A Demon's Path Volume 1 Chapter 34

As the name implied, the Sunken Wind Valley was a valley albeit slightly larger than the average. It was about 20 times the size of a metropolis like Sunken Wind City.

Ling Xiao couldn't help but sigh emotionally as he looked at the vast crowd squeezing against one another at the entrance to the valley. It's no wonder they call us countryside sects. This size, this imposing aura, tsk, tsk. In comparison with the bigger sects, the Northern Jade Sect and the Everlasting Pool Sect lost out in all aspects. They became painfully aware of this as they stood before the valley with their handful of disciples.

Since the ones participating in the tournament were the sects under the Sunken Wind Valley, all the Sect Masters were well acquainted. When they saw each other, they greeted one another with words of flattery and joked around. And finally, when they believed no one was looking at them, they would compare their own lineup with that of their competition.

When they encountered lineups weaker than their own, they would rejoice from the bottom of their hearts. They're only of such a low standard, yet they dare to pillage us over the top 10 spots in the newcomers tournament?

If they encountered a lineup stronger than theirs, they would comfort themselves. It's alright, it'll be alright. It doesn't matter how big a gourd is, it's still a vegetable. They're not like our sect. We're filled with the creme de la creme!

However, the most conspicuous sects amongst them were the Northern Jade Sect and the Everlasting Pool Sect. All the other sects were staring at Ling Xiao and the rest as though they were dishes on a serving platter. They have so few disciples, yet they still dare to participate in the newcomers tournament? They must be joking!

Naturally, the reason why the Everlasting Pool Sect was the center of everyone's attention wasn't just because of the number of disciples they brought, but mainly due to Young Master Horseman. Qian Hai would never free himself of this nickname.

It could be said that Qian Hai was currently a celebrity in the Sunken Wind Valley. Everyone knew of him and his deed. He was practically the talk of the town. Even though he was now dressed as neat as ever, his bloodshot eyes made him look like an injured wild beast. Ling Xiao believed that if anyone dared to trigger him right now, he would pounce on them and tear their skin off with his teeth.

The attention the Northern Jade Sect received was all thanks to Cheng Shi. No ordinary man would miss the opportunity to peek at her figure that resembled a ripened fruit, especially those who were slightly more experienced. The Northern Jade Sect owed its reputation solely to Cheng Shi. She was so famous that even the other sects in the Seven Grand Holy Lands had heard of her, and subsequently the Northern Jade Sect. One simply couldn't put a lid over Cheng Shi's reputation.

Everytime he encountered a situation like this, Cheng Qiantai would don a serious expression and refrain himself from conversing with the other Sect Masters. On the other hand, Cheng Shi returned all the looks directed at her with a kind smile, provoking smiles of exultation from the men and causing them to swallow their saliva.

Ling Xiao sighed. Why did Master bring Mistress along? Yeesh!

How could Ling Xiao know that if Cheng Shi was left at home, Cheng Qiantai might be even more worried than he was now? As the saying went, one was more concerned of the thief rather than the theft itself. As for how Cheng Qiantai felt toward his wife, he was more afraid of the thief remembering her rather than the theft happening!

On the whole, these Celestial Soul Master Sects who boasted themselves as representatives of justice did a pretty good job of putting on a facade; they carefully hid their vile thoughts in their hearts. The sects present tidied their troops up a little as they waited for the representative from the Sunken Wind Valley to call out the name of their sects before entering the arena.

The newcomers tournament was held in an extremely large circular area in the Sunken Wind Valley. The area surrounding the open space was elevated 2 meters off the ground and was lined with countless chairs, forming a circular spectator's grandstand. Flags bearing the name of every sect were erected above the chairs, making it easy for them to find their seats.

Naturally, there weren't enough chairs so some would be forced to stand behind their seated comrades. Since the demonic sect had ambushed the Northern Jade Sect and the Everlasting Pool Sect along the way, their numbers had diminished significantly causing there to be many empty seats on their end.

There were actually two rare spectacles at this year's newcomers tournament. The first was the handful of disciples the Northern Jade Sect and the Everlasting Pool Sect brought along. The second was the absence of the Moon River Sect, Sand Mount Sect, and Sunny Spring Sect. Not a single person from these three sects had come forth to participate. Nevertheless, Shen Nanfeng wasn't the least bit concerned as he feigned ignorance.

Before participating in the newcomers tournament, Cheng Qiantai and Li Yuanhuan had already informed Ling Xiao of the rules of the tournament. The team battles were held first. The sects were paired up with their closest allies and given the option to participate in the 3 or 4 men team battles. Like this, the elimination process and overall speed of the newcomers tournament would be greatly increased. The team battles would come to an end when there were 100 contestants left. They would progress to the next part of the competition, the solo elimination round, which would go on until 10 contestants remained.

