Chapter 588: … Awkwardness can too
‘Alright, how long am I going to have to wait here until its my turn to go up there?’
=Probably not too long, especially if they’re doing this in groups of ten. Although, it does appear that they’re stopping when certain combat scenarios are pulled…=
[Makes sense to me, maestro!]
[Wait…ringmaster, I just thought of something.]
‘Huh? Whats up Spring?’
[This is going to sound absolutely crazy, but do you think that that Hero Elder guy is doing this random group thing in order to justify later grouping you and your cousins into one big group and then rig it so you guys get eliminated because of a “superior opponents” from that treasure of his?]
‘That…is somehow both incredibly convoluted…and incredibly likely…Welp. I now have a whole new paranoia work with.’
[My bad.]
[Read…things…other…than…math…?]
[Got bored of numbers, decided to read comics. Noticed there were these things called tropes.]
[Ah…]
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“Wait, that’s what you used the beasts we brought as tribute for?,” Zhen Shi asked while directing his gaze directly at Zhen Xun Tian.
“Nice, right?,” Zhen Xun Tian asked with a mischievous smile, “consider it free advertising for your business.”
“Not sure if I should feel proud or horrified that the beasts I trained are about to maul a kid or die horribly.”
“To be fair, I think that all of our beasts are going to pale in comparison to that fucking otter. Woe be one to the warrior who has to fight that thing solo.”
“True…”
Soon after the contestants had begun to draw lots, Clan Leader Zhen Xun Tian made sure to inform the branch clan that their tribute to the clan was greatly appreciated…so much so that they were going to be used as a means to test the capabilities of the contestants.
Which is why, moments later, the branch clan wasn’t completely caught off guard as they saw the beasts they had brought with them as tribute, including the Ravager Otters, going toe to toe against a variety of young warriors across several biomes.
While on the surface this looked to be a good thing, a showcasing of how effective the branch clan could capture and train aether beasts, but there was a slightly more insidious reason why the matriarch, or why one of the high elders at least, decided to do this: culpability.
At least, that’s what Patriarch Zhen Shi was thinking.
“Oooh! Looks like the rest of the contestants are going up there now. Bigger groups too,” Zhen Xun Tian observed with amusement in her voice as more and more colored orbs of light , energy adn space manifested and began to float midair.
Multiple participants of this competition were known members of nobility and sect geniuses from abroad, meaning that as much as this contest was a martial one, it was also a touch political, with some political factions around the nation using the Zhen Clan competitions as either a means to settle a score with another faction or even resolve an issue that only one side actually cares about.
As to how this former fact relates to the branch clan’s aether beasts and its participation in the tournament, its a touch convoluted.
The way Zhen Shi saw it was that if contestant defeated an aether beast, and then that person began to discuss about having to defeat said aether beast outside of this tournament, then the main clan could claim credit for such a memorable moment.
On the flip side though, fi a contestant ended up getting injured or worst by the hands of these beasts, then the people associated with the injured party would be directed towards the branch clan for all of their grievances and possible revenge.
Perhaps this was insane and paranoids, but this was Zhen Shi’s chain of thought.
‘Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do about it if that’s honestly the case,’ Zhen Shi thought to himself with a mild grimace.
A part of Zhen Shi wanted to bring this up with the main clan’s leader, but he knew that it would be rather pointless to do so, due to her nature and how insane his chain of logic was.
Besides, he was going to have more…awkward matters to attend to soon.
Zhen Shi was just about to just let out a sigh and go back to just watching the events unfold before him, when the sound of the sky box’s door opening followed by the sensation of a powerful aether signature filling the room, grabbed his attention.
An aether signature that he recognized, no less.
‘Wait a minute…is that…’
“Well, well, if its isn’t the 24th prince himself! I was suspecting you got assassinated on the way here or something,” Zhen Xun Tian said in greeting as she got up from her seat to greet the new arrival.
