The morning sun bathed Azure Peak Sect in golden light as Ke Hong and Ke Lixue followed Liu Chen through the winding pathways toward the tournament arena. Despite their early arrival, streams of people already flowed in the same direction: disciples in sect robes of varying colors, visiting family members in their finest attire, and merchants hawking talismans and snacks from makeshift stalls lining the route.

Lixue rested one hand protectively over her growing belly as she gazed at the spectacle around them. "I never imagined there would be so many people," she whispered to her husband, her eyes wide with wonder. "It's larger than the annual harvest festival back home."

Hong nodded, his hand squeezing hers reassuringly. Though he maintained a composed expression, the subtle furrow of his brow betrayed his own amazement. The tailor who had spent his life in a small village was now walking among immortal cultivators as if he belonged.

"This is nothing," Liu Chen declared proudly, his young face beaming with excitement as he guided them through the crowd. His Core Disciple robes earning respectful nods from those they passed. "Wait until you see the arena itself. Elder Song says it can seat ten thousand spectators!"

As they crested a small hill, the tournament grounds came into view, drawing gasps from both parents. The arena was a massive circular structure carved directly into the mountainside. Tiered seating ringed an expansive central platform, with special viewing boxes positioned at strategic points for honored guests and sect elders.

"It's magnificent," Lixue breathed, her voice barely audible over the growing murmur of the crowd.

Liu Chen puffed out his chest slightly. "Azure Peak Sect is famous for its tournament arena. The stone has been reinforced with spiritual formations to withstand even Life Realm combat techniques." He pointed to glowing blue lines etched into the walls. "See those? They're protection formations. They keep the audience safe from stray qi blasts and flying debris."

Although the terms "Life Realm" and "qi blasts" meant little to him, Hong studied the formations with interest. Since learning of his son's aptitude for formation study, he'd begun noticing such details in sect architecture. "Our son mentioned studying these. Are they very complicated?"

"Oh, extremely!" Liu Chen nodded vigorously. "These were designed over hundreds of thousands of years ago, but are still going strong. Brother Ke is very talented with formations though. His master, Elder Chen Yong, says he's a natural."

Pride bloomed on both parents' faces at this casual praise of their son.

Liu Chen led them to a special entrance marked with the Core Disciple emblem, earning curious stares from other spectators. The guard stationed there bowed slightly when he recognized Liu Chen.

"Young Master Liu," the guard greeted formally. "These are your guests?"

"Yes," Liu Chen replied. "They are my friend’s parents. I promised them seats in the Core Disciple section."

The guard's eyebrows rose slightly as he assessed the simple attire of the village couple, but he made no comment. "Of course. Please follow me."

They were led to premium seats with plush cushions, positioned high enough to have a perfect view of the entire arena but sheltered from the direct sun by an elegant canopy.

Around them, several Core Disciples who hadn't yet broken through to the Elemental Realm lounged in their seats, their casual postures belying the considerable power they possessed even at the peak of Qi Condensation.

The higher-ranking disciples of the sect, those who had already reached the Elemental Realm or beyond, were notably absent, too consumed by their own cultivation pursuits to attend what they considered a lower-tier competition.

"This is... very kind," Lixue said hesitantly, clearly feeling out of place among such distinguished company. "Are you certain we're allowed here?"

Liu Chen grinned. "Of course! I asked Elder Song specifically, and she approved it. As a Core Disciple, I'm allowed to invite guests to our section."

A massive rumble suddenly drew their attention to the far side of the arena, where a stone door as tall as ten men slowly slid open. The crowd noise swelled in anticipation.

"Look!" Liu Chen pointed excitedly. "They're coming in!"

From the shadowed entrance emerged rows of young disciples, walking in neat formation onto the tournament ground. They were arranged in teams of three, each group maintaining a precise distance from the others. The spectators erupted in cheers, with various sect members calling out names of their favorites.

"Yuan Zhen! Show them your Sunray technique!" shouted a group of junior disciples, jumping from their seats.

"Earth Fist Liu! Crush them all!" bellowed a burly merchant, likely from the same region as the powerful disciple.

"Ming Yue! Flower of the Azure Peak!" called several young male disciples, earning sharp looks from their female counterparts.

Ignoring the enthusiastic cheers for names that meant nothing to them, Hong and Lixue leaned forward, eyes scanning the disciplined rows for their son.

