Time passes in the blink of an eye. The night before the competition day, everyone had already returned to the Spring Breeze Inn except for Lancelot.
Everyone's cultivation improved by leaps and bounds, their cultivation heart more stable than before as they stand united.
Among all of the disciples present, Alexander was the one who made the greatest improvement as he stepped into the Great Martial Master completion stage and even gained more control over the Azure Dragon energy.
"Did Lancelot contact any of you?"
That was the first question Cidd asked despite his contented smile after seeing everyone's improvement.
Most importantly, was the fact that he was almost in the Martial Lord realm, all he needs now is time and his cultivation will make another breakthrough without much effort through his strong and stable foundation.
"Nope, I have been in the northern plains to cultivate for the past month."
Alexander was the first to reply whereas the others revealed their whereabouts for the past month as well.
"Could it be that Lancelot is currently trying to make his final breakthrough despite knowing that time's also up?"
"Elder Cidd, can you repeat yourself?"
Garen who didn't hear Cidd's mumbling asked again, only to be smacked in the head from behind by Alexander.
"That's not something you should be concerned about, you idiot. The problem now is where Lancelot is."
"All of you should return to your rooms and rest first, Lancelot should know the time constraint that he's racing against right now."
Cidd dismissed everyone upon considering that there was nothing they could do right now.
They had to trust Lancelot and his time management.
*Volt mountains*
Standing at the summit of the mountain was a youth who was wielding a spear, immersing himself in the state of sudden enlightenment as he swung his spear around.
The ground beneath him was shattering and repairing itself constantly, the air was crackling from the intense voltage of his spear as his cultivation soared rapidly.
Just a little more. Just the final bit. Just the final push!
Lancelot motivated himself as he stabbed his spear into the ground with all his strength, spirit energy manifesting behind his back.
His spirit energy took on the form of a dragon made from lightning, imprinted on the body of the dragon was his spear.
From now on, Lancelot was a Martial Spirit that possessed the strength to make a grand return.
But when he raised his head and saw the morning sun greeting him, he cursed and descended the mountain immediately, rushing towards the competition venue where everyone is at.
*Gathering courtyard*
All the cultivation forces were gathered here at the moment, all waiting to enter the portal which would lead them to the other dimension.
In there, killing others was part of the rules as well. Those who fall in battle will have their points transferred to the cultivator who defeated them or took their lives.
To obtain points, there were only three ways.
The first was to defeat others.
The second was to find any rare treasures or items marked with a lotus which would count towards their total points while being allowed to keep them.
The third was to find one token which was worth a thousand points.
Finding the token was the easiest way to achieve a high ranking, but the cultivator that possesses the token would have their positions revealed every hour until the end of the competition.
The rules were harsh and might result in a large number of casualties and even the fall of geniuses in the first ladder, but this was the purpose of the rules.
While geniuses can step into the first ladder, being able to secure their position from those beneath them and those demons who have already risen above the ladder.
If they can't even achieve this, then on what basis should they hold the title of genius?
With Alexander being the core of their team, the disciples of the Nirvana Sect gathered together as they formulated a game plan.
Their initial plan would be searching for any cultivation resources that were of a certain value at the very least.
But if any other cultivators from other cultivation forces were to pick a fight with them, then they wouldn't back out as well.
"Alexander, are we just going to enter without Lancelot who's fooling around somewhere?"
Garen inquired as he readied himself for the upcoming battleground. It was the survival of the fittest and the very least they could do was stay united.
Alexander raised his brows in surprise, but played along with the flow when he saw the cheeky smile on Lancelot's face for the first time ever since he met him.
"We have no other choice, do we?" Alexander shrugged his shoulders helplessly.
"Or do we have a choice?"
"We would have a choice if you were here."
Garen replied on behalf of Alexander, only to notice that all eyes were on him as he turned towards the direction of the voice, only to see a familiar smile spectating him.
"Um...um...senior Lancelot, how long have you been here for?"
