Youth Martial Arts Tournament (1)

A stadium stood at the southern part of the city.

Like everything else in the capital, its size was over-the-top. Five stories high and covering an area comparable to the largest farm back in his village, the stadium could hold more than a million audience at once.

It was the location for the annual youth martial arts tournament!

After showing his registration token, William was escorted to the waiting room. Hundreds of youth had arrived earlier than him. They were either chatting with each other, or had found a secluded space to meditate.

Suddenly, an arm was flung over William's neck. A cheerful voice rang from his left.

"Hey, new guy!"

It was a youth wearing a blue robe. His attire was cleaner compared to William's, but the quality wasn't much different.

"Hi, you're...?"

"Sean. Call me Sean."

The youth showed him a wide grin.

"William."

William didn't feel any hostile intent from this new person, so he didn't back away from the youth. He still didn't like the sudden intimate contact, though. He pushed the youth's arm off his neck, and then replaced it with a handshake.

Sean didn't seem to mind. If anything, he was intrigued.

"You're not from around here, aren't you? Where'd you come from?"

William gave it some thought before replying truthfully.

"Bountiful Harvest village."

"Huh... never heard of it."

"We're located far in the east, near the foot of the mountains."

There were a lot of villages in the frontier area, but they were usually hard to reach. Unless it was villages close to themselves, not many would pay them a visit. William himself only knew a few other villages near the vicinity, so Sean's reaction wasn't unexpected.

"Ooh, no wonder I didn't know. I come from the northern border!"

The northern border held great importance as the first layer of defense in the case of invasion. As such, a huge amount of funds were allocated for its development. Even small villages like Sean's enjoyed a rather generous helping compared to the other areas.

Still, with new villages popping up here and there, those who wanted to develop further would have to raise their fame.

"I joined this tournament as a representative of my village. I don't really need to win, just showcasing my abilities is enough. Well, if I can enter the royal academy, it would be good too, heheh."

Sean glanced at him as if silently asking 'how about you?'.

"Same, more or less," William nodded. "Though, in my case, entering the royal academy is my primary goal."

"How's your cultivation, bro? Hmm... elementary stage?"

Sean rubbed his chin, acting like a knowledgeable elder. It made William raised an eyebrow.

"Is it bad if I'm still in elementary stage?"

"Well... not really, I mean I'm in elementary stage too," Sean coughed. "But you know how prestigious this tournament is, right? New talents sprung up every year, and they're all monsters. Like, how old are you now? I'm eleven this year. Hmm... judging from your looks, you shouldn't be too far from me..."

"I'm ten starting from last month," William replied.

"Right."

Sean harrumphed.

"See, William, you know the older you got, the harder it is to cultivate? The sooner we could reach the higher stage, the easier it would be for us in the future! But for people like you and me, reaching to qi condensation stage before adulthood is already considered good enough. Do you know why?"

William shook his head.

"Cultivation technique! It's all cultivation technique! The kids in my village is taught by the old guard captain. He's managed to reach Foundation Establishment stage in his late-thirties, so his cultivation technique isn't too bad. But compared to the ones from central region, it's still too crude. Remember this well, the quality of your technique will determine the speed of your cultivation!"

William nodded, putting his words to heart. It didn't seem to deviate from what the village elder had told him.

However, a point caught his attention.

"Compared to the ones from central region?"

"A-ha, you noticed," Sean smirked. "Do you think only poor kids like us here will join the tournament? There are children from noble clans as well. The most talented ones are already enrolled in the academy from birth, so we aren't in danger of facing them. However, even the second and third-rated descendants of those clans are still elites. They reached the peak of elementary stage when they're seven! By the time they're ten, they might be already at the peak of qi condensation stage! I even heard that there's a six-years-old kid entering the tournament. It's nuts!"

Someone as young as the little brother next door is in this tournament? William was surprised.

At first, he was quite confident with the martial arts taught by the elder. However, hearing Sean's words, he began to have doubts about his own ability.

Sean was taught by a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, and even he was still concerned. Clearly William was too confident before. He ought to be more careful from now on.

"Thank you for the warning," William said, giving Sean a humble bow.

"Uh, you're welcome?" Sean didn't know how to respond, so he just chuckled.

Suddenly, a voice echoed throughout the waiting room.

"The tournament will begin soon. Everyone, please enter the competition area."

Sean cracked his knuckles, showing William an excited smile.

"It's time. Let's go!"

---

The stadium was elliptical, with an open ceiling that allowed sunlight to pour in and illuminate the competition area. When the weather wasn't as good, a dome would be pulled to cover the ceiling. The dome was apparently so huge that only Foundation Establishment stage experts were able to move it.

In the middle of the stadium was a wide rectangular platform made of reinforced stones. There were eight more similar structures surrounding it, albeit they were smaller in size. Each platform could accommodate hundreds of people to stand inside them.

"The one in the middle is the main ring. The rest are used whenever the stadium holds more than one competition at the time," Sean explained as they were ushered into a huge field north of those platforms.

"You seem knowledgeable about this place," William remarked.

"Heheh. Well... actually, this isn't my first time here. I've come to watch the tournament with my friends last year. Like my teacher, old Graham, had said, 'knowing your enemies is half of the battle'!"

