Chapter 343: Battle Start

The crowd immediately exploded into an uproar of excitement, anticipation, and anxiousness. For some, these battles were just entertainment, a good way to spend the day. For others, these battles were the last opportunity they had to rise within the sect and make a name for themselves.

"Who did you challenge?" Chase asked John, curious as to who he decided to challenge.

"No idea, I just let them pick one for me at random," John replied. 

He didn't care who he fought, as long as he fought. His only goal was obtaining the title of Emperor. As to how he got there, he did not care about that.

"Oh," Chase replied.

John's eyes swept through the entire stadium, as he made note of who was there. Most of the stadium was filled with disciples, but there were others as well. On one section that seemed to be reserved, only Elders sat. The section was quite lavish, with ornate seating instead of the stone stands. The section was a large flat area, with wine, food, and other spectacles in it. 

In that section, John noticed one of the Elder's staring straight at him. The Elder glanced at him for a moment before looking at a nearby Elder who seemed to be talking to him.

'So Elder Praxx is here as well huh? Makes sense I suppose.'

Elder Praxx sat with the other Elder's, and seemed to be quite high in status, as he was seated in one of the most luxurious seats.

Elder Praxx glanced at John, before looking at the Elder seated to his right who was talking to him.

"Elder Praxx, it's quite unexpected to see you here," the Elder said.

"That's right. With the untimely demise of your previous disciple, I figured you would have skipped these battles. After all, you don't have a disciple participating in these battles," another nearby Elder said.

Elder Praxx felt his anger rise for a moment, before he calmed down. Damon's death was a sore spot in his reputation, as he had been an Emperor, but had been defeated and killed by someone with a lower cultivation. 

While most assumed that Damon's killer used some sort of trickery to make it happen, there were those that assumed Damon's status as an Emperor was undeserved, and that Elder Praxx had used his status to make Damon an Emperor.

Regardless of the reasons, Elder Praxx would become quite agitated whenever it was mentioned. However, he had finally put that aside as soon as he found the next promising disciple.

The Elder's who had spoken to him both had direct disciples that were Core Disciples, and both at the very top of the Core Discipleship as well. Both drew great pride from this, as they believed it served to highlight what great cultivators they were, to be able to raise such powerful disciples. 

Not only that, but the stronger a disciple was, the more rewards the sect would give to their masters. 

As such, all the Elder's of the sect were seeking to have their disciples climb all the way to the top, and become an Emperor. Emperors were the most valued disciples of the sect, as well as the strongest. Their status was vaunted, and their masters would be showered with great rewards.

This was one of the reasons why Elder Praxx had become so sour upon Damon's death, as he had lost quite a bit of financial gain when Damon had died.

Elder Praxx scoffed and glanced sideways to the Elder that had just spoken, before his gaze once again landed on the arenas below.

"Don't you worry about me. Worry about your own disciples, for I have a suspicion that before this is over, your disciple's death may very well happen," Elder Praxx replied calmly.

"What did you say?" the Elder replied, his voice slightly angered.

Elder Praxx completely ignored the Elder, and the Elder eventually backed down. Despite him having a more valued disciple under his tutelage, he was still lower in status, as well as power than Elder Praxx.

The Elder in the middle arena suddenly silenced the crowd once again.

"The outer disciple and inner disciple battles will now begin. The battles will be continuous, and as soon as one fight finishes, there will be an announcement on who fights next. For challengers, you have fifteen seconds to get to the stage when your name is called, or you forfeit. 

For those being challenged, you too have fifteen seconds to get to the correct arena, or you will automatically forfeit your rank and be replaced with your challenger. Once a person had been challenged twice, they can no longer be challenged again. In the event that the same person is challenged again, a disciple will instead be picked at random to fight," the Elder explained.

'So that's why there's so many disciples today,' John mused internally.

It seemed as if the entire first year discipleship was here, and that actually seemed to be the case. If one was challenged and they did not fight, they would automatically be demoted to the challengers discipleship rank. With this in mind, no disciple dared to miss these battles, in case they were selected to fight.

"With all that set, let us begin. The first seven fights are as such. In arena one, Ashe Shurin will fight Lyle Axnel. In arena 2…"

The fourteen fighters were called out, and each quickly moved to their fighting platform, wasting no time to do so. Within fifteen seconds of being called, all participants were on the stage and ready to fight. 

The outer disciples who had been called first were incredibly excited, as they had been able to get those who they had picked to battle. 

Most of the outer disciples who issued challenges challenged specific disciples, who were lowest ranked, or weakest inner disciples. By doing this, the outer disciples would have the best chance to advance up a rank.

The inner disciples stood there with looks of displeasure on their faces. By being selected first, it was as if the outer sect disciples were stating to the whole stadium that they were the weakest inner disciples, and did not deserve their position.

An Elder stood near each arena, prepared to act as the referee. The lead Elder glanced at the fourteen disciples, who stood facing their opponents. His voice boomed out one final time.

"You may begin!"