The temperature seemed to drop as they looked at each other and the other powers seemed to realize that Sheng Tian had enmity with the top two sects of the Mortal Realm. To their disappointment however, they merely stared at each other and then looked away without a word.
Meanwhile, Long Chen simply talked on and on without end, seemingly unaware of the hostility being thrown around. Of course, this was just an act as his eyes glinted with mischievous light when Sheng Tian had locked eyes with Mo Ling Gu and Guang Fu Mu.
Everyone shortly went on with their own conversations after that but it wasn't long before the Xia Empire's envoy showed up. He descended from the skies in a carriage decorated with gold designs.
The unnamed man was mysterious as ever and immediately drew the attention of everyone at the scene. Even Mo Ling Gu seemed to pay greater attention to him as if he was wary of the power behind the man and Sheng Tian managed to catch it.
This also made Sheng Tian instinctively wary of the Xia Empire as well. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the man "What is it that makes everyone so afraid of them?"
Even after thinking for a moment, he still couldn't find anything special about the Xia Empire. The envoy may be stronger than the norm but it isn't to a terrifying extent that others should be afraid of.
"Guess I'll just have to pay them a visit sometime"
"Ahem!"
The man lightly cleared his throat, infusing his qi in the process so everyone present could hear him clearly.
"Let's hurry up and get this over with, I don't have all day"
After seeing the majority of the old generation give an affirmative nod, he took out a black medallion from his sleeve. With a flick of his wrist, a strand of qi shot into the medallion and many strings of spiritual threads shot out of the badge. They each entered the foreheads of the new generation and a single black dot appeared where the strand struck.
"We were too lazy to organize proper one on one battles so..."
He gestured towards the badge "We'll hold one massive battle"
With a wave of his sleeve a massive projection of the blueprint of the arena showed up. Suddenly, the flat ground of the arena rose and soon there were a total of ten levels.
"Each platform can only hold one person"
Those who prided themselves in their speed smiled as if they had won the competition already. Of course, their hopes and dreams were shattered by the next few words.
"The competition will last three days and the ones who successfully defended their platforms will get the rank corresponding with their platform"
Almost everyone had a grim look on their face once they realized how difficult it was to win. Only one person can own a platform but more than one can attack at once. If a group large enough decides to attack then it would at the very least leave them drained.
Thankfully, the envoy said a few words that gave them some hope, "Each person only has three lives, meaning they will be disqualified if they lose three times. Teaming is allowed but only in groups of three and if the group loses then they will all be disqualified, regardless of their lives. The mark on your foreheads will show how many times you've lost. You have an hour to prepare"
And with that said, he turned into a streak of light and flew out of sight. Once he was gone, a few people started walking around in hopes of teaming up, while others merely sat down in meditation. The old generation also left, leaving just the younger generation.
Before Mo Ling Gu left, he gave Sheng Tian a meaningful look before leaving, followed by Guang Fu Mu. Long Chen patted his shoulders before also leaving.
Sheng Tian began looking around and assessing everybody's cultivation base. Just as he figured, no one could threaten him except for those from the Sacred Blood Sect. One particular young man had a cultivation base at the tenth level of Foundation. The rest were either at the eighth level or the ninth, a formidable force in the Mortal Realms.
Just then, the young man turned around and looked at Sheng Tian. He was surprised to see that Sheng Tian didn't hide the fact that he was observing them and walked over with a slight smile on his face. The rest of his entourage followed after a brief hesitation.
They stopped and stared at Sheng Tian, with a few unleashing a bit of their baleful aura. Sheng Tian didn't falter in the slightest and analyzed them more closely.
"The names of the Ten Sacred Children and the Four High Pillars are quite renowned, though it seems like only nine of the Sacred Children remain"
The lead young man narrowed his eyes while the others bared their killing intent. After a brief silence he spoke, "Was it you who killed him?"
A slight trace of killing intent flashed in his eyes as he asked that question. Sheng Tian wasn't fazed and with a smile, asked a few questions of his own.
"Him? Who's him? And what does it have to do with you?"
He took a deep breath "Don't act stupid. You should know who I am and who 'him' is"
"Of course, you're Mo Tian who received the nickname 'Sky Demon' by your peers. I just don't know who you mean by 'him' and why I would kill him"
Then he made a gesture as if he had a sudden realization.
"Could it be you're talking about Mo Nian? Well it does seem like I killed an ant by that name. My deepest consolation for your lost"
Mo Tian's eye twitched while the other Sacred Children looked like they might burst anytime soon.
"So you admit to killing him"
"Why of course! Is there a problem?"
Another young man spoke up.
"Hey, if you don't want to fucking die then watch your mouth"
Immediately, a few of them also voiced their threats to Sheng Tian.
A violent aura then burst out of Sheng Tian as he clenched his fists and smiled at the group.
"I'll give you one piece of advice. Don't. Or else you'll end up joining your dear brother whose corpse isn't even six feet under, but reduced to ash"
The temperature plummeted once he said those words and their faces paled a great deal.