Chapter 189: Martial Artist Tournament

I followed the instructions on the back of the token and found my way to the actual main area where the tournament will be held.

The whole event was like a festival where the majority of the people with coins joined in to watch. A massive football-like playground was set up with chairs on stair-like structures were placed for the people to sit. And on the middle area of the 'arena' was an even larger covered booth for the VIPs.

Nobles and cultivators of a pretty high level sat inside the booth, one of them had so much Qi leaking out of him that instantly identified him as someone on a higher stage than a Nascent Soul cultivator.

This is one of the few Soul Formation cultivators I've seen. Besides the emperor of the Zhou county, the Sect master of the Seven Mountain Peaks, and the Grand Elder of the Three-Legged Raven sect.

The rarity of the cultivators in higher stages increases the higher one climbs, but I know that these cultivators are more than sand grains in other areas of the world or other planets. It's just that this world has too low Qi to allow many cultivators to grow in rank.

Having met the two Half Step Ascendants a couple of days ago could be something that a regular person wouldn't see even during three lifetimes.

I took an inspecting glace all over the booth and made a self note of everyone present there. Because among them, one man was hiding his Qi so tightly around him that one would think him a mortal. But I decided against filing him with Mortals because if he truly was a Mortal he would have had achieved something monuments to be granted audience among people of such high cultivation level. Which is pretty hard, especially since he had a holding bag on his side.

The arena itself was a massive square platform in the center. And on all of its four corners, there were four other smaller platforms.

While on the contestants' side, there were a few hundred of us. And a good portion of them were all Nascent Soul cultivators.

"Greetings everyone!" called a man who showed up out of nowhere. 

He was dressed in colorful robes and had a cheerful air about him, he was under the VIP booth and was probably going to be the one who will present the fighters.

"For today's event, his great and generous majesty Lord Shima, our liege has allowed this tourney to happen as entertainment for his birthday, and thanks to his great generosity, it is not he who will receive gifts for his birthday, but the brave and courageous warriors who show entertainment to his great self."

Cheers rose, but not high enough to be deafening, and it was obvious that this man was facing a tough crowd.

'Not the best hyping speech though, so it was expected.'

"Calm down," the speaker said, "For the rewards, we'll grace the first three with a Nascent Soul Correction Pill!" 

'Oh, A Correction Pill? What is that?' I wondered and immediately the answer came to me from a text from the Poison God's book.

***

Nascent Soul Correction Pill, a pill that can help resolve soul damage after reaching the Nascent Soul stage.

The Soul Damage is usually something that happens after cultivators face their first Heavenly Tribulation.

But since you already faced your first Heavenly Tribulation at the Core Cultivation stage, such pills are useless.

***

'Huh, so nothing too great.' I inwardly scoffed at the reward. But I was surprised to hear the unmoved crowd howl and cheer even harder as the commentator mentioned the reward.

'Seems like this pill is a bit useful for regular cultivators, especially since even the few Core Cultivators and even Nascent Soul cultivators within the competitors are agitated about it.'

"And this is but the common reward!" the commentator said, and now the crowd was anticipating what could top something like that.

"The Second Reward, for the second and first participant. Is the opportunity to have a weapon or defensive treasure crafted by the great cultivator himself Han Sui!" the commentator said and pointed at the man with the massive leaking Qi in the VIP booth.

My ears threatened to burst as everyone including the participants shouted with joy.

"Who the heck is that guy?" I mumbled

And was immediately scoffed at by a nearby competitor.

"You idiot, don't you know the great Han Sui! He is the best Craft smith in all of the western countries. Kings and emperors come to him and hope he crafts a weapon for them, even the Emperor of Zhou County waited seven days to get a single dagger crafted for him!"

'Oh, so he was the one who made that crappy dagger, what the hell, the dagger that the Emperor of the Zhou County was hella bad. It was unbalanced and had a lot of faults it was all looks no substance.'

My bored almost derisive looks were gonna earn me a fight with this guy, so I said, "I didn't know him to thank you for telling me," I said.

"And finally, last but not least, the final and grand prize for the winner of this fight is…"

The man waited as if he was the only one waiting from the drop beat of a drumroll then finally spoke.

"A Law Fruit!"

Thankfully, before anyone would start screaming like little girls in a K-Pop fest after seeing their favorite artist I plugged both my ears and watched the entire arena go in an uproar.

Several, long, arduous seconds later. I finally removed my fingers from my ears.

Now, I wasn't interested in this tourney at all, all I wanted to do was to spot the person behind the kidnappings and disappearance of the kids. Not to mention the main goal of finding out if there is another copy of the Poison God's book. But now, A law fruit, it's like an easy way to get a more basic understanding of Law.

A Law Fruit has heavenly symbols within it, and upon consumption, one's understanding of the laws they had obtained will increase. Though the potency of the Law Fruit is reduced the more laws a person is seeking if one only seeks one law the fruit should enhance their understanding by a great margin.

I don't fully understand how this thing works, but my lackluster and bored attitude towards the tourney changed immediately with this fruit showing up, now I'll probably have to do some effort.

"Now, for the competition rules, since there are a lot of participants, we'll be seeding all and every Nascent Soul Cultivators. Don't feel bad about this, even the None Seeded Tournament has its rewards, so one could potentially get the rewards from the elimination rounds, and also win the grand prize, that is if they are strong enough to snatch away the rewards of Nascent Cultivators." The commentator said.

"The competition will have to go for an elimination and point system. Each Core Cultivator will face ten foes, and the ones with the most points will advance until only six are left. The final six Core Cultivators will all be allowed to join the main event! Let's hope we see a powerful Dark Horse among the Core Cultivators, it had happened before and everyone favors the Underdog!"

'Six Dark Horses he says, bruh, this whole tourney is a farce, I mean, there are thirty Nascent Soul cultivators. Meaning that from the hundred and So Core Cultivators six will go and face ones that are far stronger than them in ability, experience, and power. Six Dark horses? More like Six entertainment matches…Wait, I'm among them, so it should only be five because I'm winning this all the way. The Law Fruit is the thing I'd want the most out of all of this.'

"Now let the Core Cultivator tourney begins!" said the commentator and soon a person started calling names out, and the first name was the least I expected.

"MENG HAO Will be facing Han Son!"

'Meng Hao? Could he be the same one?' I wondered.

And was not disappointed to see the grim and serious slightly dark-skinned kid on the verge of attaining Nascent Soul stage, walking up one of the stages. In front of him was another Core Cultivator at the ninth stage of the Core Cultivator stage.

"Begin!" the judge on the platform said.

Not an instant later, the match was already over, as Meng Hao had shoulder bashed the other kid so fast, that he was knocked out of the stage and eliminated.

This happened before not even the second name was called to the other arenas.

"Meng Hao one point!" called the judge.

"Damn, he's fast," I applauded inwardly.

More names were called, and more battles happened. Soon came my name and I went up.

In front of me was a young girl that looked like she was in her early twenties. She had a long rapier on her and was readying for a fight.

Sadly for her, she never had the chance to make a move as I've already moved so fast behind her and gave her a light hand chop to the back of the head. Normally that wouldn't work on a martial artist because they are far sturdier than regular humans, but with infused Qi, it was well done.

I have a soft spot for young little girls, and it would be just sad to hurt her. Though this defeat will hurt her pride the most.

I made sure not to have her fall face down on the ground and lightly grabbed her and placed her down, then the referee declared my victory and point advancement.

Seeing that I'll be facing nine more people, this tourney was going to take a long, long time…hope they have a break soon, I'm feeling slightly hungry…