The competition was held in a 10-story stadium, a feat that no mortal could build. Swathes of moss and weathered stone cast doubt on structural integrity, but the buried inscriptions were somewhat reassuring.

No one knew when this stadium was built. Some believed that the building predated the empire while others scoffed at such a presumptuous idea. Up close, Ye Tian could confirm that the former was likelier than the latter.

The sect elders and their disciples were put on the highest level, alongside representatives of Dukes, the highest rank of nobility. As if to confirm cordiality, City Lord Deng put himself on the ninth level. The empty 10th level was abandoned and gave off a sense of gloom.

In the center, the corners of a square stage had four great pillars roar to life. Odd, runic words, resembling inscriptions yet not quite, lit the entirety of the pillars.

Oohs and aahs filled the stadium. The higher one was seated, the more excitement there was. The lower levels filled with mortals had no idea what the runes were.

The male elder from the Yu Fei sect stretched out his head from the balcony. Any more and he would fall. His face was filled with a material lust that could shame an entire red-light district. Behind them, Yu Fei disciples were confused.

A young man, seemingly the most elderly of their bunch, inched forward to speak.

“Honorable Elder, is there a reason for such a reaction?”

“Reason?” the man chuckled. “Look closely. That’s the forgotten technology that no one can replicate, formations. Our founder was rumored to have practiced such a miraculous thing. Back then, formation experts were extremely powerful and venerated.”

His face drooped, “In the old days, our type of cultivators could swagger around demanding things, but now...”

He sighed with defeat. Looking at the young man, the elder felt sorry. The future path of a noncombatant was going to be filled with difficulty.

The Dark Wind elder snorted, “Useless tricks! Only power can solve everything. Even if formations existed, you would still bring shame to the name of cultivators.”

Seeing the Yu Fei elder in anger, he further provoked, “Just like you always do.”

“You son of a-” the Yu Fei elder, with a heated face, rolled up his sleeves.

“Whoa there! Both of you need to knock it off. Don’t fight, okay? Our sects will be especially furious with both of you if a fight happens.” Elder Hao tried to appease the two.

Ye Tian watched the internal fighting.

I wonder if Uncle Dor was able to smoothly negotiate with the other sects. It seems as if our sects are all incompatible with each other.

“You don’t need to worry. Although it may seem like internal turmoil, this is nothing more than childish bickering. The four sects’ relations are reliable."

For you to have to reassure me, that just worries me more…

The elders’ attention was eventually attracted to City Lord Deng who was giving an opening speech. Through his qi, the city lord was able to give a blood-rousing speech to the audience and contestants.

Ye Tian’s mind was on a different plane. He closely observed the tone and words that City Lord Deng used. Changes were bound to subconsciously change a person. Any kind of fuck-up was going to be vital. However, there were none.

If the mysterious woman was correct, then the city lord must be a world-class actor.

Ye Tian turned his attention away to the first match of the competition.

Two young men walked out onto the stage. The runes on the pillars intensified with light, and a desert environment was quickly created on the stage.

It was the special effect of the 4 pillars, an illusory environment that was larger than its actual size. Before fighting, the contestants couldn’t help but grab a handful of sand. The grainy texture and heat of the desert were real.

The male elder of the Yu Fei sect squealed with excitement while his disciples let out gasps of admiration.

“Do you see that! An illusion that’s on the brink of reality! The power of formations! I can never get enough! Oh, I wish I was born in a different time!”

His wife couldn’t help but facepalm with shame as she pulled her husband away from jumping onto the stage.

“Hmph! A disgrace,” the dark wind elder snorted.

Ye Tian smiled, “One is a noble and the other is a commoner that clawed their way up. What’s your opinion on this, Zhang Qiang.” Hearing no response, he scanned where all the disciples were.

“Umm, Master, Zhang Qiang has been missing for a while. I thought he would show up today, but it seems like he isn’t here yet,” Lu Ning explained.

Ye Tian felt the urge to facepalm. If his disciple was disqualified for being late, then where would the master’s reputation go?

An uproar across the audience drew Ye Tian’s attention to the stage again. The scion had mismanaged his qi usage, a vital flaw of the rebirth realm. The battle of attrition had designated the commoner as the more efficient warrior.

Although the scion kicked and screamed, he was dragged off the stage by on-duty guards.

Ye Tian rested his eyes. This was going to be one of the many boring battles on the first day. Uncut and polished gems would only show up in the latter half of the competition. Careful contestants only made everything boring by playing ridiculously safe through battles of attrition.

