When the platforms were restored, the tournament commenced. The contestants were divided into five brackets, each bracket had eight hundred participants. The rules of the battles were simple. The winner only had to make the other party surrender or push him off the stage. Knockout was also an option. Killing contestants was forbidden. The Azure Guard would cripple the cultivation of anyone who killed a contestant. The Woman in the vermilion dress had made this clear to all participants, and a waiver had to be signed. It was a simple yet effective method to avoid silly bloodshed.

Fortunately, with the prospect of severe punishment, no wanna-be young Lord dared to kill in the tournament. Even before there were people that killed for fun. The Violet Sky Clan knew they had to enforce strict laws in order to deter such people from committing crimes unpunished, just because they were strong. This was another reason this clan deemed itself a pacifist and wanted to remain strong. Otherwise, chaos would rule this land.

The fights of the young cultivators of the city were dull in comparison. That was the audience’s opinion. Of course, they still enjoyed them. Some young ones still impressed the crowd and the Elders of the Great Clans with their battle prowess. The winner of the tournament had been a young girl fifteen years old by the name of Freya Bladewalker. She was in the later layers of the Foundation Establishment. The girl came from a small family in the city.

Rewards had been given to the top two hundred contestants. As they got closer to the top, the better the rewards they got. The rewards ranged from weapons and armor at the Earth and Sky rank, spirit stones, cultivation pills, martial art techniques, and direct invitations to one of the four battalions that formed the Azure Guard with great sign-up bonuses. For the top fifty contestants. A token that allowed them into a cultivation haven, the Flame Tower at the Violet Sky Clan.

When the tournament concluded, the sun had set on the horizon. People in the audience left the stadium. Some of them went to celebrate with their family or friends that had won rewards. Others returned home. Damian walked toward Cedric’s house. After all, they had much to talk about. He also wanted some tea to induce him into a semi-enlightenment state. Soon, he would be ready to attempt his breakthrough. He could feel it.

At the entrance of the compound, the guards on duty saluted him. He was a regular visitor. Cedric had instructed the guards to guide Damian to him whenever he came by. They asked Damian to wait for a few moments as one guard went away. Damian didn’t mind. He had grown used to this small routine. After a few moments, he returned with another guard in tow. This guard was the one who would guide him.

As Damian and the guard navigated through the compound, Damian took in the changes in the compound during the past year. The Lambert clan compound had evolved to a new level of ambiance with nature. It almost looked like a small wood elf city taken out of a fairy tale.

A few moments later, they arrived at Cedric’s house. It still looked majestic, a house carved inside a tree. The guard knocked three times and waited for Cedric to open the door. When Cedric slid the door open, he saw the guard and then Damian standing behind him. Cedric’s body no longer showed signs of the wounds he incurred in the fight.

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The guard informed Cedric of the presence of Damian. After exchanging pleasantries, Cedric dismissed the guard. The guard gave a small nod and walked away in a monotonous routine. Cedric then looked at Damian and said: “I was expecting you to show up, come in.”

Cedric made half a turn and began walking toward the inside of the house. Damian followed suit, closing the door behind him. they entered the tea room that lead to Cedric’s spirit garden. After they sat, Cedric began the tea ceremony. As Cedric performed the ceremony, Damian said: “Your ‘Guardian of the Ancient Verdant Forest’ is amazing. I could feel you could not draw upon the full power of the spear, yet it was beyond anything you had used before.”

Without stopping preparing the tea, Cedric responded: “I gained quite useful insights into my technique. In part was thanks to you. You said before I didn’t have any life-saving attacks. Well pondered on it for a while and that’s what I came up with. Unfortunately, the staff did not survive the strength of the technique. I will need a stronger staff crafted”

After a brief pause, Cedric continued: “And I, at last, made you use your copper sword.” as those words left his mouth, a small smile crept on his face. This was a sense of personal pride. As he made the strongest cultivator in the city use his strongest attack.

Damian responded to Cedric: “That you did. I had trouble gauging how much power I had to put into my attack in order not to harm you. Please don’t put me in that position,” Damian said with a complex look in his gaze.

Cedric was a little taken aback, as not even such a powerful attack that had near depleted him of Qi was enough to force Damian to use his full strength. He had gotten the feeling that he had held back, but now hearing it from him made him wonder just how strong Damian was. He had never seen Damian fight at full strength. That made Cedric feel a little inferior, but he stopped himself from that line of thought. He knew Damian was strong, and he was glad for it. After all, he was the man he liked. However, He could not help but feel deep inside that he was not suited to walk proudly alongside Damian. And such a feeling hurt.

Damian noted a complicated look on Cedric but didn’t comment. He realized his words had caused Cedric to hurt. Internally, Damian was berating himself for not being careful with his words. He was dense in reading people’s emotions. He thought Cedric felt down because he hurt his competitive side, not because he made him feel he was not suited to walk toward immortality at his side.

Damian tried in a profuse manner to apologize to Cedric. After a few minutes of seeing Damian clumsy apologize as well as talk about several topics, Cedric’s heart felt a little more at ease. He was not turning him away. It was Cedric’s own insecurity. He would have to work on that. Cedric resolved to grow stronger. Even if he could not be stronger or as strong as Damian to protect him, he would be strong enough to stand proud at his side.

They continued to talk and drink spirit tea. Cedric had given Damian a stronger blend he had recently mastered. While Damian gave Cedric a few Flame Tower kits, explaining the use of it.

The moon hung high in the sky when Damian returned home to train in his martial arts, taking advantage of his semi-enlightenment state, thus elevating his comprehension ability. He set a goal for himself. He would work his ass off until the next moon, then he would attempt the breakthrough. Damian knew he could not remain forever in this layer, or other people would soon catch up to him. And that was only in this city. In other places, most likely there were people as strong, if not stronger, than him. He didn’t know if those people would be peaceful or would try to rob this city of their resources, once the restrictions set by Tian Long were released, and they were strong enough to wander the world