"Son, the pocket realm opens roughly every twenty years, and before it does so, the area around the entrance shows signs of spatial instability. That instability has started to appear as of a few weeks ago. It seems as if the pocket realm will be opening within the next month or two, much earlier than previously expected."
John raised his eyebrows in shock at this information.
'I had expected the pocket realm to open in another six months, not soon.'
John had expected to have plenty of time left, but it appeared that this was no longer true.
'Oh well, I'm not the only one who is having their cultivation time cut short by this change. Everyone has to adapt to this. Besides, I should be plenty strong to enter the top one hundred in the tournament and enter the pocket realm.'
While John was deep in his thoughts, he was once again brought out of them by Barden.
"Another thing, even more important in fact, is that the spatial fluctuations at the entrance of the pocket realm are extremely weak this time around. The strength of the spatial opening changes every time it opens, and dictates how many cultivators it can hold inside without the realm collapsing. The fluctuations this time are extremely weak for some reason, and so it seems that the pocket realm won't be able to hold the normal one hundred cultivators. The participating clans and sects have inspected the entrance and have determined that based on the strength of the spatial fluctuations, no more than thirty participants will be able to enter this time around."
"What?" John blurted out his surprise at this revelation. "Only thirty people can enter?"
"That's correct. It's unfortunate, but it's the truth. Only thirty people will be able to enter this time. Also, from what I've heard of the other clans and sects, including our own, there are ten that have advanced to the early Qi Condensation Realm."
"What? Ten already?" John couldn't believe his back luck. Not only were there only thirty available spots, but ten would be occupied by the Qi Condensation cultivators.
'That means I'll have to place in the top twenty for the Mist Creation cultivators.'
John went deep into thought about his chances of qualifying. Based on what he knew, he still would most likely qualify due to his unique cultivation system, but it would still be much harder than before where he only had to place in the top one hundred. Not only that, but he would be forced to show off the full power of his body cultivation to do so.
"How many cultivators will be participating in the tournament?" John asked his father. The more the cultivators, the harder it would be to qualify. John was still at the middle Mist Creation Realm for essence cultivation. His body was powerful however, and so he was confident nonetheless, especially if he obtained a body battle art.
"There are three clans and two sects that participate in the pocket realm event. Us, the Varis Clan, the Ronan Clan, the Flowing River Sect, and the Crimson Valley Sect. The pocket realm exists at the top of the Skycleave Mountain Range directly in the middle between these five powers. Us and the Varis Clan on the north side of the mountain range, while the other three are on the south side. There are normally between five hundred to one thousand cultivators participating in this event, but with how weak it is this time, things have changed. Our clan alone will be sending fifteen children to the tournament, all with cultivation's at the late Mist Creation Realm and above, since early and middle Mist Creation children have no chance of qualifying. You will be the exception. I would expect the same from the other clans, so I would assume no more than one to two hundred children will be participating this time, depending on how many children each power sends."
John went deep into thought once more, thinking about his chances of qualifying.
"One more thing John. The ten Qi Condensation cultivators have already had their tournament to determine rankings last week. The tournament for Mist Creation cultivators will happen in two weeks. Not only that, but there is quite a nice prize funded by all the clans and sects to the winner of the tournament. Do your best to win."
John's ears perked up at the mention of a prize, and one funded by all the clans no less.
"A prize? What prize?"
A large smile appeared on Barden's face as he replied. "A Golden Marrow Condensation Pill"
"What? Really?"
John couldn't believe his ears. Golden Marrow Condensation pills were made from the condensed marrow essence of various Qi Condensation beasts, and was an extremely hard pill to make. Even his powerful Fenix Clan would find themselves lucky to be able to obtain one. The pill was in extremely short supply, and only Alchemists at the fourth tier, known as Pill Kings, were able to make it, and Pill King's required a cultivation level of at least the Meridian Forging Realm. Since none of the five powers involved in the tournament focused on alchemy, obtaining important pills such as the Golden Marrow Condensation Pill was quite difficult due to its low supply.
From what John knew of the pill, it was an extremely beneficial pill that allowed one to break through to the Qi Condensation Realm quicker, as well as establish firmer and more powerful foundation. It was the desire of any Mist Creation cultivator.
"Really" Barden replied with a smile. "So like I said, do your best to win."
"I will."
John was extremely excited for the tournament now.
'I must win. This pill will be extremely beneficial for me.'
John was thinking about the pill when he remembered what his father had previously said.
'Father, you said the tournament for the Qi Condensation Realm children has already happened. Who won?"
A depressed look appeared on Barden's face as he responded. "A child from the Crimson Valley Sect won. His name was Jason, and none of the other clans and sects have ever seen or heard anything about him. The Crimson Valley Sect said they had been keeping him a secret all for this pocket realm event..but I don't know, something seems off about the whole thing."
"What seems off?" asked John curiously.
"Well, for one, none of us have ever heard of him, and his combat prowess was beyond anything the Crimson Valley Sect has produced in hundreds of years. He's a frightfully powerful genius, and I didn't think the Crimson Valley Sect would be able to produce someone like him. Maybe the heavens are blind and gifted them with a genius though. Who knows."
Barden was quite depressed at the event before he slightly cheered up.
"Can you guess who came second and third?"
"Second and third? Hmm?" John wracked his mind for potential candidates. His eyes suddenly lit up as he blurted out.
"Did Parker place in the event? Is he in the Qi Condensation Realm now?" asked John.
"That's right. Parker managed to take second place in the tournament, although he was thoroughly defeated by Jason. But still, coming second is enough to bring immense pride to our clan."
"Wow. That's amazing" When John had left, Parker was still in the last Mist Creation Realm, but that was six months ago. That was plenty of time for Parker to break through to the Qi Condensation Realm.
'It seems like Parker hasn't been slacking off either.'
Although John wasn't friends with Parker by any means, they were still part of the same clan, and so John was happy for Parker's placement. It also meant that barring anything happening to him, the Fenix Clan would have another incredibly powerful cultivator in the future.
"Now, can you guess who came third?" asked Barden with another large smile.
"Third?" asked John. Other than Parker, there wasn't any other amazing genius in the Fenix Clan, and so he was quite confused as to why his father had answered his question. He racked his mind for the answer before his eyes widened in shock at his guess.
"It couldn't be? Right?"