It could be understood as the rewards were pills that could facilitate a breakthrough to the elemental realm. The pills had higher chances than the elemental eruption pills that Ye Tian had used before.

One match had even taken an entire hour, composed of continuous running and occasional clashes.

Ye Tian was just about to doze off when he heard clamor. His eyes shot open to Ji Xuan grabbing ahold of Elder Kun.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Ji Xuan snapped.

“Dunno, a coincidence?”

Elder Hao rushed to stop the two from fighting, “Ji Xuan, I’m sure he didn’t mean it.”

Ye Tian’s eyes looked around and halted at the two figures on the stage. Rose was fighting with an Auskier sect disciple who had contrasting eye colors. This was by no means a coincidence, was it?

Onstage, the two were face to face.

While Rose was using an orthodox sword, Ijilner had an odd choice of a weapon on his back. He was going to use an X-shaped boomerang.

Rose knew that she had been set up. Pulling strings in the back was not difficult for the big sects. The odds of meeting Ijilner in the first fight were abysmal.

She examined Ijilner’s other eye, “What did you do to your eye?”

“It was necessary for me to become the strongest. Rose, the defeat you handed to me years ago will now be returned in full!”

Ijilner charged forward with full speed, trading defense for more speed. The basic layers of qi defense weren’t even on him. His palm glowed with bright blue.

It was dazzling but also deadly.

Rose leaped away while her hand moved behind her back. All fingers moved with a life of their own. A red rune was formed with adept movements.

Ijilner was relentless in his pursuit.

With a speed faster than Rose, he closed in to throw out his palm which Rose dodged by twisting her body. At such a close range, Rose, who could feel the heat of the palm, plunged the rune right into his stomach.

A fiery explosion threw him away. His clothes were burnt to the color of black while some holes had also appeared.

However, there were no signs of burnt flesh. Returning the favor, Ijilner threw his boomerang towards Rose.

She dropped to the ground.

The whizzing sound of the boomerang passed her. But right as she got back up, Ijilner had already arrived before her to kick her in the stomach. She was kicked towards the boomerang as it returned from the flight.

Rose quickly moved her fingers again to throw a rune towards the ground. The repulsive force launched her out of the return flight.

But she was still in midair, and Ijilner was not wasting this chance.

His purple eye sparkled with electricity.

The boomerang homed in on Rose.

A gasp resounded throughout the stadium, sounding Rose’s defeat. The boomerang slammed into Rose and ripped apart her qi and clothes.

The crowd goggled with lust at Rose’s exposed stomach.

Ijilner knew not to push things too far.

Ye Tian watched the show, serving as half of his entertainment. The other half came from Ji Xuan fuming in her seat. She was protective of Rose.

Elder Kun gave a rare grin at the results. He sneaked a glance at the Rising Phoenix side only to meet Ye Tian eye to eye.

Ye Tian returned a warm smile and motioned his head towards the balcony’s railing. Elder Kun looked at the top of the railing to see the Auskier sect’s tortoise being terrorized by the Solar Eagle.

The tortoise retracted its head and limbs while fearfully casting its eyes out. It deeply regretted taking the Auskier sect to this city. The Solar Eagle pecked at the tortoise’s shell and kept clawing at it.

Elder Kun’s face was flushed with humiliation and got up to take the tortoise away.

Sensing someone approaching, Ye Tian turned around to see Lu Lan. Her voice trembled with anger, “Master, I want to fight Ijilner.”

“Pushing apart the rules is fine. But are you sure?”

“Yes, I want to smash him apart.”

Ji Xuan frowned, “No! That would be breaking the rules.”

“Your disciple's body has been ogled by the masses. I wouldn't be surprised if they were to go home and...” Ye Tian smirked. Ji Xuan shot an icy glare at Ye Tian. The thought of what Ye Tian suggested was enough to redden her vision.

Lu Lan nodded in agreement.

“Elder Ji, we must take revenge for Ijilner.”

Ji Xuan hesitated but ultimately gave in.

“Fine, I'll turn a blind eye,” she paused before adding, "And only this one time!"

"Great, I'll have to trouble you then," Ye Tian said as he went back to resting his eyes.

Ji Xuan gave him a look, "You're going to be the one bribing the referee."

"You know the people and place better than I do."

"It's your disciple's request that you accepted, so you have to fulfill it."

Ye Tian sighed. But on second thought, this meant that she wasn't going to be following him.

