When Immortal Ascension Fails Time Travel to Try Again

About an hour later, everyone willing to try with the statues had already gone. There were a few kids who outright left before even being added to the sect. They had probably been through some shit and had realized that cultivating to immortality wasn’t the right path for them. Or they just didn’t like the way the sect handled its initiation trials. Which was fair.

This year was harsher than it should have been.

Seriously, fuck those assholes behind all the demonic tricks and schemes that were making these tests difficult. But the joke was on them. Their meddling would likely make this batch of disciples the most talented the sect had ever seen.

Those traitors to the sect would get what was coming to them.

Wait. Traitors? Like Gracious Blue Luan, Peak Master of the Beast Tamer’s Peak — that sour-faced woman who hadn’t taken enough beauty pills to keep her looking young.

At one point, she had betrayed the sect, but I couldn’t remember exactly why or even when (the rumors surrounding her betrayal and subsequent death were all very vague). Maybe it happened a hundred years in the future? Two hundred?

But, just because she had betrayed the sect in my past life, didn’t mean that she had joined the demonic sect.

Unless she was a plant. And if she had been… Well, then she was a damn good actress.

And she had been there during my first meeting with the Sect Leader. She could have been the one who warned the demonic sect about me.

Not that I had any evidence. If she was the mastermind or involved at all, I would have to find some solid fucking proof before I presented it to Sect Leader Peerless Resolve.

And acquiring proof at my realm would be impossible. I would have to rely on my competent seniors.

Those fuckers had better not let me down.

I double-checked the jade gourd tied to my belt as a pendant just in case. Good. Who knew when one of those demonic cultivators would attack me. I had to be ready at any time.

Well, I planned to use it to protect my ass during my tribulation so I better not need it before then. Getting another quality protective item like this would be beyond fucking difficult. At least at my current cultivation.

Just then Soft Storm called everyone together who had faced the statues without getting slapped.

“Congratulations on passing this trial!” He brought out a few pieces of jade. “For those of you who managed to strike a statue above your large realm, here are your contribution points.”

He flicked his wrist and the white jade tokens flew out to those who’d gone above and beyond... which was mostly those who happened to have a flying spiritual tool.

“It’s time to send you to your next trial. I’m sure I’ll see every one of you who passed this trial in the inner sect.”

A kid off to the side spoke up, “Can’t we have a half-day to rest?!”

Soft Storm shook his head. “That’s not up to me.”

Then the world shifted.

***

We once again appeared in a new location.

This one was in the massive old stadium the sect used for tournaments.

Because of course, the last trial would be a tournament to see which prospective disciple was the best out of the lot. What male lead Xianxia would be complete without a tournament of some kind? Or a couple of dozen.

And considering how many I’d participated in throughout my life, this author had a penchant for them. The fucker.

Ignoring the tiny crowd in the stands, I sat down on one of the beautifully carved stone contestant seats. The material used to create them was something that could last for centuries and take a beating.

Perpendicular to where I sat was a very fancy multi-leveled box seating that had been painted red. All the sect Elders sat there. Due to a very good obfuscation array, we couldn’t see them but in my past life, I’d been inside those boxes.

My eyes couldn’t help but travel to where I knew Fairy Verdant Bamboo sat during these things. Knowing her, she’d be lounging like some goddess while holding a bottle of spiritual wine that she’d pretend to drink. All while her robes showed a lot more cleavage than necessary.

It seemed like it had been six exhausting months since I last saw her, but it had only been two.

Since I made it all the way here, she had to be sweating in her seat... and she was probably furious with her friends who convinced her that making a bet with me — forcing me to win first place or else — was a good idea. It wasn’t.

I couldn’t help but smirk at her before glancing at the middle of the building.

There would be a beautiful seat in the center reserved for the Sect Leader. Of course, he wouldn’t be there.

Actually, he better not be there! I expected him to be out searching for those fucking moles we talked about.

Well, that and take care of the day-to-day nonsense and paperwork.

So-so much paperwork.

Basically, Sect Leader Peerless Resolve was so busy that getting time off to watch an entire tournament was impossible. If he actually sat here during the whole round-robin portion, his poor aide would faint from overwork.

At the bottom of the stadium, twelve large slabs of stone that each represented a fighting ring had been set up.

