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Experimental cultivation
Chapter 20 foundational champion's prelims

Chapter 20 foundational champion's prelims

The official tournament's first round started in three days and you could feel the feverish energy in the air as Blackrock port was packed. Merchants shouted out wears, low level cultivators were as common a sight as mortals and core formation cultivators could occasionally be witnessed out and about. In response to such activities the elders of the black turtle sect were out in force to maintain order and remind everyone who owned Blackrock port.

The recent bad blood from the scuffles between the newly formed independent alliance and the black turtle sect could be seen on both sides. The tournament had caused a cease fire as both sides had reached somewhat of a stalemate. The sect head of the black turtle sect had taken an injury forcing him to retire from the field but not before killing the head of the Tannersville clan and his eldest son leaving the alliance without a leader. Both sides needed time to lick their wounds so they decided to turn their attention to the tournament.

Core formation Elders from both factions were using this as a proxy for honor, prestige, recruitment and a display of power. The very center of this was in the arena. The amount of applicants and been far greater than expert Pryor or Morgan could have hoped or expected. Morgan was forced to hold strings of qualifiers to weed out the hundreds of applicants to a more manageable number. Hector Vale sat with Dimitri watching the matches.

Each round consisted of five randomly chosen fighters in a free for all with only the last man standing moving onto the tournament proper. They had watched a dozen matches so far seeing wandering cultivators, alliance members, famous mercenaries and black turtle sect members clash. A particularly brutal match consisted of a single black turtle up against a four man squad from the alliance. Hector would have guessed that a four on one fight would have been over quickly but he was wrong.

The man was a direct disciple of the first Elder and a defensive specialist at the eight step of the foundational realm. With his opponents being all fifth step or below they struggled to scratch his shield and the famous black shell body reinforcing technique let him ignore the single glancing blow that got through his guard. With shield and mace in hand he'd relentlessly and methodically smashed, bashed and ground them down until he was the last man standing. The alliance members were carried out on stretchers over to their elders to take care of.

A better fate than the wondering cultivators as Morgan wasn't supplying any alchemists, healers or even mortal physicians. If you didn't have someone to collect you you'd simply be tossed out as the arena was readied for the next match. It was brutal, ugly, unfair and barbaric yet he'd have to get used to it as this was his future since elder Windcrest named him the head of the foundational strengthening division. He wanted to try and scope out what the competition was like and thought it would be good for some of the men to see it. With Markus still unconscious after his breakthrough Dimitri was the next best choice.

Hector didn't know a lot about fighting or cultivators but the majority of the fighters didn't seem impressive next to Pierre's or his own group. This current match was an example of that, three fighters faced off with weapons drawn. Two swords men from the badlands and a wondering cultivator with a long metal pole with a sharp dagger on the side almost like an axe might. The others have been knocked out or surrender after being wounded.

The way they moved, counterattack or fainted seemed slow and almost clunky after watching yesterday's sparing. "Do you think you could take them?" Hector said turning a questioning look towards Dimitri. "Yes, the move like an old ox my uncle had" Dimitri snorted "I can't believe they are forth step cultivators". "A mere month ago I would have looked at them like great warriors but now I could take all three" he said not knowing if he should laugh or cry.

Eventually the two swordsman overwhelmed the pole arm user before turning on each other. A furious trading of blows with more enthusiasm than skill led to the taller man on the left to take a slash on his calf while his own sword sliced toward his opponent's hands. Dropping the sword and roughly half of his thumb the cultivator on the right quickly conceded.

" Let's hear it for Garrett of the wasteland, he'll be moving on to the foundational champion's tournament with this elimination match" an announcer crowed trying to drum up enthusiasm in the his audience. "Next up we have an extra special match and I've been instructed that we'll be allowing extra time for betting on this one" saying this caused somewhat of a stir and Hector noticed the man sweating under the crowds attention. He didn't envy the man as multiple core formation cultivators were paying close attention to him.

"I'm sure the honorable elders in attendance will appreciate this stipulation once they hear who's competing in this next match" the man nervously read the card in his hand.

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" first into the ring we have Kurt Longfang, seventh step foundational cultivator" everyone in the crowd began to talk amongst themselves. From what Hector had gathered Kurt was a rather famous mercenary around the area rumored to have hunted and killed a core realm beast. Despite not being at peak foundational realm many people believed he had a good chance at making it into the top eight at the least.

That was all impressive but Hector was at the edge of his seat as the announcer had started every announcement from lowest to highest in terms of cultivation rank. Longfang took his place in the ring and the announcer continued.

