Floating above the volcano was a large floating platform with multiple spiritual crystals embedded inside its smooth surface. Many figures stood emitting formidable auras in the center headed by a few older cultivators. Clearly they were the head of the families.
Dante V2s eagle let out a cry as it landed on the dock floating next to the spiritual island. The gorgeous eagle immediately drew people's attention as it landed, not only due to its cry but also the Spirit State pressure that it emitted.
Most people here weren't qualified to ride a Spirit State beast as a mount. They would be respected as the guardians of their various forces. So naturally now seeing one being used as a mount many of the forces' faces were pensive.
They didn't know who the opponent was. Whether it was some ancestor leading his family or if it was a prodigal heir coming to spectate the fun. But what they didn't expect was to see a young boy hop down followed by a teenage girl.
However before they could show their stupefied looks, five figures immediately followed behind the duo with dutiful looks on their faces, causing the surrounding family heads to feel like they had gone insane.
Four of the five had auras comparable to the peak of Spirit State, equivalent to the strongest under the Ancient will; the other was a confirmed Ancient Rank! Even for the forces here they can barely scrape together 4 Spirit States to accompany the Ancient Head of the Household.
But this child could organise five peak combat powers? Clearly his status isn't ordinary. And during this excitement many of the warriors completely forgot that there is still a Spirit State mount left behind by the boy.
Soon Dante V2 reached the sign in the area of the competition. Of course no one dares to make Ancients register, so it simply consists of picking up five wooden plaques shaped like small shields.
These represent your participation in the competition. And whoever is the head of the team receives a blue plaque containing the team number.
Dante V2s team was the last to arrive, and received the number 50. This means that there were only 50 teams in the competition. Of course many of these teams don't even have an Ancient Cultivator in charge.
From Dante V2s observation there are only around 9 Ancient Cultivators among the forces gathered here today. Naturally he felt no threat however. All of the forces could barely fill enough Spirit State Cultivators, where they would get the chance to have four peak Spirit States.
''Match up with your first competitors! Team 1 against team 50, team 2 against team 49 and so on.'' One of the Ancients announced to all of the contestants.
Dante V2s team was up against a Stage 5 Spirit State led team with the remaining 4 being in the early stages. Naturally there was no competition, it only took two Peak Spirit States to wipe out the enemy team.
An hour later the next round started. This time Dante was faced with an opposing Ancient. He was a bald old man with a buddhist scripture tattooed onto his hand. Dante's Ancient is in the middle stages while the old man was only in the early stages.
The battle was far from quick however, as the two ancients clashed with incredible power in the sky, the Spirit States battled below.
However that fight finished much quicker as Dantes four peak Spirit States crushed the opposing teams line up. They then started occasionally firing spiritual attacks towards the old man in the sky.
Faced with the bombardment of five powerful cultivators the old man couldn't hold on as he waved his hands in surrender before he was irreversibly injured.
The other Ancients saw this loss and slightly panicked. After all this Old man was tough competition for them, but now it was beaten so easily. But it couldn't change the competition, it was down to the top four teams after continuous elimination.
Dante V2s team, and three other heads of households. Typically the battle of Ancients wouldn't end this quickly, but naturally no one is using their strongest moves or hidden cards. After all a Spirit State egg is valuable, but it is not worth losing all of their moves and risking their life.
So as soon as an Ancient starts to fail they will typically surrender to avoid injuries that could affect their cultivation in the future.
''Team 50 against Team 22, Team 33 Against Team 7'' The referee called out the semi final matchups as Dante V2s team fought first.
His opponent this time was naturally much stronger than the last team. Led by a Young looking man, but the aura he was radiating was in the Mid Stages of Ancient! Naturally he was far from young, but as an Ancient it couldn't be easier to change back to your youthfulness.
Floating behind the Man was two peak Spirit States followed by 2 Strong Spirit States in the 6th and 7th stages of the Spirit State. It was a powerful line up for an Ancient Family but far from the top of course.
The battle quickly started as Dante V2s ancient cut out with a spiritual sword flashing a powerful green light towards the Man. Amplified from the sword, Man had faint sweat on his face as he pulled out a large blue shield to clash against the light.
Fighting continued as Dante V2 spectated it through his Chaos Eyes. After all Dante V2s cultivation is only the peak of Body Tempering, watching a battle of an Ancient is still beneficial for him in the future.
Watching powerful cultivators fight allows weaker cultivators to analyse the movement of spiritual energy outside their bodies and how they manipulate it to fight. But for Dante V2 it even allows him to see the movement of energy within their body and how they manipulate it.
The battle lasted an hour before the first Spirit State on the Man's team fell. And following the snowball effect more and more fell before the battle ended another hour later.