“Apologies for my tardiness, Matriarch Zhen Xun Tian. I got a bit…distracted by the local flavor.”
“Tsk! Just as much a horny lizard as your old man I see.”
“Hardly…I’m worst.”
“Hah!”
‘Oh come the fuck on…,’ Zhen Shi cursed as he realized who the guest behind him was, or at least, possibly was.
He didn’t dare to turn around to check, because he didn’t want to meet this man face to face just quite yet, in fact, he tried to shrink in his seat in an effort to hide from this man’s observations…unfortunately for him, the universe had other plans in mind.
Well…the main clan leader had other ideas in mind at least.
“So did I miss anything important while I wasn’t here? Did she have a chance to show off her skill yet?”
“Not quite yet, you came just in time to see it happen though. Oh speaking of people of interest though, I have someone here who I think is of interest to you.”
“Really? Who?”
‘Fuck!’
A small fact of life that nobody ever wants to admit to, is that even if someone has grown to become old, gray and wise, embarrassing moments and awkward relationships have tendency to stick around like bleach stains on a blanket.
That is to say, he really, really didn’t want to talk the prince.
“Your majesty, allow me to introduce to you, the head of the branch clan in Stampeding Bison, Zhen Shi. Zhen Shi, this is the 24th Imperial Prince, Jinju Yang. ”
“Greetings, your majesty…”
“Zhen Shi? Why does that name sound-oh.”
To say the atmosphere in the room got awkward after this meeting would be an understatement for the ages.
“Should…should we try to interject to relieve the tension?,” Zhen Yan whispered to his brothers.
“Don’t know,” Zhen Long whispered back, “this is a first for any of us…”
“Fair…”
On the plus side though, none of the awkwardness happening in the sky box had any effect on the participating younger generation below.
They had their own problems to deal with.
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“Hey…this is going to sound a touch self-centered, but shouldn’t we have been called up by now? Like…thirty other people have gone up and majority of them are fighting over our heads as we speak.”
“Patience, Zhen Feng, patience. It’ll be our turn when it’ll be our turn.”
“I know, but still…”
For the past fifteen minutes or so, the branch clan scions had to watch as several other groups of people had walked up to that weird bowl-shaped aether treasure and proceed to pull all manner of results from its confines.
Some people got lucky and just moved on to the next round without having to throw a punch. All while maintaining a smug look on their faces.
A majority of the people had to fight either a soldier from the Zhen Clan, one of the aether beasts that was provided by the branch clan, or even another contestant, depending on whether they drew a red marble, a yellow marble or a blue marble, respectively.
While a minority of people got incredibly unlucky and ended up getting eliminated with no chance of appeal because they pulled a black ball from the treasure. Needless to say, there was a lot of dramatic reactions when someone drew that black ball.
“Seriously? Seriously?! After training all year, I get eliminated because of a fucking lottery?! Bullshit!”
“I am the prince of the Spiral Opal Kingdom, I will not be disrespected this way!”
“I…get the feeling I should take this as a sign to check back on home…”
The only reassuring part about the black ball being drawn was it appeared to be completely random, as even contestants identified as being inner disciples were eliminated without prejudice.
However, despite all of these random results and the assuredness that all of these people being called up was also randomized, none of the branch clan scions were called up at any point.
It was very possible that it was a complete coincidence or that maybe their luck was just that bad, but the group did find it weird that despite there being seven of them and that the groups were being called up in batches of ten, that absolutely none of them were called up…that is until…
“You there! You lot! Come up here and get ready to roll.”
All seven of them got called up at once, alongside three others.
“Huh…alright.”
(Un)surprisingly, only one of them thought this moment was a little…weird.
‘Oh this was a hundred and ten percent fucking rigged,’ Zhen Liu thought to himself as he followed his cousins up the stage.
Whatever the case was, this was the moment of truth…or pain.
‘Is it even possible for me to cheat…should I even cheat?’
