Lying In Wait

A blinding light shone from everyone's foreheads as they were transported to the arena. Sheng Tian looked around and found everyone standing on the outer edge of the arena, though the platforms had not been raised yet.

A large platform jutted out in contrast to the circular seating around the entire arena. Sheng Tian could see that all of the old generation had gathered there. He even saw them exchanging goods and placing them on a table. He chuckled slightly when he saw Long Chen bet all in with an expression of pure greed as if he had won already and knew what they were doing.

Similarly, the regular people cheered when the participants appeared and immediately made bets using custom made jade slips.

After a short while, the envoy then waved his sleeve and sent out a wave of blue light that then formed a thin barrier which separated the viewers from the combatants. He then made several hand seals in quick succession and the aforementioned platforms began to rise.

The crowd cheered and roared, clearly having been informed of the style of battle this competition would be. A meter tall hourglass appeared above the entire colosseum and the sand inside began trickling down at a slow pace.

"..."

Despite the competition officially starting, no one made a move. Doing so will bring attention to them and make them a target. The thousands of people watching naturally weren't idiots and instead waited to see who would make the first move.

The only sound that everyone heard was the sand starting to pile up. A few people couldn't handle the pressure anymore and shot forward, each going after a platform.

Whoosh!

Movement techniques were used and trails of light shot forth. One man managed to step foot onto the tenth platform, only to be shortly overrun by others. He was quickly transported out before suffering any severe injuries and the mark on his forehead turned into a one.

Meanwhile, Sheng Tian, the Sacred Children, the High Pillars, Bing Xue, Xiao Hua, and the half-blood princesses stood still along with a few others with calm expressions and didn't seem like they were going to move anytime soon.

Explosions and multicolored lights flashed as a chaotic brawl ensued. Many quickly lost their first "lives" and were transported out with pale faces. A few sat down to recover their lost qi while others went back in instantly. Sheng Tian noted that all of their faces expressed discomfort the higher up they went and concluded that there must be some kind of restriction in place.

While many were cheering, everyone knew that the real show would happen in the later stages of the competition and were paying greater attention to the ones that haven't moved. Separating those who were confident from those who were afraid was quite easy.

Sheng Tian didn't want to stand all day so he brought out a chair that just so happened to be in his spatial ring and sat down, making himself comfortable. Mo Tian sneered and simply sat down in a meditative position.

Blood splashed as blades met flesh but no lives were lost due to the intricacies of the mark placed on everyone. It seems to possess the ability to discern fatal injuries from minor ones and is completely impartial.

As time went on, people actually started to get eliminated. Their marks turned into a three and light covered their figures as they were transported out.

"Yeah!"

"Use some big moves!"

The spectators continued to cheer with increasing fervor, seemingly unable to get tired. Three days was a pretty long time and Sheng Tian closed his eyes, shutting out his sense of sound. Mo Tian saw him and merely sneered, but made no attempt to move.

Meanwhile, the old generation bickered above.

"This shit isn't fair at all!"

"There are countless flaws in this competition"

"Won't anyone be able to wait till the last moment to strike and secure a spot?"

All kinds of questions and accusations were thrown at the envoy. Even under the pressure of so many, he remained calm and even smiled.

"If your disciples don't give a damn about honor and reputation then they can do just that"

This brought a bout of silence as everyone now understood. They looked out once more at the sea of people spectating the battle. If someone shamelessly decided to do a sneak attack, then public opinion of that person along with their sect will fall.

The group of old people finally quieted down and simply watched the battle below. A few cursed their disciples for being weak, for being too arrogant, or simply entering the fight too early. Three days is a lot of time for something to go wrong and anyone who shot forth at the beginning is a fool.

Time quickly passed and the battles died down. Close to half of the participants were already eliminated and almost all were trying to recover lost qi. Only a select few still sat back and didn't fight on the first day.

Night encroached upon them and a few people whose abilities 'shone' during the night went forward and secured quick victories against overexerted fools.

Spirit stones embedded everywhere lit up to provide a light source for the spectators and Sheng Tian was surprised to see that they were all high grade, high quality spirit stones! Such exuberant spending is unheard of, much less for them to be used for mere lights. He smiled wryly at his meager amount of peak grade spirit stones which cost all of his lower grade ones.

A movement caught his eye and he smiled, "So in the end, they couldn't wait"

He turned and saw three of the Sacred Children leave their group and go for the topmost platforms. A red haired man managed to reach the first platform, a pale woman reached the second, and a hooded young man reached the third.

The man who previously occupied third place paled significantly when he saw that one of the Sacred Children had come for him and directly left the platform. His mark turned into a three and he was transported out, eliminated. He snorted in disdain and sat down in frustration.

The woman exchanged a few moves with the young man in second place before knocking him off the platform using her whip. She muttered "weakling" before also sitting down.

Finally, the red haired man who went for first place drew his sword and sent his opponent flying in the air. The red sword light was so fast that it almost severed the poor guy's arm, though thankfully the mark acted fast enough.

He took his sword and pointed it right at Sheng Tian, who replied with a snort.

The man gnashed his teeth and growled "Coward"

Sheng Tian smiled and didn't bother himself with trifling challenges from fools and went right back to sleep.