Chapter 31 The Tournament Begins!

"And that promise extends to all of you as well".

Xuanyuan's eyes swept over the entirety of the new disciple cohort. A wave of shivers crept up the spines of these young men and women. Each could see their own reflection in his eyes, Xuanyuan's hand still placed on the jugular of the boy.

Even a blind person could see that Xuanyuan's smile didn't reach his eyes. There was a coldness behind them, which didn't belong to a regular fifteen year old.

Song Pei, Fang Kai, Tai Yin and Tai Yang all narrowed their eyes at Xuanyuan, alongside a couple of Initial Stage Rank 2 Gu Masters. Most of them had A Grade Talents, but only a handful had primeval essence seas above 90%.

They didn't think themselves necessarily less talented that Xuanyuan, albeit, they knew that as the disciple of Elder Luo, he had access to resources that they didn't. And while none of them felt threatened by Xuanyuan's words, they all realized something about him.

'Xuanyuan holds Elder Luo in extremely high regard. He only did something after that boy mentioned his name. And from the looks of things, he isn't above disregarding the rules in order to send a message'.

Most of them had a rough idea how talented Xuanyuan was. Each of them either had a familial relationship with an Elder, or some sort of background in the world of Gu Masters. From their understanding, Xuanyuan was the type of talent that could afford to walk more than a single Path and produce the same results as person who dedicated themselves to one.

While information about his own original Gu recipe hadn't become public information yet, eventually it would come to light.

"Xuanyuan. For violating the rules of the Sect, and attacking a fellow disciple, you will be sent to the Burning Soul Hall for punishment. In defense of Elder Luo's honor, I will allow you to carry out your punishment after the tournament".

The Sect Leader spoke those words softly, but they echoed throughout the entire Strength Soul Hall. Xuanyuan immediately released the boy from his grasp, and knelt down on one knee, dropping his head.

"I apologize for the unsightly display Sect Leader. It will not happen again".

Xuanyuan's words were loud and clear, but everyone knew they were empty promises. He had just publicly threatened every single disciple in the arena, so there was no escaping punishment from that.

The otherworldly demon didn't even so much as glance at the boy before returning back to his seat. The others around him giving him a wide berth as he sat back down.

Xuanyuan glanced at the other Elders, trying to gauge their reaction.

Elder Hu and Elder Guo seemed unbothered, the latter probably wanting to return back to his Gu refinement. Elder Chang and Elder Tai from the Water Soul Hall didn't seemed upset by his outburst either.

Elder Fang from Wood Soul Hall, Elder Song from Dragon Soul Hall, and Elder Li from Burning Soul Hall didn't seem that pleased. Two were the grandparents of new disciples, while Elder Li, a firm fanatic of the Righteous Path, wasn't too happy with Xuanyuan for threatening his fellow disciples.

Elder Kong just smiled at Xuanyuan, glancing off to the side of the arena, causing him to frown before moving his gaze towards where Elder Kong's eyes lingered.

Sitting in the crowd, a young looking man with scars on his hands just winked at Xuanyuan, two beautiful looking women sitting either side of him. One with hair as black as night, the other, bright blonde hair which shone like fields of gold.

Despite their appearance, no-one else in the audience was looking at them. With how beautiful the two women looked, Xuanyuan was sure that they would be attracting more attention than the Sect Leader.

It only took Xuanyuan a moment to realize who, or what the two women were.

'Gu Immortals. All three of them are Gu Immortals. They're just sitting there, hidden in the crowd. Considering that Elder Kong told me only a couple of Gu Immortals were interested in me, those two either side of him are either Immortal Song, Immortal Di, or Immortal Lan. Is this what they meant by test?'.

Xuanyuan suppressed his desire to keep his eyes on the three, moving back towards Elder Chang as he shrugged his shoulders, grabbing a glass sphere from a nearby Gu Master.

"The Sect Leader has spoken. There was no evidence regarding Xuanyuan's accused crimes, so the matter will be dismissed. The tournament will continue!".

Elder Chang just smiled, reaching into the glass sphere and drawing out two names.

"Platform 1: Chu Yufeng vs Lin Yuan!".

Two Rank 1 Gu Masters stood up, glancing at each other before heading down towards the arena floor. Eight elevated platforms were clearly defined in the normally circular arena, a Rank 3 Gu Master placed beside each platform.

