Tournament

It was the end of the year. Brightmoon country had welcomed winter with the heavy snowfall.

Mortals still predominated the population of the country. As such, the number of people venturing outside was quite low.

Having stacked their rations, they were waiting for the winter to pass. Many families would die of cold or starvation during this time.

Only the rich places like Azure Spring City which are governed by a powerful cultivation clan would be free of such unfortunate cases.

The Long Clan had distributed dry rations and warm clothes among the poor of the city. Under their supervision, the number of deaths during winter was almost nil.

It was one of the very few cultivation clans which had such a high population of mortals.

Even though they were a cultivation clan, they still owned lots of businesses like salt trade, beast hide, cotton etc.

As such, their relationship with the common mortals in the city was well maintained. It was one of the many reasons for being respected by everyone.

Speaking of Long Clan, they were currently conducting their annual martial arts tournament.

The elder generation used it as a method to brew a competitive atmosphere among the youth while the youngsters used it as a method to establish their prestige.

"Long Ming, Fifth Level of Qi Condensation!"

"Long Bingbing, Sixth Level of Qi Condensation!"

"After over a month of matches, among those of the similar cultivation realm, these names have emerged over others and achieved the top ten positions." A muscular youth was pointing at the different participants while explaining things to the two ladies sitting beside him.

Their faces were unassuming among the crowd and no one would pay them a second glance.

The one who looked the older of the two kept silent the whole time. There was a faint flowery smell around her. However, her cold attitude would drive others away.

So, the only person participating in the conversation was the younger-looking sister.

"Hmm, don't they have unusually high cultivation? You told me that all of them are below eighteen!" The younger one spoke in a curious tone. Her voice was very pleasant to listen to.

The young man laughed and replied, "They are all below eighteen. I haven't lied to you regarding this matter." With an envious tone he continued, "As you may know, there was the discovery of a spirit spring in the Dark Edge Mountains a few months ago. For a clan as big as theirs, I don't need to explain further, now do I?"

Even though the spirit water was 'cheap', a common person like him couldn't afford it.

"Who controls the spirit spring now?" The younger female asked. Even the older of the two looked surprised.

The young man shook his head and said, "It lost its spirituality months ago. How come the two of you don't know anything about it?"

The matter regarding the spirit water had drawn a lot of attention. People from far and wide had come to seek it.

If not for the limited effect it had on cultivators and the short exposure it had, even people from other countries would have come over.

"Me and my sister are coming out of seclusion after a long time. We are slightly unaware of the workings in the past few months." The girl sighed.

"Ah, so that's why!" The young man clicked his tongue in understanding.

His name was Shen Mo.

Unlike other people, he hadn't come here to witness the competition.

He was a cultivator with lots of friends in the city. Thus, he sometimes worked as a guide part-time for people who came from outside the city.

Today, he had met these two sisters who had come from a nearby town.

Their request, they wanted to have an audience with one of the Long Clan's elders.

Shen Mo would've immediately rejected them if not for the fact that he couldn't sense any of their cultivation bases!

"Brother Shen, I don't want to see their performances. Just let me directly meet the elders and I'll give you the payment!" The younger one said while rubbing her forehead.

This Shen Mo had indeed shown them around the city and taken them to Long Clan in the shortest time possible.

With his connections, he was able to get entry inside too.

However, once he came here, he no longer looked for the elders but sat down in a corner to watch the tournament!

"Miss Jingyi, as you can see all of the elders are busy." He pointed towards the east where a lot of big shots from the city and the clan elders were sitting. "Once this competition is finished, I'll personally take you to visit one of the elders! Why don't you just enjoy the fights for now?"

The girl snorted and took a seat beside him. "What's there to enjoy? All of them are only so so…"

Shen Mo who had seated himself started to violently cough. In a hushed tone, he said, "Miss, very few outsiders have the privilege to watch this competition. I had to pull a lot of strings to get us seats. Please don't get us kicked out…"

The girl named Jingyi coldly harrumphed. "What do you-"

Her elder sister shook her head and caught her wrist, "Qingyi, don't create a scene. We don't want to embarrass that senior."

She swallowed whatever words she wanted to say and obediently nodded. "As you say, big sister Mengyi."

Even though the girl had a violent temper, she would always obey her sister. Moreover, the two of them had come here for an important mission.

She could only suppress her dissatisfaction and wait.

…

Meanwhile, all the contestants were standing in arenas of their own.

It was the symbol of their position.

