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By the time a student from the Purple wind sect came to lead the student representatives of the Thousand bamboo immortal sect to the tournament venue, several of them couldn't hide their fury. The residence, if one could call it that, had walls crumbling on all sides. The two rooms were barely big enough to house five people, not to mention thirty.

'The Purple fart sect is going too far! We have to inform the sect leader of this.'

'What good will that do? If you have time to complain, then use that time to focus on the tournament.' the tallest lady among them stood to speak.

'So we should just keep quiet even though it is obvious that this is intentional?' 

'That's because we are the weak ones here.' Wen shan shan replied from where she was sitting on the ground.

'What does that have to do with anything?' One person asked.

'The strong will always prey on the weak. That is the way it has always been. The way it will always be.' The tall lady said. Her answer garnered nods of understanding from the audience.

'Then you are saying that we keep quiet instead of standing up for ourselves?'

'The opposite. The other sects look down on us for being weak. Words are just words. So we have to prove them wrong with our actions. Let them know that the Thousand bamboo immortal sect isn't a sect they can belittle. We aren't weak, just slumbering, but when we awake, there is no one that can beat us.'

Bai li yue silently applauded the speech. Her fellow students had varying reactions but it was evident that they were galvanised to prove the other sects wrong. And the tournament was the best place to do it. 

They reached the section reserved for them in the arena between a group dressed in white and another in grey. On the other side of the group in grey robes were the representatives of the Purple wind sect dressed in purple robes. They greeted the group dressed in white who were by far the friendliest of the bunch and exchanged nods of acknowledgement from those in grey. As for the purple wind sect they intentionally ignored them: a small revenge for their residence resembling a hovel.

Bai li yue, who had parted ways with them earlier found an empty seat near the entrance of the stadium. It would be an understatement to call it crowded. It was jam packed with spectators cheering for their favorites. Vendors roamed round the crowd stands selling grilled spicy buffaloes on a stick, boiled eggs with black fish sauce and fermented rice milk. Bai li yue hailed down a vendor and furnished herself with a handful of buffalo sticks, a couple of eggs and a pot of rice milk. 

She watched the students begin the preparation from where she was sitting and silently wished them luck. The moment of truth was approaching. Not even she could predict what was to come. 

'I only hope their preparation is good enough to clinch the first or second spot for the sect.'

She tore a piece of juicy meat off the stick and sipped the rice milk during the time it took the sect leaders to arrive. Sect leader Chang kong was the last to enter. Strangely, there was no seat prepared for him and the elder who'd dashed off to find him a chair took a few moments to arrive. He was left standing awkwardly until a chair was provided. 

'The Purple wind sect is really something to behold. They don't even bother to hide their disrespect. The others aren't any better.' 

Bai li yue noted the situation to herself.

In the meantime, sect leader chang watched silently while sect leader Lei fawned over Wu dong shi, the delegate of Fire dragon sect, a two star sect he had managed to invite to preside over the event. Golden aurora's sect leader, Chen miao yen in white shook her head at his disgusting behaviour, but said nothing. As for Old man Fei long of the Cloud peak mountain sect, he closed his eyes, ignoring everything around him. 

He took a deep breath and prayed that Wu dong shi didn't listen to Lei xiao yu get tempted by whatever he'd been promised and give in to his greed. Delegate Wu's eyes had been on the fan hanging from Qi rong fei's belt all throughout their discussions. He hadn't said a word about them giving him the fan but with Lei xioa yu's urging it would be only a matter of time before it came up again. He had sent Qi rong fei away to watch over the students, but he knew it wouldn't do them any good.

He, chang kong had had his fair share of dealings with higher ranked sects. 

With a two star sect behind the Purple wind sect, even a beggar could wield great power. He buried his anger knowing that for now, he would have to bow his head and bite his tongue in front of a nobody from a two star sect. As for the Purple wind sect and Lei xiao yu, his days were numbered. There would be no talk of mercy when the Thousand bamboo immortal sect returned to its former glory.

The long awaited seat arrived like a reluctant bride on her wedding night. He took his seat and waited for the tournament to start. 

'Ladies and gentlemen. I welcome you all to this year's jingtian province sect tournament. We, the Purple wind sect have spared no effort to ensure that everything proceeds without a glitch. To all the one hundred and twenty students participating in the tournament, i wish you all the best of luck. The fifteen of you who arrive at the final line will represent the best and brightest of our province. I hope each one of you will do your best to make your sect and the province proud. Lastly, but most importantly, we have in our midst a person of great standing. Not wishing a repeat of last tournament's cheating accusation levelled against me and my sect by the immortal sect, i took it upon myself to invite a two star sect delegate to witness and preside over the provincial tournament. I hope the presence of an impartial judge puts to sleep all doubts about the Purple wind sect's integrity.' 

Saying this, he glanced at sect leader chang kong who nodded back, continuing the farce.

'Delegate Wu, I invite you to announce the opening of the tournament.'

A gust of air flowed from delegate Wu's sleeve and crashed into the huge gong standing on the ground level.

Donnnnng!

The crowd cheered at the top of their lungs waiting for the matches to commence. Meanwhile an elder of the Purple sect arrived on stage to announce the match pairings. He dipped his hand into a bag containing the participants allotted numbers and announced the pairings which were quickly related to the betting stalls who had already set up business and were collecting bets on individual matches. By the time the pairing announcements ended, the more perceptive of the audience noticed something odd. The Thousand bamboo immortal sect was the only sect to have its people paired. There were twelve of those pairings in fact. The remaining six contestants faced off against only the Purple wind sect. A fight quickly broke in the stands when a few green clothed spectators commented on the unfairness of the pairings.

'None of the other sects are paired against their own people so why is that the case with only us?'

A purple clothed student nearby took issue with the accusation and called his friends to defend the honour of their sect. In the end, first elder zhao li ming stepped in before the situation devolved even further.

Sect leader Lei turned to sect leader chang kong with an innocent look when the students returned to their seats. Tensions were definitely rising between the two groups.

'Sect leader chang kong, do you also think like your students?'

Chang kong looked at the list of pairings again. Only a fool wouldn't notice that his sect was being targeted. The twelve pairings meant that at least twelve of his students could advance to the next round. He didn't know what Lei xiao yu was thinking, but he had managed to do them some damage by automatically eliminating twelve of his students. At the end of the day, they'd be eliminating their own people. The remaining six fights were not any better his opinion since they were facing off against the purple wind alone. Instead of answering, he was more interested in what delegate Wu thought. His answer would indicate where he was leaning. 

'Delegate Wu, what do you make of the situation? Should we make a new list or keep this one?'

Delegate Wu looked at sect leader Chang kong as if he was considering something and then turned away.

'I see no reason why. The elder had no way of knowing whose number he was pulling out. The fact that the pairings don't favour you is unfortunate, but that can't be helped.'

At his words, old man fei's snores ceased in a sort of scoff. He hid it under a cough and then went right back to snoring.

Down in the stands, the second elder tried his best to calm the student's unstable emotions. 

'Do you think, this is the worst thing that can happen in this world. Once you enter the outside world, the actions of the Purple wind sect will look like child's play to you.' 

He threw an indifferent look at the match board. 

'Calm yourselves! Even though the list is unusual, it is still a tournament. You spar among yourselves all the time, so what is different this time? As for those facing the purple wind students, eliminate every single one of them. Don't you dare show them any mercy.' He instructed, wrath dripping from his voice. 

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