A hush fell over the crowd. The sight of a famed genius getting killed directly in front of them was astonishing. Other participants who had been planning to do something similar to make their way directly towards the stage had to change their plans, doing all they could to move quickly without harming the crowd members. Soon enough time was up and three of the most arrogant geniuses weren’t able to make it onto the stage in time. The Trial Master glared at them, daring them to break the rules like that other genius. They wanted to start yelling, but with that freshly killed genius as an example they could only clench their fists and stare. Of course, there was an exception to this newly established obedience.

“How dare you!”

An older looking gentleman with a bald head stood up from a spot in the stands and unleashed his aura, pressuring those in the stands around him. He stared at the Trial Master, clearly fuming with anger. A dozen others sitting around him also rose to their feet in a show of support, each of them starting to roll up the sleeves of their long robes. Outside of those dozen people, the others in the stand didn’t seem to be frozen or frightened by the old man’s aura, instead they started to spread out, clearing a space around the group that was standing. At other places in the stands people started to whisper to each other.

“What’s going on?”

“They are probably related to that dead genius and don’t know about the Trial Master.”

The old man started roaring expletives at the Trial Master and demanding an explanation for the murder of his grandson. Hearing this, many in the crowd shook their heads. Sad for the man’s loss, but also pitying the old man as they had a good idea what would happen if he pushed things any further.

“You know this Trial Master? Who is he?”

“The Trial Master isn’t just a temporary post, that’s his nickname. The Trial Master is renowned throughout the whole of the Dou Kingdom. They say he’s obscenely powerful, impartial, incorruptible, and also merciless. Nobody knows why, but he shows up at all the big genius competitions and volunteers to oversee them.”

Just as conversations just like this were taking place throughout the crowd and stadiums, the confrontation between the old man and the Trial Master came to a climax. The old man and his entourage began to gather their energy and started to unleash it into the air. The energy formed itself into the shape of huge tigers, floating above the heads of that group and roaring towards the stage.

“This is your final warning. Those who break my rules will be punished without exception!”

The Trial Master’s voice resounded through the square once more, repeating his earlier declaration. Many were confused since the Trial Master hadn’t even stated any rules, yet he was bellowing at them about the rules. Others in the crowd quickly started to whisper, the information quickly spreading that the Trial Master’s rules were always the same. They had even been collated into a flyer and could be found at many popular shops.

They were quite simple. All participants had to accept the surrender of their opponents. Non-participants could not interfere with, nor could they be interfered with by, the participants.

The giant energy tigers starting running through the sky, each the size of a house and rapidly approaching the Trial Master at the edge of the stage. Unfortunately for the old man and the rest of his group, they were no match for the Trial Master. From the fluctuations of energy coming from the energy tigers they were all likely to be Core Formation cultivators, but rank five wasn’t enough to deal with the Trial Master. With a wave of his hand the energy tigers dissipated into tiny particles. The old man as well as his dozen friends all froze in place. A streak of light flew from each of them to the Trial Master, then a red bloom formed on the fronts of their robes just at their midsections. The Trial Master was holding his hand out and above it was hovering thirteen orbs about the size of a marble.

Most of the orbs were a matte grey color, but two of them had a bronze sheen. Many in the crowd shook their heads, recognizing these as those cultivator’s inner cores. A Core Formation cultivator’s soul was housed within their inner core and it was also the source of their power. As long as the soul and core were intact they could even regrow their entire body. Those thirteen were completely at the mercy of the Trial Master. The Trial Master waved his hand again and the inner cores disappeared. As he did, some of the city guards arrived on the scene.

Many speculated about this development, would the Trial Master be punished for his actions?

Unexpectedly, the city guard’s completely ignored the Trial Master. Instead they quickly moved into the stadium seats and collected the bodies, and possessions, of the thirteen that were ‘slain’ by the Trial Master. They also moved to clean up the body of the dead genius, and his possessions, as well as the unfortunate spectators that had been slain by him.

After this lengthy disruption, the Trial Master was eager to get things started. He ignored the guards and the murmuring in the crowd. He turned his hand over and this time there was a large mirror upon it. The mirror was shaped like a turtle shell, with many hexagonal mirrors linked together into the shell shape. There was a bright flash of light, after which each of the participants was holding a small token in their hands.

“You shall all enter my Constellation Shell Mirror. The first stage is a survival tournament. Right before you are defeated the token shall bring you back out of the Constellation Shell Mirror. The first round ends when there are only one hundred participants remaining within the Constellation Shell Mirror.”

Without any further ado, the Trial Master set the mirror covered shell onto the ground. In front of the shell, the air seemed to flicker before a circular portal formed. Or at least that’s what it looked like. It was a large disc ten feet tall swirling with purple and blue around the edges, but with a deep black hole in the center. He beckoned towards the geniuses on the stage. The majority of the geniuses froze in place, not expecting to meet such a violent first test. A burly bald man with no sleeves and an armored breastplate was the first to break from the crowd and immediately leap into the waiting portal.

Song Lu Tian! Many in the crowd recognized his ‘unique’ appearance. Not wanting to be left behind, the other geniuses on the stage started to file into the portal rapidly. Soon enough all of them had entered and the stage was empty. The portal swirled rapidly, closing in less than a second.

“Is that it? Do we not get to see the first round?”

“Wait for it.”