An hour and a half passed by in a blink of an eye. Even though nothing interesting happened, the audience was on the edge of their seats looking at the participants touch the mirrors one by one. Some of them betted whether or not someone would cross Alex's cultivation level. Among one of those who touched the mirror was Andrews. He didn't draw much attention to himself as he was only at the Core Formation level 2. Many tried to establish a friendship with Andrews because of his family status yet Andrews politely ignored them with a smile before joining Sabrina who was standing on the grass field with the rest of the Body Strengthening participants. They were watching what's happening on the stage via the large mirror attached to high poles around the arena.
Except for the pavilion where the Sunrise sect disciples and the river town people were sitting, the others poured their excitement out by waving the boards that had their favorite participant's name on, screaming chants, and clapping their hands, producing thunderous sounds.
Ethan was shaking his legs, looking at the sky as well as the pavilion of the Sunrise sect.
"Uncle, are you alright?" Seeing Ethan's act differently than usual, Alicia asked,
"Yeah, I'm fine, are you alright?" Ethan quickly avoided her gaze, answering Alicia's question with a question.
"The last participant is walking towards the mirror, let's see if he could surpass either of the first four"
Diana's body jerked after hearing Ishihara, she turned her gaze towards the horizon as she started to pray for her son to appear.
"Core Formation level 3. Don't be discouraged participants, as Darius said, the tournament is designed to give everyone a fair chance"
"Being on that stage proves your talent and value. Now let's move onto inviting the special guests" As Ishihara said, she flicked her wrist as a thunderous clap reverberated through the arena. It immediately silenced all the ruckus,
The grass field behind the commentators' pills once again split open as a lavish stage draped in red silk clothes emerged from the ground. The stage had several ornated cushion seats that would make the seats of VIPs pale in comparison.
Soon after the stage emerged from the ground, several figures along with two golden chariots appeared on the horizon. The pegasi attached to the chariots flapped their wings majestically. Among the figures surrounding the chariots, half of them wore full plate metal armor while the rest of them wore muddy brown leather armor with long staffs in their hands. The metal armor the figures wore was milky white with delicate designs etched onto it.
"Let us give our warm welcome to His Majesty, King of Bredia, Crawford Bredia the third"
"And Her Royal Highness, Princess of Bredia, Katherine Bredia" As Ishihara and James Hall announced respectively, the chariot came to a halt adjacent to the stage. The people stared at the two figures gracefully stepping on the stage from the chariot.
King Crawford was neither too tall nor short, he was a medium-built middle-aged man with a black goatee that had patches of white hair. His hair was cropped to neck length, perhaps it was his age, or perhaps it was the pressure of ruling a kingdom, streaks of white hair sticking out of his raven black hair. He wore a well-embellished red tunic with goldwork thread as a basic dress. On top of it was a surcoat that depicted the emblem of the Bredia family. His dress was made with the finest silk, fur, and other expensive materials such as animal furs. In his hand, he held a scepter that was decorated with precious shiny gems and diamonds. It was decorated just as the king's crown was. The sword hanging on his waist gave off a warrior feeling about the king.
The princess also wore a red skirt made of finest silk and fur. From neck to toe, the dress was ornate with pearls, specks of gold, and tiny gems. Her golden hair was draped with a diamond chair. She wasn't as beautiful as Celina, Alicia, or Sabrina by any means but she had a grace that the above three did not have. Of course, coupled with her grace, she would make any man yearn for her attention, even for a single glance from her.
"Hail King Bredia!"
"Hail Princess!"
"Long live the King!"
"Long live the Princess"
Since life in Bredia wasn't dreadful, the people, especially the commoners didn't mind showing their support for the king and princess by cheering for them. Both the Princess and the King gracefully waved their hands at the crows as the cheers became louder than before. The thunderous response put a slight smile on the King's face.
Following the King's chariot, the other one also came to a halt adjacent to the stage. One after another, three figures stepped onto the stage from the chariot. One of them was a blue-haired youngster in his teens, he had a feminine feel to him due to his gait and the makeup he wore. His robes glimmered while the designs of flames made him look like he's on fire.
"It's an honor to welcome the representative of Kingdom Thusia, Lord Calvin Howard, the second cousin of His Majesty, King of Thusia, Maxim Barnes" Calvin waved his hand at the people with a giggle.
After Calvin, a middle-aged man in his early forties wearing lavish bright orange robes that were adorned with glistening gems and diamonds.
