Ch 21 - Allsect Begins

Xu Ming got up early this morning.

It was currently the peak of the freezing winter period, and there were only two more months to go until the weather started warming up again.

Even as a cultivator, Xu Ming felt the chill creeping up to him. Especially as he had to train in the cold shirtless, he felt the cold biting his bones, bubbling every pore in his skin, threatening to freeze him over. But Xu Ming was relentless as ever, and did not stop his training, for the second year since Elder Qin left.

Yes, it had been two years.

Elder Qin had not returned as he promised, but seemed to have gone missing as if he had abandoned the sect. In fact, it was common for some elders to leave for some years at a time to deal with mortal matters, fight for heavenly resources, or go into seclusion to bolster their cultivation. Therefore, it didn't raise any suspicions.

The sect wouldn't dare to treat Xu Ming any differently even if Elder Qin indeed left the sect. He was now a junior alchemist, a practioner of the 9th level of Qi Refining, and an esteemed inner sect disciple.

Normally, one would need to participate in an inner sect trial and fight for the position, but everyone knew the value of a junior alchemist far outstripped the value of any disciple. In fact, there were more elders than alchemists in the sect, showing how rare they were. Thus, the elders unanimously decided to promote Xu Ming to the inner sect level without any fanfare.

Xu Ming did not mind, in any case. He only wanted to diligently cultivate and seek revenge for his family, and wasn't fond of seeking out fights and troubles.

At this moment, he was 11 years old, 1.75 metres tall, and had the body of a chiseled sculpture. This was in no small part due to his completion of muscle tempering. Xu Ming, without using any Qi, had a body strong enough to take down Mo Xiao from the Combat Peak without breaking a sweat. Of course, this wouldn't be possible ordinarily, but he was fortunate enough to be able to supplement his cultivation with his giant hoard of wealth from alchemy.

While Mo Xiao and Huang Dong still looked their age and seemed to look like budding children, Xu Ming had already taken on the appearance of a young adult, and had been mistaken multiple times for a senior by the new outer sect disciples.

He was helpless in the matter, but did not pay much attention to it. There were more pressing matters, such as his own cultivation.

Xu Ming fed Siwi, who still looked relatively the same. However, she was at the 10th level of Qi Refining, as she could easily consume the pill dregs unused by Xu Ming for her cultivation. With an abundance of resources and decent talent, a lifeform like her could put all of the outer sect disciples to shame.

Switching off the Qi Gathering Array, Xu Ming made his way out of the house, and said, "Siwi, you stay here for now. I'm going to be outside for a while today."

Siwi looked up, let off a positive hum and went back to eating.

Xu Ming ran over the path, fighting the freezing cold and made it to the common Longevity Peak bar.

Surprisingly, unlike the usual days where it was barren, there were now several hundreds of disciples gathered in this small place, eating and laughing with great anticipation.

Xu Ming made his way over to a table where he saw Mei Ji, Bu Fang, and some of his other friends eating and drinking.

"Xu Ming! You're almost late, it's about to start.", Mei Ji shouted as she beckoned him closer to their table.

Bu Fang made way and smiled, "It's about to start. We can't miss this event."

Xu Ming said, "The Allsect Tournaments are about to start, huh?"

It was time for the highlight of the decade - the Allsect Tournaments.

It was held by the Great Yan Empire, and was aimed at the cultivators under the age of 25.

Every sect, from the supreme sects to the lowest unranked sect, had opportunities to send their disciples to this tournament in order to win a grand prize.

The prizes were not ordinary - in fact, they were so valuable that even wars could sometimes start over them. Xu Ming knew that the second prize for the last Allsect Tournament was the heart of a Demon King. This was a heart full of the essence blood of a cloudcluster level existence, and any random person could become a giant bigshot if they had this heart. Needless to say, even Nascent Soul Cultivators wouldn't lay still in the face of such a reward.

As for the first prize, it was always a mystery. Nobody knew what the winners got, and the winning sect never announced their prize publicly.

Xu Ming sat down and enjoyed some of his food with great relish, and waited for the official start.

Suddenly, he looked outside, and everyone else in the bar - no, everyone in the sect also looked outside.

A giant golden scroll unfolded in the sky, which seemed so far away, and yet so near. He was able to make out the words, "Allsect Leaderboards."

There were no names in the scroll at the moment, but it wouldn't stay that way for long.

