"There are two hours left till the end of the third stage," the transparent elder's voice sounded in the sky.
The hearts of everyone inside the maze palace tightened. The Crown Prince trial had almost reached the finale.
"Don't panic!" the Fourth Prince immediately messaged everyone. He needed to gather as much draconic providence in order to make sure he would definitely win in the last stage.
On the other hand, the Thirteenth Prince had an angry expression as he stared at Zhao Feng within the maze palace. "Even if I can't become the Crown Prince, I won't let the Ninth Prince win."
The Thirteenth Prince originally had a huge chance of becoming the Crown Prince, but the black-robed person was defeated by Zhao Feng, causing him to lose one of his strongest subordinates. In addition, Zhao Feng purposely went after his team members in this stage, taking a huge amount of his draconic providence and increasing the gap between him and the Fourth Prince.
The Eighth Prince had given up as well. Only one Sacred Lord in his team had entered the moving maze palace. One of his members was the team doctor. Adding on the fact that he didn't have much draconic providence beforehand, he already knew what would happen. Not only did he have zero hope in winning the fourth stage, he wouldn't even be able to emerge victorious from this stage.
At this moment, these three princes basically knew that Zhao Feng was the cheater, but they didn't really know how he was cheating. Therefore, the three princes tried to steer their team members away from Zhao Feng.
"Zhao Feng, we only have a difference of seven wins with the Thirteenth Prince," the Ninth Prince messaged Zhao Feng.
The Ninth Prince didn't care whether or not he could become the Crown Prince. He just wanted to try his best, make it as far as he could, and acquire the approval of the Sacred Emperor and the imperial elders.
"In order to increase the rate of the games, the maze palace will now become smaller," the transparent elder's voice sounded.
The Ninth Prince paused for a moment. If the map became smaller, then it would be more difficult for Su Qingling to avoid people. On the other hand, Zhao Feng could win more.
"This means I still have hope." The Thirteenth Prince's expression changed. The map becoming smaller was good news for him.
The average strength of his members exceeded the Eighth Prince's and Ninth Prince's. It was only because he wasn't good at commanding that his results weren't very good. If the map became smaller, then it was more likely for his members to meet those that were weaker.
As long as he could maintain his win rate and steal some draconic providence from the Fourth Prince, there was hope for him to become the Crown Prince.
"Sacred Lord Black Demon, don't bother with Zhao Feng anymore, just focus on winning. Li Hai, when you lose ten matches, choose to exit straight away…" the Thirteenth Prince told his team members the plan.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The maze palace started to shrink in the eyes of the four princes. The moving black walls also started to block off certain parts of the palace.
At this moment, Zhao Feng could already see a few figures nearby. Although they were avoiding Zhao Feng, the area in the maze palace was just too small now.
"Since the maze palace has become smaller, it would be best for Su Qingling to just lose ten matches and quickly leave," Zhao Feng messaged the Ninth Prince.
There were still some weak people around, so Su Qingling still had the possibility of winning a few matches. However, it was splitting the Ninth Prince's concentration for marginal benefits.
Whoosh!
Zhao Feng locked onto a member of the Thirteenth Prince's team and quickly flew toward him.
The continuous battles made Zhao Feng feel somewhat tired. Not only did he need to use part of his energy to monitor his flying spiritual pets outside, he also needed to direct and help Jing Kai. He was lucky that his soul was so strong.
"There are too many possibilities now," Senior Martial Brother Zhuge said. After the maze palace became smaller, it wasn't just the princes that were feeling more troubled. There was fighting every second, and the continuous battling tired everyone.
"Sacred Lord Ten Thousand Lightning lost a fight!" someone exclaimed.
Sacred Lord Ten Thousand Lightning was the strongest and most experienced Sacred Lord from the Fourth Prince's team. After winning twelve fights in a row, he had finally lost.
"Zhao Feng still hasn't lost any yet." A Quasi-Sacred Lord looked at Zhao Feng in shock.
Zhao Feng had eighteen wins already, but zero losses. Everyone knew that it was only because of Zhao Feng that the Ninth Prince had the ability to compete against the other princes in this stage.
"Furthermore, the Ninth Prince is directing his team members very well," Zhuge Yun added.
The Fourth Prince was the strongest of the four princes, but in terms of commanding, the Ninth Prince was far better.
After some time had passed:
"I choose to exit." Su Qingling disappeared from the maze palace and returned to the stone stage that the Ninth Prince was on.
"It's okay. At last you won three time," Shi Yulei smiled and said. After all, Su Qingling was just a junior of the younger generation. There was a big difference between her and the other experts within the maze palace.
"Zhao Feng's already won twenty-three in a row. We will win!" Zhou Su'er suddenly smiled and said.
"What? Twenty-three wins in a row?"
Although the Ninth Prince had told Su Qingling that Zhao Feng's results were very good and they still had hope, she was still stunned after knowing Zhao Feng's score. Twenty-three wins in a row - what kind of person was this youth?
"Zhao Feng won again! Twenty-four wins in a row."
