At daybreak, a ray of sunlight broke the darkness as it shone down onto the earth. The Tiger Martial Institute was like a pot of boiling water, slowly getting roused.
The bells rang as the disciples woke up.
Ye Mo just left his room when he witnessed fellow participants lining up in front of an extremely beautiful female teacher.
Her deep purple hair flowed down her waist, and her long lavender dress wrapped tightly against her skin, accentuating the curves of her body. An opening was on the right side of the lower half of her dress, revealing a slender snow white leg. Her exquisite face carried a cold expression as she waited beside the black castle's entrance.
The boys were mesmerized by her sight as they couldn't take their eyes off her. The girls, instead, frowned in front of this situation. Being eclipsed by another woman wasn't a good feeling.
When all the youths were gathered, the female teacher spoke out.
"My name's Lan Xue. I am the instructor sent to take you to the arena. Now follow me and don't ask any questions."
Saying so, Lan Xue turned around and walked away from the black castle.
Everyone immediately followed and obediently stood behind her. Many were more than happy to stand at the rear, peeking at their instructor. The Tiger Martial Institute covered a very large area, Lan Xue led them through many paths before they reached the west of the academy, where ten elevated battle stages stood out.
The battle stages were extremely durable, made of reinforced stone square tiles able to withstand a force of 2000kg.
Around the battle stages were bleachers filled with thousands of spectators chatting with each other. In the middle of these bleachers was a platform carrying the dean of the institute, Hong Li, and the vice dean, Han Zhen Jun, accompanied by important guests. Among them were the elders of the four clans.
The patriarchs couldn't leave their clans easily, and even if they did, it wouldn't be to watch kids compete against each other thus, they would send representatives to stay informed of what happened.
The youths following Lan Xue reached the arena and stood on a flat contour in between the stage and the audience, where they found Wang Fei waiting for them. Her task done, Lan Xue left under the insistent gaze of the boys and disappeared in the crowd.
"Not only one but the four clans' young masters are attending this year."
Seeing this, not only the Tiger Martial Institute students but also the other spectators were excited, as this had not happened in previous years.
"Ma Shinfei is here as well, I can't wait for the show to start."
"Who's this ugly girl, don't tell me it's the rumored Yan clan young miss? She should hide her face if she's going out in public."
Discussions were aplenty among people.
On the platform, the four clans' elders courteously talked to each other. There was much rivalry between their members all year round, but in such events and because it was inside the Tiger Martial Institute, they would maintain appearances in public and avoid direct aggression.
They silently looked at their clan heir at times before retracting their vision.
In their heart, there was no doubt they would easily join the Institute. What they wondered was how they would fare against the other young masters.
"Wang Fei, the time has come, let the competition begin." Hong Li, next to the elders, sent a transmission to Wang Fei.
"Indeed."
Wang Fei approved silently and announced the rules and the rewards, his voice reverberating in the plaza.
The rules were basically as such:
Spiritual weapons higher than mid-tier are prohibited
The fight ends when one party surrenders, no further attacks are allowed
Although deaths could occur in battles, you're not allowed to purposefully attempt to kill your opponent, if you're judged to be doing so, you will be punished accordingly
Falling from the stage counts as a loss
No intake of pills before or during the match
Any violation will result in the immediate disqualification of the individual. Finally, an instructor is overseeing the battles and can intervene if necessary.
The rules were understandable, and everyone accepted them. The spiritual weapon prohibition was to maintain fairness. There were many types of spiritual weapons with all kinds of abilities graded from low, mid, high, to peak-tier at best. The better their grades, the stronger they were. Now, if any clan member came with their family heirloom or some rich kid fought with a top-grade spiritual weapon against people who could barely afford an iron sword, wouldn't it be the same as cheating?
This competition was to test the contestants' talent and skills, not their wealth, so high and peak-tier spiritual weapons were forbidden.
As for the rewards:
21st to 50th place - 500 gold coins
11th to 20th place - 1000 gold coins, and one bottle of mid-tier yellow class spirit qi pill
6th to 10th place - 1500 gold coins, 1 bottle of spirit qi pill, 1 meridian purifying pill, and the right to enter the third floor of the cultivation tower
2nd to 5th place - 2000 gold coins, 1 bottle of spirit qi pill, 1 meridian purifying pill, the right to enter the third stage of the cultivation tower, and the Institute armory
1st place - 3000 gold coins, 1 bottle of spirit qi pill, 1 meridian purifying pill, the right to enter the third stage of all three towers, and the Institute armory once
Most important of all, on top of the rewards, the top 20 places will enter the Tiger Martial Institute as disciples.
