After the initial commotion, everything gradually calmed down, and time passed slowly. Finally, it was the turn of the Bakunawa Abyssal Triarchy and the Golden Crow Sect group.
A tall, thin woman, with two horns coming out of her forehead and an intense demonic aura, was registering everyone. Dressed in black, there was a small Cerberus symbol on her chest.
Darian immediately recognized the great power that was in charge of this planet and the Celestial Tournament. It was the Underworld Shadow Sect, a clan made only of Demons and the ancient Beasts of the underworld.
In the past, the underworld possessed unique races, as well as planets and life different from the usual; but after the great war, when the entire underworld was consumed by destruction, the current Heaven's Will saved all the races, bringing them into its universe. Cerberus, for example, was a race of Demonic Beasts that was born in the underworld.
That Demoness looked at the 87 youths and spoke very seriously.
"I will repeat the rules, so you can be sure of what you are about to face. The Celestial Tournament will be divided into three major parts. The first is a massive selection with all disciples together, where only the top 1000 will pass. All those names will be remembered forever as the best of the generation, and they will also receive a reward at the end. The second part is where everyone will fight in the great Arena until only 100 remain. Those hundred will have their names spoken and discussed throughout the universe, and they are destined to become the most powerful figures of the generation. Finally, the decisive battles will take place, where the ultimate winner will emerge."
After speaking, she paused for a brief second, staring at them even more seriously.
"Everything sounds very good. And maybe you feel that you can at least reach the top 1000. But in all three stages of the Celestial Tournament, to decide who is truly worthy, your life will be in complete danger. You will always have the option to give up, but if you are too arrogant or react too slowly... You will lose your life immediately. In the battles of the second and third phases, everyone will use 100% of their strength in every fight; if you do not surrender in time, you will die miserably, and no one will punish the other side. Everything, I repeat, everything in a life-or-death battle is valid to survive. This is the fundamental rule of this Celestial Tournament."
After she finished speaking, all the younger ones swallowed nervously. But they were already prepared for this. Cultivation itself was already a fight against the laws of the world at its core. And if they truly wanted to go far... living safely was not an option.
At that moment, Gildor and the Queens registered their organizations; this would grant them an exclusive place inside the city. They could choose four or two separate places, but none of them hesitated and chose a single shared location, clearly showing that all the problems between them had already been overcome.
After that, each disciple had to personally go and confirm that they accepted participating. Without delay, everyone received tablets. Each tablet needed a drop of blood to become exclusive to them. There could be no mistakes in this process, which was why it was so slow.
They moved forward and passed through the great gates. There was a wide, straight path ahead of them. Following that path, there was another gate.
This gate was also guarded; a male demonic figure stood there.
"After entering the city, behave yourselves better. Don't cause trouble." His voice echoed dryly, clearly directed at Darian. This was the elder who had repeatedly warned him earlier, and his expression was far from friendly.
In response, Minril's voice sounded, and her gaze fixed on the demon, emitting a cold light. "Young Darian is a bit lively, but he is a good child. I'm sure you weren't bothered."
When he looked at that Dragoness, the demon's face changed abruptly. He quickly bowed, somewhat trembling.
"Y-yes, I understand perfectly. It's good to be young... thank you very much for coming, Lady Minril. It's been years since we last saw each other."
The Dragoness snorted. "If I remember correctly... you were the little brat son of the Demon King, right?"
The demon raised his head and smiled, nodding excitedly. The respect and admiration in his eyes were obvious. The last time he had seen her, he had been as young as everyone participating in this Tournament.
Clearly, Minril was someone who had been alive for a very, very long time. Possibly, she had ten times the lifespan of her husband. As for her origins... they were truly terrifying.
She came from the fourth-largest organization in the universe, called the Dragon Ascent Sect. A very ancient place where countless Dragon races lived. Of course, after marrying Gildor, she abandoned everything and now belonged only to the Golden Crow Sect. But all the older figures knew her, and no one would dare act too arrogantly in front of her.
The elder said nothing more. Then everyone passed him, entering the city.
