After eating Chen Kai, Shallot and Callion walked to the Empire main square, the amount of excitement that people were showing was amazing, in Chen Kai's eyes it was even more outstanding than the tournaments that the Chen clan held so he was grinning on the way there, while Callion and Shallot doesn't care
After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at the main square which was completely modified for the tournament with very high stages around and multiple stone platforms that could easily be two meters high and be so long racing the 50 meters
Approaching there, the people begin to be divided into two groups, those who were there to look at the fights and those who were to fight. The guards in charge of that were plenty, and they could be cultivators at the Spirit Ocean Transformation state, these guards must be at every entrance to the main square
Chen Kai, Callion, and Shallot walked calmly towards what could be the southern entrance of the main square then when they were close to it a guard looked at them with a judging look, and a flashlight of disdain passed through his eyes when he judged the looks of the trio, but then he says with a calm voice " Welcome, to the annual tournament, are you going to watch the combat or are you going to participate? "
Shallot looks at him with a bored expression as he says " These two brats, will participate, I'm their master "
The guard's eyes land on Callion and Chen Kai, then he says " If that is the case, you two need to show me your golden tickets "
Chen Kai raised his hand showing the guard his golden ticket, Callion did the same thing, but he was quite annoyed by these procedures
" Alright, you two and your master can pass, the combats won't be held today, the Emperor will give a speech about the reason why, but there will be a show after, you are free to leave after the emperor leaves " The guard said as he pointed at the entrance
The trio began to walk towards the platforms and Callion says " What kind of crap is this, then why are we here if we won't fight? "
" It's simple if you think carefully, they weren't prepared to see so many participants, so the system they had prepared for the tournament is useless all because of the Emperor's greediness " Shallot answered with a mocking grin
Callion shakes his head and says " Idiots "
' This tournament is very well known for the number of powerful sects that participate in it, the previous tournaments never opened their gates to the smaller sects, it should be obvious that this will happen when you do it, after all, if by any chance a member of those small sects passes over a big sect, they will attract future new members ' Chen Kai thought making a serious expression then his eyes begin to scan the nearby sect members, all of them were different, women, men, with strong or thin complexions and with weapons or without them
Then he felt a group of familiar energies, and he saw Lang Lin, Teacher Shen, Yuan Ning, and Wuhan standing next to the platform they seemed to have noticed Chen Kai too because Yuan Ning and Lang Lin waved their hand at him while Teacher Shen smiled at which Chen Kai nodded and smiled
Suddenly from the balcony of the only building between the north stages, a middle-aged man walked to the edge, making everyone present stay silent " Greetings and welcome to the annual tournament!! " The man was none other than the Emperor said with a powerful voice making the crowd yell with happiness then he continued " This year we have numerous participants, more than any other year before the Heavenly war, we all must be proud of that!! "
The crowd yelled again, then the Emperor continued " So many outstanding young women and men came here, as the Emperor, I'm proud to see this!! "
" They are just trash " Said Callion seeing all the surrounding participants with disdain
Shallot noticed that some people heard Callion's remark and saw him with angered looks at that sight he just grinned saying " You never know, maybe something will make this interesting "
" Ha! " Callion snorted at his comment and said with a grin " I doubt it " Callion said making a cold grin as he scanned the crowd around him then he noticed a young man he was very familiar with, the one who handed him to the guards the one they called young master Zhong then a cruel smile begins to grow in his face
The Emperor continued his speech while Chen Kai just observed the balcony where the Emperor was, he seemed surprised by the familiar energy coming from there ' Ying Jie is there? But why? ' He knew that Ying Jie was in the Empire, but he never thought that she would be with the Imperial family
Suddenly Shallot spoke without turning around to see him " Let's see if you keep your stupid behavior after what you will see "
Chen Kai turned to see him with a confused expression not knowing what Shallot was talking about while Callion smirked mockingly at his reaction and thought ' Wasting time as always, really pathetic '
Chen Kai kept looking at the balcony with a serious, yet anxious expression as the Emperor reached the last part of his speech " Now, this year we will need to have a preliminary battle to gather only the best of the best until only 28 remain, some of the major sects have been exempt from that battle, I'm sorry for that, but it's the only way, besides this year only one member of the Imperial family will participate and that is my fifth son, Wan Jun! " Then a young man comes out accompanied by a gorgeous young silver-haired woman. As they walked to the edge of the balcony the crowd cheered, what's more, they looked very close to one another since the young man walked with his left arm around the young woman's waist, The young man was smiling as he greeted the crowd, but the young woman was making an apathetic face not moving an inch from his side
At that sight, Chen Kai was speechless, unable to process what he was seeing. Shallot sees him from the corner of his eye and shakes his head slightly keeping a straight face then the Emperor speaks again " This year Princess Yue won't participate despite her great improvement in her cultivation, but that won't be the best for anyone who wants to pass cleanly, anyway I wish you all good luck in the tournament that will happen in two days from now in the meantime enjoy your stay! " The Emperor leaves, leaving the couple behind as the crowd begins to cheer them, while some watch Wan Jun with envy at how gorgeous Ying Yue was
