Chapter 25: The Four Nights Festival – Opening
"Don't lag behind and don't gawk like little puppies! Everyone, follow me now!" It wasn't just An looking around. All fifty disciples who had stepped off Master Vota's flying vessel were turning their heads in every direction with wide eyes. After shouting, Vota Lum walked toward the gates, heading inside.
Everyone quickly followed her. Some of the disciples lowered their heads in shame, while others kept turning, trying to see as much as possible while they could.
Stepping inside, An found himself in an enormous hall, for a moment, he even felt lost. The interior was made entirely of sandstone: the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. Only the patterns and decorations broke the monotony. Everything around was very clean and even somewhat cozy, despite the scale.
Vota Lum took out something resembling a plaque, pressed it to her mouth, and said something. Then she waved her hand, and the whole crowd followed her. An thought they would go through the main, massive gates in the middle of the wall opposite the main entrance through which they had entered. But Vota Lum led them through a small one, likely for staff rather than guests.
She led them for nearly twenty minutes through narrow corridors, winding around and going through doors without any markings, all the while holding the plaque in her hand.
Finally, they arrived at a huge, rounded room. The entire place was filled with piles of various things: iron and wood tables, chairs, ordinary soft cushions, forging tools, rows upon rows of cauldrons, all identical in appearance, shelves with clean talisman paper, and much more.
"There are less than twenty hours left until the start of the Festival. Here are brochures with the tournament schedule. You are required, according to these instructions, to arrange and move these things to the marked locations... You have only twenty hours. After you've set everything up and passed inspection, you may rest until the start of the Tournaments… During them, you will be divided into groups, and each group will have its own job," Vota Lum said this in a stern but neutral voice, waved her hand, and two brochures appeared in front of each person.
An opened the first, it contained a layout plan, surprisingly very detailed and clear. The second brochure was the Festival schedule itself:
First Night of the Festival
- 00:00(12:00 AM) - Festival Opening
- 01:00 (01:00 AM) - Artificer Tournament
- 07:00 (07:00 AM) - Alchemist Tournament
- 14:00 (02:00 PM) - Talisman and Formation Tournament
- 19:00 (07:00 PM) - Closing of Non-Combat Tournaments
Second Night of the Festival
- 20:00 (08:00 PM) - Champion Tournament 'Combat Tournaments': First Stage - Group 'Random' Battles
- 04:00 (04:00 AM) - Second Stage - Paired Battles
- 18:00 (06:00 PM) - Third Stage - Solo Battles
Third Night of the Festival
- 08:00 (08:00 AM) - Official Opening of the Entertainment Part of the Festival
...
After reading everything, An learned that the last two days of the Festival were either outdoor shows or auctions, and on the final day, a grand fireworks display.
Putting the brochure away, he went to help the others carry and arrange the items.
Approaching and trying to put things into his pouch, he realized something was blocking him, the items had some kind of protection on them. Looking around, he noticed that all the disciples were carrying things by hand. Exhaling, An used his Qi to envelop a few cushions and chairs and walked toward the main gates, which Vota Lum had already opened in advance.
Stepping outside, An looked around. He was standing on a massive arena.
"How strange... I can't even see a small part of the opposite side, even though the arena itself is flat... Hmm... Is this a technique similar to a spatial pouch? From the outside, the arena didn't look this massive, but standing inside, I can't even see the edges... And those winding corridors for almost half an hour just to get here... This is clearly a spatial technique," Looking around, An noticed that almost all the disciples working with him weren't paying attention to the arena's scale. Only a few, with dissatisfied faces and murmurs, were looking around like An, but after a moment, they gave up and continued carrying heavy things.
"Now I understand why we were given almost a full day for this work," Taking out the brochure with the layout plan, he found the place he needed to go, almost to the center of the arena. Taking a deep breath, An activated Qi Legs at about 20% of his full power and ran with the items toward the center.
A single trip took him almost an hour, and that was just one way. After placing everything as per the brochure, An looked around and, by the emptiness around him, realized he was the first one there. Thinking, he decided to reduce his Qi to 10% when using his movement technique.
Activating the energy in his legs, he ran back.
After nearly seventeen hours and eleven round trips, An delivered his last batch of items and placed them where they were still needed.
