Chapter 182 - 175: Taking the Stage
The Black Tortoise Dao Sect’s Decennial Grand Tournament soon officially began.
However, due to the large number of participants and the need to accommodate the ranking of Outer Disciples, the grand tournament was divided into two parts: the preliminaries and the main event.
The first to begin were the preliminaries for the Outer Disciples in the Qi Cultivation stage, which was also the section with the most participants.
From several thousand Qi Cultivation participants, the top one hundred and twenty-eight would be selected to advance to the main event.
With several thousand people fighting from morning till night, it took a full week to complete the preliminaries.
The number of participants in the Dao Foundation Realm was much smaller, with only seven to eight hundred people.
Among the Dao Foundation disciples, a portion were also Outer Disciples.
In the Black Tortoise Dao Sect, only Outer Disciples who broke through to the Dao Foundation before the age of seventy could become Inner Sect Disciples.
Outer Disciples who exceeded this age could choose to leave the sect and make a living outside, or they could choose to remain within the sect, but they had to complete a certain amount of sect missions regularly.
Furthermore, for these overage Outer Disciples, the triennial minor competitions of the Outer Sect did not concern them; they could only participate in the Decennial Grand Tournament.
These sect disciples would not miss the Decennial Grand Tournament. Their strength wasn’t necessarily greater, but they were more experienced and often managed to achieve decent results.
"Brother Zhou!"
Jiang Zuo stepped out of the Taihao Peak Array, where Cao Guangshan was already waiting for him.
The preliminaries for the Outer Disciples in Qi Cultivation were over. Starting today were the preliminaries for the Dao Foundation disciples.
Just like the Qi Cultivation disciples, the Dao Foundation disciples also had to determine the top one hundred and twenty-eight who would participate in the main event.
The top sixteen participants with the highest Cultivation would not need to participate in the preliminaries and would enter the main event directly as seeded contestants.
Because Jiang Zuo’s Cultivation was too low, he would have to win three times to enter the main event.
"How did you two do in the preliminaries?"
Jiang Zuo looked toward Cao Guangshan and Nie Qiuling.
"My Cultivation is too low. I only won two rounds before being eliminated. Qiuling did better; she won three rounds."
Cao Guangshan said with shame.
Jiang Zuo wasn’t surprised. Cao Guangshan, like him, was currently at the third level of Qi Cultivation.
Nie Qiuling’s talent was better, but she was only at the fourth level of Qi Cultivation.
What surprised Jiang Zuo, however, was that after almost ten years, not only had Nie Qiuling and Cao Guangshan not broken up, but it seemed they had gotten quite intimate on the side.
’I can’t believe this thick-browed, big-eyed guy has it in him. Looks like you really can’t judge a book by its cover.’
"Brother Zhou, when you get in the ring, are you confident you can win your first match?"
As the three of them walked toward the tournament rings, Cao Guangshan couldn’t help but ask Jiang Zuo in a low voice.
"What’s up? Why do you ask?"
Jiang Zuo glanced at him.
"Hehe, for the Decennial Grand Tournament, many from the Zhuang Family have opened betting pools, and there’s one for you, Brother Zhou. If you’re confident, I’ll go place a small bet."
Cao Guangshan chuckled.
Although he looked simple and honest, he wasn’t a fool. Having known Jiang Zuo for all these years, he had a rough understanding of his character and knew that he wouldn’t have registered for the competition with his current Cultivation if he wasn’t absolutely confident.
"What are the odds?"
Jiang Zuo’s interest was piqued.
"They’re not that high, mostly around one-to-five. And they only accept a maximum bet of one thousand low-grade Spirit Stones."
"After all, you’re famous, Brother Zhou, and you’re Elder Luo’s Direct Disciple. The Zhuang Family doesn’t dare to offer odds that are too high."
Cao Guangshan said.
Any other Qi Cultivation disciple facing a Dao Foundation opponent would have absolutely no chance of winning.
But with Jiang Zuo’s status, he might have some powerful Talismans or Magical Artifacts on him.
"Then help me place a bet... let’s make it five thousand low-grade Spirit Stones."
Every little bit counts. Jiang Zuo took out a storage pouch full of Spirit Stones and handed it to Cao Guangshan.
