Together with the rising morning sun, more and more people flooded the arena, rushing to their seats. Excited discussions could be heard everywhere. Most discussions naturally revolved about the six prodigies, but the most heated topic at the moment was a rumor which was spread not long ago.

Somehow, it was revealed that the mysterious black sheep from stage ten was actually a member of the Hunlua Clan. However, besides the fact that he was adopted by the Hunlua Clan not much more was known about the youth. Just that alone was enough to raise the expectations about the upcoming second round of the tournament.

“Tsts, who would have thought that a middle rank clan like the Hunlua Clan would produce not one, but two geniuses who could advance to the second round of the kingdoms tournament. Truly wondrous”, lamented a bald man who walked into the arena together with his wife.

His wife looked at him for a short moment with a strange look, “You don’t really believe in those rumors, do you?” She clearly wasn’t as convinced as her husband about that news.

In response the bald man pondered about protesting, but as he thought of the consequences, he just shut his mouth and nodded. The last time he argued with his wife didn’t end up well for him…

At noon the arena was filled to the brim and the entrance gate was closed. At the same time, the remaining participants had already entered and stood in the center of the arena, surrounded and watched by thousands upon thousands of people.

The most eye-catching of the whole group was Amber, who stood in the middle of them, executing a valiant and righteous aura. She wore a shining white battle armor and grinned confidently, so she naturally became the center of the crowd.

Yasha on the other hand was not confident nor nervous. He just stood a bit outside the group, absent-minded. He still wore his wide black robe with the hood that blocked most of his special physical features.

On his back he carried the enormous Destiny Devourer which was wrapped in simple black linen. His pale face, which was hidden underneath the hood, still looked a bit too pale. In the end, one night was not enough for him to overcome what had happened. He was still troubled by what he had done to the girl.

That he had lost control again.

That he had almost claimed an innocent live.

That he was locked inside the black room.

That he could not control this damnable Asura Blood.

Alongside this last thought his blood reacted once more and was getting hotter again — a clear sign of being agitated. Before the situation could escalate, Yasha directly suppressed his surging emotions and calmed the Asura blood. He took a deep breath and focused his thoughts.

Nevertheless, this small outbreak caused his aura to break into chaos, which in turn caused the other participants to separate themselves even further from him. They did not know when he would freak out again, so everyone had the same thought: Better for me to stay away from this weird kid!

Yasha realized what they were doing but he did not care anymore. In the future, it would happen a lot more. Last night, he realized that he was fated to be alone. With the uncontrollable power of his blood, he did not know how long he could remain in control of his body, or if he would hurt others unintentionally.

Aside of this, who would willingly stay close to him? Nobody cared for him and he had been alone most of his life. So, he was not fazed or influenced by it. He knew that he would be alone in the future. And that was a good thing. For others and for him.

Even though Yasha had been alone his whole life, he could not help but grip Destiny Devourer’s hilt tightly. In the end nobody really wanted to be alone throughout life. That was simply human nature.

He had really hoped to change his life for the better after he inherited the Asura legacy and began cultivating, but the events which followed, turned his whole situation even worse.

Not only was he a jinx now, no, now he was even cursed with this damn blood. Right now, he could not even control his own actions. Just how laughable was that?

Yasha forced himself to calm down and looked at the arena in front of him. The stages now were a lot bigger compared to the first round, but they were reduced to only three, which made sense considering that the second round only contained three groups.

The floor of the stages consisted of pitch-black tiles and emitted a faint light. This light caused the second round stages to look even more sturdy than the first round stages.

After looking at the place where he would battle next, Yasha looked at the enormous excited crowd next. There were cultivators of varying levels and even a few mortals with burning eyes, showing that nearly every citizen of the Azure Dragon Kingdom wanted to watch this year’s tournament.

Normally, no mortals were interested in this kind of battles, because they could not even understand a bit of what was going on the stages. Non-cultivators naturally were not able to grasp the deep moves displayed during a fight. But this year was simply too special. So, even mortals wanted to watch the show.

Being mortal meant that a person had no spiritual sense and could not feel the spiritual energy of heaven and earth that permeated the air. Today, those people were extremely rare.

