The millions of participants and visitors that came to the Thousand Swords Graveyard were in reality dancing to the tune the Miyamoto Clan had set. The connection to the outside world was naturally severed so the majority of supplies are coming from the clan. Anyone looking to do business will have to pay a hefty fee to operate within the Thousand Swords Graveyard. The revenue generated so far by the Miyamoto Clan had already exceeded the amount that any of the kingdoms on the Heaven Continent generates in a year! This was only during the qualification rounds too!

However the major profit from the clan came from gambling! In a competition, there will inevitable be betting. The greedy, the rich, prideful, the wishful and practically everyone else will join in on it. The Miyamoto was of course gaining all the profits as the organizer. Every transaction has a fee that goes straight into the clan’s pockets. The bets are not even limited to currency, rare treasures are accepted too.

Then there are also the conflict stadiums. The conflict stadiums are small fighting arenas encased in glass-like Enchantments that are placed around randomly. It’s the only place two parties can sort out their dispute openly without repercussions. It is also another place where bets against each other could be made. What’s special about this is that it’s also the only place where Qualification Tokens can be betted.

Just now Bowha had thrown a bagful of gold bars, taunting Ryu to step into a conflict stadium with him. There was one more special trait about the conflict stadium, it’s the only place where members can kill one another outside of the competition.

Ryu of course would never be provoked so easily. He had millions in gold coins and infinitely more treasures than him. The fellow named Bowha was much more formidable than his brother whom Ryu crippled earlier. Venomous toxins seeped out of his pores as if his whole body was body a poison factory. If it wasn’t for the fact that an absolute no fighting, no killing policy had been erected by the Miyamoto Clan then usually tenfold amount of poison would have been emitted. Everyone instantly backed away from this bulky man filled with rage giving Ryu the death glare.

Yet in the end this Bowha person was only in the Emperor Domain. Whether he is mid, upper or peak tier in the Emperor Domain made no difference. Right now Ryu knew he was invincible in the Emperor Domain due to his unique deposition. The four special essences within his Qi reservoirs had been chiseled into perfection thanks to the unique technique provided by the celestial Qilin. He also had countless high ranking techniques which eclipses that of any sect, not to mention he can use all of them.

After thinking about it, Ryu saw no point in fighting such a person. With a flick of his wrist, Ryu threw the sack of gold back at the man. Without a change in his calm expression, Ryu was just about to verbally refuse his challenge when suddenly a muffled voice rang out from within him.

“Who’s scared of a smelly butt-ugly retard like you?”

“Smelly butt…” Bowha was caught off guard. Ryu was only an entry Emperor Domain cultivator but dared to show such arrogance in front of him? He has never gotten this much lack of respect, he’s a level away from peak Emperor Domain!

“I didn’t mean to insult you. Oh wait I just did.” This was naturally not Ryu speaking at all. This voice was imitated by a very energetic Eni who seemed to be having fun with the brutish aggressor. The tone of the voice was filled with mockery and sarcasm.

Bowha’s aura flared and the veins on his head thickened. The color on his face slowly turned purple, the rage from his expression was obvious. It looked like he was a balloon ready to burst.

“You are like a fat and hairy toad. You should really cover your face with a garbage bag.”

Roar! Bowha sprung for Ryu’s neck. His eyes were bloodshot and only thoughts of killing were in his head. Dark green Qi congealed into a slime-like substance that oozed a four odor. From a bystander’s perspective, it looked like a toxin that could melt through anything, even Ryu’s armor.

Suddenly Ryu sensed a life threatening force. Every fiber within his body screamed for him to move. This overwhelming force was much stronger than any attack that Ryu had faced. The white flames from General Suun enhanced with Soul Qi couldn’t even hold a candle to this.

