Chapter 32

Heavenspan Gathering

Heavenspan Tournament was a quadrennial gathering of all young Cultivators within the confines of Holy Blade Sect located in the deep, south-eastern parts of the Lower Ashlands, Bloodmoon Sect just to the north of it, Kingdom of Lingshan just to the north of the Bloodmoon Sect, Iron Mountain Sect east of the Kingdom, and Golden Crane Sect to the west of the Holy Blade Sect, past the Cradle of the First Men.

Though it was usually held within the borders of the Kingdom of Lingshan, it occasionally changed--such as this year where it was decided that it'd be held within the Holy Blade Sect.

As such, a week before the tournament's start, thousands of new faces began appearing around and within the Sect. Most were youths below twenty-five years of age, the limit, though some were Elders from the Sects wanting to see the progress.

Song and Lya, ever since their return from the forest, became really good friends and were spending more and more time together. It was no different today, the day before the tournament's beginning. They'd perched themselves atop the Sect's Treasure Pavilion since five days ago, observing the newcomers. Most were in the Foundation Establishment Realm, especially if they were eighteen and younger. There was only one notable exception besides the two of them--a very young-seeming (too young, even) boy and was accompanied by a hooded figure at all times. Just like Song and Lya, he, too, was at Early Core Formation Realm.

Once the age range exceeded twenty, all Cultivators were at least Early Core Formation Realm, as that was sort of a cut-off of talent. If one was unable to reach Core Formation before twenty, it meant that their future potential was uninspiring, and they were often sent out to branch Sects or businesses ran by them.

Seeing the sheer number of newcomers was rather startling; though they knew that Heavenspan Tournament was a rather big deal, as neither were a member of the Holy Blade Sect four years ago when it happened the last time, they didn't know what to expect exactly.

"Are you confident?" Lya asked, feeling jitters. Even if she had participated in a few inter-Sect competitions, they were, at most, observed by a couple of Elders and her fellow peers at the Sect.

"Of course," Song said. The more she learned about her Junior Brother, the more envious she grew of him; he'd taken everything in life in stride, never letting it drag him down. Some might say that he was dumb, but Lya knew otherwise--Song was far from stupid... he was simply confident in himself. "You should be too, Senior Sister," he added, smiling toward her. "You are just behind Senior Sister Mei in strength."

"Hm," Lya nodded. "Still. We'll see many arts used that we've never seen before. I'm a bit nervous, to be honest."

"We'll also see Bloodmoon Disciples," Song said with a trace of hatred in his voice. "Maybe even the ones that chased us. Wouldn't it be quite amazing if we met them on the stage, and played with them for a little bit? Maybe seal their ability to speak so they can't surrender, break a limb or two, kick them--"

"--Song."

"Khm."

"I understand," she chuckled at his awkward reaction. "I'm angry, too, at what happened that day. Trust me. But this is bigger than us. We're representing the Sect, and the Sect Master already has a bad impression of us. If we go ahead and disparage the spirit of the tournament, he might actually lock us up."

"Would he?" Song asked, seeming curious. "I know you're wary of him, but I never once got the feeling that he'd harm us. Rather, he reminded me of my uncle."

"How so?" Lya asked.

"When I was a young boy," Song continued. "Both my father and mother were quite strict with me. Every once in a while, however, uncle Awn would come, and he... I don't know how to explain it. He made them different. They were laughing, all of a sudden, and they let me play with my friends and stay out late. Uncle Awn would then hide in my room and scare the daylights out of me when I'd return, and I'd wake up mother and father, and just as they were about to yell at me, he'd somehow manage to calm them down."

"..." Lya listened carefully, but couldn't quite picture their Sect Master that way at all. To her, he seemed a distant, aloof man with deep goals, the ilk she couldn't possibly comprehend.

"I mean, isn't he kind of amazing?" Song looked at her and smiled. "Our Sect Master, I mean. He, all by himself, is making all of this happen. Do you really think our Sect would be able to host anything, let alone a Heavenspan Tournament, if not for him?"

