"First, anyone who signs up to compete must have advanced their basic technique of the Five Elements past the seventh level — that's also the bare minimum requirement for taking a Foundation Establishment Pill. Second, the registrant's age must be under forty. Anyone above that age needn't even think about sneaking through, because the people in charge of registration at the assembly will use the Bone-Gazing Technique to determine every applicant's true age."
"So long as you meet those two conditions, anyone can sign up — no other restrictions at all! But precisely because of this, the arena matches become all the more brutal!"
"Do you think it's normal for Tai Nan Valley to have this many people right now? The vast majority of them actually came for the Ascension Tournament. You should know that our Tai Nan Gathering was originally just a local trading meet for young cultivators in Lan Prefecture — in past years, only a few hundred people attended at most! And now look — there are already well over a thousand gathered in this valley. And that's not even the peak. In the last few days, people from even farther away will arrive one after another, and that's when trading at the Tai Nan Gathering reaches its height."
"The reason these people come to our Tai Nan Valley for the gathering first is partly to hunt for items they need, but isn't it also a chance to scope out the opponents they'll face at the Ascension Tournament? That way they'll know both themselves and their enemies!"
Hu Pingguo finished her explanation with a bitter smile.
The moment Wu Jiuzhi heard this, his face changed drastically. He said in alarm, "According to what Madam Hu says, those experts at the tenth level I saw around the valley are all here for the Ascension Tournament too? Then what's the point of even competing? Anyone at a lower level who steps up is just asking to die!"
"Not necessarily," said Mo Jin, who hadn't uttered a single word since entering the room. He suddenly spoke up, drawing everyone's attention. "Who says a higher-level cultivator will always beat a lower-level one? If someone with weaker Magical Power uses some high-powered talismans or carries a few formidable artifacts, they can still knock that high-powered cultivator's teeth all over the ground."
"Brother Mo Jin makes an excellent point," the Blue-Wrinkled Daoist chimed in, nodding in agreement. "When cultivators like us fight, the depth of one's Magical Power isn't the most important factor. What matters most is the power of the techniques one has mastered, how flexibly one can deploy them, and the might of the artifacts at one's disposal!"
"What Brother Mo Jin and Daoist Qingwen said truly hits the nail on the head. Otherwise, there'd be no need to hold the Ascension Tournament at all — all the participants could just stand in a line and compare who had the deepest Magical Power," Hu Pingguo said with a laugh.
But Wu Jiuzhi didn't brighten up at all. Instead, he kept muttering to himself with a pained expression.
"Powerful artifacts... High-powered talismans..."
Hu Pingguo ignored him this time and continued: "Because so many people participate in the arena matches, the Ascension Tournament sets up seven arenas at once, each representing one of the seven great cultivation sects of the Yue Kingdom. Whichever sect you wish to join, you step onto that arena and compete. The selection uses a pairwise elimination format — two people fight, the winner advances to the next round, the loser is eliminated immediately, and then a new pair steps up. This goes on and on until the entire arena has been announced clear and no one else steps forward to compete. Then the next round of winners face off. The cycle repeats until the last ten victors standing become that sect's new disciples. They qualify for Foundation Establishment Pills without having to endure the fierce internal competition within the sect itself. It's a leap straight to the heavens! That's the basic flow of the Ascension Tournament arena matches. But don't let my simple explanation fool you — the actual carnage on those stages is beyond description!"
As she spoke, Hu Pingguo's voice grew heavy with emotion.
"I remember the last tournament — over a dozen cultivators at the tenth level died alone, and two eleven-level powerhouses even ended up matched against each other. They fought to mutual destruction! As for ninth-level and eighth-level cultivators, the dead on those stages numbered even more — well over a hundred, I heard. After all, no one who made it to the final rounds was willing to give up the path to dragonhood they'd almost reached, so the casualties only grew worse!"
At this point, a look of deep sorrow crossed Hu Pingguo's face.
"Cultivators who've reached the eleventh level of their basic technique still have to step onto the stage and fight? I've heard that cultivation sects automatically recruit such extraordinary prodigies. Why would those two have to go and risk their lives up there?"
A female voice suddenly rang out — it was the taciturn young woman known as Red Lotus, who had finally opened her mouth to speak.
Hu Pingguo laughed at the question.
"Sister Red Lotus, I once had the very same doubt and racked my brain over it without understanding. Later I met a senior independent cultivator who gave me a few pointers, and only then did the fog clear!"
"I imagine Brother Wu and Brother Han probably share the same question, don't they?"