The guard slowly adjusted himself and looked at Xue Wei. "You have the qualifications to partic.i.p.ate in our contest. I am to inform you of a few rules first," he said, slightly embarra.s.sed after catching himself staring at the young group of women.
This guard was in no way old for a cultivator, but he was still most likely around the half-century mark. This meant that the girls that were moving towards him could all be his children. It was a slightly embarra.s.sing episode for him.
"This is your token. You are partic.i.p.ant number five thousand and ninety-six." He then handed over a wooden token with the number five thousand and ninety-six engraved upon it.
"The rules are simple; the battles will be held in the arena. There will be twenty battles going on at the same time."
"While we prefer that no one kills their opponents, fists and kicks have no eyes, so we cannot guarantee safety. Be aware that you will have to accept that you might die in this tournament."
"The top one hundred will get prizes. The higher you rank, the more marvelous the prize you receive will be."
"I cannot announce the prize yet. It will be announced by the fort masters when the tournament begins, but I can tell you that it is wealth that far exceeds your wildest imagination."
"Now take the token and get ready for the tournament. It will start in five days."
"Oh right, all the inns in the Black Iron Fortress are free to use during the tournament, and all meals are on the Black Iron Fortress too," the guard said at the end. Xue Wei's eyes revealed that he was pleasantly surprised.
Xue Wei said his farewell to the guard before returning to Hei Gou, who was surrounded by pretty ladies trying to chat him up. He was smiling rather casually and making small talk, and it was clear that he was enjoying himself.
Still, when Hei Gou saw Xue Wei coming towards him, he instantly excused himself from the girls and went over to receive Xue Wei.
"Done?" he asked with a das.h.i.+ng smile that blinded everyone present. Xue Wei felt like hitting him for some unexplainable reason. The incredibly handsome Hei Gou made even Xue Wei get a headache.
But Hei Gou was his brother, so even if his personality and narcissism were slightly frustrating, it was a part of who he was. Xue Wei could not do anything about it, other than giving a wry smile and shaking his head.
At that same moment, the crowd spread apart and made a line for the disciples of the Argent Moon Sect to walk up to the guard responsible for sign-ups.
The other partic.i.p.ants did not mind that they had stood in the queue for quite some time. All of them moved for the beautiful women. Xue Wei could not help but shake his head.
Women fawned over the handsome Hei Gou, while men were obsessed with those beautiful women.
Beauty was only skin-deep. No one knew about the personality behind the appearance, or about their actual strength. On that point, Xue Wei did not dare to look down on the women from the Argent Moon Sect, just based on the fact that they were from a continent-spanning sect.
After the women from the Argent Moon Sect signed up, another commotion emerged at the entrance of the fort.
"It's the ones from the Cerulean Starlight Sect and the ones from the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect! Together with the Argent Moon Sect, those three sects are the main sects of the continent!" someone exclaimed out loud, causing the others to crane their necks to see the ones from the other two sects.
Two groups walked in. Where the women from the Argent Moon Sect were wearing white robes with silver embroideries, the ones from the Cerulean Starlight Sect were dressed in light blue robes with golden adornments of stars.
The ones from the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne sect wore red robes with golden embroideries of suns.
There were eighteen members from the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect and eighteen members from the Cerulean Starlight Sect, equal to the size of the party from the Argent Moon Sect.
Had these three sects jointly decided on their numbers beforehand? Xue Wei did not believe that something like this could be coincidence, but he was not a member of the three great sects, so he could not speak for them and their methods.
The members of the three sects were all familiar with one another, and their haughty and arrogant demeanor could not be hidden.
Each group had a leader, and they stood out from the rest. When the three group leaders met one another, the rest of the experts present held their breath, eager to see a clash of egos.
The only ones who seemed carefree were Xue Wei and Hei Gou, who were about ready to leave.
Although Xue Wei figured that these fifty-four people would prove to be the biggest problem for him in the tournament, he did not feel that he would gain anything from seeing them b.u.t.ting heads before the fighting began.
He knew from experience that when one was on the battlefield, one was completely different from their usual demeanor. Although these experts from the sects were haughty, they were not dumb, or the sects would never have picked them.
Since they were not dumb, they would not display their strength now. They knew better than to demonstrate their power in front of their compet.i.tors from other, aspiring factions and places.
But they still had to keep the aura of their sects when they met. The three sects were working together to suppress all other sects, but at the same time, they also competed against one another for the top position among their three sects.
So when they met each other, they met as compet.i.tors despite considering each other allies.
"My Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect will win this contest," the leader of the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect's disciples said with a smirk on his face. "We are here, so of course we will take the first place."