At least this means I get to do whatever I want without oversight for tonight.

Ye Tian opened the doors to the official gambling hall that was filled with people collecting their wins and crying their losses. Gambling on matches was a profitable way to both earn and lose money during this time. What better way than to tax people by forcing their compulsive desires into losses? The city lord was ruthless, but gambling was partially why he would hold such a competition.

As for Ye Tian, he was here to meet the referee. He approached a lady at the receptionist's desk. She was busy handing out the wins to a line, but Ye Tian's phoenix robes forced her to receive him with a warm smile.

Without caring for the angry line, she asked, "Good evening sir, may I know how I can help you?"

Ye Tian slid her a gold coin, "The referee, where is he?"

The receptionist stood up and motioned Ye Tian to follow her.

"Hey, we were here first!"

"What the hell man!?"

Ye Tian doused the complaints by releasing his aura before following the receptionist upstairs. He was led into an office where the referee was writing with a brush. The furs of the brush seemed to be made of a material that was even softer than silk while the handle was made of golden-colored jade.

The referee was a middle-aged man with a well-shaved goatee. He continued to work on whatever he was writing as his spiritual sense swept the visitors.

Ye Tian froze.

Even a simple referee is a superior-elemental stage?

The receptionist excused herself as awkwardness began to fill the room. Ye Tian stood there while unsure of how he could bribe a superior-elemental cultivator.

"You must be Elder Ye of the Rising Phoenix sect. My name is Wei Xia. Have a seat, I promise I don't bite," the referee chuckled.

Ye Tian sat down, but Wei Xia opened his mouth before Ye Tian could speak, "Today's matches were brilliant. Congratulations on raising a batch of phoenixes. They swept today's competition, and I'm sure they'll all reach the top 20. It seems that the Rising Phoenix sect's glorious days are near."

"Mister Wei is too generous with your appraisals. I think I'm satisfied if my disciples can all reach the top 50 by being lucky enough to not meet anyone too powerful."

Wei Xia raised a brow, "Someone too powerful for Elder Ye's disciples? Who could that be?"

"Oh, there are plenty of young heroes who can beat my disciples. But I don't fear my disciples losing, you see. I only fear that my disciples are beaten with such speed that they do not learn anything from the fight."

Wei Xia revealed an expression of enlightenment, "Elder Ye is indeed a wise sage who has not forgotten the core essence of the Soaring Heroes competition. May I know the name of the young hero who can match Elder Ye's disciples?"

"I'm sure my disciple, Lu Lan, will learn a lot from the Auskier sect's Ijilner."

Wei Xia couldn't help but frown. Was this an internal conflict between the sects? He tried persuasion, "Elder Ye, I don't see what Ijilner could possibly teach your disciple."

"Oh, there are many things that my disciple could learn from him."

"I see, very well then."

Ye Tian took out a full pouch, "Mister Wei, I enjoyed today's conversation a lot, but the sun is setting. Perhaps we can have a cup of tea and discuss life some other time."

Wei Xia swept his spiritual sense over the pouch and smiled as he took it, "Elder Ye's thoughtful gift is something I can't accept, but I'll take it since you insist."

I didn't insist on anything. I'll take it back right now if you can't accept it!

Ye Tian stepped out of the gambling hall while feeling the pain of his almost empty wallet. That was a good chunk of his accumulated fortune in the past years. With Lu Ning's Flood Dragon Cultivation Technique and Lu Lan's request, some thousands of spirit stones went down the drain. Fortunately, Zhang Qiang was low maintenance.

The thousand and something spirit stones in his spatial ring was enough for what Ye Tian was about to do next. If not for his cold and dignified persona as a powerful elder, he may have started skipping to the bookstore in joy. The center of the province was bound to have plenty of books from around the world.

I wonder if they have 'Spiritual Plant Encyclopedia' by Wu Jin or 'Energy Control' by the Imperial College. Maybe they will even have 'The Body From Faraway' by Liu Xiao!

Ye Tian walked out of a shoddy bookstore with glee. This rundown store was at the edge of the city, and he would've certainly missed it had an uncle not kindly point out the mysterious, rundown bookstore. Luckily, Ye Tian found what he needed in this store.

Connections sure are important. Normal bookstores wouldn't have Liu Xiao's books since he is a devil cultivator. I had to come to this random place in the middle of nowhere. Tch, forbidden knowledge? Evil knowledge? Knowledge is knowledge.