"I just arrived after playing around for the past month and managed to step into the Martial Spirit realm while having fun."
Lancelot nodded his head seriously and explained, giving Garen a pat on the shoulder, encouraging him as he released his cultivation aura.
Max and Ruby broke out in laughter as they looked into each other's eyes, garnering jealousy from their seniors and juniors.
"Stop flirting in public already, will ya?" Luke asked in a weird manner which made everyone break out in laughter.
Well, at least it was better than him being unable to communicate without feeling nervous. The others comforted themselves with this reason.
Ray on the other hand was playing with a glove which Arith had invented for him, it wouldn't help in combat situations, but it had quite a few practical uses which might be useful when the time comes.
"Now that all of the cultivation forces have gathered at the main court, I hereby announce that the portal which leads to the competition area will now be opened, but before the competition starts, let me announce a new set of rules."
"In order to promote competition between the younger generation, a new set of competition rules has been issued."
"There will be eight fortresses in the dimension that you'll be transported to, for each day that the fortress is occupied, the cultivation force that occupies it will gain hundred points until they lose commandment of the fortress."
"As for the further details and hidden rules, they'll be revealed gradually throughout the long period of the competition."
"Without further ado, I hereby announce the start of the competition."
The cultivation forces leaders spent the last few minutes instructing their disciples on the course of action to take while passing them some treasures that might save their lives when the time comes.
As for the disciples of the Nirvana Sect, even though their sect master wasn't present to send them off, they felt confident enough with the same living item which Arith had made for them through an entire month of research and effort.
Of course, the alliance which was prepared to make a move towards the Nirvana Sect were gathered together as well, they were going to make use of their advantage in numbers after reuniting with the Magic Castle to eliminate the Nirvana Sect.
Lancelot could sense the hostile intent from them, but he paid no heed to them as he held his spear confidently. With that final breakthrough he made, he was sure that even if there was someone he couldn't defeat, protecting everyone should be possible with his strength.
"Lancelot, we might have to locate the fortress quickly enough and expand our search from there, it might be the only way to get ahead in this competition."
"I agree, to make matters worse, the Nebula Kingdom organising community have yet to reveal the reason behind the competition points which were going to be accumulated in these three months."
Lancelot nodded his head in agreement as he mapped out a plan in mind, only to eliminate them since he was unsure of the terrain that they were going to be in.
"Senior Lancelot, if you trust me, please allow me to lead the way." Garen volunteered as he stepped out and held a map in hand.
"Garen, I'm trusting you on this."
Lancelot wasn't trusting his junior blindly, but because he had confidence that Garen was taking up this role because he was sure of the duties he had to fulfill.
"Don't worry about it senior Lancelot, over the past month, I spent most of my time reading up on general knowledge besides cultivating, unless we get transported to some foreign terrain which is not recorded in the records, I should be able to navigate our way safely."
Garen patted his chest and assured as the portal which they were supposed to enter through fully activated.
"Elder Cidd, elder Clarissa, elder Jay, we'll be going ahead with the competition."
Lancelot waved his goodbye as the rest said farewell through their own methods as well.
"Wait a moment, each of you take a bottle of elixir before leaving, it might come in useful." Clarissa called out as she sent a bottle of elixir into everyone's hand.
"There's four of this elixir in each bottle and each of them will be able to help all of you recover from your injuries rapidly once consumed."
"All of you don't forget about the life saving item I forged for all of you as well, even if it gets destroyed, don't fret about it because I would have come up with a modified and improved design by that point of time."
Arith reminded them despite the pain in his heart when he told them that it was fine for his creation to be destroyed.
But it would be worth it because he viewed them just like his own children.
"If only they're my children…" Arith mumbled out loud.
"May the two of you have a child soon then, cya elders!"
Ray shouted out in amusement before pulling everyone with him into the portal as Jay stood there speechless.
"They didn't even give me the chance to say goodbye before leaving."