"Second into the ring we have Roger Tannersville, eight step foundational realm cultivator" at that half the arena cheered while all the black turtles let out boo's and curses before the elders flared their power to restraint their juniors. The youngest son of the Tannersville clan was here and ready to compete. The young man walked out head held high and bare chested, proudly displaying the scar he'd earned over the recent few weeks of fighting. Some of the scars looked freshly healed showing that he'd likely taken part in the last clash where the black turtle sect master killed his father and brother.

Giving the black turtle section snear he'd bowed towards them before spitting on the ground. A gasp went up from the crowd and Hector caught a glimpses of the few black turtle elders in attendance. Most of the higher ranked elders held themselves in check but some of the newer and younger core realm cultivators failed to hide the fury they felt. "This is getting out of hand" Hector said to Dimitri not wanting to be anywhere nearby if core formation cultivators were potentially going to fly off the handle. "I think this is just the beginning" Dimitri tilted his head toward the announcer.

"Third into the ring we have Eric Michael, eight step foundational realm cultivator" this declaration didn't seem to have half the controversy as the last. The man was visibly middle aged with darker skin and carrying a large orb in his hands. To Hector's knowledge the man didn't belong to either camp and was a complete unknown. It was definitely strange that no one in the crowd seemed to recognize someone with such a relatively high level of cultivation.

"Fourth into the ring we have Jen Lee, eight step foundational realm cultivator" a beautiful pail skinned woman with light brown hair glided into the ring with some sort of movement technique. "Jade Jen Lee is competing" a man a few rows over stood with a shout. Many others exclaimed in shock, excitement and adoration as she seemed very popular. The nickname of Jen Lee were numerous around the area to the point Hector had heard a handful since he'd come to Blackrock port. Fairy Jen, Darling Lee and even wind dance Lee among a few others. Despite the Lee's siding with the alliance many of the black turtle sect members were far from hostile.

The announcer had to wait for the cat calling and love confessions to end before announcing the fifth and final contestant. Hector Vale sat hands sweating in anticipation being fully sweept up in the moment. Each and every one of the four had a chance at taking the whole tournament and they'd be facing off in the prelims. On the one hand this was great for them as only one of the powerful fighters would continue to the next round meaning his team wouldn't have to face the others. On the other hand this level of competition was vastly out of their league.

Hector Vale knew things would be difficult but with Pryor's ingenious cultivation methods and somewhat shameless demeanor he'd started to think that they'd make just pull through. Against the previous winner Garrett of the wasteland even the weakest of his fighters had at least a chance. Dimitri seemed confident in easily besting the man and once Markus recovered who knows how powerful he'll be yet he saw earlier what an eight step foundational realm cultivator was capable of.

"The fifth and final member into the ring we have Vincent black, ninth step foundational realm cultivator" a dead silence fell over the crowd before all of the black turtle sect members cheered followed by the rest of the crowd excluding the alliance members. "Is that" Hector leaned towards Dimitri not taking his eyes off the young man walking into the ring. "yup" Dimitri sounds grim and a slight bit in awe " the young master of black turtle sect and grandson of the sect head himself".

Hector's eyes followed the young master as he slowly an measuredly walked into the arena completely ignoring the fact that everyone was watching him. He had to admit that the site was rather strange seeing a boy who likely wasn't older than eleven or twelve command such respect and fear. All the fighters had taken a step back aside from Roger Tannersville who seemed more than eager for a fight. Being at the peak of the foundational realm at such a young age was astounding but were they really going to let a kid fight in something like this?

"This is madness" he couldn't stop himself from muttering as Hector looked around and the excitement from the black turtles and the deathly pail looks on the alliance elders.

"Esteemed merchants, noble cultivators and honored elders we have the great privilege of having the best and brightest of the younger generation in the ring with us today" the announcer shouted and Hector realized the man would have to at least have some level of cultivation to be heard over the roar of the crowd.

"While these young warriors test their fates I urge you to wager, all bets can be placed at the admissions office" at his words a flood of people headed towards it intending when big on such a heated match.

Morgan was like that cat that got the cream as he watched cultivators clamoring to hand over foundational coins in a frenzy. As soon as he saw both the Tannersville boy and the black turtle brat had both registered Morgan had pulled strings to arrange this exact situation. He could have waited until later in the tournament had gotten truly underway but he'd wanted to set a the bar high. Get everything used to betting big before he unleashed his dog into the mix.

His smile only grew as he saw a few elders approach the betting table. Everything was going just as he planned.