A great majority of people in modern times possessed a spiritual sense, even if they had mediocre to no talent. At least, they could start cultivating and live better lifes with less sicknesses and maybe even a slightly longer life.

Yasha spotted a few mortals who appeared to be around six years old in the crowd. They excitedly looked at the arena and tucked at their parents clothes who could only calm them down helplessly. They naturally knew that one day their children would want to stand where the remaining participants were now, waiting for the next round.

It was only natural, as every mortal longed to cultivate and become stronger. But sometimes one was fated to never be able to achieve their dreams — for better or for worse. People often longed for what they could not have, their eyes firmly fixed on those fleeting dreams, only to look back and realize that they had lost a lot more on the way.

Yasha looked at these children and could not help but sigh again. Just a few days ago he was as excited as these children. But now, he thought back to the question of the ancient voice. If he knew what would happen after his awakening, would he really choose the same path again and receive his legacy, or would he give up on his dream of cultivating and let the past be the past, living the rest of his life as a peaceful mortal?

Yasha did not know how long he could remain himself under the constant assault from his own blood anymore, putting him under constant pressure. Was it really so good to cultivate? Sometimes a simple, happy life was more enjoyable.

Once you started walking the cultivation path, there was no turning back. Every step you took was between life and death. Such was the cruel cultivation world.

Before Yasha could ruminate further upon this topic, he heard the voice of the judge who stood in the middle of the second stage. The judge looked sternly at the remaining participants and his voice rang out in the arena. He spoke with the crowd first and then addressed the participants directly, “Ladies and Gentleman, welcome back to the second round of the kingdom’s tournament. I will now announce the groups for the next stage.”

“The first group will consist of Eleanor of the Moon Flower Sect, Lentz of the Hunlua Clan, Senno of the Earth Tomb Sect, Nilan a wandering swordsman, Ruxia, a rogue cultivator and Sorom of the Hundred Insect Nest.”

The first group alone was enough to excite the crowd even, as they cheered even louder. Unimpressed by the crowd’s cheering, the judge continued his announcement.

“The second group will consist of Levi of the Azure Dragon Clan, Areth of the Nameless Sect, Sasara of the Heaven Charms Sect, Egil of the Northern Swamp, Leighn of the Darwa Family and Dhaya of the Holy Moon Sect.”

“In the last group Amber of the Ascending Heaven School, Jiule of the Demon Slayer Sword Sect, Gorea of the Blood Core Sect, Akura of the Titan Clan will battle for their right to enter the third round of the tournament. You may have noticed that one person is still missing. And I have a good reason for that, as I can finally confirm the identity of the black-clothed youth.”

The crowd erupted with even louder cheers, before the judge could continue. It was the hottest topic of the tournament and many false rumors were spread, but they would finally get an official confirmation on who the young boy really was.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Ähm, so, I am pleased to announce that Yasha of the Hunlua Clan will join the third group to decide who will advance!”

Silence. Utter silence. Then the crowd erupted with loud exclamation. So it was really true. This young boy, no Yasha, really was from the Hunlua Clan? Just what concept was that?

A middle rank clan really produced two geniuses who stood in the second round of the tournament. That was simply inconceivable.

But why had nobody heard of him before? Where did he come from? Or was it a plot of the Hunlua Clan to surprise everyone? If it was, then they succeeded.

Of course it was quite the opposite, really. Dyetz did not know whether to cry or to laugh right now…

Yasha naturally knew that everybody was talking about him. But all he wanted at the moment was to finish his battles and then roam the world to find a solution for his current predicament.

He did not care about the enticing prices, riches or something like that. Except treasures, which could help him suppress his Asura blood. If such a treasure even existed.

Even though he did not care about the crowd’s reaction, he still felt a hostile gaze directed at him from the remaining participants. He frowned as he turned to the others and searched for the origin of this hostile emotions. Sure enough, he noticed Lentz, glaring at him. It looked like Lentz would spit fire at any given moment.

What is his problem? I know he cannot stand me, but the same goes for me. Does he think I am stealing his limelight? How naive and childish. In response to Lentz’s provocation, Yasha just ignored him and did not pay further attention to him.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on controlling his breath and emotions. This time, he managed to minimize the negative impact of the Asura Blood, which greatly relieved him.

