Kill The Old Ones!

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Obviously, Ren wasn’t the only one who received the invitation to the tournament. The whole event would’ve been meaningless if he were the only one.

Everybody who had been taken to the trial grounds received the invitation, and as martial artists who lived for fights and glory, of course most of them accepted the invitation and were excited to test their mettle against their peers.

Actually, the requirement was under 25 and Pulse Awakening Stage, meaning that only those who are under 25 years old with strength no beyond the Pulse Awakening Stage would be invited and allowed to participate in this tournament.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that Strength Foundation Stage martial artists could join. What are they going to do there, be cannon fodder and a massive waste of time? Nobody would watch that.

The minimum requirement was Bone Forging at least, and even then, they’d have to show some real talent and skill to be invited.

This event wasn’t limited to Central City either. It’s happening all over human civilization. Every city will have its own roster that will compete against the others.

There will be promised rewards like credits, fame, and opportunities. This is a huge-scale event that will make the headlines for the next couple of months.

The invitation highlighted those who were taken to the trial grounds. They said that those youth will be invited to assess how far they’ve come. But in truth, so long as someone qualifies for the benchmark, they will receive the invitation too.

Ren was aware of the truth; this was no coincidence or just happenstance. This was a regular event, one that happens every ten years.

This event has a far larger effect on human civilization. It’s something that the authorities make simply out of fun or tradition. It was required of them to assess the future of their people.

By now, rumors of the tournament were spreading, and the roster was slowly being revealed to the public even before the tournament began.

It isn’t so hard for the public to speculate who’s going to appear. After all, they are aware of the trial grounds incident. If they focus there, then they would have at least 90% of the people who will possibly appear on the stage.

As is in nature, humans love to gamble. Hence, it’s of no surprise that, as early as today, betting pools were already starting.

It’s starting a craze, really. And it’s building the hype for the tournament too.

The authorities didn’t seem surprised or concerned about this. As far as they’re concerned, it’s helping them promote the tournament. Besides, the betting pools are mandated to be registered to their system, and they will receive a cut from the profits, so it’s all good.

**

Ren’s routine didn’t change much after confirming his participation in the tournament.

It’s still a month away, so there is still time. Though, even if it were to happen tomorrow, Ren wouldn’t have panicked anyway. This little tournament wouldn’t even force him to use all of his strength, this much he believes.

But just because it’s like this for him, it doesn’t mean it’s the same for everybody involved.

The structure of Central City could be summarized in a sentence:

’Five Clans, Four Families, Three Sects, Two Guilds, and One Mansion.’

The factions that could be found on Central City were the 5 Ancient Martial Clans, 4 Ancient Martial Families, 3 Martial Sects, 2 Guilds, and 1 Mansion.

These 5 ancient martial clans are Sword Saint, Far North, Heaven’s Reach, White Haven, and Banished Arms.

The White Haven Clan and the Banished Arms Clan had a long and bitter history. As for the other three, they were clans older than these two, and their foundations are deeply rooted to the Central City itself. Other forces come and go, but these two clans have remained.

The truth is, some people don’t consider the Banished Arms Clan as one of the Ancient Martial Clans. They said that they were too weak and too inauspicious to be included in this bracket. However, according to the definition by both the GMU and the Imperial Court, the Banished Arms Clan was still included among them.

The 4 ancient martial families were Vermont, Silvereye, Atelier, and Kupkha.

These families have both deep ancestral inheritance and bloodlines. They rarely allow outsiders to join their family, and even if they do, their requirements are incredible strict because they want to keep the purity and sanctity of their blood.

The 3 martial sects were the Scarlet Blossom Sect, the Golden Veil Sect, and the Giant’s Cradle Sect.

Compared to the clans and families, the sects were less reputable. Their history was deep, yes, but not comparable to the old clans and families. Furthermore, their performance fluctuates wildly.

The main difference between clans and families from martial sects is that the latter was open to the public. Sure, they have their requirements and usually ask for a fee, but compared to the former, their inheritance was more accessible for the common folk with big dreams.

This is also the reason why their performance never becomes stable. The flow of talent that joins their ranks never stabilizes either.

There’s also that recent fiasco with the triple-crossing disciple—the one that was reportedly fought over by all three sects, who joined all three of them and then subsequently betrayed all three after stealing their core inheritance.

It was a wild fiasco, which the internet feasted upon.

The two guilds are the Lifestyle Guild and the Adventurer’s Guild.

The Lifestyle Guild is the home of laborers. They don’t look for talent, only skill and passion. To them, martial prowess was secondary. They are the home builders of human civilization. Their work wasn’t glamorous or glorious as martial artists but was necessary. That’s why they’re highly respected and valued.

So much so that they could easily rival the reputation of the Imperial Court itself.

As for the Adventurer’s Guild, it’s home to the inquisitive minds, ones that are curious and ravenous about the mysteries of the Archstones and the dungeons behind it. They explore dungeons in search for relics, history, ancient texts, and so on.

They’re practically a boarding house for lore nerds—specifically those that are interested in the dungeons.

And finally, the 1 mansion refers to the City Lord’s Mansion led by Gabriel Pierce and his trusted council. They run the show in Central City.

Gabriel had been the city lord for more than a decade now; he had bled, sweated, and almost died all for the sake of keeping this city standing. He and his council are the main reason why Central City’s performance never dipped or became a laughingstock in front of the Royal Court of the Letter Kingdom.

Every faction, except the City Lord’s Mansion, will have their representatives in this upcoming tournament. They might just have one or more; it depends on their luck.

Because of this, they are obviously heavily invested.

Unlike the commoners, they knew better. They knew that this tournament was just an appetizer—an opening to a much larger stage that truly matters. This was an incredible opportunity to raise their reputation with the world.

If their representatives perform excellently, the returns they’ll receive will be incredible. They won’t just bring back credits; they will raise the reputation of their houses to a whole new level.

As such, the pressure now falls to the shoulders of the representatives.

Mikel was a different breed. He never cared too much about reputation. He just wants to ensure that the clan survives. The opinion of the public matters very little to him. That’s why he never forced Ren to participate.

If his nephew wanted to join or not, that’s up to him. Regardless of Ren’s decision, Mikel will support it.

But other factions don’t have a leader as generous and open-minded as Mikel.

Some, on behalf of their representatives, sent a reply accepting the invitation even before showing the letter to said representatives, essentially forcing them to participate. Some didn’t even give them the grace of informing them of the letter. They just notified the chosen that they will participate in the upcoming tournament, and that’s that.

They even threaten their children that if they don’t bring out decent results, they will be heavily punished.

It’s cruel, yes. But practices like these aren’t rare to the human world. Everybody has their agenda; some will use every means possible to attain theirs. Even if that means stepping on others to do so, they absolutely will do it.

Ask them, and they’d say that this was the nature of the world. It has no place for the weak. If they are to move forward, they must be strong.

The stage was being set. Those who are meant to step on it are under pressure now.

There’s a whole month away before the event starts. Those who have confirmed their participation are now working hard to increase their strength in ways they could before the event begins.

Minimum of bone forging and maximum of peak pulse awakening stage.

As the momentum of the event rises, the shadows on the background are also starting to twist and wriggle.