Having obtained a sample of Yasen’s aura and blood, a proud smile bloomed on Zilan’s face. He was excited, not because of the sample which to be honest he collected simply due to the fact that it was convenient, he didn’t have anything planned for it yet. No, what made Zilan excited was the fact that he had reached this far. Yes, he had help from his Ancestors and his eyes however, it was also an undisputable fact that no one other than him could have gone about reaching such a level in such a short amount of time following a new cultivation method that did not exist in this world before he arrived. This was his Path, and the Path of Blood cultivation method would help him walk it with his head held high. Embarrassment, insecurity, weakness, all of these were things the past Zilan worried about, a Zilan who quite frankly was partially fake, his personality crafted by Hertic to suit his Order’s selfish desires.
Although Zilan currently still could not say that he had found out who he truly was as a person. At the very least his heart was at peace knowing that the relationships, strength and memories he was cultivating were not fake. A start to his journey that he was more than happy with.
The audience in the stadium unfortunately misinterpreted his proud smile, mistaking it for arrogance.
“Tch, instead of fighting like a Beast he instead runs around using underhanded means to subdue Yasen. Puh.” He spat as he said his piece.
“A Half Breed, no matter how great, is in the end still a Half Breed. The despicable blood of humans runs in his veins after all.” Exclaimed another.
“Hey, I heard he had provoked Senior Mo to a fight. Hmph! Even if he’s strong now, he’ll soon understand the immensity of the heavens and the vastness of the Earth.” Suddenly stated an angered spectator, reminding the crowd.
“That’s right, I wasn’t going to attend because I thought the Half Breed would be instantly destroyed however, now even if that is still the case, I will go and watch. Not for any other reason other than to see that arrogant smile wiped off his face.”
“Me too, Senior Mo will teach this kid a lesson for us.” Shouted another.
Hearing all of the jeers, threats and dissatisfied remarks, Zilan couldn’t help but widen his eyes in wonder.
‘Weren’t they cheering for me a second ago?’
Unable to wrap his head around the situation, he decided to shrug it off for now. ‘I would prefer to be praised rather than hated but I’ll take all of the publicity I can get.’ He thought to himself.
Yasen did not utter a word after being thrown off the stage. He didn’t know what formation Zilan had employed but he could attest to its power. He had tried to break free from its grasp but the chains did not budge let alone loosen. He felt somewhat humiliated by the outcome and was angered even more by Zilan’s posturing, he had no doubt in his mind that if it was a man to man fight the victor would undoubtedly be him. At least in the Fujo fight, his face was still maintained as he wasn’t injured that much while the other party could barely move after their final attack. In this fight though, his face was completely torn apart. The confidence he had developed after breaking through the soul-compression stage in his mind had been trampled on.
Having said that, contrary to what many would believe, Yasen was not planning on taking revenge. Instead he looked inward and realised that with sufficient strength regardless of the circumstances of the fight, the stronger party would always win. Of course, he was no saint either, if given the opportunity for redemption he would definitely challenge Zilan again to regain his face.
Another component that went into it was the fact that he simply did not have the luxury that is time to be petty and go after Zilan for defeating him in what he thought was an un-Beastly manner. He had much more important things to worry about, like improving his Alchemy so that he could heal his sister as soon as possible.
With that the tournament came to an end. Judge announced the rankings from 1-10 to the audience in ascending order.
“10th: Coul Reless
9th: Gril Mios
8th: Nyoka
7th: Reile Leron
6th: Domin Erten
5th: Yasen Andriani
4th: Juen Onin
3rd: Mawe
2nd: Fujo PurpleSun
And still 1st……”
“BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…”
While the names were being called out, some people like Nyoka, Domin, Yasen, Mawe and Fujo were given cheers, some of the others were given nothing apart from simple applause however, when it came time to announce Zilan, even before Judge could utter his name, ‘Booo’s’ rained down from a large number of the spectators. The crowd respected the other members thus they did not boo. At the end of the day they were still in the top ten, how many people could say that? Of course, when it came Zilan’s turn, this logic seemingly went out the window.
