"Today we will hold the preliminary competition to determine the 32 finalists." The main judge yelled from the stage as the martial ground erupted in excited cheering.
Cheers*
"The rules for the preliminary are simple. The fighters will be divided and spread to the 8 stage. You will fight against one another to gain points. The 4 with the most points will be qualified to proceed to the finals. You may now go to your designated arena."
"Number 1, Min Jidan, to stage one."
"Oh wow, it's Jidan, the son of Song Min the village chief. He reached the finals last time and is already in the 4th stage of the Martial Realm with 14 years." A young native girl screamed out.
The players were shocked and confused. "How can this be. Isn't the junior tournament only for Martial Learner, how can he participate in this event?"
The discipline close to him puffed his chest up, proud to enlighten the oblivious resentful soul. "Of course, he can. One just needs to be at the Martial Learner stage when signing up. It seems to be that this will be his last time participating in this event. Min Jidan will definitely claim 1st place."
"Isn't this kind of unfair?" A 19-year old European asked somewhat shy about the fact that a teeny was stronger than him.
Another younger village girl chimed in. "I thought so as well when I watched my first tournament. My father explained to me later, that the village did not want to hinder and restrain our growth after signing up. So, the village decided on that rule. But it's also awesome to see stronger people fight."
The viewing players sighed in relief. Already planning to practice hard and only sign up when they were about to reach the realm of martial artists.
The dozen earthly participants got cold feet for a second, but stood their place when they heard, that 24th place already got a small price of some silver.
As for the prices above, that was answered by some daydreaming villagers.
"Last time even the 5th place was bestowed a 200-year-old blood bamboo. As for the 2nd and first, I heard they entered the second level of the library. Which is only allowed if you entered the last layer of Martial Artist."
"Hay, I want to go to the second level. The skills must be super awesome."
"Dude, you are drooling all over the place."
"So, do you."
"Number 213… um 213, stage 5." The supervisor had a wry smile on his face when he called out to Luo Si.
In the meantime, Luo Si had attentively watched the fighters, who walked to their respected stage beforehand and deduced that the splitting was not random. The strong were evenly spread on the 8 stages and so were the players.
Quiet the disadvantage for the players, but one needed to be strong either way to qualify for the finals.
"You again." Pi She stared at Luo Si. "You might have money, but that won't help you on stage."
"Princess Pi She seems to have a grudge with that girl. Don't worry my love. I will beat that person up for you." Pi She was only a daughter of a town's official, but everybody saw her as a gem, further flamming her ego.
"Me too." Pi She's fanbase spoke up for her.
"How burdensome." Luo Si could only role her eyes in front of this childish behavior.
"Alright. I will now call up the fighters." The judge designated to the 5th arena started the battles.
"Number 10 vs 77"
The first rounds started and ended quickly.
"Iron whip kick" The match was finished in one move when the 3rd stage discipline kicked at his opponent, who was only in the second stage.
"Number 10 wins."
Luo Si could tell from the referees' fast judgement that they were experienced fighters themselves.
"200 vs 213"
Luo Si walked up the stage.
Boom*
"Hah, I don't know who you are." Her opponent jumped on the stage, creating a small smoke cloud. "But you should not have provoked my love, Miss Pi She. Take my torch finger."
"Noisy." Without breaking a sweat Luo Si slid her arm over the other's attack and threw him over the shoulder after grabbing his sleeve. Like a garbage bag he was tossed ouside the ring.
"Number 213 wins."
"What the… "The participants surrounding the 5th stage broke out in a commotion.
Those who had fought her in a one-sided exchange of fists ogled her in dismay. They did not expect her to have such a drastically changed fighting style.
"This idiot is so useless. His opponent didn't even counter his attack. Does he want to sully Pi She's reputation?"
Her opponent was truly weak as he was only at the beginning of the 2nd Martial stage.
"5 vs 101"
"Hmph, finally my turn." Pi She walked past Luo Si and said," Let me show you real strength."
Her opponent was a girl dressed in bleached green clothes with a knife in her hand. Seeing that the adored flower of the Min village was her opponent made the green clothed girl hesitant.
"2 Petal Lotus Flame!" Min Pi She relentlessly struck forward.
"Kya!" The in green dressed girl had already shown a pale face when her opponent turned out to be Pi She and took in a defensive position seeing the latter strike. The defense was broken and the sleeves scorched.
"Number 5 wins."
"Do you now see the gap…!" Pi She threw a smirk in Luo Si's direction only to realize that the receiver wasn't even eyeing the stage.
Luo Si had her eyes on a different area.
'Flash needle.'
"Number 21 wins."
A young boy, holding a big needle that crackled with lightning sparks, had just defeated his opponent in an instant. His soulless eyes and unhesitant strikes had caught her attention.
"As expected of someone from the Shan village. I did not lose without reason." The defeated hardly stood back up
"This is not right. If the Shan village had not been destroyed, he would not even be able to participate in the Min villages tournament." A dissatisfied youngster said.
The judge interrupted. "Hey, it is forbidden to talk about it."
"So, he is a survivor of the annihilation advent." Luo Si recalled some told stories that were linked to the players origin.
Well, it was actually the beginner guide everyone had studied in and out like a lifesaving test in case of a restart. It also listed the important stuff like essential books and places as well as influential figures like the nobility and the prolog.
It was a battle between villages that ended in the destruction of 2. One of them being the Shan village. She did not know exactly what happened or why it broke out, because it became a taboo to talk about as it was not an appreciated event and was disrespectful towards the dead and survivors.
However, there were always poeple like Tsing Tao, who would spill the beans if not watched.
"Number 57 vs 213"
Luo Si broke out of her thoughts and made her way back on stage. Her opponent was stronger this time. He had broken through to the 3 stage a month ago.
"Don't think you can win me as easy as Min Lim. Mad bear chop!" The teenager confidently dashed towards her.
"I don't need an offensive move for someone like you. My Foundation Technique is more than enough."
She drove her Qigong and blocked the side chop halfway through and countered with a simple elbow strike with the same arm to the face.
Peng* Thud*
"Number 213 wins."
Luo Si walked of stage before the referee even called out.
"Arrogant. Only relying on Foundation moves. The fighters she met weren't even strong." Someone cursed out.
"Dude, she is a black horse thou. She has won all her battles effortlessly."
"She was just lucky. One cannot count her as a black horse."
The results of her fights didn't change this fact and she quickly gathered a 4 win-streak.
Her kin on the other hand was doing worse. Many battles were lost and only 2 to 3 people were doing alright.
"Number 5 vs 213"
"I guess I have to do things myself." An annoyed voice reached Luo Si's ear.