Onwards To The Tournament!

Time passed since Heian Ciemnosc started blowing the skies with his dark Power Energy. After he liberated disorder, the rest of the mini-stadiums followed. At first, they didn't want to try it, too, in case the hosts grew angry if everyone did the same. But after the second bombardment, even destroying a significant part of the mini-stadiums' floor and decimating whoever wasn't from the alliance, they cared no more and started communicating with other mini-stadiums.

Soon, hundreds of rigorous Power Energy attacks started flying back and forth between mini-stadiums. Time passed quickly, and in hours, there were mini-stadiums without alliance teams remaining and those with only the alliance teams remaining. What began as a battle royale became unbalanced by Heian Ciemnosc’s acts. However, soon after, it was ‘resumed’ in a mini-stadium-vs-mini-stadium situation, where the survivors from the massacre would remain, allowing the whole platform to become a bloody place where at least 10 people died every second.

Nobody was expecting these rules and this system, so no tools or Artifacts of the desired caliber were used, and those that were were all simply unhelpful. Thankfully, however, this long-distance battle royale didn’t last long. The remaining survivors on each mini-stadium died and killed some more before killing enough so that the 3rd phase’s battle royale section could conclude.

Furthermore, with Heian Ciemnosc’s intentions, the mini-stadiums with most Academy students suffered virtual casualties, protected by the same students, with such technique and flawless practice as if they knew just what to do. This wasn’t Heian Ciemnosc’s doing. This was the Academy’s prowess! However, their individual capabilities were vastly inferior to those of the other top 8 organizations.

However, it wasn’t so bad in the end. A hard hand can be genuinely helpful sometimes. While some mini-stadiums forced the neutral folks to take the Interchanging Dust Dynasty side, others immediately started aiding the Academy’s alliance, granting them safety from Heian Ciemnosc’s and the alliance’s destruction. But even then, the enemy side was still at a wider disadvantage, an extra one, that held a strong point in the long-distance battle royale.

The Interchanging Dust Dynasty had to communicate several times with high accuracy before sending a strong, rigorous Power Energy attack to another mini-stadium. Heian Ciemnosc could even see them running around while shouting to their medallions. Sometimes, they died, with no additional help coming for them, while their teams were exterminated as if the Academy’s alliance had eyes everywhere. And that was it. Heian Ciemnosc was the difference.

With his Spirit Sense, covering over 80,000 kilometers, he could already go far beyond the platform and even the stadium itself. He could see everything happening, aiding hundreds of teams to launch attacks on their nearest, enemy-conquered mini-stadium. His Spirit Sense had never multitasked this much, and truth be told, he liked it. Heian Ciemnosc sometimes even gave explicit advice to change their trajectories, always landing on the perfect spot and killing the highest amount of enemy cultivators possible.

Unfortunately, after killing enough so that only 1% remained within each mini-stadium, the hosts would lift a protective barrier and dissipate any attack that could’ve killed another enemy cultivator. However, neither they nor Heian Ciemnosc wanted to challenge the hosts, and they didn’t bother with those mini-stadiums anymore. In short, Heian Ciemnosc had made a mess out of this whole 3rd phase from the get-go.

Naturally, the mini-stadium met a stalemate when no one in the mini-stadiums remaining to define their spots, conquered by the Academy’s alliance, fought each other from it. Thus, after some time, with no move from any mini-stadium, the hosts declared the end of the battle royale section with a slight headache. The Interchanging Dust Dynasty was the one to suffer the most towards the end.

… Now, 15 minutes have passed since the battle royale section had ended, but the crowd was still crazily chatting to their adjacent fellow spectators. They were immersively falling into heated conversations and debates about the peculiarity of this Change Merit Trials event. It was already entertaining since the 1st phase, and in the second, it became a rapid show of talent and fighting skills. Now, however, it became an obviously unprecedented road to the end.

“But did you see? It was amazing! I never expected to see a ‘little’ war in the middle of an event! It was like breaking a taboo!” - “I’m telling you, from now on, after the other parts of the world hear about this, we’ll see more of these exciting outcomes! Fuck!!” - “The Wrath Nihility Academy’s side was… much better! Is this what the Academy is really made of? It’s fearsome when you think about it.”

“Yeah, no wonder they could win those wars. Maybe they weren’t as ‘low’ leveled as we believed.” - “The Dynasty’s side was powerful, too.” - “Yeah, but just like this little war, they didn’t have a little monster backing them up. Most of those projectiles were intercepted by… dark… missiles? Ahem, those times were amazing, man.” - “O M G. He can missile from all the way there to my coochie!” - “...” - “Too much?” - “Honey, do you still love me?”

