The remaining sect masters that were the strongest excluding the current six that have claimed a throne, stared at Ace with hostility in their eyes. Their domineering cultivation aura of theirs swarming around Ace who showed no signs of giving up the throne.
Ace was young, too young to be a sect master. Even if he has the cultivation talent to surpass them in the future, that would not happen anytime soon. Not only that, Ace's cultivation base was definitely in the early stages of the Martial Lord Realm, wasn't that too weak to compete against them?
If Ace had concealed his strength and waited until the next annual cultivation forces tournament, then the current sect masters and cultivation leaders might fear him. But right now, he was only a cub that was up against a pack of ferocious wolves.
"Young boy, which sect are you from? You should know your own limits and give up the throne right now." One of the sect masters who was one of the contenders for the last of the eight thrones questioned Ace intending to claim the throne for himself.
But how could he be the only one who has set his eyes on the final throne left? All of them may be experts in the Martial King Realm, ranging from the Martial Lord seventh realm to the Martial Lord ninth realm, but there wasn't a significant difference between their strength, which resulted in this stalemate.
If this was the Divine Realm, then the cultivation of one's law might decide the cultivation leader who deserves the throne. But in the Fragmented Cultivation World, that wasn't the case with the cultivation of laws being neglected by most cultivators.
"If you want the throne, then claim it." Ace stood up and gave the sect master that threatened him a smile, his fist clenched as he punched towards the abdomen of the sect master who barely avoided it at the last second.
Ace allowed his killing intent to befall upon everyone contending for the throne he has claimed, controlling it such that no one else was involved, but it was this action of his that made the Absolute Sword Sect Master and the Moonlight Cult Leader treat him as a dangerous opponent.
The sect master who barely avoided the attack could be seen backing off, the speed of Ace's punch might have been a far cry from coming into contact with him, but the searing pain on his abdomen was proof of the scorching heat that transmitted towards him towards the air.
The danger of the attack was concealed, but well within control to make him back off without the courage to retaliate against Ace. This sect master was well aware of the situation and retreated outside the zone immediately without explaining himself, leaving the others to contend for this throne.
"It seems that you're confident of your strength." One of the cultivation leaders approached Ace with a spear in his hand. This man was the leader of the Ravenous Hunters, a Tiger Tier cultivation force that is rumoured to be related to the Dragon Tier cultivation force, the Elemental Palace.
The moment he revealed his intention of claiming the throne, everyone present backed off immediately.
"All of you, get off the competition area for this throne right now." The leader of the Ravenous Hunters demanded, his domineering aura sending those who were being uncooperative off the stage.
The sect masters and cultivation leaders present backed off immediately, retreating outside of the competition area even though it meant that they would lose their qualifications to contest for this throne.
The leader of the Ravenous Hunters was known as Brandon and even though he's still considered young as a Martial King Realm cultivator in his thirties, no one dared to challenge him, not to mention meeting him in the eye and going against his wishes.
Ten years ago, when Brandon was only around twenty years of age, he killed the sect master of a Tiger Tier Sect, resulting in that sect plummeting into the Wolf Tier and soon being destroyed by their enemies.
But the reason they fear him wasn't because of just this. That sect master back then might wasn't the strongest, but he was an experienced senior that was in the Martial King seventh realm. In terms of combat strength, he might even be comparable to a Martial King eighth realm expert, yet Brandon took his life with just one fist without even using his spear.
After that day, Brandon rarely made an appearance, but every time he did, it meant the death of a Martial King realm cultivator, as for whether any Martial Emperor died to his spear, it was a mystery. The reason was simple, he has never made use of his spear up till now.
When the various sects and cultivation forces tried to investigate his background, their scouts would always vanish and regardless of their strength, none of them ever returned. Not even the Martial Emperors did, it was as though they vanished.
But one thing for sure was that all of them were still alive, this could be deduced from that fact that the life crystal tied to their life force was still glowing. Not only that, the glow was only growing more intense with each passing day, those who never returned were growing stronger, including the Martial Emperors that have already reached their peak.
From that day on, all cultivators avoided the Ravenous Hunters who did things the righteous way. All purchases were done at market price, all resources were obtained through fair means, all members that committed sins were convicted guilty and punished severely.
The Ravenous Hunters made it impossible for any cultivation force or sect to attack them with any reasons, which was the advantage they exploited to develop peacefully at a rapid pace.
But this only made everyone curious. On what qualifications does Ace have for Brandon to chase all of them off the competition area just for him, were they probably related in some ways?
"Young master, I have finally found you," Brandon said with tears in his eyes, the token he was holding in his hands falling onto the ground as it shattered into pieces.
This was proof of Ace's identity, he was without a doubt, the young master of the Gale Family, but what he doesn't know is that everyone in the Gale family he knows of was nothing more than a clone, with the headquarters being based in the Divine Realm.
As for Brandon, he was sent down by Wisteria, Ace's father who was the family head of the Gale family even in the Divine Realm. His father was also the only Mystic Sage cultivator of the Gale family.
The various sect masters and cultivation leaders opened their months, surprised by this sudden truth. Just what was this youth's identity? Brandon, who no one dared to offend just addressed someone as his young master.
If they weren't seeing this with their very own eyes and hearing the truth with their very own ears, never would they have believed that such a situation was actually taking place before their eyes.
"Young master?" Ace asked in return, but when he saw the token, which had shattered into pieces and the object that was formed, his body shook violently.
The object was a wooden sword that could be described as small, it was the gift his father gave him on the day he turned three years old. And only one person in this world would keep the wooden sword with him, that person was his father.
"Is my father still alive?" Ace asked immediately upon figuring this out, his hands grabbing Brandon by the collar of his robe, agitation and hope could be seen in his eyes.
"Young master, everyone who's a part of the Gale family is alive, that is something you can rest assured of," Brandon replied calmly as though Ace's reaction was to be expected before he pulled some distance from Ace.
Ace looked towards the ground, a mixture of emotions tumbling in his mind, there was joy, confusion, disappointment and anger, but most importantly was the relief that his loved ones were alive and he wasn't alone.
"When can I meet them?" Ace immediately asked after regaining his composure. The speed at which he managed to sort out his thoughts gained the approval of Brandon who nodded his head subconsciously as he answered, "That won't happen anytime soon. The family head has orders that you can only meet him after proving yourself in the Divine Realm."
Ace shrugged his shoulders in disappointment as he nodded his head and replied, "I understand, for now, just continue to develop the Ravenous Hunters and when the time comes, I'll request assistance from you."
Ace gave his first order to Brandon who accepted it before retreating outside the competition area considering that no one else present could contest against Ace for the throne.
"Young Master, rest assured that the leader of the Ravenous Hunters would never let you down."
Just like this, Ace claimed the throne for himself without going through a tough battle while gaining the protection of Brandon to keep his disciples safe when the time comes.
The other sect masters and cultivation leaders that claimed a throne for themselves have forgotten their rivals because all of them have the same opponent they have to deal with right now, that opponent was Ace.
To be more precise, it would be a battle between their disciples and with this, the announcer commenced the start of the group stage tournament.