"I do not understand why either of your sects bothered sending anyone," the woman from the Argent Moon Sect said. Her voice was colder than ice, and her eyes were frighteningly chilling.
"I beat you before; I will beat you again. As long as I study the Frost Moon Scripture, you are not my opponents!"
"Don't brag too much Miss Xiong Bing," a dissatisfied voice sounded from the Cerulean Starlight Sect’s side.
"Although you have beaten us before, I have gotten some lucky chances since last. I am sure I can defeat you now. Let us battle it out in the arena and see who will be the winner."
That was the last of that conversation that Xue Wei and Hei Gou heard before they made it out of the empty marketplace that had been temporarily turned into a reception area for the upcoming tournament. They went away in search of the closest inn.
The first inn was already filled. The second was also filled, but third time is the charm. This inn had seven free rooms left. Xue Wei and Hei Gou booked a twin room with separate bathrooms for more privacy.
When they entered, Hei Gou turned to Xue Wei. "Those people were from some prominent sects? They behaved incredibly brazenly, as if they were above everyone else."
Xue Wei wanted to comment that Hei Gou had also caused quite a disturbance with his appearance, but he decided to stay silent. "They were from the three great sects," Xue Wei explained.
"The Argent Moon Sect focuses on Yin energy. They only accept talented women, and some say that the women have to be stunningly beautiful too. The sect spans over the entire Chang'an continent with branches in almost all of the kingdoms and empires, except the ones all the way out at the outskirts like our Heping Kingdom."
"The Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect is a sect that focuses on the pure Yang energy and only accepts talented male experts. It also spans over the entire continent with branches everywhere."
"The final sect is the Cerulean Starlight Sect. It is the only sect of the three major sects that allows both women and men. They focus on the balance between Yin and Yang. It also spans the entire continent."
"I don't know much more about their sects," Xue Wei said apologetically with a shake of his head. "I don't know which one is the strongest currently since they, according to the books I read, have contests amongst themselves to determine their positions, but the books I’ve read are outdated, so I cannot say who is currently the strongest."
Hei Gou nodded his head. What Xue Wei told him was enough.
"Although they are geniuses from some big-shot sect, they still have to enter the army when they are fifteen. But those geniuses are placed in a battalion of their own and treated vastly differently from the others."
"These geniuses are to become the future pillars of humanity. They are to fight against the Primordial Beasts when they mature, and although they are in the army, it is more like a ten-year training camp for them. Even their commanders are from the major sects themselves."
Hei Gou snorted. "I hope they all kill each other," he said. It was clear that he had no warm feelings towards either humans or beasts any longer. He had lost all empathy towards other living creatures.
Xue Wei was a little stunned by these words, but he quickly agreed. Humanity had severely disappointed him time and time again, and he had no love for the Primordial Beasts because of the Ice Harpy.
Since he had no love for either side, he too felt above the fight between the two races.
"Perhaps we should find a chance to leave this continent," Xue Wei sighed. "Although the humans and beasts are fighting one another here, they can't be competing on every single continent. We can find one that is at peace and settle down. A place where no one knows us, and we can focus on reaching the apex before returning here and taking our vengeance."
Hei Gou's ears perked up when he heard the words 'other continent.' He had always wanted to see the other worlds, and he was more than willing to leave behind this continent of Chang'an which had only given him one good thing - a friend like Xue Wei.
"But first, I have to enter the center of the continent," Xue Wei said with a sigh. "I have to meet up with Prophet Lan. There are a few things I need an answer to," he said thoughtfully. There were questions about his past that he needed to uncover.
Over time, he was starting to realize that something was odd. When he regained his memories back in Lingyun Town, the memories of his father or Xiao Lei were not among them
Xue Wei was quite confident that something was blocking these memories, but why was that so? What was there in his past that someone did not want him to discover?
Also, how could he and he alone survive when a Primordial Beast had eradicated his entire hometown? It was clear that things did not add up.
Although Xue Wei did not want to doubt his uncle, he could not help but feel a bit hesitant. Why had his uncle vanished? Why had he suddenly found a cultivation method for him just as he disappeared? There were so many questions he wanted to ask him, but he had not seen his uncle for a long time already.
Xue Wei was in deep thought and sighed deeply. Seeing his friend like this, Hei Gou said nothing. He just waited for Xue Wei to feel better.
"Let us go and grab something to eat," Xue Wei said with a sigh as he pushed all the troubling thoughts to the back of his mind again. He had to focus on breaking through to the second layer as a Sky Warrior this night so that he that he could perform at his best in the contest.