Frankly, those little stages were very nostalgic. After this arena was destroyed in my past life they stopped using them.

How did this arena get demolished anyway? I couldn’t remember if the destruction happened in a war or an inter-sect tournament. Whatever. The important part was that we had to build an entirely different arena on top of this site... three fucking times.

Frankly, the new ones were all terrible. They always either smelled like bad fish for no fucking reason or they had such boring architecture that I worried for the artistic soul of the sect.

It wasn’t like we didn’t have a whole peak worth of people dedicated to the four arts. At least a handful of them could have come by to spruce up the place but noooo. They were too busy doing important things like painting or playing chess. Whatever.

Once again, Clever Pear Blossom and Bland Meat Bun descended from the fog that surrounded the arena.

“Congratulations to everyone here for making it to the last trial,” Fairy Clever Pear Blossom said. “I believe it’s safe to say that everyone here will make it into the inner sect.”

“But we still have one last trial. And it’s a tournament,” Bland Meat Bun said with obvious excitement.

“But, this is a bit different from your average tournament.” Pear Blossom gave Meat Bun a look that told him to cool the fuck off.

Having received the message, he cleared his throat and fixed his expression. “At this point, it’s almost guaranteed that you’ll enter the inner sect. However, the elders of the inner sect will decide whether you fit with the temperament of their peak.”

“That’s not to say that you can’t come to a different peak to learn later.”

“And as long as you haven’t worshiped a master yet, and you receive permission from your elders, you’re free to explore your options.”

That was something I appreciated about this sect. Although I never had the chance to switch peaks after worshiping Fairy Verdant Bamboo as my master, I still liked that others had the option.

The fact that they allowed their cultivators to learn various skills from the masters of other peaks was what made this sect one of my favorite places. Even as imperfect as it was.

I mean, learning from others still cost contribution points or a trade of knowledge, but sometimes I’d been able to convince a master by bribing them with various tasks or items.

It was still better than most other sects where the elders would choose the path for the student. If they had talent then they would keep pushing the student down that path. But if they didn’t have talent then they would abandon them to their own efforts. Essentially giving up on someone.

I liked it here where they actually tried to see what each person was good at and allowed them to do what they wanted as long as they could afford it.

Then again, the people in the Indomitable Will sect had wills of steel. Once they latched onto their path, they generally stuck with it.

“Our elders need to see where your talents lay if they’re going to pick you to be their disciple,” Bland Meat Bun continued.

“And that, more than any other reason, is why we’re having this tournament. This is your chance to show off your martial skills.”

“Of course, your goal is still to win. We all want to see which one of you is the best fighter in your generation.”

They both chuckled.

“To this end,” she said, “the tournament will start in a round-robin style.”

“But don’t take your fights lightly, because, at the end of six rounds, only those who haven’t lost a fight will go into the single-elimination finals.”

“And the winner of the tournament will get the chance to become a disciple of a sect elder of their choice, along with a hundred contribution points, and a hundred Qi Refining Dan.”

“Even becoming the disciple of a Peak Master is also possible if that master agrees!”

Neither Bloodsword nor I won this tournament in my last life. Actually, who did? It was so long ago that I’d forgotten.

Whatever. I was going to win this anyway so it didn’t matter.

Of course, knowing that I was going to win didn’t mean that I could slack off. Just like Young Master Zhang showed, several of the kids here had backing that couldn’t be underestimated.

Like luck, ‘backing’ was also a type of talent. And one that shouldn’t be underestimated.

Thirteen inner sect disciples at the Foundation Establishment flew over on shining swords. Twelve landed simultaneously, each in the middle of a square stage.

The last one landed near the contestant area and faced us. His no-nonsense voice echoed to all the participants, myself included. “I’m Daoist Red Bear from Beast Tamer’s Peak. I’ll be hosting the round-robin portion of this tournament. A referee will call each of you up to a specific stage.”

He gestured to the various Foundation Establishment adults who’d taken up the arduous task of refereeing for a bunch of children.

“Before each fight, come to me to get your defensive token.” He held up a round jade token strung on a rope cord. “It’s a single-use spiritual item you’ll wear around your neck. As soon as it breaks, you’ve lost the round.”