"Alright!"
Cao Guangshan’s spirits lifted.
Jiang Zuo was clearly telling him he could win!
Hearing this, Nie Qiuling, who was standing to the side, raised an eyebrow.
’Just a mere third-level Qi Cultivation disciple. Where does this Zhou Yong get his confidence?’
She was indeed with Cao Guangshan now, and she no longer played the part of a gentle, soft-spoken beauty.
As for why, it was a little different from what Jiang Zuo had imagined.
She had woken up that morning, her entire body aching and sore.
Based on her hazy memories, she discovered to her utter despair that in just one night, she and Cao Guangshan had coupled an unknown number of times.
Saying he was a "seven-times-a-night man" would be an understatement.
And for most of it, she had been the one to initiate.
If that had been the end of it, it would have been one thing. But when she finally composed herself and walked out of Cao Guangshan’s room...
She discovered that the people in the inn all gave her strange looks.
Worse, other Outer Disciples of the Black Tortoise Dao Sect were staying at the inn, and several of them recognized her as a beauty.
Nie Qiuling secretly found an inn maid to ask what was going on. The maid shyly told her that last night, she had kept more than half the inn awake.
After hearing that, Nie Qiuling wanted to die.
She had originally planned to grit her teeth and swallow her pride, telling Cao Guangshan not to breathe a word of it and to pretend nothing had happened.
But now, everyone in the entire inn knew about her and Cao Guangshan. How could she possibly hide it?
It probably wouldn’t be long before it was common knowledge.
After something like this, if she broke up with Cao Guangshan, she could forget about finding any other decent man.
Even if she managed to find one, she would always have to act subservient in the relationship.
With no other choice, Nie Qiuling could only continue seeing Cao Guangshan for the time being.
And after spending some time with him, Nie Qiuling discovered that Cao Guangshan’s Cultivation Talent didn’t seem to be bad; his Cultivation speed was only a little slower than hers.
As for his character, there was nothing to complain about; he treated her exceptionally well.
And he was on very good terms with Zhou Yong, Elder Luo’s Direct Disciple.
Carefully weighing her options, she realized that among the vast number of Outer Disciples, she couldn’t immediately find anyone better than Cao Guangshan.
If not Cao Guangshan, her only other option was to look for an Inner Sect Disciple.
Before, there might have been a slim chance.
After all, she was beautiful, and it was possible she could become an Inner Sect Disciple in the future.
But after what happened at the inn, Nie Qiuling understood that even if an Inner Sect Disciple took a liking to her, it would only be for her looks. Once he grew tired of her, he would undoubtedly abandon her without a second thought.
After joining the Black Tortoise Dao Sect, Nie Qiuling also came to know that if she were in the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect with her talent, she would be at the very bottom, similar to the lowest-ranking disciples of the Black Tortoise Dao Sect.
Thinking it over, Nie Qiuling actually felt fortunate that she had entered the Black Tortoise Dao Sect instead.
After this series of comparisons and experiences, Nie Qiuling’s resentment about joining the Black Tortoise Dao Sect gradually faded away.
Cao Guangshan, full of youthful vigor and having tasted the forbidden fruit, pestered Nie Qiuling after they returned. Unable to resist, after a few more times, Nie Qiuling gave up all resistance and committed to being with him.
...
The rings were set up in the Outer Sect’s martial arts training ground. At this time, twenty huge rings had been erected, and each was surrounded by numerous disciples from both the Inner and Outer Sects watching the matches.
Cao Guangshan took the Spirit Stones Jiang Zuo had given him and went to find those from the Zhuang Family to place the bets separately.
Nie Qiuling followed behind Cao Guangshan and couldn’t resist placing a few bets herself.
Around the training ground, more than ten announcement boards were set up, posting the matchups for the day’s competitions.
"Ring fifteen, third round, opponent Zong Tianpei, sixth-level Dao Foundation."
Jiang Zuo quickly found his match details.
Not far behind Jiang Zuo, a middle-aged man was watching him silently.
He was Jiang Zuo’s opponent, Zong Tianpei.
A few days ago, he had received an order to register for the Decennial Grand Tournament.
