Chapter 901: Unaffiliated vs. Sect (1/2)

”I would have never thought that you would be here,” Zern transmitted to Gravis.

”Why not?” Gravis answered with a laugh.

”Well, first of all, you have a beast-”

Suddenly, Zern's eyes widened, and he looked at the corner of the hall. Every corner had a beast crystal.

Zern saw the beast crystals shining red, and panic appeared in his eyes.

Then, he looked around at everyone else with shock and confusion.

Why was no one noticing that the beast crystals were shining red!?

The bright, red light wasn't subtle. It nearly illuminated the entire hall. It was impossible to not notice something like that!

”Surprised?” Gravis asked with a voice transmission.

Zern looked with surprise at Gravis, while the other disciples from the Sects looked confused at Zern. What was up with that guy? Had he become nervous because of the tournament?

”How has no one noticed the beast crystals?” he asked.

”Secret,” Gravis transmitted to Zern. ”However, it has something to do with a Law I know.”

Zern took a deep breath. ”That's really impressive, Gravis. If anyone knew that someone with a beast body was able to enter the central palace of the Nine Elements Sect, they would start fearing that all the beasts could infiltrate them. However, no one would even believe such a thing!”

Gravis had to chuckle.

Zern and Gravis continued talking for a while. It was nice to see a familiar face among all these strangers.

Some minutes later, one of the doors opened, and several people entered.

All of them wore the uniform of the Nine Elements Sect. There were three in total, and Gravis couldn't feel the power of any one of them.

This meant that all of them were at least in the Major Circulation Immortal Emperor Realm.

Even more, Gravis knew two of those people.

In the middle of the three people was a woman with blue hair. Gravis had never met her, but he had seen her picture in the hallway.

This was the current Sect Master of the Nine Elements Sect.

The woman smiled politely at the candidates, but her smile seemed frosty. There was no happiness or kindness behind that smile. It was like a being without emotion was trying to be polite.

'The Sect Master should be a Late Major Circulation Immortal Emperor, and the other two should be Vice-Sect Masters, which means that they are probably at the Mid Major Circulation Immortal Emperor Realm. Quite a powerful lineup,' Gravis thought.

The other person Gravis recognized was the Vice-Sect Master that had invited him into the Sect. His smile actually felt genuine.

Gravis bowed politely, just like everyone else.

After the greetings were over, Gravis saw the Sect Master looking intently at him. It was like she was inspecting him with her Spirit Sense.

Gravis felt a bit nervous, but he knew that he wasn't in danger. As long as she didn't suspect that Gravis was a beast, she wouldn't notice.

After a while, she looked away again.

”Welcome, everyone, to the tournament!” the old Vice-Sect Master said. The other one was a young man and remained silent besides the Sect Master.

”The esteemed Sect Master will decide who will fight who. Right now, we have 22 contestants, and we will continue with one versus one matches until only three remain. When three candidates remain, we will let the three candidates fight in an everyone versus everyone match!” the Vice-Sect Master explained.

The participants nodded.

'Stella isn't here,' Gravis thought nervously. 'How am I supposed to know what I should do if she isn't here? I need to lure her out somehow!'

The Vice-Sect Master stepped back and bowed politely to the Sect Master. ”Sect Master, if you may,” he said.

The Sect Master nodded.

”You and you,” the Sect Master said politely as everyone's Spirits were moved to two people.

One of them was a person from a High-Rank Sect, while another was from the unaffiliated Cultivators.

The two participants entered the arena as they waited for the signal to start.

The old Vice-Sect Master also stepped into the arena. Apparently, he would be acting as a referee, and he would also make sure that no participants would die. The occasional death in the preliminary tournament wasn't bad, which was why the elder hadn't cared about that. However, here, it was essential to protect the disciples. After all, this was a gathering of elites.

”Begin!”

The two participants immediately started battling each other, but just after a couple of seconds, everyone was already clear on who the victor would be.

The unaffiliated participant fought bravely, but he just couldn't compete with the powerful Weapon Techniques of his opponent. After all, the opponent came from a powerful Sect with powerful Weapon Techniques.

These Sects had millions of years to perfect their Weapon Techniques, while the unaffiliated Cultivators could only create their own or buy mediocre ones with a ton of money.

Gravis still couldn't even imagine creating something as intricate and complex as the Weapon Technique that Stella had shown him back then.

Creating such a powerful Weapon Technique required time more than anything else, and Gravis just hadn't had enough time.