On the platform, the mini-stadiums’ walls slowly stumbled down. It was like a deconstructing motion, but no explosions or tremors ran through the ground. The participants could even feel the miraculous Godly Energy from above within the walls, slowly dissipating them and forming part of the ground. Heian Ciemnosc looked a bit haggard, with his pale skin, always pale, and bags under his eyes after almost thoroughly exhausting every once in his storage.

“Ladies, gentlemen, and participants!” At this moment, he looked up while locating all his people. On the other hand, Teno, Tene, Yun Tang, and Yun Nitu were sitting around him, feeling wasted but content at the same time. They hadn’t witnessed nor partook in a war other than the lowest levels in the 10 year war. So they felt good having action in another ‘military strategy’ and winning it. The latter part was what mattered the most.

The skies thundered. It was already night, but the spectators couldn’t feel more alive. Bai Yue’er spoke, bringing everyone’s attention to herself and her 3 partners. The camera angles reappeared again, morphing into the naked eye as most pointed at the crowd and the platform, and only 3 at the hosts from the profile and the front. When the spectators grew silent enough, she continued, her voice as gentle and mellow as usual.

“Due to the unprecedented acts in this battle royale section,” her eyes momentarily looked down in Heian Ciemnosc’s general direction. “There will be two choices to proceed. Anyone here who wishes to go on can do so. The pre-elimination matches will be launched, and one must fight at least 150 to 30 duels, depending on the number of participants in the tournament section, before starting the official tournament!”

“Or you can choose to leave,” Bai Yue’er continued. “Your team will lose all its points and achievements when you do, so think this well. Additionally, I’d like to spread the news that the Change Merit Trials will return the… remnants from your members and compensate you afterwards, independently of the organizations’ placement. This bloodshed wasn’t intended, but it isn’t bad or what is to come. In a time before the 10 year war, this might’ve been different, but now… we need cultivators, not measly fighters!”

“The event will continue, and this phase’s victors will still be decided on their capabilities. The Phosphorescent Sect, Obscure Orb Sect, Interchanging Dust Dynasty, and the Golden Terra Sect welcome every Genius here to fight to your deaths for the principle of leading this Existence in the future! For an even better world!!” Bai Yue’er’s words become so determined it even made some old fogies with similar cultivation bases have their blood boil.

“For nature! For nature! For nature!” - “For nature!! For Nature!! For Nature!!” - “FOR NATURE! FOR NATURE~!!”

The world was speaking. A whole Existence started vibrating to the Change Merit Trials, and as they rocked the Middle Godly Space Station from their houses or at the bleachers, the participants in the middle of everything felt it too. Even Heian Ciemnosc, standing up with the sudden ruckus, holding his abdomen a little, and feeling slightly hungry, was startled by the notion, let alone the 4 around him.

“We, the Multicolor Pagan Grotto, agree to your compromises!!” An old man, wearing a reddish-purple emblem, jumped from his seat, shouting as he raised his right hand as if grasping his heart and praised it towards the hosts. He was just an initiator, however, as many others followed. “Our brethren might have fallen, but their deaths at the beginning of the new Change will be recorded in the world’s history! The School of Tainted Mercy thanks the 4 overlords for their gratitude!” - “My Yellow Earthen Nation thanks the 4 overlords for their magnificence!” - “This one’s humble Palpatum Divinity Empire concords with your arrangements!!”

‘Hmm,’ Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes raised as he looked at the thousands of figures standing up to speak for their people. He was understanding… Now, not only the world’s people were talking, but its strength was added to the equation. And what’s best, in the same line, book, page, and heart. Who hadn’t read books of the ancients, telling the tales that came about with prosperous Changes? Even whole Existences became desolate in the worst cases, even when it seemed nothing like that could be repeated, but in the end…

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Wow, this is getting exciting. It feels like a really scary Change will happen in the future!” Heian Ciemnosc heard Sara inside his head. She was upside down and hanging her head while lying on her back. There was no ‘up and down’ in his inner being, only purely darkness. However, she made herself visible like this, and when she sensed Heian Ciemnosc’s gaze on her, she turned around to lay on her stomach and excitedly added.