"I choose to exit." A member from the Thirteenth Prince's team lost his tenth fight and had to leave the game.
The hearts of everyone in the Great Gan Imperial Palace tightened. The third stage of the Crown Prince trial was coming to an end, and the size of the moving maze palace was continuously shrinking.
The situation was changing every instant. Everyone was looking forward to the Ninth Prince's performance, who was a huge dark horse.
At a certain moment, the Ninth Prince was only three wins away from surpassing the Thirteenth Prince. One had to know that the Thirteenth Prince still had five members moving around the maze palace, while the Ninth Prince only had Zhao Feng, Old Ying, and Jing Kai, who were respectively an Emperor and two Quasi-Sacred Lords.
"The Fourth Prince is still in the lead. I think that he will become the Crown Prince."
"No one knows for sure. The Thirteenth Prince's team is extremely strong, and as long as his number of wins surpasses the Ninth Prince's, it is very likely for him to defeat the Fourth Prince in the next stage."
"Hehe, I actually think that the Ninth Prince's team will continue to create miracles. No one knows who will become the Crown Prince."
The forces all revealed their opinions.
"Chen'er." The Thirteenth Prince's uncle and the forces that supported the Thirteenth Prince were worried for him.
Even if the Thirteenth Prince managed to have more victories than the Ninth Prince, it would actually be extremely difficult for him to fight against the Fourth Prince. They knew that the Thirteenth Prince was too young and wasn't as experienced in every aspect like the others.
"This Zhao Feng…!" A deep voice sounded from Sacred Lord Demonic Abyss of Nine Darkness Palace. If it wasn't for the fact that Zhao Feng was constantly targeting the Thirteenth Prince, they would have had a lot of hope.
In front of the great hall of the Imperial Palace, the Sacred Emperor's expression changed. It was obvious that the current situation had exceeded his imagination. On the other hand, the Sacred Empress's eyes were filled with hatred as she glared at Zhao Feng.
Discussion suddenly broke out within the halls and in the clouds.
"Zhao Feng finally lost one battle."
"I didn't expect him to lose to an Elder of the Jade Ocean Clan."
"There's nothing he can do about it. The scenery just now tested experience. Zhao Feng is too young."
The various experts discussed with each another.
Within the Ninth Prince's hall:
"Their attention to Zhao Feng easily surpasses their attention to even the princes." Duke Nanfeng gave a faint smile. Zhao Feng losing one fight had raised the attention of many forces within the entire lord dynasty.
"I didn't expect the Ninth Prince to be able to reach this step." The representative from a two-star power was full of excitement. When they had chosen to support the Ninth Prince, they didn't expect to the Ninth Prince to be able to display such a performance.
As long as the Ninth Prince's total number of wins exceeded the Thirteenth Prince's, he would be able to enter the fourth stage. Even if he lost at that point, the Ninth Prince's status would rise a lot among the Great Gan Imperials.
"Great! Only two wins left till the Ninth Prince surpasses the Thirteenth Prince!" the elder of another force exclaimed.
After the moving maze palace became smaller, Zhao Feng's win rate increased by leaps and bounds.
"Jing Kai won another one as well!"
The Ninth Prince's total wins increased once more.
"Old Ying managed to just defeat his opponent!"
Shock appeared throughout the entire lord dynasty, and voices sounded across a thousand miles. The Ninth Prince's wins and the Thirteenth Prince's wins were equal.
Within the maze palace:
"How is this possible!? Brother Ninth Prince's team members are all extremely weak. How are they still winning?" the Thirteenth Prince roared toward the sky. He had broken down by now, and his directions were an utter mess. The members that he communicated with felt this firsthand.
"Good job, Old Ying! Now turn left, move forward, then turn left again."
The Ninth Prince and Old Ying were both extremely excited. Because Su Qingling had left, the Ninth Prince only needed to direct Old Ying alone. This meant that Old Ying was basically using the Ninth Prince's entire effort and could see everyone in the maze palace. This was much easier and better than Zhao Feng's transparent eyes.
"Zhao Feng, fight with me!" Yu Tianhao's voice suddenly sounded from within the maze palace. Yu Tianhao obviously knew that Zhao Feng was the cheater. If Zhao Feng didn't want to fight with him, it basically impossible for Yu Tianhao to even see Zhao Feng's shadow.
Zhao Feng had just exited from the scenery and heard what Yu Tianhao said.
"Then come!" Zhao Feng said mostly to himself.
Now that the Ninth Prince's total number of wins had exceeded the Thirteenth Prince's, then they would win as long as there were no surprises. In that case, Zhao Feng would indulge Yu Tianhao.
Zhao Feng's eyes looked toward the source of the sound and soon found Yu Tianhao's figure.
Whoosh!
Zhao Feng avoided several people on the way and charged toward Yu Tianhao.
"Zhao Feng, you've finally come!"
A surge of battle-intent shot out from Yu Tianhao's eyes.
Weng~
The scenery around them started to change, and they appeared on a desolate stretch of sand.