"There!" Hong exclaimed suddenly, pointing toward a team near the middle. "There's Yin!"

Lixue's grip on her husband's arm tightened as she spotted their son walking confidently between Wei Lin and Lin Mei. Unlike when they'd seen him yesterday, Ke Yin now wore semi-formal combat robes, his posture straight and proud. Even from this distance, there was something distinctly different about him, an aura of controlled power that set him apart from many of the other competitors.

"He looks so..." Lixue searched for the right word.

"Different," Hong supplied, his voice tinged with both pride and a touch of wistfulness. "Our son the cultivator."

Liu Chen beamed beside them. "Brother Ke is going to amaze everyone today. You'll see."

As Ke Yin and the other competitors formed a perfect circle in the arena center, Hong and Lixue exchanged a glance, both feeling the same mix of emotions: pride in what their son had become, and the bittersweet knowledge that he now belonged to a world so different from their own.

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***

I took a deep breath as we entered the tournament arena, the roaring crowd washing over us like a physical wave. Eight weeks of preparation had led to this moment, and now thousands of eyes would watch as we proved our worth to the world.

"Nervous?" Wei Lin asked beside me, his eyes scanning the crowd nonchalantly.

I shook my head slightly. "Focused."

"Well, I'm nervous enough for both of you," Lin Mei admitted from my other side, her fingers fidgeting with the sleeves of her robes. "There are so many people."

I gave her a reassuring smile. "You'll be fine. You've made incredible progress."

That was an understatement. When Lin Mei had revealed her breakthrough to the sixth stage of Qi Condensation just this morning, I'd been genuinely stunned. Though I'd known she was close, the rapid advancement from fourth stage to the sixth stage in just eight weeks was remarkable for someone with her cultivation method.

"It's all thanks to Wei Lin," she explained. "He found a way to use his Black Market stall to help channel qi to me. It's like... he created a trade route between our inner worlds."

"That's... impressive," I said, genuinely intrigued. Most cultivation methods were inherently selfish, designed to gather and refine energy for one's own advancement. The ability to directly assist another's breakthrough was rare. "I didn't know your method could do that."

"Neither did I until we tried it," Wei Lin admitted. “But it turned out to be good business. Her spiritual herbs are much more potent when harvested by a higher-stage cultivator. My investment is already paying dividends."

Lin Mei elbowed him gently. "Stop sounding like a merchant calculating profit. You helped because you're a good person."

"Don't spread such vicious rumors," Wei Lin protested. "I have a reputation to maintain."

But I caught the soft look he gave Lin Mei when she wasn't watching, and knew this "investment" had nothing to do with spiritual herbs.

Their banter fell silent as we took our designated position in the formation of competitors, I couldn't help but marvel at how much had changed in just two months.

My gaze drifted across the arena to where Feng Zhao stood with his team, the once-arrogant sixth stage cultivator who had attacked me, now studiously avoided eye contact. Word of our confrontation during registration had spread throughout the sect, and my subsequent breakthrough to the ninth stage had cemented my reputation as someone not to be trifled with.

"Quite the change from eight weeks ago," Azure commented in my mind. "You've moved from obscurity to notoriety in record time."

He wasn't wrong. The last time I'd seen these disciples gathered, I'd been merely a curiosity, a first-year who had somehow reached the fifth stage, worth either dismissing or bullying. Now, I could feel their surreptitious glances, their whispered assessments, their recalculations of the tournament's power dynamics.

"Chen Feng is watching you," Wei Lin murmured, his lips barely moving. "Third formation to our right."

I didn't turn my head, but extended my spiritual sense enough to confirm. Chen Feng, the "Ghost Step Expert," had indeed advanced to the eighth stage of Qi Condensation as rumored. His spiritual pressure flowed around him like dark water, controlled but substantial. His teammates had likewise advanced, both now at the seventh stage.

"His shadow walking technique has improved," I noted quietly, sensing the subtle fluctuations in his qi. "More refined, more dangerous."

Wei Lin nodded almost imperceptibly. "Ming Yue's team as well. She's stabilized at eighth stage, and her poison expert teammate has developed a new toxin. Something that attacks spiritual pathways directly."