"The tournament committee thank you, Your Grace, Duke of Flamefair of Kingdom Kethen, Avon Gilkes for representing Kingdom Kethen on the behalf of His Majesty, King of Kethen, Porter Forbes" Duke Avon was a red-haired man in his early forties. The scar running across his left left eye to upper lip gave him a villainous look.Instead of wearing an eye patch to cover his left eye, he chose to show his white eye. With his red hair flutter in the wind, he just nodded at the commentators before standing beside Calvin.
"What's that bastard doing here?" Ethan clenched his fist, almost punching the seat's handle. For the last six months, the duchy of Pentown and the duchy of Flamefair were at war. It has caused them thousands of lives. Duke Marvin of Pen town was prepared for peace talks except Duke Avon was adamant about continuing the war. As the duke was standing here, there were soldiers dying at the border.
The third and the last figure that stepped onto the stage was a muscular macho man with a handlebar mustache. Despite his simple robes and tousled hair, he had a swagger that none of them in the arena had. Evan Ethan paled in manliness compared to the man.
"It's an honor to welcome you, Lord Ashton Kane of Kane Family" when addressing Ashton, Darius sounded so humble as he never did before.
"It's really an honor to have you with us, Lord Ashton. Only on days like this, we can see a Fusion Stage cultivator with our eyes, it's truly a blessing" James didn't sound like he was just saying these words to butter up Ashton but really seemed to be talking from his heart. His reaction was expected because seeing a Fusion Stage cultivator was once in a lifetime opportunity for most of the cultivators unless they were at the Fusion Stage themselves.
"The pleasure is all mine" Ashton's voice was amplified by his Celestial Energy as it sounded clearer and louder than the voice of the commentators. The voice swept over the entire arena like a tsunami wave, giving them goosebumps.
Except for Alex and Peter, all the youngsters looked at Ashton with eyes full of admiration. After shaking each other's hands, the guests took their seats.
"Shall we start the first round for the Body Strengthening stage participants?" The crowd yet again let out thunderous shouts of excitement except the fans of Ghost.
"Look over there!" suddenly the entire pavilion jumped up from their seats pointing at the horizon. Their shouts overshadowed the others' cheers as everyone in the arena looked at the horizon. With a flick of his wrist, Ashton changed the scenery of the stage showing on the mirrors hung around the arena to broadcast the battles happening on the stage.
The moment Ashton changed the broadcast, the people saw a majestic crimson red dragon flying towards the arena. On top of the arena, they saw a young man leisurely lying down, legs crossed at knees. He had one hand behind his head while holding a book in front of him in the other.
"Ghost!"
"Ghost!"
Never like before, an entire pavilion shouted the name 'Ghost' in unison. It was the loudest cheer no one until now received, not Alex, not Celina, and not even the king of Bredia himself. Every other disciple had their sect brothers and sisters as their fans, they were just fans. but only Michael had the sect and an entire town as worshippers. The atmosphere of the arena made everyone feel goosebumps over their bodies.
None of the people in the arena blinked their eyes as they stared at the mirror and the dragon approaching the arena. His entrance was not as flashy as Alex, Celina, or Peter but coupled with the thunderous response he got from the sunrise sect, river town, and the coolness of his posture
turned his entrance into a badass one.
When the dragon reached the sky directly above the stage filled with Core Formation participants, instead of descending, it flapped its wings before flying straight up. Michael slowly slid down due to the gravity and in a few moments, he was dropping down. His black coat fluttered wildly in the air while Michael calmly closed the book in his hand in the mid-air before putting it into his space ring.
The people were staring at his fall with their mouths wide open. He was still falling when Michael retrieved his two swords from the system storage. Everyone expected him to sheath his sword in the mid-air but to their surprise, he threw the sword into the sky above him.
His falling speed increased with each passing second as he soared down the air like a black meteor. People moved their heads down seeing him getting closer and closer to the stage. The participants occupying the center of the stage quickly moved away to make way for him to land. In a few blinks of an eye, Michael landed on the stage like superman.
Inside Michael's head, the sound of badass point notification kept rigging like crazy as he willed the system to mute the sound. It was raining badass points. He stood up giving a little shake to correct his long coat.
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Just as he stood up, the two swords he threw in the air flew straight down leaving a trail of sparks in their way. Many gasped in shock when they saw the two swords going straight into the sheathes on Michael's back. It was unbelievable in their eyes. Even those who weren't a fan of Ghost couldn't help cheering. At the moment, almost 80% of the people in the arena were letting out thunderous cheers and the remaining were too stunned to open their mouths.
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