Once they were settled in, Cain saw the merits of this plan. The other groups all thought that they were being polite, since female sects were rarely serious contenders in the overall tournament, so the others were thankful for their consideration, while it also put them away from most of the crowd, right up until the last few Sects arrived to sit near them.
Their disappointment at having arrived only minutes before the match was to start was mitigated by the fact that they got to sit next to the ladies of the Lotus Blossom, who politely offered small bits of Rice Cakes to their neighbors, at Luna's suggestion.
The idea was that the more people cheering for them, the easier it would be to do well, removing the psychological barrier that came with being treated as the underdog or as a joke by the other Sects.
[Welcome to the Outer Disciple Group Competition. We have a fine showcase of the youngest up-and-coming talents in the region for you to watch, and I am sure that you will see more than a few familiar faces among the Elders that have trained them.
We can save the grand speeches for the older crowd, so without further ado, let us welcome the first four matches to the sands of the arena.
The Divine Lightning will face the Hidden Serpent, Holy Light's prodigies will face off against the Divine Flame's powerful turnout, the Jade River Sect will face Forest Springs Sect, and the ladies of the Forbidden Treasures Sect will face off against the returning champions of the Crushing Mountain Sect.
Sorry about your luck ladies, but the teams are randomized by our organizers, and it seems you have pulled an unlucky draw.] The announcer finished.
"Oh, this should be good. Crushing Mountain should be those cocky ones in brown and gold. They all feel like the Earth Element, so you know what to look out for. Strong defense, and sneak attacks from the ground." Cain informed his disciples.
"They are the returning champions, isn't that too high of a hurdle? Sabbat asked quietly.
"If they were truly talented among their sect, they would have progressed to the Inner Sect team. Don't worry about the other teams' rookies, you have this." Cain assured her.
"Got it, Boss. So, what counters Earth? Water? Or do we beat them at their own game?" Luna asked, focused on the match.
"That's for you to decide among yourselves. I can't guide you through every fight, so it is best if you develop your own tactical decision-making." Cain informed her with a smirk.
The girls huddled together and whispered for a moment as the Sects around them looked on in pity, then nodded their heads and jogged down to the arena, where the ten men of the Crushing Mountain Sect were waiting, with the five largest of them standing in the ring, ready for the fight.
"So, will you forfeit now, or do you want to try to put up a fight first?" The leader of the Crushing Mountain Disciples asked with a sneer.
"Isn't that my line? I am pretty sure that's my line." Penny retorted, smirking at the cocky cultivator.
The wards in the arena should keep him alive, but she had every intention of using that man as a chew toy once the match began.
"Go ahead and bark now, Lycan. We will show you what true power is." The leader laughed, and Luna nodded at the group, confirming their plan.
A white-robed Immortal flew down to the ring between the two groups and looked between them to judge how difficult his job was likely to be.
"Is there going to be a match?" He asked Penny, who he assumed was the leader of the Forbidden Treasure Sect team.
"Not much of one, I don't think these boys are going to last a whole five minutes against us," Penny responded, making the referee chuckle at the trash talk. Half the battle was psychological, and she was clearly getting under her opponents' skin already.
Almost all of the Crushing Mountain disciples were Mythic Awakened, but this world didn't seem to give the same damage reduction buff that her homeworld did, only an increase in durability, so Luna prepared to call a set of six Granite Golems the moment that the match started.
If she focused, she could call the shorter ones, at only three meters tall, which wouldn't cause a huge commotion, she assumed.
"Competitors into position. On my mark. Begin." The referee announced, then floated up into the air and raised a barrier around the arena.
Luna called for her new armor and drew a pair of scimitars while calling the six golems into the ring at the same moment that the leader of the Crushing Mountain team called a large sand Elemental into the ring.
The look on his face went instantly from smug superiority to full panic as he noticed the Golems, and then Penny was on him, still in human form, but using claws made from her Druid skills to claw at the hastily raised armor around her opponent.
This was their round one strategy, six golems, outnumbering the enemy, and giving the impression that they could all use the skill, with one of them being better than usual at it.
Two of the Crushing Mountain team members leaped into the air, flipping over the crowd to land next to Luna and Sabbat in the back lines, while the others charged the leading row and did their best to dodge the crushing blows of the Golems.
If they took out the summoners, they wouldn't have an issue anymore. A regular summoning took concentration to maintain, so they assumed that the Forbidden Treasure Sect was linking their Golems all through the Mage type in the back.
But first, they would have to make it past Luna, and the fires of Sabbat.
Both forward attackers were engulfed in flickering blue and pink flames before they even landed, scorching the Earth Armor that formed around them to a deep black, like freshly turned earth.
They both charged Sabbat, seeing her as the greatest threat, but Luna was there before they realized that she had moved, knocking their blades away and forcing them back with a flurry of strikes that left shallow cuts across both Cultivators' bodies.
"Dammit, she's fast. I thought she was a sword cultivator, but she's an assassin. Change of plans, you keep the tiny demon busy while I eliminate the conjurer." The Crushing Mountain fighter ordered his partner.
There was a roar from across the arena as Penny transformed into her natural Lycan form, a wolf muzzle replacing her head, and her hands extending into claws as her body became covered in fur. She snapped and caught one of the Crushing Mountain cultivators by the wrist, throwing him against the barrier and making him drop his sword.
The Golems were on him in a second, and with a flash of light, he was ejected from the arena, appearing near a medical treatment facility.
The crowd roared in appreciation. The first forced competitor elimination of the day went to the ladies of the Forbidden Treasures Sect.
In Lycan form, Penny was even faster, and the leader of the Crushing Mountain team couldn't hold off both her and the Golems, being forced to flee to save himself, and leaving his partner alone with all six golems, plus Jen, as Tena came to join Penny, combining their agility and Tena's ranged attacking abilities to control his movements while Penny stalked the cultivator.
"Get rid of the Golems, NOW." The leader ordered, and both men in the back lines turned to attack Sabbat, who surrounded herself in a flame shield, using all of her might to keep it active as the first blows rained down on her.
But then they suddenly stopped, and two more flashes of light threw the men out of the ring, as Luna stabbed the distracted fighters in their backs.
"Sabbat, if you have the energy, set their leader on fire. I am going to go help Penny and Tena catch him." Luna ordered, then used [Shadow Step] to appear right in front of the man, punching him directly in the tender bits with the hilt of her sword, thanks to her much smaller stature.
A universal groan arose from the stands, replacing the variety of cheers and taunts that had filled it only a second earlier.
Penny's claws shredded the man's armor ability, tearing open flesh before the two sides were forcibly separated, and the golems were locked down in barriers of lightning.
"Winner, by Referee intervention, the Forbidden Treasure Sect." The referee announced, and Luna let the Golems disappear from their confinement.
One heavily bleeding and one bruised and battered man were left on the floor of the arena, too tired and injured to even sigh in relief at being rescued by the referee.
[The first victory of the day is announced. The Forbidden Treasures Sect has eliminated the returning champions from contention in the first qualifying round.] The announcer called, and the arena filled with roars of approval and shock.
"Your girls are no joke. I think I made a good bet." A muscular man with violet eyes told Cain with a smile, looking fondly down at the arena.
"Of course. They are favored by the Gods and trained by me, how could they lose?" Cain replied to the strange man, who burst into laughter and then vanished from sight.
"That was strange. I couldn't sense him at all, even though I could see him standing right next to you." Elder Ling whispered to Cain as the girls slowly made their way back up, waving to the crowd and shaking hands as they passed.
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