“Hey, I’m Ku Nam,” a boy walked over to Ed and said. Beside him was a girl. She glanced at Ed for only a moment and took in his attire. Ed was never one to wear expensive clothes; he just always made sure his clothes were clean and neat. He could tell this girl was looking down on him.

“This is autumn bloom,” the boy introduced the girl.

“Ed,”

“I can see you are like us, not from the demon lands. How about we team up and form our own group?” the boy smiled amiably.

“Sorry, I don't wish to be part of any group,” Ed said.

“I told you not to bother with him. What can he even contribute?” Autumn bloom asked with a sneer. Ed did not mind her words, as long as they left him alone.

“It is better to stay as a group. That way, we can defend our resources,” the boy tried to convince Ed.

“I still wish to be alone,” Ed said and walked away.

“When he is in trouble, he will come running,” Autumn bloom snorted at his leaving back.

Ed wasted no time. He walked over to the slate and wrote his name. The registration slip he had been given before he had arrived the great spill glowed. Ed stared at it as he felt a symbol edge unto his arm under his sleeve, while words appeared on the registration slip he was holding.

Ed

Early spirit picking

Unranked

0 wins 0 losses

1 cultivation cave.

The giants laughed inwardly at the newcomers.

“It's always like this every year,” one said to the other.

“How many do you think will last?” the other said. they were not speaking out loud but transmitting words through their minds.

“After the coming monthly match, there will be twenty names on the slate again,”

“Who knows, there may be some hidden dragons in the mix this year,”

“As if,” the other snorted.

“The factions love those that don't join them more than those that do. They are more useful to them,” the other said.

“There will be some hidden dragons this time. Do you dare to bet?”

“Of course. But after the first-month battle, there will only be twenty names on the slate,”

“I bet that there will be additional names,” These words made the other sigh.

“You make this bet every year,”

Ed turned and watched as many passed through the gate ahead and joined them. On the other side, was a bright dry world. It did not look too different from the generic demon realm he had seen since his arrival, a desert full of sand. He directly found himself in the middle of a town hugged by dust.

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“Newcomer, come with me to your assigned cultivation cave,” a person walked up to Ed and said respectfully.

“How do you know I chose to be alone?” Ed frowned.

“No one that wishes to be part of a group walks alone. But, you should consider joining a group. That is the only way you will be safe here,” the person said.

“Lead the way,” Ed said and the person sighed. It was like this every year.

As Ed walked around the town, he noticed that there were people trading, checking into inns and so on. This made him frown. Was this normal? Most sat on the streets as though waiting.

“Are there not enough cultivation caves?” he asked.

“There are. Those you see here, have either lost their cultivation cave to others or joined factions with limited resources. The factions will only favour those they find valuable to them. Most have to camp outside or sleep in an inn,” the person leading the way said. He thought that his words would cause a reaction from Ed, but Ed just nodded in understanding.

“The monthly battles, one could do it as a faction with too many people. How does this work?” Ed asked.

“The battles are not fought in an arena, but in a pocket world. People can only come out when they surrender, get a win, or die. If you win, you can decide to stay back longer and win a few more before leaving. The battles end up like a war, as the factions usually coordinate members to move in troops. The only law is that everyone must participate. The battles last for one day. I hear that battling in a group is much better. It is said that there are treasures in the battleground. The factions would have better manpower to be able to bring back as many resources as they can,”

Ed understood these words. Not only was it better to be in a group in the battleground so that you may not get killed, but it is also better for lucky encounters. He bets that that is why most remain in the factions no matter if they don't get cultivation caves or resources to cultivate. During the battles, they join up with their groups and go adventuring. It made sense.

Ed arrived at his cave soon after. He did as the person said and touched the walls. lt opened and he stepped in. Ed understood that this person was a mortal. He was not sure how he got to the great spill, but he knew that he probably worked for the regulators of the great spill. These mortals would do menial jobs to get paid.

He gave the boy a spirit stone and entered his cave. The boy bowed as the cave closed. He sighed in his heart. This newcomer was nice enough to give him a spirit stone. He felt guilty for what he was about to do.

Leaving Ed behind in the cultivation cave, he rushed away in the direction of another cave. The caves were well spaced and would take a bit of travelling to get another. After a while, the panting mortal got to a cave much larger than Ed's. There were tents around the cave filled with cultivators. He walked over to a tent and bowed.

“What is it?” A voice said from inside.

“There is a newcomer with his own cave that just entered. He even has a lot of money on him,” the boy said.

“Is that so? Have you told him to join us?”

“He did not care about all the benefits of your group. He has entered his cave,”

“I see. You may go,” the boy bowed and left.

Inside the tent, two people sat.

“Big brother, we should go and meet with him. Newcomers are all stupid. We tell him to let us practise with him a bit and we will fight with him in the battles,” one of them said. He was completely muscular with a bald head.

“If we do this, the faction will hear of it and say we are coveting resources. This boy will finally have to give up his cave anyway,” the other answered. He looked like the one who had spoken before.

“When the faction gets his cave, there is no way they would give it to us,”

“There is no way we are getting a cave. We are not strong enough, or have enough spirit stones to pay to use it,”

“He said the boy had money,” the other said and the older brother paused.

“We will not report this to the faction yet. The great spill prohibits fighting except inside the battleground. We will wait till then,” the elder brother said after some time.

“After we get his money, what then? The faction will say we kept it to ourselves,”

“We only need to kill him and take his money. We are part of the iron hand faction. When we kill him, the cave will go to the leader. He will only see the number of caves appear on his arm. He will not know who it is from. We can then keep all the money,” the elder brother said.

“Later, I will take that boy, to go show me the newcomer's face,”

“We must track him well. It would be best if he does not come out of his cave till the battles. That way, not many people will know about his cave. If not, we will be competing with many people for his money. I do not wish to share on that day,” they two planned for the coming battle in secret.