Soon, they turned their attention to the big blue screen in the bar, where a lady cultivator made her appearance.

"Hello, and welcome to the Allsect Tournaments! The grandest event in all the land, and the dream of geniuses everywhere!"

"Whether you're a mere toad or a soaring dragon will be determined by your performance! Sons of heaven, prides of the sky, let's see who deserves to be this decade's Young Prodigy!"

A deafening cheer ran out everywhere throughout the land as the tournament finally started.

The geniuses were standing in the ground near the speaker, and Xu Ming could make out some of the contenders for the tournament. He knew that even Senior Sister Xia had gone to participate, and wondered if he would see her today.

"First, a word from the great King of Great Yan, his majesty, King Zhou Tianming!"

An unassuming, middle aged man walked up to the podium and took his stance, and cleared his throat.

"Hello, everyone."

The King's appearance could indeed not be described as awe inspiring, but his voice held a magnetic charm that silenced everyone watching. In anticipation, no noises were made in the area.

In fact, only the enemies of the empire knew how truly terrifying this middle aged uncle was in battle. It was for good reason that he was the King, and it wasn't for his charm.

"I am pleased to launch the latest Allsect Tournaments. This year's tournament will be tougher than ever before, and I guarantee you this - it will have rewards unprecedented by even myself. You geniuses would do well to show your trump cards and give it your best."

"Now, as for the venue of the test."

The king stretched out his hand, and a giant illusory realm befell the candidates, warping them inside a small, reddish totem.

The totem was circular, and had hellish markings on it, making it look out of the world.

A judge commented, "That's his Majesty's Innate Treasure - Space Door. It allows him to transfer a large number of people around, and even into artifacts. It's truly amazing."

"That red artifact, I think I recognise it! King Zhou Mingwu used it 700 years ago for the most dangerous Allsect Tournament ever, resulting in a causality rate of over 90%!", another judge exclaimed.

"By heavens! Do you mean the Dharma Infernal? The recreation of the hell realm, with the souls of real devils trapped inside? No wonder the Empire made everyone sign a death waiver before participating."

Outside the trial area, the major sects were in a mess, and were in disbelief.

Another judge was about to start speaking when the King spoke, "I will be watching closely. Arbiter Cang, you may take over."

As the king left, an old man stood up and took his place.

"Greetings, everyone. I'm Elder Cang, and I'll be responsible for the trials. Firstly, I would like to state that the participants signed their own death waiver, and we will not be responsible for any deaths. With that said, the rules for this time is quite simple."

"Kill a baby devil, get 1 point. Kill an inferior devil, get 10 points. Kill a normalised devil, get 50 points. Finally, kill a transformed devil, and get 150 points. Killing and plundering is....allowed. You may retrieve half of the points you plunder from each contestant. The devils in this realm have only a portion of their original strength because of their weakened soul form, and so it's safer than an actual trial. The contestant that survives to the end and has the highest amount of points will win the tournament, and the subsequent candidates will be ranked accordingly."

"Now, in the name of His Majesty, I hereby do announce the tournament...open!"

The protective layer covering each participant shattered in that instant, and a ghasty infernal aura invaded everyone. Some even started puking on the spot, and others quickly covered themselves with Qi to appease the uncomfortable feeling.

One of the judges muttered, "Look! It's a fledgling Vine Baby Devil! It's coming for one of the contestants, let's see how strong they are."

The contestant was a burly person at the 10th level of Qi Refining, and he cast a peculiar chant that made him grow even bigger, with great red lines appearing all over his skin, filling him with power.

Xu Ming secretly nodded and had a feeling that the contestant was even stronger than him.

The baby vine devil did not look menacing at all, and sent out a shooting vine towards the contestant, which he blocked with relative ease.

The contestant muttered a phrase and was about to launch forwards, when one of the judge spoke, "Aye...it's over. The first death of the tournament."

As predicated, the baby vine devil had somehow already wrapped its roots around the contestants's feet, slowly crawling up his body. The contestant's veins expanded and he tried his best to move, but it was to no avail.

Slowly, like torture, it seeped into his skin and moved through his blood vessels, and reached his heart.

Suddenly, with a bang, the contestant's heart exploded, and he remained in place, his eyes rolling upwards and his body slowly transforming into a wooden lifeform. It didn't take long until it turned into a wooden statue, devoid of life.