Looking around, he saw that most of the disciples were already lying on the ground, breathless, trying to recover after a whole day of carrying heavy things. Some were swallowing pills and cultivating, trying to restore their Qi, while others had simply closed their eyes and decided to take a nap.
An thought for a moment and sat down on the ground, beginning to circulate his Qi. Unlike the others, he was at the fifth layer of Qi Condensation, while only a handful of the fifty had managed to break through to the third layer, and most of those were from the previous year's intake. Also, An's energy density and manipulation skills were much higher due to his single element and constant training.
The last group of disciples finally arrived another hour later and set up the remaining items.
He looked around and tried to imagine a three-dimensional top-down view of how everything looked in the end.
In the center of the arena: four sectors. Two larger ones and two smaller ones.
- The right sector was for the Artificer Tournament.
- The left sector was for the Alchemist Tournament.
- The top sector was for the Talisman Tournament.
- The bottom sector was for Formations.
The two large sectors were about three hundred meters wide and five hundred meters long. The smaller ones, two hundred fifty meters wide and four hundred meters long. These were rough estimates, An had calculated them while carrying items back and forth, measuring by eye.
Each sector looked simple but unique.
Alchemy: A wide two-by-two-meter carpet lying on the ground, with two boxes of flasks and test tubes. In the center, on a small iron table, stood a cauldron. Next to it, on the carpet, a cushion for sitting.
Artifacts: Wide, heavy metal tables, forging tools. What surprised An was the absence of a furnace.
'Will they control the fire and make it hover in the air while they forge?' He wondered, looking at the Artificer sector.
Formations: Very low tables, light and made of soft wood. Cushions softer than those in the Alchemy sector. Several small chests that An couldn't open, likely protected by some technique again. Several scrolls with clean parchment, very different from talisman paper, larger and thicker. Several small sets with ink and quills.
Talismans: Low tables, but slightly higher than those in the Formations sector, made of dense, heavy wood. A chair was pulled up to the table, and next to it, a small hard cushion. A huge, thick wooden box at the table, completely filled with empty talisman paper. On the table, several sets of quills and ink, but the ink was thicker and darker. A small chest, also locked.
And at every workstation in all sectors, a jug of water, but without a cup. As An understood, this wasn't for drinking, it was for work. For example, when preparing pills, An had previously used lake water. But now he simply converted his Qi into the Water element and used that water, enriched with his Qi, which made the process easier.
Looking at the jugs, An thought this was a bit much. Surely the disciples competing wouldn't be at the level he was when he first started alchemy. Shaking his head, An closed his eyes and continued training with his Qi.
Why training rather than cultivating? Because of the length of the cycles. He was sure no one would let him peacefully immerse himself in a cycle for four hours.
As it turned out, he was right.
Shortly after the last group finished, Vota Lum appeared out of nowhere.
"Good work!" Hovering in the air, Vota Lum swept her gaze around.
"These are your temporary plaques. They indicate which group you've been assigned to and your duties," She waved her hand, and fifty plaques appeared out of thin air, instantly descending toward each of the disciples on the ground.
As soon as these plaques approached within about thirty centimeters, they stopped abruptly and hovered right in front of the startled disciples' faces.
Everyone reached out, took their plaques, and began reading the information inside.
'Assigned to: Alchemy Tournament group... Hmm, and that's it?' An frowned. He had assumed he'd be assigned to at least two tournaments, but to his surprise, his job was only for the Alchemy Tournament.
'This is probably because of Elder Shoa's interference,' An guessed why.
Putting the plaque in his pocket next to his personal one, he turned and headed back to the room from which he had been carrying items. Since the Alchemy Tournament wasn't the first, he couldn't stay on the arena, only the group assigned to the first tournament could.
In the end, only twenty people out of fifty returned. That meant each person would have to serve as an assistant at least twice.
Looking through the gates, An could tell the start was near. The sun was already setting, and when he was returning, he had seen people taking their seats on the high podiums of the Coliseum.
Sitting on the floor in the big room, looking at the sky through the still-open gates to the arena, An couldn't understand how they and the spectators on the podiums right above him would see the competitions, if even the center of the arena, where they had set up the sectors, was invisible from here.
