The Tournament's Conclusion (III)

"What do you mean there're no locals? Are you crazy?!"

Wu Tai was on the verge of panicking. Inside, he was really worried about the young princess. He had been taking care of her from her childhood.

He also knew that this was a hopeless mission. The Sacred Cotton was only an existence in legends, no one had actually found it yet. For them to stumble upon it was a one in a million chance.

Zhao Mei's parents didn't really care about her that much, always complaining about her innate sickness. They've already given up on her, focusing on their other children instead.

From the start, this mission was only to get rid of her, and Wu Tai as well. If Wu Tai didn't come with her, he would surely take revenge against the Zhao Empire.

This was possible, since Wu Tai possessed strength second to that of only the emperor, Zhao Jian, who was at the Second Level Godly Mark as well, only that he has lit up more gems than Wu Tai.

Although, in the later stages of cultivation, these gems did little to increase one's strength, so their disparity in strength was only in name. Wu Tai's biggest problem would be the army, which was composed of more than ten thousand Fifth Level Heavenly Mark cultivators.

But this was all just a "what if". Wu Tai was not dumb, he knew he couldn't do that. They had also allowed him to go with Zhao Mei, which left him with no excuses. After all, only the Sacred Cotton could cure her.

Apart from the abundant Light energy inside the Sacred Cotton, it also possessed multiple properties that could cure the Pure Dark Body. Thus, the Sacred Cotton was an irreplaceable ingredient in curing this innate constitution.

Of course, this was all just a theory, since no one has ever found Sacred Cotton, nor has anyone inflicted with the Pure Dark Body been cured.

The young knight in full body armor got startled at Wu Tai's sudden shout, but he stood his ground and explained.

"But sir, there really is no one!"

Only then, did another knight come and reported to Wu Tai.

'Sir, a huge number of people are gathered in that area!"

This man pointed at the direction where the arena was. A huge and conspicuous building like the arena would obviously be seen by Wu Tai, who had excellent eyesight due to his cultivation.

"Let's go!"

Upon seeing the arena, Wu Tai felt relieved. He thought that this city really was deserted despite the fact that signs of life could be seen everywhere.

.....

"Wh-what's that? Little lass, can you say that again?"

The elder rubbed his ears roughly. In fact, it started bleeding! He could not believe what he just heard. A huge number of people in the crowd was also bewildered by what just happened.

This lass's strength was confirmed to be higher than Patriarch Gang's, so she would be at least Third Level Heavenly Mark. The opponent in front of her hadn't even lit up one gem, so his pummeling should be easy and quick, right?

Why in the world would she be conceding? Isn't it supposed to be the other way?

Zhao Mei repeated what she said.

"I said, I concede! I'm conced-"

At that moment, Zhao Mei was interrupted by someone. It was Wu Tai, her guardian.

"Princess Zhao Mei, come here."

Wu Tai shouted, but in a calm manner. His voice was too calm, that it sent shivers down everyone's spine. Even the formidable Master Jin trembled hearing this eerily calm voice.

The only one left unaffected was Li Bai, while the one most affected was Zhao Mei, who the calm voice was calling. She was trembling uncontrollably on the stage, her knees almost giving in.

Struggling to answer, Zhao Mei brushed her long violet hair off of her face as the wind blew.

"He-hey there, Uncle Tai..."

Hearing the way that this princess called her, Wu Tai felt his rage rise up more and more. Why are you calling me uncle?!

In an instant, this Uncle Tai flashed towards the direction of the stage, where Zhao Mei was, intending to stop right in front of her. Unfortunately, there was a little child in the way, so he ended up beside said little child.

The audience was stupefied by this sudden development. Who was this man, called Uncle Tai? Why does the formidable Zhao Mei tremble in fear before him?

However, when Uncle Tai disappeared from his spot and appeared inside the stage on a split second, they knew instantly what the answer to their questions were.

Master Jin was grinding his teeth.

"Damn it! Looks like she's got powerful backing. But then again, as expected. I have to give up then..."

Th Zhao clan elders initially harbored bad impressions of the man called Uncle Tai, intending to throw him out of the arena. One even wanted to stand up and shout, "Audacious! How dare you interrupt our tournament? No matter who you are, we're the authority here!"

However, as soon as he moved from his spot, it became clear who possessed the most authority around here. It was neither them nor the unfathomable Master Jin, rather it was the newcomer, Uncle Tai.

The elder that wanted to shout felt relieved that he didn't go through with his plan, otherwise he might just be mush right now.

On the stage, Li Bai stood firmly beside this Third Level Godly Mark realm cultivator. His Flow Detection ability easily allowed him to learn of the level of this Uncle Tai.

Wu Tai beside him had a soft spot for children, so much so that he agreed taking care of Zhao Mei occasionally when she was just a child, even though she was extremely troublesome.

Because of this, when he saw Li Bai not making eye contact, instead frozen, not moving at all, he immediately panicked. Maybe he traumatized this kid, resulting in him unable to move?

Unaware of Uncle Tai's thoughts, Li Bai was in glee inside.

.....

