Chapter 38 - Preliminary Phase (1/2)

At the end of the route prepared for the participants, what awaited him was a large waiting room - inside, leaving out several guards from the regulation division, the number of people present was about fifteen at first glance. These were all participants in today's selection. The age ranged from 20-21, but they had all reached the third stage of spirit apprentice, some recently or some for a long time.

When he entered, the eyes of the participants rested on him briefly before settling on something else. Hei, being the youngest and being only in the second stage, was the most disadvantaged theoretically, but he was, at the same time, the one most kept in sight. It was because of the event that involved the four elders, something that had been unheard of before.

After Hei, other people arrived, but none of them aroused the same reaction. When new people stopped coming, there were a total of 24 participants in the waiting room. In truth, there were more participants, but that waiting room was assigned only to those who were up to 21 years old.

The inner sect gave two possibilities to enter - reaching the third stage within 21 years old and entering the top three in the tournament. Otherwise, reaching the fifth stage within 27 years old and win the tournament. For reasons of correctness, two tournaments were therefore held, appropriately separating the two categories.

Although the second category, from 22 to 27 years, had more fiery and intense struggles, in the end, the participants were nothing but the losers of the first category who had failed to advance when they were younger. For them, even if they entered the inner sect, their path as a martial artist could be defined more or less concluded.

However, there were also some people from time to time that could pleasantly surprise the public and the sect's elders. But this didn't take away the fact that the primary attention was mainly on the first category. Therefore, the people of the second category were made to fight before, to warm the public.

When the guards of the regulation division concluded that there were no other participants, they went on to confirm their identity and their stages. After that, the participants were divided into four groups of 6 each. They would proceed initially with a preliminary phase that consisted of a battle royale. Then, the last one standing would pass to the next round.

Afterward, the four winners would have to fight in turn between all of them, and the one with the least number of victories would be discarded while the other three would be admitted to the inner sect. In the event of a tie between the participants, a further battle would be held to decide the outcome.

Since the participants were usually the children of families who lived for generations in the Flower Sect, it was possible to know which competitors were most likely to win. In this way, they organized the groups to leave the best for the final phase.

To immediately set the audience on fire, the group organizers chose Hei as a participant of the first group, along with five other participants who weren't among those with the highest chance of winning. Rather than trying to help him, this was done to excite the public. The audience had, in fact, specifically come to see his abilities. So it would be better if he could advance in the final phase. But that didn't change the fact that he was in the second stage while his opponents were in the third one.

The six were then accompanied along a dimly lit corridor of which only the exit could be seen. When the participants came out of the corridor, they were welcomed by a big stone ring. All around, there were the seats intended for the public. Witnessing that scene, the six participants couldn't help but become nervous. Even for Hei's five opponents who had already watched other past selections before, this was the first time they saw so many people sitting in the stadium.

At Hei's entrance, the attention of those present concentrated entirely on Hei, while murmurs began to arise among the spectators who recognized him. Even from afar, Hei was easily recognizable by the color of his skin, very rare in those places. But mainly, it was because his impact of a month ago had been so strong. Those present at that time had memorized his features and had referred them to their acquaintances.

In one corner of the stadium, there was a section separated from the standard seats. It was the section reserved for the elders and their disciples. In the highest place sat the sect leader, and behind her, there were two beautiful young girls. Hei recognized one of them - it was none other than Lian who had been brought up there by the sect leader. Her blue hair also could be defined as rather easy to notice and rare to find there.

When she went up there accompanied by the sect leader, there was a moment of tension. After all, that action could be understood as if the sect leader had also recruited her in her faction. It meant that she had grabbed the ingenious children of the elusive beast tamer, and this observation put pressure on the first and second elder who led the other two factions.

Looking towards Lian, Hei's gaze was focused on her head, where his mother was hidden. Sensing his mother looking at him, Hei took a deep breath and calmed down. It wasn't the time to panic, and above all, he didn't have the slightest intention of making a bad impression before his family.

As the audience calmed down, the sect leader stood up and went on to talk to those present. In order to reach all the spectators, her voice was amplified with spirit power. So it was heard loud and clear by all.

”After the exciting final of the second category, we now move on to the preliminary phase of the first category. We'll start with a battle royale that includes four groups, and the winners of each group will move on to the final phase. From there, we will follow a series of individual battles, and depending on the number of victories, we will have our winners to whom the prizes will be awarded. I, therefore, ask you to give a warm applause to encourage these promising young martial artists.” Without adding anything else, the sect leader sat in her place.

Once she had finished her speech, the audience exploded in a roar of applause. Although the sect leader's speech was nothing so particular, she still managed to excite the public. It highlighted the expectations that the incident with the four elders had created.

While the audience indulged in a big applause of encouragement, Hei prepared himself by putting his spear together with his shoes outside the ring, then climbing into the ring barefoot.

This action was noticed by all those present who stopped applauding, given that they were left stunned by this gesture. The spectators could understand if Hei didn't want to reveal his mastery with the spear for the preliminary phase, but why did he take off his shoes? The elders became intrigued by his behavior while his group opponents began to mock him.

”Ahahahah, look at him. He understood that he couldn't beat us, and now he wants us to die with the stench of his feet.”

”Ahaha, if you like the stink of your feet so much, you want to smell mine? I'll also let you lick them if you beg me.”