Chapter 119: The Poison Valley Annual Tournament (Part - 3)
"And finally, let us also give our absolute, utmost respect and a deep welcome to the esteemed elders who have travelled from afar to quietly observe our disciples today!" the elder shouted, bowing deeply toward a highly secluded, shaded pavilion situated high above the rest.
As the old man spoke, the thick bamboo blinds of the highest pavilion on the opposite side of the pavilion of the families were slowly rolled up by servants, revealing the powerful experts sitting inside.
However Gu Fan actually felt absolutely nothing from them, but he knew it wasn’t a lack of strength. Because these guys were already past the Origin Realm, in the Nascent Soul Realm.
Their cultivation was actually the terrifying, suffocating calm of a deep ocean that perfectly hid a raging, catastrophic storm just beneath the surface.
’Ah, there they are, the old monsters I wrote about,’ Gu Fan thought to himself as his eyes swept over the high pavilion, easily recognizing every single one of them from his own lore.
’Sitting on the far left is Elder Jiang of the Thousand Beast Mountain,’ Gu Fan recalled internally as he looked at the old, entirely bald man with a long, sweeping grey beard. ’He looks like a fragile old monk, but I wrote his sect to be notorious for ruthlessly taming and fighting alongside terrifying, bloodthirsty demonic beasts. And he is already a 2nd Stage Nascent Soul cultivator.’’
Then his eyes shifted toward the middle of the pavilion, ’And those two eerie, pale-faced old men with thinning white hair, are Elder Bai He and Elder Gu Yun from the infamous Purple Mist Valley.’
’I explicitly gave both the local Gu Clan and Bai Clan ancestral ties to this exact sect, they are the absolute titans of poison arts and toxic alchemy in this region. Both of them are at the 1st stage of Nascent Soul Realm.’
Finally Gu Fan glanced at the right side of the pavilion.
’And sitting on the right is that stooped old man with a long grey goatee, Elder Song Kui of the White Bone Hall. It might look like a stiff breeze could knock him over, but I designed his tyrannical sect to focus entirely on extreme body tempering and bone-crushing physical strength, making them absolutely lethal in close-quarters combat. He is the strongest of them all at 3rd Stage of Nascent Soul Cultivation.’
As soon as the sect elders were fully revealed, Patriarch Gu Yangtian, Bai Haoran, and Song Tianming immediately stood up from their luxurious thrones, completely dropping their arrogant, domineering attitudes as they bowed deeply toward the high pavilion.
"We greet the esteemed Sect Elders!" The three Patriarchs shouted in perfect unison, and every single clan elder, guild leader, and local merchants quickly followed suit, bowing their heads respectfully since absolutely none of them dared to offend these continental powerhouses.
After a couple of breaths, Elder Jiang from the Thousand Beast Mountain slowly stood up, resting his massive hands on the balcony railing as his feral, predatory eyes swept over the hundreds of anxious disciples standing in the square.
"The cultivation world is not a place for the weak, and it is definitely not a place for mercy!" Elder Jiang’s booming voice echoed violently across the town square, easily reaching everyone’s ears.
"We are here today to find true, bloodthirsty wolves, not pathetic, shivering sheep!" he roared, pointing a thick, scarred finger directly at the blood-stone arena.
"So do not hold back, do not show mercy to your peers, and do not hesitate to be ruthless if it means securing your victory!"
"Show us today what you all are truly made of, and we will open the doors to the heavens for you!"
The crowd beneath the pavilion instantly erupted into wild, bloodthirsty cheers, because the sect elder’s brutal words perfectly promised an incredibly violent, cruel, and highly entertaining spectacle.
"Now you can start," Elder Jiang gestured and sat back in his seat, and after him all the Clan Patriarchs took their respective seats and following them others sat down as well.
Meanwhile, Gu Fan casually leaned back against a thick stone pillar near the Gu Clan pavilion, perfectly content with keeping a low profile like always.
He had absolutely no desire to be a part of this brutal tournament as he did not need to be scouted by any sect since he already possessed his heaven-defying system, making the entire competition completely useless to him, so he decided to just stay at the back and watch the bloody entertainment unfold.
"Now listen closely, while this is an annual affair. I have to tell you the rules nevertheless."
"However the rules of the Poison Valley Annual Tournament are incredibly simple!" the old host’s booming voice echoed loudly,, "Anyone under the age of fifty is permitted to join the competition!"
And with that, the host loudly clapped his hands together, and the exact second his palms collided, the massive stone platform in the center of the town square suddenly rumbled violently.
Deep mechanical grinding echoed through the earth as the single arena at the centre suddenly broke away and divided, separating into three distinct, elevated stages.
And then the stages moved apart from each other, turning from one stage to three stages.
"Those in the Body Tempering Realm will fight on Stage One! Those in the Spirit Realm will compete on Stage Two! And those who have reached the Origin Realm will battle on Stage Three!" the adjudicator shouted, pointing to the newly formed platforms.
