by Tinalynge
When Xu Min questioned his abilities, his insecurity froze him. This frigid yet fearful emotion Xu Min felt quickly appeared on his face; however, it lasted no more than seconds and then he was smiling again. Only those who were attentively observing Xu Min caught it; no one else but Yong Meilin noticed Xu Min’s frigid expression. This sight filled her face with worry; yet, as soon as the smile had returned she could do nothing but sigh. She wished to know more about this young man, but no matter what she tried to do, she always felt a barrier around his innermost being. It seemed he refused to let anyone become close to him, anyone apart from Cao Cao.
Although Yong Meilin noticed Xu Min, the young man did not see the worry on her face. He was busy discussing with Cao Cao about the battles they were soon to experience since the snake was begging for a possibility to attack. He wished to become a part of the fights. After all, he was a fight crazed snake who regularly wanted to show off his superior ability.
The group forced their way through one horde of citizens after another. These citizens went mad gossiping as they saw Xu Min and the Yong family coming towards the arena. The patriarch had guessed the commoners would become overwhelming, so he brought guards with him from his family compound. The guards, this time, surrounded the Yong family group, using their force and batons they waved the commoners aside to keep them back. Because of the guard's action, the family could move forward.
Other competitors such as Xiao Lei, Han Shi and Wu Weisheng, young geniuses, who Xu Min previously met also experienced similar situations all over the city. Xu Min met them at the Challenger’s Hall the first night he visited the place. These three experts were moving with their families towards the Tang family mansion. Specifically, Zhan Weishing, the inscriptor from Ri Chu City, accompanied W Wu Weisheng and his family. Zhan Weishing also happened to be Wu Weisheng’s uncle; his mother named her son after her brother in the hope that her son somehow would manage to become as famous as the inscriber.
Apart from these families were the Wei family, the Shiu family, the Tang family, and the Guo family. Although the Guo family separated themselves from the Tang’s family’s devious plans, they still presented themselves at the tournament since they were one of the four strongest families in the city.
All over the city, people were cheerful and excited. Even the commoners so desired to join that they were willing to give their right leg to be allowed entrance into the tournament. Nonetheless, they had no ability to make that happen. Furthermore, none of the elite families would want a commoner bleeding and soiling the tournament’s floor because they had no right leg. Although average citizens could not attend, there were still many others who were allowed in as spectators. Firstly, all the prestigious families were there, all the patriarchs of the twenty strongest forces of the city were invited, including a few members of their families, and the many guilds of specific standing were also invited. Beside Zhan Weisheng, a smaller more insignificant group of inscribers had been invited.
The city’s alchemists were attending as well. Though these alchemists ranked lower than Master Dong Liang and Huang Zhen, they were still major players within Ri Chu City, selling medicinal pills that assisted the younger generation in cultivation. All the pills Xu Min received were from the alchemists’ guild. The alchemists guild was the only guild, apart from the Alluring Treasure Pavilion who often sold pills on behalf of the alchemists guild that sold medicinal pills within the city.
Wealthy merchants were also invited because they sold items Ri Chu city’s families needed. Even the leaders of the most prominent mercenary guild in town had been invited. Thus, anybody who was somebody was invited; nobodies stood outside.
The arena grounds in the Tang family were massive; the participating experts were surrounded by seats on all four sides. The arena could hold thousands of visitors; nevertheless, once the tournament would begin the whole arena would be packed., the seats would be completely filled.
Arriving at the Tang family’s palace, they were met by a group of guards. The Yong family met with no show of respect or friendliness towards them by the guards rather they snubbed the patriarch as he comes walking by. Whereas, some of them looked at Yong Meilin with greedy, lustful eyes and licked their lips. Being treated like this was not below the patriarch’s expectations. The families whose prestige and power was gained by sheer strength looked disdainfully down on the Alluring Treasure Pavilion who gained their fame and position solely through wealth only. Their experts were not experts of the family, but instead, commoners they had hired. Their way of doing things was so different from the other families and this difference often caused the families to butt heads.
Just the fact that the Alluring Treasure Pavilion was participating in the tournament shocked everyone. Even more so, when they found out that the participate was not a part of the Yong family, but instead a traveler whom they took in. Furthermore, realizing the ice queen of Ri Chu City seemed to have fallen for this person was even more shocking. Xu Min was without a doubt the most discussed topic in the entire city.
The guards leading the Yong family into the Tang family’s courtyard constantly glared at Xu Min. To everyone, it was clear that they wanted to start a fight, but Xu Min paid no attention at all; it was as if the guards did not exist, quickly frustrating the guards, the Yong family’s guides. How could anyone endure the hostility these two guards showed him? Usually, young masters such as Xu Min should be filled with confidence in their ability and battle whoever instigated a disgrace or insult against them. Xu Min, on the other hand, was so level headed he did not even notice their glares against him.
