Morning came, it was now the day when the Outer Sect Competition began.
Lucien, wearing his simple green robe, walked toward the registration area for the tournament.
Today was really lively. Many didn't take missions today just to watch the tournament, and some outer sect disciples who were outside the sect returned today to watch.
Other than enjoying the show, they hoped to gain insights from the battles to help their cultivation.
Upon reaching the battle arena, thousands of people were already there. In front, three grand chairs were set up.
They were occupied by Outer Hall Grand Elder Rakon, an Early Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. Beside him were two Inner Hall Elders. Elder Herman and Elder Jin, both also at the Early Stage Foundation Establishment.
They were the highest authorities present and the ones who would observe the event.
The Sect Leader didn't come, as it was only a mere outer disciples tournament, not an inner disciples one.
"The total number of contestants in this tournament is 13,452!" Elder Rakon announced while slowly stroking his white beard.
Then, with a commanding voice, he announced the rules of the tournament. To become a winner, opponents must surrender, be knocked unconscious, or be knocked off the stage.
Killing or using fatal techniques was prohibited.
After that, Elder Rakon announced the rewards.
There were spirit stones, weapons, pills, and more.
The top 20 in this tournament would become Inner Disciples. Also, if they managed to perform well, there might be elders who would want to take them as disciples.
With that, the tournament officially started.
About 50 platforms emerged.
On each platform, there would be 10 people battling. The one person who remained standing would pass the first round.
After the emergence of the platforms, they began calling the 10 names for the first platform, and after that, the host started calling names for the second platform to battle.
"Platform 3: Ash Rolow, Sophia Marley, Ceval Khan–"
"Crap! I'm on the same platform as Ceval… how unlucky! Damn it!" One of the people on Platform 3 couldn't help but curse.
Ceval Khan was a Qi Gathering Stage 7 cultivator. He was the prince of the Empire of Khan of Mist Island!
Ceval was one of the favorites in this tournament, and many speculated that he would probably place in the top five, even if he didn't get first place.
In this tournament, there was also a betting area, and almost everyone participated in it.
On Platform 3, 99% of the people, with a total of 1,609 spirit stones, quickly bet on Ceval. It was considered a near-certain win, as the other nine contestants on Platform 3 were only at Qi Gathering Stage 4, with two at Stage 5-but it was still nothing.
After Qi Gathering Stage 7, it could be called late-stage Qi Gathering. There was a large difference in power between the early, middle, and late stages of the realm.
Hours later, battles on the 50 platforms quickly began, with surges of spiritual energy everywhere as contestants showed off their skills and techniques.
After a few minutes, the battles finished. Some platforms were already over in just a few seconds, like Platform 3, where Ceval defeated all nine of his opponents in just 42 seconds.
After that, 50 people emerged victorious, while 450 were eliminated. Then another batch of contestants was called again, starting from Platform 1 to Platform 50.
At that time, Lucien's name was also called. He would fight on Platform 10.
He stood up and then walked down toward the platform.
"Hey, Lucien, good luck!"
Lucien turned his gaze toward the call and saw Jack and Thomas above, waving their hands at him.
He simply smiled and nodded at them, then continued walking toward the platform.
Upon reaching it, he looked at his opponents and couldn't help but yawn.
Seven were at the Qi Gathering Stage 4 realm, and two were at Qi Gathering Stage 5.
He looked at their faces and couldn't help but feel amused. Some were nervous, some were excited, and some were confident, especially the two at Qi Gathering Stage 5.
In Lucien's mind, even if he were just at Qi Gathering Stage 3, he could beat these nine kids all at once just by relying on his hundreds of years of battle experience.
Soon, the battle started.
Lucien simply stood at the side, as calm as water, with his hands behind his back.
"You can just surrender if you want, so I won't waste energy on you," one of the Qi Gathering Stage 5 cultivators said, immediately approaching Lucien, seeing him as weak prey and commanding him to surrender right away.
A mocking smile formed on Lucien's mouth. Without saying a word, he delivered a sudden kick.
It struck the cultivator's face, sending him flying dramatically through the air. He tumbled several times on the ground outside the stage and quickly lost consciousness.
The other Stage 5 cultivator, wearing a gray robe, almost bulged his eyes in shock after seeing what happened.
But he quickly regained his composure.
"That bastard was really reckless. He underestimated his opponent because it was just a Stage 4."
Then the gray-robed man smiled.
It was good for him, because now the biggest threat was gone. However, he still needed to eliminate Lucien, as he believed Lucien was the strongest among the Stage 4 cultivators on this platform.
Unlike that idiot Stage 5, the gray-robed man wouldn't underestimate Lucien and would fight him with everything he had.
He quickly drew his sword and dashed forward, passing others who were still fighting as he headed straight toward Lucien.
Lucien stood there calmly. The gray-robed man jumped and slashed his sword. Lucien slowly drew his own sword, and when it emerged from the sheath, it was revealed to be just a wooden sword.
"Are you mocking me?! Where is your real sword?" the gray-robed man spat angrily.
"If I use my real sword, I might accidentally kill you and get disqualified," Lucien said calmly, which only made the gray-robed man even angrier.
The gray-robed man attacked Lucien, but Lucien could clearly see the trajectory of his blade. Even if Lucien closed his eyes, just by listening to the sound of the blade, he could easily dodge it.
Lucien used only his footwork, dodging the opponent's attacks as if dancing.
A few moments later, the gray-robed man was panting heavily.
"Why can't I hit him? Is he using a swift technique to move so fast that he can dodge my attacks?" he thought.
But he quickly dismissed the idea.
"Maybe not. He isn't fast… it's like he knows where I'm going to attack–"
While the gray-robed man was thinking, Lucien quickly attacked with his wooden sword, striking his head and making the opponent lose consciousness instantly. Then Lucien swiftly knocked down the others who were still fighting on their own.
With that, he was the only one remaining on Platform 10.