Finally Here!

Much to the surprise of James and the others, they didn't encounter any trouble when making their way to the location of the tournament. There were a few minor monsters here and there but with the combined might of all the elders, it was no trouble at all.

Every elder in the sect had come to the tournament this time except for Third Elder who had decided to stay due to his injured arm and they needed someone to still guard the sect while everyone was away. Even though they had many Disciples if a powerful foe appeared they would need someone like Third Elder.

Despite his missing limb, he was still nearly able to fight at the same level. There was of course a slight difference but he still seemed to be managing well. Normally this many elders would not be accompanying the group on their journey but since the threat of the Steel Venom Sect was so high they brought out most of their forces to combat any kind of trouble they may face.

Originally both James and Patriarch Colton thought they were going to try and form a surprise attack while they were in transit but it seemed that they had so much confidence in dealing with them that they were going to wait until they arrived for the tournament.

James was by all means ok with this since the rules of the tournament area were that the other sects were not allowed to fight with each other unless it was a sanctioned match. This meant that only the disciples would be going head to head instead of the elders.

This was a double-edged sword in the fact it wouldn't be an all-out blood bath when they arrived but it meant that the tournament matches would be that much more brutal than they would be otherwise. James figured that many of the other sects present would just sit back as their sect and Steel Venom's destroyed one another.

'I should be prepared to deal with the other sects as well. Steel Venom Sect will not be the only enemies here.' James thought to himself as they began arriving at a platform from the air.

The reason they were in the air in the first place is due to all of the carriages being artifacts. The look on James' shocked face had been the enjoyment of Cara and Noel for the entire ride as they had both experienced something like this prior to the tournament.

As for James, he had experienced it one time on the carpet with the elders on the way to the sect. It was a magical experience but he didn't get to enjoy it as much since he had just learned how to cultivate while on there.

Since he was on the carriage and had the chance to enjoy it once he decided not to miss the chance and spent most of his time staring at the window in awe. As for Noel and Cara, they enjoyed their time by staring at James as he looked out in wonder.

They spent most of their time looking over him as they journeyed across the land while also speaking with each other about the plan once they reached the tournament.

They had made sure in the beginning to not tell James anything about the other sects or how they operated as a sort of challenge for him and also a way for him to come find them when he needed to ask questions.

When he comes to find him they thought that would be easier for them to watch over him during the tournament rather than forcing him to come to seek them out after a certain amount of time. They knew that he would do whatever they asked him to do but they also didn't want him to feel forced in the situation.

Now that they had landed at the tournament area James and crew quickly got out of the carriage stretching their arms and bodies that had been unable to move for the past few hours.

As James was stretching he noticed that they weren't the first ones to arrive as many other carriages were also in the same area with different colors on them signifying the sect that they came from. For James' sect, they sported a combination of red and black showing a more dominant and fight-like color since they were a sword sect.

Some of the other colors in the area included a dark venom-like green which James assumed to be Steel Venom Sect, a white and slight rosy pink which James didn't know, and a dark brown that seemed to be supremely hardened by some kind of force.

'So these are the carriages of the people I have to go against.' James sighed to himself excited. It had been a while since anyone had challenged James, so he was excited to test not only his skills but the people from far away to compare him and the top of the world.

In truth, he was a little excited about the tournament. When he first began the training process he was the same as everyone else. However, now that he has been training he had a little power under his belt that he planned to test against the opposing sects.

What James didn't know was that the other sects had been preparing for him just as much. They knew everything that had been shared with the public and knew some of James' moves.

He wanted to tell them that all of this was within his calculations but refrained from doing so when he realized that everything that he had prepared can be taken away in an instant by telling them that he had been four steps ahead this entire time.

'It's better for it all to just be a surprise.' James thought to himself with a smile as Cara and Noel nodded their heads in agreement knowingly. They had created the monster that is now James with the other sects' knowledge of how powerful he currently was for his level being non existent.