He lowered the token, “You will also lose if you give up or step off the stage. So do whatever you can to stand your ground!”

Probably because they’d been called via secret sound transmission a few of the kids started getting up and walking up to Red Bear. Then they split off to their stage.

And as if the author himself had come down and commanded it, one of those first matches had a Tiger brother.

Oh, this poor family of cannon fodder.

I saluted each of the Tiger Brothers in my heart and watched intently as he walked up to Icy Tsundere Fairy.

That girl had been very strong when she was young. I think she’d earned one of the higher places in the tournament. But at around eight, she was almost a year younger now than she was in my past life.

There was no telling what would happen.

Honestly, if I just compared their size, I would put my money on the Tiger Brother. He had the muscles, the hair, and the attitude of someone who was going to kick the ass of a little girl. However, this was a Xianxia. Size didn’t matter, only cultivation and skill.

I’d seen a Nascent Soul equivalent body cultivator get crushed under the foot of a massive spiritual beast, only to end up lifting the monster and throwing it a whole mile.

The referee working the Tiger Brother VS Icy Tsundere stage yelled, “Hu Donghai versus Zhao XiuYing!”

The Tiger brother put on brass knuckles.

“It looks like we have some promising disciples this year,” a familiar deep voice said from the stands. It was the kind of voice that wasn’t loud but still carried through the stadium. And I knew the guy attached to it.

Motherfucking Daoist Over-Explaining Announcer.

That wasn’t his real daoist title, which was Heavenly Strategic Analyzation or something. It was just what I’d always called the fucker.

This guy always showed up to every single fighting tournament the sect put on. Frankly, I had a feeling that the original dumbass author used him in place of the random audience member — the ones who over-explain everything to increase word count while making moves seem cooler than they actually were.

Authors also tended to use them to spoonfeed exposition and explain what the hell is actually happening.

“Oh! Look at stage number three where the young Hu Donghai is putting on a spiritual tool that increases strength! This fellow daoist’s fists must be mighty! I’m not sure if Little Fairy Zhao XiuYing can handle them.”

“Fight!” The referee called.

The Tiger brother ran directly at the Icy Tsundere Fairy.

I didn’t know if he was underestimating her because she was a little girl but—

“Oooo. Running straight at your opponent? Bad move. Even my mortal little sister could do better, and she’s 70,” Daoist Over-Explaining Announcer said.

I mean, after that, even I was embarrassed for the poor Tiger Brother.

Zhao XiuYing used a few delicate hand seals I immediately recognized.

Just as Hu Donghai was about to sidestep, the girl pointed two fingers at him. A powerful stream of wind attacked the Tiger Brother.

“What’s this! The little fairy is using a move first developed by the Zhao Clan! The Turbulent Icy Wind technique! And she’s using it at her age! We might just have a little genius here.”

God damn it! I knew that already you punk announcer.

Hu Donghai’s eyes grew wide as the blast of air slowly started to push him backward. Using a surprisingly good idea, he got on all fours and prevented his slow slide backward by gripping the stone floor.

It worked, at first. However Icy Tsundere Fairy, with sweat beading on her brow, used even more energy and focused the blast of wind causing Hu Donghai to literally fly backward.

Of course, with her only being at the fourth level of Qi Condensation, a technique like the Turbulent Icy Wind would have drained most of her Qi reserves.

“This little fairy has really made a beautifully strong showing!” Daoist Over said.

As she was declared the winner, the girl popped a Qi Recovery pill into her mouth.

Beside me, Little Spring nearly jumped to his feet. His eyes darted to mine. “I have to go up.”

I stood with him and rested my hand on his shoulder. “Don’t lose.” Then I handed him a protective talisman.

He nodded while taking it.

When I saw that he didn’t even bother to put it on I added, “But if you do, know that I’ll double your training for the next month.”

He stiffened. I could practically see the cold sweat appear on his brow. “Yes, Sister Lin!”

The kid placed the talisman inside his outer robes as he went down to receive his token.

I mean, sure, the token would protect him too, but if it activated then that would be the end of the line. I considered this talisman, insurance.

Little Spring walked over to one of the rings that still had two little kids kicking each other's asses. If I remembered the layout of these types of tournaments, that one was stage 4.

