenever Jian was taking the lead, Xavier understood that no matter what, he should never let Jian take the lead. Otherwise, they would all perish even before the Gladiator Arena opened.

Xavier took charge, and within the first two weeks of their arrival on the sacred divine land, they discovered an underground tunnel leading to an ancient tomb.

The two humans with Xavier were delighted, but Jian and Bia's eyes widened in shock when they saw a few familiar names inscribed on the huge gate that served as the tomb's entrance. Both of them surprised Xavier and the others by shouting together with excitement.

"Alec and the others are here!"

-"Mia is here!"

Jian looked at Bia to know why she only called out Mia's name, but the response he received was something he would have been better off not hearing.

-"She is pretty and warm."