Nine Paths of Asura-Original Wuxia

Chapter 31- Trial By Night

Lineir looked around. Besides his block, which only had him and the cowled figure, the other blocks also had relatively few people left. None of them actually had the full ten contestants still standing. Instead the block with the most people left was actually block B. Inside, the yellow, purple, and black robed sect cultivators were all standing, as well as two red robed cultivators. All of them were arrayed against each other, except the two red robed cultivators which had somehow managed to be in the same block despite the ruling against having two members in the same sect in one block. In total, counting all the blocks, there were thirteen people left, and all of them were openly cultivators from important sects except Lineir and the cowled figure. There were four black robed Nero Sect members, three purple robed sect members, two yellow robed sect members, and then the two red robed sect members. The commentator stated the rules for the next event.

"Alright, in this portion of the tournament, we will do a king of the hill event. Anyone who wishes to go up and display their prowess can do so in 1 on 1 combat with a challenger. However, be warned, once up, you cannot leave unless you forfeit. At the end, once every challenger is done, the final man standing wins! Who wants to go first?" The Nero Sect members motioned and one of their own stepped up quickly. Whispers quickly filled the stadium.

"That's inner sect disciple Geradine of the Nero Sect! He's succeeded in condensing his Second Heart recently! While not a favorite to win, he should be able to beat off these other sects for a long time!" The purple robed sect quickly sent up their own member, a big hulking man at least two and a half meters tall.

"The Mard Sect sent out Blujeon, he too is said to have recently succeeded in forming his Second Heart, and his physical strength is quite good!" The whispers were more subdued in this case, the Mard Sect was clearly not as famous as the Nero Sect.

"Alright challengers, ascend to the arena and.... begin!" Both members rushed each other, the larger Blujeon looking overwhelmingly more scary. However, when they clashed, with a flash of black light, Blujeon was thrown ten meters out of the arena by a sweeping kick. Looking closely, it was possible to see that the skin on Geradine's leg had blackened veins which bulged with a dark weight.

"The winner is Geradine! Who will challenge him for control of the arena?" For a few seconds nobody moved. Lineir analyzed the situation,

"Interesting, obviously nobody from the Nero Sect will try to knock out their own member now. However, nobody else wants to go up either. Even if they knock out Geradine, they are stuck up there for the duration of the tournament. They would have to win against every opponent in order to be the final man. It is better to wait until most challengers have already been defeated before challenging yourself. Of course... if you are only interested in showing off at the beginning and don't intend to win at all, then that's another matter." Exactly as he said, the second purple robed figure stood. 

"I challenge!"

This second member of the Mard Sect was also hulking huge, and was clearly more imposing then the first. His face was impassive as stone, and it was clear that he practiced some body cultivation technique as his muscles were sharp and angular like a riven boulder. As he ascended, the Nero Sect cultivator Geradine paled and quickly backed off.

"I forfeit!" Instantly the crowd erupted into whispers, but before they could grow too loud, they were silenced as a second Nero Sect cultivator stood up. 

"I will go."

"I don't believe it, Geradine actually backed off, but in his place, Lu of the Nero Sect came up! Compared to Geradine, he is miles ahead, he has been an inner sect disciple for a year now, and he succeeded in condensing his Second Heart half a year ago. He definitely knows some techniques. This Mard Sect cultivator is screwed!"