บท 51: Test of Strength
After Shi Xingtai, an elder of the Shi clan and Shi Xingwan's brother, announced the official start of the tournament, an applause with a few loud cheers in between could be heard throughout the whole clan arena.
Shi Li clapped as well as he looked at the clan members he was fighting against. There were only a few that stood out for him, as they were around the same age as him. With all of the Shi clan members starting to cultivate at the age of 10, who knows how solid their foundations would be after 6 years or so of cultivation.
Shi Xingtai lightly coughed to stop the applause as he then said, "Before we start, I would like to tell all of the participants about the prizes that could be gained from this tournament."
"Since the Tri-clan Tournament is coming two months later, all those who participate in this tournament gets a Grade 0 Cultivation Pill, regardless of whether you place at the top or not!"
After saying this, a few oohs and aahs resounded throughout the center stage as they knew that a single cultivation pill would help them out in their breakthrough to the Martial Adept stage. Even Shi Li eyed this single pill as he knew how much a single Grade 0 Cultivation Pill costs outisde the clan. It was already at a price unreachable by the current Shi Li who didn't have any money whatsoever.
"As for the top places, we have extended the prize pool from the top 5 to the top 10!"
"Those that place at top 10 to top 6 will get 3 Grade 0 Cultivation Pills and a chance to pick up a Low Mortal grade martial technique!"
Knowing the importance of having more martial techniques to increase the variety of attacks, the clan member's eyes slightly glistened under the rays of the sun.
"As for those who place at top 5 and top 4, they will get 5 Grade 0 Cultivation Pills and a chance to pick up a Middle Mortal grade martial technique!"
"For the clan member that places in the top 3, they will get 8 Grade 0 Cultivation Pills and a chance to pick up a High Mortal grade martial technique!"
"For the clan member that places in the top 2, they will get 10 Grade 0 Cultivation Pills and a chance to pick up a High Mortal grade martial technique and a Low Mortal grade auxiliary technique!"
Suddenly hearing that auxiliary techniques were a part of the prize, all of the clan members went crazy as they decided to aim for the top 2 ranking. Shi Li's eyes gleamed as well after hearing it. Once he enters the top 2 ranking, he would not only get one auxiliary technique, but two thanks to the challenge his father gave him.
"And lastly," Shi Xingtai took a deep breath before continuing, "the one who stands above all Martial Novices within the Shi clan, the champion."
In an instant, multiple soft gulping sounds could be heard throughout the center stage as they waited for Shi Xingtai to continue.
"The champion would get 15 Grade 0 Cultivation Pills, a chance to pick up a Peak Mortal grade martial technique and a Middle Mortal grade auxiliary technique and..."
"A chance to learn under one of the Elders of the Shi clan of your choosing!"
At that instant.
"Grahhhhh!!!"
"Wooooohhhhh!!!"
"Oh my god!"
"Are you kidding me?! I must win first place!"
The thought of aiming for second place was now changed to aiming for first place. To learn under the tutelage of an Elder of the Shi clan, for the Shi clan members who mostly figured out how to cultivate by themselves, knew the importance of having a teacher properly guide them.
"With that, let's start with the first test."
"The Test of Strength!"
...
At a place in the center stage that was somewhat far away from the raised platform, stood a young boy at 17 years of age. He wore a gray robe as his facial features gave off an aura of maturity, with a small hint of madness within it.
His hair was tied back while his irises that were dark brown exuded an aura of ferocity and a feeling of wanting to the best.
This was one of the clan members Shi Li thought that stood out. His name was Shi Shisi.
"Oh? The first place looks pretty nice." After Shi Xingtai's announcement, Shi Shisi couldn't help but lick his lips in anticipation for the prize.
"I'm going to get that first prize easily. No one can beat—eh?" While he was confident of his strength, an aura from far away suddenly assaulted his senses and gave off a sense of ferocity that didn't lose out to his. Looking at the direction of the aura, a teenager that was extremely familiar to every Shi clan member came into his view.
"Young Master Shi Li huh..." Shi Shisi knew Shi Li's hobbies back then. He was a playboy that always indulged in women and even boasted the patriarch's authority to get what he wanted.
It was only when he was almost killed did he yearn for power.
"To think that in the span of a little bit over two months, he would actually give off this kind of aura." Shi Shisi smiled.
"Let's see how far you can go."
...
A white pillar was slowly brought up to the raised platform with the help of some Shi clan members that were already at the Martial Adept stage, using their inner force to lift the white pillar that everyone was familiar with.
"Strength measuring pillar..." A participant couldn't help but mutter.
Looking at the expressions of the participants that were also clan members of the Shi clan, Shi Xingtai let out a light cough to attract their attention before explaining the rules of the first test.
"The first test, as I've explained before, is the Test of Strength. This test will let us see a glimpse at your current maximum strength. This means that you are free to use any weapon and any martial technique to boost your power to its maximum."
"As for minimum strength..." Shi Xingtai rubbed his chin for a bit before continuing. "There is no minimum strength whatsoever. We, the Elders of the Shi clan, just want to see how much strength you gained have attained from the past up to now."
"But let me tell you that, the stronger you are, the greater the preferential treatment you get on the following rounds." Shi Xingtai winked.
After explaining the rules, Shi Xingtai closed his eyes for a few seconds as hundreds of wisps of qi shot out of his finger and arranged themselves a few decimeters away from his place.
"I have 153 wisps of qi in front of me, which is connected to a unique participant. Once I tap on a wisp, it will fly out towards the participant and then the test begins."
Tap.
Whoosh!
At the exact moment Shi Xingtai tapped on a random wisp of qi, it flew out towards a participant that was slightly familiar to Shi Li. He was the one Shi Li asked on whether the tournament had started yet.
"Alright," Shi Xingtai nodded as he walked towards the center of the raised platform.
"Shi Lishan, you're up first!"
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TrueDawn
TrueDawn Welcome to the Shi clan Novice Tournament arc.