Judge patiently waited for the crowd to run out of breath before announcing the Half Breed’s name,
“Zilan Malaika!” He stole a glance at the booed party only to see him smiling as if extremely pleased with himself and the outcome of this tournament. If only he knew what the other party was thinking, maybe he’d vomit blood from anger.
‘Everything is going as planned. The perfect narrative, unquestionable results, a large following even if they’re only following to see me fall. This is good. With this, my name should sufficiently reach places it hadn’t before.’
If Judge could see his smile then so could others, giving them the fuel they needed to hate him even more. Some of them didn’t even know why they hated him so much however, if one were to ask Zilan he would definitely know the reason. This was simply the power of influence at work.
One person may not be able to fully influence another however, a few hundred? A couple thousand? Once the number of like-minded people increases, it becomes easy to influence others into embracing their train of thought especially when the message one is trying to spread involves hate. For example, even if a group of people came to you trying to influence you to love someone, it would be very hard as every person’s definition of love and criteria for love is different. However, if a group came up to you and gave you loose truths and tried to influence you to dislike or hate on a person, it became comparatively much, much, easier.
Take politicians in human culture for example, to love a politician because of others influence was very difficult, most people did not even care or bother listening to their campaigns. But, if others were trying to influence you to hate said politician, their jobs would be much easier and you would lend an ear to listen to what they had to say. People naturally loved to critique, it was just their nature and Beasts to some extent were the same.
Zilan, for better or for worse, would be the beneficiary of this crowd’s ‘influence’.
…………………
After Judge had finished announcing the names of the top ten ranked rookie Fire Guardians, the Fourth Elder of all people came out much to the surprise of the audience and participants.
“You’ve all done very well.” Was all he said, before a flash of Mystic grains flew into their sector badges.
Judge quickly explained,
“First place receives fifty thousand Mystic grains.
Second and third place receive thirty thousand Mystic grains each.
Fourth and fifth place receive twenty thousand Mystic grains and sixth to tenth place receive ten thousand each.”
Fourth Elder nodded before continuing,
“On top of the Mystic grains, you ten will have a week to accept a Master of your choosing who will guide you on your path to being a model Fire Guardian. I suggest you choose solely from amongst Elders so as to not hinder your growth.”
When he shot a look at Zilan, Fourth Elder inwardly sighed. ‘As expected he’s not interested. The rest have to undergo standardised group training and would give everything to accept a Master and yet….I do not blame him though.’
Zilan could feel the Fourth Elders eyes on him so he looked up at the taller figure, meeting his gaze.
“First place gets an additional reward.” Said the Fourth Elder with a smile.
“Hmph, it’s not like he deserves it.” Sneered someone within the audience.
“First place receives one Black Core pill, to be used only when you have the sufficient enlightenment required to break through to the soul-compression stage.” Continued Fourth Elder.
The crowd gasped. “Why was this year’s reward so high? Last year the winner only got a selection of ten High level spirit tools of the Tempering stage.”
“Junior thanks Elder.” Zilan hurriedly bowed to show thanks.
“Mm, on top of that according to tradition your name can now appear on the Fire Guardian Rank stone. You will no longer be restricted to just the Rookie rank stone.” Smiled Fourth Elder.
Zilan bowed again. He was sensitive, that’s why he could tell when someone liked him and disliked him. Since the Fourth Elder showed him kindness, he would be respectful.
After that the Fourth Elder disappeared into the wind. Judge looked at space he previously occupied with longing in his eyes.
“The Rookie Ranking Tournament ends here. You can go back and rest as you think on your future Masters.” Declared Judge.
After that he distributed a thousand Mystic grains to rookies ranking 11 through 50. 51-100 got five hundred Mystic grains each.
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