We are the Champions

Fu Kai could hardly believe what happened, he was sitting in his pod in a daze. A week before traveling to the island, he had a chance opportunity and broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage, and he has entered this event on a whim. He took his Qphone, closed the pod, and pressed the cleaning button. He exited the room, made his way to the the lobby, and made his way to the lobby. A huge crowd of people began cheering as he entered, and he recognized the four people standing in the front.

"Sect Master Sun, Boss Wei, Minister Song, Minister Cai, junior greets everyone", Kai bowed.

The Sect Master of the Mountains and Rivers sect, Sun Zhenya, spoke first, "Elder Kai, you have brought great honor to our sect, please rise, there are no need for formalities now."

Minister Cai walked to Kai, "In recognition of your achievement, we present a special tile plate that not only displays your accomplishments, but has a secret that you will find out later."

Minister Song turned to the crowd, "The Battle Royale mode is a combination of strength, intelligence, and luck. It requires one to look, think, and move quickly in every minute of every situation. While I'm sure a few of you didn't take the real challenge to heart, I look forward to your attempts to replicate today's success by copying his strategy."

Huoran walked up to Kai and chuckled at Song's sarcasm, "I'm arranging a victory celebration dinner for all the winners tonight. I have planned your transportation and all meal expenses will be taken care of by me as well. You can bring two guests with you as well. Just wear your best robes, and be ready to speak with the different leaders of the community."

Kai thanked Huoran, stored all the documents, and bowed before leaving the QR pod cafe. He returned to his hotel room, messaged two of his friends, and prepared for the dinner tonight. He went to the hot springs, then to the public bath, and returned back to his room to find the hotel staff had returned the robe he had dropped off for cleaning. He changed robes and turned the light screen on, watching a 'show' about commonly found magical creatures of the sea. Just as the 'show' was finishing, the communication artifact in his room rang.

"Daoist Fu, this is the front desk", the voice said.

"Yes?", Kai responded while bowing slightly before stopping himself.

"There is a man here informing us that he is here to drive you tonight", the front desk informed him.

"Thank you", Kai said.

"Have a good night, Daoist", the front desk replied and ended the call.

Kai called Tang De and Li Ju, his two friends he invited for tonight's festivities and they agreed to meet him downstairs. The three of them met and went to the man waiting at the front desk, Kai and Tang De looking dapper, and Li Ju had used the salon to do her hair and make up.

"Good evening, I'm Lai Lei, and I'll be your driver for tonight", Lei said as he walked the group to a limousine.

The three returned the greeting and entered the car. All over Market Square, other drivers were picking up the winners from their rooms. All the limousines winded through the streets until they neared their destination. Today's restaurant to host the closing ceremony was not the Golden Dragon but a recently built restaurant called the Pearl of the Sea. The people exited the cars and made their way inside but the winners were directed to a side room.

A woman stood at the door of the room, "Welcome all Champions, please be patient and soon your name or names will be called. At that time please enter the room and greet all the sect leaders and island ministers. Then proceed to your table, not to worry, someone will guide you."

They didn't have to wait long when they heard, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I welcome you to the closing ceremony of the Battle of Supremcy. Let's welcome all the champions starting with the Qi Gathering stage winners. First, she represents the Chen Family, our solo battle arena champion, Fang Ninying."

Ninying walked into the next room and saw a line of men and women standing in a line on both sides of the door. Music played as she walked through the middle, she marveled as parts of the walls were the glass pipes that's brought sea water to the aquarium. The glass walls were lit and multitudes of colorful fish swam through for everyone to see. She turned her head towards the front of the room and saw all the sect, family, and pavilion leaders plus the nine ministers standing there waiting for her. Embarrassed, she walked over and greeted each one. The Chen Patriarch, Chen Yuhan and Minister Cai smiled as Ninying approached them. Minister Cai went first, "Congratulations, you did well in your battles. As the champion, we reward you with a thousand low quality spirit stones that have been deposited in your bank account, a premium food and drink package perfect for a Qi Gathering stage cultivator, and VIP card from the Market Square QR pod cafe."

Chen Yuhan spoke next, "Niying, your family has been with us for a long time and we always saw potential in you. When we return, we will discuss your rewards, as well as future plans as we see great things in your future."

Niying was guided to her seat at the Chen family's table just as the the next names where called, "Let's welcome the Qi Gathering team battle arena champions, the Sun team of Sun & Moon island, captain, Jia Chao, and the members: Meng Long, Lin Yong, Tang Rong, and Xing Xun."