"Earth Fist Liu is also at the eighth stage," Lin Mei added softly. "But his qi density is nearly double the others. I can feel it from here, like a mountain compressed into human form."

I continued our casual assessment of the competition, cataloging strengths and weaknesses while maintaining a placid expression.

Yuan Zhen, once the clear favorite, had continued his meteoric rise. His ninth stage cultivation base radiated a serene confidence, like a perfectly still lake concealing unfathomable depths. His sworn brothers had both reached the eighth stage, making their team formidable by any standard.

"Speaking of favorites," Wei Lin whispered, his eyes flicking momentarily toward the entrance.

I turned slightly to see Wu Kangming and Luo Yichen enter the arena. Wu Kangming moved casually, his pale face as expressionless as ever. The sect uniform did little to hide the subtle sword qi that clung to him like a second skin, the mark of a true sword practitioner. Beside him, Luo Yichen walked with quiet confidence, the Mirrorwater Blade strapped to his back.

"Both ninth stage," Lin Mei observed with a slight intake of breath. "That means there are at least five ninth stage Qi Condensation cultivators competing. That's... unprecedented."

She was right. In most years, the outer sect tournament might see one cultivator at the ninth stage. Even eighth stage competitors were considered exceptional. To have five ninth stage cultivators, Yuan Zhen, Wu Kangming, Luo Yichen, Wei Lin, and myself, was virtually unheard of.

"The competition for inner sect positions is particularly fierce this year," Wei Lin mused. "Normally, a ninth stage cultivator would be recruited immediately. Having to compete in the tournament means the inner sect is being selective."

"Or they're testing us for something specific," I suggested, remembering Elder Chen Yong's cryptic comments about the sect's interest in disciples with unique qualities.

A flicker of movement in the Core Disciple viewing area caught my eye. There, among the sect's elite, sat Wu Lihua, her purple robes setting her apart from those around her. The "jade beauty" was watching the proceedings with a calculated look in her eyes, though I noticed her gaze lingered particularly on Wu Kangming before sliding to me with the shadow of a smirk that sent a chill down my spine despite the distance.

"We have an audience in the Core Disciple section," I murmured to Wei Lin, who followed my gaze and smirked.

"Wu Lihua still playing her games, I see," he commented. "Though I doubt Wu Kangming is giving her the reaction she wants anymore.”

"She'll be disappointed," I nodded, recalling the understanding that had formed between Wu Kangming and myself during our last encounter.

Our paths would cross in combat eventually, whether in the tournament or outside of it, but neither of us would give Wu Lihua the bloody death spectacle she clearly desired. "Some people see others as pieces on a game board rather than actual cultivators."

"That particular jade beauty has always excelled at manipulating others' emotions," Wei Lin agreed. "It's practically its own cultivation technique for her."

I suppressed a flicker of surprise at his words. Wei Lin had no idea how close to the truth he'd stumbled.

From what I'd gathered about Wu Lihua's cultivation method, emotional manipulation wasn't just a personality trait, it was likely a literal technique she cultivated, possibly drawing power from the emotional turmoil she created around her. The golden flecks in her eyes weren't merely decorative; they were the visible manifestation of a method that thrived on others' reactions.

"More accurate than you realize," I murmured, turning my attention back to the formation beneath our feet. Wu Lihua's games would have to wait. Right now, survival in this tournament demanded our complete focus.

Suddenly, a thunderous boom echoed through the arena, silencing the crowd and drawing my attention.

At the highest point of the viewing stands, a section of the wall slid away to reveal a platform where the sect's elders now stood. Twelve figures in flowing robes of various colors gazed down upon the assembled disciples, their faces impassive but their eyes sharp and evaluating.

I recognized several: Elder Chen Yong, trying to look serious despite the gleam of amusement in his eyes; Elder Song, her stern face softened slightly as she nodded toward Liu Chen in the audience; and Elder Bai, whose reputation for selecting disciples with unique potential was legendary.

But it was the thirteenth figure who commanded attention as he stepped forward to the platform's edge. I didn't recognize him, but his appearance was striking, a deceptively young man with aristocratic features, impossibly handsome yet emanating a coldness that seemed to freeze the very air around him.

Despite appearing no older than thirty, his presence was so profound that my spiritual sense instinctively recoiled from direct perception, like a mortal might flinch from staring directly at the sun.

A true Civilisation Realm monster.