Zhao Yao guessed it right.
After confirming he was inside his house, Zhao Ping's lackeys surrounded his house from the night onwards to prevent him from going out.
Zhao Yao wasn't sure of their exact plan, but he didn't care.
Immortal Lu put them in a trance and teleported Zhao Yao.
'Teleporting was the best thing ever, although it will give a slight headache.' Opening your eyes to see that you are in a new place was amazing.
Zhao Yao had to go back to the clan and hid in the crowd to wait for the 'right moment' without getting caught.
For that, he needed a disguise.
Looking at his Master, who could grow a beard in a second, Zhao Yao wanted to ask him to make a fake beard. But his Master had a better plan.
He gave him an entirely new look temporarily, that too of a real clan member who wasn't going to the contest.
"This won't go off in the middle, right?" Zhao Yao tried to confirm.
"No, when you want to change back to your original appearance, just wish that to my soul sense." Master Lu explained.
There was nothing his Master's soul sense could do. Zhao Yao wished his own soul to be like that one day.
They parted ways.
Zhao Yao headed towards the clan's Selection Contest to pick candidates for FuXi province's Martial Competition.
***************
Zhao Yao underestimated the vastness of the Ancient Zhao clan. The clan was a city by all means. It had a self-sustaining economy, rules, army, and a government.
The selection contest conducted in the central area of the clan had an air of a festival.
Tens of thousands of people gathered with families and kids to enjoy the day.
Clan owned shops and private-owned shops enjoyed the gathering to reek in profit from their own blood-related family.
Piercing through the crowd to reach the contest arena took him hours, and the contest had already begun by that time.
The Martial Competition for the young was conducted Nationwide every three years for anyone below the age of 20. Each province conducts its competition and sent the winners to compete in the National level competition at Xianyang, the capital of the Zhaozheng Kingdom.
Prominent clans like the Ancient Zhao clan get their quota qualifications for the province contest, and the current Selection contest was to pick clan members to fill that quota.
"Zhao Fang's barrage of fists had decimated his opponent. Another victory for Zhao Fang."
Some Elder made the announcement and commentary from a tower.
The arena was a raised platform. The crowd stood below the platform. There was a large buffer area between the arena and the crowd, maintained by the clan guards.
Like the Eath's stadiums, there was a raised sitting area located distantly from the arena. Zhao Yao believed it's for the cultivators who could see from a long distance. There were high towers and pavilions near the sitting area, where the elders and important guests sat.
If Uncle Su was here, then he must in the central Pavilion with the Zhao Clan leader. Zhao Yao got frustrated because he couldn't see anything from where he stood.
He asked subtly around about the guests and got confirmation that the Su Clan Leader was here.
'I am already getting a bad feeling.' Zhao Yao underestimated a lot of things. He had written hundreds of arena fights and tournaments, but they couldn't compare to what the real one made him feel.
Noises, a lot of noise.
People aren't like the dumb NPCs he wrote in his stories, screaming in unison and maintaining silence during important moments.
Zhao Yao planned to interfere with his voice, but the sea of crowd talking made him afraid of getting sunk in it.
The size was another issue because he didn't expect to see a large cultivator friendly arena. This arena was just made for far-seeing and far hearing cultivators, not low-level newbs like him.
'Will I succeed?' Thoughts of failing made his heartbeat rise.
He was wearing a big robe over him, which made him feel hot. Zhao Yao did this to cover his father's dress he was wearing inside. While his Master was doing the tasks he requested, Zhao Yao was adjusting his father's colorful cultivator robe to wear for today.
His stomach growled because he didn't eat anything from yesterday.
Zhao Yao chose not to eat because hunger strives him. It made him work hard, and to focus on his goal. Like it always had.
'I wrote stories about heroes, but what's preventing me from becoming one?'
Zhao Yao looked at the arena.
Teenagers exchanging fists didn't excite him, he felt it boring to watch.
"Young Master Zhao Ping had defeated his opponent once again."
Zhao Yao heard the announcer speak. Without even seeing from his distance, Zhao Yao could tell the cousin of his had a smile. A smile Zhao Yao wanted to wipe out of that face.
'What are you afraid of, Zhao Yao?' He asked himself.
'What do I have to lose?' He had nothing to lose. If he got scared by something simple as this, how can he achieve anything Legendary in the future?
'This is just a beginning. I always faced failures with a smile, and I can do that here too. I wanted to create the Biggest story of my life, and I am not alone this time.'
A smile blossomed in him, and Zhao Yao became more confident than ever. He had his quirky Master guarding his back after all.
Zhao Yao slowly moved to the front row of the audience.
"This match ends in a tie."
The announcer's voice echoed.
If his Master helps him get a sound as loud as this, then he could do it. He had a lie already made to defend that.
Even from the front row, Zhao Yao couldn't watch the match in detail.
The competition was old-style winners challenge each other. The losers can have one more challenge where they have to win to continue their challenge.
"Next up, we have Zhao Fang vs Young Master Zhao Ping."
This match up made Zhao Yao interested because both are at the same cultivation realm. Zhao Ping had broken through to the 9th realm of Qi Gathering in such a short time.
'Damn cliche, clan resources.'
The match ended very fast with Zhao Ping's victory.
'Master, can you see this? This is what superior cultivation manuals and skills do to cultivators in the same realm.'
The Selection contest was for everyone below 20 years of age. The 16-year-old, Zhao Ping, winning over 19-year-old, Zhao Fang, was like screaming this lad was a genius.
Zhao Yao watched Zhao Ping like a tiger waiting to pounce on its prey.
The Selection contest had begun, but it will be Zhao Yao, who decides how it will ends.