Chapter 23

Aurora won her second round of the tournament. She received much praise for her impressive display on her return, but soon, everyone turned back to focusing on the many battles in the arena below. After a short while, Koren was called to fight. As expected, he had an easy match. The young man was at the ninth level and an expert warrior. Short of meeting someone at the Condensing stage, there was little chance of Koren losing.

There were only a couple hundred disciples in the entire sect at that stage. The system would only pair them up with someone at Koren's level if no one else was available. In the first few rounds, they'd usually fight the weakest people in the sect. The people who had just joined the sect or wouldn't likely make it past the first or second round, anyway. But even if Koren had to fight someone at that level, it did not mean an assured loss for him.

There was a limit on how much stronger someone at that level could be, and if they were unskilled in combat, Koren could win. Should he fight someone at the tenth level, though, victory would be near impossible, but there might not even be any at that level in the sect. At the tenth level of the Condensing stage, you would be only one step away from reaching the Core Building stage and becoming an elder, but new elders were rare. In the last year, only Vara Kiera had accomplished it.

After all, you had fifty-five years to break through, and only Core Disciples were qualified to become elders. The top 10 sects all had stringent requirements for becoming an elder. Weaker sects would even allow those at the Condensing stage to be elders. Aurora's old sect required one to reach the eighth level of the Condensing stage before the age of eighty. That was forty percent of your lifespan.

Out of ten thousand disciples, a few hundred were at the Condensing stage, and most were Core Disciples. Most Core Disciples took up to thirty years to break through to Core Building, including those who passed the deadline and had to take the trials. Naturally, there could be years between new elders.

In the end, Koren did not meet one of these core disciples and won relatively easily, entering into the top 2,500 disciples. Rila fought next and then was Rose. Both of the teens won their matches and proceeded to the next round. Rose's was hard fought, while Rila had the upper hand in her battle.

The entire round lasted an hour, and after a short break, the final round of the day commenced. This time, Rose was the first to fight.

As was most statistically likely, her opponent was another woman wielding an axe. She was muscular and somewhat bulky but definitely attractive in her own right. She wasn't like some bodybuilder but seemed much more athletic than most people in the Blossoming Rose sect and had visible muscles.

Just from her appearance, one could tell that Rose would have a difficult time. The woman even had scars on her body, a testament to her experience as a warrior. She was likely the type who would go on many combat missions.

The bell rang, and the woman charged at Rose, her axe held high. Rose responded by parrying the blow, but the woman's sheer strength still forced Rose to take several steps back. Another blow arrived, and this time Rose failed to block in time. Her blade connected with the axe but was too soft and slow. The axe forced Rose's sword down and chopped into Rose's shoulder.

The young girl screamed as she rolled away, stumbling back to her feet. Aurora could see the muscular woman say something but couldn't hear her before the fight continued. With each strike from the woman, Rose was either pushed back or forced to take a hit. Luckily the axe was blunt, or she'd either be heavily injured or dead.

But the blows were taking their toll on her, and Rose could barely hold up her weapon. The woman focused on Rose's shoulders and arms, continually weakening her. But Rose wasn't the type to give up and continued fighting, even though the end result was already clear.

Blow after blow, in the end, Rose was forced down on her knees, where the woman kicked her in the face, grounding her, before stepping on her to keep her down. Ten seconds passed, spelling a loss for Rose. After it was over, the muscular woman walked away without even looking at Rose while the medical staff took Rose away.

Aurora and the others were all worried and hurried over, but luckily Rose wasn't too injured. She had a broken nose from the kick but no other serious injuries. Although she would most likely be blue and yellow all over her body the next day.

Rose was taken away to get her nose fixed, and the rest of the group returned to watch the fights and wait for their turns.

Next up was Koren. This time his opponent was a man wielding a metal staff. Watching Koren fight was just like watching Aurora, always keeping the upper hand. Despite the long reach and heavy attacks of the pole, Koren maneuvered expertly around it. The man attacked straightforwardly, and Koren slid his sword across the shaft, hitting its wielder in the hands.

If the cultivators of the Energy Storage stage weren't somewhat resistant to pain, Koren's opponent would already have lost his weapon. The fight only lasted two or three minutes before the man surrendered. It was to be expected. Not many people were willing to focus solely on combat training, but Koren was such a man. Not even Aurora wanted to train like that anymore, having taken up alchemy.

The third to fight in their household was Rila. The eighteen-year-old was nervous. She had made it to the top 2,500 disciples, a commendable feat, but in the end, Rila was a generalist. One who focused on combat, sure, but a generalist nonetheless. She had many skills but wasn't amazing at any of them.

She faced her opponent in the arena, carrying her sword, the most popular weapon, in her hand. The opponent was also a sword wielder and a young woman who couldn't be much older than twenty. At the bell's ring, Rila instantly rushed her fellow disciple, striking with full power. The woman blocked it and returned with a blow of her own.