Someone would arrange for him to be in the same quarter-final bracket as the Qi Cultivation disciple named Zhou Yong. He needed to fight his way up with all his might, and when he met Zhou Yong, kill him in the ring.
But what Zong Tianpei never expected was that his luck would be so good; he had run into his target in the very first match.
’He really is just at the third level of Qi Cultivation. In that case, don’t blame me for what I’m about to do.’
Zong Tianpei thought to himself.
He actually felt this was an unnecessary complication. Wouldn’t it be simpler to just find a deserted place and kill the man directly?
But the order from above was to do it in the ring, feigning an accidental slip-up that resulted in death.
Zong Tianpei was a Death Warrior. He didn’t dwell on it; he did as his superiors commanded.
If he could kill the man and still survive, that would be for the best.
Though he didn’t fear death, if he could avoid it, he certainly hoped to.
After confirming his round and opponent, Jiang Zuo began to wander leisurely around the rings.
Although he now had a considerable reputation in both the Outer and Inner Sects, very few people had actually seen him in person.
"Brother Zhou."
Before long, Cao Guangshan and Nie Qiuling returned.
The two had already gone to several of the Zhuang Family, placing separate bets of one thousand Spirit Stones each on Jiang Zuo to win.
Besides Jiang Zuo’s own five thousand Spirit Stones, he and Nie Qiuling had also pooled together over a thousand Spirit Stones.
It could be said that they had bet their entire fortunes on Jiang Zuo.
Nie Qiuling had initially been against betting so much, but Cao Guangshan insisted.
The two of them placing such a heavy bet on Jiang Zuo winning his first match immediately drew many sidelong glances.
Especially when some people learned that Cao Guangshan’s relationship with Jiang Zuo was not shallow, they immediately wanted to follow suit and bet as well.
However, the Zhuang Family had already urgently lowered Jiang Zuo’s odds, changing them to just one-to-two.
With these odds, almost no one had the desire to bet anymore.
After all, Jiang Zuo was only at the third level of Qi Cultivation, while his opponent was at the sixth level of the Dao Foundation.
Because the location was restricted to the ring, the matches basically didn’t take much time to decide a winner.
In front of ring fifteen, the first two rounds of matches had already concluded.
"Third round match! Zhou Yong, Zong Tianpei, enter the ring!"
The referee for ring fifteen was Liu Zhonggang, an Inner Sect Steward at the Three Flowers Realm.
Normally, for the Dao Foundation disciples’ rings, especially in the preliminaries, they would just find some old, senior disciples in the late Divine Body Realm to act as referees.
Liu Zhonggang was here because he had been specially assigned to ensure that this little fellow at the third level of Qi Cultivation didn’t get hurt.
Liu Zhonggang grumbled internally about this. ’Third-level Qi Cultivation, what’s he doing joining in the fun?’
Seeing Jiang Zuo now, he couldn’t help but take a couple of extra glances.
He found that aside from being reasonably good-looking, there seemed to be nothing special about him.
"Begin!"
Once the two of them had jumped onto the ring, Liu Zhonggang immediately waved his hand.
"Dust Mist!"
Jiang Zuo took the initiative to strike first, casting a Dust Mist Technique.
A yellowish-brown mist instantly rose from the floor of the ring, enveloping both Jiang Zuo and Zong Tianpei.
’He’s really asking to die!’
’Isn’t this just making it easier for me to land a killing blow?’
Zong Tianpei sneered internally.
With a thought, he was about to cast a Stone Fall Technique toward Jiang Zuo’s position.
Under a Stone Fall Technique, a third-level Qi Cultivation fellow would be dead for sure, with no chance of survival.
However, before he could cast his Stone Fall Technique...
Zong Tianpei suddenly felt a fierce Water Arrow strike his chest.
An immense force sent him flying uncontrollably.
By the time he came to his senses, he had already landed outside the ring.
’What happened?’
Zong Tianpei was completely bewildered.
’How could a Water Arrow Technique cast by a third-level Qi Cultivation disciple possibly knock me back so far?’
"He won! Zhou Yong won!"
"That easily?"
"Did that sixth-level Dao Foundation guy throw the match on purpose?!"
A commotion erupted around ring fifteen.