Chapter 306: Practitioners’ Great Tournament Reality TV

　　Zhu Yao was really confident in little tyrant. Though his cultivation level was not really standing out in the Foundation category, his actual combat experience was more than sufficient. Him being beaten by various high rank demonic beasts all these years were not for naught.

　　As expected, an hour later, little tyrant easily advanced into the next stage. Among the several hundred Foundation practitioners, only twenty or so of them remained, and little tyrant was the one and only early-stage Foundation practitioner among them.

　　The groupings for the other two categories were all decided as well. In the Essence category, there were forty-two participants, twenty-one in the Foundation category, and Azoth being the smallest, with only sixteen participants.

　　At this moment, the organizers from Wandering City came. A tall, red stage was casually erected in front of them, and it suddenly began to slowly rise. The red sheet was removed, revealing a stage made of white jade, and a row of exquisite-looking chairs were placed on top of it, emitting out an immensely overbearing aura. However, there were no one seated on them. Above the chairs, there was another empty floating square platform.

　　A middle-aged man, possessing the cultivation level of late-stage Azoth and wearing the Wandering City’s staff uniform, flew on his sword and landed on the stage. He took a step forward and swept a glance at the practitioners who were densely packed together, and with a solemn voice, he transmitted his voice throughout the entire tournament venue. “Fellow daoists, welcome to Wandering City. Firstly, I would like to congratulate all of you for advancing past the preliminaries.” He looked at the practitioners that advanced, and began to voice out large paragraphs of official statements. “Our Wandering City was built many thousand years ago with the support from many daoists, and also the protection from our old ancestor, even till now… bala bala…” After singing a string of praises, his tone changed as he began to introduce the sponsors. “This tournament is brought to you by Tower Master Zhao of Treasure Passing Tower, Pagoda Master Li of Source Spirit Pagoda, and Boss Yuan of Treasure Retrieving Mark. All who advanced past the preliminaries will be awarded with one ‘Scentless Fruit’. The top three Essence practitioners will be awarded with…”

　　He continued to introduce a row of prizes. For each prize he introduced, a practitioner would take up a seat on the stage and greet the various people present with a smile. Though, the cultivation levels of the practitioners were really varied, with some being at the Foundation stage, or even the Nascent Soul stage. However, every single one of them was seated in a row on the stage.

　　Zhu Yao faintly felt as if she was spectating a reality TV programme, and the introductions she was hearing instantly changed accordingly.

　　“Welcome everyone, you’re presently watching the TV programme ‘Wandering Practitioners’ Great Tournament’ sponsored by “Treasure Passing Tower”, “Source Spirit Pagoda” and “Treasure Retrieving Mark”. We like to thank Source Spirit Pagoda, your great companion for spiritual herbs, and great guarantee to the quality of medicinal pellets. We would also like to thank Treasure Passing Tower, your wisest choice for mystic artifacts for a smooth cultivation journey, for greatly supporting the programme. Lastly, we like to thank Treasure Retrieving Mark, the professional escort services that’s worth your money, for sponsoring the prizes today. The tournament this time is fair, just, and open to the public! It is hosted entirely by Wandering City, and is split into three categories. The matches are randomly assigned, and ultimately the top three will be greatly awarded. For this programme, Wandering City holds the say in all the rules! Now, let us welcome the judges of this tournament with a warm applause! Tower Master Zhao of Treasure Passing Tower, Pagoda Master Li of Source Spirit Pagoda, Boss Yuan of Treasure Retrieving Mark, and their close friends!”

　　Clap clap clap…

　　Zhu Yao clapped her hands on reflex.

　　The entire place was instantly dead silent.

　　Several hundred eyes swept towards her.

　　Zhu Yao, an audience who had the courtesy to clap for the performance: “…”

　　“Hohoho…” The hell. Zhu Yao’s face darkened. “Umm… My hands were dirty, hoho, so I was dusting the dirt off…” Thus, she had no choice but to strongly patted her hands under the intense gaze of the crowd. See, this is the trouble you get into for acting on reflex! Know some shame!