With a smooth sidestep, Rila dodged the sharp blow and swiped with her own blade at the woman's neck as she spun around her. The woman dodged and did a spinning heel kick, but Rila easily backed away. It was a short exchange, but neither woman had the upper hand. The two only shared a brief glance before they both ran at each other.

Their blades struck continually as they tried to wound the other, but their strengths were too similar. The woman was one level below Rila in strength but more skilled with the sword. Meanwhile, Rila was clearly a year or two younger but more advanced in cultivation, making her the superior seedling in the eyes of elders.

This mattered none when their strengths were equal. The young women kept at it, striking and blocking each strike. As one blow neared Rila's abdomen, she stepped back and stabbed at her opponent. The strike connected, but a fraction of a second later, Rila felt a blow against her ribs!

Both women stepped back, one clutching her stomach and the other hunched. Luckily for the older woman, the swords and spears all had knobby ends, or she'd probably have been impaled by that strike. On the other side, Rila was worried that a rib might have cracked.

The women only allowed themselves a short break before going back at it. Noisy clangs resounded as almost every strike was met by the opponent's sword, but after a flurry of nearly eight strikes, Rila hit her opponent on the thigh and face in quick succession! The older woman desperately attacked, but Rila blocked each strike while stepping back.

Rila's opponent had a red stripe on her face from the blunt blade but could still fight. The two women were equally matched. This would be a fight of attrition.

Rila fought her fellow disciple for five minutes, trading blows. She got hit several times, and the other disciple suffered just as many wounds, if not more. Both women had already brought out everything they had. Both were bleeding, and both had ripped clothing, but neither cared about exposed body parts.

"This is going nowhere. We need to end this soon," Rila said, looking at the battered woman opposite her.

"You're right. How about we just go at it and don't stop until one of us is down or surrenders? That will leave you with an advantage, but I'm satisfied with how far I've gotten, anyway," the other woman replied. Rila nodded.

"Let's do this." Rila grasped the hilt of her sword tightly and charged. Another furious display of swordsmanship ensued! Both girls hit each other, not backing away even when a strike landed. Blow after blow, block after block, neither woman dodged. Finally, after being hit more than ten times, Rila landed the final blow on her opponent! The flat of her blade landed squarely on the woman's cheek, throwing her to the ground! The woman was on her knees, looked up at Rila, and wiped some blood away from her nose.

Rila stood straight as a warrior princess, ready to fight as much as she had to. But this was the end. The woman trembled as she stood up and sheathed her sword.

"I surrender. I can barely stand right now. Your name is Rila, right? Let's have a drink together sometime," the woman said as she reached out to shake Rila's hand.

"Sure thing. It was fun fighting you," Rila replied. The woman gave her a curt nod and departed. Before leaving, Rila tore off her ripped sports bra and walked away, happily showing off her round, bloody breasts. It wasn't an act of exhibitionism or anything, but the bra was already so ripped that it didn't hide anything, and Rila had suffered several wounds on her chest, so the cloth was only an annoyance.

"That was an amazing fight! I knew you could do it!" Aurora said as Rila returned to her friends. Rila blushed and accepted the compliment. Aurora was actually the youngest in their group since she only turned eighteen a few weeks before they joined the Blossoming Rose sect, but sometimes she acted like the older sister of the group. Not that she was particularly maturer than the others, but she probably liked to think she was. If anything, she was a bit socially stunted, thanks to her antisocial behavior in the past.

Although, when it came to sexual matters, she never took charge. She preferred to let the twins and Koren take the lead since they had a lot of experience. Rose was the same since she'd also been a virgin before joining the sect.

When it came to the number of people she'd had sex with, Aurora was actually relatively high, though, since she'd been a prostitute for a month. The twins likely still had a higher body count, but at least Aurora was leagues above Rose in that regard.

"I'm so proud of you, Rila. You've redeemed our name and become one of the top 1,750 disciples. And then there's your sister, staying in the bottom five thousand," Sila said as she hugged her twin sister tight.

"Don't feel sad, sis. You just had terrible luck. It can happen to anyone. Come January, you'll have another chance," Rila said. When the twins disconnected, Sila had quite a bit of blood on her clothes.

"Anyway, guys, I'm gonna get my wounds treated and get a change of clothes before the competitions start. I'm sorry I won't see your fight, Aurora, but I'll be rooting for you," Rila said, giving the youngest of the group a quick kiss on the cheek.

"It's alright, you have to be ready for the competitions. And it's not quite proper to go around topless. There are kids here," Aurora said. Meanwhile, Aurora's aunt and uncle were covering their sons' eyes. Rila gave a quick wink before scurrying off.