Tournament.

Alex walked towards the location where the tournament was set to take place, Fengying following closely behind him.

"Hey, don't you have a job at that assassination association? Aren't they going to be mad that you came here?" Alex inquired.

"Oh... I lea—" Fengying began, but Alex interrupted her.

"Tell me the truth and look me in the eyes," Alex said sternly.

"I escaped," Fengying admitted in a hushed tone.

Alex internally facepalmed. It seemed like Fengying was indeed the trouble magnet he had suspected. He sighed and said, "We need to make sure they won't come after you. We should find some kind of aura-hiding treasure and check if there's any tracker on you."

"As far as I know, they didn't... but I can't be completely sure," Fengying replied.

Sighing once more, Alex said, "Alright."

As they continued to the tournament location, they were met with a surprising sight.

Upon arriving at the venue, they realized that the area was much larger than they had expected. The entire place was swarming with people, stretching out in every direction. Alex estimated that the circular coliseum-like structure had a diameter of over 15,000 meters. Two big gates stood ahead of them, each manned by a clerk.

Curious, Alex approached one of the elderly men at the gates. "Excuse me, but why is everyone heading towards the second clerk?" he asked.

"Don't you see the sign, kid?" the man pointed behind him.

There was a large sign indicating that the first clerk was for participants and the second one was for viewers.

"Go on, kid," the clerk said, waving Alex forward.

With Fengying in tow, Alex approached the second clerk's table.

"Hey, elder, why is everyone heading to the second clerk?" Alex inquired.

The elder pointed behind him to a sign that explained the purpose of each clerk. "Now go, kid," the clerk added.

As they entered the participant queue, Alex handed over his badge to the clerk. After a brief exchange, a guard was summoned, who led him through a corridor and towards a small door.

Guided by the guard, Alex found himself in a dimly lit corridor. It led to a final chamber at the end of the hallway.

"Wait here," the guard instructed before leaving through a door on his left.

Surveying the room, Alex noticed it was spacious, with chairs scattered around. There was another closed door directly in front of him.

The chamber was around 300 meters in radius, and several individuals were present. Alex recognized them as disciples of the sect, though many were unfamiliar to him. he was not really in the sect for too long but still... where were this people when he came the inner sect.

His attention was caught by a rainbow-haired girl with golden eyes, a burly, rock-like man with a shaved head and open clothes, and a samurai-like individual wearing open attire.

Everyone was quite unique in this place, they had different styles if weapons, attires, appereances, Alex was suprised to see this much diversity. as he only saw elder people that most likely looked the same and strong people that bearly had any style, this place was fresh of new Air to him.

As they all waited in the room, Alex decided not to engage in cultivation. Given his shitty innate talent, he felt cultivating here wouldn't yield much reward. Moreover, he didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to himself.

Twenty-five minutes later, a door swung open, and an elderly cultivator entered the room. All eyes opened to greet him.

"Greetings, disciples. I am Elder Zhang Yutian. I am here to lead you to your VIP seats, from which you'll be able to watch the fights. If you are called to participate, you will proceed to the arena. Please follow me," the elder announced with a warm smile. and left the place.

Rising from their seats, the participants followed Elder Zhang Yutian out of the room and towards the circular coliseum. Alex overheard conversations among the disciples discussing their predictions for the winner of the tournament. Even as competitors, they remained enthusiastic and supportive of their fellow participants.

Alex pondered the level of this tournament. It seemed that the strongest participants were only at the Inner Qi Realm. He questioned whether it would be appropriate for him to join given his much higher strength. he didn't want to be seen as a absolute bully in this place, Alex reevaluted how much power he could use not to straight up slaughter every oponent he was put against.

They reached a room that was quitr big with animal furr carpet, There was a couch infront if him as well as a table infront of the couch that had many delicacies and a talisman on put on it well...

There was a big glass infront of him that looked down on the entire place.

"This is comfortable." Alex sat down and said.

As they moved, Alex observed the excited crowd below from his elevated position.

--

In the hidden depths of the sect, a secret meeting was taking place among thirteen cloaked figures. Each figure was a holographic projection, discussing a matter of great importance.

"Is our plan fully prepared?" one of them inquired.

"I have ensured that my spies completed the isolation formation. We need this plan to be foolproof," another responded.

"Very well. We can proceed with the mission then—the Downfall of the Demon King. After our previous mission's failure and the information about Golden Dragon Slayer's advancement to Quasi-Ascendant level, success in this endeavor is crucial. If our operation fails, the overlords won't stand idly by; they will declare war once more. Even though the Demonic Sects are weaker now, another war will weaken us further. Keep this in mind and ensure that nothing goes awry," yet another figure spoke.

After their discussion, the holographic figures vanished into the darkness, leaving an eerie silence in the room. However, a golden light suddenly formed a line in the center of the room, generating a human-like figure.

"Interesting," the figure muttered before disappearing.

End of Chapter.