Rebirth of the Prime Dragon Master
Chapter 1183 Stronger Than Before

"Will you attend?" Sabina asked as she looked at Rocky.

"Mmm, no. The invitation says that they want me to attend a contest of some sort. That I'm notinterested in." Rocky shook his head in negative.

"Oh. But do you know what the messenger said when he brought the invitation? According to him,Erica claimed that if you didn’t attend, she would come out to the Holy Dragon Empire in person toget you," Lucilla reminded him.

"Oh, really? So she hasn't given up yet," Rocky said thoughtfully. He was already aware of the factthat the thought of him defeating and humiliating Erica haunted her to this day. It was obvious whyshe wanted an opportunity to get her revenge.

"Yes, and that's not all,” Sabina grumbled and then continued hesitatingly, "Basil, don't you know?The Magic Phoenix Empire holds this martial arts contest but its name is a farce. The real purposebehind it is not the display of martial arts.” Lucilla blushed a little when she noticed that Rocky knewnext to nothing about the contest.

"Then what is it?" Rocky asked in a curious tone.

"To pick men." Sabina completed the sentence, raising her eyebrow.

On the face of it, the martial arts contest was held by the Magic Phoenix Empire for martial artsexchange. What was kept on the down low was the fact that it was actually an excuse for the empireto select outstanding male spirit manipulators

The way it went, a rather sexist tradition had been going behind the masks of this contest for a longtime now. There were two reasons as to how the female spirit manipulators of the Magic PhoenixEmpire had a place in such a men-dominated profession. The first was that they had the support ofthe high-class Phoenix Master Clan. More importantly, they had always followed the principle thatwomen should be self-reliant. This had been rooted into their minds ever since the foundation ofthe Magic Phoenix Empire had been laid. From those very days, they had been cultivating all kindsof excellent female spirit manipulators vigorously. Naturally, these spirit manipulators had to carrytheir profession forward, and also needed to increase their number.

So behind the masks of this contest, the mission of these women of the Magic Phoenix Empire wasto give birth to more outstanding spirit manipulators. For this reason, they would have a one-nightstand with the topmost spirit manipulators from the contest without actually falling in love.

Word had it that there was a secret medicine in the Magic Phoenix Empire, which could greatlyincrease the chances of a girl being born. Whether it worked or not was a matter of opinion, thoughmost of these one-night stands gave birth to girls. And if a boy was born with excellent enoughqualifications, the Magic Phoenix Empire would train him as well and use him for the same purpose.In this way, the Magic Phoenix Empire now had a unique selection of female talents.

In fact, the martial arts contest was just one of the many means of the Magic Phoenix Empire."Really? I'd better not go then!" Rocky refused as soon as he heard the real reason.

"Come on! So many men like Erica, but she specially asked for you. That clearly means that you havea better chance with her than other men," Sabina reminded him.

"You know what, men always think in one way and behave in another. I can tell that you want to goeven though you are refusing right now," Shirley said sarcastically.

Rocky rolled his eyes. When he was about to go to the Genome Research Institute, the emperor ofthe Holy Dragon Empire had sent an order from the Palace City.

After hearing the order, Rocky was at a loss whether to cry or to laugh. He had been ordered to goto the Magic Phoenix Empire on behalf of the Holy Dragon Empire and attend the martial artscontest. Originally, the queen of the Magic Phoenix Empire had sincerely invited the emperor toparticipate in the contest, but because of his declining health, he was unable to travel that long.What was more, he couldn't just send anyone else. If he did, then the Magic Phoenix Empire wouldthink that he looked down upon them.

Therefore, he hoped that Rocky, who was only second to him in terms of status in the Holy DragonEmpire, could go on his behalf. If that happened, then the queen of the Magic Phoenix Empirewould be satisfied, which was important to keep relations in check.

Previously, Rocky could have refused. But now, this matter was related to the reputation of the HolyDragon Empire, which meant that he had no choice but to go.

The next day, Rocky took the three women with him as he went to attend the martial arts contest.As soon as they arrived at the Magic Phoenix Empire, they went straight to the capital, which wasaptly known as the Phoenix City.

The martial arts contest was held every three years and hundreds and thousands of spiritmanipulators between the Earthly and the Divine Stages would be invited to attend. However, theMagic Phoenix Empire would pay special attention to those men who were young, strong, andbetween the Earthly and the Heavenly Stages. Apart from those, a few spirit manipulators at theSupernal Stage also attended the contest. Although they were old, they looked only middle-agedand would also be taken into consideration.

Rocky was also invited, but he had no intention of attending the martial arts contest this year. Hissole purpose was to represent the emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire as Prince Crimson.

As soon as Rocky and his companions arrived at the royal palace in the Phoenix City, they weregreeted by a maid who had been specially assigned to take care of them only. She took them to achamber to rest.

Along their way, Rocky saw spirit manipulators from various empires who wore all kinds of clothesand spoke all kinds of languages exploring the palace. Each had been assigned their own maids. Hecould see that the Magic Phoenix Empire had cast a really wide net. On their way from the gate ofthe palace to their chamber, they had already seen at least a hundred spirit manipulators. All ofthem were from varying empires, and these were just the ones who had already arrived.

The more the Magic Phoenix Empire invested, the greater the return would be. Although it wasgoing to cost a lot to hold a martial arts contest, it was still a good deal for them because talentedspirit manipulators were beyond a price.

The easiest example would be Erica, who, as a talented spirit manipulator would be most definitelypriceless.

After leading Rocky and the three women to the chamber, the maid left.

Two hours later, a proud figure walked gracefully into the chamber. Rocky and his companions werestunned when they saw her.

It was Erica, but that was not the surprising part. What really fascinated them was that about a yearago, Erica had only been at the preliminary level of the Supernal Stage, but now she was close to theDivine Stage. It was highly likely that she had gone on a few adventures in the past year. Otherwise,it would be impossible for her to reach such a high level so fast.

As for Erica, when she glanced at the three women, she was also surprised. She could sense the auraof the Divine Stage from them. Sabina and Lucilla had been on par with her the last time they hadmet. And now they were on the Divine Stage. Then, her eyes fell on Rocky. Although she could nottell his current strength, she was sure that he must be much stronger than before. Her eyes flashedwith a complex look.

"Prince Crimson, our queen and the imperial preceptor want to see you. Please follow me," she toldRocky after quickly recovering from her initial surprise.

Rocky's eyes narrowed. Then along with the three women, he followed Erica out of the chamber andtowards the queen's palace.