He wasn’t the only one going up before his stage was ready. There were already a few other kids patiently watching fighters from beside their assigned ring. This meant that Red Bear was running this year’s tournament like a machine. I approved!

Shortly after Little Spring started waiting, a twelve-year-old girl who looked like she had been raised as a shy, wealthy lady arrived and bowed politely to him. He awkwardly bowed back.

A mean-looking kid kicked his opponent off the stage they were waiting on, then showed off his deltoids and triceps… which weren’t exactly impressive.

Seriously, why were these kids so weird? Or maybe it was Little Spring who was abnormal.

The referee walked to the middle of the ring and called out, “Little Spring versus Ling Chen!”

The Little Lady climbed onto the stone slab and the kid followed after her.

He brought out the sword I purchased for him. I’d tried to give him the red sword at one point but he didn’t want it. I guessed that anything to do with the asshole who tried to eat him and take over his body wasn’t a pleasant sight.

Well, I’d have to make a better sword for him one of these days. Fortunately, this cheap one was fine for now.

It wasn’t a good idea for him to run around with an artifact of that level anyway. That crimson sword was a good enough spiritual weapon that owning it could get him killed.

Ling Chen took out a beautiful giant folding fan spiritual weapon. I could tell from here that it was at least a Sky rank weapon. This Little Lady wasn’t as simple as I originally thought.

Their referee jumped off the stage. “Fight!”

The kid started with a single slash of sword Qi — I assumed to test the girl. She side-stepped it easily then unfolded her fan and flicked it out. This caused a bubble of wind to blow towards my junior brother.

The Little Lady had probably been inspired by Icy Tsundere Fairy… er Zhao XiuYing.

“Oh! Look, on stage four! There is actually a little disciple who can manifest sword Qi! Of course, his opponent isn’t a slouch with her impressive spiritual weapon either.”

Not again you Goddamn Over-Explaining Announcer!

“That weapon is a powerful Sky rank weapon that specializes in creating wind attacks. Little Fairy Ling Chen is using it very skillfully. Manifesting sword Qi won’t help Little Spring overcome that powerful weapon. Not with that weak sword of his.”

Goddamn it.

Even though he struggled to stay in place, Little Spring didn’t jump out of the blast of wind. Instead, just as he began to slide, he buried his ‘weak’ sword into the stone of the arena to keep himself in place.

He held on with one hand then, while he was taking the wind attack, he used his off hand to create the hand seals for a spiritual finger technique. The pointing hand of energy flew out towards the girl’s weak point, an acupoint on her waist that she couldn’t protect since she was in the middle of her fan attack.

I almost stood up in surprise. While I had taught him about weak points, and gone in-depth into the various acupoints and how they worked with cultivation techniques, I never expected him to pick up on that information so fast.

“Oh! Look at this. Little Spring is using the Hand That Points technique from our sect! And he’s impressively using it with only one hand!” Okay, I admitted it. I forgot that this low-level technique had such a dumb name. “And he’s aimed it at the little fairy’s wide-open side!”

If I didn’t have my eyes glued to the fight I would have found this asshole announcer and glared at him until he shut up.

Unfortunately, the Little Lady noticed Little Spring’s attack.

She blocked it with her fan. The technique was so powerful that she was pushed back several feet. Of course, blocking the kid’s Hand That Points technique, interrupted her wind attack.

Little Spring took this chance to pull out his sword and run up to her. He raised his weapon and quickly slashed down towards her neck.

When I saw no hesitation in his eyes, I nodded in approval. All that training he’d done with the Reds had really helped strengthen his mind.

Just before his sword would have hit her artery, a force blocked it. The girl’s token broke, ending the fight.

“Winner, Little Spring!” The referee called.

The girl’s face had gone pale, but she still managed to give a polite bow, which Little Spring returned.

“Unexpected! Completely Unexpected! This Little Spring is ruthless! I look forward to seeing more of his fights.”

Since the fight had ended I found the Daoist Over-Explaining Announcer who had mixed in with the small crowd. I sent him a sharp glare. Unfortunately, he’d already moved on to talking about a different fight and hadn’t noticed me.

I’d get him eventually!

Nervous, Little Spring came back to my side and sent me an expectant look.

What? Did he want me to analyze his fight so he could improve?

“Why did you start with a slash of sword Qi?”