"Such generous rewards, even if I have to risk my life, I must get a part of it." One boy said, completely fired up.
"The towers of the Tiger Martial Institute contain their martial arts. I heard the third stage holds the high-tier Yellow Class martial arts!" One girl said with her eyes glimmering.
"How could it be so easy to reach the top 10? All I care about is joining the Institute, then I will have other chances to gain such resources." Someone else added staying level-headed.
"All the weapons of the Institute are inside the armory. Gaining an entry is the same as having the spiritual treasure of your choice handed to you." Immediately, discussions erupted among participants. Some tried to stay calm, but everyone was excited. At once, the fighting spirit of the contestants was roused up.
Everyone was moved by such temptations, some tried to stay calm and focus on their objectives, but most could not wait for the tournament to start.
Ye Mo was speechless, he wasn't aware that there would be rewards as well.
"Looks like I won't be able to hold back. If I have the chance, I must go further even if I reached the top 20 already." On the outside, Ye Mo looked indifferent, but in his pitch-black eyes burned a bright fire.
Once Wang Fei finished announcing the rules and rewards, the contestants began to draw lots.
This year, there were a total of more than four hundred contestants who were not more than sixteen years of age, and among them, only three had no qi cultivation, including Ye Mo.
On the stage, Ye Mo randomly picked the number 74. This meant he would fight the other youth who picked number 74.
"With the second phase of the competition officially started, will the contestants with lot numbers 1 to 10 please come on stage."
The ten stages held fights at the same time.
Multiple youths went on stage, some used the stairs, but most directly leapt up. After paying respect to each other, they fought.
Immediately, shouting noises, battle skills, and the sounds of punches and kicks, as well as the discussions of the onlookers around the arena, fused in a loud banter.
...
In the blink of an eye, dozens of matches have concluded. When a battle ended on stage, new contestants were immediately called, and another one started.
From these fights, it was clear to the eyes of the spectators that competitors from the major clans and aristocratic families are more competent. When they fought against common individuals, it majoritarily solded by a victory and when they were matched against each other, the battles were much fiercer and pleasing to the eyes.
But it was surprising to none as they were trained from a young age in their families' martial arts and enjoyed better resources.
For cultivators, resources came first, then talent, and in third, efforts. After all, no matter how hardworking you are, there are only 24 hours to train in a day, and no one can change that.
"Number 48, come on stage." Wang Fei called out.
Gao Lixin and a plain-looking youth left the crowd and came on stage.
"I will be in your care brother Gao."
"Haha, go easy on me little brother Shen."
Both contestants greeted each other before Shen Man kicked off the ground and dashed at Gao Lixin, sword in hand.
Shortening the distance, Shen Man followed with a horizontal slash, but Gao Lixin was unfazed and with a wave of the hand, disarmed his opponent.
"You have the basics, but your cultivation is still lacking." While declaring, Gao Lixin threw a palm strike and sent his opponent flying out of the stage.
"Fighting a sword bare-handed, this Gao Lixin sure has balls." The spectators were impressed by this display of power, as Shen Man was still a 5th layer Qi Gathering Realm cultivator, but was easily outclassed by Gao Lixin.
The Shen clan members frowned, seeing their comrade defeated with such ease by a rival clan. Only Shen Xue had no reaction, still like an ice statue.
The competition hence resumed.
"Number 74."
After some time, it was Ye Mo's turn.
He and his opponent stood on the stage facing each other.
"I am Tie Tao of the Tie family." Tie Tao said, bowing to Ye Mo. Tie Tao, as a minor member of an influential family, was raised strictly and good manners were ingrained in his mind in a way that he wouldn't make his family lose face.
Stomp!
Ye Mo stepped hard on the stone tiles as he rushed at Tie Tao.
"You f**cker, how can you sneak attack like that?!" Tie Tao swore loudly, losing all composure. He didn't expect this unassuming kid to be so shameless, attacking during his greeting in a formal competition before thousands of spectators.
Ye Mo reached his foe in a flash, and with the sole of his foot, he kicked Tie Tao's chest hard.
Tie Tao, unable to react, was immediately sent flying off the stage, crashing on the ground below.
His screams came to a stop as he lay on the ground motionless, his fish-like eyes wide open.
One fatal kick took his life.