As they crossed the gate, everyone saw the space around them distort and pulse. In the next second, it felt like stepping into a magical and luminous world.
The city was as immense as an entire continent. Everything inside had been sealed by space and expanded, in order to make the most of the greatest treasure of the place.
At the center of that 'city' stood a monumental mountain. That was Rainbow Heaven Mountain, the mountain that gave the planet its name.
It looked like it pierced the heavens. It wasn't just enormous; that mountain radiated an intense multicolored aura, covering the entire horizon with its colors. As they breathed, everyone felt an unmatched elemental power invading them. All seven elements of life, at the highest level, existed in abundance coming from that mountain.
That was a peerless treasure. In the past, this planet had several sects, and many wars and deaths happened to decide who would dominate this place. But... an anomaly several generations ago ended everything.
It didn't care who was good or who was evil. Simply... after being provoked, it invaded the place and destroyed everything and everyone, killing countless people.
In the end, it gave an order, saying that no one would remain on this planet for more than ten thousand years. All the ten greatest sects would take turns staying there, and they had to take care of the place and maintain all the rules during that time.
As for the ranking of the sects in the universe, it was decided according to the Celestial Tournament that happened every few generations.
Throughout the region around the city, there were buildings that emanated an ancient and imposing aura. Runes slowly flowed across the structures. It was as if the city itself had a life of its own.
Looking ahead, everyone felt as if many invisible figures were watching them. In fact, they were. Hundreds of organizations had already arrived, and many more would still come.
At that moment, the group was received by several beautiful Demonesses waiting for them on the street. Each registered organization stayed in a place chosen according to its status.
Following their instructions, they headed to a very busy region filled with residential buildings. They were taken to their mansion; that was the residence assigned to them, but...
"This time, they went too far!"
When they arrived, even the usually calm Queen Myna became furious.
They had seen the residences prepared for other organizations along the way. Almost all of them were glorious and extravagant. But what had been offered to them as accommodation... was practically a pile of ruins.
It was a three-story building that had fallen into ruin. It was covered with spider webs and dust.
Gildor and the other two Queens also had furious expressions. As for Minril, she almost unleashed her power explosively, but Gildor hurriedly stopped her.
Even though they had merged the two organizations and increased their overall status… they couldn't complain. After all, the residences were assigned according to the overall power of the organizations, which was determined by the placement of their disciples in the last Celestial Tournament.
As for them… even if you counted the last five Tournaments, they had never placed a single person in the top 1000.
Although in the past they had always received very simple residences, and were already expecting something similar, it certainly had never reached this point. That was practically something meant for beggars.
That made all the young people furious; it was a huge humiliation. The city was so extravagant, and yet they received a place like that.
On the other hand, Darian smiled. Then he spoke slowly:
"To be honest, it's nothing. This is just a quick stop. We'll leave when this Tournament ends, so we won't stay here very often. Let's all clean it together."
As he said that, Darian noticed some cleaning tools in the corner. They were clearly placed there on purpose, as if the organizers wanted the group to clean the place themselves and humiliate themselves even more.
But Darian didn't care and started sweeping.
The three girls and the others hurried over to help. Vymara grabbed a broom. "Big brother, you don't need to do anything. I'll do it."
Actually, cleaning that place was very simple. However, it was a clear insult. While they were cleaning…
The expressions of all the young ones darkened. Several cultivators passed by and pointed at them with disdain.
They said Darian looked like a beggar and that this kind of place suited him perfectly. When Darian looked at who was talking, he couldn't help but find it funny. That person was wearing the robes of a sect that had been placed nearby in a place just as bad as theirs. At least, however, their place wasn't as dirty, and they didn't need to do much.
While those disciples mocked them, more people were drawn over. It looked like some kind of spectacle.
"Oh, so this is that Darian, the one who was so unruly at the gates? And now he's living in these ruins. Hehe, that suits you very well!"
"A bunch of mediocre clowns. Now you're acting more obedient, huh? Why don't you stop pretending to be arrogant?"
Darian had caused a huge commotion in front of the city gates, and many people recognized him. Seeing him like that, everyone mocked him excitedly.
