The first few rounds in the tournament were all between lower tier princes that didn't have a chance to win the succession race.
So while the crowd was excited, it wasn't a frenzy.
The rounds continued with princes being eliminated one after the other.
But none of them were major contenders.
There were over a hundred princes in the Mu Stellar Kingdom, so there were plenty of minor princes to hype up the crowd first.
The first major contender that was brought to the stage was the first prince.
As the eldest prince, he had priority when it came to his match, so he was the first one to come to stage.
As soon as the first prince came onto the stage, the crowd erupted with cheers for him.
This was the first prince, the eldest prince, the one that everyone felt was his birthright to take over the throne. If he hadn't been too spoiled, perhaps he might have really been able to take over the position of crown prince without this tournament.
But the cheers stoked his ego and he immediately revealed a wide smile as he came forward with his team.
The members of his team were all experts sent by the large ministers, so every member of his team was in the World Realm. There was even one that released a stronger aura than the rest, which made it clear that he wasn't just in the Star Realm…
It was very likely that this person was in the peak of the Star Realm or might have even reached the Planet Realm…
As for the team of the fifty eighth prince, there wasn't a single World Realm Expert…
His only hope was that this would be a contest that didn't rely on strength so he would stand a chance.
But that hope was immediately crushed by the host who announced…
"This contest will be a contest of strength. Each member of the team will face another member from the other team and we will continue until there are no members left on one team. Each contestant that goes up can remain on the stage after winning."
The face of the fifty eighth prince fell when he heard this.
In a contest of direct strength, he stood no chance…
He even wanted to forfeit, but his team stopped him from doing so.
They said that it was because of his reputation, but really they wanted to take advantage of this experience.
It wasn't often that they would have a chance to spar with a World Realm Expert.
This tournament promoted harmony, so it had a rule in place about killing. If any contestant killed in any of the contests, they would be immediately eliminated from the tournament and would be prosecuted under the laws of the Mu Stellar Kingdom.
In this situation, a chance to spar with a World Realm Expert was like a god given gift since it would provide them with insight to break through.
The ones that supported the fifty eighth prince were all young talents from noble families, so of course they weren't willing to let themselves be stuck at the Soul Realm.
But the fifty eighth prince didn't know any of this and was moved by their loyalty.
He didn't know that they already planned on abandoning him once he lost the succession race.
There was no delay at all as the result that everyone expected appeared.
It took just a single one of the World Realm Experts to take care of all five of the members of the fifty eighth prince's team. Every single time, it only took a single move from the World Realm Expert.
However, when that World Realm Expert returned to the first prince's team, he was teased for taking too long.
It was very clear that even with how powerful this World Realm Expert was, he was the weakest member of the first prince's team.
The fifty eighth prince could only give a sigh, but he didn't find this strange since he had already expected this result. So after taking a deep breath, he went over to where the first prince was.
After all, he had to find a new backer once the tournament was over or he would disappear from this Stellar Kingdom.
With how strong the first prince's team was, he was a very good choice for that new back. Not to mention that he already had a good relationship with the first prince in the first place because of all the bribes that he had given him.
The first prince just accepted him with a wide and magnanimous smile because something like this would allow him to show off while stroking his own ego.
After all, if he accepted even the losers, his reputation among the commoners and the nobles would rise even higher.
As expected, people started praising the first prince on the internet and in the broadcasts for being an open minded and magnanimous person.
The next match after this was the fourth prince's match.
However, unlike the first prince's match, this match ended in a different manner.
The eighty ninth prince that was supposed to compete with the fourth prince forfeited his right to participate.
That was because they were on the same side in the first place, so there was no need for the fourth prince and the eighty ninth prince to fight.
Instead, this was a better way for the fourth prince to show off his power.
He was so powerful that his enemies forfeited just at his name, there was no better show of his prestige and might than this.
Of course, the downside was that this would make him look like a tyrant, but that was what the fourth prince was already known as. So there was no downside for him doing this since it would establish his image even more.
This would make his opponents think twice about facing him and would bring some of the princes to his side.
The match after this was the second prince's match.
The second prince's opponent was the tenth prince, a prince that actually had quite a bit of power since he was a higher rank prince than the ones that the first prince and fourth prince faced.
This also showed how this tournament was rigged against the second prince since he had to face one of the stronger opponents in the first round.
The second prince's team was composed of a group of people that were completely covered in black cloaks. They even hid their aura, not releasing a single bit of it so people couldn't sense their cultivation at all.
But many people were feeling doubtful about the second prince's chances in the first place.
After all, the second prince was known for his own power and not the power of his subordinates. He didn't have any famous subordinates under him, so no one believed that these subordinates would be able to do much.
As for the tenth prince, two of his subordinates were in the World Realm. This wasn't a weak team by any means since most of the princes didn't even have a World Realm subordinate.
The contest that they would be competing in was actually a contest of strength, just like the one that the first prince had encountered.
The tenth prince didn't waste any time and immediately sent out one of his World Realm subordinates as probe for the second prince's team.
The second prince sent one of the medium sized cloaked figures out.
The match only lasted a single second, or rather a single move. The cloaked figure waved their hand and the tenth prince's World Realm subordinate fell to the ground unconscious.
There was only silence that filled the arena. It was so quiet that even the sound of a pin dropping could be heard.
Everyone rubbed their eyes and no one could believe what had just happened. After all, they hadn't even sensed any life energy fluctuations when the second prince's subordinate made a move.
Could it be that the second prince's subordinate had done all of that with just their physical body?
Then what level of cultivation would they be at that they would be able to do this?
They would have to be at least in the Planet Realm to suppress a Star Realm Expert with their physique alone…
This was just one of the second prince's subordinates, so what about the rest?
The first and fourth princes naturally weren't fools and could recognize this as well.
The moment that they saw this, they knew that they might be in danger at this rate, so they couldn't help thinking about all kinds of different counters to the second prince's team.
At the same time, in the special private box, the Mu Stellar King deeply knitted his brows as he looked at the second prince's team.
"When did the second son get these subordinates? Why didn't I know about them?" The Mu Stellar King couldn't help muttering to himself.
He had been keeping track of the second prince since he wanted to get rid of him and find his Hua'er, but he never knew about any of this.
Could it be that the second prince had hidden more things than he had thought from him?
Just how far did this go?
But before he could think anymore, a man in full armour suddenly came in and said, "Your majesty!"
…
Back on the field, the second prince narrowed his eyes as he watched his team approach. He released the law barrier around him to make sure that no one could hear what they were saying before saying, "Why did you do that? It's almost time for the plan to happen and you're playing around like this?"
The cloaked figure just gave a chuckle and said, "It's fine, it's not like anything can go wrong at this point, right?"
The second prince knitted his brows, but then he relaxed them and said, "I hope so."