Inter-Sect Competition and Luna Callista

I reached the group at the sect entrance, and while waiting, I picked up on some conversations.

Some were discussing where they think they will be ranked. Some, who they think will take the top place. Others, who they hoped to see participate. Some weren't participating but just going to watch. Others were talking about who they hope gets defeated.

I didn't pay much attention to any of them; these things don't really matter.

The competition allows any disciples of the three great sects (Sun, Blood Moon, and Twin Moon) to participate as long as they are under 30. This means that while there are some core condensation disciples who qualify, but there won't be many. It sounds like there will probably be around 5 if you exclude me since I'm not mimicking core condensation.

Since I will probably lose to the top 3 anyway, I'll try to take the position below Kedron so as not to cause myself unnecessary trouble before the time is right. The other sects' geniuses, I don't care about. But I'll still take the top 10 since the prizes for places 4-10 are the same.

At about 4:50, Nicholas came down the stairs and out of the entrance then motioned me to follow as he walked to one of the waiting wagons. Apparently, he wanted to go together, which is good as it would allow me to ask questions like where are we going. I'm imagining we are going through a portal to a secret place or something.

After boarding the wagon, I sat opposite him and decided to ask.

"Where does the inter-sect competition take place? It can't be Polaris since it's too far, but I haven't seen any other place close."

"It's not far, just on the other side of the sect."

"What? On the other side is just a bunch of mountains." Maybe the portal is on the other side?

He looked at me like he couldn't understand why I didn't know these things. "The mountains mostly take up a circle of land; in the center is a city."

"I never knew there was a city in the middle of the mountains, so how are the other sects supposed to get there?"

Again, he looked at me like it's basic information. "Did you come from the ocean?" He asked in a joking tone.

I shook my head and grinned. "Nope, just a little village. I never cared about astral power till one day an old man visited while traveling and told me how to gather it. So I don't know anything about the sects." I think I did a pretty good job making up that story.

He nodded and seemed to buy my story. "Okay, so there are the mountains that we all live on right now. The three great sects are spread around the mountains; if you drew a line between them, it would form a triangle. In the center is a city that all the sects use, bigger than the ones that each of the sects has to themselves. This city mainly sells herbs, stones, and various materials to the sects; this helps the sects so they don't have to find their own. The sects also own various businesses in the city, like making pills, and some of these are transported to the outside cities to generate income."

At 5:00 sharp, the wagons loaded with disciples started moving, and I once again hated the uncomfortable ride.

After about 2 hours, we reached a large town. The buildings were all made of stone, and the streets were busy with people hurrying everywhere. The crowd parted as the line of wagons approached, they all stopping to look at the people seated in the wagons. We just continued toward the center, where a grand circular structure resembling the Colosseum was located. The wagons all pulled alongside it and stopped.

After getting off, everyone went inside. The inside had seats along all sides like a stadium, and the center was a dirt arena containing 20 stone platforms. I could see people in yellow and magenta robes each arriving on a different side of the arena. After entering, everyone spread out and sat down in the seating area. I picked a seat next to Nicholas so he can explain everything that's going on if I need him to.

I looked over at the other sects, but they were too far away to make out anything about them other than the color of their robes.

Over to the left, it could be seen in a special seating area above the regular seats were three people who I found out were the sect leaders of the three sects. Apparently, they all sat together to brag to each other and make bets when their disciples did well.

After about 15 minutes, the arena started to fill with other people all seated between the three sects; these were just people that came to watch.

At 8:00, a guy in the middle of the arena announced the start of the inter-sect competition and the rules. No killing each other; first to surrender loses; if you get pushed off the platform, you lose; if you lose consciousness, you lose; if you are deemed unable to continue, you lose. There would also be a judge assigned to each stage to prevent any mishaps. Pretty easy and straightforward rules. With rules explained, he announced the first 20 pairs of participants to come up and which stage they were assigned.

