Although the commentators announced a short break, only a few left their seats. As each minute passed by, Ethan couldn't sit still. He was biting his nails when Emelda called him out,
"Ethan, are you alright? You seem shaky"
Diana squeezed Ethan's hand to calm him down. Unlike her, this was his first time meeting his son.
"Do you see him anywhere?" He asked, leaning closer to Diana's ear.
"No"
"What do you mean no? You said he will come" Ethan almost shook her by her shoulder in lack of patience,
"No one said otherwise, you just need to be a little more patient Ethan" Diana calmed him down. He nodded but kept searching for the people of the Sunrise sect. It didn't even take him more than two minutes before he saw an entire pavilion of people wearing black clothes on the opposite side of where the VIP balcony was located. Since the arena was built in a circular shape, one could see almost everyone in the arena.
Ethan would have noticed them earlier if it wasn't for Claire's orders not to cause a ruckus until they start the Core Formation tournament to the people of river town and sunrise sect. Because of her orders, they remained, not causing any commotion.
An entire pavilion containing at least 1500 seats was filled with ardent worshippers of the Ghost and Sunrise sect. An entire town was here to show their support to Ghost, no one had the support like Ghost had.
"AH!" suddenly Emelda shouted as everyone sitting near her turned their gazes at Emelda to see a golden monkey bouncing on her head,
"Norvin, you almost gave me a heart attack" Emelda grabbed Norvin off her head to see the monkey grinning in the joy of pranking her.
"Get away from her you damn monkey" Diana saw Alicia walking towards them with Maisy.
"Fergus, move your butt over there" Emelda chased away a ten years old kid who was chugging his juice box back to his parents. Alicia sat beside Emelda as Norvin leisurely laid on Emelda's lap.
"Where's Noah and Andrews?" Diana looked at the way Alicia came to find Noah and Andrews yet she didn't see them. Maisy didn't look for empty seats as she hopped onto Diana's lap. The little girl was so cute as Diana wrapped her hands around the little teddy bear to cuddle.
"Andrews is down there"
By looking at the worried look on Alicia's face, they sighed. It seemed like Andrews wasn't backing down from competing in the tournament.
"Has he reached the Core Formation stage?" Emelda whispered as Ethan leaned closer in his seat,
"Yes," Alicia said,
"Is he alright? If the committee has found something amiss with his cultivation stage, we are toast" Ethan worried about Andrews. The last time he met Andrews, he was still at Body Strengthening stage level 3. Even Noah just reached the Core Formation stage and Noah was a freak of nature.
"Noah took care of everything Uncle. Andrews is at the Core Formation stage now, he will suffer no side effects as you may think except for headache and feebleness for a couple of weeks"
"How did he do it?"
"I'll explain everything later Aunty" Alicia interjected Emelda's question. She didn't want to explain everything to them while people were watching them.
What Noah and she did was cheat. Although Noah wasn't happy about this, he had to do it for the sake of his cousin.
"Is your brother with Andrews?" Diana asked,
"The correct question would be will he fight Andrews if push comes to shove?"
Everyone was thinking about it but it was Norvin who spoke out loud.
"It's gonna be a good show as your brother doesn't like to lose and Andrews can't lose"
Alicia had no answer to give. She knew about her brother's character. As far as she could guess, there was no chance he would lose to Andrews intentionally. However, Noah made sure Andrews had a high chance to win the tournament by striking a deal with a Fusion Stage cultivator, Laila Alden.
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
As they were whispering, three loud bell sounds reverberated the arena. The muttering of the crowd was silenced down by the bells. Soon, those who went to answer nature's call came rushing to their seats.
"The break's over ladies and gentleman" Ishihara chuckled in her melodious voice,
"Now it's time for the Core Formation stage participants to wow us"
"Finally!"
"Yes!"
"Whoooohoooooo!"
Almost the entire arena erupted, letting out their thunderous cheers. Compared to the Body Strengthening stage tournament, the Core Formation tournament was the one everyone's more hyped out for.
It was because there were many mini-tournaments and competitions for Body Strengthening stage cultivators but this was one of the very few tournaments there are for Core Formation stage cultivators.
Celebrity disciples like Celina or Alex rarely appeared in public events. Not these two but most of the Core Formation disciples tend to stay within their sect or in seclusion.
The crowd constantly looked up towards the skies and the field down eagerly to see the celebrity disciples.
As they were waiting eagerly, time slowly flowed by. Just as the sun had reached the middle of the sky, from the distant horizon, the clasp of thunder suddenly rumbled forth.