However the danger Ryu perceived was not from Bowha’s attack. It was from the whole world around him, in this exact instance Ryu’s special vision which allows him to see everything outlined in Qi suddenly revealed something out of this world. The whole coliseum, the earth below and the sky above were all drawn with lines of well-constructed Qi. Ryu already accepted the possibility that the whole Thousand Swords Graveyard could be one god-like Enchantment. The Qi that made up the reality around him started to give off an aggressive reaction as if it was alive, this was something Ryu didn’t expect.

A shimmering silvery light descended from above. The dazzling ray of Qi seemed to have shot down from the sky like an angry divine punishment. The speed was faster than what the eye could follow. Before Bowha could even get close to Ryu, his whole body was covered by the cylinder of silver light. The divine light looked indestructible. His sorry figure slowly fragmented inside this heavenly light that descended out of nowhere. The noisy chatter that was rampant in the whole coliseum disappeared instantly. It took many breaths of time before it resumed.

“Which fool was brazen enough to start a fight?”

“What crazy Enchantments could do this? It can one shot an Emperor Domain expert!”

“That must have been the knight’s brilliant tactic! Brain over brawns.”

“That kid dares to provoke the Wraith Slayer Guild, I wonder what backing he has?”

The vivid image of Bowha’s gigantic body getting disintegrated from luminous beam filled with unimaginable power reminded the contestants the rules laid down by the legendary swordsman’s clan is not to be trifled with. Even Supreme Domain contestants were contemplating if they could have survived such a blow. Not a trace of Bowha was left, not his equipment or even the bag of gold bars.

“What? Are you mad now?” Eni’s voice snickered in his mind. Ryu just sighed to himself, this was obviously not how Ryu liked to do things. Although he did not kill the man, he felt just as responsible. Real firmly believes that an evil person, no matter how sinister, will become nothing once he is dead. Naturally he was slightly ticked off by the sword’s actions.

“Wow you’ve never killed? Well don’t worry, you didn’t land the killing blow or instigate it, all the karma will land on me.” Eni’s chirpy voice continued talking inside his head. “Don’t worry about karmic retribution, if you kill people who have sinned then nothing bad will happen to you. You might even accumulate enough good karma to trade in later on. A little boy like you probably don’t know but there’s a cycle of reincarnation and all. The process is usually fair unless those bully Gods cheat…”

The fact that Ryu just indirectly caused a man’s death was still weighing on him. The topics mentioned by his mischievous blade were fascinating if it were any other time but not now.

Abruptly a pair of junior looking samurais who were walking out of the arena caught Ryu’s attention. These two were only in the Heaven Domain and came from the large group of people that failed to secure any qualification tokens. In every aspect, the two men were ordinary. Nothing stood out about them, they certainly didn’t have any special auras. The thing that caught Ryu’s eye was the sect badge with the word Moonlight found on their robes. It was the exact same badge his uncle wore!

Back in the Lin Province when Ryu’s clone was watching over his grandparents, he noticed the wanted posters of his uncle posted around the town. Based on the description he received from his grandpa, he knew the scarred one-eyed warrior was his grandpa’s brother. The same one who dropped him off at his grandpa Sheng’s house when he was a baby. So why was he a wanted fugitive in the Lin Province?

It was the first time Ryu wanted to use the tomes to forcefully probe for information. However, if any aggression is shown on Ryu’s behalf then he will no doubt be obliterated like Bowha as well. The enigmatic Mind Tome can only read current thoughts, only by subjugating someone can Ryu completely dominate them and read their whole mind with the absolute Judgment Tome.

The only safe method is to literally talk to the two men. Ryu slowly stalked the pair from a safe distance.

Perhaps I can offer them a drink? Ryu didn’t have a solid plan yet.

“Stop. Only vassals of the Yuihe Clan of Sector Seven may enter.”

Before Ryu realized it, he was obstructed by Miyamoto Clan guards. The pair of samurais with the moonlight badge had gone past this point. He looked up and saw a sign stating it’s the camp of Sector Seven. The guards were obviously intrigued by Ryu’s flashy armor.

