"Alright, examinees, the plan has been drafted and we'll continue with the tournament. First, I'll explain the rules.

Although I'm sure you're all aware of what a tournament is, this is still mandatory, so sit tight!

This is going to be a series of one-on-one duels with formats similar to those in the duels that Nomad Duelists fight in. That is, no killing or crippling, no outside weapons with a grade higher than Grade 3, no consumable items with effects outside of their user's capabilities at the time they're used, and no pills or battle companions. The first to knock their opponent out of the ring or force them to concede defeat wins, and will move on to the next match.

The winners will keep on fighting other winners, and this field will be narrowed down until the ultimate victor is revealed. These victories will be mapped on a chart, starting from the fights on the bottom layer, then as the tournament progresses, we will chart further upwards and narrower. Only those in the top ten ranking of combatants will pass this month's assessment and become a Nomad.

Alright, with no further ado, let us begin the tournament!"

Qian Feng, unfortunately, was the first fight, which meant he would miss out on the opportunity to observe the competition before fighting them. There was a saving grace, though - Qian Feng's opponent seemed like a bit of a pushover, powerful in his own right, but no match for the experienced warrior that was Qian Feng, who had spent three years dying over and over again, pushing himself to the limit and breaking past those limits.

Reluctant to reveal any of his cards, but wanting to avoid mentally damaging his opponent, Qian Feng would have to exercise his control to its finest point in holding back; after all, the method Qian Feng could use to secure the win that was least possible to see through was simply releasing his overwhelming killing intent. His only reservation about that was firstly accidentally letting it leak through to the spectators, which would reveal just how terrifying he was, and possibly draw the hidden dragons out in open competition against him, which Qian Feng would rather not do. Second was overdoing the killing intent and killing or permanently harming his opponent, who Qian Feng already knew was not strong enough to resist the full force of his killing intent. The difficult part about fixing the second issue was that although Qian Feng knew that his opponent was too weak, he didn't know just how weak. And that meant that he didn't know how much killing intent to use that would force the opponent to concede defeat without hurting them.

Suddenly, a plan popped into Qian Feng's mind, one that brought a small grin to his face just thinking about it. Of course, he quickly concealed it, but was regardless excited.

"Will both of the combatants for the first match come up to the ring."[Note after chapter]

Keeping his eyes closed while standing up, Qian Feng tried something else he'd read about in his previous world's fiction - spiritual sense. The reason he was so open to trying it was that he already had the ability to use spiritual sense, but only for his body and spirit realms. That was, he could use the spiritual sense to examine his internal state and had to keep it inside of his body.

But, for Qian Feng's plan, an exterior spiritual sense was crucial. So, despite never having done it before, Qian Feng relied on his soul, which was stronger than normal since he had reincarnated and essentially already gone through a soul cycle[Informational Note after chapter].

He strained his consciousness, stretching his mind and its awareness outwards, attempting to scan it over his surroundings. It took about a second and a half before his mind seemed to snap into place, the previous difficult task now becoming as easy as walking. Little did he know that he had just gained an ability normally exclusive to those above the Martial King realm, which may not seem like too big an accomplishment, but in reality, this alone would allow him to join join a top-rate sect.

Using his new tool, Qian Feng walked with his eyes closed but with more awareness of his surroundings than ever, up onto the stage. This was going to be fun.

Using his spiritual sense, Qian Feng scanned his opponent. He was a middle-aged man with a face full of pockmarks, with an expression filled to the brim with confidence as he stared Qian Feng down(something significantly harder to do when the person he was trying to stare down had his eyes closed).

"Look, kid, I've been alive for a while, and though I've done ma fair share of fighting, I'm not gonna kill a kid like you in cold blood. How bout this? You surrender, and I won't have ta hurt ya?"

Qian Feng kept his cool demeanor, knowing that this was the best way to reveal his power without revealing his strengths or weaknesses.

The judge counted down.

"3... 2... 1... Begin!"

The pockmarked man shot forward, his body engulfed in a sickly green color as he dashed. A Wood affinity user, then, and from the looks of things, one that specialized in the venomous side of the Wood affinity.

Not an ounce of fear or apprehension in his soul, Qian Feng, carefully monitoring every one of his minute movements, opened his eyes for the first time, releasing a small stream of killing intent towards his oponent while simultaneously being careful not to let any of it leak out onto the surrounding audience. Of course, by small, Qian Feng meant to him.

The pockmarked man stopped dead in his tracks, his pupils contracting as if he stared death itself in the face, withstanding for less than half a second before collapsing to the ground shaking in fear.

Once he deemed that he had ingrained enough of an impression into his opponent, Qian Feng closed his eyes once again, cutting off the flow.

It took some time before the Wood cultivator had regained enough composure to admit defeat - maybe he had overdone it a little - but the moment he did, Qian Feng calmly walked off the stage and back to his original spot, resuming his meditation and listening to the suppressed whispers around him.

"Did you see that kid? He was crazy!"

"Yeah, that Luo Che was one of the stronger applicants here, but it only took a glance before Qian Feng sent him to the ground."

"Even outside of that, did you see his walking with his eyes closed? It was like he already knew every bit of his surroundings, and didn't need his sight to walk!"

Qian Feng suppressed a grin. His plan had indeed worked and provided a satisfying effect.

None of the fights after his were particularly eventful; that was, Qian Feng didn't notice anyone he would have to pay extra attention to.

Except for one...

Although the woman's opponent was nothing much, Qian Feng was rather surprised seeing the match between a female Fire cultivator, Na Wudao, and her opponent. Even if he would win without a doubt, Qian Feng was sure that in certain aspects, Na Wudao matched him and even surpassed him. Her skill was admirable, and her experience obvious. The only shame was that her cultivation base couldn't back it up, severely limiting her prowess.

Soon enough, Qian Feng's next fight came up, and it looked like his bad luck was on a streak...