Normally, it would be impossible to completely silence a massive crowd such as this one. But Jack had managed to do just that.
A soft breeze accompanied the sounds of his retreating footsteps. Although he tried his best to act as nothing had happened, he still couldn’t hide the redness over his face.
The spectators were still having a hard time digesting the result. Their disappointment was evident as they slammed their bottoms one by one, feeling dumb for their previous conduct.
What was a 19-year-old 5th Qi Seeking Realm cultivator? Worthless rubbish.
The Palace Head was also surprised as he glanced at an apprentice of his. The apprentice immediately activated his analysing essence, nodding and confirming that there was nothing wrong with the evaluation.
There were few records of 6th Qi seeking Realm cultivators participating in the past. But a 5th Qi Seeking Realm Cultivator was a complete novelty. The Palace Head could understand if Jack was eleven or twelve, but not nineteen.
Amidst the silence, Chief Iran Hand expressed a widening smile. “I see the Divinities Alliance are keeping to their tradition of providing us with free entertainment. They didn’t want to disappoint us today.”
He then showcased his teeth as he called Jack out. “Little boy, someone like you wouldn’t even qualify to be a servant in my tribe. You should be thanking the heavens that the Divinities Alliance is this weak.”
These words were enough to make a lot of people snicker. Soon, numerous competitors viewed Jack with ridicule, and some even started taunting him. There were also a number of spectators that couldn’t help themselves from bursting into laughter.
Facing this direct humiliation, Jack remained still, body slightly trembling. Right now he wished he could bury himself into the ground, disappearing from everyone’s sight.
Shui Tao noticed that Jack was about to have a mental breakdown, so he lowered his head and quickly hurried towards him. He grabbed him by his shoulder, gently pulling him to the middle of the arena, next to their group.
The Sky Water Sect’s stand was gloomy as they watched everything unfold. Dai Jun was frowning while Long Mu had already stood up, seeing red.
The Grand Elder was confused. “Long Mu, what is the meaning of this?”
“Insulting my boy is like insulting me! These idiots are asking for some face slapping.”
“Your boy? And what do you think? Aren’t my fists itching for a fight as well? But these are the Palace’s lands, and there are around forty spirit realm experts present here, what exactly can we do? Especially you, a mere foundation realm expert!”
Dai Jun remained silent. He was curious about how Jack would react in such a situation. As he examined him, he could detect alarming signs of negative emotions.
Jack’s beautiful view of the cultivating world was indeed crumbling. His mental defensive mechanisms had shattered, revealing deep-rooted sentiments of hatred, vengeance and anguish.
Sentiments that originated from the mortal world due to his cursed faith. There, only the rich and nobles had status. They could do whatever they wanted, while the poor like him were destined for a life full of sufferings. This was the way of life in that world, and it couldn’t be changed.
And it seems that the cultivation world wasn’t much different either. One just had to replace the word ‘rich’ with ‘strength’, and the same principle would apply. This was the harsh reality, regardless if Jack accepted it or not.
Lost in a myriad of negative emotions, his vision unexpectedly changed.
He found himself inside his own internal world, standing half-submerged in a pool of qi, the same qi he had accumulated since he started the road of cultivation. He was completely naked, but there were no signs of embarrassment inside his eyes. He actually felt quite at ease.
Gently pushing through the waters, he started walking towards a particular object that broke through the darkness of his world. It was a small pine twig that had a number of golden leaves, illuminating the pool of qi similar to the moon illuminating the sea at night.
From this twig, Jack could feel a sense of familiarity, closeness and affection. He wished to touch it, to uncover its mysteries, to hold it and never let go. But there was an invisible barrier that prevented him from doing so. As if reaching it required some type of understanding that his current self lacked.
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It didn’t take much longer for his inner world to start fading away. Jack was already struggling against the currents, pushing his body and slamming his fists against the rebelling qi. He let out a soul-piercing cry before he was expelled from this world.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself resting on a bed. Standing next to him, were Dai Jun and Long Mu.
“Ah, finally awake? You gave us quite a scare... fainting in the arena…”
“I Fainted? And the tournament... What about the tournament?!”
“Chill, you’ve only been here for two hours. Portal is about to open.”
Jack appeared relieved as he hurriedly got out of bed.
Long Mu frowned. “Are you really gonna participate like this? Why are you making my life hard?”
Jack shook his head. “No, I must go in. I was wrong, for all this time, I was terribly wrong. It is not about the herb, and neither is it about proving myself worthy to anyone. I need to push ahead and challenge the trials of life. Otherwise, the others are going to keep looking down on me. Otherwise, my existence will never matter, no matter which world I am in.”
