บท 140: Chapter – 140 - The Path of the Challengers

16 candidates walked into the center of the arena. Each Clan had to send four candidates for the challenge, and the event itself was divided into three levels. And all of these sixteen candidates were at the Mid-stage to Upper-stage of the Sprouting Level.

And these sixteen contestants, or Challengers, as they were called, came from the Whamei Major Clan of Uni Prefecture, Zenoba Major Clan of Beyi Prefecture, Ye Clan of Cetra Prefecture and the Kshugenu Major Clan of Duet Prefecture.

Rihanna leaved back into the wide but not so comfortable stone seat. The arena was huge, like a massive Greek Amphitheatre, with stone seats on three sides of the arena, the arena itself being in the center. The front seats were separated from the arena with almost three meters of distance in between.

Three tall and grand looking stone towers stood at the back of the arena. The arena itself was designed like a flower with a circular centre, and sixteen petals opening outwards from that centre. At the merging point of each two petal-tips, was a pentagonal black metal pillar, around the height of two humans. And at the top of each pillar was a long, diamond shaped crystal, with thin streams of various lights emitting from them.

The sixteen candidates placed themselves on the stage, with each candidate standing on one open petal, near the center of the flower. The large doors of the three pillars opened, and a wave of cultivators walked out, in a very systematic manner, reminding Rihanna of well trained soldiers. The long lines of cultivators gradually separated out into sixteen groups, each group placing themselves behind one Candidate.

"The first task is generally the same each time. That's what I have heard. Each candidate will be given one group of trained cultivators, and they have to enter the Mystic Lands. This is a challenge to see who has the best leadership qualities. They will be given various tasks within the Mystic Lands, which they have to complete within the stipulated time."

"Mystic Lands?"

"Hmmm.....it is something like a dimension, but it is not as big, nor as developed as the dimension we had been in. It was created by some powerful Space Cultivator a long, long time ago. It is more like a large space storage, where you can also grow various plants and herbs as well as breed different beasts. We do not know how it came to be a part of our clan, but there are many strange types of plants and beasts in this dimension, which are no longer found in these lands."

"Won't that make things very dangerous for the people entering this dimension?"

"Well...that is part of this challenge. They also have to collect as many resources as they can, and also deal with the vicious beasts within the dimension. Stealing or forcefully taking each other's resources, or stopping each other from completing tasks is also allowed."

"Oh.....so it is also checking on their ability to adapt, come up with instant solutions, taking care of their own teams, and also inflicting as much damage to the other parties as possible? That will be a pretty vicious challenge!"

"It is okay if some of the team members get killed during the challenge, or are gravely injured. But the candidates cannot target each other."

Rihanna turned and stared speechlessly at Ye Luo. Under her intense staring, Ye Luo coughed uncomfortably, scratching his nose in embarrassment.

"No need to look with so much disdain. I was not the one who came up with the rules. Cultivators die even in normal challenges and contests outside all the time. These people are well aware of the dangers of this mission. It's not like they were forced to enter this challenge. They have all come on their own accord."

Rihanna sighed and turned back.

"Then I am guessing these cultivators have all come from the different cities of the four prefectures, from smaller clans. And they must have been enticed with great gains and perks if they happen to come out of this alive?"

"Ahem.....well...yes. resources are limited outside, mostly because a large amount of these resources are claimed by the Major Clans and Sects and Guilds. These are some of the above-board methods for getting good resources. Obviously it will attract a lot of people."

Rihanna had barely leaned back in her seat, when she sat back up again, staring intensely at the stage far away from them. She squinted her eyes, increasing her vision senses, straining to see if what she had noticed was correct or not.

Ye Luo and Artreya both noticed her strange behavior, but the First Round was about to begin, so they suppressed their curiosity, focusing on the situation on the stage.

The tower at the left behind the stage lit up in violet, with red energy streams circling around it. The roof of the tower turned translucent, and the streams of red energy emerged from it, directly hitting the diamond crystals on top of the pillars.