After walking through the Tang family’s ground, they finally reached the outskirts; this was where the arena was located. At this point, Xu Min walked away from the other Yong family members and towards a group of young experts while the Yong family seated themselves in spots reserved for them.
Upon seeing and standing with the group of experts, Xu Min realized he was far younger than all the other experts there. Rather, these experts were all around the middle of their twenties if not late twenties while Xu Min was merely fifteen years old. The younger generation geniuses were considered, the younger generation until thirty years old, and it was obvious that the older experts were the strongest. Therefore, these experts were the ones whose families sent them to fight.
“It’s him.”
“What is so special about him?”
“He is quite ugly.”
“What? So all this drama was about a little boy?”
“Beating him will make us seem like bullies.”
Many words were spoken about Xu Min and even though they were quite low, Xu Min heard every single word as walked towards them n. He heard all the malicious comments and gossip concerning him; yet, these hurtful words didn't affect Xu Min. He didn’t care what others thought about him and looking at the many experts who had appeared in front of him, Xu Min just gave them a quick glance of acknowledgment but not respect.
Currently, thirteen experts had arrived. These were all more or less from the twenty most influential families within Ri Chu City. However, all of them were too weak to be considered equal to the four great families and the Alluring Treasure Pavilion.
Many of these experts were two-star Warriors. Now, reaching the rank of a two-star warrior before thirty years of age could be considered decent cultivating talent; nonetheless, regarding true geniuses, this was a far cry. All the participators were hoping to defeat each other and reach the top ten. Everyone knew that the top four spots were already taken.
At the same time, they knew that the top four was always occupied by the strongest families. Additionally, they also understood that the Yong family had never participated and even ranked. So, even though they had someone joining this year, everyone looked down and resented him. He was after all very young, and his rank did not seem to be higher than theirs.
It was a feat to reach that rank at such a young age, but he was still being silly believing he could beat
others.
Chapter 49 - Let the Tournament Begin
Xu Min sighed, seeing that the group of experts looked at him as though he was trash. His rank equaled their rank; but, due to their age, they had been second-star warriors for quite some time already. This age difference needed to be taken into account since this would make them stronger than someone who had just reached the rank of a two-star warrior.
Although Xu Min knew the experts’ thoughts, he paid no heed to them. He knew that his strength could not be measured against the average experts’ energy. Furthermore, with the benefit of strong stance and an outstanding sword, Xu Min had some advantages to balance his youthful appearance. If he were in a potentially fatal situation, Cao Cao would save his life, but he was very certain that reliance on his snake friend would not be necessary. The strongest person competing was a three star Warrior, and Xu Min easily remembered his fight against the three-star guards at the Yong family mansion.
Not only had the sword assisted him in defeating these experts, but it had also managed to devour and deliver their energy to Xu Min’s body. In turn, the sword helped make him even stronger and grow at an unbelievable speed.
While exclusive experts joked amongst each other and disdainfully looked at Xu Min, the youngster stayed to himself. Suddenly, a clamor arose from the group of experts as two other young men walked to them. These two men were Tang Jin, the oldest son, and heir to the Tang family and Wei Ling, the oldest son and heir to the Wei family. Behind them, Guo Long followed. Interestingly, though, he was in the top three, he was not walking alongside Tang and Wei. Usually, the three geniuses stayed together, but now this was not a case. Maybe a disagreement had occurred between the three families.
These top three experts were the ones who captured Xu Min's interest. In the tournament, Xiao Lei, Han Shi, and Wu Weisheng were also three-star warriors like the three top masters; however, they were still not as powerful as the three geniuses.
Looking at these three geniuses, Xu Min furrowed his brows. He sensed a dangerous presence coming from Tang Jin. It seemed that he had successfully broken through into the fourth-star Warrior rank. Being nurtured by Huang Zhen greatly assisted Tang Jin, and every expert started praising Tang Jin.
“You are going to win this year’s tournament even without having to exert any energy!”
“To think, the honorable young master Tang managed to become a fourth star Warrior rank before the age of thirty. Yes, no one is comparable to you.”
“Young master, congratulations on your advancement! You are soaring to the heavens like a dragon, defeating any other genius on the way!”
Words of praise flooded the young master, and he genuinely smiled from all the compliments nodding and thanking the many experts; yet, he never corrected them or asked them to stop. Apparently, he felt like a divine prodigy, a peerless expert amongst the many geniuses in the world.
As Tang Jin basked in his acclaim, his eyes suddenly fell upon Xu Min. The young man stood separate from the group, a small smirk shown on his face and his dark eyes stared straight at Tang Jin, never blinking, nor lowering his eyes in fear, just staring directly into the eyes of each other.
The tension in the air suddenly rose. Everyone stopped speaking as the audience looked at Xu Min. Some were shocked that he dared to look directly at Tang Jin; others gleefully snickered because they expected him to be beaten up soon.
