Desper stared back at the Sect Leader.
"So, that is the Sect Leader" he felt something familiar about this man. Something inside Desper told him that this old man was a really good man.
"Tsk… what exactly happened last year that made me kill the Great Elder's son" Desper tried to remember many times, but it was in vain.
"Okay, everyone. Focus on me. I will explain the competition rules once, and I won't repeat them again." The Elder in front of Desper's group had gray hair and brown eyes. He was the same Elder who had given the lecture to Desper a month ago.
'A month has already passed' Desper said inwardly as he touched his left cheek. The burn injury there had already healed, but it left a permanent mark on it.
'Many things happened during that month.'
'One of them was finding out that I am skilled with the sword'
'Eland had tried to make me wield the spear, but I discovered that I was better at fighting with the sword.'
'I had many dreams with the Village Chief who had found me when I was 10 years old. I used to call him old Jan in my dreams. He was the one who taught me how to wield the sword.'
Desper had a sad expression, remembering that. He felt his heart ache with sorrow. Desper remembered a few things in his dreams. The old Jan was the one who raised him when he was 10. He was a kind man, and everyone in the village loved him. He had been like a father to Desper.
"Aghrrrr…. Desper felt severe pain in his head, remembering that.
"I will kill you all" Desper instinctively muttered in a low voice, but an angry one.
He still hadn't remembered the people responsible for what happened in the village, and how he had survived.
'Tsk… that is so annoying' Desper scoffed. 'Anyway, after learning the fact that I'm better using the sword, I had to ask Darek to train me'
'And wow! This man is a beast. I was like a baby fighting a monster. And the sword isn't even his main weapon.'
Desper thought about these things in his mind not focusing on the Fifth Elder explanation.
Eland had already told him the rules of the competition, so he didn't really need to focus on the Fifth Elder speech, but he still did.
"The competition consists of three stages." The Fifth Elder was explaining. "The first stage is the Elimination Stage, in which the disciples who joined the sect during the same month will fight each other on a single platform. There will be two winners in this stage"
"These two winners will fight each other in the second stage of the competition. The winner of the fight will get a flask of Concentrated Red Stones Liquid as a prize."
"In the third stage, the three winners of the three platforms will fight for the big prize, the Purifying Pill."
"This pill will purify the impurities your body has accumulated throughout your life. That will lower your body resistance for digging Channels."
Desper smiled as he heard that. 'That is what I'm here for'
"Now, be ready. We will start soon" the Fifth Elder declared.
Desper scanned the disciples around him, searching for someone.
"Found you" Desper said as he was looking at a specific half-disciple.
He was as tall as Desper, with messy green hair and green eyes. He was staring down at everyone around him.
'Soren…. one of the four muscle-cultivator in this competition, and the only one in my group.' Desper murmured inwardly.
he decided to get as far as he could from him.
Then, Desper looked at the necklace he was wearing. Actually, he wasn't the only one wearing a necklace. Every disciple around him was wearing one.
'This necklace is connected to the formation placed on each platform' Desper remembered the competition rules. 'The pendant has the number 0 with three indentations below it.'
'The number will increase with every disciple I win a fight against. one indentation will glow red with every loss. Three losses mean you can't fight anymore.'
'The two with the largest number on their pendant after one hour will be the winners of the first stage.'
Desper turned his gaze toward the three Elders. Three of them looked at each other and nodded.
"Activate the formations" the Third Elder shouted.
The platforms trembled. Desper could feel vibration coming from his necklace.
"You have one hour, starting from now" the fifth elder's voice could be heard.
The moment the Fifth Elder said that, a blue circle appeared under Desper feet.
He wasn't the only one in the circle; there was another man holding a sword staring at Desper with confusion. he was taller and looked older than Desper.
"Phoo…" Desper remembered Eland's advice and lunged at the man.
'At the start of the competition everyone would be confused. So, you should strike quickly and collect a few easy points at the start.'
Desper held his wooden sword tightly, he rushed at the man with maximum speed.
The man was surprised with Desper's quick action. He tried to raise his sword and block the attack, but it was too late.
Desper was in front of him, with his sword descending toward the man's neck.
After that, the blue circle beneath them disappeared. The number on Desper's necklace became 1.
"Ahhhh.." the man screamed, holding his neck. He thought that the sword strike cut his neck for real.
The necklace would protect the disciples from getting injured, but it would make them feel the real pain as if they got struck by a real sword.
After the end of the fight the pain would disappear.
The man raised his face to look at the one who had just defeated him, but he was nowhere to see.
Desper was looking for his next opponent.
Most disciples had a blue circle under them which meant that they are fighting another disciple. No one could enter the circle until the fight ended.
Desper saw four disciples with no blue circle beneath them. He decided to go to the one who looked the oldest.
That was a wise choice because he tried to avoid the half-disciples for now.
'Unfortunately, I can't fight the same person again.'
When Desper was ten meters away from him, a blue circle appeared beneath both of them.
Desper rushed at him with maximal speed
Despite Desper being too fast, the other disciple was ready for him; He had already raised his sword in advance to block Desper's.
Desper smiled "It is useless"
When their swords clashed, the man felt that he had hit a mountain. He felt a huge power in his opponent's sword that he couldn't keep his grip on his sword.
"Ho- how? Why are you so strong?" the man was astonished by Desper's strength.
"That would take too long to explain, but in short, I'm an organ cultivator."
Desper smiled at the man and moved his sword on the man's neck. The blue circle disappeared, and the number on Desper's pendant became 2.
"What?! Organ cultivator?! How is that even possible?" the man asked in disbelief, but Desper was already gone.
'Believe it or not, I'm an organ cultivator.' Desper murmured inwardly.
'Of course, I'm not as strong as a real one'
'It was just a trick.' Desper recalled his plan to win the competition.
'I waited about eight days for the Root Channel I had dug a month ago to collapse. Then, I started digging a new one, tiny Root Channel. Digging a normal channel takes long time, but digging a tiny one was much faster.'
'For the last 20 days, I was digging tiny channels throughout my body.'
'With the help of my black Origin with its fast absorption and the stones Eland had given me, I could dig tiny channels through all of my bones, all of my muscles and some of my organs in a short time'
'The problem is that my bones are weaker than that of a normal bone cultivator with normal Energy Channels. My muscles are weak too, compared to a muscle cultivator, and the same goes for my organs'
'But it is not a real problem. My muscles are faster and stronger than the bone cultivators, so I can avoid their attacks easily and strike them before they know what happens.'
'The real challenge will be the four muscle cultivators. They are faster and stronger than me because of the normal Channels in their muscles. But this is where my organs give me an advantage.' Desper smiled as he searched for his next target.
The Sect Leader was looking at Desper, narrowing his eyes.
'Another problem in his trick is that it can only be used in the competition. After that, he will be so weak against the monsters, and will die in an instant' the Sect Leader thought.
'The solution for this is that he just has to wait until these tiny Channels collapse, then he can start digging normal Channels again, but this time with the Purifying Pill which will greatly help him in the future.' the Sect Leader analyzed
'Tsk…. I don't know whether to call him genius or scammer.'