Tournament.

They followed the second elder through the busy downtown marketplace before exiting into the opposite side where the Tang clan courtyard was located.

They arrived four hours before midday and were respectfully led into the stadium where the battles would take place. There was a separate hall towards the left which was where the banquet would take place.

Ling Jun was quite curious about the Tang clan. Upon coming to this world he learned a lot about the Ling clan and learned about the Meng clan from Meng Li, however he had not heard any news regarding the Tang clan. He wondered if they had any talents worth noticing.

First, the disciples of the Meng and Ling clans were led to the banquet hall and everybody feasted with a slightly tense yet polite atmosphere. Various formalities were followed until midday, where the battles truly began.

It was a simple format. One person would jump on stage and anyone could challenge him. Once no one was willing to challenge the winner, the competition would be over. There would be four competitions total for each of the different age groups.

The first to start was for the eighteen year olds.

A short and stout fellow from the Tang clan was first to jump onto stage. He was challenged by a female cultivator from the Meng clan and was victorious. However he was next beaten by someone from the Ling clan. There was a short fifteen minute break allowed between each battle to recover.

Eventually a burly and muscular fellow from the Tang clan was able to defeat his fourth opponent in a row and remained unchallenged, becoming the winner. The Tang clan members seemed quite complacent and cheered him on.

Next was the seventeen year olds. This time the Victor was from the Ling clan. An aloof and cold female cultivator who was quite pretty, drawing many males attention.

Now was the competition for sixteen year olds. A lean male from the Tang clan was the first to jump out. He was peak third level Qi condensation, he fought a battle with an early fourth stage cultivator of the Meng clan and lost.

That's when Ling Jun decided to jump in. His battle was against Meng Shan. Ling Jun easily beat him within ten moves. Next he was challenged by a late fourth stage cultivator whom he also beat within ten moves. This brought about a couple of nods of approval.

It was easy to beat someone of a slightly lower stage but to do so in ten moves was impressive. Of course, it was something expected of him with his talent and lightning affinity so people weren't too surprised.

Next was a challenge from the Tang clan. Tang Shi, a female of peak fourth stage. The elder in charge shouted "Start!"

Immediately, the girl backed away to the edge of the arena whilst flicking her fingers of her left hand in various directions. Water could be seen flowing around her hands in a vortex which was growing larger and larger.

Ling Jun knew she was charging up a technique so he quickly closed in on her, intending to take this into close combat. However, just before he could strike, Tang Shi finished charging up her attack, a complacent gleam visible in her eyes.

"Flowing River Barrage!" She shouted as the vortex, now three metres large, instantly flew from her hands as if propelled by a large force. Ling Jun instantly backed up apprehension visible on his face. All of a sudden he could sense time slowing down in his eyes and the water began to move extremely slowly.

He saw how the technique resembled the force of a river and realised he could use that force to manipulate his own Flowing River Steps. Dodging to the side quickly, he placed his foot on the vortex which lifted him upwards instantly.

As he was lifted, he pushed off the water and spun his other leg in order to reach the outside of the vortex. From there he channeled his movement technique and began to create his own flow of water on top of the vortex, one that led directly towards Tang Shi. Tang Shi's eyes widened in alarm as she quickly tried dodging yet she was too late.

Utilising the force of her attack and his own water flow, Ling Jun shot forward at insane speed till he was right in front of Tang Shi, his fist an inch away from her astonished face.

He then clasped his hands and bowed. "Thank you for going easy on me."

Tang Shi also clasped her hands, although he could see that they were visibly shaking. She then quickly turned and left.

Ling Jun was a bit worried. In the heat of the moment he had reached genuine completion of the Flowing River Steps and everyone would have noticed. He would have to hide his mastery of other techniques so he could pretend he had taken two months to reach this level. While fast it would not be as shocking.

The disciples were all shocked.

"Ling Jun has reached genuine completion of a technique?! Impressive!"

No one was too shocked as they thought he had been training the technique since he was fifteen, only the second elder of the Ling clan looked at him with some surprise before masking his expression.

The second elder was the one who was in charge of the martial library and he remembered that Ling Jun had taken this technique two months ago.

However he wasn't too shocked.

Ling Jun rested for fifteen minutes before he was challenged by Ling Hao, son of the third elder. Ling Hao had just reached early fifth stage with the help of the Qi gathering pills.

This time Ling Jun was careful not to expose anything and only revealed his movement technique. He put up a good fight against Ling Hao but ultimately lost.

"Thank you for the pointers." said Ling Jun humbly before clasping his hands and returning to his seat. He had only fought because he had to act according to his status. Although he didn't care about face, it would look strange if he showed that to others.

Ling Hao went on a long winning streak before he was challenged by Meng Li, who won an overwhelming victory with her early seventh level cultivation. No one dared to challenge her and so she took first place.