In contrast to Yasha, however, Lentz could not stay calm and did not try to hide his hatred for Yasha. There was only one thought in his mind right now: How could this damnable beggar steal his glory during the tournament?!

He trained hard and overcame his limits over and over again for only one sake, to shock everyone during the tournament. The genius from a middle rank clan who would win against everyone.

That was the scenario he was dreaming about. But now this boy, this nobody he already stepped an spit on, appeared out of nowhere and stole his show.

He wanted to be the topic of discussion. Not this Yasha. Just a few weeks ago he could have killed him blindfolded with only a flick of his finger! But now? He would have to use his whole powers, just like against one of the others prodigies.

The more he thought about Yasha, the angrier he got. The spiritual energy inside him reacted and got even more explosive. That was a natural reaction, as cultivators who cultivated the fire element, tended to be more direct and aggressive.

Although he wanted nothing but to destroy Yasha at the moment, he forcefully suppressed his spiritual energy and thought of how he would deal with him. He can continue to act all mysterious, but I hope he advances to the next round, so that I can crush him completely! With a sinister smile he cast a last look at Yasha and then waited for the judge to start the next round.

While Lentz, one of the few who actually knew Yasha, tried to understand what caused Yasha to grow so powerful in just a few weeks, Dyetz also continued to ruminate about this topic.

Last night, he did not find a single second of sleep, because he was absolutely restless about Yasha and the implicated meaning behind Dairo’s words. Should Yasha really be some sort of demon, his Hunlua Clan would have to shoulder the consequences!

Could the Hunlua Clan take responsibility for that? Of course not. Even a sect like the Moon Flower Sect had to be careful when dealing with this kind of situation, not even to mention his Hunlua Clan. He would be doomed. Completely doomed.

He hated Dairo for this despicable move, but in the end, he could not change it and had to swallow his frustration. There was a simple reason for that. He was not powerful enough.

In the cultivation world, the only thing that really mattered was ones strength and right now he did not have the power to go against the hegemony, that is the Azure Dragon Sect. So he could only suffer silently and hope that everything would go well. At the same time, he suddenly thought of a possible explanation to Yasha’s transformation.

This bad omen, the thunderstorm, could it have to do with Yasha? That day the whole continent was shocked by the fearsome event that took place… No, that can’t be. Even I would die just by standing close to the thunderstorm.

Also, the thunderstorm contained a sort of heavenly might, maybe it was even part of the might of heavens! If this boy was connected to it, he would have some sort of thunder spiritual energy or a similar attribute which carried the might of the heavens. Or…

Suddenly he had a terrifying thought. On that day, he was closest to the thunderstorm, as it took place in the Fallen Snow Mountain Range, and he was the only one who felt the heavenly might contained within the thunderstorm because of that.

What if Yasha was not connected to the heavens, but condemned by the heavens! The Hunlua Clan, even though it was only a middle rank clan, had a history that stretched far back into the past.

Some of the first Hunlua Clan ancestors left behind a prophecy for future generations, which was only known to the Patriarch and the Clan leader, not even the Great Elder knew of this prophecy.

Slowly putting together the pieces, he suddenly thought about the first line of the prophecy:

Heaven’s Might crumbles, crying tears of blood. Awakening of all Sin on the precipice.

He did not know why, but Dyetz involuntarily thought about this prophecy the more he thought about it. Nearly every previous generation of Patriarchs and Clan leaders tried to decipher the meaning of this prophecy and only came up with a rough idea. It had something to do with those stories about the Old Times, which described the ascension to immortality.

During the ascension, cultivators had to undergo Heavenly Tribulation! This marked the greatest hurdle of cultivation and was the reason why today, on the Four Divine Symbol Continent, no immortals existed.

Heavenly Tribulation was too deadly and powerful for a cultivator to survive. Cultivation by itself went against the will of the heavens! Cultivators plundered the resources of the heavens to attain immortality. So, it was natural that the path to immortality would be arduous and dangerous.

But that was only the most common act of the heavens to suppress cultivators. Far back, even before the Old Times, some absolutely terrifying cultivators would go completely against the heavens. Those insane cultivators were called Forsaken, Divergents, or Variants.