Tang Jin felt his hair stand on end. He had never met anyone who did not fear him, even if it was only a little bit Nevertheless, within this boy’s black phantom eyes, no signs of fear nor signs of hesitation appeared. All there was was a keen interest in the battles.
Clicking his tongue, Tang Jin turned around and walked towards the entry into the arena with everyone following behind. At the very back of the followers walked Xu Min. Although he was very unassuming, he instantly drew the audience’s attention who turned their heads to catch a glimpse at Xu Min. Their eyes stared at Xu Min; this youngster who filled the city with so much turmoil.
The experts lined up, and their faces radiated their pride; just to be allowed into this tournament, one had to be the most prominent expert in their family, and their family needed to have some standing within the city. In short, they were all the cream of the crop, and their pride was well earned.
Xu Min was the only one who seemed apathetic. His eyes roamed across the entire audience; his eyes never once shied away from those who stared back at him. The Xu Min’s onlookers all felt a sense of discomfort, but they could not understand fully why. Maybe it was because he was an outsider or is absolute fearless scared them; they didn’t know.
“Ladies and Gentlemen! It is our Tang family’s great pleasure to welcome all of you to the one hundred and sixty-seventh tournament for young talents within Ri Chu City. For the first time, the Yong family from our Alluring Treasure Pavilion is joining the fighting households with a talent they have recently taken in. Every other spot filled is from the same families who have joined us for the last forty years.”
“You all know the rules; each participant will fight another one at a time. Whoever manages to stay on the platform until the end will be the winner. At one time, only two individual experts will fight.”
“Furthermore, a challenger may choose a particular participate. If the challenger does not accept, he will instantly be disqualified.”
“Since we all know the rules now, let the fighting begin!”
The moment Tang Ye, the patriarch of the Tang family, finished speaking, cheering sounds could be heard from the audience. None of the experts, though, rushed to the stage, everyone wanted someone else to go first. This tournament was not where a fighter would first enter the stage, but who would stay there for the most rounds. It was only natural that no one wanted to be the first fighter.
Finally, one of the smaller family experts gritted his teeth, and with decisive steps walked to the arena. “I know I will not win anyways, but I can at least prove that I am better than the boy Yong Meilin has fallen for.” he murmured. Although the audience could not hear what he had just murmured, every fighter on the ground heard him. Some started snickering while others seemed as though they wished they had thought of it first. Still no one moved towards the arena to battle the first expert. Suddenly his voice rung out through the entire arena area, “I challenge Xu Min from the Yong family!”
As soon as the words had been yelled, a collective gasp could be heard from everyone in the audience. The faces of the Yong family turned dark, everyone except Yong Meilin appeared and felt as if they had already lost. Yong Meilin, on the other hand, smiled knowingly. She had seen Xu Min train daily, and she had also witnessed his sword’s devouring energy. She was certain that it did not matter whether Xu Min was first, second, or last. He would win no matter what. She felt an unnerving and never-ending faith in Xu Min; her feelings bubbled up in her heart. Her faith in him was unnerving and never ending.
Having seen that gentle smile on Yong Meilin’s face, many of the experts questioned why she would smile at Xu Min’s seemingly impending defeat. Only Xu Min knew the truth, and seeing her smile did he move towards the arena where his first opponent awaited him. Unsheathing his sword, he climbed onto the platform and looked straight at his opponent in front of him.
Xu Min was an external expert. Everyone realized this once he pulled out his sword, and the ones who had previously looked at him with disdain were no incapable of not laughing out loud, directly mocking him as they knew that external experts were far weaker than internal ones.
Everyone except the Yong family was laughing at Xu Min. However, the laughter quickly faded when they glanced at the Yong family’s knowing smiles. Did they know something that the others did not know?
The judge didn’t care. He already expected Xu Min to hide some secret attacks up his sleeve. He also knew that the Yong family invited Dong Liang to practice his cultivation skills much like the Tang family invited the Huang Zhen. Not only this, the Yong family were very far-sight
ed individuals. They were not desperate enough to show up with an expert who would be weak enough to lose the first round. Thus, the Judge would be very disappointed if Xu Min did not manage to at least defeat the first opponent.
Xu Min still retained his apathetic smile as he gently tapped the sword against the ground; each time it touched the arena floor a small cut could be seen. One could easily guess, from the cuts, how shockingly sharp this sword was, and how heavy it had to be to create such a cut from nothing more than a slight tap.
“Weapons are allowed,and let the battle begin!” The judge said, non enthusiastically. The first of many battles were deemed to be the lower ranked experts against each other, and, unfortunately, their fights were not sensational. If anything, these fights were all desperate battles with evenly matched opponents. Many wounds would be inflicted, and they would be severely injured before a victor would be decided. As a result, the fights were drawn long and tedious.
Seeing Xu Min was the opponent, everyone expected another boring and long battle, but they were soon surprised. Xu Min’s opponent lifted his arm, and Qi poured from his body into an eagle behind his back. The eagle had released a silent roar before it rushed towards Xu Min.