The top 10 in the tournament would be decided through ranked matches. The prize for every rank was different. Rumour had it that the champion of this edition would receive an especially generous reward. It was said to be 100 Orange Soul Pills that could aid a cultivator in ascending from the orange to the yellow rank, a yellow ranked soul stone that contained 10 Strength Soul techniques, an armour that could block attacks from a green ranked Chain Soul Master, and a unique weapon. Apparently, it was a Soul Reaper Sword that could kill a person without the use of soulforce.

"With such generous rewards in store for you, what are you waiting for?" This was the Sunken Wind Valley's slogan for the newcomers tournament this time around. It was written in large letters on a banner, hanging above Valley Master Shen Nanfeng's seat of honour.

When Ling Xiao saw Shen Nanfeng, he immediately recalled Ancestor Qi Mo and the poison soul oath. A hint of depression took the better of him. Fuck, I can't even pretend to forget!

Just as Ling Xiao cast his gaze over to the Sunken Wind Valley's group, a pair of eyes found it's way from their end over to the Northern Jade Sect.

"Hmm? Who's that lecherous looking fellow over there?" Ling Xiao asked, pointing at a youngster who seemed to be around 20 years old seated next to Shen Nanfeng.

Actually, that person was only casually looking over to them and wasn't as lecherous as Ling Xiao made him out to be. It was just that Ling Xiao felt that although the youngster might not be as exceptionally good-looking as he was, his family background definitely eclipsed his own. Bastards who were of higher social standing were all lecherous fellows! If not, they were incompetent over on that end.

Li Yuanhuan followed Ling Xiao's finger and said, "He's Shen Nanfeng's only son, Shen Xuan. As for his strength-"

"He's only a little stronger than Senior Brother," Cheng Yu suddenly interjected.

Li Yuanhuan smiled, feeling a little embarrassed. He didn't know why he brought up that guy's strength, but Cheng Yu laid his thoughts bare in the next moment. "Shen Xuan defeated Senior Brother in one move five years ago. That guy took first place while Senior Brother only came in sixth."

"Ah, so that's what happened," Ling Xiao said in a disapproving manner. "I believe Senior Brother will be able to beat the crap out of him soon enough."

Li Yuanhuan chuckled and disregarded Ling Xiao's words.

At this moment, everyone's attention was directed to the center of the field. A gorgeous young woman with an extremely good figure stood there. She wore a temptingly revealing outfit, attracting the eyeballs of countless wolf-like men.

Ling Xiao almost drooled and his eyes shone brightly as they observed every part of her body in detail. How can she dress so seductively? Whatever, I like it. Heheh!

The woman was only wearing a short leather jacket that could barely cover her bosom along with short black pants that tightly hugged her well developed thighs. Her black clothes seemed like they would burst open at any moment, while her tanned skin made her seem even wilder. If she were on the bed…

She didn't seem to be the least bit nervous with everyone's provocative gazes focused on her. She smiled and said with a whiny voice, "Greetings everyone. Welcome to the newcomers tournament organised by the Sunken Wind Valley for the disciples from all our branch sects. I'm this year's host, Shen Mingfang."

"She's Shen Mingfang?" Once they heard her name, the expressions on many people's faces changed and they no longer had profane thoughts running amok in their minds. Ling Xiao didn't know who she was so he promptly asked out of curiosity, "Master, who's this Shen Mingfang?"

The expression on Shen Nanfeng's face also became very strange. However, he still carefully explained it to Ling Xiao like a Master should. "She's Valley Master Shen Nanfeng's paternal aunt and is reportedly a violet ranked Strength Soul Celestial Soul Master. Legend has it that she's one of the strongest powerhouses in the entire Clear Sky Continent."

There was an audible sound as Ling Xiao swallowed his saliva. He voiced his next question with a hoarse voice. "Master, how old is she?"

Cheng Qiantai shook his head. "I don't know. But judging from Shen Nanfeng's age, she must be 60, 70 maybe."

"No wonder everyone's so damned scared of her! She's an old witch!" Just like everyone else, Ling Xiao immediately lost any sexual desire toward Shen Mingfang.

The thought of doing the naughty with a 70 year old woman would spoil anyone's appetite. What's more, she was the strongest violet ranked Chain Soul Master. If she couldn't control her soulforce in a moment of carelessness, especially that of her Strength Soul, wouldn't all those men who normally prided themselves as being bold and powerful feel that all was lost?

Shen Mingfang still had a bright and sunny smile on her face, ignoring the peculiar gazes in everyone's eyes. "As is tradition, we'll start this year's newcomers tournament with the team battles. I would kindly like to request the representatives of each sect to come up on stage and draw the lots."

Chapter end