"Fuck!" Gelidra roared furiously, about to beat them up, when Darian stopped her.
He couldn't hold back his smile and calmly spoke to everyone.
"Don't worry about something so small. Remember this: the more hardship you endure, the more glory you can obtain. True arrogance isn't something meant for others to see. True arrogance is when you despise even the opinions of others. Even if a thousand people point fingers at you and criticize you, keep acting as yourself. Who cares about what they're doing? When a wild beast challenges a dragon, the dragon kills it furiously. But have you ever seen a dragon get provoked by a group of ants? Have you ever seen a dragon hunt ants?"
"No." Gelidra nodded.
Everyone's reactions were a bit slow. Only after a moment did she and the others understand his words, and they laughed.
"You bastard! Who do you think you're calling an ant?!"
"You're the ants! Only ants would live in such a rotten place!"
"What qualifications do you have to be arrogant now? Are you slapping your own face just to make it swell and look bigger?"
Now the spectators were the ones getting furious. They cursed at Darian with everything they had.
Darian sighed and pointed at them. "See? They're cursing us, showing that they're angry. But even though they're angry, they don't have the power to do anything. They don't even dare to do anything, and they have nowhere to vent their anger. Isn't it satisfying to see people angry at you but unable to touch you? Especially when they're so furious they start letting smoke come out of their heads."
"Hehe," Vymara smiled with a mischievous look. Without hesitation, she pulled over a chair. "Big brother, sit down. That way you can calmly enjoy their expressions."
Darian nodded and sat down in front of their residence with his legs crossed, watching with satisfaction while those people continued cursing at them. Vymara placed a table beside him, along with a glass containing a drink.
The others inside laughed, completely changing the atmosphere of humiliation from before. Now they cleaned lightly while chatting excitedly.
"That brat is a great leader… he really knows how to manage people…"
Gildor and the Queens couldn't hold back their words of admiration. Earlier, they had been wondering how he would eliminate the nervousness and make the disciples fight with everything they had… but Darian had already done it easily and seemed capable of solving any problem that appeared as if it were nothing.
With so many people helping, their residence was cleaned quickly, and other parts were rebuilt using ice or crystals.
In the end, everyone went to the entrance and smiled at the people passing by who were still insulting them. From time to time, Darian repeated what he had said earlier, which only made everyone even more furious.
After some time, the people stopped talking. All the young disciples now had expressions of victory and intense excitement. Meanwhile, Darian calmly stood up, and everyone went inside the house.
Inside, all the young ones had a bright look in their eyes; now they felt completely at ease in that city, without any nervousness or pressure on their shoulders. In fact, they were eager for the 25 days to pass quickly so they could finally fight.
The house was quite large and, after being cleaned, there were more than enough rooms for all of them.
Everyone gathered together and looked at Darian. They completely ignored the Queens and the sect leader, waiting only for his words, as if he were the only one they were willing to listen to.
Gildor and the Queens simply remained silent, already accepting this fact. They would let Darian do whatever he wanted without hesitation.
Darian looked at the 87 youths and spoke seriously. "Rest well. You can even go out to have fun and talk with others outside during these days. The most important thing is this: You must not try to cultivate or anything like that. That will only leave you tired and stressed for nothing, and it won't really improve your chances much."
Everyone nodded and clenched their fists. They would have 25 free days to relax, something they hadn't done in several years, since they had always been training day and night for the Tournament.
Darian entered a room alone.
He took a deep breath. The others could relax, but just like before, he didn't have that right. His eyes shone; then he sat down and crossed his legs, activating his domain to gather the energy of the environment.
The elemental power that the mountain released was incredible and unique. He couldn't miss that opportunity. Maybe, if he focused only on the Earth or Wind element, he could even rise another level in the Heavenly Elemental Body.
Thus, while everyone else relaxed, Darian stayed inside the room alone the entire time, completely focused.
***
The days passed peacefully.
Then, when the first rays of sunlight entered through the bedroom window, Darian opened his eyes.
"The day has arrived."