Just as the sound of wind rang out, everyone looked up in the direction the sound came. Cultivators like Ethan could feel that all Arch Energy surrounding the arena was now slowly gravitating towards that direction.
In the sky, they saw a bright blue flash streaking through the skies like a shooting star, descending from the heavens. The streak of blue light tore through the sky like it was a piece of cloth. The streak of light was at least twenty times brighter and bigger than the bolts of golden lightning produced by the Lightning Dash spell.
When that blue flash appeared on the edges of the horizon, everyone in the arena stared at it dumbstruck. Many people were amazed by the display.
"That's a flashy entrance. I wonder who that might be?" The commentators were no different than the onlookers. They too looked at the sky with wide eyes.
Under the numerous curious gazes, the blue flash broke through the skies at a ferocious speed. As the flash approached, the crowd was shocked to discover that the blue flash was actually a giant sword made purely out of Arch energy.
The sword flew at the speed of a jet, leaving a trail of blue light. The closer the sword got to the arena, the louder the people heard the whistling sound the sword produced.
While the giant sword was slowing down, the crowd's gazes immediately fell on the figure standing atop the sword. Clothed in silver armor matching his hair with his hands behind his back. His shiny silver long hair drifted in the wind, he appeared to be extremely calm and relaxed. A look that subdued many of the competitors.
The set of armor he was wearing attracted the gazes like a magnet. The armor was forged using a glimmering silver metal. The smith who forged the armor used gold to adorn the borders.
The shoulder plates were pointy, quite narrow, and large. They were decorated with a star-shaped, thick, metal ornament piece.
The upper arms were protected by rounded, half-covering rerebraces which sat loosely under the shoulder plates. The lower arms were covered by vambraces which have several masterfully crafted metal sheets, shaped like dragon scales on the outer sides.
The breastplate was made from many layers of smaller metal pieces, mimicking the scales of a dragon. The armor covered him from neck to feet, protecting every inch of his body.
Atop the sword, the youngster slightly tilted his head down as his calm gaze swept over the arena below. He then withdrew his gaze, because there was nothing worthy of his attention in that place.
"Big brother Alex Fisher has arrived!"
Suddenly the fans of MorningStar cried out in joy, excitement, and pride-filled their eyes,
"If I'm right, conjuring a sword that size would require an extreme level of mastery in controlling Arch energy,"
"The level of mastery even the Soul Refining stage cultivators lack" Darius said to James Hall.
Alicia's eyes stared unblinkingly at Alex Fisher, who stood atop the sword while looking down at the arena. From the latter's gaze, she could see how little Alex thought of people below, or perhaps, it might be a type of disregard.
As annoyed as she was, she knew with his strength, he did seem to possess the right to look down on people.
Based on Alex's composure alone, many could not help but admit that he was indeed a rarely seen prodigy.
"What do you think of Alex's cultivation level guys?" Ishihara asked while Alex was floating in the sky,
"Definitely higher than level 5" James Hall answered,
"My guess would be level 8" Darius shocked the crowd with his answer. Reaching Core Formation level 8 at the age of 28 was a humongous feat among humans.
"You always liked to make a flashy appearance, don't you Alex?"
While the crowd was in awe of Alex, a burst of hearty thunder-like voice suddenly rumbled from the horizon. The crowd watched as a golden ray streaked across the skies, radiating a powerful aura.
The golden light broke through the skies, causing the Arch energy to surge, as it finally came to float in the horizon, transforming into a huge golden spear that was a dozen meters long. Atop the spear stood a figure in gold armor with blonde long hair that draped over his shoulders. A domineering aura soared into the skies as if it was a unique wild spear that towered over the land. The youngster wore extravagant golden armor. The shoulders were fairly oval, quite short and small in size, decorated with a metal dragon wing on each side, curved to the sides.
The upper arms were protected by squared, half-covering rerebraces which sit quite well under the shoulder plates. The lower arms were covered by vambraces which have a row of hook-like barbs attached to each outer side.
The chest plate was made from one large piece of metal but crafted to mimic the appearance of muscles. The golden armor looked sturdier than the armor Alex was wearing.
The crowd stared at the figure in gold standing atop the golden spear, as envious looks were revealed on many of their faces but none of them seemed to recognize the person as they did with Alex.
"Who is that?"
"He seems just as powerful as Alex Fisher"
"I don't know, I have never seen him before"
"Let's wait for the commentators,im sure they will know who he is"
The crowd was thrown into confusion as the sound of people murmuring among themselves grew louder and louder.
"Aren't you gonna wave at your brother Alicia?" Norvin asked, looking at the youngster in the golden armor.
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