"To win a match, you must throw your opponent out of the stage, knock them out completely, or force them to tap out and surrender!"
"You can use whatever weapon, whatever trick, whatever means you have to win the fight. There is no restriction."
The crowd listened eagerly as the host delivered the final, most brutal condition. "There are no set brackets! Anyone can challenge anyone on their respective stage, and whoever remains standing until the very end shall be crowned the absolute winner of that realm!"
As soon as the rules were finalized, everyone wanting to take part immediately surged forward and moved to the desired stage they wanted to compete on. The vast majority of the rogue cultivators and clan disciples crowded heavily beside the Body Tempering stage, while a significantly smaller group gathered nervously around Stage Two.
However, the entire square gasped in awe as only exactly three figures confidently stepped up to Stage Three. To reach the Origin realm before the age of fifty. They were absolute geniuses among a sea of geniuses.
The first one to move towards the Third stage was Bai Bing who walked up there with graceful steps, followed closely by the heartthrob Song Tianyu who made the girls in the crowd. A few of them even fell unconscious when Song Tianyu merely looked in their direction.
And right behind them was a completely unknown, highly mysterious masked cultivator radiating a terrifying aura.
Gu Fan ignored the other two stages and had his attention towards the three Origin Realm experts. He tried to remember if he ever wrote about this mysterious masked cultivator, but before he could work his brain up, a young man holding a long silver spear instantly leaped onto Stage Two with a highly flashy spin, trying his absolute best to look intimidating.
It was Bai Yun, the Bai Clan’s so called genius who brutally lost face during the hunting competition. Losing his first spot to Gu Fan of all people. And even after more than a month, the Genius had only levelled up by one stage. He was still in the Spirit realm at the 7th Stage.
The moment he landed on the second stage, he pointed the sharp tip of his gleaming spear directly at the Gu Clan pavilion.
"I will be the first to issue a challenge,!" Bai Yun roared arrogantly for the entire square to hear. "And since anyone can challenge anyone, I issue a direct challenge to the Gu Clan’s Seventh Young Master... Gu Fan! Get your crippled ass down here right now!"
The entire town square went completely dead silent for a fraction of a second, before an absolutely massive wave of confused whispers and outright mocking laughter violently exploded from the spectator stands.
"Are they completely insane? Bai Yun is actually challenging the crippled trash?"
"He doesn’t even have a single drop of Qi in his meridians! Why is a Spirit Realm expert calling out a cripple?!"
"The Bai Clan just wants to brutally humiliate the Gu Clan in the very first match!"
Bai Haoran actually laughed out loud from his seat, as a vindictive smirk spread across his haggard face as he yelled down to Bai Yun in the ring.
"Bai Yun! Do not let that crippled piece of trash surrender! I want you to break all four of his limbs and completely shatter his dantian so the Gu Clan remembers their place!"
"I intend to!" Bai Yun laughed out aggressively, spinning his silver spear and glaring at the back of the Gu Clan pavilion, "Stop hiding like a coward, Gu Fan! I promise I will make your death incredibly slow and painful!"
Gu Fan just let out a heavy, irritated sigh as he shook his head.
’These idiots really think a cripple is going to casually jump onto a Spirit Realm stage,’ Gu Fan thought to himself, shaking his head at their absolute stupidity.
Meanwhile, up in the Gu Clan pavilion, Madam Li’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Bai Yun, something brewing in her head. She then looked up and glanced at the Third Elder standing nearby.
The Third Elder immediately understood what she meant and stepped forward, his voice cutting through the town square.
"Are you really so terrified of our Gu Clan disciples that you deliberately target our young master?!" The Third Elder sneered, making sure the entire square heard his utter disdain, "You have fallen so low, Bai Haoran."
"If your Bai Clan is so desperate for a cheap victory just to salvage some face, why don’t you come crawling in front of your Patriarch and we might let you win once. For old times sake."
Bai Haoran’s face turned completely purple again, but before he could shout back, the Third Elder waved his hand toward the Gu Clan disciples.
"Gu Tian! Get up there and show this loudmouth what a real Gu Clan genius looks like!" the Third Elder roared.
A muscular, battle-ready Gu Clan disciple wielding a heavy broadsword instantly leaped out of the staging area, landing heavily on Stage Two right across from Bai Yun.
Bai Yun furiously ground his teeth together, completely enraged that his grand challenge had been brutally intercepted. He glared past his new opponent, locking his furious eyes directly onto Gu Fan leaning against the distant stone pillar.
"You are nothing but a pathetic coward, Gu Fan!" Bai Yun taunted loudly, pointing his spear at the crowd, "Hide behind your elders all you want, but I will eventually find you and rip your limbs off!"
Gu Fan just chuckled as he pushed himself off the stone pillar and took a few steps towards the stage before stopping.
"Don’t be in such a rush to beg for your own execution, Bai Yun," Gu Fan spoke as he smiled innocently staring at Bai Yun.
"I promise I will personally butcher your miserable life soon enough."
