“Opportunity does not waste time with those who are unprepared.”

Qai went back to check the progress of his Ant Workers.

The task was relatively easy for the giant Ants.

And so when Qai arrived he found the arch already built according to his instructions.

Qai then immediately placed the boulder-sized stone Artefact right under the arch. And since he had already refined and branded it himself, the stone Artefact was practically a personal treasure—and so all he had to do was arrange it according to the position he found it, but this time without the 6 smaller stones.

And almost instantaneously, a silver-colored constantly-flowing water-like entrance formed between the pillars and beam of the arch—it was so miraculous that the arch apparently turned into a portal.

Qai looked at it and nodded in satisfaction.

The pocket dimension’s entrance would now belong to the Saints Hall.

Thereafter, he summoned his Cornelia Flame Shield just to be sure and stepped through the entrance.

Once inside, a scenic view—a completely different atmosphere from before—bared Qai’s eyesight.

And a dense spiritual Qi energy surged into him.

‘Truly, this is a cultivation haven.’

If Qai could compare it, it was probably like the north peak back in the Precious Tree Sect and may even be slightly better.

Obviously, there was no longer any obnoxious most present since he could now see with his naked eyes the true appearance of the supposed Hundred Graves.

Instead of a horrific setting, what actually revealed was a medium-sized lake surrounded by a garden of varying shrubs—and in the middle of the lake, there was a very small island from where Qai could see the boulder-sized stone Artefact.

Qai got closer to the lake and stooped to dip his hands on the water.

He theorized that the mist before was actually an evaporated form of the lakewater—and it only became toxic due to the uncanny ability of the 6 smaller stones.

Qai sighed at the thought of how many bizarre things existing in the cultivation world.

Without second thoughts, Qai tried to swim in the lake.

Right there and there he could feel his spiritual Qi energy flowing like fire—and he knew that he just achieved a minor breakthrough.

Apparently, the water had a better effect on one’s cultivation when directly absorbed!

Qai left the pocket dimension in euphoria and immediately arranged several Array formations to seal its entrance. And on top of the arch, he placed a sign which said ‘Transformation Stone Lake.’

Then on top of each pillar, he placed the 2 One-eyed Spiders and strictly instructed them to guard the entrance.

After he left, he thought of seeing Old Ye Mo again but immediately changed his mind because he felt that the old cultivator must still be busy refining his weapon.

He had always felt an enigma around the tool refinement master—there was that always profound aura behind Old Ye Mo, despite the eccentric demeanor the latter used to portray.

In fact, Old Ye Mo’s skills and knowledge alone already betrayed his true self.

In Qai’s mind, the old cultivator could probably just be hiding his true cultivation—but then again when Qai recalled how he and his group initially found him as a captive of the bandits, there was simply no way that Old Ye Mo could be an elite cultivator.

Qai then proceeded to his own manor to think of a plan about the tournament.

Two days later, Qai sent for the Crag Brothers to hand over to the city lord to relay his message.

According to what Qai came up with, the tournament will be held a couple of months later.

And only those 18 years old and below can participate regardless of cultivation bases as long as one was in the Qi Condensation realm.

But Qai went a little bit different as the host.

Instead of the usual one-on-one fight, he wanted to see cultivators fighting in teams of 3. So he thought of creating a system for group matches.

For the initial round, it would be a hunting tournament—the higher the Spirit Beast killed, the more points a team could get, and the better the rank the results would be.

However, only 10 teams would be able to advance. And from there, the teams would be matched against each other on dueling stages.

And to make the tournament a little interesting, the top 3 teams would receive handsome rewards.

Accordingly, each member of the top 3 team shall get 1000 Spirit Stones and a mid-grade treasure from the Saints Hall Shop. On the other hand, each members of the top 2 team shall receive 2000 Spirit Stones each and a high-grade treasure.

Finally, each member of the winning team would receive 3000 Spirit Stones each, a treasure personally refined by the Saints Hall tool refinement master and a day worth of cultivation in the Saints Hall’s ‘Transformation Stone Lake.’

When the cultivators in the city and the surrounding villages learned that the Saints Hall would host the traditional tournament and heard of the lucrative rewards, most of them immediately trembled and rushed to look for a team.

Instant uproar erupted like wildfire.

The age limit apparently put every cultivating clan or family in a restless situation.

Not every family had the luxury of 3 talented descendants.

Many of them looked for an additional rogue cultivator to bolster their descendants’ teams. Apparently, they wanted to assure victory but they were not confident of the abilities of their younger generation.

And so in the span of 2 months, the entire district near the Rising Sun City became lively preparing for the unprecedented traditional tournament.

By the time the opening day of competition arrived, the Saints Hall saw droves of cultivators coming into the mountain peak.

The intimidating presence of the Blood Knights and squire-servants who were all patrolling the walls was enough to guaranty security of the place.

They may be currently mortals in the eyes of the cultivators, but their aura evidently surged with murderous intent.

Of course, all the members of the Ant colony were deployed as well although only in the dark corners of the Saints Hall.

Qai opened the Saints Hall’s Training grounds to the public where a dozen stages laid. That portion of the mountain peak was wide enough to accommodate both participants and spectators alike.

At the northern section of the Training grounds, a high platform was set up which was reserved for the city lord, clan patriarchs, family heads, and of course the Saints Hall young lord.

At the beginning of the competition, everyone saw a middle-aged man flying around the area on his sword. He was beaming an aura in the peak of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

It was Teng Gui.

Arguably, in this part of the Crimson Edge Continent, Teng Gui was already one of the matchless figures—at least with respect to cultivation base and prestige as a member of the Saints Hall.

Obviously, he was the main judge of the tournament.

His voice boom as he introduced the initiatory round of the tournament.

“Greetings everyone!”

Grouped in teams, almost numbering a thousand Qi Condensation stage cultivators stood on the dueling stages.

They immediately felt awe when they saw Teng Gui in the familiar Robe Armor of the Saints Hall.

Some of them were nervous. Some looked fatigued. But most were beaming with excitement.

To most of them, this time’s traditional tournament was the most anticipated they had seen so far.

But when Teng Gui cleared his throat—whose voice actually backed by his cultivation base—they could only cower quietly and listen.

“As you have already heard, today’s first event is a hunting competition. Beyond this mountain, we will send you to the forests for a couple of weeks in order for you to kill as much Spirit Beasts as you can.”

Many participants were already aware of it.

They were even aware that they will be judged based on the beast cores they could collect and that only the top 10 teams will advance to the next round.

But they did not expect Teng Gui’s following words.

“However, there is nothing in the rules that disallow you to steal another’s gains. In this particular competition, the only thing that you cannot do is to kill a fellow participant.”

Boom!