The main street was lined with small houses and market buildings, as if this used to be a town mortals lived in.
However, the markets had been long abandoned, while the small houses served as temporary shelter for the disciples that entered the town. Disciples from other sects were exploring the town, while others were making their way towards its center.
In the very center of the town was the massive coliseum, which stood on a raised patch of land. The coliseum itself was larger than the rest of the town combined, which encircled it on the outside.
The group eventually came to a pathway that meandered up to the elevated coliseum, while three other pathways came into view as well, each branching to the side of the raised coliseum. At the end of each pathway were intricate pagodas, five stories tall. The pathway entrances were all lined with small arches no more than a dozen feet tall and wide, each marked with a different symbol.
“The four symbols again,” Chase said. “It seems as though the coliseum is the pathway of warriors, while the three other marks lead to one of the pagodas.”
“Finally, a trial for formation cultivators,” Adam exclaimed happily.
“Agreed,” Chase replied, clearly happy as well as both of them could finally display their strengths.
“Alright, well there’s no need to waste any time then,” John spoke up. “We’ll each go down our pathway, and meet back here at this spot when we’re all done.”.
The others nodded their heads in agreement, and soon Adam and Chase each ventured down the pathway towards their respective trials.
“Shall we?” John said to Iris, who was standing next to him.
Iris nodded her head, and the two quickly walked up the pathway of the warrior towards the coliseum. The warrior pathway was by far the most popular, as the majority of disciples were cultivators that focused on strength.
As they approached the coliseum, the roaring of an excited crowd could be heard. John and Iris glanced at each other, before they entered the main entrance of the coliseum. An expansive combat arena immediately came into view, one that was half a mile long and wide. The arena was surrounded by the coliseum, which allowed for tens of thousands of disciples to watch from above.
Although the coliseum was only filled with several thousand disciples at the moment, it was still an incredibly lively atmosphere, something that almost reminded John of the battles back in the Bloodfiend Sect.
In the arena below, a heated battle was taking place between over one hundred disciples, which made the rather small arena appear packed with chaos. At the very center of the arena was a pedestal, raised several feet from the ground.
The disciples all seemed to be battling their way towards the pedestal, on which a lone figure sat upon. It was a disciple with a cultivation in the Middle Heaven Tribulation Realm, although his power seemed to be restricted to a weaker level.
John’s gaze swept over the coliseum stands, and he eventually found what he was looking for. He began to move towards that spot with Iris in tow, when suddenly someone stepped in front of him.
It was a youth from another sect, the insignia depicting a raging inferno. His cultivation was at the Early Heaven Tribulation Realm. John glanced at the youth with a questioning expression, as he had never seen this youth before. However, the youth ignored him, and instead was gazing at Iris.
“What do you want?” Iris asked, her voice full of displeasure at having been blocked like this.
“My group is right over there,” the youth said as he pointed into the stands towards a group of five males and two females, all in the Early Heaven Tribulation Realm. “We’d love to have you join our group as well.”
“Huh? Why would I do that?” Iris asked, her voice tinged with confusion.
“Seeing that you and your…friend…are only in the Meridian Forging Realm, someone as beautiful as you will quickly be preyed upon in these lands unless you have proper protection,” the youth replied valiantly as he glanced sideways at John, clearly indicating that her current company was too weak to keep her safe. “You’ll get much farther in these trials with us. You should join us instead.”
John raised an eyebrow at the youths’ straightforward words, although he understood where the youth was coming from. Iris truly was a beautiful girl, and so many youths would try to get on her good graces. Clearly this was one youth attempting to court Iris to his group with the promise of protection and rewards.
Iris’s stoic expression quickly broke as she burst into hearty laughter. Her laughter was incredibly boisterous, as if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
“What’s so funny?” the youth asked with growing agitation. He could tell that Iris was mocking him with her laughter.
“Come on John, let’s go. This idiot clearly doesn’t know what he’s saying,” Iris said to John as she wiped tears of laughter from her eyes.
“Tch, useless bitch. I offer you a great deal and you spit on it,” the youth replied angrily, instantly showing his true colors. “You or your friend better not join this trial, or I’ll show you just what you passed up on.”
Iris’ face instantly darkened, but she pulled on John’s hand before he could do anything and escorted him away from the other disciple. She knew John’s quick temperament when it came to his friends, and dragged him away before he could do anything.
John allowed himself to be brought away by Iris, but couldn’t help questioning her.
“Why’d you just let that man talk to you like that?” John asked. “I could have had him groveling before you in an instant.”
“I know you would have,” Iris replied, her gaze becoming heated. “Which is why I dragged you away. When we enter this trial…that piece of shit is mine. I want to make him grovel before me personally.”
John raised an eyebrow in surprise at what he was hearing, as it was the first time he had seen such anger from Iris, or heard such words from her. However, he had only been friends with her for a short while, and didn’t really know her all too well yet.
‘It seems Iris has just as short a temper as me when it comes to certain things,’ John mused. He nodded his head after a short moment of silence, agreeing to her words.
“Are you confident in beating him though?” John asked, as the youth had a higher cultivation than her.
“I have my ways. Just you watch,” Iris replied confidently. It reminded John of the absolute confidence he had seen from Iris back in the entrance exam’s when she had been fighting Aaron. She had toyed with him at the time, despite Aaron being the most aggressive and powerful youth in the exam. Clearly she was incredibly strong herself, but had never been able to show her strengths to John since that time.
“Just make sure he suffers thoroughly,” John replied.
“Don’t worry, I will,” Iris replied confidently.
“Good. Then I look forward to it,” John replied with a smile before he began walking over to a certain spot in the crowd.
“Do situations like that happen often to you?” John asked Iris as they ventured into the stands.
“It happens far too often,” Iris replied with a harumph of displeasure. “I’ve grown somewhat used to it though.”
“I suppose beauty does attract all sorts of troublesome people,” John replied as they arrived before a group of youths, who all had cultivations in the Early Heaven Tribulation Realm. They glanced at the new arrivals, and quickly sprung to their feet to greet John.
“John! Ah, I mean General” one of them exclaimed hastily. It was a young male who had short brown hair, a round face, and ears larger than expected for his head size.
“No need for such useless titles,” John replied dismissively as he sat next to the group, which was a group of five Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples. They had clearly been here for a while already, and John wanted to get some information from them regarding this trial.
“So, it seems as though you’ve all been here for a while. What exactly is this trial?” John asked curiously as he watched the battle rage on below. A protective formation barrier constantly flickered with power as it blocked attacks from reaching the stands.
“It’s a free for all fight, with the only goal being to sit upon that pedestal at the end of the trial,” the disciple explained. “Each round lasts two hours, and the one sitting upon the pedestal at the end of the hour is awarded Jade Mark Points.”