Applause was heard and a different song played as the four men and a woman walked through the door and went through the same process as Niying, except the ministers presented the rewards.

"The final champion of the Qi Gathering stage is from the Battle Royale. Let's congratulate Yao Yun of Sun & Moon island for his accomplishment", the announcer declared.

A man walked through the door to the tune of another tune just as the others but as he received his recognition and rewards, he cried.

"I apologize everyone, before I came to Sun & Moon island, I was just a slave and it was because of Boss Wei that I was able to be free and find a new path", Yun was guided to his seat.

Wei Huoran raised his glass to Yao Yun and offered a silent toast. The other leaders present grew a little embarrassed after hearing Yun's past.

Kong Shun telepathically whispered to his elders, (Perhaps we should do more with our disciples, even if we send them here for a period of time. We might uncover a few buried treasures.)

The elders nodded and began making plans in their minds.

The announcer had stayed silent for a minute before collecting himself, "Now we have met all the Qi Gathering stage cultivators, it's time to introduce the Foundation Establishment stage Champions. From the solo battle arena competition, our first champion comes from the White Tiger sect. The disciple of the Elder Ya Yu, we present to you, Su Ping."

Just the same as all the other Su Ping walked out to brash music and was congratulated by all the leaders before making his way to his seat.

"The next category is the team battle arena, and though it was a fierce competition, we welcome the White Tiger team", music began playing as the names were announced, "The captain is Chang Tai, followed by the members: Dong Chen, Zeng Yu, Fang Jian, and Hao Guiying."

The five men walked out with their heads held high and backs straight as they made their way to the leaders. After they received their recognition and sat down, the announcer introduced the last name,

"Everyone here should be familiar with the match that happened today, but I will still present to you, the champion of the Foundation Establishment stage Battle Royale, Fu Kai of the Mountains and Rivers Sect."

Kai walked in as applause was heard, music played, and he made his way towards his Sect leader, Sun Zhenya. He did like the others and received his rewards before making his way to his table.

"Now we have reached the conclusion of the ceremony and dinner will served. I have been informed that during the meal a special announcement will be shown on the giant screen, so please look forward to that. For now, enjoy your dinner and night", the announcer told the crowd.

The lights brightened to a comfortable level and everyone started to order food and drinks while they talked to each other. It didn't take too long for server to bring out the orders, and while the people who frequented the high class restaurants were still impressed, the others were blown away by everything. Over the next hour, people, ate drank, and talked, sometimes with people at their table, sometimes visiting a different table, when the lights dimmed and a large projector lowered from the ceiling. It turned on and on a screen that also came from the ceiling, a image recording started to play.

Only a plain white background with a black path was seen until the image shifted to the right and a futuristic black motorcycle came into view. This bike looked different than the taxi bikes they were used to, it was smaller and it's shape was sleeker. A person was wearing leather armor with plates placed into strategic positions walked into view and sat on the bike as music started playing. The man started the bike before quickly accelerating on the road heading towards the first turn. The audience watched as the bike approached a sharp curve and leaned over almost touching the ground before exiting it and speeding up and the music ramping up. The scene switched to a super car negotiating turns and straight aways at breakneck speeds. Eventually, the road led to a looped road and before it could complete the course, the scene switched again. This time something that looked like a motorcycle was traveling along until the screen panned down to see the motorcycle was a hover bike as it flew ten meters off the ground flying over boulders and weaving through trees. The hover bike kept going until it reached a cliff where it launched into the open sky just as another switch and a change in the music's intensity happened. Something that looked like a small flying boat but radically different was flying in the air performing aerial stunts. If anyone from Huoran's previous life saw this, they would have assumed it was a star fighter from a sci if movie. The fighter did loops, barrel rolls, aerial rolls, and other maneuvers as smoke appeared behind it. The fighter disappeared over the horizon as the image panned out to see the smoke spell 'Speed Paradise'. A few seconds later more words appeared, 'Available in two days at the Market Square QR pod cafe' as the crescendo of the music finished leaving the room silent.

The screen and the projector went back up and the lights brightened to a stunned and silent audience.

A few hundred kilometers away from Sun & Moon island, a small ship was anchored ear the shore of the Ninying continent.

"Captain, those sects have been at that island for half a week. They normally only stay the night", a rough looking man reported to another man.

"Send word to the home fleet, there is a terribly strong man on that island so either they found something good or they are all dead and all their stuff is ripe for the taking", the captain said.