Family Tournament

"You're the student I'm most satisfied with. Though you're also my only student, I believe that no matter how many more students or disciples I have in the future, you'll always be the most special one."

"Because—you once represented the first." Li Yilin finished.

In the end, Si Yao still refused World Lord Xunzhen's offer to take her as a disciple. Even when he relented and admitted that Li Yilin was her first teacher and he could be her second, she still refused.

Li Yilin didn't try to persuade her. He fully respected her decision.

If she didn't want to, then she didn't want to.

Besides, he wasn't keen on having someone snatch away the child he'd worked so hard to raise.

After all that, though, Si Yao had become something of a celebrity on Cloud Sea Planet.

Everyone knew she didn't know what was good for her. She'd chosen a teacher whose strength was only at Domain Lord Level instead of World Lord Xunzhen, who was at the ninth level of World Lord and only one step away from breaking through to Immortality.

In Li Yilin's third month on Cloud Sea Planet, the Cloud Sea Family's once-in-a-decade family tournament arrived.

The family tournament was a grand event that the Cloud Sea Family took extremely seriously.

The Cloud Sea Family's high standing in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire was due not only to the deterrent power of World Lord Xunzhen, but also to the achievements of its members.

The family tournament was a competition established specifically to motivate the younger generations of the Cloud Sea Family. It was held once every ten years.

The results determined how much the family's Star Level and lower-ranked members could receive over the following decade: cultivation resources, guidance from the strong, secret techniques, weapons, and more.

As a result, once the date of the family tournament was set, every member of the Cloud Sea Family who didn't want to miss out on the extra cultivation resources the family provided beyond their standard allotment would return to Cloud Sea Planet to compete, wherever they happened to be.

Given the Cloud Sea Family's standing in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire, and the fact that the entire family was practically pitching in to hold this grand event, it was never going to pass without a stir.

Once the date of the family tournament was confirmed, most of the top forces in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire made preparations. Several forces, including the other Fifteen Families, even sent representative teams to watch the tournament, showing how seriously they took it.

Well, they were given tickets and all. Some of the closer allies even prepared rewards. Those rewards could be seen as an early investment in the Cloud Sea Family's younger generation—assuming they survived long enough to grow up.

It's just an early investment, isn't it? Li Yilin thought as he crossed one leg over the other and leisurely listened to Liu Qing talk about the spectacle of the Cloud Sea Family's tournament.

For example, the Hundred Tiger Tower, a close ally of the Cloud Sea Family, had sent a Domain Lord in person to watch. They'd even prepared rewards for the top three finalists.

The Hundred Tiger Tower, the Black Cloud Society, Three Axe Mountain, and North Dragon City were the Four Great Organizations of Black Dragon Mountain. They were second only to the two great holy lands, Black Dragon Mountain and the Ice Sea Divine Kingdom. It was fair to say they held immense power.

And yet, a force like that had sent a representative to watch a little family tournament involving only the Cloud Sea Family's younger generation.

Even if the person they'd sent was merely a White-Robed Envoy at Domain Lord Level, it still showed how much importance they placed on the event.

It seemed no one doubted that World Lord Xunzhen would break through to Immortality!

Or perhaps World Lord Xunzhen was already confident he could do it.

But none of that had anything to do with Li Yilin. He had no power base in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire. His roots were in the Noah Universe Kingdom, so whether World Lord Xunzhen broke through to Immortality would have little effect on him.

As a guest of the Cloud Sea Family and a friend of Gui Jiao, all he had to do was enjoy the tournament and maybe watch a little drama.

"Teacher~"

Li Yilin looked up.

His student came rushing toward him in a red dress she'd found somewhere. The layers of her skirt flared around her feet like a burning flame.

With her near-perfect control over her body at Planetary Level, Si Yao landed squarely in Li Yilin's arms. Then she looked up, her face breaking into a smile of maximum sweetness.

"Teacher~"

She swayed his arm, her face full of pleading.

Li Yilin raised an eyebrow and leaned back slightly, settling into a comfortable, natural pose.

"Go on."

--

"Hehe." Si Yao hopped down and poked her fingers together in front of her chest.

"Teacher, A-Yao wants to compete in the tournament too."

Understanding flickered in Li Yilin's eyes, followed by helplessness. He sighed softly.

"A-Yao, that's the Cloud Sea Family's big event. Why are you trying to get involved?"

"But A-Yao wants to compete with people at the same level! A-Yao's never been in such a lively tournament before." She clasped her hands behind her back and swayed from side to side, setting her excessively bright skirt twirling with her. The red light reflected off the pure white, feathery wings behind her, lending her a hazy, dreamlike look.

"Teacher, please say yes~" Gripping Li Yilin's large hand, Si Yao swayed it from side to side and gazed up at him with pleading blue eyes.

"Can you really bear to leave A-Yao up there, watching everyone compete with longing eyes?"

Good grief. Anyone would think you were the most pitiful person in the world.

Watching with longing eyes, indeed.

Even if those competitors won the championship and got a few extra rewards, it wouldn't amount to a ten-thousandth of what he'd spent on her.

Though Li Yilin felt helpless, he couldn't bear to see her looking so pitiful. "Even if you want to participate, I'll have to ask Gui Jiao first."

If it came to it, he could do what those major forces had done and put up some rewards himself.

"I already asked Uncle Gui Jiao." Si Yao's eyes lit up. "He said I can participate if I want to.

"Besides, a lot of forces brought competitors along just for fun. I'm not the only one doing it. What difference does one more make?"

Though the Cloud Sea Family's event was called a family tournament, World Lord Xunzhen's standing in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire had grown higher and higher, and the family had become increasingly influential. The tournament had long since turned into an unconventional way for the younger generation of the Sixteen Families to compete against one another.

Fortunately, the tournament was simply a way for the Cloud Sea Family to determine how much of its resources its younger members would receive over the next ten years. No matter how many outsiders came to compete, it generally wouldn't affect their evaluations within the family.

Of course, if they performed poorly in the tournament, they wouldn't get any of the competition's rewards.

But that loss was almost negligible compared to the anticipation of fighting against talented competitors from all kinds of different races.

There were few cultivators who weren't at least a little combative. Even those spoiled young masters, pampered by their ancestors' legacies, had a bloodthirsty streak deep down.

They longed to fight other Fighters at the same level.

"Really?" Li Yilin raised an eyebrow. "If that's what Gui Jiao said, then go ahead."

He didn't doubt his student. A-Yao might be willful, but she never lied to him.

He knew Gui Jiao's temperament even better. If it would be difficult, Gui Jiao would send him a message. If he hadn't, that meant things were just as A-Yao had said: one more or one less competitor wouldn't matter.

Still, Gui Jiao might not care, but as her teacher, Li Yilin had to know how to handle things.

His student would be performing on a stage they'd set up. Whatever the result, he ought to contribute something.

Raising a child is such a hassle!

Li Yilin clicked his tongue softly and sent his consciousness into his ring, checking what he had that might be suitable as a little extra prize for the tournament.

Anything too good was out of the question. He needed to keep it for himself—or, failing that, for A-Yao. He wasn't about to let himself get taken advantage of.

But something too cheap wouldn't do either. It would make him look bad, and it would reflect poorly on Gui Jiao too.

This should do!

After rummaging through what seemed like an ocean of cultivation supplies, Li Yilin finally found something he was satisfied with.

Tomorrow, he'd bring it to Gui Jiao. It could be A-Yao's entry fee.