Chapter 31

He would be keeping a keen eye out on all of those who were competing today, but Timothy felt that his number one prospect to recruit for his family would definitely be Jacob. However, it was also very possible for a stronger clan to arrange a marriage in order to pull him in to further solidify their own future so Timothy had to wait a bit before giving Jacob a fair offer in order to not offend anyone since there were so many Intermediate stage experts in Boulder Village and all it would take is one to destroy them!

It was finally Timothy's turn to be given a number and he was told by the elder in charge of this task all of the information needed to proceed. From the looks of it, each youth would have a match with three others and those with the best records at the end of the three matches, would advance to the quarter finals. Since there were roughly two hundred youths competing, that meant in the first round alone, it was possible that over one hundred and twenty to be eliminated.

After the round would end, there would be a series of one on one elimination matches until there were twelve to eighteen contestants remaining. Once the round ended, there would be one more match to cut the number in half and the remaining contestants would be in a free for all battle and would place depending on who was eliminated first and who remained until the very end.

Fortunately, Timothy really liked how these rounds were set up because unlike the many clans who sent a small batch of youths to compete, he was completely without any form of backup. This meant that it would be a somewhat level playing field because if there was a free for all until a certain amount of contestants remained at the very start, he would have been an easy target to be ganged up on!

Instead of walking towards the large group of youths who were standing together and discussing the tournament, Timothy instead chose to sit down close to Jacob and he sat cross legged and began to cultivate as well. Seeing this confused many of the youths until several began to explain who Timothy was.

Feeling some energy radiating near him, Jacob paused his cultivation as he opened up his eyes. Seeing Timothy sitting near him and cultivating caused him to have some questions including who exactly was this youth who he had never seen before. However, before he could close his eyes, Timothy locked eyes with him, forcing Jacob to respond.

"I see that I am not the only one here who cares about cultivating and growing faster than my peers." Jacob said to Timothy as the other youths ignored the two and began talking to others in their groups about the tournament or other topics. They were indeed youngsters who were still inexperienced when it came to making new friends or at the very least new contacts.

"It seems that we have one thing in common, but I am thinking there might be one more thing. I wonder if this new friend of mine has an idea on what that one thing may be?" Timothy casually asked Jacob with a small smile on his face as the energy radiating from his body continued to grow.

"It would require much more than just showcasing some of your energy to impress me." Jacob bitterly replied before building up his energy as well in a challenge type way while still looking towards Timothy to see what he may do next.

"We both have reasons for wanting to win this tournament, but mine is about making sure that my family is well taken care of. I am wondering what your reason may be?" Timothy asked once more as he continued building up the energy within his body. This was enough for many of the youths who were competing to look towards the two in both awe and confusion since Timothy had two types of energies he was showcasing instead of just one like them!

"So you have reached such heights as a dual cultivator, you do seem to be very capable. I too am unwilling not to place at the top of this tournament for my clan's future, but I wonder why you are causing such a show of your strength before the tournament even begins?" Jacob questioned Timothy as he accompanied him by going full power.

"My only intentions are to prove to you that I am worthy to become friends with, just based on my strength alone. If possible, I would like to show you that I am also a worthy friend just based on my personality." Timothy replied as he finally built up to full power.

At this moment, every youth including those who were receiving the most attention due to their backgrounds, finally looked over to size Timothy up and realized that he was a dual cultivator and a true Elementary level three expert in both types of refinement! Many thought how it could be possible, while others wanted to retract their entry to this tournament simply because how much they were outclassed by him just from his cultivation level alone!

"I see, if that is the case, when this tournament is concluded, I hope that we can have a nice discussion. But when push comes to shove, do not blame me on not going easy on you." Jacob replied to Timothy before retracting his own energy as he stood up and walked away. It was clear that he was unable to go head to head with Timothy just based on cultivation level alone.

"It is good that you will not be pulling any punches, because if you did, you may not accept it if I were to defeat you cleanly!" Timothy thought as he himself retracted his energy and just sat in place with his eyes shining with a strange battle intent. Usually a cultivator would over time have a battle intent or killing intent depending on their personalities, but the one Timothy had seemed very off that not even Master Sei was able to recognize.