Tournament Starts

583…

Jin Jianyu stood stunned at the numbers projected above him.

According to the system, he was at Stage 1 of the Qi Gathering Realm, but based on the number above, he should be at least Stage 3.

'Does this mean that I can fight two stages above my own?' Jin Jianyu thought, getting excited at the idea.

The instructor and disciples standing behind Jin Jianyu were similarly shocked. They thought Jin Jianyu was at least Stage 3.

If the disciples and instructor knew that Jin Jianyu was really Stage 1 and reached this in under a week. They would curse their mothers and the heavens. They would leave the cultivation world and become farmers.

It was truly unfair.

"Y-You passed... Not only did you pass. You ranked top of your class…." The instructor said, stunned.

"The top of the class?" Jin Jianyu said, turning to the instructor.

The examination instructor nodded. "Since this is your first tournament… I'll explain the rules to you."

"Each student in the tournament can challenge another up to three times. If you win, you swap ranks. Students can only challenge someone within five places higher than their ranking, except students in the top ten." The instructor continued. "Any student in the top ten can challenge anyone else in the top ten."

Jin Jianyu nodded.

Jin Jianyu had never participated in the sect tournament, but he watched every one. He memorized each move. Not that he could use them, he could only daydream about it. But now that he had passed, it was his turn.

"The tournament starts in an hour."

Jin Jianyu shivered slightly. He had a bad premonition.

Jin Jianyu made his way through the side doors towards the tournament platform.

***

At that moment, an individual was looking at the ranking board outside.

"This year is going to be interesting…."

"Xi Yang. It's time."

The individual turned around and faded out of view as they headed toward the tournament platform.

***

Wei Cheng pulled his fist away from the wall. A part of him filled with anger, the other excitement.

"Wei Yue, please tell father I'll be there soon. There is something I must do first." Wei Cheng said as he turned toward Wei Yue.

Wei Yue nodded and headed toward the tournament stands.

Wei Cheng watched as Wei Yue walked off.

"Not too long now…." Wei Cheng waited until Wei Yue was far enough away before pulling a piece of wood from his pocket. He took a deep breath and rubbed it between his fingers. "Mother. Today is the day. We will get revenge for what happened."

Wei Cheng slid the piece of wood back into his pocket and headed off toward the tournament platform.

***

Jin Jianyu walked up the stairs and through the vast circular stone entrance. He arrived at the large stone platform where the academy held the tournament each year.

Around the large stone platform in the center were smaller circular dueling platforms where two students could fight. Surrounding these were large stone stands filled with seats.

In the tiered stone stands, seats were slowly filled like sand poured in an hourglass. To Jin Jianyu's shock, all clan heads were present here today.

Typically only one or two clan heads would attend. As Jin Jianyu scanned the stands, his surprise grew. He spotted General Wei sitting next to Emperor Hong.

'What is going on?'

Jin Jianyu wondered why Emperor Hong was attending the tournament today as he hardly traveled out of the inner sect.

Jin Jianyu snapped out of his surprise as General Wei returned his gaze. General Wei wore a fierce glare, his eyes boring deep into Jin Jianyu's.

Everyone's attention in the stand turned to Wei Yue, who took soft strides toward General Wei and Emperor Hong.

Wei Yue spoke to them briefly before kneeling and whispering into General Wei's ear. She stood and made her way down the stands towards the student participation section. Her hair flowed with the gentle breeze.

General Wei turned back to Jin Jianyu. His glare turned into a gentle smile. Just as quick as the smile appeared on General Wei's face, it disappeared.

Something about that smile General Wei wore didn't feel right to Jin Jianyu.

Jin Jianyu was about to make a remark when someone stepped on the large stone platform. The entire area turned quiet.

The person walked to the center of the tournament platform and cleared their throat gently before stroking their long white beard.

"Welcome, everyone. Today is the day of the Outer Disciple Tournament." Their voice resonated across the entire academy. "Before we proceed, I'd like to welcome Emporer Hong and the Clan heads."

The person bowed in their direction as the emperor and clan heads nodded back towards him.

'Isn't that the academy president?'

The academy president revealed the examination rankings.

Silence washed over the stands as many sect members were stunned. Jin Jianyu was glad that he had gone through a transformation. Otherwise, the death stares would have killed him.

The president cleared his throat once again and continued.

He again went over the rules and introduced the lower ranks to smaller dueling platforms surrounding the large stone platform.

Then, the president spoke his final words.

"This year, we are welcomed by Xi Yang. The top inner disciple graciously offered to provide the top outer disciple with a sparring session in addition to the rewards that come along." The president said before walking off the stage. "I wish all participants luck in this year's tournament."

After the president left the stage, the top teacher in the academy took over, directing the lower-ranked students who were dueling on the outer platforms.

Slowly, one by one, the rankings began to shake out. The low-ranking duels weren't much to speak of, with many hardly able to channel enough Qi for more than two to three moves.

Most duels didn't last more than five moves. It wasn't until the rankings reached the top twenty-five. Once the rankings shook out into the top twenty-five, spectators saw fights last more than five moves.

Even then, the clan heads didn't make any expressions until the matches reached the top fifteen. The top fifteen was when students began to use weapons, making duels last longer.

As the matches got longer, the top ten ranked students grew restless.

Wei Cheng looked at Jin Jianyu. His eyes filled with excitement.

"Top 10. State your challenges."

A voice sounded out clear.

"I challenge... Jin Jianyu."