"Good. Top inner disciples and core disciples who do not participate can expect a penalty and having their status revoked."
The elder gave one last announcement, adding a layer of threat against deserters. The words hung heavy in the air as the elder's warning echoed through the courtyard. The disciples exchanged wary glances, the gravity of the situation was clear. The pressure to represent the sect was no light burden, and it carried consequences that none of them were willing to bear.
"They take it quite seriously, seems like our sect is not into being coerced into anything," Ken remarked.
"It's better this way, I dislike being oppressed," Tiara added.
The five approached the counter, waiting patiently a few minutes for their turn. Soon, they faced a handsome man who greeted them with a smile. Of course, they were all top disciples there, and the man had every reason to be polite.
"Hello, are you here to register as a group of five?" He asked them.
"Yes."
"Please give me your discipleship tokens."
They all handed out their tokens and he started registering their names according to the information stored in the tokens.
"Oh, what a great team. All top disciples are here," the receptionist said with admiration as he checked their tokens and saw their identities, "But… are you sure about having him on your team?" He asked awkwardly while looking at George.
"Do your job, you don't have to worry about it," Ken ordered and took back his token.
"Sorry," he apologized and finished the procedure without asking anything else.
"I've registered you to the five versus five bracket for ages 30-39, is that all right?" He asked.
"No, write me and Tiara to the one for 20-29 years old without any other teammates, and then register us to all the competitions until the bracket for 60-69 years old," his answer made the receptionist widen his eyes in surprise.
Ken did not fear any of the teams they might face in the tournament for two reasons. The first was that his team all broke through to the fifth stage and were capable of fighting much stronger enemies on equal ground, and the second was that he had the information from Vivienne for reference, and it said that only sect seeds could be at the sixth stage by the age of 69.
"I don't think that's possible. What if I just register you two to the 2v2 bracket for the 20-29 group age, wouldn't it be much safer as well?" The receptionist suggested.
"No, we prefer more rewards," Ken refused.
"I… I can't do it. Please let me call Elder Yuhua."
The young man took out a communication token, "Elder Yuhua, there are some disciples who demand to be registered to many age groups and as a group of 2 to the 5v5 bracket, what should I do?" He talked to the token.
He wasn't briefed about what to do in such a situation since there was never somebody strong, brave, or stupid enough to attempt it before. Only sect seeds could go beyond their age group safely, but they got their own arrangements set by the elders, not by the receptionists.
"Hmm, who is that daring? Let me have a look," Ken recognized the voice from the speech earlier, and indeed, the female elder arrived within a minute.
Elder Yuhua's entrance was every bit the spectacle, the atmosphere seemed to stiffen as she walked towards them as if she materialized from thin air due to her sheer speed. Her eyes were sharp, a contrast to her graceful steps, and her robe fluttered elegantly in the gentle breeze.
"You are Ken Sue, right?" The elder recognized the teenager in front of her immediately. He was quite famous; all the trouble they were going through now was due to Ken, even if nobody blamed him.
"Ken Sue greets Elder Yuhua," Ken cupped his fist and bowed, knowing when to show respect.
"I assume those are your teammates. So, what is it about?" She asked and Ken repeated the same request he told the receptionist before.
"I see," she said and waved her hand, exuding a domain that contained Ken and herself inside it, "What are you going to request as a reward for killing so many enemies, assuming you can do it without getting yourself killed?" Only the two of them could hear their conversation, giving them privacy from the people surrounding them.
"100 Immortal Qi Stones for every kill of our team," Ken answered immediately.
"Immortal Qi Stones? What do you have to do with something so dangerous before the Supremacy Phase?" Yuhua raised an eyebrow.
"I need them to practice new approaches and theories I've come up with in Alchemy and Formation Mastery. I try to achieve some new effects by scratching a few pieces into the concoction," Ken made up an excuse for his request. Since he already submitted some materials, it was not unbelievable.
"Hmm, I can't promise it as a Grand Elder since only ninth-stage cultivators use them. We do have a Supreme Elder with us for escort, I will ask her if she is willing to accept this deal," Yuhua shrugged and decided to pass the problem to someone else. She conveyed the message through a communication token and undid her domain.
