John watched as the Crimson Valley Sect approached the tournament grounds. The beasts pulling the carriages were Qi Condensation Blood Tigers. Blood Tigers were blood red in color, almost ten feet long and six feet tall, and were incredibly savage and powerful beasts. The Crimson Valley Sect found them both suitable for their sect's image, as well as an effective intimidation tactic on others.
The group eventually arrived at the tournament grounds and dismounted from their carriages. The group had over a hundred members, and ranged from young children to old men. Each of them had haughty looks on their faces, as if they were the most important people in the world.
"Fuck, looking at their smug faces pisses me off every time." Barden couldn't help but curse as he saw the Crimson Valley Sect group approach. John, Ryan, and Miko all nodded their heads in agreement.
"They really do have smug, arrogant faces. All I want to do is beat them until I can't even recognize their faces, especially that Jason. Even for the Crimson Valley Sect, his smug attitude stands out." Miko cursed out in anger at the group. He noticed Jason among the group, and seeing his face pissed him off immensely. Miko had lost to Jason in the Qi Condensation tournament, and Jason had been a smug, arrogant bastard during the whole tournament.
"Don't worry. We'll get our revenge during this tournament. Besides, I gave a few of their members a nice present the last time I met them. I'm sure they won't have forgotten." Miko and Ryan started bursting out in laughter at John's comment. Earlier when they were talking, John had told them about his run in with the Crimson Valley Sect boys, and what he had done to them.
Miko was enthralled the entire time John was telling his story, and pumped his fists and celebrated when John told him about the final present he left them.
"If only I could have been there to witness it," Miko sighed and looked truly depressed, as if missing it was the worst thing in the world. John and Ryan looked at Miko and to each other, before they once again burst out in laughter at Miko's antics.
After a little while, the Crimson Valley Sect group arrived where all the other powers had gathered. The front of the group was led by an aging man, who appeared to be in his sixties, but his true age was much older. The man had a Core Formation cultivation level, and at the Core Formation Realm, a cultivator could live up to five hundred years.
The man had long, pure white hair that flowed down to his shoulders, and a clean shaven but slightly scarred face. His face was quite sunken, which gave him quite a sinister look. He was Warren Gildar, and he was the clan leader of the Crimson Valley Sect. His eyes scanned over the group in front of him as he approached them, and stopped on Cade Fenix as a frown appeared on his face.
Cade Fenix noticed his gaze as a smug smile appeared on his face. "Warren Gildar, it's been some time since we last saw each other. It seems like your face has healed up quite nicely from our battle."
The crowd let out astonished murmurs at Cade Fenix's comments. Most of the crowd was too young to know of the battle that had happened between the two leaders the last time they met.
An angry scowl appeared on Warren's face as he snorted at Cade's comments. "You want to fight now? I guarantee you that you wont leave this place alive if we do!"
More astonished gasps echoed throughout the crowd. John looked towards his father and asked, "Father, what's going on between our clan leader and their sect leader?"
Barden looked at his son and responded, "I guess this happened well before you were born. It was after one of the pocket realm events many decades ago. One of the Crimson Valley Sect juniors killed one of our Fenix Clan juniors within the pocket realm over a treasure, and so our clan retaliated by killing one of theirs. It became quite bloody inside and over eight juniors total died. When my father heard about what had happened once everyone left the realm, he immediately asked for the head of the Crimson Valley Sect junior who started killing in the first place. Warren Gildar refused and even tried to turn the situation back on our clan, and so Cade lashed out at Warren. Although my father was unable to kill Warren, he did manage to leave some nasty scars behind on his body."
"Oh, so that's why our clans hate each other," John nodded his head in understanding at his fathers story. He had always been quite curious as to why the two were considered enemies, and this story revealed the truth quite clearly.
"Hahaha"
A loud laugh echoed throughout the crowd. "Last time we fought, you fled with your tail tucked between your legs, and now you dare say those words to me? Seems like I didn't educate you properly enough last time."
Cade was brimming with anger at Warren's words. Even now, the pain of losing those juniors weighed heavily on Cade's heart, and he wanted nothing more than to kill Warren where he stood. But doing so would surely start an all out war between the two powers, and that was something that the Fenix Clan did not want. Although they weren't scared of the Crimson Valley Sect, they didn't want to have their members die in a war that could be avoided either.
Warren snorted and was just about to respond when another loud voice echoed throughout the crowd.
"Alright, Alright, that's enough from both of you. We are here to carry out the Mist Creation Realm Tournament for the pocket realm. Let us all proceed accordingly and put aside our plights for now." Waylon Varis said loudly.
He had been waiting for the Crimson Valley Sect to arrive before addressing the crowd, but now that everyone had arrived, his duty as host of the tournament was to let it proceed accordingly.
Cade Fenix buried his anger and agreed with his old friend Waylon. "That's right. We're here for our juniors. We can settle this at a later time."
Warren Gildar snorted once more but said nothing. All five powers gathered around the stage that Waylon was standing on, and listened to what he had to say. Behind Waylon, a large, smooth stone tablet was visible. Fantastic carvings and mystical designs existed all over the tablet, making it look quite mysterious.
"I want to thank you all for coming today. We are all here for the Mist Creation Realm tournament to decide entry for the pocket realm. The rules for the tournament are as follows. One, when someone gives up, the fight stops immediately. Two, if someone is unconscious, the fight stops immediately. Three, no intentionally harming another gravely, or you will be disqualified. Grave injury is classified as crippling or otherwise rendering a cultivator unable to proceed on their cultivation journey. Four, if you are knocked off the fighting platform, you lose. Five, the top twenty participants will qualify for the pocket realm, as the ten Qi condensation juniors will enter, plus twenty more Mist Creation juniors."
Waylon paused for a moment to let the crowd gather their thoughts before he continued. "The tournament will be single elimination, and will continue all the way until we have a winner. There are three prizes to be awarded to the top three participants, with the winner obtaining a Golden Marrow Condensation Pill."
Excited discussions immediately echoed throughout the crowd as all the juniors started talking about the Golden Marrow Condensation Pill. Not everyone knew of the prize, and so finding out that first place obtained the legendary pill was extremely exciting for all involved.
"A Golden Marrow Condensation Pill? I must win and get my hands on it." one Ronan Clan junior stated.
"You wish. You'll be lucky to qualify for the pocket realm, let alone win." Another junior piped up.
Similar discussions continued on for some time before Waylon silenced the crowd and continued to speak.
"Now, we must see how many juniors have decided to participate. All participants please set forward and onto the stage."