The Supreme God of Martial Arts
Chapter 372 Attend The Ceremony (Part One)

Austin was soon becoming indomitable. When invited to PrinceReuben's banquet, he defeated Hasson within seconds. Hasson, theforemost disciple of the Peripatetic Sect was formidable but in front ofAustin he looked like a rookie. Little did Hasson know that by brazenlyprovoking Austin he had become a lesson to the rest. Their scheme ofprevailing over Austin from the very first encounter was now a laughingmatter.

Austin, on the other hand, was strong, fierce and warlike.

By beating Hasson, he had made his presence felt among the greats.He was not just one among the hundreds of the young competitorspresent. Rather, he had joined the ranks of the top ten warriors.Nobody could question Austin's position now and naturally, hisinvitation to the Outstanding Talents Exchange Games by PrinceReuben.

"Your Highness, I am so sorry for what I have done to your banquet. Itwasn't my intention,” said Austin humbly.

Now that nobody had the guts to challenge him anymore, Austin puton a sincere face and apologized to Prince Reuben.

His Highness had been observing Austin right from the start. In hisusual impassive manner, the Prince saw how Austin fought his warriorsand not a single one of his dared challenge Austin anymore

Austin too took note of His Highness's detached manner. Heunderstood that the Prince enjoyed fights and liked to gauge thestrengths of the warriors in combat. To the Prince, this was an obviousway to select the truly strong and fierce. And, the weakest were rid ofconveniently.

"You don't need to apologize. You beat him up in self-defense. End ofstory. But I am impressed with your skills. Austin, I am surprised andpleased by your fights,” replied His Highness.

There was something more on Prince Reuben’s mind that he didn'treveal yet. After seeing Austin fight, he felt that Austin was worthy ofbeing one among the fifty of his seeded team of the Mysterious NetherWorld. In fact, he knew that Austin would make a great addition to hiselite group. Prince Reuben valued talents and Austin had earned hisplace of pride in his thoughts.

After Prince Reuben dismissed Austin, he saw hundreds of servants filein with the choicest of dishes and delicacies. From meats to fish, exoticvegetables and fruit. There was a wide array of mouth-wateringpreparations at Prince Reuben's feast.

The air was tinted with the spirit of revelry, while some clinked wineglasses, others took to indulging in finger-guessing gambling. This wasan extraordinary event and the disciples present dove headlong intothe sensual experience. After all, no one wanted to miss out on anevening like this.

In the sumptuously furnished hall, a group of young girls, supple andlithe of limb, were dancing among the guests. Like the melodious notesthey sang, their bodies too moved gracefully. The gossamer-likedresses flew with the cool breeze that gushed through the balcony.One could make out silhouettes of their youthful, vigorous bodies butnot one detail more.

And yet, despite the carousing, some warriors remained grim-facedwith their hostile gaze fixed on Austin.

And nothing went unnoticed from Austin's hawk-like gaze too. Rather,he chose to shrug off their envy with a laugh.

His Highness abruptly interrupted the banquet to make anannouncement.

"My mighty warriors. Can I have your attention, please? Tomorrowmorning, I want to meet everybody here as I wish to take all of you tomy brother's palace for the ceremony.”

The ceremony? What ceremony?

A wave of confusion rippled through the warriors. It was commonknowledge that now, all sons of the emperor were enemies. They werefighting each other for their old man's throne. So why would PrinceReuben invite them to another prince's mysterious ceremony was reallybeyond comprehension.

"Tomorrow, my eldest brother will take two concubines, at the sametime. Both of them are, as I hear, of unmatched beauty. So the GrandPrince invited all the princes to attend the ceremony, all of us! And heinsisted that, in particular, every brother should bring with him hisfavorite warriors. And for me, my favorite warriors are each and everyone of you."

Prince Reuben paused for a second, looked around and started again, "Iknow. My brother wants to make a show of his harem. But I also knowabout his ulterior motive of replaceing out what each and every one of usis up to. So let's go. Let's see what's on my brother's mind this time.”Prince Reuben looked around for the second time and aroused hisaudience, "Maybe he thinks his warriors are better than mine. I don'tthink so, do you?"

Everyone present gasped.

Now they knew what Prince Reuben's hidden agenda was. And whatthis day of scrumptious food and seductive girls was about.

The next day in the morning, His Highness gathered as many ashundred warriors as his retinue to the grand prince's palace.

Austin was of course, one of them.

As they approached the grand prince's palace, the warriors wereastounded by its sheer size that was almost ten times larger than PrinceReuben's. Its unique architecture with its turrets and spirals were neverseen before, not anywhere in all the realms. The towering structuremade of sandstone and marble was bedecked with carvings. Right fromthe spire to the floors, everyone was goggled by the palace’s beauty.The sprawling manicured gardens and the embellished entrancereflected His Highness's opulence at its peak.

As Prince Reuben's entourage gaped at the lavishness, warriors of theother princes started coming in in an endless stream.

At the gate, His Highness's splendidly dressed and ornamentedservants began to usher in the warriors. Visibly happy, they too wereinfected by their jubilant prince and his marvelous achievements.

One might think that they were just servants in the royal household, butthey took enormous pride in having a master as remarkable andsuperior as the grand prince.

After extending his master's regards to Prince Reuben, a minister fromthe grand prince's counsel led the way to the main hall

The majestic entrance of the palace led to a vast corridor lined by exotictrees dotting the inner courtyard. Red silk ribbons and myriad kinds oflanterns hanging from the branches, were auspicious omens for theprince to start a new life with his concubines.

"The silk ribbons, the decorations—all of it certainly looks a wedding tome," thought Austin to himself.

He felt thirsty and licked his lips instinctively.

But with so much going on, no one even looked at Austin. As everyonestreamed into an enormous square of pearly white jade, a horde of so-called guests too arrived from another entrance.

The luxurious hall was docked with people occupying every inch of theplace. At one end, was a high platform erected specially for theceremony. Antique plush armchairs lined the red carpeted-stage as ifthey overlooked the audience seated below.

At the center of the platform, ten seating arrangements with exquisitetables and chairs were arranged for the premium guests.

To help the servants usher in each person to their designated seat,placeholders were kept as

The Grand Prince, Prince Geoffrey, Prince Frederick, and so on. Ofcourse, towards the end, came the placeholder

for Prince Reuben.

It was understood that each table meant seating for a certain princeand his privy council. Prince Reuben was not a man to flare up easilyand take offence at his name being put towards the end. Quietly, heand his council took seat to observe the undercurrents at the event.Some had heard that the hidden agenda behind the occasion was toassemble all warriors aiming at the Outstanding Talents ExchangeGames today. Since becoming a part of a prince's camp was necessaryfor participation in the competition, Austin realized that in a way, thewhole ceremony was for each prince to size up all warriors andcalculate the chances of winning they had.