Competition

"Do you think the Apex Points as a whole lead to something?" Ray asked while laying on the couch.

The three just finished cultivating and decided to relax for a bit. Since, there is no such thing as a television in this world, entertainment bloomed in the form of words.

"Hmm, I don't know. I can't be asked to think too much into that." Ash lazily replied.

"Yeah, you're lazy as fuck apart from anything related to food." Bryan laid down on the soft carpet with his eyes closed.

"Come on! Food is so beautiful and delicious, it's literally one of the greatest discoveries of humankind." Ash said with fervor, a complete contrast to his previous laziness.

"Yeah yeah, Bryan understands." Ray calmed Ash down.

"What I'm more interested in is how women of this world approach the way of romance…" Bryan opened his eyes with a gleam.

Ray shook his head and continued pondering about the cultivation system.

Ash chuckled, "Hopefully they aren't easy."

"What do you mean?" Bryan raised his eyebrow.

"I mean, I hope they don't fall in love over a single situation. Say for example, I save a girl and said girl suddenly develops an intense feeling of love for me or any other stupid situations."

"Haha, I see what you mean but I'm pretty sure not all women are the same. There may be some who are like that and some who are not. I wonder if the Supreme Elder is hard to get." Bryan mused with a smile.

"Hah romance, how it leads to the downfall of the woeful…" Ray muttered.

Bryan and Ash looked at him with a weird gaze. Ray noticed them but didn't bother to give them attention.

"You think he had a revelation of some kind?" Ash whispered to Bryan.

"I would not be surprised if he didn't…" Bryan whispered back.

"You should know that I can still hear you guys." Ray suddenly said without looking up.

*Sizzle*

All of a sudden in the midst of their conversation, a few sparks sizzled in the air right above the living room table and a letter appeared from thin air, which gently floated onto the table.

This perked up their attention and they hurriedly stood up and went to the table. The letter had a small golden seal on it.

"A letter?" Ray picked up the ancient-looking letter.

"Wow, so magical..." Ash said in amazement.

"Open it up and check what it is." Bryan urged him.

Ray opened up the sealed letter and read the content out loud for the other two to hear.

"Brats...listen up! The sect will be organizing a competition only for the cultivators who are in the Natal Realm. The competition will take place in a week, so you three have enough time to increase your cultivation base. Ask the elders around on the day to find out where the competition is. The rewards are praiseworthy so don't forget to participate in the competition, little br-."

Ray stopped right there and the other two figured out what it was anyways.

"It must be the old man who sent this to us." Bryan spoke up.

"The Ancient Elder? What kind of an existence is he…" Ray muttered.

"So, a competition held in a week huh. I wonder what the rewards are." Ash scratched his cheek.

"We'll find out during the competition." Bryan shrugged.

"We have a week to cultivate and get stronger. Let's not waste any time and get back to cultivation." Ray suggested.

"Ugh, more cultivation…" Ash groaned and the three of them left to their rooms, continuing their cultivation session.

-In one of the mansions in the Prime District-

Virion Venson was sitting on the ground, accompanied once again with another Prime Disciple and his friend, Rolan Steinn.

"Have you heard about the competition?" Rolan asked Virion.

"Yes, I've heard of it. What do you think about it?" Virion answered in a serene tone.

"It's only for Natal Realm cultivators and apparently the prize this time is supposed to be greater than before." Rolan was curious about the prize.

"What are the chances that our new junior disciples will take part in it?" Virion asked with a smile.

Rolan looked at him with interest and smirked, "Say, do you want to observe the competition with me?"

"I'd love to."

-An entire week later-

It was a lively day for the Celestial Nirvana Sect as the Natal Realm competition will be taking place today. The location will be in an arena between the Outer and the Inner section.

The Natal Realm competition is a yearly competition that occurs on a random day throughout the year. Here, many Natal Realm cultivators compete with each other to win the famed rewards issued by the sect.

In fact, all the rewards issued by the sect are praiseworthy and a must have to fight for. The sect with its mighty fame and strength won't be frugal in terms of distributing rewards to its disciples.

The reward is one of the incentives. Since, there will be a lot of disciples standing as the audience, it will be an amazing chance for the cultivators who are competing to be famous and recognized in a single day.

The arena is 300 metres wide and long, enough to accommodate around 300,000 disciples. The seats were getting rapidly filled with high anticipation and chitchats echoed from the audience.

There were signs of Outer Elders stationed about in the arena, overseeing the audience and the participants. There were no Inner Elders in sight yet.

The participants of the competition had to assemble on one side of the arena ground. There was a small pedestal placed on top of a slightly elevated platform on the forefront of the arena ground.

Only the disciples who have received a letter regarding the competition, can participate in the competition. Currently, there were around 90 participants in the arena ground.

-In the Zero Mansion-

The three gathered in the living room, ready to set out for the competition.

"Damn, I'm just realizing how effective Natural Gems are." Ash said.

"They are indeed amazing but don't belittle our cultivation progress." Ray noted.

"Ray's right! I guarantee that we're no less amazing compared to other disciples." Bryan stated.

[Ding]

[Sub-quest alert!]

[Place Top 5 in the competition: 0/3

Rewards: Random Lucky Bag x3]

The sudden notification from the system gained their attention.