　　In an instant, she received several hundred stares that felt as if they were looking at an idiot.

　　So uncomfortable!

　　The silence of the crowd did not persist for long, as their attention was drawn away an instant later by a growl coming from the not so distant skies.

　　That roar could be heard wide and far, and it felt as if it carried endless might. Though it was not releasing any pressure, it could not help but stir the hearts and senses of people, causing them to feel at awe.

　　Zhu Yao frowned. Why did this roar sound so similar to the roar of a dragon?

　　As expected, not even a moment later, a humongous beast came flying over from the horizon. Its entire body was covered in pitch-black. It had the looks of a snake did not have any legs. Its pair of eyes were like lightning, and horns grew above its head. It constantly swirled about in the shy. It was actually a ninth rank demonic beast.

　　“Scaled Dragon! A ninth rank Scaled Dragon!” The crowd cried out in awe.

　　“It’s Sovereign Hua Lin of Wandering City.”

　　“Sovereign Hua Lin has arrived.”

　　The crowd was instantly in an uproar. With revering eyes, they looked above the Scaled Dragon where the Demigod Sovereign, dressed in azure robes, was standing.

　　The Scaled Dragon seemed to have intentionally circled around in the sky twice, before coiling towards the highest seat.

　　“Sovereign Hua Lin is actually able to tame a Scaled Dragon as his spiritual beast. He’s really amazing.”

　　“That’s right. That’s a Scaled Dragon! It’s said that its species carry the bloodline of the Dragon race, and that it’s the species of demonic beasts that’s closest to the God race.”

　　The crowd began to fervently discuss about that Scaled Dragon.

　　Little Eighth who had been lying on Zhu Yao’s shoulder like a corpse shifted his head away in disdain. “Tch!” Stupid humans, just which part of that looks like a Dragon?

　　That Scaled Dragon seemed to be extremely satisfied with the commotion it caused. After arriving at the highest seat, it did not rush to make a landing, but instead, it brought its master up in the air and once again flew a perfect circle in the sky, showing off its demeanour. With its mouth wide open, it let out the same draconic roar from before.

　　Zhu Yao frowned. “So noisy.”

　　Little Eighth was even more direct. “Shut up!”

　　His voice was not loud. The practitioners next to them were most likely unable to hear him either. However, that Scaled Dragon which had yet to show off completely suddenly twitched, and fell straight onto the stage with its face planted onto the ground. Even the Demigod Sovereign on its back wobbled, and had almost fallen off its body.

　　Hua Lin desperately clung onto his reputation as a Demigod practitioner. What happened to this spiritual beast today?

　　The Scaled Dragon however, opened its large, black pearly eyes as it looked straight at Zhu Yao’s direction. Its eyes first shone from excitement, and then it dimmed right away. Finally, it began to shiver, emitting out an unclear growl.

　　“Heisha, what’s wrong?” Hua Lin asked a little worriedly. After all, it was a spiritual beast he managed to tame through great difficulties.

　　The Scaled Beast however ignored him, and had instead began to shiver even more, like a leaf being blown by the wind. Its voice grew even sadder, and tears began to well in its eyes.

　　No one else could understand, but Zhu Yao heard it really clearly.

　　“Wuu… Lord hates Tiaotiao now. Tiaotiao is so sad. Tiaotiao wants to cry. Wuu…”

　　Zhu Yao’s face darkened. Tiaotiao? Wasn’t it called Heisha? To have such a distasteful name for a demonic beast, was it named by its parents?

　　Hua Lin inspected his spiritual beast for a long while, but was unable to find out what was wrong. Sighing, he had no choice but to leapt down from its body. The Scaled Dragon however immediately coiled up into a spiral, and then occupied the stage like a round flat pie. A pair of broken-hearted, black pearly eyes were what’s left that could be seen at the center, and the surroundings were suffused with a low and dispirited atmosphere.