"No," Lya replied honestly. It wasn't a secret--not within the Sect or outside of it--that the Holy Blade was the sole reason the Sect was considered to have any importance. The reason was rather simple: there was expectation hanging in the air that the man would eventually leave the Sect, and nobody wanted to alienate him in case he wanted to join some other place.

"Truth be told, I think he was worried about us," Song added. "He doesn't know what the Senior is like, or even that there is a Senior. All he knows is that two kids returned with far greater strength and evolved Spirit Roots, something that can only be achieved by either Immortal Treasures, or--"

"--large amounts of Demonic Qi," Lya exclaimed softly, having finally realized it. "You're right. I forgot."

"Hm? There they are."

"Who?"

"Bloodmoon Disciples," Song said, harshness in his voice still there.

Lya looked toward the entrance of the Sect where she saw an entourage of blood-colored carriages dragged by Bloodhoofs, massive and extremely rare stallions. Supposedly, it took fifty years to just breed one to the acceptable level, not to mention numerous treasures that had to be used in the process. And yet, there were sixteen currently pulling six carriages.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Five of them were identical--gilded with dark-red gold and made of stainless wood--while the last in the procession stood out. It was twice as large, decorated with blood gems that were used to channel World Qi and change it into Blood Qi that the Bloodmoon Sect used. The pressure exuded from the carriage was massive and suffocating--the kind that both experienced only once... when faced with their Sect Master.

Suddenly, they felt a pair of eyes hone in on them like a hawk, and they found themselves short of breath. It was as though a cage was formed around their lungs, pressing into them. It lasted only for a moment, however, as a warm, sweeping force pulsated through, liberating them. At the same time, a voice echoed, soft and familiar.

"Next time you so much as glance at my Disciples, I will liberate your head from the neck and vault it on my walls."

Though the voice was warm, the words were not. Rather, Song and Lya caught the glimpse of the largest carriage as it seemed to shake violently for a moment. The glimmer of the gems on its frame dimmed rather grandly as they lost almost all their luster.

The two glanced at each other in shock before their eyes drifted over to the golden palace seated at the center of the valley. They were at a loss for words and merely bowed, with Lya feeling quite embarrassed over her words, as it was now certain that their Sect Master heard them. She hoped, deep down, Song was right--and that the Sect Master wouldn't take her doubts to heart.

**

Shen Rong spat out a mouthful of blood, nearly falling over inside the carriage. Gnashing his teeth, he endured the hatred in his heart and the worried words of the three Disciples in the carriage with him.

Thinking back to what he'd done, however, he couldn't hold onto his hatred much longer--if anything, the Holy Blade was rather lenient with him. He did try to kill, or at least cripple, a pair of his Disciples within his Sect's borders, though it was an entirely instinctual reaction.

To his knowledge, there were only twenty-two Core Formation Disciples in the Holy Blade Sect younger than twenty-five, and they were all older than twenty. However, he'd immediately taken notice of the four eyes staring at the carriage--a pair of kids, closer to fifteen than they were to twenty--were both at Early Core Formation Realm, something that even the pride of Bloodmoon Sect, young Blood Lord Tao, hadn't managed to achieve.

"Master Uncle, what's wrong? What happened?" the young Blood Lord queried with a faint trace of worry in his scarlet eyes.

"Hm? Ah, nothing, nothing. Just an old wound acting up," he said, taking a deep breath, and finally stabilizing his Qi. "Young Lord, it seems our information was wrong. There are two more Core Formation Disciples in the Sect than we'd thought."

"Is that so?" the Young Lord shrugged it off. "That's fine. It's possible that some of the older ones managed to break through after being given a Core-Forming Pill."

"... no," Shen Rong said. "Both of them... both of them seem to be seventeen, at most, Young Lord."

"..." having expected the Young Lord's reaction, Shen Rong had already insulated the carriage's interior with his own Qi, preventing the Young Lord's from leaking. Even so, the atmosphere in the carriage became suffocating--so much so that the other two Disciples found it difficult to breathe.

