The acceptance letter he had been delivered mentioned that the tournament for the Beginner Spirit realm will start one hour after sunrise. Wu Guang was present in Central Plaza as the sun started to rise. He intended to study his possible adversaries and so decided to wait nearby. He considered himself to be ready but having a small advantage by knowing at least something about the adversaries was still a wise thing to do.

Seemingly he wasn't the only one to think so, as the plaza was flooded with people. Still, most of them were not participants but disciples that came to observe or were on some errand, so he still had the chance to remain hidden while observing who walked towards the entrance of the arena.

Thankfully Wu Guang was one of the first to arrive and so managed to occupy a place near the arena gate used by combatants.

With the deadline coming closer he managed to see a few disciples entering it, but his intuition didn't react at all, meaning that they would hardly pose him any danger. A change or a reaction occurred to two of the last people to arrive before he decided to enter as well. These two people arrived separately and judging from the lack of any interaction were for sure not on the best terms.

The first of them was a handsome and refined youth that looked to be about 16 years, carrying himself with dignity and dressed in simple inner disciple robes. Still, his flowing hair and almost perfect face were not the reason for Wu Guang's intuition to react. The real point of interest was in his movements, ones that told about real battle experience.

The second person that solicited a reaction was totally different. It was a young man dressed in the Sect's battle attire. His looks could be considered plain and his hair was trimmed short.

And in contrast to everyone around he was covered with armor. It was not a full armor, but still, a pair of shoulder protectors, full gloves, and high boots with knee protection combined with a half panoply would be an impressive defensive set. Especially when the protection from the rune-infused attire was added.

After taking in all the details about them Wu Guang followed them into the gate, albeit maintaining a distance of a few feet.

After walking the long rounded corridor, Wu Guang arrived at a room. Inside he found several dozens of disciples already present. Except for a few that threw a cursory glance, Wu Guang went mainly unnoticed.

This was because almost everyone's attention was directed towards the two that had entered before. Such a reaction and the talks that he could hear again confirmed Wu Guang's estimation of them being the most dangerous opponents.

He concentrated on discerning the hushed talks that were present regarding the pair he had followed and from them he managed to hear a few key points.

The handsome youth was called Kuang Jing and was the brother of Kuang Xiaolan who was considered to be the strongest normal Inner circle disciple. Seemingly his own strength was also not low as all the talks described him as a top-class sword user.

Surprisingly, the other one was talked about in a more negative way. All the overheard descriptions about him included the words beastly and bandit. He was feared as an opponent but seemingly nobody expected him to win. Surprisingly a few people even were intending to fight him right at the start, to the point of even teaming against him.

As Wu Guang contemplated the information he gained an Elder entered the room and after calling for silence, a call that was immediately acted upon as everyone turned towards him in silence. Such an instantaneous act surprised Wu Guang as normally disciples would take some time to settle down in such a situation but after observing the Elder he understood the reason.

And this reason was extremely simple as the Elder was from the Martial Palace.

The aforementioned Elder did not really impress Wu Guang but still, he showed the same respect as everyone and saluted in silence.

After nodding in response to the salute of the hundred disciples present the Elder quickly explained the rules of the tournament. These rules were simple and the explanation was quick, so after a few breaths it concluded and they were asked to enter the arena itself.

Wu Guang had already guessed most of the rules and so he was not surprised to hear them and judging from the reaction of most disciples around, the latter either already knew about them or similarly had guessed them out. These rules could be actually surmised even further - A battle where everyone was fighting against everyone, no teams were permitted, no items or fatal techniques either. As for the weapons everyone would be choosing between the provided training ones so before the tournament started their holding pouches would be sealed.

Hearing the latter Wu Guang before leaving the room stealthily put into his main one the other three pouches he carried as well his wallet and wood essence vial hidden inside the belt. Actually, this could be done openly but Wu Guang did not really want everyone to see the normally hidden extra pouches or especially the vial. The latter was a special container and its contents could be not be discerned but still, the fewer people know about a treasure - the better.

