Children

A bright day, after an exciting tournament that only happened once every three years, a banquet was thrown for the entire city, while the winner of the said tournament silently left the avenue. Behind him, was a group of three young men, following him secretly without being discovered.

Following a familiar path, the group of three stayed outside the old broken house until it was dark, when nobody else was around. When night fell, the door opened, and Qian Fuyou came out and sealed the entrance as he headed in a single direction.

Following him again, Yan Lenglei's group stayed right behind him without being discovered, as Qian Fuyou climbed a steep mountain using a single talisman. Hiding in the ground below, Yan Lenglei's group followed him up and discovered a figure waiting for Qian Fuyou at the top.

That figure had the appearance of a middle-aged man, but he was already a few centuries old. Sitting down with a cup of tea that was heated without ever cooling down, this figure poured a cup for the seat in front of him and waited. Soon, Qian Fuyou arrived at the top and sar down across from this figure.

Yan Lenglei's group discovered who it was as they followed Qian Fuyou. If anyone else saw this figure, they would be shocked to know who it was. This figure was a renowned figure throughout the entire Great Solar Realm. Famous for being the only Master within the realm to be able to create talismans that were one grade above his own cultivation base, Master Shen who had given his brush away during the Talisman Craftsman Tournament was seated across from Qian Fuyou.

"You're here, Fuyou." Master Shen said. Taking a sip of the tea in front of him, Qian Fuyou quietly enjoyed the flavor and fragrance of the tea before speaking. "Master, what have you called me here for?"

"Fuyou, you've shown the world your talent. I'm sure your name will be recorded in the history of the Great Solar Realm. You should leave the city and journey throughout the realm. As for your worries, let me take care of it, I'm already old; what haven't I seen in life?" Master Shen said.

Silently sipping their tea, Qian Fuyou replied after a brief moment of silence. "Master, you've said this many times, and I've always answered in the same way. You know my thoughts on this topic."

"Of course I do, I'm your master. I also know that you have some new thoughts during these past few days, whatever you decide to do, your master will be there for you." Master Shen replied. After taking another sip of tea, Master Shen quietly disappeared from his seat and returned to whever he was previously.

Sitting quietly on top of the mountain, Qian Fuyou finished his tea and took a long and deep breath. Sorting out his thoughts, Qian Fuyou got up and flew down the mountain using a Wind Talisman, heading back to his home. After hearing the conversation between Master Shen and Qian Fuyou, Yan Lenglei's group had returned to the inn before Master Shen had left.

During the tournament, Master Shen and Qian Fuyou had acted like complete strangers. Only after the tournament, did they secretly meet. Now that the Talisman Craftsman Tournament was over, another event would take place in a months time. After the Tournament Craftsman Tournament, was another exciting event that happened every five years. This event was just as popular if not more popular than the craftsman tournament.

In the Three Thousand Worlds, strength was number one. An event that only happened twice in a decade took place in the same location as the Talisman Craftsman Tournament. This tournament was greatly important, in which many genius figures of the younger generation would appear and battle to show off their talents.

Many top sects would bring in their best disciples every time it happened, in order to show off to the world. While this event wasn't as large as the Great Solar Martial Tournament that was held every ten years within the capital where the Great Solar Emperor himself would be able to see, this tournament held within the City of Paper was still grand.

Some previous winners of this tournament had become guards and worked directly for the Great Solar Emperor himself. Every batch of winners would be the cream of the top among many geniuses with great futures ahead of them.

While there was no prize for this event, it was still something that many geniuses wanted to participate in and show off their strength. After all, in a world where strength was number one, there was nothing better than to show off ones own strength in front of a huge crowd.

Inside the inn, Yan Lenglei's group continued to cultivate and solified their foundation to the utmost possible, before working towards making a breakthrough to the Noble Realm. As time passed, Yan Lenglei's group did meet with Qian Fuyou. Congratulating him for winning, they obviously didn't make him foot the bill.

In the first place, he had no money, while they weren't lacking in money. Silver Taels were the currency of mortals in which they had no real use for. When the latter left, they followed him home and discovered his secret. In front of the door, Yan Lenglei and Mo Jidong peeked inside using their eyes.

Even with the talisman sealing the entrance to keep out others, the talisman was useless when faced against their eyes. Seeing through the talisman, they saw a decently sized home that wasn't greatly decorated, but was enough for people to live in. Deeper inside, Qian Fuyou rubbed the heads of dozens of children who were ranged from toddlers to even some who were soon to become adults.