“The last time I felt this was a few Archeons after that time the world says time was gone. Mn, so many died there, I think no being and existence remained. Ah! I remember it was also when those ‘ghosts’ came to exist. Sigh, will something change again this time? Hehe, I really like this world!” Sara ended up with the underside of her fists pressing against her cheeks, then checked on Heian Ciemnosc’s presence before adding again. “Hey, come on. Don’t look at me like that. I’m not crazy. In fact, don’t you feel like everything is prepared for you? After all, you’re my champion and were born amidst a Change, no, in the Change, right? Waah, hurry up and unveil your origins, lover!”

“Mn,” Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes lowered, his countenance peaceful but expressionless. Sara said nothing more and, after blowing kisses to him, reminding him of her abuse to her face, she went back to travel amidst his endless darkness. It terrified her. She couldn’t deduce anything of it, nor within it, making her tremble sometimes whenever she was inside. But she still felt peculiarly… at ease getting lost inside it. Of course, Heian Ciemnosc could just ‘pluck her out‘ from the endless darkness whenever he wanted.

“I… would like to step down. I’m sorry, but I don’t feel like fighting anymore… Not here, at least.” A cultivator from Heian Ciemnosc’s mini-stadium spoke. He was not a commander from the alliance but a simple soldier unit, so to speak. The cultivator wasn’t injured and was in peak condition, but seeing many die and not feeling well for the time being, he hesitated for a while before finally speaking his mind.

Neither Teno nor the others even looked at him, let alone blame him. The cultivator also spoke, trying not to sound cowardly and expressing honesty. Bai Yue’er received other such declarations from the rest, some shorter and more dispirited than others. She just nodded at them as every person who wanted to leave did so. The number of retreating participants wasn’t small and, in fact, made everyone realize there might not be pre-elimination matches.

Heian Ciemnosc didn’t bother even as some students from the Wrath Nihility Academy left the ring. He politely waited as more and more participants became encouraged enough to follow what they wanted. Although they shouldn’t have been able to do so after Bai Yue’er gave them the previous speech, hearing they could abandon the fight before it started and only their achievements would be taken down from their team, they felt gladdened.

Now, some participants, heavily injured, had to remain down. Although the hosts could proportionate them medicinal pills, some had Soul injuries and over exhaustion, nothing that any alchemy product could recuperate even in a few months unless a Fifth Step pill was granted, but how many can a Fourth Step organization afford to buy one every few hundred years?

Before long, many people started leaving, aware of their capabilities and mentality, to leave the rest of the game to the big fish. Heian Ciemnosc suddenly felt his right shoulder palmed. Looking to his right, he saw a down-to-earth Yun Nitu stare at him and nod. Tene’s right palm landed on his left shoulder, and looking at her, she nodded at him, slower than Yun Nitu. Teno placed his hand on Tene’s shoulder and Yun Tang on Yun Nitu. In this way, as if some kind of acceptance and respect, they became somewhat of a ‘famous’ image rapidly crossing through the Universal Conveyance.

After a little more time, with most of the cultivators taking their leave, only the toughest, braves, and resilient participants remained on the platform. The mini-stadiums were long gone, where only the participants and the hosts remained in the spectators’ eyes. Thus, Bai Yue’er slowly enveloped the participants without warning, slowly mobilizing the black smoke under it again as she spoke. “Since no more of you are deciding to back down, I declare the 3rd phase’s battle royale section… finished!”

WHOOOOOOOSH… The black smoke spiraling around the participants rapidly wrapped around them with a slow, peaceful hurricane form until it grew hundreds of meters and was sent far away into the rest of the Godly Spatial Station. Each of these black smoke hurricanes traveled through the air, and as they exited the aerial space above the stadium, Bai Yue’er’s words reached the participants' ears as they were being transported.

“In 3 days, the tournament will begin. Preparations for the arenas will be met then. Everyone is welcome to return at that time. Friends from other Existences are invited to watch the culmination of this event in person!”

“WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!” - “Goddess, Gods! We love you!” - “Long live nature!” - “All for all! Now. one by one! Hell yeah!” - “The Existence’s younger generation is something. I wonder if the babies of today will be like this in a couple decades?” - “There’s nothing that can match the little black monster. Didn’t you see him hunting even middle stage Broken Crystallization realm cultivators like going fishing? He’s too powerful” - “That can’t be real. Didn’t you see him at the end? He surely used blood essence!” - “But did you see him at the end? Though? He was respected by the 2 Sects’ Gifted! That’s more than what you’re saying.” - “Shut the fuck up! I’m gonna kill you!” - “Aaaah, there he goes…”

Fwish, swish swish… “?” Heian Ciemnosc opened his eyes after feeling the transporting sensation going away. This time, the black smoke didn’t last a millisecond and dissipated after separating him from the tornado and dropping him in front of his hotel. Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes blinked cutely before stepping forward a few times, stopping, turning around, and sitting on his bum to wait for his people.