The arena would be used entirely this time. After their pouches were sealed and they have chosen a weapon from the racks standing near the entrances, they were asked to move to any spot of this enormous, more than three thousand square feet battle area.

The smaller stages that were present on it during the 'Nascent Pride' as well different obstacles could be called upon if needed but right now they were hidden. And so the tournament fight would be on a plain sand floor.

The sealing process was extremely simple as it was done by attaching a signal talisman to one's holding pouch. In truth, this was not sealing but a precaution. The pouch could be still used, but the talisman would be activated as well and so everyone would notice the fact.

Training weapons were always of different sizes and shapes but the damage they could inflict was far lower as the edge was dull and all of them were infused with a softening rune as well.

The rules also said that they could use any non-lethal qi techniques during the battle but the runes in the arena would limit the amount of qi and so basically the force of the technique.

After confirming all this Wu Guang came to the conclusion that this tournament could serve as a way to gain experience but still could not be counted as anything more than mock combat.

As his pouch was set with the alarm talisman, Wu Guang walked towards the racks to choose a weapon. After considering that his strongest expertise at the moment laid with sabers Wu Guang decided against taking one. After thinking for a bit he decided on a short spear and a sword. Using weapons that one had less proficiency in would appear strange to most, but Wu Guang has his reasons. He had observed all the opponents and concluded that neither of them was a real danger for him. And so he could treat this as a way to get experience, especially in the usage of other weapons.

Taking a spare weapon was permitted and so no one objected. Although even if someone did, the truth was that Wu Guang was to double wield them. So no objection would be valid, after all, he would use both weapons.

He had briefly trained himself like this, using the first part of the 'Stinging Bee' spear school he knew for defense and pinpoint strikes while mainly attacking and feinting with the sword held in his right hand which would be using the 'Hurricane Edge'. This manner of fighting was bordering the impossible for a normal cultivator on his level, but Wu Guang's mind could control both of them at the same time as well pay attention to the opponent and even use qi techniques thanks to the passive effect that the Saint realm consciousness gave him. Even if the latter could not yet be counted as part of him at the moment, this effect was enough to let him do such things.

Having chosen his weapons and formulated a strategy for the battle Wu Guang chose a spot on the arena. As no movement after standing at the chosen spot was permitted before the start of the battle, his intention was to start fighting weaker enemies first. So it was not surprising that his spot was near several disciples but almost half of the arena away from both Kuang Jing and the other one, whose name he did not know. Neither anyone had said the name, so Wu Guang was forced to internally call him bandit as the others.

Wu Guang was one of the last ones to arrive and made sure to be one of the last to choose a spot as well. With this not only he could select the best spot, but also the battle would start right away.

And indeed after a few breaths, a qi strengthened voice was heard. The same elder from the Martial Palace repeated the rules. As well indicated several inner and outer circle elders that would act as observers and judges.

While the elder talked, Wu Guang took the time to observe the public. He found out that there were few people present, but still, any amount was already surprising considering that this was not an official match but a simple unranked monthly tournament.

Most of the present being outer circle disciples, Wu Guang thought that they should be here in hope of learning something or getting inspiration. As for the inner disciples present on the stands, they probably wanted to cheer on friends or take note of powerful rivals. He also saw a few more advanced disciples, but Wu Guang could not confirm it. In any case, he doubted that many of them would come in any case, after all, who would want to look at a mock fight between juniors?

"And so... Start!" Hearing this exclamation Wu Guang dropped into a low stance that could be used for both 'Hurricane Edge' and 'Stinging Bee'.

An opponent was quickly found, albeit it would be better to say that someone had chosen Wu Guang as his opponent.

"Hmm... Someone without battle experience?" was Wu Guang's first impression after looking at how the approaching disciple was clutching the big saber he was armed with.