It wasn't until the seventh set of names, did Xuanyuan perk up a little.

"Platform 7: Song Pei vs Bing Ti".

The mention of an Elder descendant caused a few in the crowd to perk up, all the attention in the crowd focused around Platform 7. Song Pei stood on the platform, the large, five meter crocodile faithfully by his side.

The opposing Gu Master, Bing Ti seemed slightly wary of the beast, but just nodded slowly, muttering something to himself. Xuanyuan couldn't read lips, but he could tell that he was unconscious analyzing his opponent.

Song Pei was an Enslavement Path Gu Master, meaning that most of his Gu were probably related to enslaving beasts, and potentially even enhancing the strength of his beasts. Enslavement Path Gu Masters were usually weak on their own, their strength laying in their mental strength, as well as their enslaved beasts.

Song Pei was a Rank 2 Gu Master, meaning that theoretically, he should be able to control at least a dozen beasts of a lower Rank at once. But still, he brought out only a single crocodile beast.

Bing Ti realized this and unconsciously entered a defensive stance. Song Pei remained motionless, his crocodile beast releasing dull snarls at Bing Ti.

The referee glanced at the two Gu Masters nodding a moment before raising his arm and swinging it low.

"Begin!".

Immediately, Bing Ti leapt back, swinging his arm wide and releasing a finger thick beam of sword qi. Xuanyuan leaned forward after seeing the unfamiliar Path, watching as the finger-width, hand sized beam of sword qi was swiftly launched at Song Pei.

The Enslavement Path Gu Master raised an eyebrow, but retreated back several paces, flicking his fingers, gesturing for the crocodile to approach Bing Ti. The sword qi harmlessly passed by him, smiling provocatively at his opponent.

Regular Gu Masters couldn't have saved up enough primeval essence stones to obtain more than a few Gu over the course of a single year. Between using those primeval essence stones to attend classes and cultivate, the vast majority were forced to go on missions or jobs in order to obtain more wealth.

Xuanyuan would've done this, if it wasn't for Elder Luo giving him books for free, without having to pay for them. In addition, his deal with Long Xi and Yu Zhong Er gave him some Gu for free, in addition to the recipes he handed into the Sect.

The average Rank 1 Gu Master within the Ancient Soul Sect, completed a mission every few days, a couple even getting seriously hurt, and one dying over the course of the past year.

They were not unfamiliar with combat.

Bing Ti narrowed his eyes, flicking his hands in quick succession, multiple beams of sword qi aimed directly at the crocodile beast. They flew through the air one after the other, aimed directly at the head of the large beast.

The Sword Path, famous for its offensive prowess left a few clean cuts on the nose of the crocodile, drawing blood. Song Pei narrowed his eyes for a moment before raising his hand, a faint red glow enveloping his hand. He activated a Gu whose name and abilities were unknown to Xuanyuan, watching as a reaction appeared on the crocodile.

The glow similarly appeared on the head of the crocodile, and instantly the situation in the arena changed. The eyes of the crocodile glowed a bright, shining crimson, as its large body suddenly surged forward with a speed surprising of a creature of its size. Within a matter of seconds, the crocodile had already crossed half of the distance between it and Bing Ti.

The Sword Path Gu Master felt his eyes widen for a moment, but he held his ground, raising his hand to his mouth and blowing, a fine, silverish colour mist expanding from his open palm.

Song Pei didn't recognize the Gu either, but couldn't stop the effects of his Crocodile Hunger Gu from affecting his Raging River Crocodile. He watched as the beast entered the silver coloured mist, wincing as numerous shallow cuts appeared all over the scales of his Raging River Crocodile.

The effects of Bing Ti's Sword Mist Gu was limited in terms of area of effect and his ability to control it, but anything that walked through would be cut by a mist of fine blades. Bing Ti attempted to circle around the Raging River Crocodile, continuous breathing out Sword Mist Gu for it to move through.

Eventually, he couldn't keep it up anymore and just glanced at Song Pei before breaking out into a full on sprint. He completely ignored the Raging River Crocodile completely covered in bloody cuts, and focused his attention solely on Song Pei.

He grimaced as he charged towards his opponent.

'Shit! I've used too much primeval essence in this fight! I have to end this now, or I risk losing all the other fights today!'.

