Seeing the massive tournament grounds, Lin Mu was certainly awed.
He was already expecting something bit, but this was simply beyond that.
"Let's find a place for ourselves, first." Lin Mu spoke to Little Shrubby, who was looking around with curiosity as well.
He took out his token and injected a little Qi into it.
~SHUA~
Some information appeared on it, allowing Lin Mu to find out where he was supposed to go to.
"Huh... So my first fight will be in ring number 238." Lin Mu took note.
He then looked around and soon spotted the ring numbers that were present on all the rings. But finding one that was his was proving to be a bit difficult.
~SHUA~
This made Lin Mu spread his immortal sense around, covering a large amount of area in one go.
"There," Lin Mu spotted his ring that was relatively far from his position. 'No wonder I couldn't see it. It's quite literally on the opposite end of the tournament grounds.' He thought.
This spoke of just how large the place was. Even with so many rings, there were multiple matches scheduled in all of them, thus the contestants would have to wait till their turn arrived.
And as of now, no match had actually started. The high crowd density was simply because the people had arrived early to occupy the good spots. Since the cost for basic seats was just a single low grade immortal stone, most people could easily afford it.
The basic seats weren't assigned either and as long as one came to occupy it first, they would get to keep it. This was why coming early was an important thing for the audience. Though the same could be applied for the contestants.
While the contestants didn't need to buy a seat, they were part of the audience too for the most part. After all, they wouldn't be fighting all the time. Once their match was over, depending on the result, their next match could take anywhere from hours to days.
Lin Mu walked through the crowd and passed by several rings before finally reaching the very back of the Tournament grounds.
"The crowd is a bit light here at least." Lin Mu muttered as he looked around.
The seating area was about half filled right now, but more people seem to be arriving. Since the area was so far back, it was normal for it to be filled later.
"Let's just sit at the front. It'll be easier to go for the match and we'll get a better view." Lin Mu said.
"Yes! It's the best seat." Little Shrubby agreed.
With that said, Lin Mu picked one of the empty seats in the front row and sat down. The seats next to him were empty too, but in just ten minutes, more people had arrived to fill them up. And when another half an hour passed, this ring's eating area was filled too.
The chatter of people melded together to turn into a strange drone. If there were mortals here, they might find it enough to give them a headache. But for the cultivators who had better control over their senses, filtering out such noise was normal.
Lin Mu was doing the same and was looking around the crown for anyone interesting. He had already memorized the list of 'high value' contestants and wondered if there were any near him or in his ring.
"None seem to be in mine. Though I guess that is normal. This is just the first round anyways." Lin Mu said before suddenly looking up.
~SHUA~
The formation screens in the sky all lit up and hundreds of runes swam in them. Before this, they just looked like transparent screens with nothing on them, but now they were finally starting up.
A string of words soon appeared on them, while glowing brightly.
'Grand Tournament of the Four Guardian beasts!'
Once the words appeared, they moved to the top like a title and a scene materialized on it. An old man dressed in dark brown robes seemed to be standing on a tall dais. He had a long white beard along with white hair that was tied neatly behind his head.
He certainly looked like an elder and not just any elder, but an elder of the Temple!
'The people of the temple will be the one's overseeing this after all.' Lin Mu had identified their unique robes.
The easiest way to know that they belonged to the temple was the special symbol on their robes.
There was a crest on the center of their chest that depicted four characters around a circle. These were none other than the four cardinal directions, and the circle was a compass. They were supposed to represent the four guardian beasts.
"Welcome, fellow cultivators and immortals!" The elder spoke, his voice echoing throughout the tournament grounds. "I know all of you are eager to fight and to watch others fight, thus I won't delay this much.
"I am pleased to announce that the Grand Tournament of the Four Guardian Beasts has now begun!"
A cacophony of excited cries and screams could be heard, accompanied by heavy applause as the entire tournament ground erupted.
Lin Mu could feel the surging excitement as well as the battle intent that was slowly spreading throughout the area. After all, all the people here were cultivators. The sheer number of them was enough to make a nation or two. And these were just the people that were in attendance.
Not to mention, there were a lot of experts among them too.
The combination of their Qi fluctuations turned into strong waves that subsequently rose the concentration of immortal Qi in the entire area. Perhaps if a mortal were to appear here, they might be knocked out by the sheer presence of everyone.
Lin Mu watched on as the elder on the screen raised his palm, gesturing for everyone to quiet down.
"As everyone should already know by now, the starting qualifiers will require a contestant to win five fights in a row in order to reach the next round. The names of the contestants will be displayed on the screen as well as be announced, thus they should all pay attention.
I hope that you all are already in your respective rings and ready for your fights." The elder explained.
The people calmly listened with some of them nodding on their own while a few that had anxious expression. It was clear that some of the contestants had yet to reach their respective rings.
They could only hope that their fights wouldn't start before they reached it.
"Now then, the first round shall begin now! ALL COMMENCE!" The elder said out loud.
~GONG~
The sound of a loud bell was heard as the very air shook from its force. All the formations screens in the rings changed and showed the contestants of the first rounds.
Lin Mu took a look and saw that it was just some unknown names.
"Song Fu and Feilei Zhang approach the ring!" an announcement was heard.
In addition to showing their names on the screen, their faces were also shown. This served as an easy way to identify the contestants as well as to promote their identities. After all, this was a martial gathering that was meant for the cultivators to display their skill, show their merit and obtain rewards.
The more they were showy, the better it was for them. Many of them also had a lot of bets riding on their backs, after all.
The people watched on as two men approached the ring. Both of them looked to be average and had a cultivation base at the first tribulation stage of the immortal realm.
"Hah, just some basic immortals."
"I hoped our rings would be one of those with great contestants right from the start. But seems like I wished too much."
"There are literally hundreds of rings here. You really need some good luck to be in one of those rings."
The people around Lin Mu talked animatedly. Most seemed to be neutral about it and were simply complaining for the sake of it but there were some that were just disappointed.
"That Song Fu will surely lose."
"Are you sure? His gait is a bit disturbed and his energy fluctuations are weaker." Someone commented.
"Feilei Zhang seems to be stronger, but you can tell his vitality is lower."
It didn't take long for people to start guessing who might win.
"Let's take a look too, shall we?" Lin Mu felt a bit interested and extended his immortal sense.
~SHUA~
It spread quickly and covered the two men, revealing their condition to him.
Since this was just the starting rounds, there was no extra protection against the immortal senses of others. But in the latter fights, any kind of interference was prohibited. For now, though, people could take a look as much as they wanted.
After all, it would give them a better grasp on the contestants for later.
