Arriving at the competition grounds

Even with people flying at different heights the streets felt cramped today. Bai Jingshen observed with interest, as no chaos broke out, as everyone seemingly knew only to fly at certain heights. He was certain some rules existed for flying through this city, as even the crowds cheering from those bridges between skyscrapers weren't scattered much. The only ones somewhat ignoring those rules were the occasional cultivator flying by themselves, but even they didn't dare to fly above the city's buildings.

A festive atmosphere could be felt all over the city, as Bai Jingshen saw little kids waving back at the crowd, while sitting next to their nervous siblings. It quickly became apparent how important the newcomer competition was to those young, hopeful cultivators.

Looking around, Bai Jingshen slowly took on a serious expression, as the more important today's occasion was, the stronger his enemies would most likely be.

Thobar Bionics' vehicle didn't stand out in this dense crowd as they slowly followed behind others. Bai Jingshen felt some excitement coming up, while flying around New Haven Academy, until the Monument finally came into view in all its glory. It was the first time he got a good look at the massive obelisk. Bai Jingshen was surprised to notice, that the Monument didn't look like it was built from any solid matter.

From afar the obelisk looked like made from stone, but concentrating from up close one could feel, that the Monument seemed to be always in motion. Just as Bai Jingshen recognized this feeling as the power of laws, he was surprised to feel a strong calling in him. He looked around at his team member's faces, but they didn't seem to feel anything similar. He couldn't explain this weird occurrence however, so he had to put it at the back of his mind for now.

While the crowd of vehicles slowly flew towards the Monument, Bai Jingshen realized, that it looked like they didn't close any distance towards it. The former emperor recognized this phenomenon as a spatial shift. This monument seemingly opened its own spatial pocket when it descended. His conjecture proved correct as he saw cars vanishing right after passing a guarded checkpoint.

Finally, it was their turn. Together with others they slowly flew past the checkpoint when suddenly the world around them shifted. Bai Jingshen was used to this feeling of momentary disorientation, which someone would feel after teleportation.

Looking at his team members however, he felt slightly embarrassed, as all of them looked like they had to empty their stomach quickly. To Bai Jingshen's surprise the one who dealt with the spatial distortion the best, was actually Sam instead of Ryan. Hopefully they would quickly recover before the competition began.

After arriving in front of the Monument, Bai Jingshen was surprised by what he saw. He expected another colorful world, but the Monument's surroundings were nothing like that. Even the monument isself had a big change, now reaching into the air forever, its top not even viewable from the ground. Bai Jingshen could imagine how empty this place normally was without the competition. The only thing which could be seen was an endless, flat stone floor. Bai Jingshen could tell, that this white stone was also made up of laws.

Taking a closer look, he realized that they seemed to be incomplete however, this being the reason why they were visible. Unfortunately this was the case, or else the Place of Advancement would have been a prime training ground.

To Bai Jingshen's surprise the festive mood from outside could not be felt at this place. New Haven City's leaders looked to be rather pragmatic, as they didn't bother decorating the competition grounds. All that could be seen were metallic cubes of all sizes floating at different heights in the air. Taking a look around, Bai Jingshen was surprised to see a solemn mood on everyone's faces. Even Sam wasn't in the mood for talking.

Bai Jingshen grew curious and asked Bennet in a whispered voice:

"Bennet. Why is everyone this serious?"

Bennet suddenly threw a surprised look at Bai Jingshen, catching the latter of guard. While mustering Bai Jingshen the instructor spoke in a strained voice:

"How… can you not… be serious… under the law's… suppression?"

Bai Jingshen only muttered a quick "right", before leaning back in his chair.

Law's suppression…? I don't feel it?

Bai Jingshen didn't have time to think much longer, as a young man in yellow uniform arrived in front of them, gliding on a small platform, which could most likely carry a few people.

"Thobar Bionics. Follow… me!"

Without any more conversation, their vehicle was led to one of the floating metal cubes. As they neared it, a hatch slowly opened, allowing them to fly inside. After they parked their vehicle, Bai Jingshen saw everyone visible breathing in as soon as the hatch closed again. It looked like this metal could offset the suppression a little.

Bai Jingshen looked around, but the room they were in right now didn't look like anything special with its only purpose seemingly to be a parking space.

On the young man's sign, Bennet led everyone off their bus, before listening to an introduction as the young man began to speak:

"Welcome everyone. My name is Phill, and I will be your guide for today. Right now, you are on the viewing platform assigned to Thobar Bionics. Leave this platform on your own means forfeiting the competition. We will provide you with everything that you may need, so please listen to my orders. Let's go towards the main room."

Bai Jingshen's group quickly followed Phill through the room's only door, arraving at a much bigger hall. Looking around, Bai Jingshen first noticed the big windows allowing a great view outside.

This room was furthermore designed as a rest room for participants. A huge screen could be seen on one wall, already showing some competitor's profiles. Comfy looking furniture were spread throughout the room, only leaving place for some tables which seemed to be prepared for fun activities. Luckily Phill followed up with his introduction.

"As you can see, this room will be for relaxation and watching battles. If you need something, just tell me. We can deliver mostly anything. If you registered something with our organization team beforehand, it should have already been delivered. The same goes for registered weapons, which will be provided to you during matches. As you can see, we have three more rooms, respectively a bedroom, training grounds and an infirmary. Let's hope you will need the bedroom and will be speared from the infirmary. Well, that's it from my side. Any questions?"

Seeing everyone's nervous faces, Phill hoped they at least understood half of his explanation. He remembered his own newcomer competition, which was two years ago now. Although he could have pissed his pants from anxiousness, he was able to show his best during fights and was even accepted by New Haven City. Some people might think being a guide in the newcomer competition wasn't glorious, but they couldn't be more wrong.

As they represented the city itself, only New Haven City's elite would be chosen for this position. Happily recollecting his own memories, Phill wished everyone good look before waiting at the side for the competition's start.

Bai Jingshen watched on as the RSS team quickly gathered in front of the monitor, while Bennet and Dahlia took a place on the couch. Meanwhile he decided to take a look out of the window.

Outside their cube a lot of vehicles where still coming. Most of them flew to cubes floating a bit lower than Thobar Bionics', but some also flew to higher one's. Bai Jingshen recognized that the position of their cubes probably correlated to their social status. Therefore he wasn't even surprised as someone from one of the highest cubes suddenly left and entered a viewing platform next to theirs. He was still curious however, but just as he wanted to turn around and ask Phill about the owner of the highest cubes, the latter looked at his bracelet and suddenly stood up.

"Your colleagues have arrived. I will be back in a second."

Hearing Phill say so, the mood in the room plummeted fast. Thobar Bionics could only recruit so many people in each age group. Therefore all of them had a good guess about who their colleagues could be. It could only be the supportive fire team, SFT for short, led by chief instructor Spike. Bai Jingshen still had to take revenge on Spike Jr., but he knew that he couldn't do it in this viewing platform. Maybe Spike Jr. would be unlucky enough to meet him during the competition.

While Bennet gnashed his teeth and the RSS members looked at the monitor with a gloomy look, Bai Jingshen decided to see if he could find Ra. He was a little disappointed however, as he let his gaze glide through the higher cubes, without being able to spot Ra. Little did he know, that Ra wasn't in the mood to socialize with those nobles, so he stayed in Dragon Tail's viewing platform only a tiny bit higher than Thobar Bionics'.

However, as Bai Jingshen observed the higher platforms, he suddenly discovered something strange. For a moment he could have sworn to see Spike Jr.'s friends from yesterday through one of the windows…