Chapter 196 - Struggle to the End! (1/2)

“Yes.” Tang Wulin, Mu Xi and a few other youngsters said respectfully.

In the sea of green that was this group of blacksmiths, Mu Xi stood out brightly as a speck of red—the only woman among them.

After listening to Cen Yue’s warnings, Tang Wulin and Mu Xi set off.

“Good luck, junior disciple brother!” Mu Xi rubbed Tang Wulin’s head and pinched his cheeks before releasing him.

Helpless to the pinching, Tang Wulin began to miss her frigid disposition. At least back then, his cheeks were spared.

He could feel the shift in atmosphere at their hotel as the start of the tournament drew near.

Nearly all of the hotel’s patrons were here for the event. Besides participants from Eastsea City there were also numerous people from other places, all preparing hastily.

When he returned to his room, Tang Wulin was greeted by Xie Xie’s tremendous snoring, the culprit already sound asleep. Starfished on the bed, he barely resembled a human.

Tang Wulin descended on his own mattress. Instead of pulling at the coattails of slumber, he sat cross-legged and peered out the window. His gaze wandered past the sharp edges of the deep blue sea, zigzagging across the surface to no end. The rush and ebb of the tide granted him a peace of mind. He shut his eyes slowly and began meditating.

Just as the clumsy bird flies early to the forest, he could not squander any opportunity to cultivate. Blacksmithing, on the other hand, was not a problem. As Cen Yue had informed him, finding anyone who could surpass his craft at his age was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Although he would be advancing through the competition with Mu Xi, Tang Wulin understood that when the final rounds approached he would need to carefully make a decision. If Mu Xi seemed to have a shot at becoming the champion, then he would yield the spot to her. However, in the event that Mu Xi could not proceed, he would remove his handicap, aiming for victory instead.

As for the soul master’s competition, he could not shake off his nervousness. Despite being considered pretty formidable among his peers, he would be facing soul masters several years older than him in the Skysea Alliance Tournament! The difference in cultivation from a single year was tremendous. He could only imagine what a gap of five years would be like.

While wielding three rings, Mu Xi only hoped to place in the top eight. He possessed one ring and his teammates held two at most. Just how far could he hope to go?

At the very least, we can’t lose in the knockout phase! That would be too depressing for both us and Teacher Wu.

I’ve got to do my best! Struggle to the very end!

Tang Wulin dispelled such distracting thoughts. Regardless of what happens, I’ll persevere!

The opening ceremony of the Skysea Alliance Tournament was held in Skysea Stadium. It was the largest stadium in the Skysea Alliance, boasting a maximum seating capacity of eighty-thousand people.

For the economic bloc that was Eastsea Alliance, the Skysea Alliance Tournament was a grand occasion that the entire federation paid attention to. Outstanding geniuses would emerge each time the tournament was held.

In reality, the Skysea Alliance Tournament’s original goal was to filter through the masses for geniuses to raise. Then they would be groomed into pillars of the alliance.

Within the Federation existed a myriad of factions, with the Skysea Alliance being one of the greater ones. Economic-wise, though, it stood as one of the Federation’s major players.

In spite of its economic power, the Skysea Alliance was not satisfied. Although it was easy to jumpstart the economy, building a sturdy foundation was a different story. Not to mention, they had started developing later than other regions. The continent’s mainland was filled with major cities, each possessing thousands to tens of thousands of years of history. These cities were littered with countless ancient clans that raised powerful geniuses with profound backgrounds.

Due to its difference in history, the Skysea Alliance was woefully deficient in talents. In fact, the quality and quantity of its geniuses were beginning to decline.

All of the powerful experts were found inland. Only able to boast of its economic might, the Skysea Alliance could not be considered powerful by any means and hovered around the continent’s middle levels of prominence.

But how could the Skysea Alliance resign itself to lose in power and prestige? In a bid to select and grow talents, the Alliance established the Skysea Alliance Tournament roughly two hundred years ago. They offered not only a generous amount of prize money but some unique prizes as well. This way, the talents would receive the support needed to further pursue their paths, which would bolster the Alliance’s strength.