　　Little Eighth, the culprit, glared in that direction for a while, and muttered. “Stupid.”

　　That Scaled Dragon immediately shivered even more than before.

　　“Wuuu… I’m being hated. I really want to die!”

　　Zhu Yao immediately pressed on Little Eighth, and whispered. “Stop scaring it already. If you scare it any further than now, you will cause a commotion.”

　　Can’t you see that even Hua Lin is being pushed to the very end of the stage due to its large figure? Anymore than that and he’s going to fall.

　　#Informed on the importance of the God race’s bloodline#

　　“Ahem…” Hua Lin finally regained his senses from his spiritual beast’s anomaly. He secretly felt fortunate that these practitioners had never seen a Scaled Dragon before and believed that this coiling of its body was the usual stance it would always take. Not a single person suspected it. His reputation was kept safe, but because of this commotion, he no longer had the mood to say the speech he had initially prepared. Thus, with a wave of his hand, several types of formations were placed on the wide tournament venue. With incredible seriousness and might, he said. “Let the tournament begin.”

　　————————————————

　　The layout of the wandering practitioners’ tournament was actually really simple. Two people would face each other and the winner would move onto the next round. The number of Azoth and Essence practitioners who advanced were coincidentally an even number, while only the Foundation category had an even number of twenty-one people. Probably because little tyrant was the only early-stage Foundation practitioner and had the lowest cultivation level in the Foundation category, he had the honour of directly skipping through two of the rounds. When the third round finally started, including him, there were only six people left. Without doing anything, little tyrant had the honour of advancing into the top six.

　　Zhu Yao consoled the fortunate participant who was about to head onto the arena. “It’s fine, little tyrant. Luck also plays a part in competitions.”

　　“…” Grandma, can you not say such things while nibbling on melon seeds? You’re not even the slightest bit persuasive that way, alright?

　　“Good boy. Win this round, and you will be in the top three!” It’s so fortunate of him to enter the finals straight away!

　　“Haah…” Little tyrant sighed. “But, I have never exchanged blows with the rest, so I don’t know the depths of their power. What if…”

　　“Little tyrant, do you really think that when you encounter an enemy, he will give you time to understand his abilities completely before making his move?”

　　He was stunned. “…”

　　“The importance of competitions lie in your own personal growth. The competitions themselves are of no concern.”

　　The worries in his eyes instantly swept away. “I understand now, grandma.”

　　“Mn, remember to win a few more Scentless Fruits!”

　　“…” In the end, it’s still for the Scentless Fruits, isn’t it? It felt so saddening to have a senior who did not go by the book!

　　“If I’m right, you’re facing an intermediate-stage Foundation practitioner in your upcoming match.” Zhu Yao pointed at a practitioner in grey clothes not far away from them. He was the only intermediate-stage Foundation practitioner in the top six, while the rest were either at the late stages or at the Paragon level. Unlike little tyrant who was seeded into the semifinals, he advanced with his own strength. “As someone who is able to stand above many with just his intermediate-stage cultivation level, he is most likely really hard to deal with compared to other practitioners. Watch out, and don’t underestimate your opponent.”

　　Little tyrant nodded. “Mn, I understand.”

　　After the break at half-time, the tournament between the top six drew its curtains. Zhu Yao’s guess was right. Little tyrant’s opponent was the intermediate-stage Foundation practitioner.

　　If her eyes proved reliable, his opponent should possess the fire and wood spirit veins. In the previous matches, he had been using mystic arts of these two types.

　　Little tyrant had the penta spirit veins, so he was not afraid either. Adding that his opponent had just gone through two matches, while this was little tyrant’s first match, little tyrant had the advantage in terms of stamina. However, his opponent’s abilities should not be limited to just these, and that he was still hiding some.

　　The match between the two was the third and last match of the round. When the front two matches had just ended, little tyrant rose in the air and landed at the center of the arena. Zhu Yao instantly felt a sense of pride welling inside her.

　　Watch. A new star is about to be born.