" That's Prince Wan Jun's wife? I heard she was beautiful, but it seems that rumors don't make her justice she is more than beautiful " Said a Young cultivator
" I wish I had the chance with her, sadly she is married to Prince Wan Jun already " Another young man said with envy
" Yeah sure, you can't compete with him at all my friend haha " A tall young man answered mockingly
" What? " Whispered Chen Kai with a shocked expression hearing the comments from those around him, then Wan Jun pulled Ying Yue into his embrace and gave her a long passionate kiss making Chen Kai open his eyes even wider " No... no way "
Shallot sees Chen Kai with a calm expression not uttering a single word but then Callion says mockingly " She seems to be very much in love with you, don't you think, hahaha "
Chen Kai was feeling great pain already and now by Callion's comment he was furious, he grits his teeth and clenched his fists then he turned to see Callion who was still smiling at him mockingly, and *PUM* he hit Callion in the left cheek with all of his strength
The surrounding crowd heard the punch and turned to see them with surprise, Even Shallot turned to see them but unlike the others, he turned to see them with an indifferent expression, not caring at all if they were fighting
" What? Are they fighting? Such a disrespect to the prince " Said a young cultivator with visible annoyance
" They weren't from the same sect? Why are they fighting? And why their master isn't stopping them? " Said the veiled young woman with doubt
Callion moved his head slightly at Chen Kai's punch, but he didn't look hurt in the slightest " Hmph " he snorted and began to grin wickedly, then with a scornful voice and clenched fists he said " Is that supposed to be an attack? " Chen Kai was startled when suddenly *SWOOSH* *PUM* in a flash Callion hits Chen Kai with a hook right in the stomach " Ugh... " The impact was so powerful that raised Chen Kai from the ground a few centimeters, the whole place heard the hit including the prince, and Ying Yue who turned to see their location with surprised and confused expressions
Chen Kai falls to his knees grabbing his stomach with both hands and making a face filled with pain, his face finally hits the ground unable to even stay kneeling because of the amount of pain and lack of air he was going through
Callion makes a mocking smile and says " What's wrong? It isn't even my full strength "
Shallot frowns seeing Chen Kai, then he turns to see in front of him again ignoring both of them again
" What a powerful punch, What kind of body cultivation technique is he practicing? " A tall, muscular young man said with wonder
Wan Jun turned to see that and ignored them then he pulled Ying Yue away who looked calm, but as they walked away she couldn't help but see the young man on the ground one more time for a strange reason
Chen Kai tried to raise his head after he recovered a little bit, but just raising it took a lot of effort ' Why...? ' He thought with frustration, and finally, he raised his head high enough to see Callion seeing him with a cold grin ' Why is he so powerful? Shouldn't we have the same strength? ' His eyes move to see Shallot's back who was still ignoring both of them ' It's because of our starting points? Or is his talent better than mine? '
Chen Kai tried to find a reason for the difference in their strength but the more he thought about it the more frustrated he felt, the problem was that despite the countless possibilities he had thought of, he never thought of the real reason and Shallot knew it even Callion knew it, but Chen Kai will never be able to see it because it was blinded by it
Suddenly Shallot turns around and says coldly " Get up, we have to leave " Then he walks away calling the attention of various people who see him with different emotions and comments begin to rise " There is always thrash like that in every sect " " Why is he here? He is so weak " and " If I were him, I would rather commit suicide than live with this humiliation "
Callion sees Chen Kai one last time with a mocking grin then he leaves after Shallot, leaving Chen Kai on the ground still suffering from the pain
" Agh... " Chen Kai struggles to get up, then after a few seconds more he stands and leaves
Unknowingly to him, Lang Lin, Teacher Shen, Yuan Ning, and even Wuhan tried to approach him after what they had witnessed, but he left before they could even get close to him
" Is he going to be alright? " Asked Lang Lin with worry
Teacher Shen makes a serious expression saying " We can't be sure, he didn't look too well, now I understand why he never wanted to disclose anything about his sect "
" What do you mean, Teacher Shen? He stood up after that attack, he looked fine to me " Wuhan said with a smiling face
" Teacher Shen wasn't talking about that you idiot " Said Yuan Ning with an annoyed expression
Wuhan turned to see her with a frowning expression and said " Then what is he talking about? "
Yuan Ning makes a teasing smile as she says " I thought you didn't care what happened to him, so why do you ask? "
Wuhan opens his eyes wide and says " It's only for Sister Lin's sake, I don't care about him "
As they were discussing that, Teacher Shen looked in the direction where Chen Kai disappeared and wondered ' The kid didn't look emotionally well, even I could notice that he was deeply hurt by something else that that punchy, just what hurt him that much? '
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That night, in the east side forest of the Empire
Chen Kai stood there, motionless looking almost lifeless while tears fell from his eyes looking at his hands he was slowly losing his will to continue, his parents never come back, and his lover had already forgotten him she even married, all the things for what he has been fighting vanished so why he should continue
Chen Kai's thoughts were so dark that even he contemplated ending his life right there, but suddenly a voice behind him said " Are you going to throw away your life just like that? " Then he turned to see the one who spoke to him