"I understand, we shall battle this out."
Garen accepted the challenge as he readied his projectiles which were sharp rays of energy with an irregular shape and changeable form.
"Thank you."
The senior replied as he drew out his weapon.
A broadsword with a flat tip and blunt edge which wasn't matching with his stature and demeanor, but when the senior held it in hand, his aura changed instantaneously.
"As expected of a Martial Lord, but will you be able to defeat a Martial Spirit like me whose strength is in the first ladder as well?"
Unwilling to back down without a fight, Garen initiated the fight as he sent four mystical projectiles which spun towards his opponent from four tricky angles.
"A law pertaining to projectiles? No wonder you were this confident against me."
The senior commented patiently as he got into position by backing away and leaping into the air, allowing him to destroy all four projectiles in a single spinning slash around himself.
Landing on the ground, the senior kicked off the ground with the tip of his sword facing the ground.
From the tip of his sword, a mass of sword energy gathered and a beam of released energy propelled him forward faster than Garen had expected which threw him off guard.
Damn it. Despite being put at a disadvantage, Garen was still able to react quickly with a counter as he manifested two more projectiles to form a shield which blocked the brunt of the attack, making use of the driving force from his opponent, he then landed some distance away.
Making use of the distance he had managed to gain for himself, Garen prepared all eight projectiles of his while drawing out his sword.
Dashing towards the senior who was currently persistent on the chase as well, his sword clashed against him.
As expected, he was sent sliding backwards, but this was fine because he had achieved his goal of merging all eight projectiles into one holy sword which descended from above.
"This is the end of the game."
Garen said before turning around to take his leave, confident that his opponent would be dead from that.
"Do you really think so?"
Shit! Knowing that there was no time for him to do anything, Garen turned around with his sword to parry the main force of the attack while swallowing a recovery elixir immediately.
Not only that, by absorbing all eight projectiles of his into his body, he managed to supplement himself with enough spirit energy to escape from his opponent whose body was drenched in blood.
"I'll spare your juniors and your life."
Garen assured before taking his leave, disappointed in himself for being unable to continue the battle with confidence, but this wasn't the time for any risks when the others still needed him and his navigation skills.
After Garen left, the senior's body collapsed onto the ground as his juniors rushed up to him and supported him up, even taking out the extremely precious recovery elixir their elders had given each of them for their senior.
After Garen took his leave, he returned to the fortress silently and returned to his own room without being noticed by the others. Sitting on his bed, he was recovering from the final blow until he vomited a mouthful of black blood.
"To think that he would actually resort to using poison in that last attack of his, if he had contained me there, I would already be dead."
Garen heaved a sigh of relief before contemplating his thoughts from that battle. He needed a way to gather vision without being noticed by others or he would be getting into battles constantly.
Hopefully this theory of mine works out this time. Garen hoped to himself as he summoned all eight projectiles of his, merging them together into the form of a bird.
This was a simple merging process which posed no difficulty to him, the problem only kicks in now.
He had to make use of this bird he created and gained vision through it, the eyes of this bird would be his eyes which allows him to gather vision without getting seen.
Even if the bird is killed by someone and he suffers a backlash from their attacks, it would take only him some time to recover before he can send this bird out again.
He had confidence that it would work out, but had always avoided trying it for even once because he wanted to save this method of his as a ace up his sleeve, but now was the perfect timing for him to make full use of it.
Just like this, he spent a few hours before he managed to succeed, sitting on his bed while closing the door to his room to avoid all distractions, he sent this bird around to scout and gather information for everyone.
It was already evening at this point of time, every cultivation force agreed on a truce without even discussion since any battles at this point of time might only give other cultivation forces the advantage to attack them after the major battle was over.
But in the dark, there were a few shadows wearing a black robe which covered their facial features, only their arms which were covered by black silk could be seen.
Their legs were covered by their long robes and black boots, even their faces were being covered by a black cloth with only their eyes visible to others.
Lurking in the cover of the night, they were travelling around with their daggers in hand, but even though they were fully covered from head to toe, others would be able to recognise them easily just because of this sneaky behaviour right now.
Without a doubt, these few people lurking in the dark were from the black cult, one of the evil forces which gained entry to the cultivation forces tournament after gaining authorization from the officials.
When the officials were questioned as to why this decision was made, their stand was clear with a valid reason no one could rebut.
"If you expect your disciples to treat this as a friendly competition, then you're free to pack your belongings and leave immediately. The Nebula Kingdom would not stop you from doing so, we have no need for cowards who can't even bring up the courage to face their enemies."
The moment they stepped out to explain their stand, the protests stopped immediately and this led to most of the participants in this dimension having a life saving item or token right now.
It wasn't just to defend themselves against the dangerous enemies from the evil cultivation forces, but also those on the side of righteousness as well.
But there was a problem, could the sects or cultivation forces just give the disciples the best they had to offer? The answer is no.
Even though a cultivation treasure or item for each disciple would be a price worth the effects, the best could only go to their core or seeded disciples who had more room and growth potential compared to the others.
The cultivation forces had to make a choice. One which might sadden the heart of other disciples.
As for the reason why these cultivators from the black cult were going to execute their given mission on just the first day, it was because only few will expect them to make a move this early on, not to mention that they have already chosen their few targets for the first night.
Even though the Black Cult was a Tiger Tier cultivation force, they didn't have the intention of garnering too much attention from the start, but neither were they going to make futile efforts, which was why they were going to start from the Wolf Tier cultivation forces.
As for the Nirvana Sect, it was one of their targets so that they can eliminate a potential force which might grow stronger during these three months.
Of course, the Paladin Haven was a threat they were going to eliminate as well, but that would have to wait because the elimination of the Paladin Haven will hit the headlines right away even if they attempt to hide this piece of news/
"Shadow one, Shadow two, Shadow three, when the time comes, we'll eliminate one of them first together before proceeding to take out the others silently."
The leader instructed as they entered stealth mode and crept their way to the fortress of the Nirvana Sect.
In the silence of the night, Lancelot was cultivating peacefully until he sensed slight disturbance in the air, but instead of understanding the situation, he remained cultivating without any reaction.
"Leader, he failed to notice us."
Shadow three gave the signal as they stabbed towards Lancelot while exiting from their stealth mode, only to realise that their bodies were paralysed by a sudden bolt of lightning.
"Do you think that I'll really let my guard down without any defensive preparations with the evil cultivation forces partaking in this competition?"
Lancelot smirked as he made use of this window of opportunity to eliminate the three lackeys while he stood face to face against the leader who was panicking.
"Sometimes it isn't a wise choice to give your opponent some time to react!"
The cult member bellowed in rage and disdain as he threw a black powder from his grasp towards Lancelot, only for Lancelot to already be standing behind him after the powder was thrown.
"This is my domain, every battle plan of yours here is nothing but mere child play in my eyes."
Without even giving the cult member the chance to say his last words, Ace ended his life by piercing his spear through the heart of the Black Cult member.