"Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen! This elder thanks you for taking part in this great tournament!"
An announcer's mystical horn blared through the entire colosseum. Every mortal could hear it, however, by the same magic, the sound was not overpowering.
It continued.
"It might seem that the last two weeks would be business as usual like the first two and you may feel like you have seen enough and decided to go back to your normal lives!"
The announcer paused for a second allowing the sentence to settle.
Then the male announcer shouted.
"But I assure you! You have seen nothing yet! All you have seen up to this point, are only the outer sect. And while This elder has no malice when he says this, they are nothing when it comes to the true power of this sect! Why is this relevant, one may ask? You see the tournament is about to open its doors to the inner sect!"
This was not strictly true as the boundary of the inner sect and outer sect aka the essence condensation stage which was the pinnacle of the outer and bare minimum of the outer were still allowed to participate. And these made the vast majority of the inner sect but exaggeration was a part of showmanship.
And it had the intended effect as the weight of his words settled into the populace's minds almost immediately, even those that have come here year after year.
Only one in three mortals have the potential to become a disciple and the heaven's chosen was much lower at one in one hundred. Even after that, most get stuck in the outer sect.
The amount of gossip and stories thrown around about the majesty of the inner sect pushed the status of the inner sect to be next to royalty in the city.
The spectacle of watching these 'lords' and 'ladies' fight one another was very enticing to most mortals. Not to mention the further one went into their cultivation, the hotter they were. Most 'true' inner sect disciples were extreme eye candy to most mortals.
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There were also the coveted 'backstage' parties as it was an open secret that the higher you were in cultivation the hornier you were. Many dreamed of miraculously opening their core in one such event.
(Most people did not know that the horniness was true mostly for 'disciples' and a 'heaven's chosen' master was necessary to open a core. But as disciples made the vast majority of the cultivation body that piece of information was often forgotten or willfully ignored).
The announcer kept going.
"Another thing everyone must realize! Up to this point, every event had enforced rules that prevented even those currently participating from being unable to bring out their full might! That is right folks! what you all saw was only the tip of the iceberg even for the outer sect!"
This was a bit of a stretch as many outer disciples often found loopholes to abuse their true strength but again, the statement was true enough that most mortals believed in what was being said to them.
"The Grand Battle! The name of the main event that is starting tomorrow is a no-holds-barred brawl where two disciples use everything in their arsenal to come out on top! Including equipment! I ask you! Is that not exciting?!"
Despite whatever they were doing at the moment, many mortals shouted their aggreement as they got swept up in the flow of the experienced spokesperson.
"That is not all! It is a two-week-long event divided into two categories, Inner and outer! So if you already have a powerhouse outer sect disciple you are supporting you can continue to watch them pummel their peers! And if you want to see the peak of what we at the magnificent Heavenly World sect have to offer come see the inner sect bouts! I promise you! You will not be disappointed!"
The energy of the 3 went up a few levels as the power of his words flowed through them.
"Last but in my opinion the best event! If you stick till the last day when the announcers crown the winners of the Grand Battle you will get to see the coveted heaven's chosen come into action! Folks, This elder can even begin to describe to you how awe-inspiring the masters of our sect are! In fact, this elder will not say anything to spoil the surprise! Everyone simply has to say to end to see that great grandeur!"
Many people who wanted to go home decided to stay. After all, how could they miss the excitement? Some even dreamed of one day taking part in the Grand Battle one day.
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One might wonder why the sect would go to such lengths to make the events so grandiose and entertaining for mortals. Who were like ants to them.
The reason was simple. This was the single biggest propaganda campaign for the sect they ever had, invented by the sect master himself(much to the chagrin of the grand elders). It was so great that records showed that this single event was responsible for 98% of all applications to enter the sect.
It allowed the masters to be picky and still have an oasis of disciples to turn into their minions. There were a host of other benefits alongside this but for the elders, this was the most important.