Chapter 26: Unfair!

Dong, dong, dong!

Another half-hour passed. After nearly everyone had gathered, that melodious bell sounded once again.

“Cough! Cough! Cough!”

At that moment, an elderly man around seventy or eighty years old, seated beside the Platform Stage, stood up. Deliberately clearing his throat a few times, he spoke loudly: “Alright, it is once again time for the annual Tang Family Tournament. Of course, this tournament serves no other purpose than to select our Tang Family’s prodigies to be sent to study at the Divine Wind Academy. I imagine this is familiar to all! This tournament, like those before, will be completed over three days! The method remains drawing lots to decide opponents, though to ensure fairness, the rules have been slightly modified this time…”

This old man was the Tang Family’s Great Elder, a Nascent Soul Cultivator. Although Tang Jinbiao’s father, Tang Zhantian, was the Family Head, his Cultivation Level was merely at Core Formation. The true pillars of this family were these old figures.

The Great Elder took his time, slowly explaining the rules and details of this tournament. He kept talking for nearly a full half-hour before finally stopping.

The format this time involved drawing lots. However, for the sake of fairness, competitors were divided into several groups, each group consisting of practitioners within the same cultivation stage. Tang Jinbiao and the other Body Refining Cultivators seemed to be intentionally favored by the Elders; they were directly advanced to the next round, awaiting the matches scheduled for tomorrow.

Naturally, anyone participating in the tournament received a win recorded for every match they won. After the tournament concluded, besides the overall champion who directly secured one spot, the other two spots for entering the Divine Wind Academy would be given to the two individuals with the highest number of wins.

Furthermore, there was a reward proposed to encourage low-level cultivators to challenge those above them: If a Qi Condensation Fourth Layer Cultivator defeated a Qi Condensation Fifth Layer Cultivator, they would gain two wins. If they defeated a Qi Condensation Sixth Layer Cultivator, they would receive four wins. For defeating a Seventh Layer opponent, it would be eight wins – and so on. Each stage higher counted as two extra wins above the base win: Two stages higher counted as four extra wins, three stages higher as eight wins!

If a Qi Condensation Stage Cultivator could directly defeat a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator, they immediately secured a spot.

Once again, only three spots were available. With nearly two hundred people competing for these three spots, the intensity was foreseeable.

After listening to the Great Elder’s explanation, many people below the stage started buzzing, whispering and talking amongst themselves.

“Whew, not bad!”

Tang Jinbiao also breathed a faint sigh of relief. After all, he possessed no combat experience and had no clear gauge of the specific strength levels of those Cultivators. Being directly advanced without having to fight naturally felt like a stroke of luck.

“That’s terrible!”

“Damned!”

“Ah, it’s over, it’s over!”

However, the expressions on the other young youths told a different story. Their faces clouded over, showing dismay.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you happy about being directly advanced?” Tang Jinbiao was confused. Why were these lads sighing and moaning about getting an effortless benefit?

“Brother Biao! On the first day, the challenges are only between people of the same level! If we participated now, we’d only face other Qi Condensation Fourth Layer cultivators. Winning would be very easy— unless we encountered some freak, we could definitely rack up multiple wins. But by being directly advanced, we only get one win counted. Tomorrow, the opponents we face will certainly be much stronger than today’s. At that time…sigh… it seems Body Refiners just aren’t welcome!”

The youngster who had previously greeted Tang Jinbiao looked at him as if he were an alien. But after a moment, he could only sigh helplessly and speak melancholically.

“Sigh, Brother Hu is right, Brother Biao. We’ve been discarded, really!”

“Cough, I thought we weren’t being discarded. Seems like it was just wishful thinking, deceiving ourselves.”

“Ah, maybe we just shouldn’t show up tomorrow. There’s no point in coming just to humiliate ourselves.”

The other three youths began sighing one after another.

“What? So that’s how it is?” Tang Jinbiao paused momentarily. Upon careful reflection, recalling the rules the Great Elder had just announced, it was clear they were deliberately being sidelined. They weren’t the strongest in the first place. If they were eliminated after just one round, even if they somehow lasted until the final day, their total win count would likely be much lower than those who started competing on the first day.

Screw these old foxes!

Once Tang Jinbiao grasped this, he couldn’t help but shift his gaze towards the platform, settling it on the Great Elder and his fellow Elders, silently cursing them in his mind.

“Hehe, little Biao. Want to look mighty just once? Want to dominate the entire arena single-handedly? Want your little followers here to look up to you with blind admiration?”

Just at that moment, Huang Biaozi appeared again, as if by magic, his voice brimming with temptation.

“I wanna!”

Tang Jinbiao agreed instantly, without a second thought.

“Good, I’ll help you tomorrow. But once it’s done, you must learn the Way of Deception from me. I don’t have much time left!”