Ye Tian continued to curse the 'good' cultivators as he walked back to the Rising Phoenix's residence. It was already nighttime, and Ji Xuan was going to kill him for being out so late.

It's not like I'm going to visit some red-light district or anything...

A sudden pang of pain came from Ye Tian's chest. He let out a grunt and his hand felt where the pain was coming from. When he lifted his hand, he saw blood. His chest had been pierced.

In front of him, a shard of blood-covered ice was stuck into the ground.

Who?!

Ye Tian rushed for cover around the street and tended to his wounds. Pills were popped like candy while generous amounts of ointment were splashed onto his chest. His teeth were almost cracked from holding back the pain. Once the scabs began to form, he was able to inspect his surroundings.

His spiritual sense swept the area around him.

No one?!

He was being gunned down by a stronger cultivator, one with experience. By staying afar, the enemy’s spiritual sense could stretch farther than Ye Tian.

The enemy could see him, but Ye Tian couldn’t.

He was filled with questions but surviving was the main objective. There was hesitation towards the next course of action, but it was necessary.

Ye Tian leapt towards the sky to find the main street. Although he felt bad for implicating mortals, his death was certain if he didn’t get help. He formulated a route after spotting the vibrant night lights of the main street.

It wasn’t very far.

As long as I make it to a populated street then the guards will come.

While Ye Tian was still in the air, luminous blue light flew across the skies and slammed into him. However, it was stopped by a tinted shield of qi which cracked upon impact. Seeing the cracks spread, he decided to reuse the cracked shield as a launching pad. As soon as Ye Tian jumped off the shield, the icicle pierced through the shield with unstopping momentum and shot past Ye Tian’s leg.

A chunk of flesh was ripped along with the icicle.

A different direction! Reposition? Or...

Ye Tian didn’t know if any more assassins were after his life but staying there was dangerous. The enemies probably had a backup plan. He darted across the ground with a speed that transformed his legs into a floating mist of red and black.

His face changed and he quickly changed directions. Where he was originally headed, an icicle had embedded itself into the stone road.

Ye Tian began to zigzag with his own style. He shot off the walls of buildings like a bouncing ball. Passersby on this small street only felt a strong gust of wind before finding an odd icicle in the middle of the street.

Boom!

He changed directions again. This time, the attack was even stronger. Scraps of rock were sent flying and scratched Ye Tian. He focused all his qi into his legs and dashed into a small alleyway. This was the final sprint to the main street.

Ye Tian broke out into the street with his clothes drenched in blood. Onlookers were in shock as they examined some unknown person that was covered in blood. With a breath of relief, he started to head back to report this attack.

While dragging his wounded body, he felt annoyed by the gazes of strangers until he suddenly caught a glint in the distance which only grew in size.

What?!

A brilliant explosion engulfed Ye Tian.

A cloaked figure lowered his bow if it could still be called a bow. The wooden body had ruptured, and the string was snapped. It was thrown onto the ground before being incinerated.

Checking the explosion site, the figure shook his head. He was the insurance for the assassination. Since he had to move, many innocents had to die. Although he had gone overboard with an attack at the level of mid-elemental, the blame would all be on the assassin who failed to claim Ye Tian’s life.

The cleanup crew could already be seen moving in to make a clean sweep. Any talk of tonight was going to be silenced.

Ye Tian dragged himself out of the rubble, using a black-red spear as his walking stick. As he swayed left and right, he moved out of the burning street, but a black-robed man stood in his way.

A sword of ice formed in the man's hand, “What a sloppy job. He didn’t even properly finish you off.”

Ye Tian recognized him as the one who had attacked with ice qi. Although a second attacker was never out of question, he hadn’t expected such a cruel attack.

Why are they so intent on killing me?

A voice rang out from the side, “Not so fast, he’s under my protection now.”

“Who are you?” asked the black-robed man before his head was cleanly cut off.

Ye Tian looked up at who had rescued him. A young man in simple blue robes opened up his pink fan covered with white flowers, but this man—with his odd tastes—brought an aura that almost forced Ye Tian to kneel. Following the show of strength, the blue-robed man withdrew his aura and spoke, "Elder Ye, please follow me."

But the man frowned after seeing Ye Tian's walking stick, so he waved his fan.

Ye Tian was gently lifted off the ground, and he was carried by air as the blue-robed man led the way.

Dao Domain... There's absolutely no way I can run. What is up with my luck today!? Aren't these Dao Domain guys all old bastards that are half-step into death and can't step outside of their holes?