If someone wanted their arena, they would need to challenge and defeat them. Unless the challenger had a higher cultivation base, challenges couldn't be rejected either.

As such, the arena holders were under constant pressure. After a certain period of rest, they would need to accept the challenges.

Moreover, these challenges were not only limited to clan members, outsiders could participate in it too.

Long Aristocratic Clan was a cultivation clan. As such, it had certain qualities of sects too.

Every year, the clan would accept quite a few cultivators in their clan. Sometimes, a few of them would be attached to the clan through marital ties.

Hence, there was no lack of people who wanted to challenge them.

If they won, they would prove that they were no less than people from Long Clan. Even if they lost, they might catch the eyes of the elders and be accepted in the clan.

Naturally, the number of outsiders who could win against Long Clan members were rare. After all, they were taught martial arts from a young age. The number of cultivation arts they possessed was also numerous.

Boom!

Another challenger was knocked out of an arena.

"Winner, Long Sheng!"

The challenger felt miserable after the defeat. Yet, he quickly stood up and bowed. "Thank you for your guidance!"

Long Sheng gave a simple nod and sat down to regain his peak condition.

The crowd was composed of mainly the clansmen and a selected few others who had come here to watch the battles or challenge them.

They gave Long Sheng a simple look but then shifted their eyes to the other arenas. Constant fights were going on. So unless there was a change in the ownership of arenas, no one would pay attention.

…

Meanwhile, the elders of Long Clan were sitting on a faraway platform and observing the matches.

"Their cultivation bases aren't matching with their actual skills. Tch!" An old woman who was sitting there snorted in displeasure. There was a symbol of medicinal cauldron sewn on her silk robe.

Elder Qiansheng who was sitting beside her smiled and said, "Senior alchemist Long Ling'er, the situation this year was quite special. The spirit water couldn't be stored for a long time and needs to be used quickly. They had no choice but to increase their cultivation base. You shouldn't blame them."

While the outsiders might be impressed by the display of the Long Clan members, Long Ling'er was irritated.

Unlike others, she wasn't impressed by their cultivation bases. Hence, she could clearly see that beneath those dazzling cultivation bases of this year's participants, the Long Clan members were lacking in divine abilities and battle experience.

"Qiansheng, you should be used to the grumpy hag by now. Nothing can ever satisfy her. So why bother explaining anything to her?" Another man with a flowing white beard remarked. He had the same mark of cauldron on his robe.

Long Qiansheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He couldn't afford to offend any of them.

The old man and old woman sitting beside him were the only Peak Third Revolution Alchemists.

Both Long Fang and Long Ling'er were constantly at odds. If one said right, the other would say left. It was as if the two of them could never arrive at a consensus.

The woman coldly harrumphed and said, "I wouldn't have bothered if it was any other time, but Grand Xia's Imperial Academy will conduct their selection in just three more months…"

Upon mentioning this, even Long Fang's mood got serious. "Well having a higher cultivation base won't do them any harm. After this competition, they still have three months to hone their strength. In addition, it's not like everyone is participating there… that brat Long Ding is enough!"

All of their gazes simultaneously shifted to the lone figure standing in the distant arena.

Unlike others, the number of people who challenged him was few. Due to his strength, others in the same cultivation level as him couldn't handle many strikes from him.

The more he fought, the more others respected him. Even the other challengers were wary of him.

Long Ling'er looked at the youth for a long time and let out a sigh. "That brat is good, he may be able to get into the top 200. However, he's nothing compared to that little lass Qingxue!"

Unexpectedly, Long Fang didn't refute her this time. "Cultivation realm in the Eighth Level of Qi Condensation while also being a peak First Revolution Alchemist. This kind of talent hasn't been born in the last hundred years. With her talent, she has a slim chance of qualifying for the academy. And even if she doesn't, I will take her as my personal disciple!"

Long Ling'er sneered. "A brute like you teaching a little girl like her? Hmph! Only I am qualified to teach her. She's just a…just a … Long Zheng, what was her age again?"

Being a Jade Core cultivator, Long Zheng was also sitting with them. In the last few months, he had broken through to the middle stage of the Jade Core realm, creating another sensation in the circle of the elders.

In fact, he too was planning on participating in Grand Xia's competition.

Being suddenly called out by the old woman, he was caught off-guard.

"…"

The old woman was irritated by his lack of reply. "Don't you even know the age of your own child? I'm asking you, what's the age of your daughter?"

"Senior, she just recently turned seventeen."