As each diamond crystal started glowing, these crystals slowly lifted up from their podium, floating towards the circle of the flower, till they halted in the air a few feet above the ground. The crystals then turned direction, and formed a large vertical circle, just above the circular center, and in the center of the circle, gradually a hazy picture started taking shape, condensing and becoming clearer with each passing minute. Finally a road appeared.

A very short dirt road, with large trees growing on both sides of the road. The lush green foliage formed a dense canopy above the road. Bunches of red flowers hung in clusters, peeking through the green, and swaying in a mild breeze.

"This the Path of the Challenger. Walking down this path will take them into the dimension."

Rihanna nodded sub-consciously, her focus still on the stage, as her brows creased in a deep frown of anxiety.

"What is it?"

"There is someone I know down there."

"Rihanna didn't elaborate, since there was no point in doing so. Both Ye Luo and Artreya had no idea about Uncle He and his group. But right now she had spotted both Uncle He and Uncle Ranaba, albeit in the same group. But after staring for so long, she still couldn't find Uncle Yaoi and Uncle Daogi.

She looked around to see if she could find them in the audience, but the auditorium was too large, and there were too many people to make out anyone clearly. Not even using enhanced vision was of much help. However, she did get to see Su Maihiya, sitting with the same group of girls she had been with last time. Rihanna paused in her looking, then turned back to look at the stage once more.

"So, where will this path lead them? What exactly is the dimension like?"

"That is not known."

Both Rihanna and Artreya turned to stare at Ye Luo questioningly.

"Actually, what most people don't know is that these three towers have existed here since ancient times. They were already here, long before the country came into existence. The clan simply made it their own. Only the Main Family Head is allowed to know about the details of these Towers. Even we from the branch family are clueless as to how it all works.

This Mystic Land is controlled by the third tower, the one which is lit up currently. And every time the lands open, it takes the challengers to a completely different terrain, with different plants and beasts."

"Which means...that since nothing can be known before hand, none of the challengers can take prior precautions, or even create plans before hand. That would make this challenge more intense and put everyone at the same level. That sounds more interesting."

As they turned back to look at the stage, there was a loud, grinding noise, and the circular center of the flower slowly sank down, coming to a halt after it was around three feet below the level of the petals. From the Path of Challengers, still floating in its place, sixteen golden light paths connected to each petal.

Two of the Elders of the Clan, who were waiting at the sides, slowly floated upwards, moving to two sides above the Path of Challengers. They created some gestures, and the light paths solidified. As per the gesture from the elders, one by one, the Challengers, along with their entire team of about fifty members, entered the Path of the Challengers.

As each previous team disappeared at the end of the path, a new team would enter to walk on the same path. One by one, all teams entered, and disappeared down the Path of Challengers.

As the last group disappeared, the path wavered, and then disintegrated like dust. The crystals glowed brightly, and energy streams connecting the different crystals together sparkled, and gradually a different image formed in the middle of the floating circle.

"That looks like some place in the Ice-Fire Desert!"

"Nah! This is some other place. See, not only the entire terrain is covered in hardened ice, but even the grass, vegetation and trees made from solidified ice. What is this place?"

As Rihanna and Artreya turned towards him once more, Ye Luo chuckled.

"Don't look at me like I am an encyclopedia! I barely know more than both of you. All these places are contained within the Mystic Lands Dimension. But only one such area can be activated at one time. In fact, not just the terrains, but even the vegetation and beasts are not the ones we find in our lands commonly."

Rihanna turned to stare at the different groups of people scattered throughout the terrain. The Path of the Challengers did not lead to the same place, and every team had been teleported to a different part of the area.

A transparent barrier had been activated around the stage. And now it became easier for the audience to zoom in and out of various parts of the locations, focusing on the different teams with ease. Rihanna quickly concentrated on the team which had Uncle He and Uncle Daogi. She was still feeling anxious, but also helpless. She could only hope that both of them would be able to come out alive and in one piece.