Back a few minutes, before Zhao Mei conceded.

Li Bai opened his eyes, as if he had realized something.

Zhao Mei... the Zhao clan! So she inherited the Pure Dark Body from them, what a shame, what a shame. I was also part of the Zhao clan in my past life, and had the luck of not possessing this cursed constitution.

Li Bai shook his head subtly, his movements too small to be visible to the crowd far away from him. He was also making "tsk tsk tsk" sounds, while walking around in circles. Of course, this walking around was visible to the crowd, still insulting him.

Suddenly, as Zhao Mei walked closer, he opened his eyes and pointed in front him, where Zhao Mei was!

Zhao Mei felt puzzled as to why this small child previously walking around in circles would suddenly point his finger at her. As she was thinking about the possible reasons, Li Bai started speaking.

"Zhao Mei... I am sensitive to energy."

Startled by this sudden speaking of Li Bai, Zhao Mei felt even more confused, not knowing what Li Bai was implying. Li Bai spoke again.

"As such... I can sense an abnormal amount of energy coming from within you."

Zhao Mei was starting to get what Li Bai meant, but was also becoming increasingly concerned. Is he talking about my Dark energy? If so...

Thinking about the possible things this child might do, Zhao Mei got afraid. This was her greatest secret after all, working her whole life to suppress it.

While she was scared at Li Bai, she was also astonished at how he easily managed to detect the energy she so hardly tried to hide.

Li Bai walked closer to Zhao Mei, intimidating her despite her far superior cultivation level. Just as she was going to move back to avoid him, Li Bai spoke.

"You... you possess the Pure Dark Body, don't you?"

Suddenly, an elder in the audience spoke up, interrupting what Li Bai was trying to say.

.....

Li Bai was thinking that this was an opportunity for fame. In exchange for healing their princess, they would help him find disciples! Surely, this was a good deal.

Thinking of such thoughts, a smile slowly crept up on his face, which was then seen by both Zhao Mei and the man called Uncle Tai. The latter got confused as he looked at this child.

Why is he suddenly smiling? Did I break this child's mind? If so, it's not my fault he possesses such a weak mind, good luck next life kid.

Zhao Mei, on the other hand, was not confused. Instead, she was eager to know what Li Bai's aim was, as revealing to her that he knew about her sickness was obviously not aimless.

At the moment, all she could think of was, blackmail, he's going to blackmail me! What a cunning child!, and the creepy smile that recently appeared on the child's face only strengthened her belief.

Inadvertently, Li Bai managed to clear off the awkward atmosphere going on earlier just with a simple smile, albeit being very creepy while doing so.

Oblivious to Zhao Mei and Wu Tai's twisted thoughts about him, Li Bai stood there, waiting for the two to sort things out. After all, it was none of his business what this uncle came to do here, most probably it was an urgent matter.

Being urgent, Li Bai expected this Uncle Tai to fetch Zhao Mei immediately. If this was happening, he would have to intervene, as his chance to fame was right in front of him. Why would he let go of it?

Contrary to what Li Bai thought of however, Wu Tai stood still staring at him, staying silent for some seconds. Finally, Wu Tai snapped out of his daze and shook his head.

Getting to the matter at hand, Wu Tai instantly turned to look at Zhao Mei, who saw her "uncle" turn to her suddenly. She felt a chill through her spine. I don't know if this is an effect of a technique, or just his intimidating face...

The atmosphere reverted back to its serious state as Wu Tai's hand slowly made its way towards Li Bai's shoulder to push him away, as he thought that the child was incable of movement anymore, him breaking his mind and all.

However, as soon as a hand touched his shoulder, Li Bai turned his head and moved over obediently, as if understanding the middle-aged man's intentions.

How convenient.

Wu Tai made use of Li Bai's movement, quickly walking to the child's position before he moved. In this position, Wu Tai was directly opposite to Zhao Mei, who was right in front of him.

Zhao Mei was greatly terrified of the man before her, as she snuck away while he was sleeping in the desert outside of the city. It was then that she encountered Backwater City and saw the long line that was apparently for a tournament.

She calculated that it would take Wu Tai at least two days before he would arrive in the city. To not get too bored waiting for him, she chose to participate in this humble tournament, despite knowing that the city's strongest individual, young or not, was probably weaker than her by several folds.

After all, this city was named Backwater City for a reason. This was at the very edge of the border between the Human Domain and the Demon Domain. As such, not much resources could be found here, so the progress was stagnant.

Thinking about these thoughts gradually eased up Zhao Mei's mind, slowly forgetting about the "uncle" in front of her. Wu Tai broke the illusion forming in Zhao Mei's thoughts by shouting.

"Mei Mei! What are you doing here?"

Hearing her nickname being used here in public made Zhao Mei blush as she hated that nickname. She would rather be called by her actual name, and not this name that her parent gave her.

After all, Zhao Mei despised her parents. Like Wu Tai, she knew that this "mission" was just an excuse to get rid of her, the biggest threat to their reputation.

But her getting the Pure Dark Body was to be expected - the Zhao family was, ultimately, founded by someone who cured himself of this curse.