“Jack, you stubborn fool... Dai Jun, hand him over some pills.”
Without any warning, Long Mu punched Jack hard on the stomach. Jack fell writhing on the floor, spitting out some blood.
“Ugh... w-why…?!”
“To protect you, you idiot.” Long Mu was clearly pissed off as he exited the infirmary.
Dai Jun appeared puzzled, handing out a bottle containing some healing pills. “Hurry up and go join the others.”
Jack was cursing the creature as he swallowed one of the pills, then hastened out from the infirmary and back to the arena.
He was anticipating another round of mocking, but surprising enough, his return seemed to go largely unnoticed. He realised that most eyes were affixed on a particular woman sitting next to the Palace Head.
The Holy Daughter was all smiles as she waved the various spectators. As she surveyed the audience, her phoenix eyes soon locked over a young man holding his stomach, barely able to walk. Her blood immediately started to boil.
“Lai... Lai Kun, who’s that young man? Tell me everything you know about him!”
Lai Kun shrugged. “Remember that good for nothing I told you about earlier? That’s him...”
The Holy Daughter appeared perplexed as she relaxed her shoulders, leaning back against her seat. She kept blinking at Jack, analysing every bit of his body and making sure she didn’t miss out any particular details. She then smiled, her curious eyes soon burning with desire.
She graciously leaned against the Palace Head, whispering softly, “Father, I think I’ve found the man we are looking for.”
The Palace Head nodded but was forced to postpone this conversation for later. This is because the five Pillar Arcs had activated.
The various contenders watched with awe as a sizeable oval-shaped portal formed. Several spiralling energies could be seen on its surface, but there were no hints of where it led to.
“The Portal has finally connected. It’s time for the official competition to commence.” The Palace Head confirmed amidst everyone’s excitement.
“You already know the details, so I will not keep you waiting here for much longer. The Counterbalance realm is an ancient realm of unknown origins, but it’s relatively a safe place. We rarely had any reported causalities in the past. But I feel I should warn you about two particular matters.
“The portal will only stay open for three days, maybe a bit more. But I want everyone to report back within three days. If the portal closes, there will be no way for you to return back. Since the portal always opens in different locations, this virtually means that missing out the portal would result in you being permanently trapped inside the realm. Right now, our stewards are handing you a talisman that will guide you towards the portal, just in case you get lost.
“Furthermore, the counterbalance realm is also a realm that ‘tries to balance things out’. When someone enters it, the realm will try to balance your existence by creating an image, usually a demonic beast or human being of equivalent strength. These are usually existences you have connections with, or that you will have in the future. And I said it tries because the powers of the realm have weakened throughout the ages. The images created lack common sense and are easy to kill, so there will be no dangers whatsoever. Just informing you, in case you happen to cross their paths.”
The Palace Head didn’t take much longer to finish his speech, signalling for the event to start.
The candidates immediately began rushing inside the portal in sequence, amidst the applause of everyone.
“Stay safe, everyone,” Shui Tao said as he disappeared inside the portal.
Zheng Zexi was as cold as ever as she entered after him, followed by the other two.
Jack was still holding his stomach, both from pain and anxious rumbling. He was excited and also fearful of the unknown. Who knows what this new adventure was going to bring? Whatever it happens, he had already decided to make the most out of this opportunity.
As soon as he entered the portal, he was sucked inside a storm of elements. Unaffected, Jack could feel his body travelling at unfathomable speed towards the indefinite. Here, he could sense an archaic Qi that was much denser than anything he had experienced before.
Without realising, he suddenly found himself standing on firm land. He took his time to adjust to this new environment.
The lands before him were mostly reddish coloured. The whole place seemed devoid of life, with some ancient structural ruins scattered around. The winds felt warm as he observed the several mountains, canyons and narrow abysses that laid before him.
But what struck him the most was the moment he glanced upwards. It was daylight, but there was no sun, no moon, and no source of light. Funnily enough, there wasn’t even a sky.
Instead, there was a continental mass hanging down facing back at him. It was actually an upside-down copy of the same landmass he was standing on. However, whatever down here was white, up there it was black. And whatever here was black, up there it was white. All the colours seemed inverted.
Jack couldn’t stare for too long without hurting his eyes.
“This is the counterbalance realm? I am starting to have my doubts about the fertility of these lands. How can a herb survive in a place like this?”
He sighed, examining the talisman. He could sense he was only three hours of flight away from the return portal. Also, he noticed that he was alone, with no other presence in sight. However, he assumed that the others should be in close proximity.
He soon took flight without further delays, searching for anything unusual.