This kind of person would face not only Heavenly Tribulation during the ascension to immortality. No, this sort of crazy cultivator had to face Heavenly Punishment every time they broke through a major realm! Heavenly Punishment had only one purpose: to utterly obliterate and annihilate the cultivator. You were cursed everywhere you went and you would be completely condemned by the world.

Wasn’t Yasha in the Fallen Snow Mountain Range at that time…? The more Dyetz thought about it and the more he put together the little pieces, the more shocked did he become. His face was ashen as his brain tried to process this horrid scenario. Wouldn’t that mean that Yasha was a Forsaken and the prophecy was already beginning?

Is this even possible? But that would also explain why he has this demonic powers. Should I tell the others about that? No, that won’t do. I read that it is forbidden to say the names Forsaken, Divergent or Variant, otherwise the offender would die, just like the Forsaken themselves!

He was absolutely unwilling to have uncovered this terrifying secret of Yasha — if it really was the truth. This matter not only contained ancient secrets but also concerned the whole Four Divine Symbol Continent. Nevertheless, it sounded way to abstruse at the moment, so Dyetz simply could not believe that Yasha had something to with all of that yet and constantly reminded himself that he probably went insane.

After this discovery though, he looked even older than yesterday. His face was pale and his previously fierce, burning eyes were now dim.

He felt a huge head ache coming in the future, not only because of the Azure Dragon Clan, but also because of Yasha.

However, Yasha would be completely surprised that Dyetz interpreted so much into this situation and would agree that he was insane. But that was only because Yasha did not realize what had happened during his awakening…

If he had, then Yasha would know why his life was so difficult currently. He offended the heavens and the Heavenly Dao by simply inheriting the Asura blood, but he did not know anything of that.

Aside of Lentz, there was another pair of eyes in the group of participants which secretly looked at him, without Yasha noticing anything. The eyes shone with a holy, golden light and belonged to Amber, the charismatic genius of the Ascending Heaven School.

She looked at Yasha, as though she knew exactly what took place inside him. That was naturally not possible, but she still saw more in Yasha than others. She cultivated holy and righteous spiritual energy which enabled her to be a lot more sensitive to demonic or evil energy. And what she saw in Yasha greatly surprised her.

She did not what it was exactly, but she felt extremely threatened by him and felt a strong urge to kill him, to cleanse the world of his existence, which shocked her immensely. She had fought against demonic cultivators before and knew that she was the bane of all demonic and evil powers.

The stronger she got, the more her ability to sense and detect demonic power grew. But the kind of feeling she got of Yasha was completely new, she had never felt like that before. She felt like looking at a sleeping demonic beast, but at the same time, sometimes, she noticed nothing, which was the weirdest part of it all.

How can this be? Just who is he? Sometimes it feels like there is a sleeping beast inside him. Or can it be a bloodline? She had heard of strong bloodlines like the Azure Dragon bloodline, but she quickly dismissed this thought, as bloodlines were just to scarce.

Not to mention powerful ones like the four God Beasts. And the feeling she got of Yasha was on the same level as the God Beasts, if not even stronger. So, she was sure that he could not have a bloodline, because it would be too powerful.

On the outside, she stilled maintained her confident smile, but she knew she had to be careful in her match against Yasha. She could not be careless, as a single mistake was likely to cause her to loose.

The judge observed the conflict silently and was secretly surprised by Yasha that he could remain completely calm in the face of Lentz provocations. At the same time he wondered what happened between the two that Lentz would look at Yasha with blatant hatred. And another thing which did not miss his observation, was the gaze with which Amber looked at Yasha. Even though, she looked normal on the outside, he realized that inside, she was not as calm as she pretended to be.

Haha, what an interesting fellow. Expected of the kid who made even me feel uneasy. In the beginning he was frustrated because he felt threatened by the little boy, but now, he overcame it. In the end he was still more powerful and there was no reason to be disgruntled.

He cleared his throat and under the loud, cheering crowd, he announced the start of the second round, “On stage one the first battle will be carried out between Eleanor of the Moon Flower Sect and Senno of the Earth Tomb Sect. On stage two, Levi of the Azure Dragon Sect will fight against Sasara of the Heaven Charms Sect and on stage three, Amber of the Ascending Heaven School will battle against Gorea of the Blood Gore Sect.”

“The second round begins now!”