anwhile, at the Four Seasons Sect:
"DAMN IT! HOW CAN THEY KILL SO MANY PEOPLE FROM THE SA STAGE SO EASILY?!"
An elder with flowing white hair and a shaved masculine face scread at the summit of the mountain occupied by the Four Seasons Sect. His face was red, and his breathing uneven, forcing the other elder by his side to spread his own Qi to confine the sound. The sect would lose too much face if their elder was seen losing control.
"Elder Gerald, please relax. We couldn't know he would participate in this age group nor that he would be strong enough to overpower everyone else. His teammates are quite perverted too, sothing else we never heard about. Let's hope he will be brave enough to enter the next age group as well; with his strength, he probably thinks he can fight everyone at the fifth stage."
His peer, a man seemingly in his early twenties despite probably being over two hundred, cald the white-haired elder.
"You can be so calm because your direct disciple did not die there! Look how Little Ben was beheaded!" The forr elder shouted in anger, pointing at the coffin in their tent. When a disciple died or surrendered, they were teleported outside the platform for their sect to treat them or collect the corpse.
"I'm sorry for your loss, Elder Gerald, but we cannot lose our composure now. We will send Anwar to the next age group, he will get rid of his kid for sure," the young-looking man replied coldly, his baby face sowhat contrasting his cruel and calculated words.
"Anwar? Why are we not sending the girl, she should be stronger. Even better, send them together," Gerald frowned.
"The Ashford Clan told us not to send Vivienne before the 50-59 age group since she will probably fight many other battles throughout the competition…"
"Ah, they spoil their shitty brat again, aren't they? Did she wiggle her little butt and made the Ashford boy drool and promise to let her slack off again?"
"He is quite desperate for her attention, I don't think she had to use her butt for it," the baby-faced elder answered dryly. "We can pressure them to send her brackets now and remove one or two brackets from the next age group by saying Ken Sue must die and her presence is important. Felix will still have so face to say he removed so of her workload."
"Fine, let's do that. But I know she would avoid facing a strong opponent and go to kill weaklings instead; tell that little girl I will lend her my back and na against her clan if she brings Ken Sue's head. Even better, I want his friends' heads too."
Gerald decided with a growl. If Vivienne were there and heard how the two decided to force a mission on her, she'd curse them in her mind for certain.
-------
Back at the valley, the sun was peeking above the smaller mountains, casting an orange light on the platform. The audience as well as the sects present were amazed by Ken's group performance, Steve himself included.
"Did you see that? Of course you did, because it was projected everywhere! I was so focused that I don't even know if there were other battles taking place on other parts of the platform! The easiness, the butchery, it's like watching cultivators battling mortals, how can the difference in power be so vast?!"
Steve's shouts riled up the audience, making them cheer loudly. The project in the sky showed the image of five youths, all masking their faces in one way or another. Three stood on a flat stone ground that seed to stretch for kiloters while the other two were in the middle of a frozen land.
Both groups had sothing in common in their environnt, and it was the endless pools of blood staining the ground in their proximity, the last evidence of their battles before their enemies' bodies were teleported outside to be handled by their sects.
Many murmurs could be heard on every mountain, a result of many cultivators discussing the sa topic; why are Ken's teammates so strong? Are they Ken's teammates because they're that strong, or are they so powerful because they're Ken's teammates?
While it might not sound important, the answer would be life-changing. If it was the second option, it ant that Ken could create as many powerful cultivators as he wanted, and that'd break any kind of balance in the continent.
If the Serene Lotus Sect could mass-produce these geniuses, the other sects would be unable to fight back even if they united.
Everyone understood what they had to do. This tournant was the graveyard of geniuses for a reason. Long ago, the twenty great sects had a tacit understanding; they all wanted to kill each other's most prominent disciples, and that's the only ti they could without consequences. For the chance to kill others' geniuses, they risked their own.
If Ken would join the next age group as well, they all thought, he must be killed. For now, they only know about three geniuses, but who knows how many others there are in other brackets or not even in the competition?
"I wonder who the fifth mber of Ken Sue's team is! He must be as powerful as his teammates, but why isn't he fighting? I'm told he is only at the fourth stage according to outside observation, but can it be true?!" Steve pondered out loud while watching George standing inside Henry's bell and looking around nervously at the barrage of attacks aid at them.
Ken's group passed the next rounds easily, with everyone refusing to enter the arena whenever they were matched against Ken. There was no point in fighting a team that could kill hundreds, and there was nothing shaful about retreating when only death waited ahead.
As the five returned ho, four were silent and one acting smug despite contributing nothing, they found Grand Elder Yuhua waiting for them.
"You may go. Here's so reward for your contribution," Yuhua nodded at George and sent him away after tossing him a storage ring. Checking the contents of the ring, George's eyes lightened up as he left hurriedly toward the Infinite Wisdom Sect's market.
"Ken Sue greets Grand Elder Yuhua."
"Alaric Sonora greets Grand Elder Yuhua."
"Henry Karras…"
"Tiara Glacier…"
The four disciples spoke together and bowed with their fists cupped. The five entered Ken's tent for a better environnt for conversation and privacy. While Yuhua could easily block any leakage with her domain, everyone would notice it.
"How may I help you, Elder Yuhua?" Ken asked as they sat down around a luxurious wooden table he placed there when he first ca to the mountain.
"You four, you have great power. We usually only approach seventh-stage cultivators for inheritances, but I want you to leave behind your legacies in case sothing happens to you in the next bracket. Either that or give up on participating."
"How many Immortal Qi Stones have we earned so far?" Ken asked before making his decision.
"Ah," Yuhua forced a smile out, rembering her superior's reaction when she calculated the numbers. The worst part was making the decision whether to send Ken out again in order to save their disciples' lives and kill the enemies in exchange for the great price she would have to pay later.
"You have participated in five brackets so far, and killed 6572 enemies. With the price of 25 Immortal Qi Stones per head, you have earned 164,300 Immortal Qi Stones. Do you really need that many…?" Her voice contained even a hint of desperation when saying that number.
"I do. I think that's almost as much as I need, but I will participate in one more bracket in the next age group," Ken thought to himself as he estimated the number of Immortal Qi Stones he'd need to secure the replenishnt of his Godly Qi while cultivating and supporting his three companions' cultivation.
"Then I have to ask for your inheritances. They are too precious to be lost, and next ti, even the Peaceful Demon Sect might try to kill you," Yuhua said.
"Looting corpses is not allowed in the competition, so I promise to write it down and place it in my storage ring. If one of us dies, you can just get it from our rings, how does that sound?" Ken offered, unwilling to give away his techniques. If they force his hand, he'd give them an inferior version.
"I guess that's fine. I hope you're aware this is only temporary, and you will be expected to take in disciples and pass your inheritance when you make it to the seventh stage one day. Our sect is not at the top because our mbers are selfish," Yuhua left with a warning hanging in the air.
"I will rember your words," Ken told the disappearing back.
He turned around to look at his three companions. The three truly did not care about the politics of the sect or Ken's agreents with others. Alaric would support Ken in every decision while the other two were fine with his arrangents as long as they benefit from it.
"As you heard, this is going to be our last fight, we will do it at the 2v2 bracket so we can spread out and collect as many bounties as possible," Ken told his companions.
At the sa ti, a certain gorgeous platinum-haired girl pouted when she found out she was sent to fight in all four brackets of the next age group, but suddenly an idea popped into her mind.
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