Huang Biaozi readily agreed too.

“Huh? What do you mean, not much time?”

Tang Jinbiao frowned slightly, not quite grasping Huang Biaozi’s words. However, he didn’t dwell on it and responded just as readily: “Alright, it’s settled!”

“Hey, Brother Biao, maybe we shouldn’t come tomorrow, to save ourselves the embarrassment.”

The young boy also seemed to think there was no hope. He had originally held onto a slim hope that Tang Jinbiao could carry the banner, but after hearing the rules of the competition, he felt ready to give up.

The other three boys wore identical expressions, deeply dejected. They were children abandoned by fate, born deficient, yet their harsh reality forced them to develop warped strengths.

Just like Tang Jinbiao’s other world – born losers, yet reality remained so cruel!

“No! Tomorrow, all four of you – not one can stay home! Brother Biao will let you see what true power really means! Brother Biao will smash everyone here! Everyone! Including those bigwigs above! They will all fall under my iron fists! I want them begging for mercy on their knees! I want them to learn how the word ‘wrong’ is written! I want them to feel regret!”

Remembering that such injustice was happening to him, Tang Jinbiao’s fighting spirit surged.

In his original world, he was a loser. Now, given a chance, he wouldn’t back down or admit defeat again!

“Brother Biao, but…”

“Brother Biao, aren’t you afraid even of Foundation Establishment Cultivators?”

“Brother Biao!”

The four youngsters seemed to catch a spark of hope once more, their eyes blazing as they looked at him.

“Relax! Who am I? I am Tang Jinbiao! I am your Brother Biao! Let Brother Biao tell you: Body Refining Cultivators are the strongest existence! I will make this world know – it’s Body Refiners who are the mightiest! Only Body Refiners can destroy worlds!”

Tang Jinbiao felt his resolve solidify. He looked seriously at the group and pledged solemnly.

Strangely, at this moment, though he was just a novice Body Refiner, he was filled with a breathtaking confidence. It felt as if he was already the peak cultivator standing atop the heavens and earth, the one who could shatter mountains and reverse seas with a flick of his wrist, the true supreme master who could command wind and rain at will!

“Brother Biao!”

“I believe! We believe!”

For reasons unknown, light sparked in the eyes of the four youngsters. They somehow believed it too – that Tang Jinbiao could do it, that he could knock down everyone present.

“Very well! Now that the competition details have been explained, the first group to compete will be those at the Qi Condensation Fourth Layer! All Qi Condensation Fourth Layer cultivators present, please approach the Platform Stage!”

Just as they were immersed in Tang Jinbiao’s vow, the Great Elder’s clear, resonant voice rang out once more.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The moment the Great Elder finished speaking, dozens of figures shot out from the audience, swiftly landing on the Platform Stage. There were at least forty or fifty of them, each brimming with vigor, heroic spirit, and a palpable surge of battle intent – radiating a thick, fierce fighting aura.

“Excellent, excellent! As the saying goes, heroes emerge from youth! This first match shall be fought by you!”

The Great Elder smiled as he saw the top-tier spirit and energy radiating from these young individuals.

“We thank the Great Elder!”

The forty-odd Qi Condensation Fourth Layer cultivators shouted, their battle intent high.

“Good! Draw lots!”

The Great Elder nodded in satisfaction, then waved his sleeve. With a bang, two wooden boxes – one white, one black – instantly appeared in the center of the empty Platform Stage.

The forty-odd cultivators immediately divided themselves into two teams, walking towards the boxes, each reaching in to pull out a slip of paper.

The process lasted roughly the time it takes to eat a meal. Once both sides had drawn their lots, they split into two groups and stood facing each other on opposite sides of the Platform Stage.

“Contestant number one, step forward! All other unrelated individuals must leave the stage immediately!”

The Great Elder waved his sleeve once more. A faint layer of restriction instantly rippled around the Platform Stage, leaving only the two cultivators who had drawn the number one slips within it.

The barrier served to shield spectators from the clash of battle. Though it appeared as just a faint layer woven of spiritual energy, it did not obstruct the view of the fight.

The other cultivators jumped down from the platform one by one, standing below it, silently awaiting the start of the battle.

“Loss is determined by surrendering or being the first to exit the barrier!”

The Great Elder himself had already returned to his position. Standing there, he spoke calmly.

“Your grandson understands!”

The two Qi Condensation Fourth Layer youths enclosed by the barrier responded loudly.

“Very well! Begin!”

The Great Elder, seeing they were both ready, proclaimed in a clear voice, announcing the start of the competition.

“My apologies!”

A flash of cold sharpness appeared in the eyes of the two figures within the barrier. They spoke simultaneously.

Bang!

The moment they finished speaking, as if by unspoken agreement, they both forcefully pushed off with both legs, not charging forward, but instead leaping backward…