… whooosh, plank- swish… whoosh, whoosh, whoosh… plank- swish, plank- swish, plank…

After 2 minutes, Heian Ciemnosc saw his COs finally arrive. They were mostly uninjured, only with some light wounds and cuts on their bodies. The one with the worst condition was Violet, as always, and Aleksander, who was targeted after he made a mess out of anyone in his mini-stadium. Aleksander’s mini-stadium was one where the alliance failed, but he managed to survive until Heian Ciemnosc guided the rigorous Power Energy attacks to destroy the enemy.

“Baby!” Suddenly, Gloria returned 5 minutes later with Clarke, Yon, and Fera. She lunged at her beloved while being smeared with his blood. Gloria wasn’t tall, but although Aleksander wasn’t even as tall as Esteban, her front became entirely bloody. She had been anxious the whole time, not daring to utter a single gasp in her seat to avoid getting him distracted. The others were astounded upon seeing Aleksander’s state, but Heian Ciemnosc was alright with it. Aye.

"Oh my gosh! What happened to you?! It's everywhere! We must get you to heal rapidly. You can't stop now... Show the world what even ordinary people like us can do!" - "Mn, mn. Okay..."

Gloria started licking some of his wounds, her little tears softening the stoic heart of a broken man. At this moment, Elena walked towards him with Arla’s right hand in her left hand. Then, from the hotel’s entrance, a bald fatty stepped out and directed his words towards them. Heian Ciemnosc turned his torso to look at the hotel’s owner as he wore a peaceful countenance, and the latter’s tone when speaking was even more gentle.

“You guys are the little black monster’s team, right? Ah. I see your emblems. Forgive me, I’m old. I may not look like it, but being tens of millions of years old and stuck in a bottleneck isn’t a game. Heh heh.” The fatty grabbed everyone’s attention. He had brown, grayish skin and small eyes but didn’t look oriental. He added as everyone watched him, clearly in a good mood. “Your medicine has arrived since before the little black monster did. Ahem. Our hotel would also like to service you with medicinal baths. It’s mostly for meditation, but I advise you to take it.”

“Mn, you can start preparation, hotel owner. We’ll be there after an hour,” Heian Ciemnosc said after hearing the hotel owner’s words up to here. His words made the COs sigh comfortably and in relief, almost moaning. They were hurting, and although they could deal with it like it was nothing, they weren’t in the middle of a war and could afford commodities. Although their lives would be endangered, even more after the disorder of the battle royale, in the tournaments, they didn’t feel any pleasure.

If his COs were easy to kill, Heian Ciemnosc would have never grown so close to them. Not because he was afraid of knowing them, but because they would… just died.

Heian Ciemnosc grabbed Elena’s and Arla’s hands with his right one and looked at his people before nodding. Fera didn’t chase after him and was contented with receiving busses on her forehead. She knew what his naughty Big Brother was about to do with those two young women. Fera smiled and watched Heian Ciemnosc’s back as Yon brought her to her individual room. Tonight, Clarke would sleep the fuck alone.

... However, when Heian Ciemnosc arrived at his bedroom. His wife and lover undressed, showing wide and long cuts and some bruises all over their bodies. He opened his Myriad Darkness Materialization for a second to teleport them right into bed. Holding them each with his palm on their tummies, their Dantian regions, he started dual cultivating with his eyes closed.

“Mnnf,” Arla moaned, her body facing the ceiling as she felt refreshed and warm at the same time. Elena had already shared data of Heian Ciemnosc’s body now capable of emitting warmth. Elena also hummed in pleasure. Her little, battered body started regenerating at an extremely slow pace, and only her superficial injuries.

Rustle, rustle. After 2 minutes of enjoying Heian Ciemnosc’s care, not knowing he was employing his All-Devouring Force Chronicles Supreme Art on them and not feeling his hands move any further, they cuddled up to him and rested their heads on his chest to sleep. Slightly smooching each other’s lips and noses, they slept for over 60 hours before realizing they had been meditating and in cultivation all this long…

…

----------------------------------------

Let It Rain's note: I was about to use 'eastern' instead of 'oriental' for lack of a way to universally describe asian aesthetics. I think asian would've been fine but that's just what I think. Let me know what you think ;/.