Song Pei knew that Bing Ti would lose in terms of primeval essence expenditure, and only activated another Rank 1 Gu, this time, a dull green glow appearing on the Raging River Crocodiles claws. As if the wind itself were pushing it forward, the Rank 1 beast launched itself towards Bing Ti, causing the young man to go wide eyed and grit his teeth before raising his hands in the air.

"I forfeit!", he said mere moments before the crocodile had him in its jaws. The referee extended his hand activating another Gu that Xuanyuan had never seen before, watching as the crocodile crashed onto the ground, suppressed by some sort of unknown force.

Song Pei let out a small breath, running towards his Raging River Crocodile and pressing his palm against its head, activating another Gu. It's crimson, bloodshot eyes slowly regained a hint of sanity, and it whimpered slightly feeling the pain from the cuts all over its body.

Song Pei just patted its head, before moving his attention back towards Bing Ti. Extending his hand forward, he gave the boy a big smile.

"You're a strong Gu Master. If you were Rank 2, this fight would've gone very differently".

Bing Ti glanced at the Raging River Crocodile, before nodding, taking Song Pei's hand. 

"If you had Gu that matched your Rank, it wouldn't of mattered anyway... but thanks I guess".

There was still a slight tension in the air, considering that Bing Ti knew that Song Pei was the descendant of an Elder, but a level of mutual respect was born between them. Song Pei had received instruction from his grandfather, as well as Relic Gu to forcibly increase his cultivation, but most of the Gu in his possession were his own.

He had tamed this Raging River Crocodile with his own strength, not borrowing it from his grandfather or parents. Despite the fact that he knew Xuanyuan and the other Elder descendants would require... more powerful methods, he had defeated his fellow Gu Master with nothing but his own ability.

The Sect Leader glanced at Elder Song, humming a little, as a smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.

"Little Pei isn't that bad. It is good that you have instructed them to only use their borrowed strength against the appropriate opponents. More senseless rule breaking, wouldn't only damage your reputation Elders, but also their future".

Elder Song, Elder Fang and Elder Tai all felt singled out amongst the groups of Elders, but Elder Kong just laughed, trying to defuse the tension.

"Just lay the blame at Xuanyuan's feet Sect Leader. That little monster is far beyond the rest of the other disciples. You cannot blame Elders Song, Fang and Tai for their actions. Immortal Chu himself said that Xuanyuan would without a doubt take first place. He, alongside Immortal Song and Immortal Di are all interested in Xuanyuan".

The eyes of the other Elders all bulged, while the Sect Leader just hummed a soft tune, nodding his head. They were not in direct communication with the Gu Immortals of the Sect like Elder Kong was, so hearing that Xuanyuan of all people had peaked the interest of Gu Immortals was beyond shocking!

"Is that why you put his name forward for this generations Abyssal Child? He has the backing of three Immortals behind him?".

Elder Kong smiled, shaking his head.

"Immortal Lan also agreed, and so did Immortal Li. But the former on a specific condition, and the latter only because he did not truly walk the Poison Path. Her exact words were "it's a shame really, if only I could convince him to walk the Poison Path as his sub-Path".

Elder Fang, who was in charge of the Wood Soul Hall couldn't help but speak up. His tone was a strange mixture of anger and envy.

"My grandson walks the Poison Path, and yet she ignored him in favor of that boy!?".

Elder Kong nodded, his thick white eyebrows wagging somewhat. 

"Immortal Li and the others are aware of Xuanyuan's talent. The boy created his own Gu as a Rank 2 Gu Master. He did so, while studying the Space Path under Elder Luo, and the Light Path and Dark Path in relation to the Shadow Path. I also know that the boy has dipped his toes into the Moon Path, Poison Path and Wisdom Path, but has not yet understood the essence of any of these Paths".

"His talent allows him to walk more than Path at once, but if he becomes a Gu Immortal, he will need to comprehend a method of reducing the conflict between two different types of Dao Marks, otherwise he will be limited to just a single Path. He asked Immortal Chu if the Sect possessed a Second Aperture Gu, and for the first time in my lifetime, I saw Immortal Chu angry that he had to answer honestly".

Elder Kong let out a small sigh.

"If Xuanyuan had such a thing, how would he change the World I wonder?".