"Oh…" Ray was glued to the screen.

"A sub-quest?" Ash was surprised at the sudden quest.

"The quest looks easy enough but the rewards seem random." Bryan observed.

"Ah, who knows? We might get an overpowered reward." Ash was excited.

"…or just a single Natural Gem, not that I'm complaining." Ray shrugged.

"Anyways, we'll find out later."

"Alright then, shall we go?"

"Let's do it!"

They didn't have to ask the elders for directions considering the disciples were a waypoint themselves. They were all going in the same direction which meant only one thing.

Soon enough, they reached the arena and it was ground-shaking to say the least. Competitions like these organized in the sect always create a spectacle and the disciples are always passionate and hardcore.

Of course, the three didn't wear their purple robes to avoid attracting unwanted attention. Besides, there are no strict rules about wearing robes in the sect grounds.

There are two entrances to the arena. One to the audience stands and one to the arena ground. There is an Outer Elder stationed right at the entrance to the arena ground to verify the participant's entry.

The Outer Elder saw the three approach him and held out his hands.

"Letter."

Ray fished out the letter from his pocket and handed it to the elder. The elder took the letter and flipped it over to see a golden seal etched onto the letter.

His hand visibly trembled upon seeing the seal and looked up at the three young men with surprised eyes.

'The golden seal of a Supreme Elder! Who are they…' The elder thought for a second before handing the letter back to them.

"You three may enter." The elder politely instructed, different from his previous attitude.

The three then entered the arena ground, noticed where the participants were and gathered there.

Some of the other participants stared at their new competitors for a moment and looked away. All the participants gathered here are the best of the best amongst the Natal Realm cultivators.

"I wonder how many participants will be there." Ash spoke.

"Probably not a lot but I wonder what the test is like." Bryan said while observing the other participants.

-In the audience stands-

On the bottom row and section of the audience stands, Virion and Rolan sat down on an empty row. They didn't bother hiding their identity since they wore their purple robes but didn't attempt to create a huge scene. The surrounding disciples were shocked and didn't dare to sit along near them, creating a considerable distance between them.

"T-That's the Trickster and the Angry Bull!"

"What are the Prime Disciples doing here?"

"Maybe, they are bored and interested in the competition?"

"Maybe something amazing will happen…"

The audiences were chattering endlessly, creating an atmosphere worthy of such a competition.

*Glitter Glitter*

A fairy-like woman suddenly appeared in the sky and gently descended down from the sky onto the audience stands, creating quite a mesmerizing scene. Virion and Rolan saw the newcomer and slightly smiled.

The disciples were immediately once again shocked and stunned before they soon erupted into intense passion and cheers.

"IT'S THE ETHEREAL FAIRY!"

"THE GODDESS HAS ARRIVED!"

"QUICK! Notify the other disciples!"

"We should note this down."

"Even the Ethereal Fairy has graced us with her presence."

"Along with her, there are now a total of three Prime Disciples observing the competition."

The disciples were 100% sure now that this competition had something hidden from the naked eye.

"I didn't expect the Ethereal Fairy to be interested in the competition." Virion said with a smile.

"Greetings, Fiona!" Rolan, meanwhile, greeted her.

"Greetings, Rolan, Virion!" The Ethereal Fairy, Fiona, lightly smiled and greeted the other two.

Fiona continued, "Virion, I came here for the same reason you came here for."

"Oh…" Virion slightly narrowed his eyes and observed the participants on the arena ground.

-Back in the arena ground-

The participants observed the fairy-like scene and most of them became slightly excited. From the disciples' loud chatters, they soon came to know that there were three Prime Disciples in the audience stands.

"Even she came huh…" Ash looked back and forth at the Ethereal Fairy.

"She does have quite a popularity." Ray nodded.

"Duh, have you seen how beautiful she is? Coupled with the fact that she's graceful and exudes a serene aura, it's without a doubt the disciples are head over heels for her." Bryan rubbed his chin and explained like a professional.

"What the fuck…" Ash stared at him as if he was a weirdo.

"Uhm, you need some help, Bryan?" Ray hesitantly asked.

*Cough*

Bryan realized he went slightly overboard and said in a justifying tone, "I'm just observing our potential future enemies."

"Sure…" Ash patted his shoulder.

*SWOOSH*

All of a sudden, four figures appeared in the sky right above the arena ground, immediately rendering the audience mute. There were two orange-robed males and one orange-robed woman, accompanied along with one golden-accented white robed male figure.

An orange-robed male elder who seemed to be the leader of the three floated slightly forwards and faced the audience and the participants.

"I, Inner Elder Maxim Varkis along with Inner Elder Khari D'loh and Inner Elder Larry Countach will be overseeing the competition. Furthermore, we are accompanied by a special figure."

"Please welcome, Supreme Elder Drake Ashfiel, acting as a special guest for the competition."

Instantly, gasps of astonishment and cheers reverberated throughout the arena grounds. It was widely known to most of the disciples that Inner Elder Maxim is the strongest Inner Elder in the sect and he has a high chance to be appointed as one of the Supreme Elders.

If that wasn't enough, the appearance of a Supreme Elder astounded most of the disciples, especially the participants.

It was a sign and a chance for them to give their very best.