As if answering his questions, An heard a deep bass rumble, and the gates leading to the arena closed. Instantly, a massive projection materialized on the wall, showing the Artificer Sector. From time to time, the angle of the projection changed.
"Oh... Now I understand how people will watch! Wow, just like a live broadcast from the Olympics or a football match..." An murmured with admiration under his breath.
Sitting more comfortably, he took out several sets of clothes he had bought at the Outer Hall after being released from the dungeon. He fashioned them into something like a large cushion, placed it under his head, laid down completely, and started watching the projection. After thinking, he took out several Kavana fruits and placed them next to him.
The disciples near him, and there were not only disciples from his group, but various workers, and even cultivators in robes different from those worn in his Sect, saw what he was doing. Some twisted their faces, some pretended not to notice, some muttered under their breath, and some even looked at him with envy, a first for An. Even though he felt the stares on him, he couldn't have cared less.
The only thing that disappointed him was the lack of some kind of drink.
'Eh... a bottle of wine wouldn't have been out of place,' Suddenly, the projection's angle shot upward into the sky.
Four figures appeared before everyone watching. Three men and one woman.
"I am pleased to welcome you to the opening of another Four Nights Festival..."
"We have decided to begin the official opening of today with friendly competitions in the Non-Combat Path..."
"I, along with my dear brothers and sister... want to say to you..."
In the air, the man hovering in the center, drawing all attention, delivered his opening speech for the Festival.
Studying these four and listening to the man's speech, An managed to understand who they were.
In the center: Gu Bai, the Sect Leader of the Heavenly Soul Sect. He looked about forty years old. Red hair at the base with black tips, slightly wavy. Tall and large-framed, clearly not just a Qi cultivator. With his bright red eyes, he surveyed everything around him as if it were his domain. There was something in his gaze that gave a sense of fear, but at the same time, a feeling that this gaze belonged to someone who was very, very tired. Dressed in completely white robes with red patterns. All his fingers were adorned with simple rings of various colors. His voice, very rough, more like a growl, carried strongly against the eardrums, causing significant discomfort to disciples and spectators. At his waist, a sword in its sheath, which he kept touching, as if constantly checking that it was still there.
Hovering beside him: Wei Leo, the Sect Leader of the Five Sacred Lives Sect. He looked about thirty-five years old. His white hair with blue tips, tied in a ponytail, flew everywhere in the wind, creating the illusion of a moon's projection behind his back. His blue eyes gave a false sense of warmth and trust, but one look at the scar directly under his eye immediately brought you back to reality, this wasn't some artistic figure, but a genuine killer. His hands were hidden in thin gloves, and his entire body was concealed in robes that shimmered from white to blue, but even so, the clothes couldn't hide his thinness and tall stature.
On the opposite side: Black Marcus, the Sect Leader of the White Dragon Sect. He looked about fifty years old, but his red eyes with white borders conveyed such an enormous will to live and refusal to submit that one glance into his eyes was enough to make your entire body tremble. His brown hair, smoothly transitioning into red, was loose but at the same time neat and well-groomed, creating a strong contrast with his eyes. His entire face was covered with something resembling dragon scales, and around his eyes, these scales were of a more whitish shade. White scales were also visible on his hands, partially hidden by bandages and wrappings. His overly massive body was concealed in simple black robes with white dragon patterns.
And the last of the four: Wu Xin, the Sect Master of the Primordial Purity Sect. A captivating woman looking no older than thirty. Large, watery blue eyes that intoxicate anyone who looks into them. Her perfect face and skin would be envied even by Aphrodite. Her black hair lightly touched her face, framing it, highlighting it even more strongly. The white crown at the top of her head, holding her hair together, glinted in the sun, snapping viewers out of their trance. On her face, there was always a smile, her gaze kind and disarming. She lightly supported her light blue, softly pink-tinged robes with one hand, robes without any conspicuous or excessive patterns.
"Well then, I think it's time to move on to the Tournaments! After all, this is why we're all gathered here, isn't it?" Gu Bai grinned and looked at his three companions. Seeing their approving gazes, he raised his hand upward.
Dong! Dong!
Immediately, the ringing of a bell began to spread throughout the entire Sect. At the same time, all four vanished into the sky behind the clouds.