"Wait here, Supreme Elder Layla will take care of this," she told the young man at the counter and disappeared, leaving him dumbfounded at the scope that the problem grew into. Luckily, Alaric already moved the group to the side to allow the people behind them to register while they waited.
They didn't have to wait long, thanks to the speed at which elders could move. A tanned woman who looked in her late twenties appeared right in front of them and scrutinized them with her eyes.
"Are you the ones who want to challenge many groups?" She asked, receiving a respectful bow from all five disciples.
"Yes, Elder Layla," Ken affirmed, and soon found himself in another domain that kept their conversation secret.
"You can have 10 Immortal Qi Stones for every kill in the fourth stage and 20 if your enemy is in the fifth stage. You can have a hundred of them if you kill sixth-stage cultivators," she listed the pricing for each disciple Ken might kill.
"That doesn't sound right, Elder Layla. The fourth-stage cultivators are not less talented but simply younger; there's no reason to make their lives so cheap. How about setting it to 50 Qi Stones no matter who we kill?"
"No, but I'm willing to raise the worth of a fourth-stage cultivator to 20 since you make sense, and the rest of your teammates are not going to receive any additional rewards."
"It's still too few, I think 40 per head is fair."
"We already go to war for you, but I will make it 25. However, I'm limiting this with the condition that your team must kill at least 200 enemy disciples in every bracket to be eligible for this prize."
"Deal."
"Are you also fine with this decision? You have nothing to fear if you want to object to this arrangement," Layla moved her eyes from Ken and observed everyone else's expressions.
"This monk has no desires, Amitabha," Henry nodded, the blindfold making it harder to see through his already unexpressive face.
"I'm fine with it."
"No problem."
"I don't mind."
George was the only one who seemed to somewhat mind it, but Layla knew that he was there only as a filler and his opinion did not count.
With the team's confirmation, Ken and Layla finished their haggling with an agreement they were both satisfied with. On Ken's side, he knew that his bargaining power was rather weak as a fifth-stage cultivator in the strongest sect in the continent, and he was confident in his ability to clear the condition set.
On Layla's side, she was willing to give the Immortal Qi Stones if they promoted Alchemy research, and the condition of killing 200 enemies seemed absurd as Ken's team would have to kill 40 groups for it. While it wouldn't be many if he faced average cultivators, he was going to only fight with the top cultivators of every sect.
"You and Tiara will be registered to the 2v2 bracket, it'd probably even allow you to kill more disciples if you have the abilities. To make the fights more exciting as the competition goes, the competition always begins with the youngest bracket and moves up from there, " Layla explained to Ken how things will work.
"Thank you for the arrangement, Elder Layla," Ken cupped his fist and bowed. With that, their participation was settled directly by the elder and the five climbed onto the airship to start the ride to the Valley of Rivalry, a name the valley had gained after acting as a platform for many competitions. Not many knew its original name anymore.
"Hey, Tiara, how about you perform on the deck to increase everyone's morale?" Alaric said with a teasing smile, imagining the cold woman working as an entertainer.
"Why don't you use your music to hypnotize them instead?" Tiara snorted in response. The two had such banters even more often since the festival, perhaps a signal that they got closer after seeing each other in a setting that was not related to power.
"Rest well until we land. Once the competition begins, we are going to fight without much time to reinvigorate," Ken gave a warning as he sat at the side cross-legged and began to cultivate.
"No rest for the wicked," George tried to chime in but only got ignored. Evidently, nobody in the team saw him as part of the group. "Ahm, so shouldn't we get a more private place?" He asked as he tried to break the awkward moment he felt from the lack of response.
"Do not look for sanctuary anywhere except for in yourself," Henry walked and sat next to Ken. Due to his silence, it was almost easy to forget he was there if not for his occasional proverbs.
The five passed the trip in silence. Alaric was the only person with the urge to speak, but unfortunately, none of the team members was a great conversation partner excluding George, and he didn't even think to include him.
"We are here!"
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Disclaimer – from now on Henry will refer to himself in the third person. It's my oversight that he referred to himself as "I" in the past, I will fix it. Eventually.
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