There were as many boys as girls, while each of them looked at Qian Fuyou with love. "Fuyou ge, the City of White's Martial Tournament is soon, you will participate right? We want to watch!" one of the younger children asked.

"Ge ge, please participate. We're old enough now to take care of the younger ones. We think that you should listen to Grandpa Shen and explore the world and meet new people." one of the elder ones added.

"You grown up? You still need me to cook rice and do your laundry, don't speak of growing up until you can do that yourself." Qian Fuyou replied. "Ge! We can learn and take turns, while we won't be good at the beginning, we can learn and improve after doing it over and over. Isn't that what you taught us? If you go out and explore, you will gain new experiences and broaden your horizons, we know that you also want to go." another child said.

In silence, Qian Fuyou didn't reply. Instead, he rubbed their heads and went inside to make them dinner with his own hands. Seeing this, Yan Lenglei and Mo Jidong stopped prying and left for the inn.

*****

As time went by, a month had passed and the Martial Tournament would begin. The City of Paper was as busy as ever, with many all gathering around the city. Various sects stayed outside to avoid others, but stayed near the city so that they could quickly send in their disciples to participate.

The sects that arrived were all those of sects that were at least Grade Four, and no sects ranked below that had come. With the Martial Tournament beginning one morning, many young people from various sects gathered at the venue. Yan Lenglei's group sat in the crowd and didn't participate. Such a tournament was pointless for them who were invincible below the Baron Realm.

Familiar sects that they had seen during the Gu Feixue had arrived along with familiar faces. Those of the Celestial Lotus Sect including Ning Lianqi and the others were also there to participate. As for the five geniuses that had been defeated previously by Yan Lenglei's group, they didn't participate this time. One wouldn't know if it was because of their previous defeat, or whether because they wanted to get stronger in order to participate in the Great Solar Martial Tournament that was held in five years. Either way, nobody would be able to see them during the tournament.

With their piercing gazes, Yan Lenglei and Mo Jidong looked around at the participants. Ning Lian

qi had broken through again, reaching the Third Stage of the Noble Realm. There were also those that were at the peak of the Noble Realm, and a few who could fight across levels, as well as two Body Refiners. There was even one person who was actually holding in their breakthrough to the Baron Realm on purpose, in order to participate in this tournament.

Soon, they also saw Qian Fuyou in the crowd who was in the Second Stage of the Noble Realm. Looking at all the participants, it was clear to them who would be in the finals, as well as the overall winner of the tournament. There was nothing that could escape their eyes, as if they could see the truth in all things in the world.

The seats were packed extremely quickly, while the elders of the various sects and other forces sat above the seats to spectate from a higher position. With everyone that was supposed to be there, the City of Paper Martial Tournament began.

"Welcome everyone, I Situ Kong have been granted the privilege to host both this year's Talisman Craftsman Tournament, as well as this year's Martial Tournament. I would like to thank each and everyone who is here to watch as well as participate in the Martial Tournament. I will now stop talking and ask the participants to draw lots to determine their positions, I myself am anticipating the battles that will yet to be seen." Situ Kong announced.

Immediately, a box filled with wooden plates that were engraved with numbers on them, from one to two hundred and sixty four. The Martial Tournament would take place over a course of three days in which many battles would happen on each day to determine a champion.

With the box out, one by one, the participants each grabbed a number token and had their names recorded with their number. Soon, every participant saw the names of their opponents, as well as the match in which they would participate in. After finding their positions, it was time for the very first match to begin. Since it was the first day, and the first round would be the longest, it would usually take up the entire day to cut down the number of participants in half for the next day.

On the second day, the top one hundred and thirty two would narrow it down to sixty four, then thirty two and sixteen. On the final day, the final sixteen will narrow it down to eight, then four who will battle each other in a battle royale between the final four. This was to make the final day more exciting and different from the previous rounds which were simply one on one fights.

Obviously, everyone watching were excited and mostly excited about the last day. Of course, they were still excited to watch the first day in which many geniuses would compete. After all, those that were truly strong wouldn't show their full strengh in the beginning and slowly display greater might in the later rounds to keep the crowd more excited, as well as keeping their trump cards and full strength a secret from their opponents as they move up along the ladder.

The avenue was big enough for four fights to take place simultaneously, which also meany that narrowing down the participants in half won't take too long. Shortly after drawing lots, the partipants prepared themselves for battle.