They walked up and selected a stage, and I noticed it would be a fight between foundation establishment realm practitioners only. I thought it would be quite boring, and I was correct. The whole thing lasted about 10 minutes before the next batch was announced. Overall, there were three batches consisting of only the foundation establishment realm.

I think they are going from the weakest to the strongest by pairing people to fight the same stage and realm when possible. The astral refinement matches took longer than the previous ones, people being so evenly matched turned it into a battle of attrition, dragging out the fight time. Since I was registered as peak astral refinement, it would be a little while before my name was called.

After a while, I heard a familiar name being called, that late-stage astral refinement I'd killed last night. When he didn't show up, the Twin Moon sect disciple he was supposed to fight got moved to the next round automatically. I thought people would start talking about why he didn't show up, but only two people whispered about it; apparently, he didn't have friends to worry about him, no surprise there.

I was too bored to pay attention to what was happening and who was winning. The sun made it too hot out to care either; I just wanted it to be over already. I just leaned my head on the empty seat behind me, closing my eyes and putting my arm over them to block the sun. Just listening for my name to be called.

After an hour, there was suddenly a ripple of conversations through the stands and murmurs of confessing love. I thought there must be something or someone interesting, so I sat up and saw it was a girl at almost the peak stage of astral refinement causing the conversations. It was easy to see she had a right to be the cause of them.

The girl, looking to be about 17, stood on the stage; her appearance boasts a beauty that could evoke envy even among goddesses. Her silver hair, long and flowing, complements her expressionless emerald eyes and face, drawing attention to her captivating features. Soft red lips and plump breasts that embody the meaning of twin moons—not too big or too small, just perfect—an irresistible temptation, add a touch of allure to her bewitching charm.

Her complexion, as white as snow and possessing a radiant purity, bestows an ethereal quality upon her. Her figure, slim waist and shapely hips with long legs, fleshy thighs, and slender hands, possesses a perfection that could stir desires. The magenta robe she wears, adorned with golden decorations, drapes her form, accentuating the regal elegance that surrounds her.

"Well, I can see what people are going on about, who's that?" I asked Nicholas.

"Luna Callista, the goddess of the Twin Moon sect and one of the top 5 beauties in the world according to the rankings. Though I can't confirm because I've never seen the other 4, but I think no one can beat her; she must be the top!" He sighed. "Someday I'll have to go confirm the rankings myself!"

"Almost peak astral refinement; she's good."

"Yes! She's perfect! No one can match her looks and genius!"

I decided to watch her match against some female disciple from the Sun sect before laying back down. Luna stood on the edge of the stage with a beautifully decorated sword hanging on her waist; the guard and pommel were made of black metal with gold inlays forming an intricate pattern. She wore a bored look on her face, waiting for the match to start.

I felt a little bad for the Sun sect girl; she looked good too, but standing next to Luna made her look, not ugly but not good either.

As soon as the match started, she rushed toward her opponent faster than even most peak astral refinement could move, before striking her with her palm. The disciple from the Sun sect went flying off the stage before she could even properly react. Luna just indifferently turned, walking off the stage back toward the Twin Moon sect's seating.

"Did you see what happened? She beat her in 1 move, as expected from goddess Luna," Nicholas said with a grin.

It's not surprising he couldn't tell exactly what happened being only middle astral refinement.

"She ran forward and delivered a palm strike, and I never would have expected you to fall in love with someone you don't know."

He gave me a disdainful look. "You wouldn't know anything about love only training all day."

I was about to lay back down when I heard my name. I picked up my sword and attached it to my belt; I wasn't planning to use it since I don't know any sword techniques, but I just wanted to have it. Also, if I did run into a tough opponent, having a sword and then suddenly using a dagger could give me an advantage.

I walked up to the stage and faced off against someone from the Twin Moon sect. She looked about 25 and had a charming face, but too tall for my tastes. She was peak astral refinement and holding a dagger at the ready; I don't know why she's ready yet as not even all the names have been announced. Maybe this is how nerves show up, or maybe it's habit; don't know, don't care.

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Luna Image