"Steady your heart, Young Lord," the young man woke up from the brief bout of anger, taking a deep breath.

"Are you certain, Master Uncle?"

"Yes."

"Something must have happened, then," the Young Lord said. "Do you recognize them?"

"No. If they were Holy Blade members, they were insignificant to not even enter our most detailed reports. It means that they didn't showcase enough talent."

"What do they look like?" the Young Lord asked.

"The girl is rather beautiful and not particularly tall. Black hair and green eyes, and she seemed to be cultivating some form of lightning art. The boy, on the other hand, was tall, bald, and had blue eyes. I sensed a faint trace of Sword Qi off of him, so it must mean he's training with the sword. I--hm, what is wrong with you, Yi?" Shen Rong noticed that something was rather off with his personal Disciple, Ru Yi. She had a mortified expression on her face, her lips parted and eyes widened.

"M-Master, I, I think... I think I know them..." she mumbled.

"How? Who are they?" Shen Tao asked.

"A-ah, Young Lord. A, a while back, some of my friends and I were out on a mission when the whole Yuvel Town business was transpiring. While there, we caught two Foundation Establishment kids with the Holy Blade Sect's garb and we started chasing them. Uh, we... we played around a bit, and the kids managed to get to the Nameless Forest and disappear within."

"WHAT?!!"

"I--I was certain they died!" the young woman quickly collapsed to her knees, her voice afoot with terror. "I am certain I wounded the boy to the point of nearly destroying his dantian, and the girl was barely better off! We, we didn't dare chase them into the forest, and figured that it would devour them. I..."

"Master Uncle," the Young Lord turned toward him. "Is it possible that they survived?"

"... everything is possible in this world, Young Lord," Shen Rong said with a sigh, stroking his chin. "If it is true, and the two are the same kids Yi chased into the forest... then that might explain why we don't know anything about them."

"I thought nobody left the forest alive."

"Steady your heart, Young Lord," Shen Rong thought the world of the Young Lord--he was handsome, clever, and, most importantly, beyond talented. He was the future of the Bloodmoon Sect. But there was one thing that even the Sect Master was unable to curtail in the young boy--his brashness. Shen Rong saw it, in the boy's eyes, the desire to go to the forest. The boy likely thought that, if those two 'nobodies' survived and came out of it stronger, then he, the heavenly-blessed one, would live the same story. "The forest is an unsolved enigma older than the oldest records we possess. It was always there, unchanging."

"..."

"While true that a few had managed to leave it having gotten an opportunity inside, those opportunities were minor compared to the danger. And even so, none of those who came out remembered how they got those opportunities or, more horrifyingly yet, who or what gave it to them. On the other end, there are stories of even those at Soul Ascendance Realm venturing inside only to never return. Their mere luck should not make the Young Lord so desperate that he would venture into that tomb. Even if they managed to break through to Core Formation, they'd only just now done so--they hadn't had the time to practice or learn any of the new arts. If you face them in the battle, it would be no different than facing Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Rather, it might even be better--humiliating them in front of such a big crowd might cause them to form Demonic Hearts and prevent them from ever becoming stronger."

"... Master Uncle is right. I'll listen to you."

Though he said so, Shen Rong knew well enough that something was planted inside of the boy's heart, something that might just be impossible to erase.

Ultimately, he, too, became quite a bit more curious about the pair of children he noticed. One thing about them, at least, became clearer now that he knew their stories--though it was just for a moment, he caught a glimpse of the purity of their Qi. It was... impossible, to say the least. Only Heavenly Pavilion Sect had the ability to 'create' Disciples with such pure Qi. If they got lucky in the Nameless Forest, however, then it was entirely possible, too.

He sighed, inwardly, growing worried; it was his instinct as a martial artist, no less, that was warning him. Strange winds were blowing, and it seemed that this Heavenspan Tournament might change the course of the world as they knew it. Whether their Sect benefited from it or would be wrestling with despair... was yet to be seen.