The loud scream from one of those troublemakers startled many individuals in the queue, including Tiana.

She had reacted unconsciously and didn't even realize what had happened.

When she turned around, she saw three warriors had their hands frozen.

'I just released a bit of my Ice Energy very close to my body. Why was their hand so close to my body anyway?' She was confused, but she soon concluded 'Maybe it was an accident.'

Just as she was about to speak, the men who had their hands frozen ran away. They thought this woman was going to punish them more brutally.

The people began to whisper among each other.

"Did you see that? The woman froze his hand before he could even touch her body."

"I can't even see her cultivation, and I am at the 3 Star Rank."

"Does that mean she is at the 4 Star Rank?! Why did she join the queue?!"

"Maybe she didn't like the rule that the 4 Star Warriors could skip the queue and directly register. She must believe in impartiality."

There were women in the queue as well. They heard those words and were very happy as they stared at Tiana.

"Woah! She is such a nice person. Also, she looks so pretty from afar. I wonder how her face looks like beneath that veil."

"Same. Will she show me if I ask her?" Another woman asked.

"I doubt it. Why would such a strong and pretty woman interact with us?" Another woman responded with a distressed voice.

"True." Another woman in that group nodded in agreement.

Tiana had no idea that people had already begun to judge her just because of that single unconscious action.

As the disciples were talking among themselves, an official was alerted about this event.

The man was rather confused and believed it would be best if he personally checked it. He approached Tiana and sensed her cultivation base.

He couldn't sense it! The official was utterly shocked!

Even though he was a 4 Star Warrior, he couldn't check this woman's cultivation! This indicated that she was either at or above his level.

"Come with me. I need to check your cultivation base." The man ordered Tiana.

Tiana nodded her head and soon followed him to the front. The man handed her a black sphere.

Tiana held that black sphere and soon infused it with a bit of her energy. Suddenly, the Black Sphere began to shine with white light.

The light blinked four times, and the official's eyes widened in shock.

"You are at a 4 Star Warrior? Why were you standing in the queue then?" The man asked with some surprise.

Tiana was slightly embarrassed as she didn't know about this rule. She replied with a neutral voice, "Was I not supposed to?"

Her remarks elicited an entirely different response than Tiana had hoped for. She was genuinely asking this question, but those words sounded as if she was threatening the official.

The official shrank back when he heard that question and just nervously laughed.

Meanwhile, the other people in the queue thought collectively 'She is so cool!'

The official soon recovered his composure and said to Tiana, "Come with me. I'll allocate you to your living quarters. Someone will come to get your details."

Tiana silently nodded her head.

She went away, leaving the crowd in hushed conversation.

The crowd continued to talk about Tiana for some time before they eventually stopped. They were talking about other matters.

Like their sect positions and how nervous they were… Just some random topics.

They talked to some other people around them and made new acquaintances.

A disciple entered Tiana's quarters rather nervously to note down her details.

Tiana kindly answered all the questions he had. The forms required her name, cultivation rank, and the name of her sect.

~~

A day later, all the participants were gathered in a gigantic stadium. This stadium had a very large arena where these participants were going to perform.

A judge was standing in the middle of the arena who was going to supervise the fight. He was going to stop the fight if it became too dangerous.

There were elders from the top ten reputed sects of the Glerian Kingdom. The guests included the third elder from the Red Crown Sect, the Great Elder from the Origin Sect, the second elder from the Black Lake Sect, the Great Elder from the Night Mountain Sect, and so on…

These guests had been assigned special seats in the stands from where they could gaze at the entire arena.

Soon, the announcer spoke with sound-boosting equipment, "This will be the 241st opening of the Eclipse Battleground's Tournament. I hope you are all excited about this!"

The audience that had come from afar immediately let out an excited shout at those words.

They wanted to show their excitement to see some amazing fights ahead. The tickets for this tournament were quite expensive. They wanted to see the fights worth that price.

Tiana looked at the crowd around her and was slightly nervous. Even though these people couldn't see her appearance, she was still nervous about fighting in front of so many people.

When she was a college student and danced at an event, the crowd was quite small. However, the crowd here numbered hundreds of thousands.

'I need to stay composed. It will be disastrous if I mess up because of my nervousness.' Tiana promised herself.

Tiana was standing in a special group that was different from the other participants. All the warriors in this group were actually 4 Star Warriors.

"This tournament will have three different categories. Naturally, the rewards for each category have been determined. All those in the top 10 rankings would be rewarded handsomely!"

"The first category would be the battle between 2 Star Warriors! You will all be assigned a number and then receive a call when it's your turn. Also, you must stop immediately when ordered by the judge, or else you will be disqualified from the tournament." The announcer stated the rules clearly.

The announcer added, "Until then, the other warriors will observe the fight from the stands. You all have been assigned your seats. Just go and sit there and wait for your turn."

All the participants were soon led to their seats.

Tiana sat in her seat and noticed that a girl with red-colored hair sitting next to her.

These seats were decided according to their cultivation base as well. Since this girl was sitting next to her, Tiana guessed that she was at the 4 Star Rank.

From her appearance, this girl appeared quite young. Even younger than Helena.

The red-haired girl suddenly looked in Tiana's direction and spoke out with a smile, "Hey. My name is Christina. What about yours?"

Tiana coldly replied while shaking Christina's hand, "I am Tiana."

"Cool. From which sect are you?" Christina asked rather excitedly. She didn't seem to mind Tiana's cold tone. Or maybe she couldn't detect it.

Tiana answered almost immediately, "Sacred Ice Aurora Valley Sect."

Christina appeared to be startled as she spoke, "Ehh... That's the first time I hear the name of this sect. Where is it located?"

"…At the foothill of the Arctic Summit." Tiana replied after some consideration.

Christina's eyes narrowed at that statement, but she didn't say anything.

Tiana then asked Christina, "What about you? Which sect do you belong to?"

Christina answered with a grin, "I am from the Black Lake Sect!"

"The Black Lake Sect?!"

~~

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