William swept his gaze around. The group they were in was the largest of them all, and they were put in the left side of the field. Meanwhile, a smaller group was on the right side. They were dressed in lustrous clothing. Even a commoner like William could tell that their attire was incomparable to his in terms of quality.

"Are those from the noble clans?"

"Yep! I guess it's too obvious, huh?"

William could guess rather easily that they were segregated based on their status. The group he was in consisted of commoners, while the other ones were nobles.

"Will they separate us during the tournament too?"

"For the preliminary, yes," Sean nodded. "You see those smaller rings around the main arena? Six of them will be used by us, while the other two were for the noble children."

"Just eight rings?"

As if foretelling William's doubt, Sean readily answered.

"What, you think they'll have us duel each other one by one? It'll take months to finish! For the preliminary stage, we'll have a group battle. From each ring, sixteen competitors would be chosen to advance. Usually, it's the last sixteen standing. However, from what I've heard, sometimes there would be exception..."

"Quiet, His Majesty is making an appearance."

A stern voice rang throughout the stadium, silencing both competitors and the audience. A group of people dressed in ceremonious armor appeared on a balcony overlooking the competition area. From behind a red curtain appeared a middle-aged man. He had a long, thick beard, giving him a wise appearance.

Several youths followed after him, taking seats on his sides.

"That's His Majesty, King Joseph Harwell," Sean whispered. His body was trembling from both fear and excitement.

Joseph Harwell's name was famous throughout the kingdom as a wise and benevolent ruler. Not only that, unlike the other kings in the continent, he was also a strong martial artist who had reached the Core Formation stage in his early thirties. Just his pressure alone had already proven his might.

For aspiring youths, eager to grow stronger, the King was definitely one of their role model!

As for the youths on his sides, William deduced that they must've been his sons, the princes.

"That's the first prince, the second prince, the third prince, and the fifth prince," confirming William's thoughts, Sean stealthily pointed at the youths, from the oldest to the youngest ones.

Hmm? He seemed to have jumped a number there. William tilted his head in confusion.

"What about the fourth prince?"

Sean had a complicated look on his face.

"Oh, right, you don't know much about the capital, huh... it's rather complicated. In short-"

He was about to continue when the King suddenly stood up from his seat. Enhanced with his qi, his voice boomed loudly, suppressing the noises made by the audience.

What a dominating presence! Even the princes were grimacing.

"I'll tell you later," Sean whispered as he turned his attention to the King.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you my thanks for attending this tournament."

The King's gaze fell upon the group of youths below him. They felt as if their heart was pierced by a sharp blade.

"Each and every single one of you are promising youths, the ones who will hold the kingdom's future. Whether you manage to advance to the main stage or not will not change that fact! Fight to your heart's content! Show this old man what you can do!"

A loud cheer erupted.

Now that the King himself had addressed them personally, none of these youths dared to slack off. Which child didn't want to impress their idol? Even those who had wanted to take it easy had suddenly gotten fired up.

"You're still good at rousing people, Your Majesty."

An amused voice came from the man standing behind the King's seat.

"Eh. It won't be fun if those youngsters don't put their back on it," the King didn't mind the man's impolite speech. Instead, he followed suit in a relaxed manner.

"Anyone caught your fancy, Oscar?"

"Well... the quality of this year's batch seems to be lower. Only a few in qi condensation stage, at most, and they're all nobles," the man sighed.

"It's not like a genius that can reach Foundation Establishment stage before fifteen will appear every year," the King laughed. "Don't just look at their cultivation. You might miss a talent that way."

"We'll see about that, Your Majesty. Look, it's about to begin."

Just as Sean had said, the group was separated to each of the eight smaller arena. Supervising each platform were instructors from the royal academy. They were tasked with keeping fairness of the fight, as well as evaluating potential recruits.

While only sixteen competitors will advance to the main stage, there was still a chance for the academy to accept a student if they were talented enough. That was why the competitors were determined to show their skills even this early in the tournament.

There were approximately a hundred and so competitors in the arena. Thankfully, Sean wasn't among them, so he wouldn't have to fight him early on. The other platforms also held the same amount of competitors, although it might vary a bit.

William was excited. It would be his first time fighting against his peers. It was different than that time with the thugs. Just from their stances, he could tell that they had been trained with proper martial arts. He wanted to see how far he would go against these foes!

Standing at the central arena, the announcer raised his hand, capturing everyone's attention. The words that they had been waiting for had finally escaped his mouth.

"By the grace of His Majesty the King, the one-hundred-twentieth annual youth martial arts tournament shall hereby begin!"

Taking a spot near the corner of the arena, William psyched himself up. The referee in charge of his group was reiterating the rules one more time.

"Killing or permanently wounding your opponent is forbidden. Aside from that, you may use any weapons or techniques in your disposal. People who got thrown out of the arena is allowed to enter again. However, if you exit the arena by your own volition, it'll be considered as forfeiting. You'll also be eliminated if you get knocked out. Are we clear?"

After ensuring that all the competitors understood the rules, the referee gave them the go-ahead signal, and then jumped out of the arena.

As his rivals began to engage in battles, William also lunged toward his first target...