“What business do you have here?” Another guard asked with his brows raised. He seemed the most senior out of the guards due to his grey beard and wrinkled skin.

“I would like to be a vassal of Sector Seven” Ryu replied slightly distracted.

“Tokens?” The guard obviously didn’t take Ryu seriously.

“Four.” Ryu replied as he took them out of a pouch.

“Four? What do you take us for? Even if we are Sector Seven, we have our pride. Come back when you have fifty.” The old guard said furiously. It is a public fact that of the seven sectors of the Miyamoto Clan, Sector Seven is the weakest. As someone from Sector Seven, he obviously has a huge chip on his shoulder. Normally speaking getting four tokens in one of the nine qualification rounds is already above average.

Each challenge lasts from a few hours to over a few days. However the guard did not know that Ryu only briefly entered one challenge just as it was ending. If Ryu had properly participated from the first challenge, he would have accumulated much more. With his extra Qi reservoirs, he is undefeatable if not invincible in each of the lower domains.

There are nine qualification rounds. First round has Apprentice Domain cap. Second round has Intermediary Domain cap and so on. The last qualification round is capped at Sovereign Domain. In each round, there are only a thousand possible tokens up for grabs. Only the top sixteen factions with the most accumulated tokens will be able to participate for the real tournament later on. This is why any of the factions would accept Ryu’s offer to join, four tokens is better than none.

Ryu slowly walked back towards the impossibly huge coliseum to participate in the next challenge, he actually believes he needs fifty tokens to join Sector Seven and follow up on the lead he has about his uncle.

Just as Ryu was entering the arena once again, a very ordinary object flashed by from far away from the audience. Normally it would not have caught Ryu’s attention but it was something he saw from the memory of the heroic past of Prince Na’Vi! An ancient stone gauntlet was hanging off the thin waist of what Ryu could only describe as a very beautiful man. Like Ryu this man had a very slim figure and long hair that flowed past the waist. Their two eyes briefly met and Ryu instantly felt an icy coldness that could freeze his very soul from an insightfully deep pair of sapphire eyes. Ryu could not decipher the depth of the man’s cultivation but he could tell that it was much higher than his own.

“That man is dangerous… it’s best if you avoid him now.” Eni’s contemplating voice warned with a hint of seriousness for once. “That item has bits and parts of “their” legacy… however he cannot awaken it.”

Ryu couldn’t help but take another quick peek at the dominating man who stood in the audience like an ordinary person. Only Ryu who could see the nature of Qi in the world can understand the unfathomably deep cultivation the man has. His dark navy blue aura was as deep as the ocean itself. In fact he wasn’t even looking directly at Ryu earlier, just by staring down at the crowd of contestants was enough to make Ryu feel the pressure. Ryu couldn’t even imagine the pressure he would feel if he were to just look him in the eye one on one.

“I wonder why so many of “their” legacies can be found in this world.” Eni’s voice continued on. “Do you know why you guys are here?”

The sword started conversing with the tomes. Unlike the sword, the Infinity Tomes couldn’t speak verbally so they just shrugged and sent secretive messages back and forth.

Ryu was only half paying attention since he was being ignored at this point. Just as he was pondering about the man with the gauntlet, an equally intriguing object also caught his attention. The item had a slightly different color but it was definitely of the same design as his! A group of brown cloaked people were sitting in another section of the crowd. The robes were weaved with complicated Enchantments that hide their cultivations form the world but not from Ryu’s special vision. In this group, a particular member wore this item over the cloak!

A necklace with a large pink gem hung around this person’s neck, this necklace was the exact same one that his grandpa gave him! It was the one that he was found with, the only clue he had about his ancestry! The aura exhibited by this group was one of glory and bravery. This was of course only seen by Ryu who could see beneath the Enchantments through his special vision.

Suddenly the brown cloaked group all set their glazes upon Ryu which made every hair on his back stand up. A look of contemplate and scorn could be seen on their expression.

Do… they know me?