39 Shi Clan Tournament 6 - Contemplation (1/2)

As he continued to walk back to the arena, Shi Li told Moddy to move his body because he was going to ponder as he walked. Moddy nodded and let Shi Li do his thing.

'My mother. Who is she? Is she dead? Is she alive? Before all of that, what is her relation to my father?'

'Well, of course, my mother is my father's wife. But why haven't I seen her around at the time of my transmigration? Even up to this day, I don't know her name. Was this a prank pulled by my father?'

'No, that's impossible. If it was a prank all along, she'd be coming out soon enough and start apologizing while crying or something. But I guess that's how it goes on the novels I've read. So there's only two possibilities: it's either she's dead or she's somewhere far away from the clan.'

'I think I'll remove the possibility of the former because it's impossible for her to be dead. Well it's not because I'm basing off my hopes on the novels I've read where the parents miraculously live...but rather the way my father is acting. Father acts as if Mother is in a safe place or something. He just acts like normal, I guess. I don't know the specifics but that leaves me to the latter, where she's far away.'

'Okay, she's alive and she's far away from me. But where is she at? Is she at a nearby city? At a nearby kingdom? At another continent? Without any leading clues, I won't be able to track her down.'

In the end, Shi Li sighed. ”Guess I'll leave it up to fate,” he muttered. He then sped up his walking speed because he had a feeling that the third round is going to start soon.

...

Shi clan, Clan arena.

”What's taking Shi Li so long?” Shi Shisi frowned as he looked at the arena.

Looking different from what it was before, the center stage was just solid ground. The wooden platform was taken off and the training weapon rack was removed as well. All that was left was just an imprint of the wooden platform on the ground.

But that's not all, if one checked closely, a qi barrier surrounded the area. This qi barrier was almost invisible to the naked eye, if not for the fact that the surroundings were tinted a light blue thanks to the nature of the qi.

”If he comes here after the First Elder announces the rules, then I'll be—” Shi Shisi complained once more until suddenly, he heard loud panting coming behind from his back.

”Haaa...haaa...did I...make it in time...?” A voice asked.

Shi Shisi tensed up when he heard the familiar voice. He then turned around and was shocked to see a familiar person.

”Shi Li? You're back!” Shi Shisi asked in a questioning tone before getting ecstatic all of a sudden. He then took the initiative to hug Shi Li.

”Huh...?” Shi Li, who was still panting, was taken aback as he was currently being hugged by Shi Shisi.

”Hngg...I can't breathe-nya...” A soft and melodious voice came from the middle of Shi Li and Shi Shisi. Shi Li hurriedly took a step back and revealed Moddy, who was accidentally squashed between the two because of it falling from Shi Li's shoulder.

Shi Shisi opened its eyes as it felt Shi Li's body getting farther from it, and then looked at the direction where Shi Li was looking, revealing a round— I mean circular cat on the floor, taking deep breaths.

”Ah...” Shi Shisi connected two and two together and hurriedly bowed towards Shi Li. ”I'm sorry!”

Shi Li lifted Moddy with his hands and gently placed it on his shoulder. He looked at Shi Shisi and felt the sincere tone from his apology. He lightly chuckled before saying, ”It's fine, it's fine. I've actually wondered what a circular cat would look like. But anyways, why are you so happy?”

”Well, the reason behind it is—” Shi Shisi responded in an instant, but he was cut off once he felt a stifling aura creep up behind him.

Shi Shisi slowly turned his around and hurriedly took a step back before bowing respectfully. ”Greetings to First Elder!”

Shi Li saw Shi Xingtai come closer and bowed respectfully as well. ”Greetings to First Elder!”

Shi Xingtai looked at Shi Li and instantly fell into a state of confusion.

...

Shi clan, Clan arena. A few minutes after Shi Li left.

Shi Xingtai coughed lightly to grab the participants' attention before speaking.

”As you can see, Shi Li has achieved 65% increased potency of body strength, so he has achieved the major success level of comprehension. This means that he's eligible for the last round of the tournament. Does anyone have any objections?”

Each one of the participants shook their heads. They didn't bother fight against a future Shi Shisi. Nor did they want to fight against the patriarch.

Shi Xingtai looked at their gazes and easily understood their feelings. If they fought against a future Shi Shisi, they'd lose. If they fought against the son of the patriarch, they'd also lose because of the patriarch.

”Well if that's the case, let's move on to the third round,” Shi Xingtai explained. ”This round is basically a free-for-all duel. Anyone can pick on an opponent to fight aginst and they take their spot. That simple.”

He continued, ”Since people would be claiming spots from other people, I'll be assigning the places for the remaining 32 participants still in the tournament. 1st is Shi Shisi, 2nd is Shi Li, and 3rd is Shi Kuai. The next ones will be mentioned later. For now, these will be your focus.”

”If anyone wants to fight against someone, please raise your hand and state the name of those you wish to fight,” Shi Xingtai said afterwards.