Finally was the challenge for the fifteen year olds. They had just started on their journey of cultivation. The first battles were boring and most people were waiting for the final battles that would involve the best talents. Eventually Meng Fei stepped onto the stage and won her battle. She was a mortal fifth ranked talent with affinity to earth and had reached the late third stage Qi condensation.

She won a few more battles before being defeated by Ling Su. Ling Su had reached early fourth level and was able to easily beat Meng Fei. He also won a few battles till he fought Meng Chao, a sixth level talent of the fire element. He had reached peak early fourth stage and was able to defeat Ling Su, though he was injured in the process. He had to wait an hour to recover before fighting the final battle.

Ling Ji vs Meng Chao.

Both fighters stood on stage solemnly and clasped hands.

As soon as the elder signalled the battle to begin, Ling Ji flew forward with a strange movement technique that Ling Jun had never seen before. It was much better than his Flowing River Steps even though he had only reached minor completion in it.

Dad has been playing favourites thought Ling Jun wryly. It was obvious this technique came from the second floor of the martial library.

His father, Ling Xinyi was the youngest of all the elders but had been given the position due to his seventh grade talent and fire affinity. Unfortunately no sects had been recruiting and by the time they started, he had already been over the age limit of twenty, so he had missed the opportunity.

Ling Jun decided to stop thinking about such things and focused on the battle at hand.

As Ling Ji closed in on Meng Chao, Meng Chao was slightly panicked and quickly retreated whilst deeply breathing in. After a while, his stomach began to bloat. He placed his fingers in a circular shape around his mouth and blew out fiercely, right as Ling Ji reached him.

Fire came spewing out his mouth right into the path of Ling Ji. Just when it seemed like he would be hit, Ling Ji abruptly changed directions in a way that completely defied physics. Ling Jun was quite shocked at that.

Even as he dodged the fire, Ling Ji smashed his foot into the ground before performing a spinning backflip, bringing his foot down hard onto Meng Chao's head with a confident gleam in his eyes.

Even if this doesn't incapacitate him, he will definitely be injured thought Ling Ji complacently.

Meng Chaos eyes widened as he gritted his teeth and launched a desperate fist attack. He didn't have enough time to dodge so he would have to fight offence with offence.

Unfortunately he had just performed an attack and was not prepared whilst Ling Ji had already built up momentum with his speed and the backflip, so his foot crashed down through Meng Chao's guard before landing on his left shoulder.

Meng Chao's left leg gave out underneath him under the force of the strike and he fell to one knee. He quickly scrambled to stand up but even as he looked up, Ling Ji's fist was pointed straight at his face.

I'm still not strong enough he thought bitterly as he stood up and clasped his hands together. He kept his face expressionless on the outside yet only he knew that his disappointment was immense.

I must get stronger and join the sect recruitment. At that time I will definitely defeat Ling Ji he thought determinedly as he made his way back to his seat.

Ling Ji was elated inwardly yet he kept his outwards expression cool and humble, so as to elevate others opinion of him. Quite a few ladies had already taken interest in him and were giving him obvious flirtatious glances.

Ling Ji was bursting with pride yet maintained his cool smile as he returned to his seat.

The tournament had finally come to the end. Although it seemed like a casual event. It was a way of ranking the talents and was an indicator of the future strength of each clan. The Ling clan and Meng clans were evenly matched as both had two sixth level talents. The Ling clan came slightly on top though as they won two rounds, whilst the Tang clan came last with one win and no sixth level talents.

It was obvious that the Tang clan would lose power in the future and bitter smiles could be seen on their faces.

After various formalities the disciples were all led out of the Tang clan compound and returned to their homes.

However, within the Tang clan grounds, in a small courtyard of an insignificant disciple with third level talent and no affinity, the first elder of the Tang clan could be seen conversing with a young man sitting on his bed.

"Tang Jun. The clan has a mission for you. If you complete it you will be rewarded handsomely and given a position as an elder in the future. You must keep this Windswept poison powder with you and if you see a chance to poison the various talents of the other clans during the sect recruitment, then you must do so."

The first elder handed Tang Jun a sachet of odourless and almost colourless powder.

"What if I don't get a chance?" The boy was extremely nervous and did not wish to put himself at risk.

"The sect recruitment usually takes place in the Beastwood forest and is based on how many cores one can find. They don't send anyone to check and people can die easily. They also don't care how the cores are obtained in the forest as long as they are not brought beforehand. It should be easy to find an opportunity." The elder replied confidently.

Tang Jun knew that he would be forced into this whether he wanted to or not. So he decided to agree. The elder was satisfied and turned to leave.

It was because of this, that he missed the conflicted look on the face of Tang Jun.