Over the days on the blue planet apart from rumors of the Earthborn Organization's upcoming academy and a selection to follow, the next most popular news was that of the Glazed Coliseum's one a year special event.
It was special in the sense that sects and esteemed traveling personages could come to the coliseum on that day and pick an outstanding fighter for their sects or as a disciple with the limit of 5 cultivators by a sect and 2 for an esteemed traveling personage.
Of course, the offer was only available for the top-notch sects and personalities and in cases when a fighter was sought after by more than one person, an auction of sorts would be held over the fighter.
Yes, the winner takes all as the strength of your purse also is part of your strength.
On the day of the event various ornate carriages, ships, enormous flying swords and beasts could be seen traversing towards the Glazed Coliseum.
Various cultivators could be seen bickering as they journeyed with some even initiating fights, it was a joyful occasion for the spectators but a terrifying day for the fighters as they would have to engage in mortal combat to survive and be chosen as a sect's champion.
The coliseum itself was adorned in its full glory, festooned with laurels and several other adornments.
In the dungeons where the cultivators who were to fight were kept, each of them was receiving a makeover and a choice of weapons.
In Ryu's room, a masked man could be seen talking to him.
"So you choose Ryu as your stage name, right?"
"Yes"
"Weapon of choice"
"A sword"
"Alright then put this necklace on, it'll restrict your Mekra flow to a bare minimum, you guys will be fighting with the smallest amount of Mekra you can muster, the audience demands an entertaining fight, well I have other people to attend to"
"Dress up in your battle gear, when it's time you'll be teleported to the stage".
An hour later, the coliseum was filled to the brim, both normal seats and VIP rooms were fully occupied. A barrage of fireworks went off as a man dressed in formal attire suddenly appeared in the middle of the grand stage.
The crowd yelled excitedly as the man bowed to the crowd. He straightened himself up and began addressing the crowd.
"Welcome to another Glazed Coliseum special, we all know the rules but I'll go through them again just in case, I'm known as the Arena Master and I shall be the administrator for this event"
"We have 5000 rouge cultivators here and only 1000 will make it to the second round of this tournament, the first round will be a battle royale, in the second round we'll have 1000 cultivators separates into 10 groups, they will fight each other in 10 rounds at the end of which the top 10 from each group will make it to the third round" He paused for a while and continued.
"In the third round which is a luck based round, each participant will be required to pick a piece of paper out of a bowl, only 20 will pick the piece that allows them to advance, in the fourth round, the participants got through an obstacle course from which only five will be chosen, the five will battle with them and the three with the highest wins will duke it out in the finals. Killing is allowed, and with that I declare the games open".
The crowd yelled with great fervor and passion even as people flooded in and out of the betting hub attached to a part of the Coliseum.
All of a sudden, the stage was covered with smoke while virtual screens popped up in front of the spectators showing the words "Here come the contestants". The crowd yelled wildly at this.
The smoke cleared from the stage all of sudden leaving behind the 5000 participants fully decked in armor reminiscent of ancient gladiators.
The administrator cleared his voice and as the crowd reduced their voices, she began speaking.
"Contestants, this is the first round and the rules are simple. Each of you had requested for a specific weapon earlier, that weapon will be given to you now and all you have to do is to survive in the arena till only 1000 of you remain conscious. As always killing is allowing, the victory of Ascendency goes to the strong, the weak shall die like squashed ants"
"Round 1, commence", the audience yelled in excitement, little did they know they were about to witness the rise of a legend.
Various weapons appeared next to each participant, they grabbed the weapons while looking at each other warily. This went on for a while till suddenly, one of them tripped and as he fell, he swung his axe towards the ground in an attempt to regain his balance but the axe slipped out of his grasp and cut down another participant opposite him.
This seemed to act as a signal as the stage descended into chaos afterwards as widespread killing began. The crowd yelled with even more fervor as the killings began.
Down in the arena, several prominent figures could be seen as they were killing without a care.
At a certain area, a burly man swung his ax in a wide arc sending three heads spiraling to the floor, he ducked down avoiding a sword aimed for his head, he swung his leg knocking his assailant to the ground and as he stood up to kill the assailant, a dagger pierced through his back in a surprising turn of events.
"Hehe, prominent fighters are liable to die young" the voice of a young man who was the assailant rang out. He made a hand seal and suddenly vanished as he blended in with the surroundings. This made the crowd shout with even more fervor.
In another area, Ryu could be seen hacking down people with his sword whilst dodging attacks aimed at him. As if by a common agreement, all the cultivators in his surroundings moved to attack him. He looked upon them with a cold gaze then he took a deep breath.
"Sword of Cleaving Above Earth First Form: Unto Sword".