Beside them, Ye Xiaoling watched with wide, startled eyes. Having cultivated under Elder Qingya for almost twenty years, she had never seen her cold, aloof master show such warm gestures to anyone, let alone tap a cultivator's head with such familiarity. She looked between Su Ming and her master in silent shock, but kept her mouth shut.
Behind the seating gallery, the massive jade boards of the tournament glowed with the roster. It was a staggering display of the sect's immense scale. As one of the four overlord sects ruling this world, its sheer scale was breathtaking. Group One, reserved for the Qi Condensation realm, had more than two thousand registered combatants. In contrast, the elite Group Two bracket for Foundation Establishment disciples had barely two hundred names listed.
